Reinsurance Group of America Earnings 2018-12-31
RGA 10K Annual Report
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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, DC 20549
FORM 10-K
x | Annual report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018 | |
¨ | Transition report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 | |
Commission file number 1-11848
REINSURANCE GROUP OF AMERICA, INCORPORATED
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Missouri | 43-1627032 | |
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) | |
16600 Swingley Ridge Road, Chesterfield, Missouri | 63017 | |
(Address of principal executive offices) | (Zip Code) | |
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (636) 736-7000
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of each class | Name of each exchange on which registered | |
Common Stock, par value $0.01 | New York Stock Exchange | |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.
Yes x No ¨
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.
Yes ¨ No x
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes x No ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes x No ¨
Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. x
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):
Large accelerated filer x Accelerated filer ¨ Non-accelerated filer ¨ Smaller reporting company ¨ Emerging growth company ¨
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company. Yes ¨ No x
The aggregate market value of the stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant, based upon the closing sale price of the common stock on June 30, 2018, as reported on the New York Stock Exchange was approximately $8.5 billion.
As of January 31, 2019, 62,839,877 shares of the registrant’s common stock were outstanding.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
Part III of this Form 10-K incorporates by reference certain information from the Registrant’s Definitive Proxy Statement for the Annual Meeting of Shareholders (“the Proxy Statement”) to be held May 22, 2019, to be filed by the Registrant with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Regulation 14A not later than 120 days after the year ended December 31, 2018.
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REINSURANCE GROUP OF AMERICA, INCORPORATED AND SUBSIDIARIES
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Item | Page | |
PART I | ||
1 | ||
1A | ||
1B | ||
2 | ||
3 | ||
4 | ||
PART II | ||
5 | ||
6 | ||
7 | ||
7A | ||
8 | ||
9 | ||
9A | ||
9B | ||
PART III | ||
10 | ||
11 | ||
12 | ||
13 | ||
14 | ||
PART IV | ||
15 | ||
16 | ||
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Item 1. BUSINESS
A. | Overview |
Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated (“RGA”) is an insurance holding company that was formed on December 31, 1992. The consolidated financial statements herein include the assets, liabilities, and results of operations of RGA and its subsidiaries, all of which are wholly owned (collectively, the “Company”).
The Company is a leading global provider of traditional life and health reinsurance and financial solutions with operations in the U.S., Latin America, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australia. Reinsurance is an arrangement under which an insurance company, the “reinsurer,” agrees to indemnify another insurance company, the “ceding company,” for all or a portion of the insurance and/or investment risks underwritten by the ceding company. Reinsurance is designed to (i) reduce the net amount at risk on individual risks, thereby enabling the ceding company to increase the volume of business it can underwrite, as well as increase the maximum risk it can underwrite on a single risk; (ii) enhance the ceding company’s financial strength and surplus position; (iii) stabilize operating results by leveling fluctuations in the ceding company’s loss experience; and (iv) assist the ceding company in meeting applicable regulatory requirements.
The Company has geographic-based and business-based operational segments: U.S. and Latin America; Canada; Europe, Middle East and Africa; Asia Pacific; and Corporate and Other. Geographic-based operations are further segmented into traditional and financial solutions businesses. The Company’s segments primarily write reinsurance business that is wholly or partially retained in one or more of RGA’s reinsurance subsidiaries. See “Segments” for more information concerning the Company’s operating segments.
Traditional Reinsurance
Traditional reinsurance includes individual and group life and health, disability, and critical illness reinsurance. Life reinsurance primarily refers to reinsurance of individual or group-issued term, whole life, universal life, and joint and last survivor insurance policies. Health and disability reinsurance primarily refers to reinsurance of individual or group health policies. Critical illness reinsurance provides a benefit in the event of the diagnosis of a pre-defined critical illness.
Traditional reinsurance is written on a facultative or automatic treaty basis. Facultative reinsurance is individually underwritten by the reinsurer for each policy to be reinsured, with the pricing and other terms established based upon rates negotiated in advance. Facultative reinsurance is normally purchased by ceding companies for medically impaired lives, unusual risks, or liabilities in excess of the binding limits specified in their automatic reinsurance treaties.
An automatic reinsurance treaty provides that the ceding company will cede risks to a reinsurer on specified blocks of policies where the underlying policies meet the ceding company’s underwriting criteria. In contrast to facultative reinsurance, the reinsurer does not approve each individual policy being reinsured. Automatic reinsurance treaties generally provide that the reinsurer will be liable for a portion of the risk associated with the specified policies written by the ceding company. Automatic reinsurance treaties specify the ceding company’s binding limit, which is the maximum amount of risk on a given life that can be ceded automatically to the reinsurer and that the reinsurer must accept. The binding limit may be stated either as a multiple of the ceding company’s retention or as a stated dollar amount.
Facultative and automatic reinsurance may be written as yearly renewable term, coinsurance, modified coinsurance or coinsurance with funds withheld. Under a yearly renewable term treaty, the reinsurer assumes primarily the mortality or morbidity risk. Under a coinsurance arrangement, depending upon the terms of the contract, the reinsurer may share in the risk of loss due to mortality or morbidity, lapses, and the investment risk, if any, inherent in the underlying policy. Modified coinsurance and coinsurance with funds withheld differ from coinsurance in that the assets supporting the reserves are retained by the ceding company.
Generally, the amount of life and health reinsurance ceded is stated on an excess or a quota share basis. Reinsurance on an excess basis covers amounts in excess of an agreed-upon retention limit. Retention limits vary by ceding company and also may vary by the age or underwriting classification of the insured, the product, and other factors. Under quota share reinsurance, the ceding company states its retention in terms of a fixed percentage of the risk with the remainder to be ceded to one or more reinsurers up to the maximum binding limit.
Many reinsurance agreements include recapture rights that permit the ceding company to reassume all or a portion of the risk formerly ceded to the reinsurer after an agreed-upon period of time or in some cases due to deterioration in the financial condition or ratings of the reinsurer. Recapture of business previously ceded does not affect premiums ceded prior to the recapture of such business, but would reduce premiums in subsequent periods. The potential adverse effects of recapture rights are mitigated by the following factors: (i) recapture rights vary by treaty and the risk of recapture is a factor that is considered when pricing a reinsurance agreement; (ii) ceding companies generally may exercise their recapture rights only to the extent they have increased their retention limits for the reinsured policies; (iii) ceding companies generally must recapture all of the policies eligible for recapture under the agreement in a particular year if any are recaptured, which prevents a ceding company from recapturing only
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the most profitable policies; and (iv) the ceding company is sometimes required to pay a fee to the reinsurer upon recapture. In addition, when a ceding company recaptures reinsured policies, the reinsurer releases the reserves it maintained to support the recaptured portion of the policies.
Financial Solutions
Financial solutions include longevity reinsurance, asset-intensive reinsurance, financial reinsurance and stable value products.
Longevity Reinsurance
RGA’s longevity reinsurance products are reinsurance contracts from which the Company earns premium for assuming the longevity risk of pension plans and other annuity products that have been insured by third parties. In many countries, companies are increasingly interested in reducing their exposure to longevity risk related to employee retirement benefits. This concern comes from both the absolute size of the risk and also through the volatility that changes in life expectancy can have on their reported earnings. In addition, insurance companies that offer lifetime annuities are seeking ways to manage their current exposure, while also recognizing the potential to take on more risk from employers and individuals.
The Company has entered into transactions on existing longevity business for clients in Europe and Canada. These have been arrangements with traditional insurance companies, as well as customized arrangements for banks dealing with pension schemes.
Asset-Intensive Reinsurance
Asset-intensive reinsurance refers to the full-risk coinsurance of annuities or reinsurance that has a significant investment component. Asset-intensive reinsurance allows the Company’s clients to take advantage of growth opportunities that might otherwise not be available due to restrictions on available capital or concerns about the size of the investment risk on their balance sheets.
An ongoing partnership with clients is important with asset-intensive reinsurance because of the active management involved in this type of reinsurance. This active management includes investment decisions, investment and claims management, and the determination of non-guaranteed elements. Some examples of asset-intensive reinsurance are: fixed deferred annuities, indexed annuities, unit-linked variable annuities, universal life corporate-owned life insurance and bank-owned life insurance, unit-linked variable life, immediate/payout annuities, whole life, disabled life reserves, and extended term insurance.
Financial Reinsurance
Financial reinsurance primarily involves assisting ceding companies in meeting applicable regulatory requirements by enhancing the ceding companies’ financial strength and regulatory surplus position. Financial reinsurance transactions do not qualify as reinsurance under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”), due to the low-risk nature of the transactions. These transactions are reported in accordance with deposit accounting guidelines.
Stable Value Products
The Company provides guaranteed investment contracts to retirement plans that include investment-only, stable value wrap products. The assets are owned by the trustees of such plans, who invest the assets under the terms of investment guidelines to which the Company agrees. The contracts contain a guarantee of a minimum rate of return on participant balances supported by the underlying assets, and a guarantee of liquidity to meet certain participant-initiated plan cash flow requirements.
B. | Corporate Structure |
As a holding company, RGA is separate and distinct from its subsidiaries and has no significant business operations of its own. Therefore, it relies on the dividends from its insurance companies and other subsidiaries as the principal source of cash flow to meet its obligations, pay dividends and repurchase common stock. Information regarding the cash flow and liquidity needs of RGA may be found in Part II, Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Liquidity and Capital Resources.
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Regulation
The following table provides the jurisdiction of the regulatory authority for RGA’s primary operating and captive subsidiaries:
Subsidiary | Regulatory Authority Jurisdiction | |
RGA Reinsurance Company (“RGA Reinsurance”) | Missouri | |
Parkway Reinsurance Company (“Parkway Re”) | Missouri | |
Rockwood Reinsurance Company (“Rockwood Re”) | Missouri | |
Castlewood Reinsurance Company (“Castlewood Re”) | Missouri | |
Chesterfield Reinsurance Company (“Chesterfield Re”) | Missouri | |
Reinsurance Company of Missouri, Incorporated (“RCM”) | Missouri | |
Timberlake Reinsurance Company II (“Timberlake Re”) | South Carolina | |
RGA Life Reinsurance Company of Canada (“RGA Canada”) | Canada | |
RGA Reinsurance Company (Barbados) Ltd. (“RGA Barbados”) | Barbados | |
RGA Americas Reinsurance Company, Ltd. (“RGA Americas”) | Bermuda | |
Manor Reinsurance, Ltd. (“Manor Re”) | Barbados | |
RGA Atlantic Reinsurance Company Ltd. (“RGA Atlantic”) | Barbados | |
RGA Worldwide Reinsurance Company, Ltd. (“RGA Worldwide”) | Barbados | |
RGA Global Reinsurance Company, Ltd. (“RGA Global”) | Bermuda | |
RGA Reinsurance Company of Australia Limited (“RGA Australia”) | Australia | |
RGA International Reinsurance Company dac (“RGA International”) | Ireland | |
RGA Reinsurance Company of South Africa, Limited (“RGA South Africa”) | South Africa | |
Aurora National Life Assurance Company (“Aurora National”) | California | |
Certain of the Company’s subsidiaries are subject to regulations in the other jurisdictions in which they are licensed or authorized to do business. Insurance laws and regulations, among other things, establish minimum capital requirements and limit the amount of dividends, distributions, and intercompany payments that affiliates can make without regulatory approval. Additionally, insurance laws and regulations impose restrictions on the amounts and types of investments that insurance companies may hold. New capital standards (discussed below) are being developed and are likely to be applied to one or more of the Company’s subsidiaries to either require more capital and/or limit the extent to which some forms of existing capital may be counted in an evaluation of financial strength by its regulators.
U.S. Regulation
Insurance Regulation
The insurance laws and regulations, as well as the level of supervisory authority that may be exercised by the various state insurance departments, vary by jurisdiction. These laws and regulations generally grant broad powers to supervisory agencies or regulators to examine and supervise insurance companies and insurance holding companies with respect to every significant aspect of the conduct of the insurance business. This includes the power to pre-approve the execution or modification of contractual arrangements. These laws and regulations generally require insurance companies to meet certain solvency standards and asset tests, to maintain minimum standards of financial strength and to file certain reports with regulatory authorities (including information concerning their capital structure, ownership and financial condition). These laws and regulations subject insurers to potential assessments for amounts paid by guarantee funds. RGA Reinsurance, Chesterfield Re and RCM are subject to the state of Missouri’s adoption of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (“NAIC”) Model Audit Rule, which requires an insurer to have an annual audit by an independent certified public accountant, provide an annual management report of internal control over financial reporting, file the resulting reports with the Director of Insurance and maintain an audit committee. Aurora National is subject to similar regulation by the State of California. Moreover, Insurance Holding Company System Regulatory Acts in the U.S. permit the Missouri regulator to request and consider, in its regulation of the solvency of and capital standards for RGA Reinsurance, Chesterfield Re and RCM and the California regulator to request and consider, in its regulation of the solvency of and capital standards for Aurora National, information about the operations of other subsidiaries of RGA and the extent to which there may be deemed to exist contagion risk posed by those operations. In addition, RGA is subject to a supervisory college, conducted by its group supervisor the Missouri Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions and Professional Registration (“MDOI”). The supervisory college is comprised of insurance regulators of the major jurisdictions in which RGA has established insurance branches and subsidiaries. Since the inception of the supervisory college in October 2012, the MDOI has conducted four more in-person supervisory college meetings in addition to numerous regulator-only conference calls. These meetings bring about requests for information from RGA’s regulators as they monitor RGA’s solvency, governance and overall management. While the supervisory college has the ability to impose limitations on the activities of the insurance subsidiaries of RGA, particularly since RGA has met the requirements to become an internationally active insurance group, no such limitations have been imposed to date. The existence of the supervisory college does generally help RGA’s regulators understand its business to a greater degree and does encourage a more global view by RGA of its own regulation.
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RGA’s reinsurance subsidiaries are required to file statutory financial statements in each jurisdiction in which they are licensed and may be subject to onsite, periodic examinations by the insurance regulators of the jurisdictions in which each is licensed, authorized, or accredited. To date, none of the regulators’ reports related to the Company’s periodic examinations have contained material adverse findings.
Although some of the rates and policy terms of U.S. direct insurance agreements are regulated by state insurance departments, the rates, policy terms, and conditions of reinsurance agreements generally are not subject to regulation by any regulatory authority. The same is true outside of the U.S. In the U.S., however, the NAIC Model Law on Credit for Reinsurance, which has been adopted in most states, imposes certain requirements for an insurer to take reserve credit for risk ceded to a reinsurer. Generally, the reinsurer is required to be licensed or accredited in the insurer’s state of domicile, or post security for reserves transferred to the reinsurer in the form of letters of credit or assets placed in trust. The NAIC Life and Health Reinsurance Agreements Model Regulation, which has been passed in most states, imposes additional requirements for insurers to claim reserve credit for reinsurance ceded (excluding yearly renewable term reinsurance and non-proportional reinsurance). These requirements include bona fide risk transfer, an insolvency clause, written agreements, and filing of reinsurance agreements involving in force business, among other things. Outside of the U.S., rules for reinsurance and requirements for minimum risk transfer are less specific and are less likely to be published as rules, but nevertheless standards can be imposed to varying extents.
U.S. Valuation of Life Policies Model Regulation (commonly referred to as Regulation XXX), implemented in the U.S. for various types of life insurance business, significantly increased the level of reserves that U.S. life insurance and life reinsurance companies must hold on their statutory financial statements for various types of life insurance business, primarily certain level premium term life products. The reserve levels required under Regulation XXX are normally in excess of reserves required under GAAP. In situations where primary insurers have reinsured business to reinsurers that are unlicensed and unaccredited in the U.S., the reinsurer must provide collateral equal to its reinsurance reserves in order for the ceding company to receive statutory financial statement credit. Reinsurers have historically utilized letters of credit for the benefit of the ceding company, or have placed assets in trust for the benefit of the ceding company, or have used other structures as the primary forms of collateral.
RGA Reinsurance is the primary subsidiary of the Company subject to Regulation XXX. In order to manage the effect of Regulation XXX on its statutory financial statements, RGA Reinsurance has retroceded a majority of Regulation XXX reserves to unaffiliated and affiliated unlicensed reinsurers and special purpose reinsurers, or captives. RGA Reinsurance’s statutory capital may be significantly reduced if the unaffiliated or affiliated reinsurer is unable to provide the required collateral to support RGA Reinsurance’s statutory reserve credits and RGA Reinsurance cannot find an alternative source for the collateral. The NAIC has requirements for life insurers using special purpose reinsurers. While RGA Reinsurance’s reserve financing arrangements using special purpose reinsurers or “captive reinsurers” are permitted, the rules place limitations on RGA Reinsurance’s ability to utilize captive reinsurers to finance reserve growth related to future business. Such limitations have caused the Company to utilize alternative retrocession strategies, primarily involving the use of a certified reinsurer as discussed below.
RGA Reinsurance, Chesterfield Re, Parkway Re, Rockwood Re, Castlewood Re and RCM prepare statutory financial statements in conformity with accounting practices prescribed or permitted by the State of Missouri. Timberlake Re prepares statutory financial statements in conformity with accounting practices prescribed or permitted by the State of South Carolina. Aurora National prepares its statutory financial statements in conformity with accounting practices prescribed or permitted by the State of California. Each of these states require domestic insurance companies to prepare their statutory financial statements in accordance with the NAIC Accounting Practices and Procedures manual subject to any deviations permitted by each state’s insurance commissioner. The Company’s non-U.S. subsidiaries are subject to the regulations and reporting requirements of their respective countries of domicile.
Based on the growth of the Company’s business and the pattern of reserve levels under Regulation XXX associated with term life business and other statutory reserve requirements, the amount of ceded reserve credits is expected to grow, albeit at slower rates than in the immediate past. This growth will require the Company to obtain additional letters of credit, put additional assets in trust, or utilize other funding mechanisms to support reserve credits. If the Company is unable to support the reserve credits, the regulatory capital levels of several of its subsidiaries may be significantly reduced, while the regulatory capital requirements for these subsidiaries would not change. The reduction in regulatory capital could affect the Company’s ability to write new business and retain existing business.
Affiliated captives are commonly used in the insurance industry to help manage statutory reserve and collateral requirements and are often domiciled in the same state as the insurance company that sponsors the captive. The NAIC has analyzed the insurance industry’s use of affiliated captive reinsurers to satisfy certain reserve requirements and has adopted measures to promote uniformity in both the approval and supervision of such reinsurers. Current standards addressing the use of captive reinsurers allow captives organized prior to 2016 to continue in accordance with their currently approved plans. State insurance regulators that regulate the Company’s domestic insurance companies have placed additional restrictions on the use of newly established captive reinsurers, which may increase costs and add complexity. As a result, the Company may need to alter the type and volume of business it reinsures, increase prices on those products, raise additional capital to support higher regulatory reserves or implement higher cost strategies.
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In the U.S., the introduction of the certified reinsurer has provided an alternative way to manage collateral requirements. In 2014, RGA Americas was designated as a certified reinsurer by the MDOI. This designation allows the Company to retrocede business to RGA Americas in lieu of using captives for collateral requirements. Beginning 2017, the NAIC approved principles-based reserving for U.S. insurers, however implementation required approval by the states. To achieve this, the NAIC amended the standard valuation law to adopt life principles-based reserving that was effective January 1, 2017, allowing a three-year adoption period. The Company continues to evaluate the impact of the new requirements and expects to begin implementation in 2019. The Company has chosen not to establish captives subject to the new regulations as it evaluates the impact of the regulations on new captives, and how these new captives fit into the Company’s overall risk management and financing programs.
Reinsurers may place assets in trust to satisfy collateral requirements for certain treaties. In addition, the Company holds securities in trust to satisfy collateral requirements under certain third-party reinsurance treaties. Under certain conditions in some treaties, the Company may be obligated to move reinsurance from one subsidiary of RGA to another subsidiary, post additional collateral for the ceding insurer or allow the ceding insurer to cancel the reinsurance. These conditions include change in control, level of capital or ratings of the subsidiary, insolvency, nonperformance under a treaty, or loss of the subsidiary’s reinsurance license. If the Company is ever required to perform under these obligations, the risk to the consolidated company under the reinsurance treaties would not change; however, additional capital may be required due to the change in jurisdiction of the subsidiary reinsuring the business and may create a strain on liquidity, possibly causing a reduction in dividend payments or hampering the Company’s ability to write new business or retain existing business. In the event of termination of a treaty the future profits as to that treaty may be lost.
Capital Requirements
Risk-Based Capital (“RBC”) guidelines promulgated by the NAIC are applicable to RGA Reinsurance, RCM, Aurora National and Chesterfield Re, and identify minimum capital requirements based upon business levels and asset mix. These subsidiaries maintain capital levels in excess of the amounts required by the applicable guidelines. Timberlake Re, Parkway Re, Rockwood Re and Castlewood Re’s capital requirements are determined solely by their licensing orders issued by their states of domicile. Pursuant to its licensing order issued by the South Carolina Department of Insurance, Timberlake Re only calculates RBC as a means of demonstrating its ability to pay principal and interest on its surplus note issued to Timberlake Financial, L.L.C. (“Timberlake Financial”). It is not otherwise subject to the RBC guidelines. Similarly, Parkway Re, Rockwood Re and Castlewood Re are not subject to the requirements of the NAIC’s RBC guidelines. A decline in the RBC of one or more of the Company’s U.S. insurers can cause the appearance of less capitalization in its U.S. insurers, individually, or when considered as a group.
The development of a group capital calculation by the NAIC will also have relevance to RGA Reinsurance, RCM, Aurora National and Chesterfield Re along with captive reinsurers Timberlake Re, Parkway Re, Rockwood Re and Castlewood Re. While the NAIC is still working on its calculation and has not yet articulated the ways in which it intends U.S. states to use the calculation, the calculation is expected to be used to assess the adequacy of capital within an insurance group domiciled in the U.S., particularly where the group is designated an internationally active insurance group (“IAIG”) by the group supervisor. The Company cannot currently predict the effect that any proposed or future group capital standard will have on its financial condition or operations or the financial condition or operations of its subsidiaries.
Regulations in international jurisdictions also require certain minimum capital levels, and subject the companies operating in such jurisdictions, to oversight by the applicable regulatory bodies. RGA’s subsidiaries meet the minimum capital requirements in their respective jurisdictions. The International Association of Insurance Supervisors continues work on its insurance capital standard. While the insurance capital standard is a model for capital standards and not a standard that must be followed on its own in any jurisdiction, it is likely to influence capital requirements for insurers around the world leading to a need for additional capital in one or more of RGA’s subsidiaries. The Company cannot predict the effect that any proposed or future legislation or rulemaking in the countries in which it operates may have on the financial condition or operations of the Company or its subsidiaries.
Insurance Holding Company Regulations
RGA Reinsurance, Chesterfield Re, Parkway Re, Rockwood Re, Castlewood Re and RCM are subject to regulation under the insurance and insurance holding company statutes of Missouri. Aurora National is subject to regulation under the insurance and insurance holding company statutes of California. These insurance holding company laws and regulations generally require insurance and reinsurance subsidiaries of insurance holding companies to register and file with the home state regulator certain reports describing, among other information, capital structure, ownership, financial condition, certain intercompany transactions, and general business operations. The insurance holding company statutes and regulations also require prior approval of, or in certain circumstances, prior notice to the home state regulator of, certain material intercompany transfers of assets, as well as certain transactions between insurance companies, their parent companies and affiliates.
Under current Missouri and California insurance laws and regulations, unless (i) certain filings are made with the home state regulator, (ii) certain requirements are met, including a public hearing, and (iii) approval or exemption is granted by the home state regulator, no person may acquire any voting security or security convertible into a voting security of an insurance holding company, such as RGA, which controls a domestic insurance company, or merge with such an insurance holding company, if as
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a result of such transaction such person would “control” the insurance holding company. “Control” is presumed to exist under Missouri law if a person directly or indirectly owns or controls 10% or more of the voting securities of another person. Revisions to the insurance holding company regulations of Missouri and California require increased disclosure to regulators of matters within the RGA group of companies.
Restrictions on Dividends and Distributions
Current Missouri law, applicable to RCM and its subsidiaries, RGA Reinsurance and Chesterfield Re, permits the payment of dividends or distributions that together with dividends or distributions paid during the preceding twelve months do not exceed the greater of (i) 10% of statutory capital and surplus as of the preceding December 31, or (ii) statutory net gain from operations for the preceding calendar year. Any proposed dividend in excess of this amount is considered an “extraordinary dividend” and may not be paid until it has been approved, or a 30-day waiting period has passed during which it has not been disapproved, by the Director of the MDOI. Additionally, dividends may be paid only to the extent the insurer has unassigned surplus (as opposed to contributed surplus). Historically, RGA has not relied upon dividends from its subsidiaries to fund its obligations. However, the regulatory limitations and other restrictions described herein could limit the Company’s financial flexibility in the future should it choose to or need to use subsidiary dividends as a funding source for its obligations. See Note 11 - “Financial Condition and Net Income on a Statutory Basis - Significant Subsidiaries” in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on the Company’s dividend restrictions.
The California Insurance Holding Company Act defines an extraordinary dividend consistent with the definition found in the Missouri Insurance Holding Company Act and imposes an identical restriction upon the ability of Aurora National to pay dividends to RGA Reinsurance. In contrast to both the Missouri and the California Insurance Holding Company Acts, the NAIC Model Insurance Holding Company System Regulatory Act defines an extraordinary dividend as a dividend or distribution that together with dividends or distributions paid during the preceding twelve months exceeds the lesser of (i) 10% of statutory capital and surplus as of the preceding December 31, or (ii) statutory net gain from operations for the preceding calendar year. The Company is unable to predict whether, when, or if, Missouri will enact a new regulation for extraordinary dividends.
Missouri insurance laws and regulations also require that the statutory surplus of Chesterfield Re, RCM and RGA Reinsurance following any dividend or distribution be reasonable in relation to their outstanding liabilities and adequate to meet their financial needs. The Director of the MDOI may call for a rescission of the payment of a dividend or distribution by these entities that would cause their statutory surplus to be inadequate under the standards of the Missouri insurance regulations. California insurance laws and regulations impose the same restrictions on Aurora National as to the dividends or distributions that are made.
Pursuant to the South Carolina Director of Insurance, Timberlake Re may declare dividends subject to a minimum Total Adjusted Capital threshold, as defined by the NAIC’s RBC regulation. As of December 31, 2018, Timberlake Re met the minimum required threshold. Any dividends paid by Timberlake Re would be paid to Timberlake Financial, which in turn is subject to contractual limitations on the amount of dividends it can pay to RCM.
Dividend payments from non-U.S. operations are subject to similar restrictions established by local regulators. The non-U.S. regulatory regimes also commonly limit the dividend payments to the parent to a portion of the prior year’s statutory income, as determined by the local accounting principles. The regulators of the Company’s non-U.S. operations may also limit or prohibit profit repatriations or other transfers of funds to the U.S. if such transfers are deemed to be detrimental to the solvency or financial strength of the non-U.S. operations, or for other reasons. Most of the non-U.S. operating subsidiaries are second tier subsidiaries that are owned by various non-U.S. holding companies. The capital and rating considerations applicable to the first tier subsidiaries may also impact the dividend flow to RGA.
Default or Liquidation
In the event that RGA defaults on any of its debt or other obligations, or becomes the subject of bankruptcy, liquidation, or reorganization proceedings, the creditors and stockholders of RGA will have no right to proceed against the assets of any of the subsidiaries of RGA. If any of RGA’s reinsurance subsidiaries were to be liquidated or dissolved, the liquidation or dissolution would be conducted in accordance with the rules and regulations of the appropriate governing body in the state or country of the subsidiary’s domicile. The creditors of any such reinsurance company, including, without limitation, holders of its reinsurance agreements and state guaranty associations (if applicable), would be entitled to payment in full from such assets before RGA, as a direct or indirect stockholder, would be entitled to receive any distributions or other payments from the remaining assets of the liquidated or dissolved subsidiary.
Federal Regulation
Since the 2010 enactment of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, there has been renewed interest by the U.S. federal government in the manner in which insurance and reinsurance is regulated. Under the Dodd-Frank Act, recent activity by the Federal Insurance Office within the U.S. Treasury Department has resulted in the negotiation of a “covered agreement” with the European Union. The covered agreement, while promoting the recognition of U.S. state insurance
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regulators as group supervisors of U.S.-based global reinsurers such as RGA, also provides for an elimination of the collateral that reinsurers based in the European Union must currently post in favor of U.S. ceding insurers. This agreement, coupled with new state credit for reinsurance laws, has the potential to lower the cost at which RGA Reinsurance’s competitors are able to provide reinsurance to U.S. insurers. Additionally under the Dodd-Frank Act, one or more of RGA’s client ceding insurers domiciled in the U.S. may from time-to-time be designated for solvency supervision by the Federal Reserve. Insurers can be designated systemically important so as to warrant the imposition of an additional layer of regulation over already existing state regulation. While it is not expected that any RGA entity would be deemed to be systemically important and become subject to this additional scrutiny, the reinsurance programs RGA maintains with the insurers so designated as systemically important are subject to scrutiny by the Federal Reserve. It is possible that more of RGA’s clients will be given this designation leading to additional scrutiny of those clients’ reinsurance programs by the Federal Reserve. With the regulation of some U.S. domiciled insurers by the U.S. government, it is possible that the scope of the federal government’s ability to regulate insurers and reinsurers will be expanded. It is not possible to predict the effect of such decisions or changes in law on the operation of the Company, but the Dodd-Frank Act makes it more likely than in the past that insurance or reinsurance may be regulated at the federal level. A shift in regulation from the state to the federal level may bring into question the continued validity of the McCarran-Ferguson Act, which exempts the “business of insurance” from most federal laws, including anti-trust laws. With the McCarran-Ferguson Act exemption for the business of insurance, a reinsurer may set rate, underwriting and claims handling standards for its ceding company clients to follow.
Environmental Considerations
Federal, state and local environmental laws and regulations apply to the Company’s ownership and operation of real property. Inherent in owning and operating real property are the risks of hidden environmental liabilities and the costs of any required clean-up. Under the laws of certain states, contamination of a property may give rise to a lien on the property to secure recovery of the costs of clean-up. In several states, this lien has priority over the lien of an existing mortgage against such property. In addition, in some states and under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (“CERCLA”), the Company may be liable, in certain circumstances, as an “owner” or “operator,” for costs of cleaning-up releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances at a property mortgaged to it. The Company also risks environmental liability when it forecloses on a property mortgaged to it, although federal legislation provides for a safe harbor from CERCLA liability for secured lenders that foreclose and sell the mortgaged real estate, provided that certain requirements are met. However, there are circumstances in which actions taken could still expose the Company to CERCLA liability. Application of various other federal and state environmental laws could also result in the imposition of liability on the Company for costs associated with environmental hazards.
The Company routinely conducts environmental assessments prior to taking title to real estate through foreclosure on real estate collateralizing mortgages that it holds. Although unexpected environmental liabilities can always arise, the Company seeks to minimize this risk by undertaking these environmental assessments and complying with its internal procedures, and as a result, the Company believes that any costs associated with compliance with environmental laws and regulations or any clean-up of properties would not have a material adverse effect on the Company’s results of operations.
International Regulation
RGA’s international insurance operations are principally regulated by insurance regulatory authorities in the jurisdictions in which they are located or operate branch offices. The regulation includes minimum capital, solvency and governance requirements. The authority of RGA’s international operations to conduct business is subject to licensing requirements, inspections and approvals and these authorizations are subject to modification and revocation. Periodic examinations of the insurance company books and records, financial reporting requirements, risk management processes and governance procedures are among the techniques used by regulators to supervise RGA’s non-U.S. insurance businesses. The regulators of RGA’s non-U.S. insurance companies and the California Department of Insurance are also invited to be part of the supervisory college held by the Missouri Department of Insurance, RGA’s group supervisor.
The Company’s subsidiaries domiciled in Bermuda are subject to extensive regulation and supervision by the Bermuda Monetary Authority (“BMA”). Such regulation includes rules regarding privacy, anti-money laundering, bank secrecy, anti-corruption and foreign asset control in addition to insurance regulation To that end, the BMA has broad powers to regulate business activities of the Company’s Bermuda domiciled subsidiaries, mandate capital and surplus requirements, regulate trade and claims practices and require strong enterprise risk management and corporate governance activities. The Company’s subsidiaries domiciled in Barbados are subject regulation and supervision by the Financial Services Commission in Barbados.
Much like the adoption of Dodd-Frank in the U.S., regulators around the world are reviewing the causes of the 2008 - 2009 financial crisis and considering ways to avoid similar problems in the future. A group leading this effort is the Financial Stability Board (“FSB”). The FSB consists of representatives of national financial authorities of the G20 nations. The G20 and the FSB and related governmental bodies have developed proposals to address issues such as group supervision, capital and solvency standards, systemic economic risk and corporate governance, including executive compensation and many other related issues associated with the financial crisis. At the direction of the FSB, the International Association of Insurance Supervisors
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(“IAIS”) is developing a model framework for the supervision of IAIG’s that contemplates “group-wide supervision” across national boundaries. RGA now qualifies as an IAIG bringing about requirements for RGA to conduct a group-wide risk and solvency assessment to monitor and manage its overall solvency. At this time RGA cannot predict what additional capital requirements, compliance costs or other burdens these requirements would impose on it, if adopted. There is also the potential for inconsistent or conflicting regulation of the RGA group of companies as lawmakers and regulators in multiple jurisdictions simultaneously pursue these initiatives.
Additionally, RGA International, operating in the European Economic Area (“EEA”), is subject to the Solvency II measures developed by the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority and will be required to abide by the evolving risk management practices, capital standards and disclosure requirements of the Solvency II framework. Additionally, the Company’s clients located in the EEA will need to abide by these standards in operating their insurance businesses, including the management of their ceded reinsurance. Currently, insurers and reinsurers located in the EEA are operating under Solvency II. The Company expects Solvency II to have a significant influence on not only the regulation of solvency measures applied to insurers and reinsurers operating within the EEA, but the Company also expects the solvency regulation measures to influence future regulatory structures of countries outside of the EEA, including Japan. Influences of the Solvency II - type framework are already present in the insurance regulation of Bermuda and China and currently influence the solvency measures imposed upon RGA Global and RGA Americas.
As a result of the 2016 Brexit referendum, under which the United Kingdom (“UK”) may exit the European Union during 2019, the regulatory approval of RGA International as a reinsurer of insurance business written by UK domiciled insurers remains susceptible to termination in or around March of 2019 until a formal agreement is approved. While it currently appears that any post Brexit insurance regulation in the UK will permit the separate registration of RGA International as a branch in the UK, there exists questions as to what requirements will be imposed upon reinsurers domiciled outside of the UK after implementation of the Brexit initiative (if it occurs).
New and proposed restrictions in many European and Asian countries on RGA’s ability to transfer data from one country to another also threaten to make its operations less efficient. Many of these restrictions either do not anticipate the processing of data for reinsurance purposes at all or place costly restrictions on the ability of a reinsurer to service its business by requiring processing to be done within the borders of the country in which the insured consumer resides.
Additionally, requirements effective in Indonesia limit the amount of insurance business that can be ceded to reinsurers not domiciled in that country. Requirements of this type are proposed from time-to-time in developing markets. These forced localization requirements have the impact of limiting the amount of reinsurance business RGA can conduct in those countries without the participation of a local reinsurer.
RGA expects the scope and extent of regulation outside of the U.S., as well as group regulatory oversight generally, to continue to increase.
Ratings
Insurer financial strength ratings, sometimes referred to as claims paying ratings, represent the opinions of rating agencies regarding the financial ability of an insurance company to meet its obligations under an insurance policy. The Company’s insurer financial strength ratings as of the date of this filing are listed in the table below for each rating agency that meets with the Company’s management on a regular basis. As of the date of this filing, all ratings listed below are on stable outlook.
Insurer Financial Strength Ratings | A.M. Best Company (1) | Moody’s Investors Service (2) | Standard & Poor’s (3) |
RGA Reinsurance Company | A+ | A1 | AA- |
RGA Life Reinsurance Company of Canada | A+ | Not Rated | AA- |
RGA International Reinsurance Company dac | Not Rated | Not Rated | AA- |
RGA Global Reinsurance Company, Ltd. | Not Rated | Not Rated | AA- |
RGA Reinsurance Company of Australia Limited | Not Rated | Not Rated | AA- |
RGA Americas Reinsurance Company, Ltd. | A+ | Not Rated | AA- |
RGA Atlantic Reinsurance Company Ltd. | A+ | Not Rated | Not Rated |
(1) | An A.M. Best Company (“A.M. Best”) insurer financial strength rating of “A+” (superior) is the second highest out of sixteen possible ratings and is assigned to companies that have, in A.M. Best’s opinion, a superior ability to meet their ongoing insurance obligations. |
(2) | A Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”) insurer financial strength rating of “A1” (good) is the fifth highest rating out of twenty-one possible ratings and indicates that Moody’s believes the insurance company offers good financial security; however, elements may be present which suggest a susceptibility to impairment sometime in the future. |
(3) | A Standard & Poor’s (“S&P”) insurer financial strength rating of “AA-” (very strong) is the fourth highest rating out of twenty-three possible ratings. According to S&P’s rating scale, a rating of “AA-” means that, in S&P’s opinion, the insurer has very strong financial security characteristics. |
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The ability to write reinsurance partially depends on a reinsurer’s financial condition and its financial strength ratings. These ratings are based on a company’s ability to pay policyholder obligations and are not directed toward the protection of investors. A ratings downgrade could adversely affect the Company’s ability to compete. See Item 1A – “Risk Factors” for more on the potential effects of a ratings downgrade.
Underwriting
Automatic. The Company’s management determines whether to write automatic reinsurance business by considering many factors, including the types of risks to be covered; the ceding company’s retention limit and binding authority, product, and pricing assumptions; and the ceding company’s underwriting standards, financial strength and distribution systems. For automatic business, the Company ensures that the underwriting standards, procedures and guidelines of its ceding companies are priced appropriately and consistent with the Company’s expectations. To this end, the Company conducts periodic reviews of the ceding companies’ underwriting and claims personnel and procedures.
Facultative. The Company has developed underwriting policies, procedures and standards with the objective of controlling the quality of business written as well as its pricing. The Company’s underwriting process emphasizes close collaboration between its underwriting, actuarial, and administration departments. Management periodically updates these underwriting policies, procedures, and standards to account for changing industry conditions, market developments, and changes occurring in the field of medical technology. These policies, procedures, and standards are documented in electronic underwriting manuals made available to all the Company’s underwriters. The Company regularly performs internal reviews of both its underwriters and underwriting process.
The Company’s management determines whether to accept facultative reinsurance business on a prospective insured by reviewing the application, medical information and other underwriting information appropriate to the age of the prospective insured and the face amount of the application. An assessment of medical and financial history follows with decisions based on underwriting knowledge, manual review and consultation with the Company’s medical directors as necessary. Many facultative applications involve individuals with multiple medical impairments, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes, which require a complex underwriting/mortality assessment. The Company employs medical directors and medical consultants to assist its underwriters in making these assessments.
Pricing
The Company has pricing actuaries dedicated in every geographic market and in every product category who develop reinsurance treaty rates following the Company’s policies, procedures and standards. Biometric assumptions are based primarily on the Company’s own mortality, morbidity and persistency experience, reflecting industry and client-specific experience. Economic and asset-related pricing assumptions are based on current and long-term market conditions and are developed by actuarial and investment personnel with appropriate experience and expertise. The Company’s view of short- and long-term risks are reflected in pricing consistent with its internal capital model. For transactional business with material day-one invested assets there is diligence on the expected asset portfolio that is reflected in the pricing assumption. For transactional business focusing on tail risk the Company has policies and procedures related to views on transaction-specific tail risk events. A transaction process ensures that the business reflects the input of internal areas of expertise in deal teams and has procedures for escalation based on the size and nature of the risks. Management has established a high-level oversight of the processes and results of these activities, which includes peer reviews in every market as well as centralized procedures and processes for reviewing and auditing pricing activities.
Operations
The Company’s business has been primarily obtained directly, rather than through brokers. The Company has an experienced sales and marketing staff that works to provide responsive service and maintain existing relationships.
The Company’s administration, auditing, valuation and finance departments are responsible for treaty compliance auditing, financial analysis of results, generation of internal management reports, and periodic audits of administrative and underwriting practices. A significant effort is focused on periodic audits of administrative and underwriting practices, and treaty compliance of clients.
The Company’s claims departments review and verify reinsurance claims, obtain the information necessary to evaluate claims, and arrange for timely claims payments. Claims are subjected to a detailed review process to ensure that the risk was properly ceded, the claim complies with the contract provisions, and the ceding company is current in the payment of reinsurance premiums to the Company. In addition, the claims departments monitor both specific claims and the overall claims handling procedures of ceding companies.
Customer Base
The Company provides reinsurance products primarily to the largest life insurance companies in the world. In 2018, the Company’s five largest clients generated approximately $2.2 billion or 19.5% of the Company’s gross premiums. In addition, 25 other clients each generated annual gross premiums of $100.0 million or more, and the aggregate gross premiums from these
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clients represented approximately 41.3% of the Company’s gross premiums. No individual client generated 10% or more of the Company’s total gross premiums. For the purpose of this disclosure, companies that are within the same insurance holding company structure are combined.
Competition
New reinsurance opportunities continue to be highly price competitive; however, winning this business also requires companies to be financially strong, provide flexible terms and conditions, have a positive reputation, deliver excellent service, and demonstrate experience in the types of business underwritten. The Company’s competition includes other reinsurance companies, other providers of financial services, and more recently, private equity firms. The Company believes that its primary global reinsurance competitors are the following, or their affiliates: Munich Re, Swiss Re, Hannover Re and SCOR Global Re. In addition, the Company may compete with Pacific Life, Prudential Financial, and Canada Life in select risk acquisition. Within the reinsurance industry, the competitors can change from year to year and by region.
Employees
As of December 31, 2018, the Company had 2,767 employees located throughout the world. We believe that our employee relations are satisfactory.
C. | Segments |
The Company obtains substantially all of its revenues through reinsurance agreements that cover a portfolio of life and health insurance products, including term life, credit life, universal life, whole life, group life and health, joint and last survivor insurance, critical illness, disability, longevity as well as asset-intensive (e.g., annuities) and financial reinsurance. Generally, the Company, through various subsidiaries, has provided reinsurance for mortality, morbidity, lapse and investment-related risks associated with such products. With respect to asset-intensive products, the Company has also provided reinsurance for investment-related risks.
Additional information regarding the operations of the Company’s segments and geographic operations is contained in Note 15 – “Segment Information” in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
U.S. and Latin America Operations
The U.S. and Latin America operations market traditional life and health reinsurance, reinsurance of asset-intensive products, and financial reinsurance, primarily to large U.S. life insurance companies. The U.S. and Latin America operations include business generated by its offices in the U.S., Mexico and Brazil. The offices in Mexico and Brazil provide services to clients in other Latin American countries.
Traditional Reinsurance
The U.S. and Latin America Traditional segment provides individual and group life and health reinsurance to domestic clients for a variety of products through yearly renewable term agreements, coinsurance, and modified coinsurance. This business has been accepted under many different rate scales, with rates often tailored to suit the underlying product and the needs of the ceding company. Premiums typically vary for smokers and non-smokers, males and females, and may include a preferred underwriting class discount. Reinsurance premiums are paid in accordance with the treaty, regardless of the premium mode for the underlying primary insurance. This business is made up of facultative and automatic treaty business.
Automatic business is generated pursuant to treaties that generally require the underlying policies to meet the ceding company’s underwriting criteria, although in certain cases such policies may be rated substandard. In contrast to facultative reinsurance, reinsurers do not engage in underwriting assessments of each risk assumed through an automatic treaty.
As the Company does not apply its underwriting standards to each policy ceded to it under automatic treaties, the U.S. and Latin America operations generally require ceding companies to retain a portion of the business written on an automatic basis, thereby increasing the ceding companies’ incentives to underwrite risks with due care and, when appropriate, to contest claims diligently.
The U.S. and Latin America facultative reinsurance operation involves the assessment of the risks inherent in (i) multiple impairments, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes; (ii) cases involving large policy face amounts; and (iii) financial risk cases (i.e. cases involving policies disproportionately large in relation to the financial characteristics of the proposed insured). The U.S. and Latin America operations’ marketing efforts have focused on developing facultative relationships with client companies because management believes facultative reinsurance represents a substantial segment of the reinsurance activity of many large insurance companies and also serves as an effective means of expanding the U.S. and Latin America operations’ automatic business.
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Only a portion of approved facultative applications ultimately result in reinsurance, as applicants for impaired risk policies often submit applications to several primary insurers, which in turn seek facultative reinsurance from several reinsurers. Ultimately, only one insurance company and one reinsurer are likely to obtain the business. The Company tracks the percentage of declined and placed facultative applications on a client-by-client basis and generally works with clients to seek to maintain such percentages at levels deemed acceptable. As the Company applies its underwriting standards to each application submitted to it facultatively, it generally does not require ceding companies to retain a portion of the underlying risk when business is written on a facultative basis.
In addition, several of the Company’s U.S. and Latin America clients have purchased life insurance policies insuring the lives of their executives. These policies have generally been issued to fund deferred compensation plans and have been reinsured with the Company.
Financial Solutions - Asset-Intensive Reinsurance
The Company’s U.S. and Latin America Asset-Intensive operations primarily concentrate on the investment risk within underlying annuities and corporate-owned life insurance policies. These reinsurance agreements are mostly structured as coinsurance, coinsurance with funds withheld, or modified coinsurance of primarily investment risk such that the Company recognizes profits or losses primarily from the spread between the investment earnings and the interest credited on the underlying annuity contract liabilities.
Annuities are normally limited by the size of the deposit from any single depositor. The Company also reinsures certain indexed annuities, variable annuity products that contain guaranteed minimum death or living benefits and corporate-owned life insurance products. Corporate-owned life insurance normally involves a large number of insureds associated with each deposit, and the Company’s underwriting guidelines limit the size of any single deposit. The individual policies associated with any single deposit are typically issued within pre-set guaranteed issue parameters.
The Company primarily targets U.S.-based highly rated, financially secure companies as clients for asset-intensive business. These companies may wish to limit their own exposure to certain products. Ongoing asset/liability analysis is required for the management of asset-intensive business. The Company performs this analysis internally, in conjunction with asset/liability analysis performed by the ceding companies.
Financial Solutions - Financial Reinsurance
The Company’s U.S. and Latin America Financial Reinsurance operations assist ceding companies in meeting applicable regulatory requirements while enhancing their financial strength and regulatory surplus position. The Company commits cash or assumes regulatory insurance liabilities from the ceding companies. In addition, the Company has committed to provide statutory reserve support to third-parties by funding loans if certain defined events occur. Generally, such amounts are offset by receivables from ceding companies that are repaid by the future profits from the reinsured block of business. The Company structures its financial reinsurance transactions so that the projected future profits of the underlying reinsured business significantly exceed the amount of regulatory surplus provided to the ceding company.
The Company primarily targets highly rated insurance companies for financial reinsurance due to the credit risk associated with this business. A careful analysis is performed before providing any regulatory surplus enhancement to the ceding company. This analysis is intended to ensure that the Company understands the risks of the underlying insurance product and that the transaction has a high likelihood of being repaid through the future profits of the underlying business. If the future profits of the business are not sufficient to repay the Company or if the ceding company becomes financially distressed and is unable to make payments under the treaty, the Company may incur losses. A staff of actuaries and accountants track experience for each treaty on a quarterly basis in comparison to models of expected results.
Customer Base
The U.S. and Latin America operations market life reinsurance primarily to the largest U.S. life insurance companies. The treaties underlying this business generally are terminable by either party on 90 days written notice, but only with respect to future new business. Existing business generally is not terminable, unless the underlying policies terminate or are recaptured. In 2018, the five largest clients generated approximately $1.8 billion or 28.6% of U.S. and Latin America operation’s gross premiums. In addition, 47 other clients each generated annual gross premiums of $20.0 million or more, and the aggregate gross premiums from these clients represented approximately 63.3% of U.S. and Latin America operation’s gross premiums. For the purpose of this disclosure, companies that are within the same insurance holding company structure are combined.
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Canada Operations
The Company operates in Canada primarily through RGA Canada. RGA Canada employs its own underwriting, actuarial, claims, pricing, accounting, systems, marketing and administrative staff in offices located in Montreal and Toronto.
Traditional Reinsurance
RGA Canada is a leading life reinsurer in Canada, based on new individual life insurance production. It assists clients with capital management and mortality and morbidity risk management and is primarily engaged in individual life reinsurance, and to a lesser extent creditor, group life and health, critical illness and disability reinsurance, through yearly renewable term and coinsurance agreements. Creditor insurance covers the outstanding balance on personal, mortgage or commercial loans in the event of death, disability or critical illness and is generally shorter in duration than individual life insurance.
The business is generally composed of facultative and automatic treaty business. Automatic business is generated pursuant to treaties that generally require the underlying policies to meet the ceding company’s underwriting criteria, although in certain cases such policies may be rated substandard. In contrast to facultative reinsurance, reinsurers do not engage in underwriting assessments of each risk assumed through an automatic treaty.
RGA Canada generally requires ceding companies to retain a portion of the business written on an automatic basis, thereby increasing the ceding companies’ incentives to underwrite risks with due care and, when appropriate, to contest claims diligently.
Facultative reinsurance involves the assessment of the risks from a medical and financial perspective. RGA Canada is recognized as a leader in facultative reinsurance, and this has served to maintain a strong market share on automatic business.
RGA Canada supports over half the companies active in the living benefits and in the group insurance markets. Solid claims management expertise and innovative product development capabilities support a growing share of these markets.
Financial Solutions
The Canada Financial Solutions segment concentrates on assisting clients with longevity risk transfer structures within underlying annuities and pension benefit obligations, and on assisting clients in meeting applicable regulatory requirements while enhancing their financial strength and regulatory surplus position through financial reinsurance structures.
Customer Base
Clients include most of the life insurers in Canada, although the number of life insurers is much smaller compared to the U.S. In 2018, the five largest clients generated approximately $644.1 million or 57.8% of Canada operation’s gross premiums. In addition, 11 other clients each generated annual gross premiums of $20.0 million or more, and the aggregate gross premiums from these clients represented approximately 37.9% of Canada operation’s gross premiums. For the purpose of this disclosure, companies that are within the same insurance holding company structure are combined.
Europe, Middle East and Africa Operations
The Europe, Middle East and Africa (“EMEA”) operations serve clients from subsidiaries, licensed branch offices and/or representative offices primarily located in France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Middle East, the Netherlands, Poland, South Africa, Spain and the UK. EMEA’s office in the Middle East is located in the United Arab Emirates (“UAE”).
EMEA’s operations in the UK, Continental Europe, South Africa and the Middle East employ their own underwriting, actuarial, claims, pricing, accounting, marketing and administration staffs with additional support services provided by the Company’s staff in the U.S. and Canada.
Traditional Reinsurance
The principal types of reinsurance for this segment include individual and group life and health, critical illness, disability and underwritten annuities. Traditional reinsurance in the UK, South Africa, Italy and Germany consists predominantly of long term contracts, which are not terminable for existing risk without recapture or natural expiry, whereas in other markets within the region contracts are predominantly short term, renewing annually.
Financial Solutions
The principal types of reinsurance for this segment include longevity, asset-intensive and financial reinsurance. Longevity reinsurance takes the form of closed block annuity reinsurance and longevity swap structures. Asset-intensive business for this segment consists of coinsurance of payout annuities. Financial reinsurance assists ceding companies in meeting applicable regulatory requirements while enhancing their financial strength. These transactions do not qualify as reinsurance under U.S. GAAP, due to low risk nature of transactions and are reported in accordance with deposit accounting guidelines.
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Customer Base
In 2018, the five largest clients generated approximately $838.4 million or 46.9% of EMEA operation’s gross premiums. In addition, 18 other clients each generated annual gross premiums of $20.0 million or more, and the aggregate gross premiums from these clients represented approximately 34.1% of EMEA operation’s gross premiums. For the purpose of this disclosure, companies that are within the same insurance holding company structure are combined.
Asia Pacific Operations
The Asia Pacific operations serve clients from subsidiaries, licensed branch offices and/or representative offices in Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.
The Asian offices provide full reinsurance services with additional support services provided by the Company’s staff in the U.S. and Canada. In addition, a regional team based in Hong Kong has been established in recent years to provide support to the Asian offices to accommodate business growth in the region. RGA Australia employs its own underwriting, actuarial, claims, pricing, accounting, systems, marketing, and administration service with additional support provided by the Company’s U.S. and International Division Sydney offices.
Traditional Reinsurance
The principal types of reinsurance for this segment include individual and group life and health, critical illness, disability and superannuation through yearly renewable term and coinsurance agreements. The reinsurance of critical illness coverage provides a benefit in the event of the diagnosis of pre-defined critical illness. Disability reinsurance provides income replacement benefits in the event the policyholder becomes disabled due to accident or illness. Superannuation is the Australian government mandated compulsory retirement savings program. Superannuation funds accumulate retirement funds for employees, and, in addition, typically offer life and disability insurance coverage. Reinsurance agreements may be either facultative or automatic agreements covering primarily individual risks and, in some markets, group risks.
Financial Solutions
The Financial Solutions segment includes financial reinsurance, asset-intensive and certain disability and life blocks. Financial reinsurance assists ceding companies in meeting applicable regulatory requirements while enhancing their financial strength. These transactions do not qualify as reinsurance under GAAP, due to low risk nature of transactions and are reported in accordance with deposit accounting guidelines. Asset-intensive business for this segment primarily concentrates on the investment risk within underlying annuities and life insurance policies. These reinsurance agreements are mostly structured to take on investment risk such that the Company recognizes profits or losses primarily from the spread between the investment earnings and the interest credited on the underlying annuity contract liabilities.
Customer Base
In 2018, the five largest clients generated approximately $1,074.4 million or 45.8% of Asia Pacific operation’s gross premiums. In addition, 18 other clients each generated annual gross premiums of $20.0 million or more, and the aggregate gross premiums from these clients represented approximately 35.8% of Asia Pacific operation’s gross premiums. For the purpose of this disclosure, companies that are within the same insurance holding company structure are combined.
Corporate and Other
Corporate and Other revenues primarily include investment income from unallocated invested assets, investment related gains and losses and service fees. Corporate and Other expenses consist of the offset to capital charges allocated to the operating segments within the policy acquisition costs and other insurance income line item, unallocated overhead and executive costs, interest expense related to debt, and the investment income and expense associated with the Company’s collateral finance and securitization transactions and service business expenses. Additionally, Corporate and Other includes results from certain wholly-owned subsidiaries, such as RGAx, and joint ventures that, among other activities, develop and market technology, and provide consulting and outsourcing solutions for the insurance and reinsurance industries. In the past two years, the Company has increased its investment and expenditures in this area in an effort to both support its clients and generate new future revenue streams.
D. | Financial Information About Foreign Operations |
The Company’s foreign operations are primarily in Canada, the Asia Pacific region, Europe, and South Africa. Revenue, income (loss) before income taxes, which include investment related gains (losses), interest expense, depreciation and amortization, and identifiable assets attributable to these geographic regions are identified in Note 15 – “Segment Information” in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements. Although there are risks inherent to foreign operations, such as currency fluctuations and restrictions on the movement of funds, as described in Item 1A – “Risk Factors”, the Company’s financial position and results of operations have not been materially adversely affected thereby to date.
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E. | Available Information |
Copies of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports are available free of charge through the Company’s website (www.rgare.com) as soon as reasonably practicable after the Company electronically files such reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission (www.sec.gov). Information provided on such websites does not constitute part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
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Item 1A. RISK FACTORS
In the Risk Factors below, we refer to the Company as “we,” “us,” or “our.” Investing in our securities involves certain risks. Any of the following risks could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. These risks are not exclusive, and additional risks to which we are subject include, but are not limited to, the factors mentioned under “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” in Item 7 below and the risks of our businesses described elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Many of these risks are interrelated and occur under similar business and economic conditions, and the occurrence of certain of them may in turn cause the emergence, or exacerbate the effect, of others. Such a combination could materially increase the severity of the impact on our business, liquidity, financial condition and results of operations.
Risks Related to Our Business
We make assumptions when pricing our products relating to mortality, morbidity, lapsation, investment returns and expenses, and significant deviations in experience could negatively affect our financial condition and results of operations.
Our life reinsurance contracts expose us to mortality risk, which is the risk that the level of death claims may differ from that which we assumed in pricing our reinsurance contracts. Some of our annuity and pension reinsurance contracts expose us to longevity risk, which is the risk that the length of time we pay annuity or pension benefits may exceed that which we assumed in pricing our reinsurance contracts. Some of our reinsurance contracts expose us to morbidity risk, which is the risk that the claims we pay if an insured person becomes critically ill or disabled differ from that which we assumed in pricing our reinsurance contracts. Our risk analysis and underwriting processes are designed with the objective of controlling the quality of the business and establishing appropriate pricing for the risks we assume. Among other things, these processes rely heavily on our underwriting, our analysis of mortality, longevity and morbidity trends, lapse rates, expenses and our understanding of medical impairments and their effect on mortality, longevity or morbidity.
We expect mortality, longevity, morbidity and lapse experience to fluctuate somewhat from period to period, but believe they should remain reasonably predictable over a period of many years. Mortality, longevity, morbidity or lapse experience that is less favorable than the rates that we used in pricing a reinsurance agreement may cause our net income to be less than otherwise expected because the premiums we receive for the risks we assume may not be sufficient to cover the claims and profit margin. Furthermore, even if the total benefits paid over the life of the contract do not exceed the expected amount, unexpected increases in the incidence of deaths or illness can cause us to pay more benefits in a given reporting period than expected, adversely affecting our net income in any particular reporting period. Likewise, adverse experience could impair our ability to offset certain unamortized deferred acquisition costs and adversely affect our net income in any particular reporting period. We perform annual tests to establish that deferred policy acquisition costs remain recoverable at all times. These tests require us to make a significant number of assumptions. If our financial performance significantly deteriorates to the point where a premium deficiency exists, a cumulative charge to current operations will be recorded, which may adversely affect our net income in a particular reporting period.
We regularly review our reserves and associated assumptions as part of our ongoing assessment of our business performance and risks. If we conclude that our reserves are insufficient to cover actual or expected policy and contract benefits and claim payments as a result of changes in experience, assumptions or otherwise, we would be required to increase our reserves and incur charges in the period in which we make the determination. The amounts of such increases may be significant and this could materially adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations and may require us to generate or fund additional capital in our businesses.
Our financial condition and results of operations may also be adversely affected if our actual investment returns and expenses differ from our pricing and reserve assumptions. Changes in economic conditions may lead to changes in market interest rates or changes in our investment strategies, either of which could cause our actual investment returns and expenses to differ from our pricing and reserve assumptions.
Changes in accounting standards may adversely affect our reported results of operations and financial condition.
The Company’s consolidated financial statements are prepared in conformity with GAAP. If we are required to adopt revised accounting standards in the future, it may adversely affect our reported results of operations and financial condition. For a discussion of the impact of accounting pronouncements issued but not yet implemented, see Item 8. “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data - Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements - Note 2 Significant Accounting Policies and Pronouncements”. In August 2018, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued guidance that will significantly change the accounting for long-duration insurance contracts. This guidance will become effective for the Company on January 1, 2021. We are still evaluating the impact this guidance will have on our consolidated financial statements, but it could negatively impact our reported profitability, financial position and financial ratios. In addition, the required adoption of new accounting standards may result in significant incremental costs associated with initial implementation and ongoing compliance.
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Our reinsurance subsidiaries are highly regulated, and changes in these regulations could negatively affect our business.
Our reinsurance subsidiaries are subject to government regulation in each of the jurisdictions in which they are licensed or authorized to do business. Governmental agencies have broad administrative power to regulate many aspects of the reinsurance business, which may include reinsurance terms and capital adequacy. These agencies are concerned primarily with the protection of policyholders and their direct insurers rather than shareholders or holders of debt securities of reinsurance companies. Moreover, insurance laws and regulations, among other things, establish minimum capital requirements and limit the amount of dividends, tax distributions and other payments our reinsurance subsidiaries can make without prior regulatory approval, and impose restrictions on the amount and type of investments we may hold. The MDOI, our insurance group supervisor, also regulates our reinsurance subsidiaries as members of an insurance holding company system. The regulation of our reinsurance subsidiaries in this way necessitates restrictions upon RGA as the ultimate parent of these entities.
Over the past several years, insurance regulators have increased their scrutiny of insurance holding company systems both within and outside of the U.S. During 2018, the Company first met the criteria necessary to be identified as an “Internationally Active Insurance Group.” While the full impact of this designation has yet to be determined by regulators, it is clear that one aspect of such designation will be the continued emphasis of the supervisory college in which insurance regulators who are charged with supervising the solvency of one or more of the Company’s insurance subsidiaries meet and discuss the Company’s operations and solvency as a group. These efforts are coordinated and led by the MDOI as group supervisor, but involve input from all insurance regulators that directly supervise the Company’s significant reinsurance subsidiaries. Much of the additional scrutiny under insurance holding company regulatory acts and designation as an International Active Insurance Group is on activities of the insurance company’s entire group, which includes the group’s parent company and any non-insurance subsidiaries. While the laws have not extended direct regulation to RGA and its non-insurance subsidiaries, the manner in which the insurance regulators regulate our reinsurance subsidiaries may influence the activities of all other entities within the Company. Insurance holding company system regulatory acts in the U.S. now provide for an expanded supervision of insurance groups operating in the U.S, including a review of enterprise risk management programs as well as expanded review of agreements between licensed insurers and their group members. Missouri, Arizona and California have each adopted these new standards as law.
The IAIS is in the process of developing the Common Framework for Supervision of Internationally Active Insurance Groups, or “ComFrame.” It is possible that ComFrame could lead to enhanced supervision of and higher capital standards for the Company on a global basis if the IAIS, the NAIC and the U.S. states adopt the proposed provisions or provisions similar to those proposed. While it is not yet known how or the extent to which these measures will impact us, such measures could result in increased costs of compliance, additional disclosure and less flexibility in capital management, which could adversely impact our business and results of operations. Additionally, the NAIC is developing a group capital calculation to be used as an analytical tool applied to U.S.-based insurance groups. The group capital calculation would be used in addition to the risk-based capital requirement that is applied on a legal entity level basis in the U.S. The group capital calculation has the potential to increase the amount of capital that an insurer or reinsurer is required to have and could result in the Company being subject to increased regulatory requirements.
At the U.S. federal level, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act established a Financial Stability Oversight Council to identify financial institutions, including insurers and reinsurers, which are systemically important to the U.S. financial system. From time to time, one or more of our client insurance companies may be designated systemically important. Such designations could impact us through additional scrutiny of the client’s reinsurance programs with us, including a consideration of the volume of business ceded by the insurer to us. We do not currently anticipate that the Financial Stability Oversight Council will find RGA or any of our U.S. subsidiaries to be systemically important, but such a finding could ultimately subject the identified entity to additional capital requirements based on business levels and asset mix and other supervision. Such additional scrutiny might also impact our ability to pay dividends. Moreover, more stringent restrictions may be adopted from time to time in other jurisdictions in which our reinsurance subsidiaries are domiciled, which could, under certain circumstances, significantly reduce or restrict dividends or other amounts payable to us by our subsidiaries unless they obtain approval from insurance regulatory authorities. We cannot predict the effect that any recommendations of the NAIC or proposed or future legislation or rule-making in the U.S. or elsewhere may have on our business, financial condition or results of operations.
We operate in many jurisdictions around the world and a substantial portion of our operations occur outside of the United States. These international businesses are subject to the insurance, tax and other laws and regulations in the countries in which they are organized and in which they operate. These laws and regulations may apply heightened scrutiny to non-domestic companies, which can adversely affect our operations, liquidity, profitability and regulatory capital. Foreign governments and regulatory bodies from time to time consider legislation and regulations that could subject us to new or different requirements and such changes could negatively impact our operations in the relevant jurisdictions. Certain of our subsidiaries are subject to the Solvency II measures developed by the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority and are required to abide by the evolving risk management practices, capital standards and disclosure requirements of the Solvency II framework. We may also be subject to similar solvency regulations in other regions, such as Bermuda and China, where influences of the Solvency II - type framework are already present in the insurance regulation, and Japan. See “Regulation - International Regulation” in Item 1, Business. There can be no assurance at this time that Solvency II and such similar solvency regulations will not result in broader consequences to
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the Company or negatively impact our business, financial condition or results of operations. We also expect to adopt new International Financial Reporting Standards for insurance contracts in many jurisdictions in which our subsidiaries operate effective in 2022. While we expect the adoption of these standards to create implementation demands, we are still evaluating the new requirements and it is unclear what impact there will be in the financial positions of the affected subsidiaries.
A downgrade in our ratings or in the ratings of our reinsurance subsidiaries could adversely affect our ability to compete.
Our financial strength and credit ratings are important factors in our competitive position. Rating organizations periodically review the financial performance and condition of insurers, including our reinsurance subsidiaries. These ratings are based on an insurance company’s ability to pay its obligations and are not directed toward the protection of investors. Rating organizations assign ratings based upon several factors. While most of the factors considered relate to the rated company, some of the factors relate to general economic conditions and circumstances outside the rated company’s control. The various rating agencies periodically review and evaluate our capital adequacy in accordance with their established guidelines and capital models. In order to maintain our existing ratings, we may commit from time to time to manage our capital at levels commensurate with such guidelines and models. If our capital levels are insufficient to fulfill any such commitments, we could be required to reduce our risk profile by, for example, retroceding some of our business or by raising additional capital by issuing debt, hybrid or equity securities. Any such actions could have a material adverse impact on our earnings or materially dilute our shareholders’ equity ownership interests.
Any downgrade in the ratings of our reinsurance subsidiaries could adversely affect their ability to sell products, retain existing business, and compete for attractive acquisition opportunities. The ability of our subsidiaries to write reinsurance partially depends on their financial condition and is influenced by their ratings. Ratings are subject to revision or withdrawal at any time by the assigning rating organization. A rating is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold securities, and each rating should be evaluated independently of any other rating.
We believe that the rating agencies consider the financial strength and flexibility of a parent company and its consolidated operations when assigning a rating to a particular subsidiary of that company. A downgrade in the rating or outlook of RGA, among other factors, could adversely affect our ability to raise and then contribute capital to our subsidiaries for the purpose of facilitating their operations and growth. A downgrade could also increase our own cost of capital. For example, the facility fee and interest rate for our syndicated revolving credit facility are based on our senior long-term debt ratings. A decrease in those ratings could result in an increase in costs for that credit facility and others. Also, if there is a downgrade in the rating of RGA, or any of our rated subsidiaries, some of our reinsurance contracts would either permit our client ceding insurers to terminate such reinsurance contracts or require us to post collateral to secure our obligations under these reinsurance contracts. Accordingly, we believe a ratings downgrade of RGA, or any of our rated subsidiaries, could have a negative effect on our ability to conduct business.
We cannot assure you that actions taken by ratings agencies would not result in a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. In addition, it is unclear what effect, if any, a ratings change would have on the price of our securities in the secondary market.
The availability and cost of collateral, including letters of credit, asset trusts and other credit facilities, as well as regulatory changes relating to the use of captive insurance companies, could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.
Regulatory reserve requirements in various jurisdictions in which we operate may be significantly higher than the reserves required under GAAP. Accordingly, we reinsure, or retrocede, business to affiliated and unaffiliated reinsurers to reduce the amount of regulatory reserves and capital we are required to hold in certain jurisdictions.
A regulation in the U.S., commonly referred to as Regulation XXX, requires a relatively high level of regulatory, or statutory, reserves that U.S. life insurance and life reinsurance companies must hold on their statutory financial statements for various types of life insurance business, primarily certain level term life products. The reserve levels required under Regulation XXX increase over time and are normally in excess of reserves required under GAAP. The degree to which these reserves will increase and the ultimate level of reserves will depend upon the mix of our business and future production levels in the U.S. Based on the assumed rate of growth in our current business plan, and the increasing level of regulatory reserves associated with some of this business, we expect the amount of our required regulatory reserves to grow significantly.
In order to reduce the effect of Regulation XXX, our principal U.S. operating subsidiary, RGA Reinsurance Company, has retroceded Regulation XXX-related reserves to affiliated and unaffiliated reinsurers, including affiliated insurers governed by captive insurance laws. Additionally, some of our reinsurance subsidiaries in foreign jurisdictions enter into various reinsurance arrangements with affiliated and unaffiliated reinsurers from time to time in order to reduce statutory capital and reserve requirements.
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During 2013 and 2014, U.S. state insurance regulators reviewed the life insurance industries’ use of affiliated captive reinsurers to satisfy certain reserve requirements. As a result of this review, measures were adopted and implemented in 2015 to promote uniformity in both the approval and supervision of such reinsurers. These standards allow current captives to continue in accordance with their previously approved plans, but place restrictions on the use of such captive reinsurers for new programs making them less effective than previous captive programs. As a result, captive reinsurance has become less a part of our reserve growth financing than earlier. It is also possible that additional restrictions could be introduced and this could further limit our ability to reinsure certain products, maintain risk based capital ratios and deploy excess capital. As a result, we may need to alter the type and volume of business we reinsure, increase prices on those products, raise additional capital to support higher regulatory reserves or implement higher cost strategies, all of which could adversely impact our competitive position and our financial condition and results of operations. We cannot estimate the impact of discontinuing or altering our captive strategy in response to potential regulatory changes due to many unknown variables such as the cost and availability of alternative capital, potential changes in regulatory reserve requirements under a principle-based reserving approach, changes in acceptable collateral for statutory reserves, the potential introduction of the concept of a “certified reinsurer” in the laws and regulations of certain jurisdictions where we operate, the potential for increased pricing of products offered by us and the potential change in the mix of products sold or offered by us or our clients.
Recently, the U.S. and the European Union negotiated a covered agreement under the authority provided in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The covered agreement is a bilateral trade agreement under which both the U.S. and the member countries of the European Union agreed to eliminate collateral for reinsurance cessions from insurers domiciled in their home jurisdiction to reinsurers domiciled in the foreign jurisdiction, accept each other’s regulators as the group supervisor and rely on the group capital calculation at use in the insurer’s/reinsurer’s home jurisdiction. It is unclear as to how the U.S. regulators will implement the terms of the covered agreement, but it is possible that the certified reinsurer concept could be altered or eliminated in U.S. reinsurance reserve credit regulation. Such alteration or elimination may impact the cost or the availability of alternative capital, which may or may not be offset by the reduction in collateral that may ultimately result from the covered agreement.
As a general matter, for us to reduce regulatory reserves on business that we retrocede, the affiliated or unaffiliated reinsurer must provide an equal amount of regulatory-compliant collateral. Such collateral may be provided in the form of a letter of credit from a commercial bank, through the placement of assets in trust for our benefit, or through a capital markets securitization.
In connection with these reserve requirements, we face the following risks:
• | The availability of collateral and the related cost of such collateral in the future could affect the type and volume of business we reinsure and could increase our costs. |
• | We may need to raise additional capital to support higher regulatory reserves, which could increase our overall cost of capital. |
• | If we, or our retrocessionaires, are unable to obtain or provide sufficient collateral to support our statutory ceded reserves, we may be required to increase regulatory reserves. In turn, this reserve increase could significantly reduce our statutory capital levels and adversely affect our ability to satisfy required regulatory capital levels, unless we are able to raise additional capital to contribute to our operating subsidiaries. |
• | Because term life insurance is a particularly price-sensitive product, any increase in insurance premiums charged on these products by life insurance companies, in order to compensate them for the increased statutory reserve requirements or higher costs of insurance they face, may result in a significant loss of volume in their life insurance operations, which could, in turn, adversely affect our life reinsurance operations. |
We cannot assure you that we will be able to implement actions to mitigate the effect of increasing regulatory reserve requirements.
In addition, we maintain credit and letter of credit facilities with various financial institutions as a potential source of collateral and excess liquidity. Our ability to utilize these facilities is conditioned on our satisfaction of covenants and other requirements contained in the facilities. Our ability to utilize these facilities is also subject to the continued willingness and ability of the lenders to provide funds or issue letters of credit. Our failure to comply with the covenants in these facilities, or the failure of the lenders to meet their commitments, would restrict our ability to access these facilities when needed, adversely affecting our liquidity, financial condition and results of operations.
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Changes in the equity markets, interest rates and volatility affect the profitability of variable annuities with guaranteed living benefits that we reinsure, which may have a material adverse effect on our business and profitability.
We reinsure variable annuity products that include guaranteed minimum living benefits. These include guaranteed minimum withdrawal benefits, guaranteed minimum accumulation benefits and guaranteed minimum income benefits. The amount of reserves related to these benefits is based on their fair value and is affected by changes in equity markets, interest rates and volatility. Accordingly, strong equity markets, increases in interest rates and decreases in volatility will generally decrease the fair value of the liabilities underlying the benefits.
Conversely, a decrease in the equity markets along with a decrease in interest rates and an increase in volatility will generally result in an increase in the fair value of the liabilities underlying the benefits, which increases the amount of reserves that we must carry. Such an increase in reserves would result in a charge to our earnings in the quarter in which we increase our reserves. We maintain a customized dynamic hedge program that is designed to mitigate the risks associated with income volatility around the change in reserves on guaranteed benefits. However, the hedge positions may not be effective to fully offset the changes in the carrying value of the guarantees due to, among other things, the time lag between changes in such values and corresponding changes in the hedge positions, high levels of volatility in the equity and derivatives markets, extreme swings in interest rates, contract holder behavior different than expected, and divergence between the performance of the underlying funds and hedging indices. These factors, individually or collectively, may have a material adverse effect on our liquidity, capital levels, financial condition or results of operations.
RGA is an insurance holding company, and our ability to pay principal, interest and dividends on securities is limited.
RGA is an insurance holding company, with our principal assets consisting of the stock of our reinsurance company subsidiaries, and substantially all of our income is derived from those subsidiaries. Our ability to pay principal and interest on any debt securities or dividends on any preferred or common stock depends, in part, on the ability of our reinsurance company subsidiaries, our principal sources of cash flow, to declare and distribute dividends or advance money to RGA. We are not permitted to pay common stock dividends or make payments of interest or principal on securities that rank equal or junior to our subordinated debentures and junior subordinated debentures, until we pay any accrued and unpaid interest on such debentures. Our reinsurance company subsidiaries are subject to various statutory and regulatory restrictions, applicable to insurance companies generally, that limit the amount of cash dividends, loans and advances that those subsidiaries may pay to us. Covenants contained in certain of our debt agreements also restrict the ability of certain subsidiaries to pay dividends and make other distributions or loans to us. In addition, we cannot assure you that more stringent dividend restrictions will not be adopted, as discussed above under “Our reinsurance subsidiaries are highly regulated, and changes in these regulations could negatively affect our business.”
As a result of our insurance holding company structure, upon the insolvency, liquidation, reorganization, dissolution or other winding-up of one of our reinsurance subsidiaries, all creditors of that subsidiary would be entitled to payment in full out of the assets of such subsidiary before we, as shareholder, would be entitled to any payment. Our subsidiaries would have to pay their direct creditors in full before our creditors, including holders of common stock, preferred stock or debt securities of RGA, could receive any payment from the assets of such subsidiaries.
We are exposed to foreign currency risk.
We are a multi-national company with operations in numerous countries and, as a result, are exposed to foreign currency risk to the extent that exchange rates of foreign currencies are subject to adverse change over time. The U.S. dollar value of our net investments in foreign operations, our foreign currency transaction settlements and the periodic conversion of the foreign-denominated earnings to U.S. dollars (our reporting currency) are each subject to adverse foreign exchange rate movements. A significant portion of our revenues and our fixed maturity securities available for sale are denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. We use foreign-denominated revenues and investments to fund foreign-denominated expenses and liabilities when possible to mitigate exposure to foreign currency fluctuations.
Our international operations involve inherent risks.
A significant portion of our net premiums come from our operations outside of the U.S. One of our strategies is to grow these international operations. International operations subject us to various inherent risks. In addition to the regulatory and foreign currency risks identified above, other risks include the following:
• | managing the growth of these operations effectively, particularly given the recent rates of growth; |
• | changes in mortality and morbidity experience and the supply and demand for our products that are specific to these markets and that may be difficult to anticipate; |
• | political and economic instability in the regions of the world, and the potential for deteriorating economic and political relationships between the countries, where we operate; |
• | uncertainty arising out of foreign government sovereignty over our international operations; |
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• | potentially uncertain or adverse tax consequences, including the repatriation of earnings from our non-U.S. subsidiaries; and |
• | potential reduction in opportunities resulting from market access restrictions. |
Some of our international operations are in emerging markets where these risks are heightened and we anticipate that we will continue to do business in such markets. Our pricing assumptions may be less predictable in emerging markets, and deviations in actual experience from these assumptions could impact our profitability in these markets. Additionally, lack of legal certainty and stability in the emerging markets exposes us to increased risk of disruption and adverse or unpredictable actions by regulators and may make it more difficult for us to enforce our contracts, which may negatively impact our business.
The vote in 2016 by the UK to exit the European Union (“EU”), or Brexit, has created significant volatility in the global financial markets. However, the eventual effects of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU (if it in fact occurs) on our business or our investment portfolios is uncertain at this time and will depend on agreements the UK makes to retain access to EU markets either during a transitional period or more permanently. It is possible that there will be greater restrictions, requirements and regulatory complexities on reinsurance provided in the UK by entities located outside of the UK, which may adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. Furthermore, Brexit could adversely affect European and worldwide economic conditions and could contribute to greater instability in the global financial markets before and after the terms of the UK’s future relationship with the EU are settled.
We cannot assure you that we will be able to manage the risks associated with our international operations effectively or that they will not have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.
We depend on the performance of others, and their failure to perform in a satisfactory manner would negatively affect us.
In the normal course of business, we seek to limit our exposure to losses from our reinsurance contracts by ceding a portion of the reinsurance to other insurance enterprises or retrocessionaires. We cannot assure you that these insurance enterprises or retrocessionaires will be able to fulfill their obligations to us. As of December 31, 2018, the retrocession pool members participating in our excess retention pool that have been reviewed by A.M. Best Company, were rated “A-” or better, except for one pool member that was rated “B+.” A rating of “A-” is the fourth highest rating out of sixteen possible ratings. We are also subject to the risk that our clients will be unable to fulfill their obligations to us under our reinsurance agreements with them.
We rely upon our insurance company clients to provide timely, accurate information. We may experience volatility in our earnings as a result of erroneous or untimely reporting from our clients. We work closely with our clients and monitor their reporting to minimize this risk. We also rely on original underwriting decisions made by our clients. We cannot assure you that these processes or those of our clients will adequately control business quality or establish appropriate pricing.
For some reinsurance agreements, the ceding company withholds and legally owns and manages assets equal to the net statutory reserves, and we reflect these assets as funds withheld at interest on our balance sheet. If a ceding company was to become insolvent, we would need to assert a claim on the assets supporting our reserve liabilities. We attempt to mitigate our risk of loss by offsetting amounts for claims or allowances that we owe the ceding company with amounts that the ceding company owes to us. We are subject to the investment performance on the withheld assets, although we do not directly control them. We help to set, and monitor compliance with, the investment guidelines followed by these ceding companies. However, to the extent that such investment guidelines are not appropriate, or to the extent that the ceding companies do not adhere to such guidelines, our risk of loss could increase, which could materially adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. For additional information on funds withheld at interest, see “Investments-Funds Withheld at Interest” in Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
We use the services of third-parties such as asset managers, software vendors and administrators to perform various functions that are important to our business. For instance, we have engaged third party investment managers to manage certain assets where our investment management expertise is limited, who we rely on to provide investment advice and execute investment transactions that are within our investment policy guidelines. Our third party service providers rely on their computer systems and their ability to maintain the security, confidentiality, integrity and privacy of those systems and the data residing on such systems. Our service providers may be subject to cybersecurity attacks and may not sufficiently protect their information technology and related data, which may impact their ability to provide us services and protect our data, which may subject us to losses and harm our reputation. Poor performance on the part of these outside vendors could negatively affect our operations and financial performance.
As with all financial services companies, our ability to conduct business depends on consumer confidence in the industry and our financial strength. Actions of competitors, and financial difficulties of other companies in the industry, and related adverse publicity, could undermine consumer confidence and harm our reputation and business.
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Epidemics and pandemics, natural and man-made disasters, catastrophes and events, including terrorist attacks, could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Epidemics and pandemics, as well as natural disasters, climate change and terrorist attacks and other catastrophes and events can adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations because they exacerbate mortality and morbidity risk. The likelihood, timing, and severity of these events cannot be predicted. A pandemic or other disaster could have a major impact on the global economy or the economies of particular countries or regions, including travel, trade, tourism, the health system, food supply, consumption, overall economic output, as well as on the financial markets. In addition, a pandemic or other disaster that affected our employees or the employees of companies with which we do business could disrupt our business operations. The effectiveness of external parties, including governmental and non-governmental organizations, in combating the spread and severity of such an event could have a material impact on the losses we experience. These events could cause a material adverse effect on our results of operations in any period and, depending on their severity, could also materially and adversely affect our financial condition.
Additionally, the impact of an increase in global average temperatures could cause changes in weather patterns, resulting in more severe and more frequent natural disasters such as forest fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and storm surges and may impact disease incidence and severity, food and water supplies and the general health of impacted populations. These climate change trends are expected to continue in the future and may impact nearly all sectors of the economy to varying degrees. We cannot predict the long-term impacts of climate change for the Company and our clients, but such events may adversely impact our mortality and morbidity rates and also may impact asset prices, financial markets and general economic conditions.
We believe our reinsurance programs are sufficient to reasonably limit our net losses for individual life claims relating to potential future natural disasters and terrorist attacks under some circumstances. However, the consequences of natural disasters, climate change, terrorist attacks, armed conflicts, epidemics and pandemics are unpredictable, and we may not be able to foresee events that could have an adverse effect on our business.
We operate in a highly competitive and dynamic industry.
The reinsurance industry is highly competitive, and we encounter significant competition in all lines of business from other reinsurance companies, as well as competition from other providers of financial services. Our competitors vary by geographic market, and many of our competitors have greater financial resources than we do. Our ability to compete depends on, among other things, pricing and other terms and conditions of reinsurance agreements, our ability to maintain strong financial strength ratings from rating agencies, and our service and experience in the types of business that we underwrite. Competition from other reinsurers could adversely affect our competitive position.
We compete based on the strength of our underwriting operations, insights on mortality trends based on our large book of business, our ability to efficiently execute transactions, our client relationships and responsive service. We believe our quick response time to client requests for individual underwriting quotes, our underwriting expertise and our ability to structure solutions to meet clients’ needs are important elements to our strategy and lead to other business opportunities with our clients. Our business will be adversely affected if we are unable to maintain these competitive advantages.
The insurance and reinsurance industries are subject to ongoing changes from market pressures brought about by customer demands, changes in law, changes in economic conditions such as interest rates and investment performance, technological innovation, marketing practices and new providers of insurance and reinsurance solutions. Because of these and other factors, we are required to anticipate market trends and make changes to differentiate our products and services from those of our competitors. Failure to anticipate these market trends or to differentiate our products and services may affect our ability to grow or to maintain our current position in the industry. A failure to meet evolving consumer demands by the insurance industry and us through innovative product development, effective distribution channels and investments in technology could adversely affect the insurance industry and our operating results. Similarly, our failure to meet the changing demands of our insurance company clients could negatively impact our financial performance. Additionally, our failure to adjust our strategies in response to changing economic conditions could impact our competitive position and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Tax law changes or a prolonged economic downturn could reduce the demand for insurance products, which could adversely affect our business.
Under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, income tax payable by policyholders on investment earnings is deferred during the accumulation period of some life insurance and annuity products. To the extent that the U.S. Internal Revenue Code is revised to reduce benefits associated with the tax-deferred status of life insurance and annuity products, or to increase the tax-deferred status of competing products, all life insurance companies would be adversely affected with respect to their ability to sell such products, and, depending on grandfathering provisions, by the surrenders of existing annuity contracts and life insurance policies. In addition, life insurance products are often used to fund estate tax obligations. The estate tax provisions of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code have been revised frequently in the past. If Congress adopts legislation in the future to reduce or eliminate the
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estate tax, our U.S. life insurance company customers could face reduced demand for some of their life insurance products, which in turn could negatively affect our reinsurance business. We cannot predict whether any tax legislation impacting corporate taxes or insurance products will be enacted, what the specific terms of any such legislation will be or whether any such legislation would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
A general economic downturn or a downturn in the capital markets could adversely affect the market for many life insurance and annuity products. Factors such as consumer spending, business investment, government spending, the volatility and strength of the capital markets, deflation and inflation affect the economic environment and thus the profitability of our business. An economic downturn may yield higher unemployment and lower family income, corporate earnings, business investment and consumer spending, and could result in decreased demand for life insurance and annuity products. Because we obtain substantially all of our revenues through reinsurance arrangements that cover a portfolio of life insurance products and annuities, our business would be harmed if the market for annuities or life insurance was adversely affected. Therefore, adverse changes in the economy could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We could be subject to additional income tax liabilities.
We are subject to income taxes in the U.S. and numerous foreign jurisdictions. Tax laws, regulations and administrative practices in various jurisdictions may be subject to significant change, with or without notice, due to economic, political and other conditions, and significant judgment is required in evaluating and estimating our provision and accruals for these taxes. The U.S. recently enacted tax reform legislation commonly referred to as the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (“U.S. Tax Reform”), which among other things, includes changes to U.S. federal tax rates, imposes significant additional limitations on the deductibility of interest and net operating losses, allows for the expensing of certain capital expenditures and implements a number of changes impacting operations outside of the U.S. including, but not limited to, imposing a one-time tax on accumulated post-1986 deferred foreign income that has not previously been subject to tax, modifying the treatment of certain intercompany transactions that are viewed as eroding the U.S. tax base and imposing a minimum tax on overseas operations that operate in low tax jurisdictions.
In addition, a number of countries are actively pursuing changes to their tax laws applicable to multinational corporations. Foreign governments may enact tax laws in response to U.S. Tax Reform that could result in further changes to global taxation and materially affect our financial position and results of operations.
Our ability to minimize additional tax payments by restructuring various aspects of our business operations may be hindered by uncertainty regarding U.S. Tax Reform, other new tax laws and future guidance issued by the U.S. Treasury Department, foreign taxing authorities or insurance regulators. For instance, the U.S. Treasury Department, the IRS, and other standard-setting bodies could interpret or issue guidance on how U.S. Tax Reform will be applied that is different from our interpretations. We continue to examine the impact that U.S. Tax Reform and other tax legislation may have on our business. The impact of such tax legislation on our financial position and operations is uncertain and could be adverse.
Acquisitions and significant transactions involve varying degrees of risk that could affect our profitability.
We have made, and may in the future make, acquisitions, either of selected blocks of business or other companies. The success of these acquisitions depends on, among other factors, our ability to appropriately price and evaluate the risks of the acquired business. Additionally, acquisitions may expose us to operational challenges and various risks, including:
• | the ability to integrate the acquired business operations and data with our systems; |
• | the availability of funding sufficient to meet increased capital needs; |
• | the ability to fund cash flow shortages that may occur if anticipated revenues are not realized or are delayed, whether by general economic or market conditions or unforeseen internal difficulties; and |
• | the possibility that the value of investments acquired in an acquisition may be lower than expected or may diminish due to credit defaults or changes in interest rates and that liabilities assumed may be greater than expected (due to, among other factors, less favorable than expected mortality or morbidity experience). |
A failure to successfully manage the operational challenges and risks associated with or resulting from significant transactions, including acquisitions, could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.
Our risk management policies and procedures could leave us exposed to unidentified or unanticipated risk, which could negatively affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.
Our risk management policies and procedures, designed to identify, monitor and manage both internal and external risks, may not adequately predict future exposures, which could be significantly greater than expected. In addition, these identified risks may not be the only risks facing us. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us, or that we currently deem to be immaterial, may adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.
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There are inherent limitations to risk management strategies because there may exist, or develop in the future, risks that we have not appropriately anticipated or identified. If our risk management framework proves ineffective, we may suffer unexpected losses and could be materially adversely affected. As our businesses change and the markets in which we operate evolve, our risk management framework may not evolve at the same pace as those changes. As a result, there is a risk that new business strategies may present risks that are not appropriately identified, monitored or managed. In times of market stress, unanticipated market movements or unanticipated claims experience resulting from adverse mortality, morbidity or policyholder behavior, the effectiveness of our risk management strategies may be limited, resulting in losses. In addition, under difficult or less liquid market conditions, our risk management strategies may not be effective because other market participants may be using the same or similar strategies to manage risk under the same challenging market conditions. In such circumstances, it may be difficult or more expensive for us to mitigate risk due to the activity of such other market participants.
Past or future misconduct by our employees or employees of our vendors could result in violations of law by us, regulatory sanctions and serious reputational or financial harm and the precautions we take to prevent and detect this activity may not be effective in all cases. There can be no assurance that controls and procedures that we employ, which are designed to monitor associates’ business decisions and prevent us from taking excessive or inappropriate risks, will be effective. We review our compensation policies and practices as part of our overall risk management program, but it is possible that our compensation policies and practices could inadvertently incentivize excessive or inappropriate risk taking. If our associates take excessive or inappropriate risks, those risks could harm our reputation and have a material adverse effect on our results of operations or financial condition.
The failure in cyber or other information security systems, including a failure to maintain the security, confidentiality, integrity or privacy of sensitive data residing on such systems, as well as the occurrence of unanticipated events affecting our disaster recovery systems and business continuity planning, could impair our ability to conduct business effectively.
Our business is highly dependent upon the effective operation of our computer systems. The failure of our computer systems or disaster recovery capabilities for any reason could cause significant interruptions in our operations and result in a failure to maintain the security, confidentiality, integrity or privacy of sensitive or personal data, related to our customers, insured individuals or employees. Like other global companies, we have experienced threats to our data and systems from time to time. However, we have not detected or identified any evidence to indicate we have experienced a material breach of cybersecurity. Administrative and technical controls, security measures and other preventative actions we take to reduce the risk of such incidents and protect our information technology may not be sufficient to prevent physical and electronic break-ins, and similar disruptions from unauthorized tampering with our computer systems. Such a failure could harm our reputation, subject us to investigations, litigation, regulatory sanctions and other claims and expenses, lead to loss of customers and revenues and otherwise adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.
We rely on our computer systems for a variety of business functions across our global operations, including for the administration of our business, underwriting, claims, performing actuarial analysis and maintaining financial records. We depend heavily upon these computer systems to provide reliable service, data and reports. Upon a disaster such as a natural catastrophe, epidemic, industrial accident, blackout, computer virus, terrorist attack or war, unanticipated problems with our disaster recovery systems could have a material adverse impact on our ability to conduct business and on our financial condition and results of operations, particularly if those problems affect our computer-based data processing, transmission, storage and retrieval systems and destroy valuable data. While we maintain liability insurance for cybersecurity and network interruption losses, our insurance may not be sufficient to protect us against all losses. In addition, if a significant number of our managers were unavailable upon a disaster, our ability to effectively conduct business could be severely compromised. These interruptions also may interfere with our clients’ ability to provide data and other information to us, and our employees’ ability to perform their job responsibilities.
Failure to protect the confidentiality of information could adversely affect our reputation and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Many jurisdictions in which we operate have enacted laws to safeguard the privacy and security of personal information. Additionally, various government agencies have established rules protecting the privacy and security of such information. These laws and rules vary greatly by jurisdiction. Some of our employees have access to personal information of policy holders. We rely on internal controls to protect the confidentiality of this information. It is possible that an employee could, intentionally or unintentionally, disclose or misappropriate confidential information or our data could be the subject of a cybersecurity attack. If we fail to maintain adequate internal controls or if our employees fail to comply with our policies, misappropriation or intentional or unintentional inappropriate disclosure or misuse of client information could occur. Such internal control inadequacies or non-compliance could materially damage our reputation or lead to civil or criminal penalties, which, in turn, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, we analyze customer data to better manage our business. There has been increased scrutiny, including from U.S. state regulators, regarding the use of “big data” techniques. We cannot predict what, if any, actions may be taken with regard to “big data,” but any inquiries could cause reputational harm and any limitations could have a material impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
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Managing key employee attraction, retention and succession is critical to our success.
Our success depends in large part upon our ability to identify, hire, retain and motivate highly skilled employees. We would be adversely affected if we fail to adequately plan for the succession of our senior management and other key employees. While we have succession plans and long-term compensation plans designed to retain our existing employees and attract and retain additional qualified personnel in the future, our succession plans may not operate effectively and our compensation plans cannot guarantee that the services of these employees will continue to be available to us.
Risks Related to Our Investments
Adverse capital and credit market conditions and access to credit facilities may significantly affect our ability to meet liquidity needs, access to capital and cost of capital.
The capital and credit markets experience varying degrees of volatility and disruption. In some periods, the markets have exerted downward pressure on availability of liquidity and credit capacity for certain issuers.
We need liquidity to make our benefit payments, pay our operating expenses, interest on our debt and dividends on our capital stock and to replace certain maturing liabilities. Without sufficient liquidity, we will be forced to curtail our operations, and our business will be adversely affected. The principal sources of our liquidity are reinsurance premiums under reinsurance treaties and cash flows from our investment portfolio and other assets. Sources of liquidity in normal markets also include proceeds from the issuance of a variety of short- and long-term instruments, including medium- and long-term debt, subordinated and junior subordinated debt securities, capital securities and common stock.
If current resources do not satisfy our needs, we may have to seek additional financing. The availability of additional financing will depend on a variety of factors such as market conditions, the general availability of equity and credit, the volume of trading activities, the overall availability of credit to the financial services industry, our credit ratings and credit capacity, as well as the possibility that customers or lenders could develop a negative perception of our long- or short-term financial prospects. Similarly, our access to funds may be impaired if regulatory authorities or rating agencies take negative actions against us. Our internal sources of liquidity may prove to be insufficient, and in such case, we may not be able to successfully obtain additional financing on favorable terms, or at all.
Disruptions, uncertainty or volatility in the capital and credit markets may also limit our access to capital required to operate our business, most significantly our reinsurance operations. Such market conditions may limit our ability to replace maturing liabilities in a timely manner, satisfy statutory capital requirements, generate fee income and market-related revenue to meet liquidity needs and access the capital necessary to grow our business. As such, we may be forced to delay raising capital, issue shorter tenor securities than we prefer, or bear an unattractive cost of capital, which could decrease our profitability and significantly reduce our financial flexibility. Further, our ability to finance our statutory reserve requirements depends on market conditions. If market capacity is limited for a prolonged period of time, our ability to obtain new funding for such purposes may be hindered and, as a result, our ability to write additional business in a cost-effective manner may be limited or otherwise adversely affected.
We also rely on our unsecured credit facilities, including our $850 million syndicated credit facility, as potential sources of liquidity. Our credit facilities contain administrative, reporting, legal and financial covenants, and our syndicated credit facility includes requirements to maintain a specified minimum consolidated net worth and a minimum ratio of consolidated indebtedness to total capitalization. If we were unable to access our credit facilities it could materially impact our capital position. The availability of these facilities could be critical to our credit and financial strength ratings and our ability to meet our obligations as they come due in a market when alternative sources of credit are unavailable.
Difficult conditions in the global capital markets and the economy generally may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our results of operations, financial condition, cash flows and statutory capital position are materially affected by conditions in the global capital markets and the economy generally, both in the U.S. and elsewhere around the world. Poor economic conditions, volatility and disruptions in capital markets or financial asset classes and geopolitical upheaval (including trade disputes) can have an adverse effect on our business because our investment portfolio and some of our liabilities are sensitive to changing market factors. Additionally, disruptions in one market or asset class can also spread to other markets or asset classes.
Concerns over U.S. fiscal policy and the trajectory of the U.S. national debt could have severe repercussions to the U.S. and global credit and financial markets, further exacerbate concerns over sovereign debt and disrupt economic activity in the U.S. and elsewhere. As a result, our access to, or cost of, liquidity may deteriorate. As a result of uncertainty regarding U.S. national debt, the market value of some of our investments may decrease, and our capital adequacy could be adversely affected. Further downgrades, together with the sustained current trajectory of the U.S. national debt, could have adverse effects on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
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Past economic uncertainties and weakness and disruption of the financial markets around the world, such as the results of Brexit, the solvency of certain European Union member states and of financial institutions that have significant direct or indirect exposure to debt issued by such countries, have led and may lead to concerns over capital markets access. In addition, there are ongoing risks around the world related to interest rate fluctuations, slowing global growth, commodity prices and the devaluation of certain currencies. These events and continuing market upheavals may have an adverse effect on us, in part because we have a large investment portfolio and are also dependent upon customer behavior. Our revenues may decline in such circumstances and our profit margins may erode. In addition, upon prolonged market events, such as the global credit crisis, we could incur significant investment-related losses. Even in the absence of a market downturn, we are exposed to substantial risk of loss due to market volatility.
If our investment strategy is unsuccessful, we could suffer losses.
The success of our investment strategy is crucial to the success of our business. In particular, we structure our investments to match our anticipated liabilities under reinsurance treaties to the extent we believe necessary. If our calculations with respect to these reinsurance liabilities are incorrect, or if we improperly structure our investments to match such liabilities, we could be forced to liquidate investments prior to maturity at a significant loss.
Our investment guidelines permit us to invest up to 6.5% of our investment portfolio in non-investment grade fixed maturity securities. While any investment carries some risk, the risks associated with lower-rated securities are greater than the risks associated with investment grade securities. The risk of loss of principal or interest through default is greater because lower-rated securities are usually unsecured and are often subordinated to an issuer’s other obligations. Additionally, the issuers of these securities frequently have relatively high debt levels and are thus more sensitive to difficult economic conditions, specific corporate developments and rising interest rates, which could impair an issuer’s capacity or willingness to meet its financial commitment on such lower-rated securities. As a result, the market price of these securities may be quite volatile, and the risk of loss is greater.
The success of any investment activity is affected by general economic conditions, including the level and volatility of interest rates and the extent and timing of investor participation in such markets, which may adversely affect the markets for interest rate sensitive securities, mortgages and equity securities. Unexpected volatility or illiquidity in the markets in which we directly or indirectly hold positions could adversely affect us.
Interest rate fluctuations could negatively affect the income we derive from the difference between the interest rates we earn on our investments and interest we pay under our reinsurance contracts.
Significant changes in interest rates expose reinsurance companies to the risk of reduced investment income or actual losses based on the difference between the interest rates earned on investments and the credited interest rates paid on outstanding reinsurance contracts. Both rising and declining interest rates can negatively affect the income we derive from these interest rate spreads. During periods of rising interest rates, we may be contractually obligated to reimburse our clients for the greater amounts they credit on certain interest-sensitive products. However, we may not have the ability to immediately acquire investments with interest rates sufficient to offset the increased crediting rates on our reinsurance contracts. During periods of falling interest rates, our investment earnings will be lower because new investments in fixed maturity securities will likely bear lower interest rates. We may not be able to fully offset the decline in investment earnings with lower crediting rates on underlying annuity products related to certain of our reinsurance contracts. Our asset/liability management programs and procedures may not reduce the volatility of our income when interest rates are rising or falling, and thus we cannot assure you that changes in interest rates will not affect our interest rate spreads.
Changes in interest rates may also affect our business in other ways. Higher interest rates may result in increased surrenders on interest-based products of our clients, which may affect our fees and earnings on those products. Lower interest rates may result in lower sales of certain insurance and investment products of our clients, which would reduce the demand for our reinsurance of these products. If interest rates remain low for an extended period of time, it may adversely affect our cash flows, financial condition and results of operations.
The liquidity and value of some of our investments may become significantly diminished.
There may be illiquid markets for certain investments we hold in our investment portfolio. These include privately-placed fixed maturity securities, options and other derivative instruments, mortgage loans, policy loans, limited partnership interests, and real estate equity, such as real estate joint ventures and funds. Additionally, markets for certain of our investments that are currently liquid may experience reduced liquidity during periods of market volatility or disruption. If we were forced to sell certain of our investments into illiquid markets, prices may be lower than our carrying value in such investments. This could result in realized losses which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition, as well as our financial ratios, which could affect compliance with our credit instruments and rating agency capital adequacy measures.
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We could be forced to sell investments at a loss to cover policyholder withdrawals, recaptures of reinsurance treaties or other events.
Some of the products offered by our insurance company customers allow policyholders and contract holders to withdraw their funds under defined circumstances. Our reinsurance subsidiaries manage their liabilities and configure their investment portfolios so as to provide and maintain sufficient liquidity to support anticipated withdrawal demands and contract benefits and maturities under reinsurance treaties with these customers. While our reinsurance subsidiaries own a significant amount of liquid assets, a portion of their assets are relatively illiquid. Unanticipated withdrawal or surrender activity could, under some circumstances, require our reinsurance subsidiaries to dispose of assets on unfavorable terms, which could have an adverse effect on us. Reinsurance agreements may provide for recapture rights on the part of our insurance company customers. Recapture rights permit these customers to reassume all or a portion of the risk formerly ceded to us after an agreed-upon time, usually ten years, subject to various conditions.
Recapture of business previously ceded does not affect premiums ceded prior to the recapture, but may result in immediate payments to our insurance company customers and a charge to income for costs that we deferred when we acquired the business but are unable to recover upon recapture. Under some circumstances, payments to our insurance company customers could require our reinsurance subsidiaries to dispose of assets on unfavorable terms.
Defaults, downgrades or other events impairing the value of our fixed maturity securities portfolio may reduce our earnings.
We are subject to the risk that the issuers, or guarantors, of fixed maturity securities we own may default on principal and interest payments they owe us. Fixed maturity securities represent a substantial portion of our total cash and invested assets. The occurrence of a major economic downturn (or a prolonged downturn in the economy), acts of corporate malfeasance, widening risk spreads, or other events that adversely affect the issuers or guarantors of these securities could cause the value of our fixed maturity securities portfolio and our net income to decline and the default rate of the fixed maturity securities in our investment portfolio to increase. A ratings downgrade affecting issuers or guarantors of particular securities, or similar trends that could worsen the credit quality of issuers, such as the corporate issuers of securities in our investment portfolio, could also have a similar effect. With economic uncertainty, credit quality of issuers or guarantors could be adversely affected. Any event reducing the value of these securities other than on a temporary basis could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.
The defaults or deteriorating credit of other financial institutions could adversely affect us.
We have exposure to many different industries and counterparties, and routinely execute transactions with counterparties in the financial services industry, including brokers and dealers, insurance companies, commercial banks, investment banks, investment funds and other institutions. Many of these transactions expose us to credit risk upon default of our counterparty. In addition, with respect to secured and other transactions that provide for us to hold collateral posted by the counterparty, our credit risk may be exacerbated when the collateral we hold cannot be liquidated at prices sufficient to recover the full amount of our exposure. We also have exposure to these financial institutions in the form of unsecured debt instruments, derivative transactions and equity investments. There can be no assurance that losses or impairments to the carrying value of these assets would not materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.
Defaults on our mortgage loans or the mortgage loans underlying our investments in mortgage-backed securities and volatility in performance of our investments in real-estate related assets may adversely affect our profitability.
A portion of our investment portfolio consists of assets linked to real estate, including mortgage loans on commercial properties and investments in commercial mortgage-backed securities (“CMBS”) and residential mortgage-backed securities (“RMBS”). Delinquency and defaults by third parties in the payment or performance of their obligations underlying these assets could reduce our investment income and realized investment gains or result in the recognition of investment losses. Mortgage loans are stated on our balance sheet at unpaid principal balance, adjusted for any unamortized premium or discount, deferred fees or expenses, and are net of valuation allowances. We establish valuation allowances for estimated impairments as of the balance sheet date. Such valuation allowances are based on the excess carrying value of the loan over the present value of expected future cash flows discounted at the loan’s original effective interest rate, the value of the loan’s collateral if the loan is in the process of foreclosure or is otherwise collateral-dependent, or the loan’s market value if the loan is being sold. CMBS and RMBS are stated on our balance sheet at fair value. The performance of our mortgage loan investments and our investments in CMBS and RMBS, however, may fluctuate in the future. An increase in the default rate of our mortgage loan investments or the mortgage loans underlying our investments in CMBS and RMBS could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations.
Further, any geographic or sector concentration of our mortgage loans or the mortgage loans underlying our investments in CMBS and RMBS may have adverse effects on our investment portfolios and consequently on our consolidated results of operations or financial condition. While we seek to mitigate this risk by having a broadly diversified portfolio, events or
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developments that have a negative effect on any particular geographic region or sector may have a greater adverse effect on the investment portfolios to the extent that the portfolios are concentrated. Moreover, our ability to sell assets relating to such particular groups of related assets may be limited if other market participants are seeking to sell at the same time.
Our valuation of fixed maturity and equity securities and derivatives include methodologies, estimations and assumptions that are subject to differing interpretations and could result in changes to investment valuations that may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations.
Fixed maturity, equity securities and short-term investments, which are primarily reported at fair value on the consolidated balance sheets, represent the majority of our total cash and invested assets. We have categorized these securities into a three-level hierarchy, based on the priority of the inputs to the respective valuation technique. The fair value hierarchy gives the highest priority to quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3). An asset or liability’s classification within the fair value hierarchy is based on the lowest level of significant input to its valuation. For example, a Level 3 fair value measurement may include inputs that are observable (Levels 1 and 2) and unobservable (Level 3). Therefore, gains and losses for such assets and liabilities categorized within Level 3 may include changes in fair value that are attributable to both observable market inputs (Levels 1 and 2) and unobservable market inputs (Level 3).
The determination of fair values in the absence of quoted market prices is based on: (i) valuation methodologies; (ii) securities we deem to be comparable; and (iii) assumptions deemed appropriate based on market conditions specific to the security. The fair value estimates are made at a specific point in time, based on available market information and judgments about assets and liabilities, including estimates of the timing and amounts of expected future cash flows and the credit standing of the issuer or counterparty. Factors considered in estimating fair value include: coupon rate, maturity, estimated duration, call provisions, sinking fund requirements, credit rating, industry sector of the issuer, and quoted market prices of comparable securities. The use of different methodologies and assumptions may have a material effect on the estimated fair value amounts.
During periods of market disruption, including periods of significantly rising or high interest rates, rapidly widening credit spreads or illiquidity, it may be difficult to value certain of our securities if trading becomes less frequent or market data becomes less observable. There may be certain asset classes that were in active markets with significant observable data that become illiquid due to the financial environment. In such cases, more securities may fall to Level 3 and thus require more subjectivity and management judgment. As such, valuations may include inputs and assumptions that are less observable or require greater estimation as well as valuation methods that are more sophisticated or require greater estimation thereby resulting in values that may be different than the value at which the investments may be ultimately sold. Further, rapidly changing or disruptive credit and equity market conditions could materially impact the valuation of securities as reported within our consolidated financial statements and the period-to-period changes in value could vary significantly. Decreases in value may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations.
The reported value of our relatively illiquid types of investments, our investments in the asset classes described in the paragraph above and, at times, our high-quality, generally liquid asset classes, do not necessarily reflect the lowest current market price for the asset. If we were forced to sell certain of our assets in disruptive or volatile market conditions, there can be no assurance that we will be able to sell them for the prices at which we have recorded them and we may be forced to sell them at significantly lower prices.
The determination of the amount of allowances and impairments taken on our investments is highly subjective and could materially affect our financial condition or results of operations.
The determination of the amount of allowances and impairments vary by investment type and is based upon our periodic evaluation and assessment of known and inherent risks associated with the respective asset class. Such evaluations and assessments are revised as conditions change and new information becomes available. Management updates its evaluations regularly and reflects changes in allowances and impairments in operations as such evaluations are revised.
For example, the cost of our fixed maturity securities is adjusted for impairments in value deemed to be other-than-temporary in the period in which the determination is made. The assessment of whether impairments have occurred is based on management’s case-by-case evaluation of the underlying reasons for the decline in fair value. Our management considers a wide range of factors about the security issuer and uses their best judgment in evaluating the cause of the decline in the estimated fair value of the security and in assessing the prospects for near-term recovery. Inherent in management’s evaluation of the security are assumptions and estimates about the operations of the issuer and its future earnings potential. There can be no assurance that our management has accurately assessed the level of impairments taken, or allowances reflected in our financial statements and their potential impact on regulatory capital. Furthermore, additional impairments or additional allowances may be needed in the future.
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Our investments are reflected within the consolidated financial statements utilizing different accounting bases and accordingly we may not have recognized differences, which may be significant, between cost and fair value in our consolidated financial statements.
Certain of our principal investments are in fixed maturity securities, short-term investments, mortgage loans, policy loans, funds withheld at interest and other invested assets. The carrying value of such investments is as follows:
• | Fixed maturity securities are classified as available-for-sale and are reported at their estimated fair value. Unrealized investment gains and losses on these securities are recorded as a separate component of accumulated other comprehensive income or loss, net of related deferred acquisition costs and deferred income taxes. |
• | Short-term investments include investments with remaining maturities of one year or less, but greater than three months, at the time of acquisition and are stated at estimated fair value or amortized cost, which approximates estimated fair value. |
• | Mortgage and policy loans are stated at unpaid principal balance. Additionally, mortgage loans are adjusted for any unamortized premium or discount, deferred fees or expenses, net of valuation allowances. |
• | Funds withheld at interest represent amounts contractually withheld by ceding companies in accordance with reinsurance agreements. The value of the assets withheld and interest income are recorded in accordance with specific treaty terms. |
• | We use the cost method of accounting for investments in real estate joint ventures and other limited partnership interests in which we have a minor equity investment and virtually no influence over the joint ventures or the partnership’s operations. The equity method of accounting is used for investments in real estate joint ventures and other limited partnership interests in which we have significant influence over the operating and financing decisions but are not required to be consolidated. These investments are reflected in other invested assets on the consolidated balance sheets. |
Investments not carried at fair value in our consolidated financial statements — principally, mortgage loans, policy loans, real estate joint ventures and other limited partnerships — may have fair values that are substantially higher or lower than the carrying value reflected in our consolidated financial statements. Each of such asset classes is regularly evaluated for impairment under the accounting guidance appropriate to the respective asset class.
Uncertainty relating to the LIBOR calculation process and potential phasing out of LIBOR after 2021 may adversely affect the value of certain of our LIBOR-based assets and liabilities.
Actions by regulators or law enforcement agencies in the UK and elsewhere may result in changes to the manner in which the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) is determined or the establishment of alternative reference rates. For example, on July 27, 2017, the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority announced that it intends to stop persuading or compelling banks to submit LIBOR rates after 2021. At this time, it is not possible to predict the effect of any such changes, any establishment of alternative reference rates or any other reforms to LIBOR that may be enacted in the UK or elsewhere. The U.S. Federal Reserve, based on the recommendations of the New York Federal Reserve’s Alternative Reference Rate Committee (constituted of major derivative market participants and their regulators), began publishing a Secured Overnight Funding Rate (SOFR) in April 2018 which is intended to replace U.S. dollar LIBOR. Plans for alternative reference rates for other currencies have also been announced. At this time, it is not possible to predict how markets will respond to these new rates, and the effect of any changes or reforms to LIBOR or discontinuation of LIBOR on new or existing financial instruments to which we have exposure. If LIBOR ceases to exist or if the methods of calculating LIBOR change from current methods for any reason, interest rates on our LIBOR-based assets and liabilities may be adversely affected. Further, any uncertainty regarding the continued use and reliability of LIBOR as a benchmark interest rate could adversely affect the trading market for and value of LIBOR-based securities, including certain of our LIBOR-based assets and liabilities. More generally, any of the above changes or any other consequential changes to LIBOR or any other “benchmark” as a result of international, national or other proposals for reform or other initiatives or investigations, or any further uncertainty in relation to the timing and manner of implementation of such changes, could have a material adverse effect on the value of and return on any securities based on or linked to a “benchmark,” such as certain of our LIBOR-based assets and liabilities. We are not able to predict what the impact of such changes may be on our cash flows, financial condition and results of operations.
Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock
We may not pay dividends on our common stock.
Our shareholders may not receive future dividends. Historically, we have paid quarterly dividends ranging from $0.027 per share in 1993 to $0.60 per share in 2018. All future payments of dividends, however, are at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on our earnings, capital requirements, insurance regulatory conditions, operating conditions and such other factors as our board of directors may deem relevant. The amount of dividends that we can pay will depend in part on the
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operations of our reinsurance subsidiaries. Under certain circumstances, we may be contractually prohibited from paying dividends on our common stock due to restrictions associated with certain of our debt securities.
Certain provisions in our articles of incorporation and bylaws, and in Missouri law, may delay or prevent a change in control, which could adversely affect the price of our common stock.
Certain provisions in our articles of incorporation and bylaws, as well as Missouri corporate law and state insurance laws, may delay or prevent a change of control of RGA, which could adversely affect the price of our common stock. Our articles of incorporation and bylaws contain some provisions that may make the acquisition of control of RGA without the approval of our board of directors more difficult, including provisions relating to the nomination, election and removal of directors and limitations on actions by our shareholders. In addition, Missouri law also imposes some restrictions on mergers and other business combinations between RGA and holders of 20% or more of our outstanding common stock.
These provisions may have unintended anti-takeover effects, including to delay or prevent a change in control of RGA, which could adversely affect the price of our common stock.
Applicable insurance laws may make it difficult to effect a change of control of RGA.
Before a person can acquire control of a U.S. insurance company, prior written approval must be obtained from the insurance commission of the state where the domestic insurer is domiciled. Missouri insurance laws and regulations as well as the insurance laws and regulations of Arizona and California provide that no person may acquire control of us, and thus indirect control of our U.S. domiciled reinsurance subsidiaries, including RGA Reinsurance and Aurora National, unless:
• | such person has provided certain required information to the domiciliary state insurance department; and |
• | such acquisition is approved by the domestic state Director of Insurance, to whom we refer as the Director of Insurance, after a public hearing. |
Under U.S. state insurance laws and regulations, any person acquiring 10% or more of the outstanding voting securities of a corporation, such as our common stock, is presumed to have acquired control of that corporation and its subsidiaries.
Canadian federal insurance laws and regulations provide that no person may directly or indirectly acquire “control” of or a “significant interest” in our Canadian insurance subsidiary, RGA Canada, unless:
• | such person has provided information, material and evidence to the Canadian Superintendent of Financial Institutions as required by him; and |
• | such acquisition is approved by the Canadian Minister of Finance. |
For this purpose, “significant interest” means the direct or indirect beneficial ownership by a person, or group of persons acting in concert, of shares representing 10% or more of a given class, and “control” of an insurance company exists when:
• | a person, or group of persons acting in concert, beneficially owns or controls an entity that beneficially owns securities, such as our common stock, representing more than 50% of the votes entitled to be cast for the election of directors and such votes are sufficient to elect a majority of the directors of the insurance company, or |
• | a person has any direct or indirect influence that would result in control in fact of an insurance company. |
Similar laws in other countries where we operate limit our ability to effect changes of control for subsidiaries organized in such jurisdictions without the approval of local insurance regulatory officials. Prior to granting approval of an application to directly or indirectly acquire control of a domestic or foreign insurer, an insurance regulator in any jurisdiction may consider such factors as the financial strength of the applicant, the integrity of the applicant’s board of directors and executive officers, the applicant’s plans for the future operations of the domestic insurer and any anti-competitive results that may arise from the consummation of the acquisition of control.
Issuing additional shares may dilute the value or affect the price of our common stock.
Our board of directors has the authority, without action or vote of the shareholders, to issue any or all authorized but unissued shares of our common stock, including securities convertible into, or exchangeable for, our common stock and authorized but unissued shares under our equity compensation plans. In the future, we may issue such additional securities, through public or private offerings, in order to raise additional capital. Any such issuance will dilute the percentage ownership of shareholders and may dilute the per share projected earnings or book value of our common stock. In addition, option holders may exercise their options at any time when we would otherwise be able to obtain additional equity capital on more favorable terms.
The price of our common stock may fluctuate significantly.
The overall market and the price of our common stock may continue to fluctuate as a result of many factors in addition to those discussed in the preceding risk factors. These factors, some or all of which are beyond our control, include:
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• | actual or anticipated fluctuations in our operating results; |
• | changes in expectations as to our future financial performance or changes in financial estimates of securities analysts; |
• | success of our operating and growth strategies; |
• | investor anticipation of strategic and technological threats, whether or not warranted by actual events; |
• | operating and stock price performance of other comparable companies; and |
• | realization of any of the risks described in these risk factors or those set forth in any subsequent Annual Report on Form 10-K or Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. |
In addition, the stock market has historically experienced volatility that often has been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of particular companies. These broad market and industry fluctuations may adversely affect the trading price of our common stock, regardless of our actual operating performance.
The occurrence of various events may adversely affect the ability of RGA and its subsidiaries to fully utilize any net operating losses (“NOL”s) and other tax attributes.
RGA and its subsidiaries may, from time to time, have a substantial amount of NOLs and other tax attributes, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, to offset taxable income and gains. If a corporation experiences an ownership change, it is generally subject to an annual limitation, which limits its ability to use its NOLs and other tax attributes. Events outside of our control may cause RGA (and, consequently, its subsidiaries) to experience an “ownership change” under Sections 382 and 383 of the Internal Revenue Code and the related Treasury regulations, and limit the ability of RGA and its subsidiaries to utilize fully such NOLs and other tax attributes. If we were to experience an ownership change, we could potentially have higher U.S. federal income tax liabilities than we would otherwise have had, which would negatively impact our financial condition and results of operations.
Item 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
The Company has no unresolved staff comments from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Item 2. PROPERTIES
The Company’s headquarters is located at 16600 Swingley Ridge Road, Chesterfield, Missouri, which comprises approximately 400,000 square feet. In addition, the Company leases approximately 405,000 square feet of office space in 50 locations throughout the world.
Most of the Company’s leases have terms of three to five years; while some leases have longer terms, none exceed 15 years. As provided in Note 12 – “Commitments, Contingencies and Guarantees” in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, the rental expense on operating leases for office space and equipment totaled $17.5 million for 2018.
The Company believes its facilities have been generally well maintained and are in good operating condition. The Company believes the facilities are sufficient for its current requirements.
Item 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
The Company is subject to litigation in the normal course of its business. The Company currently has no material litigation. A legal reserve is established when the Company is notified of an arbitration demand or litigation or is notified that an arbitration demand or litigation is imminent, it is probable that the Company will incur a loss as a result and the amount of the probable loss is reasonably capable of being estimated.
Item 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
Not applicable.
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PART II
Item 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS, AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
Insurance companies are subject to statutory regulations that restrict the payment of dividends. See Item 1 under the caption Regulation – “Restrictions on Dividends and Distributions”. See Item 8, Note 17 – “Equity” in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for information regarding board-approved stock repurchase plans. See Item 12 for information about the Company’s compensation plans.
Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol “RGA”. On January 31, 2019, there were 25,527 stockholders of record of RGA’s common stock and 62.8 million shares outstanding.
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
The following table summarizes RGA’s repurchase activity of its common stock during the quarter ended December 31, 2018:
Total Number of Shares Purchased (1) | Average Price Paid per Share | Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Plans or Programs | Maximum Number (or Approximate Dollar Value) of Shares that May Yet Be Purchased Under the Plan or Program | |||||||||||
October 1, 2018 - October 31, 2018 | 181,910 | $ | 137.54 | 181,760 | $ | 89,579,317 | ||||||||
November 1, 2018 - November 30, 2018 | 5,382 | $ | 145.09 | — | $ | 89,579,317 | ||||||||
December 1, 2018 - December 31, 2018 | 36 | $ | 136.81 | — | $ | 89,579,317 | ||||||||
(1) | RGA repurchased 181,760 of common stock under its share repurchase program for $25.0 million during October 2018 and had no repurchases of common stock under its share repurchase program for November and December 2018. The Company net settled - issuing 394, 14,315 and 117 shares from treasury and repurchasing from recipients 150, 5,382 and 36 shares in October, November and December 2018, respectively, in settlement of income tax withholding requirements incurred by the recipients of equity incentive awards. |
On January 24, 2019, RGA’s board of directors authorized a share repurchase program for up to $400.0 million of RGA’s outstanding common stock. The authorization was effective immediately and does not have an expiration date. In connection with this new authorization, the board of directors terminated the stock repurchase authority granted in 2017.
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Comparison of 5-Year Cumulative Total Return
Set forth below is a graph for the Company’s common stock for the period beginning December 31, 2013 and ending December 31, 2018, assuming $100 was invested on December 31, 2013. The graph compares the cumulative total return on the Company’s common stock, based on the market price of the common stock and assuming reinvestment of dividends, with the cumulative total return of companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Stock Index and the Standard & Poor’s Insurance (Life/Health) Index. The indices are included for comparative purposes only. They do not necessarily reflect management’s opinion that such indices are an appropriate measure of the relative performance of the Company’s common stock, and are not intended to forecast or be indicative of future performance of the common stock.
Base Period | Cumulative Total Return | |||||||||||||||||||||||
12/13 | 12/14 | 12/15 | 12/16 | 12/17 | 12/18 | |||||||||||||||||||
Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated | $ | 100.00 | $ | 115.00 | $ | 114.00 | $ | 170.40 | $ | 213.99 | $ | 195.33 | ||||||||||||
S & P 500 | 100.00 | 113.69 | 115.26 | 129.05 | 157.22 | 150.33 | ||||||||||||||||||
S & P Life & Health Insurance | 100.00 | 101.95 | 95.51 | 119.26 | 138.85 | 110.01 | ||||||||||||||||||
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Item 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
The following selected financial data has been derived from the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements. The consolidated statement of income data for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, and the consolidated balance sheet data at December 31, 2018 and 2017 have been derived from the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere herein. The consolidated statement of income data for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014, and the consolidated balance sheet data at December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014 have been derived from the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements not included herein. The selected financial data set forth below should be read in conjunction with “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and the consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere herein.
Selected Consolidated Financial and Operating Data
(in millions, except per share and operating data)
As of or For the Years Ended December 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||
Income Statement Data | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | |||||||||||||||
Revenues: | ||||||||||||||||||||
Net premiums | $ | 10,544 | $ | 9,841 | $ | 9,249 | $ | 8,571 | $ | 8,670 | ||||||||||
Investment income, net of related expenses | 2,139 | 2,155 | 1,912 | 1,734 | 1,714 | |||||||||||||||
Investment related gains (losses), net: | ||||||||||||||||||||
Other-than-temporary impairments on fixed maturity securities | (28 | ) | (43 | ) | (39 | ) | (57 | ) | (8 | ) | ||||||||||
Other investment related gains (losses), net | (142 | ) | 211 | 133 | (108 | ) | 194 | |||||||||||||
Total investment related gains (losses), net | (170 | ) | 168 | 94 | (165 | ) | 186 | |||||||||||||
Other revenues | 363 | 352 | 267 | 278 | 334 | |||||||||||||||
Total revenues | 12,876 | 12,516 | 11,522 | 10,418 | 10,904 | |||||||||||||||
Benefits and expenses: | ||||||||||||||||||||
Claims and other policy benefits | 9,319 | 8,519 | 7,993 | 7,489 | 7,407 | |||||||||||||||
Interest credited | 425 | 502 | 365 | 337 | 451 | |||||||||||||||
Policy acquisition costs and other insurance expenses | 1,323 | 1,467 | 1,311 | 1,127 | 1,391 | |||||||||||||||
Other operating expenses | 786 | 710 | 645 | 554 | 538 | |||||||||||||||
Interest expense | 147 | 146 | 138 | 143 | 97 | |||||||||||||||
Collateral finance and securitization expense | 30 | 29 | 26 | 23 | 12 | |||||||||||||||
Total benefits and expenses | 12,030 | 11,373 | 10,478 | 9,673 | 9,896 | |||||||||||||||
Income before income taxes | 846 | 1,143 | 1,044 | 745 | 1,008 | |||||||||||||||
Provision for income taxes(1) | 130 | (679 | ) | 343 | 243 | 324 | ||||||||||||||
Net income | $ | 716 | $ | 1,822 | $ | 701 | $ | 502 | $ | 684 | ||||||||||
Earnings Per Share | ||||||||||||||||||||
Basic earnings per share | $ | 11.25 | $ | 28.28 | $ | 10.91 | $ | 7.55 | $ | 9.88 | ||||||||||
Diluted earnings per share | 11.00 | 27.71 | 10.79 | 7.46 | 9.78 | |||||||||||||||
Weighted average diluted shares, in thousands | 65,094 | 65,753 | 64,989 | 67,292 | 69,962 | |||||||||||||||
Dividends per share on common stock | $ | 2.20 | $ | 1.82 | $ | 1.56 | $ | 1.40 | $ | 1.26 | ||||||||||
Balance Sheet Data | ||||||||||||||||||||
Total investments | $ | 54,205 | $ | 51,691 | $ | 44,841 | $ | 41,978 | $ | 36,696 | ||||||||||
Total assets | 64,535 | 60,515 | 53,098 | 50,383 | 44,654 | |||||||||||||||
Policy liabilities(2) | 48,933 | 43,583 | 37,874 | 37,371 | 30,892 | |||||||||||||||
Long-term debt | 2,788 | 2,788 | 3,089 | 2,298 | 2,298 | |||||||||||||||
Collateral finance and securitization notes | 682 | 784 | 841 | 899 | 774 | |||||||||||||||
Total stockholders’ equity | 8,451 | 9,570 | 7,093 | 6,135 | 7,023 | |||||||||||||||
Total stockholders’ equity per share | 134.53 | 148.48 | 110.31 | 94.09 | 102.13 | |||||||||||||||
Operating Data (in billions) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Assumed ordinary life reinsurance in force | $ | 3,329 | $ | 3,297 | $ | 3,063 | $ | 2,995 | $ | 2,944 | ||||||||||
Assumed new business production | 407 | 395 | 405 | 491 | 482 | |||||||||||||||
(1) | 2017 reflects adjustments related to the initial adoption of U.S. Tax Reform. See Note 9 - “Income Tax” in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information. |
(2) | Policy liabilities include future policy benefits, interest-sensitive contract liabilities, and other policy claims and benefits. |
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Item 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Index to Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
Page | ||
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Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This report contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 including, among others, statements relating to projections of the strategies, earnings, revenues, income or loss, ratios, future financial performance, and growth potential of the Company. The words “intend,” “expect,” “project,” “estimate,” “predict,” “anticipate,” “should,” “believe,” and other similar expressions also are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified. Future events and actual results, performance, and achievements could differ materially from those set forth in, contemplated by, or underlying the forward-looking statements.
Numerous important factors could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements including, without limitation, (1) adverse capital and credit market conditions and their impact on the Company’s liquidity, access to capital and cost of capital, (2) the impairment of other financial institutions and its effect on the Company’s business, (3) requirements to post collateral or make payments due to declines in market value of assets subject to the Company’s collateral arrangements, (4) the fact that the determination of allowances and impairments taken on the Company’s investments is highly subjective, (5) adverse changes in mortality, morbidity, lapsation or claims experience, (6) changes in the Company’s financial strength and credit ratings and the effect of such changes on the Company’s future results of operations and financial condition, (7) inadequate risk analysis and underwriting, (8) general economic conditions or a prolonged economic downturn affecting the demand for insurance and reinsurance in the Company’s current and planned markets, (9) the availability and cost of collateral necessary for regulatory reserves and capital, (10) market or economic conditions that adversely affect the value of the Company’s investment securities or result in the impairment of all or a portion of the value of certain of the Company’s investment securities, that in turn could affect regulatory capital, (11) market or economic conditions that adversely affect the Company’s ability to make timely sales of investment securities, (12) risks inherent in the Company’s risk management and investment strategy, including changes in investment portfolio yields due to interest rate or credit quality changes, (13) fluctuations in U.S. or foreign currency exchange rates, interest rates, or securities and real estate markets, (14) adverse litigation or arbitration results, (15) the adequacy of reserves, resources and accurate information relating to settlements, awards and terminated and discontinued lines of business, (16) the stability of and actions by governments and economies in the markets in which the Company operates, including ongoing uncertainties regarding the amount of U.S. sovereign debt and the credit ratings thereof, (17) competitive factors and competitors’ responses to the Company’s initiatives, (18) the success of the Company’s clients, (19) successful execution of the Company’s entry into new markets, (20) successful development and introduction of new products and distribution opportunities, (21) the Company’s ability to successfully integrate acquired blocks of business and entities, (22) action by regulators who have authority over the Company’s reinsurance operations in the jurisdictions in which it operates, (23) the Company’s dependence on third parties, including those insurance companies and reinsurers to which the Company cedes some reinsurance, third-party investment managers and others, (24) the threat of natural disasters, catastrophes, terrorist attacks, epidemics or pandemics anywhere in the world where the Company or its clients do business, (25) interruption or failure of the Company’s telecommunication, information technology or other operational systems, or the Company’s failure to maintain adequate security to protect the confidentiality or privacy of personal or sensitive data stored on such systems, (26) changes in laws, regulations, and accounting standards applicable to the Company, its subsidiaries, or its business, (27) the benefits or burdens associated with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 may be different than expected, (28) the effect of the Company’s status as an insurance holding company and regulatory restrictions on its ability to pay principal of and interest on its debt obligations, and (29) other risks and uncertainties described in this document and in the Company’s other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).
Forward-looking statements should be evaluated together with the many risks and uncertainties that affect the Company’s business, including those mentioned in this document and described in the periodic reports the Company files with the SEC. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made. The Company does not undertake any obligations to update these forward-looking statements, even though the Company’s situation may change in the future. For a discussion of these risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, you are advised to see Item 1A – “Risk Factors”.
Overview
The Company is among the leading global providers of life reinsurance and financial solutions, with $3.3 trillion of life reinsurance in force and assets of $64.5 billion as of December 31, 2018. Traditional reinsurance includes individual and group life and health, disability, and critical illness reinsurance. Financial solutions includes longevity reinsurance, asset-intensive reinsurance, financial reinsurance and stable value products. The Company derives revenues primarily from renewal premiums from existing reinsurance treaties, new business premiums from existing or new reinsurance treaties, fee income from financial solutions business and income earned on invested assets.
The Company’s underwriting expertise and industry knowledge has allowed it to expand into international markets and now has operations in over 25 countries including locations in the Asia Pacific region, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. The Company generally starts operations from the ground up in new markets as opposed to acquiring existing operations,
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and it often enters new markets to support its clients as they expand internationally. Based on the compilation of information from competitors’ annual reports, the Company believes it is the third-largest global life and health reinsurer in the world based on 2017 life and health reinsurance revenues. The Company conducts business with the majority of the largest U.S. and international life insurance companies. The Company has also developed its capacity and expertise in the reinsurance of longevity risks, asset-intensive products (primarily annuities and corporate-owned life insurance) and financial reinsurance. More recently, the Company has increased its investment and expenditures in client service and technology oriented initiatives to both support its clients and generate new future revenue streams.
Historically, the Company’s primary business has been traditional life reinsurance, which involves reinsuring life insurance policies that are often in force for the remaining lifetime of the underlying individuals insured, with premiums earned typically over a period of 10 to 30 years. Each year, however, a portion of the business under existing treaties terminates due to, among other things, lapses or voluntary surrenders of underlying policies, deaths of insureds, and the exercise of recapture options by ceding companies. The Company has expanded its financial solutions business, including significant asset-intensive and longevity risk transactions, which allow its clients to take advantage of growth opportunities and manage their capital, longevity and investment risk.
The Company’s long-term profitability largely depends on the volume and amount of death- and health-related claims incurred and the ability to adequately price the risks it assumes. While death claims are reasonably predictable over a period of many years, claims become less predictable over shorter periods and are subject to significant fluctuation from quarter to quarter and year to year. For longevity business, the Company’s profitability depends on the lifespan of the underlying contract holders and the investment performance for certain contracts. Additionally, the Company generates profits on investment spreads associated with the reinsurance of investment type contracts and generates fees from financial reinsurance transactions, which are typically shorter duration than its traditional life reinsurance business. The Company believes its sources of liquidity are sufficient to cover potential claims payments on both a short-term and long-term basis.
Segment Presentation
The Company has geographic-based and business-based operational segments. Geographic-based operations are further segmented into traditional and financial solutions businesses.
The Company allocates capital to its segments based on an internally developed economic capital model, the purpose of which is to measure the risk in the business and to provide a consistent basis upon which capital is deployed. The economic capital model considers the unique and specific nature of the risks inherent in RGA’s businesses. As a result of the economic capital allocation process, a portion of investment income is credited to the segments based on the level of allocated capital. In addition, the segments are charged for excess capital utilized above the allocated economic capital basis. This charge is included in policy acquisition costs and other insurance expenses. Segment investment performance varies with the composition of investments and the relative allocation of capital to the operating segments.
Segment revenue levels can be significantly influenced by currency fluctuations, large transactions, mix of business and reporting practices of ceding companies, and therefore may fluctuate from period to period. Although reasonably predictable over a period of years, segment claims experience can be volatile over shorter periods.
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The following table sets forth the Company’s premiums attributable to each of its segments for the periods indicated on both a gross assumed basis and net of premiums ceded to third parties:
Gross and Net Premiums by Segment
(in millions)
Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
2018 | 2017 | 2016 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Gross | Net | Gross | Net | Gross | Net | |||||||||||||||||||
U.S. and Latin America: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Traditional | $ | 6,127.0 | $ | 5,533.3 | $ | 5,966.7 | $ | 5,356.3 | $ | 5,865.6 | $ | 5,249.6 | ||||||||||||
Financial Solutions | 27.2 | 27.2 | 23.7 | 23.7 | 64.6 | 24.4 | ||||||||||||||||||
Total U.S. and Latin America | 6,154.2 | 5,560.5 | 5,990.4 | 5,380.0 | 5,930.2 | 5,274.0 | ||||||||||||||||||
Canada: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Traditional | 1,070.9 | 1,024.0 | 940.1 | 902.0 | 965.1 | 928.6 | ||||||||||||||||||
Financial Solutions | 43.4 | 43.4 | 38.2 | 38.2 | 38.7 | 38.7 | ||||||||||||||||||
Total Canada | 1,114.3 | 1,067.4 | 978.3 | 940.2 | 1,003.8 | 967.3 | ||||||||||||||||||
Europe, Middle East and Africa: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Traditional | 1,449.1 | 1,423.2 | 1,336.6 | 1,301.7 | 1,171.0 | 1,140.1 | ||||||||||||||||||
Financial Solutions | 339.0 | 195.3 | 288.7 | 163.7 | 264.7 | 180.3 | ||||||||||||||||||
Total Europe, Middle East and Africa | 1,788.1 | 1,618.5 | 1,625.3 | 1,465.4 | 1,435.7 | 1,320.4 | ||||||||||||||||||
Asia Pacific: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Traditional | 2,346.2 | 2,296.4 | 2,107.5 | 2,053.0 | 1,731.8 | 1,681.5 | ||||||||||||||||||
Financial Solutions | 0.9 | 0.9 | 2.4 | 2.4 | 5.4 | 5.4 | ||||||||||||||||||
Total Asia Pacific | 2,347.1 | 2,297.3 | 2,109.9 | 2,055.4 | 1,737.2 | 1,686.9 | ||||||||||||||||||
Corporate and Other | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.3 | ||||||||||||||||||
Total | $ | 11,403.8 | $ | 10,543.8 | $ | 10,704.0 | $ | 9,841.1 | $ | 10,107.2 | $ | 9,248.9 | ||||||||||||
The following table sets forth selected information concerning assumed life reinsurance business in force and assumed new business volume by segment for the periods indicated. The terms “in force” and “new business” refer to insurance policy face amounts or net amounts at risk.
Reinsurance Business In Force and New Business by Segment
(in billions)
As of December 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
2018 | 2017 | 2016 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
In Force | New Business | In Force | New Business | In Force | New Business | |||||||||||||||||||
U.S. and Latin America: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Traditional | $ | 1,610.1 | $ | 106.5 | $ | 1,609.8 | $ | 99.4 | $ | 1,609.3 | $ | 126.4 | ||||||||||||
Financial Solutions | 2.1 | — | 2.1 | — | 2.1 | — | ||||||||||||||||||
Total U.S. and Latin America | 1,612.2 | 106.5 | 1,611.9 | 99.4 | 1,611.4 | 126.4 | ||||||||||||||||||
Canada: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Traditional | 383.5 | 43.1 | 393.9 | 35.6 | 355.7 | 34.9 | ||||||||||||||||||
Financial Solutions | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||
Total Canada | 383.5 | 43.1 | 393.9 | 35.6 | 355.7 | 34.9 | ||||||||||||||||||
Europe, Middle East and Africa: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Traditional | 716.3 | 190.2 | 739.0 | 181.5 | 603.0 | 169.8 | ||||||||||||||||||
Financial Solutions | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||
Total Europe, Middle East and Africa | 716.3 | 190.2 | 739.0 | 181.5 | 603.0 | 169.8 | ||||||||||||||||||
Asia Pacific: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Traditional | 616.9 | 66.9 | 552.3 | 78.9 | 492.2 | 73.7 | ||||||||||||||||||
Financial Solutions | 0.3 | — | 0.2 | — | 0.2 | — | ||||||||||||||||||
Total Asia Pacific | 617.2 | 66.9 | 552.5 | 78.9 | 492.4 | 73.7 | ||||||||||||||||||
Total | $ | 3,329.2 | $ | 406.7 | $ | 3,297.3 | $ | 395.4 | $ | 3,062.5 | $ | 404.8 | ||||||||||||
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Reinsurance business in force reflects the addition or acquisition of new life reinsurance business, offset by terminations (e.g., life and group contract terminations, lapses of underlying policies, deaths of insureds, and recapture), changes in foreign currency exchange, and any other changes in the amount of insurance in force. As a result of terminations and other changes, assumed in force amounts at risk of $374.8 billion, $160.6 billion, and $337.4 billion were released in 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively.
See “Results of Operations by Segment” below for further information about the Company’s segments.
Industry Trends
The Company believes that the following trends in the life insurance industry will continue to create demand for life reinsurance.
Outsourcing of Mortality and Morbidity. The Company believes life insurance companies will continue to utilize reinsurance to manage capital and mortality/morbidity risk and to develop competitive products. The Company believes there has been a decline in the percentage of new business being reinsured in recent years, which has caused premium growth rates in select markets, notably in North America, to moderate. The Company believes a decline in new business being reinsured is likely a reaction by ceding companies to a broad-based increase in reinsurance rates in the market, stronger capital positions maintained by ceding companies in recent years and a desire by ceding companies to adjust their risk profiles. However, the Company believes reinsurers will continue to be an integral part of the life insurance market due to their ability to efficiently aggregate a significant volume of life insurance in force, creating economies of scale and greater diversification of risk. As a result of having larger amounts of data at their disposal compared to primary life insurance companies, reinsurers tend to have better insights into mortality/morbidity trends, creating more efficient pricing for mortality/morbidity risk.
Capital Management. Changing regulatory environments, rating agencies and competitive business pressures are causing life insurers to evaluate reinsurance as a means to:
• | manage risk-based capital by shifting mortality and other risks to reinsurers, thereby reducing amounts of reserves and capital they need to maintain; |
• | release capital to pursue new business initiatives; |
• | unlock the capital supporting, and value embedded in, non-core product lines; and |
• | exit certain lines of business. |
Consolidation and Reorganization within the Life Reinsurance and Life Insurance Industry. As a result of consolidations over the last decade within the life reinsurance industry, there are fewer competitors. As a consequence, the Company believes the life reinsurance pricing environment will remain attractive for the remaining life reinsurers, particularly those with a significant market presence and strong ratings.
Additionally, merger and acquisition transactions within the life insurance industry continue to occur. The Company believes that reorganizations and consolidations of life insurers will continue. As reinsurance services are used to facilitate these transactions and manage risk, the Company expects demand for its products to continue.
Changing Demographics of Insured Populations. The aging of the population in North America is increasing demand for financial products among “baby boomers” who are concerned about protecting their peak income stream and are considering retirement and estate planning. The Company believes that this trend is likely to result in continuing demand for annuity products and life insurance policies, larger face amounts of life insurance policies and higher mortality and longevity risk taken by life insurers, all of which should fuel the need for insurers to seek reinsurance coverage. The Company continues to follow a two-part business strategy to capitalize on industry trends.
1) Continue Growth of North American Mortality Business. The Company’s strategy includes continuing to grow each of the following components of its North American mortality operations:
• | Facultative Reinsurance. Based on discussions with the Company’s clients, an industry survey and informal knowledge about the industry, the Company believes it is a leader in facultative underwriting in North America. The Company intends to maintain that status by emphasizing its underwriting standards, prompt response on quotes, competitive pricing, capacity, value added services and flexibility in meeting customer needs. The Company believes its facultative business has allowed it to develop close, long-standing client relationships and generate additional business opportunities with its facultative clients. |
• | Automatic Reinsurance. The Company intends to maintain its presence in the North American automatic reinsurance market by leveraging its mortality expertise and breadth of products and services to gain additional market share. |
• | In Force Block Reinsurance. Increasingly, there are occasions to grow the business by reinsuring in force blocks, as insurers and reinsurers seek to exit various non-core businesses and increase financial flexibility in order to, among |
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other things, redeploy capital and pursue merger and acquisition activity. The Company continually seeks these types of opportunities.
2) Continue Growth in Selected International Markets and Products. The Company’s strategy includes building upon the expertise and relationships developed in its North American business platform to continue its growth in selected international markets and products, including:
• | International Markets. Management believes that international markets continue to offer opportunities for long-term growth, and the Company intends to capitalize on these opportunities by growing its presence in selected markets. Since 1994, the Company has entered new markets internationally, including, in the mid-to-late 1990s, Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan and the UK, and beginning in 2002, China, India and South Korea. The Company received regulatory approval to open a representative office in China in 2005 and received its branch license there in 2014; opened representative offices in Poland and Germany in 2006; opened new offices in France and Italy in 2007; opened a representative office in the Netherlands in 2009; and commenced operations in the UAE in 2011 and in Brazil in 2015. Before entering new markets, the Company evaluates several factors including: |
◦the size of the insured population,
◦competition,
◦the level of reinsurance penetration,
◦regulation,
◦existing clients with a presence in the market, and
◦the economic, social and political environment.
As previously indicated, the Company generally starts new operations in these markets from the ground up as opposed to acquiring existing operations, and it often enters these markets to support its large international clients as they expand into additional markets. Many of the markets that the Company has entered since 1994, or may enter in the future, are not utilizing life reinsurance, including facultative life reinsurance, at the same levels as the North American market, and therefore, the Company believes these markets represent opportunities for increasing reinsurance penetration. In particular, management believes markets such as Japan, Southeast Asia and South Korea are beginning to realize the benefits that reinsurers bring to the life insurance market. Markets such as China and India represent longer-term opportunities for growth as the underlying direct life insurance markets grow to meet the needs of growing middle-class populations. Additionally, the Company believes that regulatory changes (e.g., Solvency II) in European markets may cause ceding companies to reduce counterparty exposure to their existing life reinsurers and reinsure more business, creating opportunities for the Company.
• | Asset-intensive and Longevity Reinsurance and Other Products and Services. In recent years, the Company has experienced growth in asset-intensive and longevity reinsurance. The Company intends to continue leveraging its existing client relationships and reinsurance expertise to create customized reinsurance products and solutions. Industry trends, particularly the increased pace of consolidation and reorganization among life insurance companies and changes in products and product distribution along with new solvency requirements, are expected to enhance existing opportunities for asset-intensive and longevity reinsurance and financial solutions products. The Company began reinsuring annuities with guaranteed minimum benefits on a limited basis in 2007. To date, most of the Company’s asset-intensive reinsurance business has been written in the U.S. and the UK; however, additional opportunities outside of the U.S. continue to develop. The Company also provides longevity reinsurance in Europe and Canada, and in 2008 entered the U.S. healthcare reinsurance market with a primary focus on long-term care and Medicare supplement insurance. Additionally, the Company is experiencing growth in health related product offerings, such as critical illness, most notably in select Asian markets. In 2010, the Company expanded into the group reinsurance market in North America with the acquisition of Reliastar Life Insurance Company’s U.S. and Canada operations. The Company has more recently increased its investment and expenditures in client service and technology oriented initiatives to both support its clients and generate new future revenue streams. |
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Consolidated Results of Operations
The following table summarizes net income for the periods presented.
For the years ended December 31, | ||||||||||||
2018 | 2017 | 2016 | ||||||||||
Revenues | (Dollars in thousands, except per share data) | |||||||||||
Net premiums | $ | 10,543,776 | $ | 9,841,130 | $ | 9,248,871 | ||||||
Investment income, net of related expenses | 2,138,525 | 2,154,651 | 1,911,886 | |||||||||
Investment related gains (losses), net: | ||||||||||||
Other-than-temporary impairments on fixed maturity securities | (28,494 | ) | (42,639 | ) | (38,805 | ) | ||||||
Other-than-temporary impairments on fixed maturity securities transferred to (from) accumulated other comprehensive income | — | — | 74 | |||||||||
Other investment related gains (losses), net | (141,594 | ) | 210,519 | 132,926 | ||||||||
Total investment related gains (losses), net | (170,088 | ) | 167,880 | 94,195 | ||||||||
Other revenues | 363,451 | 352,108 | 266,559 | |||||||||
Total revenues | 12,875,664 | 12,515,769 | 11,521,511 | |||||||||
Benefits and expenses | ||||||||||||
Claims and other policy benefits | 9,318,929 | 8,518,917 | 7,993,375 | |||||||||
Interest credited | 425,204 | 502,040 | 364,691 | |||||||||
Policy acquisition costs and other insurance expenses | 1,322,520 | 1,466,646 | 1,310,540 | |||||||||
Other operating expenses | 786,137 | 710,690 | 645,509 | |||||||||
Interest expense | 147,355 | 146,025 | 137,623 | |||||||||
Collateral finance and securitization expense | 29,699 | 28,636 | 25,827 | |||||||||
Total benefits and expenses | 12,029,844 | 11,372,954 | 10,477,565 | |||||||||
Income before income taxes | 845,820 | 1,142,815 | 1,043,946 | |||||||||
Provision for income taxes | 129,978 | (679,366 | ) | 342,503 | ||||||||
Net income | $ | 715,842 | $ | 1,822,181 | $ | 701,443 | ||||||
Earnings per share | ||||||||||||
Basic earnings per share | $ | 11.25 | $ | 28.28 | $ | 10.91 | ||||||
Diluted earnings per share | 11.00 | 27.71 | 10.79 | |||||||||
Dividends declared per share | $ | 2.20 | $ | 1.82 | $ | 1.56 | ||||||
Consolidated net income decreased $1.1 billion, or 60.7% in 2018, and increased $1.1 billion, or 159.8%, in 2017. Diluted earnings per share were $11.00 in 2018 compared to $27.71 in 2017 and $10.79 in 2016. During 2017, a net tax benefit was recorded of approximately $1.0 billion or $15.72 per diluted share, primarily related to the revaluation of the Company’s net deferred tax liabilities as a result of the U.S. corporate income tax rate being reduced from 35% to 21% as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (“U.S. Tax Reform”).
Consolidated income before income taxes decreased $297.0 million in 2018, or 26.0%, and increased $98.9 million, or 9.5%, in 2017. The decrease in income before income taxes in 2018 was due to investment related losses, unfavorable claims experience in the individual and group businesses in the U.S., and unfavorable results in the Company’s Australian disability business due to adverse claims development and an increase in claims incurred in the current year. The increase in income before income taxes in 2017 was primarily due to higher investment income, increased other revenues and improved claims experience in Europe, Middle East and Africa (“EMEA”) partially offset by higher interest expense. Foreign currency exchange fluctuations resulted an increase to income before income taxes of approximately $9.7 million and a decrease of $1.4 million in 2018 and 2017, respectively.
The Company recognizes in consolidated income, any changes in the fair value of embedded derivatives on modified coinsurance (“modco”) or funds withheld treaties, equity-indexed annuity treaties (“EIAs”) and variable annuities with guaranteed minimum benefit riders. The Company utilizes freestanding derivatives to minimize the income statement volatility due to changes in the fair value of embedded derivatives associated with guaranteed minimum benefit riders. The following table presents the effect of embedded derivatives and related freestanding derivatives on income before income taxes for the periods indicated (dollars in thousands):
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Twelve months ended December 31, | |||||||||||
2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |||||||||
Modco/Funds withheld: | |||||||||||
Unrealized gains (losses) | $ | (12,597 | ) | $ | 144,724 | $ | 54,169 | ||||
Deferred acquisition costs/retrocession | 14,658 | (70,392 | ) | (40,077 | ) | ||||||
Net effect | 2,061 | 74,332 | 14,092 | ||||||||
EIAs: | |||||||||||
Unrealized gains (losses) | 17,378 | 40,260 | 28,137 | ||||||||
Deferred acquisition costs/retrocession | (10,935 | ) | (25,797 | ) | (17,091 | ) | |||||
Net effect | 6,443 | 14,463 | 11,046 | ||||||||
Guaranteed minimum benefit riders: | |||||||||||
Unrealized gains (losses) | (15,455 | ) | 32,166 | 7,834 | |||||||
Deferred acquisition costs/retrocession | 38,852 | 50,365 | (71,221 | ) | |||||||
Net effect | 23,397 | 82,531 | (63,387 | ) | |||||||
Related freestanding derivatives | (28,508 | ) | (95,848 | ) | 34,538 | ||||||
Net effect after related freestanding derivatives | (5,111 | ) | (13,317 | ) | (28,849 | ) | |||||
Total net effect of embedded derivatives | 31,901 | 171,326 | (38,249 | ) | |||||||
Related freestanding derivatives | (28,508 | ) | (95,848 | ) | 34,538 | ||||||
Total net effect after freestanding derivatives | $ | 3,393 | $ | 75,478 | $ | (3,711 | ) | ||||
Consolidated net premiums increased $702.6 million, or 7.1%, and $592.3 million, or 6.4%, in 2018 and 2017, respectively. The increases in 2018 and 2017 are primarily due to growth in life reinsurance in force. Foreign currency fluctuations relative to the prior year affected net premiums favorably by approximately $43.0 million and $25.9 million in 2018 and 2017, respectively. Consolidated assumed life insurance in force was $3,329.2 billion, $3,297.3 billion and $3,062.5 billion as of December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively. Foreign currency fluctuations affected the increases in assumed life insurance in force unfavorably by $101.5 billion in 2018 and favorably by $121.1 billion in 2017. The Company added new business production, measured by face amount of insurance in force, of $406.7 billion, $395.4 billion and $404.8 billion during 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively.
Consolidated investment income, net of related expenses, decreased $16.1 million, or 0.7% in 2018, and increased $242.8 million, or 12.7%, in 2017. The decrease in 2018 is primarily the result of decreases in investment yield and funds withheld at interest, partially offset by increases in the average invested asset base. The increase in 2017 was primarily due to an increase in the average invested asset base. Investment income is affected by changes in the fair value of the Company’s funds withheld at interest assets associated with the reinsurance of certain EIA products. The re-measurement of these funds withheld assets decreased investment income by $133.0 million in 2018 and increased investment income by $117.0 million in 2017 when compared to prior periods. The effect on investment income of the EIAs’ market value changes is substantially offset by a corresponding change in interest credited to policyholder account balances resulting in an insignificant effect on net income.
The average invested assets at amortized cost, excluding spread related business, totaled $26.6 billion, $25.2 billion and $23.2 billion in 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively. The average yield earned on investments, excluding spread related business, was 4.45%, 4.55% and 4.57% in 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively. The average yield will vary from year to year depending on several variables, including the prevailing interest rate and credit spread environment, prepayment fees and make-whole premiums, changes in the mix of the underlying investments and cash balances, and the timing of dividends and distributions on certain investments. Investment income in 2018 and 2017 benefited from distributions from joint ventures and limited partnerships, which can be highly variable from year to year. A continued low interest rate environment is expected to put downward pressure on this yield in future reporting periods.
Total investment related gains (losses), net, decreased by $337.8 million or 201.3% in 2018 and increased by $73.7 million, or 78.2%, in 2017. Fluctuations in investment related gains (losses), net are primarily due to unfavorable and favorable changes in the value of embedded derivatives related to reinsurance treaties written on a modco or funds withheld basis of $157.3 million and $90.6 million in 2018 and 2017, respectively. In addition, 2018 reflects net realized losses on investment sales compared to net realized gains in 2017. Net realized losses in 2018 are primarily related to repositioning of fixed maturity securities in a rising interest rate environment. Investment impairments on fixed maturity securities decreased by $14.1 million in 2018 and increased by $3.8 million in 2017, compared to the prior years. See Note 4 - “Investments” and Note 5 - “Derivative Instruments” in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on investment related gains (losses), net, and derivatives. Investment income is allocated to the operating segments based upon average assets and related capital levels deemed appropriate to support segment operations.
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The effective tax rate on a consolidated basis was 15.4%, (59.4)%, and 32.8% for 2018, 2017, and 2016, respectively. The 2018 effective tax rate was lower than the U.S. Statutory rate of 21% primarily as a result of the release of a valuation allowance on foreign tax credits, which was partially offset by tax expense related to global intangible low-taxed income (“GILTI”) and valuation allowance increases. The 2017 effective tax rate includes the tax effects of the U.S. Tax Reform. The Company recorded an estimated net tax benefit of approximately $1.0 billion resulting in a reduction to the effective tax rate. See Note 9 - “Income Tax” in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on the Company’s consolidated effective tax rate.
Critical Accounting Policies
The Company’s accounting policies are described in Note 2 – “Significant Accounting Policies and Pronouncements” in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements. The Company believes its most critical accounting policies include the establishment of premiums receivable; amortization of deferred acquisition costs (“DAC”); the establishment of liabilities for future policy benefits and incurred but not reported claims; the valuation of investments and investment impairments; the valuation of embedded derivatives; and accounting for income taxes. The balances of these accounts require extensive use of assumptions and estimates, particularly related to the future performance of the underlying business.
Differences in experience compared with the assumptions and estimates utilized in establishing premiums receivable, the justification of the recoverability of DAC, in establishing reserves for future policy benefits and claim liabilities, or in the determination of other-than-temporary impairments to investment securities can have a material effect on the Company’s results of operations and financial condition.
Premiums Receivable
Premiums are accrued when due and in accordance with information received from the ceding company. When the Company enters into a new reinsurance agreement, it records accruals based on the terms of the reinsurance treaty. Similarly, when a ceding company fails to report information on a timely basis, the Company records accruals based on the terms of the reinsurance treaty as well as historical experience. Other management estimates include adjustments for increased insurance in force on existing treaties, lapsed premiums given historical experience, the financial health of specific ceding companies, collateral value and the legal right of offset on related amounts (i.e. allowances and claims) owed to the ceding company. Under the legal right of offset provisions in its reinsurance treaties, the Company can withhold payments for allowances and claims from unpaid premiums.
Deferred Acquisition Costs
Costs of acquiring new business, which vary with and are directly related to the production of new business, have been deferred to the extent that such costs are deemed recoverable from future premiums or gross profits. Such costs include commissions and allowances as well as certain costs of policy issuance and underwriting. Non-commission costs related to the acquisition of new and renewal insurance contracts may be deferred only if they meet the following criteria:
• | Incremental direct costs of a successful contract acquisition. |
• | Portions of employees’ salaries and benefits directly related to time spent performing specified acquisition activities for a contract that has been acquired or renewed. |
• | Other costs directly related to the specified acquisition or renewal activities that would not have been incurred had that acquisition contract transaction not occurred. |
The Company tests the recoverability for each year of business at issue before establishing additional DAC. The Company also performs annual tests to establish that DAC remain recoverable at all times, and if financial performance significantly deteriorates to the point where a deficiency exists, a cumulative charge to current operations will be recorded. No such adjustments related to DAC recoverability were made in 2018, 2017 and 2016.
DAC related to traditional life insurance contracts are amortized with interest over the premium-paying period of the related policies in proportion to the ratio of individual period premium revenues to total anticipated premium revenues over the life of the policy. Such anticipated premium revenues are estimated using the same assumptions used for computing liabilities for future policy benefits.
DAC related to interest-sensitive life and investment-type contracts is amortized over the lives of the contracts, in relation to the present value of estimated gross profits (“EGP”) from mortality, investment income, and expense margins. The EGP for asset-intensive products include the following components: (1) estimates of fees charged to policyholders to cover mortality, surrenders and maintenance costs, less amount of risk upon death; (2) expected interest rate spreads between income earned and amounts credited to policyholder accounts; and (3) estimated costs of administration. EGP is also reduced by the Company’s estimate of future losses due to defaults in fixed maturity securities as well as the change in reserves for embedded derivatives.
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DAC is sensitive to changes in assumptions regarding these EGP components, and any change in such assumptions could have an effect on the Company’s profitability.
The Company periodically reviews the EGP valuation model and assumptions so that the assumptions reflect best estimates of future experience. Two assumptions are considered to be most significant: (1) estimated interest spread, and (2) estimated future policy lapses. As of December 31, 2018, the Company had $420.2 million of DAC related to asset-intensive products, all within the U.S. and Latin America Financial Solutions segment. The following table reflects the possible change that would occur in a given year if assumptions, as a percentage of current DAC related to asset-intensive products, are changed as illustrated:
Quantitative Change in Significant Assumptions | One-Time Increase in DAC | One-Time Decrease in DAC | ||
Estimated interest spread increasing (decreasing) 25 basis points from the current spread | 4.43% | (4.65)% | ||
Estimated future policy lapse rates decreasing (increasing) 20% on a permanent basis (including surrender charges) | 5.22% | (4.66)% | ||
In general, a change in assumption that improves the Company’s expectations regarding EGP is going to have the effect of deferring the amortization of DAC into the future, thus increasing earnings and the current DAC balance. DAC can be no greater than the initial DAC balance plus interest and would be subject to recoverability testing, which is ignored for purposes of this analysis. Conversely, a change in assumption that decreases EGP will have the effect of speeding up the amortization of DAC, thus reducing earnings and lowering the DAC balance. The Company also adjusts DAC to reflect changes in the unrealized gains and losses on available-for-sale fixed maturity securities since these changes affect EGP. This adjustment to DAC is reflected in accumulated other comprehensive income.
The DAC associated with the Company’s non-asset-intensive business is less sensitive to changes in estimates for investment yields, mortality and lapses. In accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, the estimates include provisions for the risk of adverse deviation and are not adjusted unless experience significantly deteriorates to the point where a premium deficiency exists.
The following table displays DAC balances for the Traditional and Financial Solutions segments as of December 31, 2018:
(dollars in thousands) | Traditional | Financial Solutions | Total | |||||||||
U.S. and Latin America | $ | 1,824,874 | $ | 420,154 | $ | 2,245,028 | ||||||
Canada | 192,661 | — | 192,661 | |||||||||
Europe, Middle East and Africa | 239,161 | — | 239,161 | |||||||||
Asia Pacific | 702,439 | 18,481 | 720,920 | |||||||||
Total | $ | 2,959,135 | $ | 438,635 | $ | 3,397,770 | ||||||
As of December 31, 2018, the Company estimates that all of its DAC balance is collateralized by surrender fees due to the Company and the reduction of policy liabilities, in excess of termination values, upon surrender or lapse of a policy.
Liabilities for Future Policy Benefits and Incurred but not Reported Claims
Liabilities for future policy benefits under long-duration life insurance policies (policy reserves) are computed based upon expected investment yields, mortality and withdrawal (lapse) rates, and other assumptions, including a provision for adverse deviation from expected claim levels. Liabilities for policy claims and benefits for short-duration contracts are accounted for based on actuarial estimates of the amount of loss inherent in that period’s claims, including losses incurred for which claims have not been reported. Short-duration contract loss estimates rely on actuarial observations of ultimate loss experience for similar historical events. The Company primarily relies on its own valuation and administration systems to establish policy reserves. The policy reserves the Company establishes may differ from those established by the ceding companies due to the use of different mortality and other assumptions. However, the Company relies upon its ceding company clients to provide accurate data, including policy-level information, premiums and claims, which is the primary information used to establish reserves. The Company’s administration departments work directly with clients to help ensure information is submitted in accordance with the reinsurance contracts. Additionally, the Company performs periodic audits of the information provided by clients. The Company establishes reserves for processing backlogs with a goal of clearing all backlogs within a ninety-day period. The backlogs are usually due to data errors the Company discovers or computer file compatibility issues, since much of the data reported to the Company is in electronic format and is uploaded to its computer systems.
The Company periodically reviews actual historical experience and relative anticipated experience compared to the assumptions used to establish aggregate policy reserves. Further, the Company establishes premium deficiency reserves if actual and anticipated experience indicates that existing aggregate policy reserves, together with the present value of future gross premiums, are not sufficient to cover the present value of future benefits, settlement and maintenance costs and to recover
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unamortized acquisition costs. The premium deficiency reserve is established through a charge to income, as well as a reduction to unamortized acquisition costs and, to the extent there are no unamortized acquisition costs, an increase to future policy benefits. Because of the many assumptions and estimates used in establishing reserves and the long-term nature of the Company’s reinsurance contracts, the reserving process, while based on actuarial science, is inherently uncertain. If the Company’s assumptions, particularly on mortality, are inaccurate, its reserves may be inadequate to pay claims and there could be a material adverse effect on its results of operations and financial condition.
Claims payable for incurred but not reported losses for long-duration life policies are determined using case-basis estimates and lag studies of past experience. The time lag from the date of the claim or death to the date when the ceding company reports the claim to the Company can be several months and can vary significantly by ceding company, business segment and product type. Incurred but not reported claims are estimates on an undiscounted basis, using actuarial estimates of historical claims expense, adjusted for current trends and conditions. These estimates are continually reviewed and the ultimate liability may vary significantly from the amount recognized, which are reflected in net income in the period in which they are determined.
Claims payable for incurred but not reported losses for disability, medical and other short-duration contracts are determined using actuarial methods based on historical claim patterns as well as estimated changes in cost trends. The Company also reviews and evaluates how prior periods’ estimates are developed when estimating the accrual for the current period. To the extent appropriate, changes in such development are recorded as a change to the current period expense. Historically, the amount of the claim development adjustment made in subsequent reporting periods for prior period estimates has been in a reasonable range given the Company’s normal claim fluctuations.
Valuation of Investments and Other-than-Temporary Impairments
The Company primarily invests in fixed maturity securities, mortgage loans, short-term investments, and other invested assets. For investments reported at fair value, the Company utilizes, when available, fair values based on quoted prices in active markets that are regularly and readily obtainable. Generally, these are very liquid investments and the valuation does not require management judgment. When quoted prices in active markets are not available, fair value is based on market valuation techniques, market comparable pricing and the income approach. The Company may utilize information from third parties, such as pricing services and brokers, to assist in determining the fair value for certain investments; however, management is ultimately responsible for all fair values presented in the Company’s consolidated financial statements. This includes responsibility for monitoring the fair value process, ensuring objective and reliable valuation practices and pricing of assets and liabilities, and approving changes to valuation methodologies and pricing sources. The selection of the valuation technique(s) to apply considers the definition of an exit price and the nature of the investment being valued and significant expertise and judgment is required.
Fixed maturity securities are classified as available-for-sale and are carried at fair value. Unrealized gains and losses on fixed maturity securities classified as available-for-sale, less applicable deferred income taxes as well as related adjustments to deferred acquisition costs, if applicable, are reflected as a direct charge or credit to accumulated other comprehensive income (“AOCI”) in stockholders’ equity on the consolidated balance sheets.
See “Investments” in Note 2 – “Significant Accounting Policies and Pronouncements” and Note 6 – “Fair Value of Assets and Liabilities” in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information regarding the valuation of the Company’s investments.
Mortgage loans on real estate are carried at unpaid principal balances, net of any unamortized premium or discount and valuation allowances. For a discussion regarding the valuation allowance for mortgage loans see “Mortgage Loans on Real Estate” in Note 2 – “Significant Accounting Policies and Pronouncements” in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
In addition, investments are subject to impairment reviews to identify when a decline in value is other-than-temporary. Other-than-temporary impairment losses related to non-credit factors are recognized in AOCI whereas the credit loss portion is recognized in investment related gains (losses), net. See “Other-than-Temporary Impairment” in Note 2 – “Significant Accounting Policies and Pronouncements” in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for a discussion of the policies regarding other-than-temporary impairments.
Valuation of Embedded Derivatives
The Company reinsures certain annuity products that contain terms that are deemed to be embedded derivatives, primarily equity-indexed annuities and variable annuities with guaranteed minimum benefits. The Company assesses each identified embedded derivative to determine whether it is required to be bifurcated under the general accounting principles for Derivatives and Hedging. If the instrument would not be reported in its entirety at fair value and it is determined that the terms of the embedded derivative are not clearly and closely related to the economic characteristics of the host contract, and that a separate instrument with the same terms would qualify as a derivative instrument, the embedded derivative is bifurcated from the host contract and accounted for as a freestanding derivative. Such embedded derivatives are carried on the consolidated balance sheets at fair value with the host contract.
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Additionally, reinsurance treaties written on a modified coinsurance or funds withheld basis are subject to the general accounting principles for Derivatives and Hedging related to embedded derivatives. The majority of the Company’s funds withheld at interest balances are associated with its reinsurance of annuity contracts, the majority of which are subject to the general accounting principles for Derivatives and Hedging related to embedded derivatives. Management believes the embedded derivative feature in each of these reinsurance treaties is similar to a total return swap on the assets held by the ceding companies.
The valuation of the various embedded derivatives requires complex calculations based on actuarial and capital markets inputs and assumptions related to estimates of future cash flows and interpretations of the primary accounting guidance continue to evolve in practice. The valuation of embedded derivatives is sensitive to the investment credit spread environment. Changes in investment credit spreads are also affected by the application of a credit valuation adjustment (“CVA”). The fair value calculation of an embedded derivative in an asset position utilizes a CVA based on the ceding company’s credit risk. Conversely, the fair value calculation of an embedded derivative in a liability position utilizes a CVA based on the Company’s credit risk. Generally, an increase in investment credit spreads, ignoring changes in the CVA, will have a negative impact on the fair value of the embedded derivative (decrease in income). See “Derivative Instruments” in Note 2 – “Significant Accounting Policies and Pronouncements” and Note 6 – “Fair Value of Assets and Liabilities” in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information regarding the valuation of the Company’s embedded derivatives.
Income Taxes
The U.S. consolidated tax return includes the operations of RGA and all eligible subsidiaries. Certain RGA subsidiaries file separate U.S. income tax returns as these companies are currently ineligible for inclusion in the consolidated federal tax return. The Company’s foreign subsidiaries are taxed under applicable local statutes.
The Company provides for federal, state and foreign income taxes currently payable, as well as those deferred due to temporary differences between the tax basis of assets and liabilities and the reported amounts, and are recognized in net income or in certain cases in other comprehensive income. The Company’s accounting for income taxes represents management’s best estimate of various events and transactions considering the laws enacted as of the reporting date. U.S. Tax Reform creates additional complexity due to various provisions that require management judgment and assumptions, which are subject to change.
Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured by applying the relevant jurisdictions’ enacted tax rate to the temporary difference in the period in which the temporary differences are expected to reverse. The Company will establish a valuation allowance if management determines, based on available information, that it is more likely than not that deferred income tax assets will not be realized. The Company has deferred tax assets including those related to net operating and capital losses. The Company has projected its ability to utilize its U.S. and foreign deferred tax assets and has determined that all of the U.S. assets including losses are expected to be utilized and established a valuation allowance on the portion of the foreign deferred tax assets the Company believes more likely than not will not be realized.
Significant judgment is required in determining whether valuation allowances should be established as well as the amount of such allowances. When making such a determination, consideration is given to, among other things, the following:
(i) | future taxable income exclusive of reversing temporary differences and carryforwards; |
(ii) | future reversals of existing taxable temporary differences; |
(iii) | taxable income in prior carryback years; and |
(iv) | tax planning strategies. |
Any such changes could significantly affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements in the year these changes occur.
The Company reports uncertain tax positions in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. In order to recognize the benefit of an uncertain tax position, the position must meet the more likely than not criteria of being sustained. Unrecognized tax benefits due to tax uncertainties that do not meet the more likely than not criteria are included within other liabilities and are charged to earnings in the period that such determination is made. The Company classifies interest related to tax uncertainties as interest expense whereas penalties related to tax uncertainties are classified as a component of income tax.
See Note 9 - “Income Tax” for further discussion including the impact of the December 22, 2017 enactment of U.S. Tax Reform.
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Results of Operations by Segment
U.S. and Latin America Operations
The U.S. and Latin America operations include business generated by its offices in the U.S., Mexico and Brazil. The offices in Mexico and Brazil provide services to clients in other Latin American countries. U.S. and Latin America operations consist of two major segments: Traditional and Financial Solutions. The Traditional segment primarily specializes in the reinsurance of individual mortality-risk, health and long-term care and to a lesser extent, group reinsurance. The Financial Solutions segment consists of Asset-Intensive and Financial Reinsurance. Asset-Intensive within the Financial Solutions segment includes coinsurance of annuities and corporate-owned life insurance policies and to a lesser extent, fee-based synthetic guaranteed investment contracts, which include investment-only, stable value contracts. Financial Reinsurance within the Financial Solutions segment primarily involves assisting ceding companies in meeting applicable regulatory requirements by enhancing the ceding companies’ financial strength and regulatory surplus position through relatively low risk reinsurance transactions. Typically these transactions do not qualify as reinsurance under GAAP, due to the low-risk nature of the transactions, so only the related net fees are reflected in other revenues on the consolidated statements of income.
For the year ended December 31, 2018 | Financial Solutions | |||||||||||||||
Traditional | Asset-Intensive | Financial Reinsurance | Total U.S. and Latin America | |||||||||||||
(dollars in thousands) | ||||||||||||||||
Revenues: | ||||||||||||||||
Net premiums | $ | 5,533,256 | $ | 27,203 | $ | — | $ | 5,560,459 | ||||||||
Investment income, net of related expenses | 729,757 | 700,041 | 6,583 | 1,436,381 | ||||||||||||
Investment related gains (losses), net | 8,177 | (57,228 | ) | — | (49,051 | ) | ||||||||||
Other revenues | 24,543 | 128,124 | 102,522 | 255,189 | ||||||||||||
Total revenues | 6,295,733 | 798,140 | 109,105 | 7,202,978 | ||||||||||||
Benefits and expenses: | ||||||||||||||||
Claims and other policy benefits | 5,048,749 | 130,234 | — | 5,178,983 | ||||||||||||
Interest credited | 82,046 | 311,837 | — | 393,883 | ||||||||||||
Policy acquisition costs and other insurance expenses | 738,574 | 158,929 | 16,017 | 913,520 | ||||||||||||
Other operating expenses | 139,954 | 29,346 | 10,404 | 179,704 | ||||||||||||
Total benefits and expenses | 6,009,323 | 630,346 | 26,421 | 6,666,090 | ||||||||||||
Income before income taxes | $ | 286,410 | $ | 167,794 | $ | 82,684 | $ | 536,888 | ||||||||
For the year ended December 31, 2017 | Financial Solutions | |||||||||||||||
Traditional | Asset-Intensive | Financial Reinsurance | Total U.S. and Latin America | |||||||||||||
(dollars in thousands) | ||||||||||||||||
Revenues: | ||||||||||||||||
Net premiums | $ | 5,356,321 | $ | 23,683 | $ | — | $ | 5,380,004 | ||||||||
Investment income, net of related expenses | 728,073 | 769,932 | 8,541 | 1,506,546 | ||||||||||||
Investment related gains (losses), net | (1,606 | ) | 144,343 | — | 142,737 | |||||||||||
Other revenues | 17,383 | 98,782 | 105,097 | 221,262 | ||||||||||||
Total revenues | 6,100,171 | 1,036,740 | 113,638 | 7,250,549 | ||||||||||||
Benefits and expenses: | ||||||||||||||||
Claims and other policy benefits | 4,760,194 | 78,447 | — | 4,838,641 | ||||||||||||
Interest credited | 82,218 | 379,921 | — | 462,139 | ||||||||||||
Policy acquisition costs and other insurance expenses | 753,336 | 229,506 | 22,804 | 1,005,646 | ||||||||||||
Other operating expenses | 130,989 | 28,158 | 9,958 | 169,105 | ||||||||||||
Total benefits and expenses | 5,726,737 | 716,032 | 32,762 | 6,475,531 | ||||||||||||