Cal. INS § 10489.4 — California Code / Code ins / Division 2 / Part 2 / Chapter 5 / Article 3a / Section 10489.4
Section 10489.4
Status: in_force

(a) The interest rates used in determining the minimum standard for the valuation of the following shall be the calendar year statutory valuation interest rates as defined in this section:

(1) Life insurance policies issued in a particular calendar year, on or after the operative date of Section 10163.2 as amended by Section 28 of the Statutes of 1997.

(2) Individual annuity and pure endowment contracts issued in a particular calendar year on or after January 1, 1982.

(3) Annuities and pure endowments purchased in a particular calendar year on or after January 1, 1982, under group annuity and pure endowment contracts.

(4) The net increase, if any, in a particular calendar year after January 1, 1982, in amounts held under guaranteed interest contracts.

(b) (1) The calendar year statutory valuation interest rates, expressed in the following formulas as “I,” shall be determined as follows and the results rounded to the nearest one-fourth of 1 percent:

(A) For life insurance:

I = .03 + W (R1– .03) + W/2 (R2– .09)

Where
R1 is the lesser of R and .09,
R2 is the greater of R and .09,
R is the reference interest rate defined in this section,
W is the weighting factor defined in this section.

(B) For single premium immediate annuities and for annuity benefits involving life contingencies arising from other annuities with cash settlement options and from guaranteed interest contracts with cash settlement options:

I = .03 + W (R - .03)

Where
R is the reference interest rate defined in this section,
W is the weighting factor defined in this section.

(C) For other annuities with cash settlement options and guaranteed interest contracts with cash settlement options, valued on an issue year basis, except as stated in subparagraph (B), the formula for life insurance stated in subparagraph (A) shall apply to annuities and guaranteed interest contracts with guarantee durations in excess of 10 years and the formula for single premium immediate annuities stated in subparagraph (B) shall apply to annuities and guaranteed interest contracts with guarantee duration of 10 years or less.

(D) For other annuities with no cash settlement options and for guaranteed interest contracts with no cash settlement options, the formula for single premium immediate annuities stated in subparagraph (B) shall apply.

(E) For other annuities with cash settlement options and guaranteed interest contracts with cash settlement options, valued on a change in fund basis, the formula for single premium immediate annuities stated in subparagraph (B) shall apply.

(2) However, if the calendar year statutory valuation interest rate for a life insurance policy issued in any calendar year determined without reference to this sentence differs from the corresponding actual rate for similar policies issued in the immediately preceding calendar year by less than one-half of 1 percent, the calendar year statutory valuation interest rate for the life insurance policies shall be equal to the corresponding actual rate for the immediately preceding calendar year. For purposes of applying the immediately preceding sentence, the calendar year statutory valuation interest rate for life insurance policies issued in a calendar year shall be determined for 1980 (using the reference interest rate defined in 1979) and shall be determined for each subsequent calendar year regardless of when Section 10163.2, as amended, becomes operative.

(c) The weighting factors referred to in the formulas stated above are given in the following tables:

(1) Weighting Factors for Life Insurance:

Guarantee Duration (Years) Weighting Factors
10 or less .50
More than 10, but not more than 20 .45
More than 20 .35

For life insurance, the guarantee duration is the maximum number of years the life insurance can remain in force on a basis guaranteed in the policy or under options to convert to plans of life insurance with premium rates or nonforfeiture values or both that are guaranteed in the original policy.

(2) Weighting factors for single premium immediate annuities and for annuity benefits involving life contingencies arising from other annuities with cash settlement options and guaranteed interest contracts with cash settlement options shall be .80.

(3) Weighting factors for other annuities and for guaranteed interest contracts, except as stated in paragraph (2), shall be as specified in subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), according to the rules and definitions in subparagraphs (D), (E), and (F):

(A) For annuities and guaranteed interest contracts valued on an issue year basis:

Guarantee Duration (Years) Weighting Factor for Plan Type
A B C
5 or less: .80 .60 .50
More than 5, but not more than 10: .75 .60 .50
More than 10, but not more than 20: .65 .50 .45
More than 20: .45 .35 .35

(B) For annuities and guaranteed interest contracts valued on a change in fund basis, the factors shown in subparagraph (A) increased by:

Plan Type
A B C
.15 .25 .05

(C) For annuities and guaranteed interest contracts valued on an issue year basis, other than those with no cash settlement options, that do not guarantee interest on considerations received more than one year after issue or purchase and for annuities and guaranteed interest contracts valued on a change in fund basis that do not guarantee interest rates on considerations received more than 12 months beyond the valuation date, the factors shown in subparagraph (A) or derived in subparagraph (B) increased by:

Plan Type
A B C
.05 .05 .05

(D) For other annuities with cash settlement options and guaranteed interest contracts with cash settlement options, the guarantee duration is the number of years for which the contract guarantees interest rates in excess of the calendar year statutory valuation interest rate for life insurance policies with guarantee duration in excess of 20 years. For other annuities with no cash settlement options and for guaranteed interest contracts with no cash settlement options, the guaranteed duration is the number of years from the date of issue or date of purchase to the date annuity benefits are scheduled to commence.

(E) Plan type as used in the above tables is defined as follows:

(i) For Plan Type A: At any time a policyholder may withdraw funds only (I) with an adjustment to reflect changes in interest rates or asset values since receipt of the funds by the insurance company, (II) without an adjustment but installments over five years or more, (III) as an immediate life annuity, or (IV) no withdrawal is permitted.

(ii) For Plan Type B: Before expiration of the interest rate guarantee, a policyholder may withdraw funds only (I) with an adjustment to reflect changes in interest rates or asset values since receipt of the funds by the insurance company, (II) without an adjustment but in installments over five years or more, or (III) no withdrawal is permitted. At the end of the interest rate guarantee, funds may be withdrawn without an adjustment in a single sum or installments over less than five years.

(iii) For Plan Type C: Policyholder may withdraw funds before expiration of interest rate guarantee in a single sum or installments over less than five years either (I) without adjustment to reflect changes in interest rates or asset values since receipt of the funds by the insurance company, or (II) subject only to a fixed surrender charge stipulated in the contract as a percentage of the fund.

(F) A company may elect to value guaranteed interest contracts with cash settlement options and annuities with cash settlement options on either an issue year basis or on a change in fund basis. Guaranteed interest contracts with no cash settlement options and other annuities with no cash settlement options shall be valued on an issue year basis. As used in this section, an issue year basis of valuation refers to a valuation basis under which the interest rate used to determine the minimum valuation standard for the entire duration of the annuity or guaranteed interest contract is the calendar year valuation interest rate for the year of issue or year of purchase of the annuity or guaranteed interest contract, and the change in fund basis of valuation refers to a valuation basis under which the interest rate used to determine the minimum valuation standard applicable to each change in the fund held under the annuity or guaranteed interest contract is the calendar year valuation interest rate for the year of the change in the fund.

(d) The reference interest rate referred to in subdivision (b) shall be defined as follows:

(1) For life insurance, the lesser of the average over a period of 36 months and the average over a period of 12 months, ending on June 30 of the calendar year preceding the year of issue, of the monthly average of the composite yield on seasoned corporate bonds, as published by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc.

(2) For single premium immediate annuities and for annuity benefits involving life contingencies arising from other annuities with cash settlement options and guaranteed interest contracts with cash settlement options, the average over a period of 12 months, ending on June 30 of the calendar year of issue or year of purchase, of the monthly average of the composite yield on seasoned corporate bonds, as published by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc.

(3) For other annuities with cash settlement options and guaranteed interest contracts with cash settlement options, valued on a year of issue basis, except as stated in subdivision (b), with guarantee duration in excess of 10 years, the lesser of the average over a period of 36 months and the average over a period of 12 months, ending on June 30 of the calendar year of issue or purchase, of the monthly average of the composite yield on seasoned corporate bonds, as published by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc.

(4) For other annuities with cash settlement options and guaranteed interest contracts with cash settlement options, valued on a year of issue basis, except as stated in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (c), with guarantee duration of 10 years or less, the average over a period of 12 months, ending on June 30 of the calendar year of issue or purchase, of the monthly average of the composite yield on seasoned corporate bonds, as published by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc.

(5) For other annuities with no cash settlement options and for guaranteed interest contracts with no cash settlement options, the average over a period of 12 months, ending on June 30 of the calendar year of issue or purchase, of the monthly average of the composite yield on seasoned corporate bonds, as published by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc.

(6) For other annuities with cash settlement options and guaranteed interest contracts with cash settlement options, valued on a change in fund basis, except as stated in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (c), the average over a period of 12 months, ending on June 30 of the calendar year of the change in the fund, of the monthly average of the composite yield on seasoned corporate bonds, as published by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc.

(e) If the monthly average of the composite yield on seasoned corporate bonds is no longer published by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc., or in the event that the NAIC determines that the monthly average of the composite yield on seasoned corporate bonds as published by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc., is no longer appropriate for the determination of the reference interest rate, then an alternative method for determination of the reference interest rate adopted by the NAIC and approved by regulation promulgated by the commissioner may be substituted.

(f) This section shall apply to all certificates and contracts issued by a fraternal benefit society.