Harbinger Group Inc.
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SEC Filings

10-K
HRG GROUP, INC. filed this Form 10-K on 11/23/2016
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were to become unavailable on commercially reasonable terms or at all, if alternatives to reinsurance were not available to FGL, if the use of captives were materially restricted through regulation, including certain general proposals currently under consideration by the NAIC, FGL’s business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.
The credit for reinsurance taken by FGL’s insurance subsidiaries under offshore reinsurance agreements is, under certain conditions, dependent upon the offshore reinsurers ability to obtain and provide sufficient qualifying assets in a qualifying trust or qualifying letters of credit issued by qualifying lending banks. The cost of letters of credit, when available, continues to be very expensive in the current economic environment. Loss of reserve credit by an insurance subsidiary would require it to establish additional reserves and would result in a decrease in the level of its capital, which could have a material adverse effect on FGL’s profitability, results of operations and financial condition.
In recent years, access to reinsurance has become more costly for members of the insurance industry, including FGL. In addition, the number of life reinsurers has decreased as the reinsurance industry has consolidated. The decreased number of participants in the life reinsurance market resulted in increased concentration of risk for insurers, including FGL. If the reinsurance market further contracts, FGL’s ability to continue to offer FGL’s products on terms favorable to it could be negatively impacted, resulting in adverse consequences to FGL’s business, operations and financial condition.
In addition, reinsurers are facing many challenges regarding illiquid credit or capital markets, investment downgrades, rating agency downgrades, deterioration of general economic conditions and other factors negatively impacting the financial services industry generally. If such events cause a reinsurer to fail to meet its obligations, FGL’s business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.
Restrictions on FGL’s ability to use captive reinsurers could adversely impact its competitive position and results of operations.
The NAIC and state insurance regulators continue to review life insurance companies’ use of affiliated captive reinsurers or off-shore entities. On June 4, 2014, Rector & Associates, a consulting firm commissioned by the NAIC, presented a revised report (the “Rector Report”) to the Principle-Based Reserving Implementation Task Force of the NAIC which proposes a new regulatory framework for captives assuming term life insurance (“XXX”) or universal life insurance with secondary guarantees (“AXXX”) business, and recommends, among other things, placing limitations on the types of assets that may be used to finance reserves associated with XXX and AXXX business and making an individual state’s adoption of the new regulations contemplated by the report an NAIC accreditation standard. On August 17, 2014, the NAIC Executive (EX) Committee adopted the regulatory framework proposed by the Rector Report, including recommendations to have various NAIC technical subgroups propose regulations and guidelines to implement the new framework. These technical working groups are in various stages of developing and proposing regulations and guidelines. On October 9, 2014, the NAIC’s Principle-Based Reserving Implementation Task Force voted to expose for comment a new Actuarial Guideline (AG48) designed to implement many of the recommendations in the Rector Report related to the amount of assets that may be supported by different asset classes in connection with certain transactions involving captive reinsurance companies.
If state insurance regulators restrict the use of captive reinsurers or if FGL otherwise is unable to continue to use captive reinsurers in the future, FGL’s ability to write certain products, to manage the associated risks and to deploy capital efficiently, could be adversely affected, or FGL may need to increase prices on those products, which could adversely impact its competitive position and its results of operations.
Interest rate fluctuations and withdrawal demands in excess of FGL’s and Front Street’s assumptions could negatively affect their business, financial condition and results of operations.
FGL and Front Street offer certain products that allow policyholders to withdraw their funds under defined circumstances. In order to meet such funding obligations, FGL and Front Street manage their liabilities and configure their investment portfolios so as to provide and maintain sufficient liquidity to support expected withdrawal demands and contract benefits and maturities. However, in order to provide necessary long-term returns, a certain portion of FGL’s and Front Street’s assets are relatively illiquid. There can be no assurance that withdrawal demands will match FGL’s and Front Street’s estimation of withdrawal demands. As interest rates increase, FGL and Front Street are exposed to the risk of financial disintermediation through a potential increase in the number of withdrawals. Disintermediation risk refers to the risk that policyholders may surrender their contracts in a rising interest rate environment, requiring FGL and Front Street to liquidate assets in an unrealized loss position. If FGL and Front Street experience unexpected withdrawal activity, whether as a result of interest rate movements financial strength downgrades or otherwise, it could exhaust its liquid assets and be forced to liquidate other less liquid assets, possibly at a loss or on other unfavorable terms, which could have a material adverse effect on FGL’s and Front Street’s business, financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, FGL and Front Street may experience spread compression, and a loss of anticipated earnings, if credited interest rates are increased on renewing contracts in an effort to decrease or manage withdrawal activity.
Interest rates are subject to volatility and fluctuations. For the past several years, interest rates have trended downwards to historically low levels. In order to meet its policy and contractual obligations, FGL and Front Street must earn a sufficient return on its invested assets. A prolonged period of historically low rates or significant changes in interest rates could expose FGL and Front Street to the risk of not achieving sufficient return on its invested assets by not achieving anticipated interest earnings, or of not earning anticipated spreads between the interest rate earned on investments and the credited interest rates paid on outstanding policies and contracts. Additionally, a prolonged period of low interest rates in the future may lengthen liability

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