In addition, we had ongoing formal communications with all of our significant vendors to keep abreast of the extent to which our interface systems were vulnerable to those third parties' failure to remediate their own Year 2000 issues.
At December 31, 1999, we held $314.5 million or 10.7% of invested assets in mortgage loans. These mortgage loans are diversified as to property type, location and loan size, and are collateralized by the related properties. At December 31, 1999, mortgages more than 60 days delinquent accounted for less than 0.1% of the carrying value of the mortgage portfolio. Our mortgage lending policies establish limits on the amount that can be loaned to one borrower and require diversification by geographic location and collateral type. Regions with the largest concentration of our mortgage loan portfolio at December 31, 1999 include: Pacific (27.2%), which includes California; and West South Central (25.7%), which includes Oklahoma and Texas. Mortgage loans on real estate are also diversified by collateral type with office buildings (44.6%) and retail facilities (34.6%) representing the largest holdings at December 31, 1999.
Policy liabilities and accruals increased 2.2% to $2,416.4 million at December 31, 1999. The relatively modest increase in policy liabilities is partially attributable to our marketing emphasis on the sale of variable products. As noted under the "Investments" section above, the shift in sales to variable products will have an impact on the future growth rate of our policy liabilities and accruals as well as the separate account liabilities. During 1999, we issued $40.0 million in long-term debt and used the proceeds to fund the maturity of our $24.5 million short-term note payable. Deferred income taxes decreased 109.9% from a liability of $46.5 million at December 31, 1998 to an asset of $4.6 million at December 31, 1999, due principally to the decrease in unrealized appreciation on fixed maturity securities classified as available for sale. At December 31, 1999, we had total liabilities of $3,060.2 million, a 3.2% increase from total liabilities at December 31, 1998.
On May 30, 1997, FBL Financial Group Capital Trust (the Trust), a consolidated wholly-owned subsidiary, issued $97.0 million of 5% Preferred Securities to the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation. In connection with the Trust's issuance of the 5% Preferred Securities and the related purchase of all of the Trust's common securities, the parent company issued to the Trust $100.0 million principal amount of its 5% Subordinated Deferrable Interest Notes, due June 30, 2047 (the Notes). Concurrent with the issuance of the Notes, we purchased from the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation 5,000,000 shares of our Series A preferred stock at its liquidation value of $100.0 million. In addition, we issued 5,000,000 shares of Series B preferred stock to the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation for $3.0 million.
In June 1998, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (Statement) No. 133, "Accounting for Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities." Statement No. 133 requires companies to record derivatives on the balance sheet as assets or liabilities, measured at fair value. Accounting for gains or losses resulting from changes in the values of those derivatives is dependent on the use of the derivative and whether it qualifies for hedge accounting. Statement No. 133 allows companies to transfer securities classified as held for investment to either the available-for-sale or trading categories in connection with the adoption of the new standard. The Statement's effective date for the Company has been extended to the fiscal year beginning January 1, 2001, with earlier adoption encouraged. Because of our minimal use of derivatives, we do not anticipate that the adoption of the new Statement will have a significant effect on earnings or our financial position.
Realized gains (losses) and the change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on investments, excluding amounts attributed to investments held by subsidiaries engaged in the broker-dealer and investment company industries, are summarized below:
At December 31, 1999, the Company had committed to provide additional funding for mortgage loans on real estate aggregating $15.8 million. These commitments arose in the normal course of business at terms that are comparable to similar investments.
EQUITY SECURITIES: The fair values for equity securities are based on quoted market prices, where available. For equity securities that are not actively traded, estimated fair values are based on values of comparable issues.