FASCorp administered records for approximately 2,159,900 participants in 2002 versus 2,191,000 in 2001. FASCorp's fee income (including fee income from related parties) was $89.8 million, $72.4 million, and $63.8 million for the years ended, December 31, 2002, 2001, and 2000, respectively.
The Company uses certain derivatives, such as futures, options, and swaps, for purposes of hedging interest rate, market and foreign exchange risks. These derivatives, when taken alone, may subject the Company to varying degrees of market and credit risk; however, when used for hedging, these instruments typically reduce risk. The Company controls the credit risk of its financial contracts through established credit approvals, limits, and monitoring procedures. The Company has also developed controls within its operations to ensure that only Board authorized derivative transactions are executed. In addition, the Company uses derivatives to synthetically create investments that are either more expensive to acquire, or otherwise unavailable, in the cash markets. Note 1 to the Consolidated Financial Statements contains a discussion of the Company's outstanding derivatives.
Separate Accounts - Separate account assets and related liabilities are carried at fair value. The Company's separate accounts invest in shares of Maxim Series Fund, Inc. and Orchard Series Fund, open-end management investment companies which are affiliates of the Company, shares of other non-affiliated mutual funds, and government and corporate bonds. Investment income and realized capital gains and losses of the separate accounts accrue directly to the contractholders and, therefore, are not included in the Company's statements of income. Revenues to the Company from the separate accounts consist of contract maintenance fees, administrative fees, and mortality and expense risk charges.
The maximum amount of dividends which can be paid to stockholders by insurance companies domiciled in the State of Colorado are subject to restrictions relating to statutory surplus and statutory net gain from operations. Statutory surplus and net gains from operations for GWL&A at December 31, 2002 were $1,292,292 and $208,194 [Unaudited], respectively. GWL&A should be able to pay up to $208,194 [Unaudited] of dividends in 2003.
The plan provides for the granting of options with varying terms and vesting requirements. The majority of basic options under the plan vest and become exercisable twenty percent per year commencing on the first anniversary of the grant and expire ten years from the date of grant. Other basic options vest and become exercisable one-third per year commencing on various dates from December 31, 2000 to September 30, 2004, and expire ten years from the date of grant. Variable options granted to Company employees totaling 278,000 and 1,832,000 in 1998 and 1997, respectively, became exercisable, if certain cumulative financial targets were attained by the end of 2001. A total of 205,511 options vested and became exercisable. The exercise period runs from June 26, 2007. During 2000, the Company determined that it was probable that certain of these options would become exercisable and, accordingly, accrued compensation expense of $15,052 with a corresponding credit to additional paid-in capital as prescribed by AIN-APB 25. During 2001, the Company released $12,098 of this accrual when certain financial targets were not attained.
The following table summarizes the status of, and changes in, Lifeco options granted to Company employees, which are outstanding and the weighted-average exercise price (WAEP) for 2002, 2001, and 2000. As the options granted relate to Canadian stock, the values, which are presented in U.S. dollars, will fluctuate as a result of exchange rate fluctuations: