Impairment of Investments - The Company continually monitors the investment portfolio for investments that have become impaired in value, where fair value has declined below carrying value. While the value of the investments in the Company's portfolio continuously fluctuate due to market conditions, an other-than-temporary impairment charge is recorded only when a security has experienced a decline in fair market value which is deemed to be other than temporary. The policies and procedures the Company uses to evaluate and account for impairments of investments are disclosed in Note 1 - Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Note 2 - Investments in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements. The Company makes every effort to appropriately assess the status and value of the securities with the information available regarding an other-than-temporary impairment. However, it is difficult to predict the future prospects of a distressed or impaired security.
The 2015 realized gains from real estate are mainly attributable to the sale of three real estate parcels, which produced net gains of approximately $5 million. The Company reported net gains of approximately $13.3 million during 2014 from the sale of real estate. During the fourth quarter of 2014, a majority owned subsidiary of UG, HPG Acquisitions, LLC ("HPG"), sold all of the real estate it owned in Midland, Texas and recognized a gain of approximately $10.1 million. The sale of this real estate is the main reason for the fluctuation in the non-controlling interest balance reported on the Consolidated Statements of Operations. During the third quarter of 2014, the Company recognized a gain of approximately $3.1 million from the sale of real estate held by one of UG's wholly owned subsidiaries. Gains from the sale of real estate are the result of one-time events and are expected to vary from year to year.
During 2015 and 2014, realized gains were offset by other-than-temporary impairments of approximately $3.6 million and $163,000, respectively. The other-than-temporary impairments were taken as a result of Management's assessment and consideration of the length of time the securities have remained in an unrealized loss position and as a result of management's analysis and determination of value. The investments were written down to better reflect their current expected fair value.
Cash used in operating activities was approximately $11.1 million and $13.6 million in 2015 and 2014, respectively. Sources of operating cash flows of the Company, as with most insurance entities, is comprised primarily of premiums received on life insurance products and income earned on investments. Uses of operating cash flows consist primarily of payments of benefits to policyholders and beneficiaries and operating expenses. The Company has not marketed any significant new products for several years. As such, premium revenues continue to decline. Management anticipates future cash flows from operations to remain similar to historic trends.
Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2016-01, Financial Instruments-Overall (Subtopic 825-10): Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities - ASU 2016-01 makes targeted improvements to existing U.S. GAAP for financial instruments, including requiring equity investments (except those accounted for under the equity method of accounting, or those that result in consolidation of the investee) to be measured at fair value with changes in fair value recognized in net income; requiring entities to use the exit price notion when measuring the fair value of financial instruments for disclosure purposes; requiring separate presentation of financial assets and financial liabilities by measurement category and form of financial asset and requiring entities to present separately in other comprehensive income the portion of the total change in the fair value of a liability resulting from a change in the instrument-specific credit risk (also referred to as "own credit") when the organization has elected to measure the liability at fair value in accordance with the fair value option. The new guidance is effective for public companies for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017. Early adoption of the own credit provision is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact that the adoption of this guidance will have on its consolidated financial statements.
During 2015 and 2014, the maximum and minimum lending rates for mortgage loans were:
Level 2 - Valuation is based upon quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets or quoted prices for identical or similar instruments in markets that are not active. In addition, the Company may use various valuation techniques or pricing models that use observable inputs to measure fair value.
UG is domiciled in the state of Ohio. Ohio requires notification within five business days to the insurance commissioner following the declaration of any ordinary dividend and at least ten calendar days prior to payment of such dividend. Ordinary dividends are defined as the greater of: a) prior year statutory net income or b) 10% of statutory capital and surplus. Extraordinary dividends (amounts in excess of ordinary dividend limitations) require prior approval of the insurance commissioner and are not restricted to a specific calculation. UG paid ordinary dividends of $4,000,000 and $4,800,000 to UTG in 2015 and 2014, respectively. No extraordinary dividends were paid during the two year period. UTG used the dividends received during 2014 and 2015 to purchase outstanding shares of UTG stock and for general operations of the Company.