Harbinger Group Inc.
    Print Page | Close Window

SEC Filings

10-K
HRG GROUP, INC. filed this Form 10-K on 11/23/2016
Entire Document
 << Previous Page | Next Page >>

The funds withheld receivables portfolio related to the Reinsurance Agreements with FGL consists of investments in debt and equity securities that are carried at fair value with unrealized gains and losses included in AOCI, net of associated intangibles “shadow adjustments” and deferred income taxes. The funds withheld receivables portfolio also includes cash, derivatives and accrued income.
The liabilities for contractholder funds for deferred annuities consist of contract account balances that accrue to the benefit of the contractholders, excluding surrender charges and other liabilities. The liabilities for fixed index annuities (“FIA”) consist of the value of the host contract plus the value of the embedded derivative. The embedded derivative is carried at fair value in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets with changes in fair value reported in “Benefits and other changes in policy reserves” in the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Operations. Liabilities for immediate annuities without life contingencies are recorded at the present value of future benefits.
Liabilities for investment-type contracts are calculated by multiplying the benefit ratio by the cumulative assessments recorded from contract inception through the balance sheet date plus interest. If experience or assumption changes result in a new benefit ratio, the reserves are adjusted to reflect the changes.
The liabilities for future policy benefits and claim reserves life contingent pay-out annuity policies are computed using assumptions for investment yields, mortality and withdrawals based principally on generally accepted actuarial methods and assumptions at the time of contract issue. The investment yield assumptions for life contingent pay-out annuities range from 0.8% to 6.0%.
Reinsurance agreements with third parties
On December 16, 2013, Front Street Cayman closed a reinsurance treaty with Bankers Life Insurance Company. Under the terms of the treaty, Bankers Life Insurance Company ceded annuity business to Front Street Cayman, on a funds withheld basis. At September 30, 2016 and 2015, Front Street had $125.8 and $148.3, respectively, of funds withheld receivables and $119.0 and $145.7, respectively, of insurance reserves related to this transaction.
On October 31, 2014, Front Street Cayman purchased Ability Re from Ability Re Holdings. The Ability Re acquisition consisted of long-term care reinsurance business. The acquired reinsurance agreements complement Front Street Cayman’s existing in force long-duration insurance liabilities. At September 30, 2016 and 2015, Front Street had $295.6 and $357.5, respectively, of funds withheld receivables and $271.5 and $348.4, respectively, of insurance reserves related to this transaction.
During Fiscal 2015, Front Street Cayman also closed three additional reinsurance transactions with unaffiliated parties. At September 30, 2016 and 2015, Front Street had $250.2 and $146.3, respectively, of funds withheld receivables and $241.3 and $135.1, respectively, of insurance reserves related to these transactions.
Front Street elected to apply the fair value option to account for its funds withheld receivables, non-funds withheld assets and future policyholder benefits reserve related to its assumed reinsurance with third parties. Front Street measures fair value of the funds withheld receivables based on the fair values of the securities in the underlying funds withheld portfolio held by the cedant. The non-funds withheld assets held by Front Street, backing the future policyholder benefits reserve, are measured at fair value. Policy loans included in the funds withheld receivables with third parties are measured at amortized cost, which approximates fair value.
Front Street uses a discounted cash flows approach to measure the fair value of the future policyholder benefits reserve. The cash flows associated with future policy premiums and benefits are generated using best estimate assumptions (plus a risk margin, where applicable) and are consistent with market prices, where available. Risk margins are typically applied to non-observable, non-hedgeable market inputs such as mortality, morbidity, lapse, discount rate for non-performance risk, discount rate for risk margin, surrenders, etc. Mortality relates to the occurrence of death. Mortality assumptions are based upon the experience of the cedant as well as past and emerging industry experience, when available. Morbidity relates to the occurrence of a claim status and is a key assumption for the long term care business. Morbidity assumptions are based upon the experience of the cedant as well as past and emerging industry experience, when available. Mortality and morbidity assumptions may be different by sex, underwriting class and policy type. Assumptions are also made for future mortality and morbidity improvements.
Policies are terminated through surrenders and maturities, where surrenders represent the voluntary terminations of policies by policyholders and maturities are determined by policy contract terms. Surrender assumptions are based upon cedant experience adjusted for expected future conditions. As of December 31, 2015, Front Street began discounting the liability cash flows by using the market yields on the underlying assets backing the liabilities plus a risk margin to reflect uncertainty and adjusts the discount rate to reflect the credit risk of Front Street. In prior periods, the discount rate was based on risk free rates plus non-performance spreads plus a risk margin and a factor to reflect own credit risk. The change in discount rate methodology reduced the fair value of the Front Street future policyholder benefit liability by $7.0 at December 31, 2015.
The significant unobservable inputs used in the fair value measurement of the Front Street future policyholder benefit liability are non-performance risk spread and risk spread to reflect uncertainty. Significant increases (decreases) in non-performance risk spread and risk margin to reflect uncertainty would result in a lower (higher) fair value measurement.
Refer to Note 7, Fair Value of Financial Instruments, for further detail.

F-17

 << Previous Page | Next Page >>