- -------- (1) Consists of individual mutual funds, including investments in our mutual funds through wrap-fee products, and both variable annuities and variable life insurance assets in our separate accounts. Fixed annuities and the fixed rate options of both variable annuities and variable life insurance are included in general account. (2) Consists of third-party institutional assets and group insurance contracts. (3) Consists of wrap-fee assets gathered by the Private Client Group and Retail Investments segments and funds invested in the non-proprietary options of our investment products other than wrap-fee products. (4) Consists primarily of general account assets supporting our International Insurance segment, assets gathered by the International Securities and Investments segment, and wind-down Canadian operations. December 31, 2001 includes assets of $29.2 billion for Gibraltar Life, which was acquired in April 2001.
The Closed Block Business consists principally of the Closed Block as well as the Surplus and Related Assets, deferred policy acquisition costs, other assets and the IHC debt. We allocated the net proceeds from the issuance of the Class B Stock and IHC debt, except for $72 million used to purchase a guaranteed investment
. our management of our exposure to catastrophic and other losses on our property and casualty insurance products;
Our liability for "Unpaid claims and claim adjustment expenses" includes estimates of claims that we believe have been incurred, but have not yet been reported ("IBNR") as of the balance sheet date, primarily attributable to our Property and Casualty Insurance segment and the group disability products within our Group Insurance segment. These estimates, and estimates of the amounts of loss we will ultimately incur on reported claims, which are based in part on our historical experience, are regularly adjusted to reflect actual claims experience. When actual experience differs from our previous estimate, the resulting difference will be included in our reported results for the period of the change in estimate. On an ongoing basis, trends in actual experience are a significant factor in the determination of claim reserve levels. In recent years, actual claims experience with respect to our automobile insurance business within our Property and Casualty Insurance segment has been more favorable than the assumptions we used in originally establishing the reserves for these claims, which resulted in a benefit to adjusted operating income for these years due to reserve releases, although we do not anticipate a comparable benefit in 2002. Actual claims experience can also be less favorable than that assumed in establishing reserves, which can require a charge to earnings to increase reserves. For example, we recorded a charge in 1999 with respect to our discontinued healthcare business, increasing the loss we had initially recorded in 1998 in connection with the sale of the business, as a result of adverse claims experience subsequent to our initial estimate of the required reserves.
On a consolidated basis, realized investment gains, net of losses and related charges, declined $1.234 billion, from a net gain of $472 million in 1999 to a net loss of $762 million in 2000. Realized investment gains, net of losses but excluding related charges, declined $1.212 billion, from a net gain of $924 million in 1999 to a net loss of $288 million in 2000. Charges related to net realized investment gains and losses were essentially unchanged, amounting to $452 million in 1999 and $474 million in 2000. These charges did not change proportionately with the change in realized investment gains, net of losses, in 2000 from 1999 for the reasons described above.
A provision of federal tax law applicable to mutual life insurance companies has resulted in significant fluctuations in our effective tax rate. This tax law requires adjustment to the deductible portion of policyholder dividends based on a complex multi-year formula that compares the financial accounting earnings rates of mutual life insurance companies with those of stock life insurers. The actual rate to be applied to a particular tax year is determined by the IRS up to two years after the end of the tax year. Accordingly, for periods prior to our demutualization, we were required to estimate the current year's rate in determining our tax provision for the current year for accounting purposes. When the actual rate was announced by the IRS, we recognized any difference between our estimated rate and the IRS's actual rate in that year. We are no longer subject to this tax after the demutualization. The impact of this tax law as reflected in reported results, including the current year estimate and adjustment of prior year estimates, constitutes the primary reason for the difference between our reported effective tax rates and the statutory rate of 35%. See Note 17 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Net investment income increased $58 million, or 18%, from $316 million in 1999 to $374 million in 2000. The increase resulted from an increase in the base of general account invested assets and a slight increase in investment yield.
Policyholder benefits and related changes in reserves increased $60 million, from $628 million in 2000 to $688 million in 2001, primarily as a result of term insurance we issued under policy provisions to customers who previously had lapsing variable life insurance with us and insurance claims arising from the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. In 2000, policyholder benefits and the related changes in reserves included a reserve increase related to a portion of our variable life insurance business as noted above amounting to $23 million.
the business unit, while revenues reflect, predominantly in our case, the renewal persistency and aging of in force policies written in prior years and net investment income, as well as current sales.
The following table sets forth the Individual Life Insurance segment's policy surrender experience for variable life insurance, measured by cash value of surrenders, for the periods indicated. These amounts do not correspond to expenses under GAAP. In managing this business, we analyze the cash value of surrenders because it is a measure of the degree to which policyholders are maintaining their in force business with us, a driver of future profitability. Our term life insurance products do not provide for cash surrender values.
2001 to 2000 Annual Comparison. Revenues, as shown in the table above under "--Operating Results," decreased $173 million, or 11%, from 2000 to 2001. Fee-based revenue decreased $112 million, from $1.081 million in 2000 to $969 million in 2001. The decrease came primarily from our mutual funds and wrap-fee products, reflecting lower asset-based distribution revenues as well as a lower level of fee-producing redemptions, and from our variable annuity products, reflecting a decline in the average market value of customer accounts on which our fees are based. The remainder of the decrease came primarily from lower investment income in 2001 and a reduction in premiums we recognized on conversion of deferred annuities by customers to income-paying status.
2001 to 2000 Annual Comparison. Mutual fund and wrap-fee product assets under management amounted to $75.8 billion at December 31, 2001, a decrease of $1.6 billion, or 2%, from December 31, 2000. Mutual fund assets under management at December 31, 2001 amounted to $57.8 billion, essentially unchanged from December 31, 2000. Wrap-fee assets declined $1.7 billion, to $18.0 billion at December 31, 2001.
2000 to 1999 Annual Comparison. Our automobile and total combined ratios, as shown in the table immediately above, improved in 2000 from 1999 primarily as a result of the $80 million recovery from a stop-loss reinsurance contract during 2000 and the $15 million greater benefit from prior accident year reserve development. The decrease in the automobile loss ratio came primarily from our recovery from a stop-loss reinsurance contract as noted above, and the greater benefit from release of prior accident year reserves in 2000 as well as our efforts to limit loss severity, partially offset by a slight increase in claim frequency. The increase in the homeowners' loss ratio primarily came from a 13% increase in claim severity, partially offset by a 9% decrease in claim frequency.
We seek to earn spread income in our general account on various products, which is the difference between our return on the investments supporting the products net of expenses and the amounts we credit to our contractholders. These products primarily include the general account insurance group life and disability products of the Group Insurance segment as well as guaranteed investment contracts and certain group annuity products of the Other Employee Benefits segment. We include revenues from these products, other than premiums received from policyholders, primarily in the line captioned "Net investment income" in our consolidated statements of operations.
2000 to 1999 Annual Comparison. Revenues decreased $129 million, or 4%, from 1999 to 2000. Net investment income decreased $128 million, or 5%, from $2.460 billion in 1999 to $2.332 billion in 2000. The majority of this decline relates to the continued runoff of our general account GIC business. Fee-based revenue in 2000 was approximately equal to 1999, as the impact on 1999 revenues from $16 million in fees we earned in connection with our participation in the rehabilitation of another life insurance company was essentially offset by higher fee-based revenues resulting from growth in our full service defined contribution and real estate and relocation businesses in 2000.
2001 to 2000 Annual Comparison. Assets under management in our full service defined contribution business amounted to $24.6 billion at December 31, 2001, a decrease of $1.4 billion, or 5%, from December 31, 2000. This decrease is primarily due to a decline in market value of mutual funds reflecting the general downturn in the equity markets. In addition, net sales decreased $1.2 billion in 2001 from 2000, reflecting a decrease in new institutional clients.
The $262 million adjusted operating income reported by Gibraltar Life reflected revenues of $2.026 billion and benefits and expenses of $1.764 billion. Gibraltar Life's revenues were comprised primarily of $1.710 billion of premiums, policy charges and fees, and $304 million net investment income, and its benefits and expenses were comprised primarily of $1.358 billion of policy benefits including changes in reserves and $406 million of operating expenses. As a result of Gibraltar Life's recent emergence from reorganization proceedings and the reduction in benefits for in force policies, when we established Gibraltar Life's initial liability for future policy benefits, we assumed a higher than normal level of policy surrenders for the near term. Our surrender rate assumptions for Gibraltar Life's years of operations, commencing at the date of reorganization, are 6% in the first year and 4% thereafter for paid-up policies and 2% to 38% in the first year, 3% to 14% in the second year, and 6% to 10% thereafter for premium paying policies, although the actual surrender rates we experience may differ materially from our assumptions. Gibraltar Life's adjusted operating income for the initial eight-month period included in our results benefited from gains on policy surrenders of about $56 million, including about $6 million in the three months ended November 30, 2001. Substantially all of this contribution to adjusted operating income resulted from a high level of surrenders due to customer response to the initial impact of policy changes introduced as part of Gibraltar Life's reorganization. These surrenders, which were significantly greater in the initial eight-month period than the level we expect on an ongoing basis, are not anticipated to have a material adverse impact on future results from Gibraltar Life. Future surrender experience in the near term may be significantly different from the levels we assumed, and our future adjusted operating income will be sensitive to differences in actual surrender experience from our assumptions, particularly during an initial period of about two years from the date of reorganization. We estimate that every 1% of in force policies that surrender in excess of our assumed level would contribute $40 to $50 million to our adjusted operating income for the period of the surrenders, and conversely that for every 1% of in force policies that surrender below our assumed level, our reported adjusted operating income would be negatively affected by $40 to $50 million.
2000 to 1999 Annual Comparison. Revenues increased $398 million, or 26%, from 1999 to 2000. The growth in revenues came primarily from an increase in premium income of $335 million, from $1.345 billion in 1999 to $1.680 billion in 2000. Premiums from our Japanese operations increased $227 million, from $1.167 billion in 1999 to $1.394 billion in 2000, as a result of continued strong persistency and new sales, as well as the favorable impact of currency exchange fluctuations. Premiums in all other countries increased $108 million, from $178 million in 1999 to $286 million in 2000, primarily as a result of increased sales and strong persistency in Korea and Taiwan. Net investment income increased $30 million, from $99 million in 1999 to $129 million in 2000, as a result of the growth in invested assets related to the increase in our business in force. On a constant exchange rate basis and excluding the impact of currency hedging, revenues increased $272 million, or 19%, from 1999 to 2000.
increased from $1.268 billion in 2000 to $1.388 billion in 2001, primarily as a result of the greater volume of business in force, which was driven by new sales, continued strong persistency and the aging of business in force in markets where our operations are more mature. On a constant exchange rate basis, total segment benefits and expenses increased $2.091 billion.
Many of our insurance products sold in international markets provide for the buildup of cash values for the policyholder at mandated guaranteed interest rates. The spread between the actual investment returns and these guaranteed rates of return to the policyholder is an element of the profit or loss that we will experience on these
The following table sets forth the Asset Management division's results for the periods indicated.
2001 to 2000 Annual Comparison. Adjusted operating income decreased $49 million, or 32%, from 2000 to 2001, due primarily to lower earnings from asset management resulting from declines in market value of the underlying assets on which our fees are based. Although 2000 adjusted operating income reflected expenses related to the consolidation of substantially all of our public equity management capabilities into our Jennison unit, these expenses were largely offset by revenues from performance incentive fees which exceeded those earned in 2001. Adjusted operating income in 2001 includes $6 million from the operations of a specialized asset management unit within this segment that we sold in the first quarter of 2002.
Corporate-level activities resulted in adjusted operating income of $70 million in 2001 and a $22 million loss, on an adjusted operating income basis, in 2000. The $92 million increase came primarily from $125 million greater income from our own qualified pension plan and a $22 million reduction in hedging losses retained at the corporate level, partially offset by reduced investment income and a $20 million charge offsetting the income earned by Prudential Securities as co-manager in the initial public offering of our Common Stock, which is included in adjusted operating income of our Other Asset Management segment.
2000 to 1999 Annual Comparison. Corporate and Other operations resulted in a pre-tax loss of $4 million in 2000, compared to pre-tax income of $137 million in 1999, on an adjusted operating income basis. The $141 million decline came primarily from corporate-level activities.
We had outstanding surplus notes totaling $989 million at December 31, 2001 and $988 million at December 31, 2000. These debt securities, which are included as surplus of Prudential Insurance on a statutory accounting basis, are subordinate to other borrowings and to policyholder obligations and are subject to regulatory approvals for principal and interest payments.
The costs that vary with and that are related primarily to the production of new insurance and annuity business are deferred to the extent such costs are deemed recoverable from future profits. Such costs include commissions, costs of policy issuance and underwriting, and variable field office expenses. Deferred policy acquisition costs ("DAC") are subject to recoverability testing at the end of each accounting period. Deferred policy acquisition costs, for certain products, are adjusted for the impact of unrealized gains or losses on investments as if these gains or losses had been realized, with corresponding credits or charges included in "Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)."
Due to the adoption of SFAS No. 133, "Accounting for Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities," on January 1, 2001, the aggregate amortized cost of the securities transferred to the "available for sale" portfolio was $11,937 million. Unrealized investment gains of $94 million, net of tax, were recorded in "Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)" at the time of the transfer in 2001.
Other postretirement benefit plan assets consist of group and individual life insurance policies, common stocks, corporate debt securities, U.S. government securities, short-term investments and tax-exempt municipal debt. Plan assets include $395 million and $463 million of Company insurance policies at September 30, 2001 and 2000, respectively.
Net periodic (benefit) cost included in "General and administrative expenses" in the Company's Consolidated Statements of Operations for the years ended December 31, includes the following components:
Deferred taxes are not provided on the undistributed earnings of foreign subsidiaries (considered to be permanent investments), which at December 31, 2001 were $1,749 million. Determining the tax liability that would arise if these earnings were remitted is not practicable.
floating-rate interest amounts calculated by reference to an agreed notional principal amount. Generally, no cash is exchanged at the outset of the contract and no principal payments are made by either party. Cash is paid or received based on the terms of the swap. These transactions are entered into pursuant to master agreements that provide for a single net payment to be made by one counterparty at each due date. The fair value of swap agreements is estimated based on proprietary pricing models or market quotes.
Exchange-traded futures and options are used by the Company to reduce market risks from changes in interest rates, to alter mismatches between the duration of assets in a portfolio and the duration of liabilities supported by those assets, and to hedge against changes in the value of securities it owns or anticipates acquiring or selling. In exchange-traded futures transactions, the Company agrees to purchase or sell a specified number of contracts, the value of which are determined by the value of designated classes of Treasury securities, and to post variation margin on a daily basis in an amount equal to the difference in the daily market values of those contracts. The Company enters into exchange-traded futures and options with regulated futures commissions merchants who are members of a trading exchange. The fair value of those futures and options is based on market quotes.
Segment results reflect certain reclassifications of historical revenues and expenses to conform to the Company's current presentation. These reclassifications have no impact on "adjusted operating income" of any of the Company's divisions or segments. The most significant reclassification is to revise the treatment of certain transactions between segments, so that all such transactions are eliminated within Corporate and Other results rather than at the division level.
In particular, the Company has been subject to substantial regulatory actions and civil litigation involving individual life insurance sales practices. In 1996, the Company entered into settlement agreements with relevant insurance regulatory authorities and plaintiffs in the principal life insurance sales practices class action lawsuit covering policyholders of individual permanent life insurance policies issued in the United States from 1982 to 1995. Pursuant to the settlements, the Company agreed to various changes to its sales and business practices controls, to a series of fines, and to provide specific forms of relief to eligible class members. Virtually all claims by class members filed in connection with the settlements have been resolved and virtually all aspects of the remediation program have been satisfied. While the approval of the class action settlement is now final, the Company remains subject to oversight and review by insurance regulators and other regulatory authorities with respect to its sales practices and the conduct of the remediation program. The U.S. District Court has also retained jurisdiction as to all matters relating to the administration, consummation, enforcement and interpretation of the settlements.