Statements of Equity for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017
We conducted our audits of these financial statements in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audits we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company's internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
Changes to U.S. GAAP are established by the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") in the form of Accounting Standards Updates ("ASUs") to the FASB Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC"). The Company considers the applicability and impact of all ASUs. ASUs listed below include those that have been adopted during the current fiscal year and/or those that have been issued but not yet adopted as of December 31, 2019 and as of the date of this filing. ASUs not listed below were assessed and determined to be either not applicable or not material.
Other invested assets excluded from the fair value hierarchy include certain hedge funds, private equity funds and other funds for which fair value is measured at net asset value ("NAV") per share (or its equivalent) as a practical expedient. At December 31, 2019 and 2018, the fair values of such investments were $10.5 million and $8.0 million, respectively.
The Company’s liability for future policy benefits are primarily liabilities for guaranteed benefits related to certain long-duration life and annuity contracts. Liabilities for guaranteed benefits with embedded derivative features are primarily in "Other contract liabilities" in the table above. The remaining liabilities for guaranteed benefits are primarily reflected with the underlying contract. The interest rates used in the determination of the present values range from 1.9% to 3.3%. See Note 9 for additional information regarding liabilities for guaranteed benefits related to certain long-duration contracts.
The table below summarizes the changes in general account liabilities for guarantees. The liabilities for GMDB and GMIB are included in “Future policy benefits” and the related changes in the liabilities are included in “Policyholders’ benefits.” GMAB, GMWB and GMIWB are accounted for as embedded derivatives and are recorded at fair value within “Future policy benefits.” Changes in the fair value of these derivatives, including changes in the Company’s own risk of non-performance, along with any fees attributed or payments made relating to the derivative are recorded in “Realized investment gains (losses), net.” See Note 5 for additional information regarding the methodology used in determining the fair value of these embedded derivatives. The Company maintains a portfolio of derivative investments that serve as a partial hedge of the risks associated with these products, for which the changes in fair value are also recorded in “Realized investment gains (losses), net.” This portfolio of derivative investments does not qualify for hedge accounting treatment under U.S. GAAP.