estimates and assumptions made as part of the reserving process could prove to be inaccurate due to several factors, including the fact that relatively limited historical information has been reported to us through December 31, 2019.
Our investment strategy allows for the use of derivative instruments. We utilize various derivative instruments such as futures contracts to enhance investment performance, replicate investment positions or manage market exposures and duration
Reinsurance premiums written are recorded based on the type of contracts the Company writes. Premiums on the Company’s excess of loss and pro rata reinsurance contracts are estimated when the business is underwritten. For excess of loss contracts, premiums are recorded as written based on the terms of the contract. Estimates of premiums written under pro rata contracts are recorded in the period in which the underlying risks are expected to incept and are based on information provided by the brokers and the ceding companies. For multi-year reinsurance treaties which are payable in annual installments, generally, only the initial annual installment is included as premiums written at policy inception due to the ability of the reinsured to commute or cancel coverage during the term of the policy. The remaining annual installments are included as
premiums written at each successive anniversary date within the multi-year term.
Changes in fair value of investments accounted for using the fair value option are included in “Net realized gains (losses).” The primary reasons for electing the fair value option were to address simplification and cost-benefit considerations.
Lenders products: collateral protection, debt cancellation and service contract reimbursement products to banks, credit unions, automotive dealerships and original equipment manufacturers and other specialty programs that pertain to automotive lending and leasing.
The insurance segment’s net favorable development of $15.8 million, or 7.0 points of net earned premium, consisted of $54.9 million of net favorable development from short-tailed lines and $39.1 million of net adverse development from medium-tailed and long-tailed lines. Net favorable development in short-tailed lines primarily resulted from lenders products and property (including special risk other than marine) reserves across all accident years, (i.e., the year in which a loss occurred) partially offset by net adverse development in travel business, primarily from the 2018 accident year. Net adverse development in medium-tailed and long-tailed lines of $39.1
The Company’s reserves for losses and loss adjustment expenses primarily relate to short-duration contracts with various characteristics (e.g., type of coverage, geography, claims duration). The Company considered such information in determining the level of disaggregation for disclosures related to its short-duration contracts, as detailed in the table below:
Ultimate losses and loss adjustment expenses are generally determined by extrapolation of claim emergence and settlement
that the ratio of losses in one period to losses in an earlier period will remain constant. These methods use historical loss payments over discrete periods of time to estimate future losses and necessarily assume that factors that have affected paid losses in the past, such as inflation or the effects of litigation, will remain constant in the future. Because historical paid loss development methods do not use incurred losses to estimate ultimate losses, they may be more reliable than the other methods that use incurred losses in situations where there are significant changes in how incurred losses are established by a company’s claims adjusters. However, historical paid loss development methods are more leveraged (meaning that small changes in payments have a larger impact on estimates of ultimate losses) than actuarial methods that use incurred losses because cumulative loss payments take much longer to equal the expected ultimate losses than cumulative incurred amounts. In addition, and for similar reasons, historical paid loss development methods are often slow to react to situations when new or different factors arise than those that have affected paid losses in the past.
The following table sets forth activity in the redeemable noncontrolling interests:
Certain directors and executive officers of the Company own common and preference shares of Watford. See note 11, “Variable Interest Entity and Noncontrolling Interests,” for information about Watford.
with respect to reinsurance recoverables as they may become uncollectible. The Company manages its credit risk in its reinsurance relationships by transacting with reinsurers that it considers financially sound and, if necessary, the Company may hold collateral in the form of funds, trust accounts and/or irrevocable letters of credit. This collateral can be drawn on for amounts that remain unpaid beyond specified time periods on an individual reinsurer basis. In addition, certain insurance policies written by the Company’s insurance operations feature large deductibles, primarily in its construction and national accounts lines of business. Under such contracts, the Company is obligated to pay the claimant for the full amount of the claim. The Company is subsequently reimbursed by the policyholder for the deductible amount. These amounts are included on a gross basis in the consolidated balance sheet in contractholder payables and contractholder receivables, respectively. In the event that the Company is unable to collect from the policyholder, the Company would be liable for such defaulted amounts. Collateral, primarily in the form of letters of credit, cash and trusts, is obtained from the policyholder to mitigate the Company’s credit risk. In the instances where the company receives collateral in the form of cash, the Company records a related liability in “Collateral held for insured obligations.”