Office space is provided by Prudential Insurance, as described under “Expense Charges and Allocations” in Note 13 to the Financial Statements.
Competitive Environment. See “Business” for a discussion of the competitive environment and the basis on which we compete.
The near-term future equity rate of return assumption used in evaluating DAC and other costs for our variable annuity and variable life insurance products is derived using a reversion to the mean approach, a common industry practice. Under this approach, we consider historical equity returns and adjust projected equity returns over an initial future period of five years (the “near-term”) so that equity returns converge to the long-term expected rate of return. If the near-term projected future rate of return is greater than our near-term maximum future rate of return of 15.0%, we use our maximum future rate of return. As of December 31, 2018, our variable annuities and variable life insurance businesses assume an 8.0% long-term equity expected rate of return and a 7.6% near-term mean reversion equity expected rate of return.
The weighted average rate of return assumptions consider many factors specific to each business, including asset durations, asset allocations and other factors. We generally update the near-term equity rates of return and our estimate of total gross profits each quarter to reflect the result of the reversion to the mean approach. We generally update the future interest rates used to project fixed income returns annually and in any quarter when interest rates vary significantly from these assumptions. As a result of our 2018 annual reviews and update of assumptions and other refinements, we kept our long-term expectation of the 10-year U.S. Treasury rate unchanged from last year and continue to grade to 3.75% over ten years.
Policyholders’ account balances liability represents the contract value that has accrued to the benefit of the policyholder as of the balance sheet date. This liability is primarily associated with the accumulated account deposits, plus interest credited, less policyholder withdrawals and other charges assessed against the account balance, as applicable. The liability also includes provisions for benefits under non-life contingent payout annuities. Our unearned revenue reserve ("URR"), also reported as a component of “Policyholders’ account balances”, gross of reinsurance with a partial offset in "Reinsurance recoverables". The URR balance was $175 million as of December 31, 2018. This reserve primarily relates to variable and universal life products and represents policy charges for services to be provided in future periods. The charges are deferred as unearned revenue and are generally amortized over the expected life of the contract in proportion to the product's estimated gross profits, similar to DAC as discussed above.
Includes GMDB/GMIB reserves, embedded derivative liabilities for certain living benefit guaranteed features, and URR.
In December 2017, SEC staff issued “SAB 118, Income Tax Accounting Implications of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” (“SAB 118”), which allows the registrants to record provisional amounts during a ‘measurement period’ not to extend beyond one year. Under the relief provided by SAB 118, a company can recognize provisional amounts when it does not have the necessary information available, prepared or analyzed in reasonable detail to complete its accounting for the change in tax law. See Note 10 to the Financial Statements for a discussion of provisional amounts related to the Tax Act of 2017 included in “Total income tax expense (benefit)” in 2017 and adjustments to provisional amounts recorded in 2018.
An increase or decrease in our effective tax rate by one percentage point would have resulted in a decrease or increase in our 2018 "Total income tax expense (benefit)" of $0.3 million.
Total assets decreased $524 million, from $18,644 million at December 31, 2017 to $18,120 million at December 31, 2018. Significant components were:
Separate account assets decreased $863 million primarily driven by unfavorable market performance and policy charges, partially offset by net inflows.
Total investments increase of $36 million primarily driven by Universal, Term and Variable life business growth, partially offset by unrealized investment losses due to rising rates.
Total liabilities decreased $502 million, from $18,177 million at December 31, 2017 to $17,675 million at December 31, 2018. Significant components were:
Separate account liabilities decreased $863 million, corresponding to the decrease in separate account assets described above.
Income from operations before income taxes increased $2 million from $29 million in 2017 to $31 million in 2018. This was primarily driven by the $5 million favorable comparative net impacts from our annual reviews and update of assumptions and other refinements, mainly driven by favorable impacts related to a change in reinsurance methodology and mortality assumption updates in the individual life business. This was partially offset by deferred reinsurance activity in the annuities business.
Revenues increased $17 million from $124 million in 2017 to $141 million in 2018. Excluding the impact of our annual reviews and update of assumptions and other refinements, as discussed above, revenues increased by $2 million primarily driven by an increase in policy charges and fee income primarily driven by an increase in the amortization of unearned revenue reserves ("URR"), driven by the impact of the changes in the estimated profitability of the business.
The effective tax rate is the ratio of “Total income tax expense (benefit)” divided by “Income (loss) from operations before income taxes.” Our effective tax rate for fiscal years 2018, 2017 and 2016 was (0.2)%, (20.3)% and 15.2%, respectively. For a detailed description of the nature of each significant reconciling item, see Note 8 to the Financial Statements. The decrease in the effective tax rate from 15.2% in 2016 to (20.3)% in 2017 was primarily driven by a decrease in pre-tax net income. The increase in the effective tax rate from (20.3)% in 2017 to (0.2)% in 2018 was primarily driven by a decrease in non-taxable investment income as a result of the reduction in DRD benefit under the Tax Act of 2017.
Liquidity refers to the ability to generate sufficient cash resources to meet the payment obligations of the Company. Capital refers to the long-term financial resources available to support the operations of our businesses, fund business growth, and provide a cushion to withstand adverse circumstances. Our ability to generate and maintain sufficient liquidity and capital depends on the profitability of our businesses, general economic conditions, our ability to borrow from affiliates and our access to the capital markets through affiliates as described herein.
Effective and prudent liquidity and capital management is a priority across the organization. Management monitors the liquidity of Prudential Financial, Prudential Insurance and the Company on a daily basis and projects borrowing and capital needs over a multi-year time horizon through our periodic planning process. We believe that cash flows from the sources of funds available to us are sufficient to satisfy the current liquidity requirements of Prudential Insurance, Prudential Financial and the Company, including under reasonably foreseeable stress scenarios. Prudential Financial has a capital management framework in place that governs the allocation of capital and approval of capital uses. Prudential Financial and the Company also employ a Capital Protection Framework to ensure the availability of capital resources to maintain adequate capitalization under various stress scenarios.
Our businesses are subject to comprehensive regulation and supervision by domestic and international regulators. These regulations currently include, or may include in the future requirements and limitations (many of which are the subject of ongoing rule-making) relating to capital, leverage, liquidity, stress-testing, overall risk management, credit exposure reporting and credit concentration. For information on these regulatory initiatives and their potential impact on us, see “Business-Regulation” and “Risk Factors”.
The Framework accommodates periodic volatility within ranges that are deemed acceptable, while also providing for additional potential sources of capital, including on-balance sheet capital, derivatives, and contingent sources of capital. We believe we currently have access to sufficient resources, either directly, or indirectly through Prudential Financial, to maintain adequate capitalization under a range of potential stress scenarios.
Prudential Financial and the Company use captive reinsurance companies to more effectively manage our reserves and capital on an economic basis and to enable the aggregation and transfer of risks. The captive reinsurance companies assume business from affiliates only. To support the risks they assume, the captives are capitalized to a level we believe is consistent with the “AA” financial strength rating targets of Prudential Financial’s insurance subsidiaries. All of the captive reinsurance companies are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Prudential Financial and are located domestically, typically in the state of domicile of the direct writing insurance subsidiary that cedes the majority of business to the captive. In addition to state insurance regulation, the captives are subject to internal policies governing their activities. In the normal course of business, Prudential Financial contributes capital to the captives to support business growth and other needs. Prudential Financial has also entered into support agreements with several of the captives in connection with financing arrangements.
Our liquidity is managed to ensure stable, reliable and cost-effective sources of cash flows to meet all of our obligations. Liquidity is provided by a variety of sources, as described more fully below, including portfolios of liquid assets. Our investment portfolios are integral to the overall liquidity of the Company. We use a projection process for cash flows from operations to ensure sufficient liquidity to meet projected cash outflows, including claims. The impact of Prudential Funding, LLC’s, or Prudential Funding, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Prudential Insurance, financing capacity on liquidity (as described below) is considered in the internal liquidity measures of the Company.
Liquid assets include cash and cash equivalents, short-term investments, U.S. Treasury fixed maturities, fixed maturities that are not designated as held-to-maturity and public equity securities. As of December 31, 2018 and 2017, the Company had liquid assets of $1,358 million and $1,317 million, respectively. The portion of liquid assets comprised of cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments was $70 million and $45 million as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. As of December 31, 2018, $1,214 million, or 94%, of the fixed maturity investments in general account portfolios were rated high or highest quality based on NAIC or equivalent rating.
In addition, as of December 31, 2018, our affiliated captive reinsurance companies had outstanding an aggregate of $2.3 billion of debt issued for the purpose of financing Regulation XXX and Guideline AXXX non-economic reserves, of which approximately $0.6 billion relates to Regulation XXX reserves and approximately $1.7 billion relates to Guideline AXXX reserves, and all of which was issued directly by or guaranteed by Prudential Financial. In addition, as of December 31, 2018, for purposes of financing Guideline AXXX reserves, our affiliated captives had outstanding approximately $4.0 billion of surplus notes that were issued to affiliates.
Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016
Statements of Equity for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016
We have audited the accompanying statements of financial position of Pruco Life Insurance Company of New Jersey (the "Company") as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, and the related statements of operations and comprehensive income, of equity and of cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2018 including the related notes and financial statement schedules listed in the index appearing under Item 15 (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2018 and 2017 and the results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2018 in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
PLNJ had one subsidiary, formed in 2009 for the purpose of holding certain commercial loans and other investments which ceased operations and was dissolved as of December 31, 2018. Financial information for 2017 and 2016 is shown on a consolidated basis.
Through March 31, 2016, the Company reinsured the majority of its variable annuity living benefit guarantees to its affiliated companies, Pruco Reinsurance, Ltd. ("Pruco Re") and Pruco Life. Effective April 1, 2016, the Company recaptured the risks related to its variable annuity living benefit guarantees that were previously reinsured to Pruco Re and Pruco Life. In addition, the Company reinsured the variable annuity base contracts, along with the living benefit guarantees, to Prudential Insurance under a coinsurance and modified coinsurance agreement. This reinsurance agreement covers new and in force business. The product risks related to the reinsured business are being managed in Prudential Insurance. In addition, the living benefit hedging program related to the reinsured living benefit guarantees is being managed within Prudential Insurance. These series of transactions are collectively referred to as the "Variable Annuities Recapture".
As part of the Variable Annuities Recapture, the Company transferred invested assets of $0.7 billion to Prudential Insurance and established reinsurance recoverables of $1 billion. In addition, the Company received ceding commissions of $0.4 billion from Prudential Insurance, of which $0.1 billion were in the form of reassignment of debt to Prudential Insurance. Also, the Company unwound its deferred policy acquisition costs ("DAC") and deferred sales inducements ("DSI") balances related to its variable annuity contracts as of March 31, 2016, which was equivalent to the ceding commission. For the reinsurance of the variable annuity base contracts, the Company recognized a loss of $23 million, which was deferred and will subsequently be amortized through "General, administrative and other expenses". For the reinsurance of the living benefit guarantees, the Company recognized a benefit of $0.3 billion immediately since the reinsurance contract is accounted for as a free-standing derivative.
Consideration transferred includes non-cash activities of $0.7 billion for asset transfers to Prudential Insurance related to the reinsurance transaction, partially offset by $0.4 billion of assets received related to the recapture transaction with Pruco Re.
The Company recognized ceding commissions of $0.4 billion of which $0.1 billion was in the form of reassignment of debt to Prudential Insurance.
Interest income, and amortization of premium and accretion of discount are included in “Net investment income” under the effective yield method. Additionally, prepayment premiums are also included in “Net investment income”. For mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities, the effective yield is based on estimated cash flows, including interest rate and prepayment assumptions based on data from widely accepted third-party data sources or internal estimates. In addition to interest rate and prepayment assumptions, cash flow estimates also vary based on other assumptions regarding the underlying collateral, including default rates and changes in value. These assumptions can significantly impact income recognition and the amount of OTTI recognized in earnings and other comprehensive income. For high credit quality mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities (those rated AA or above), cash flows are provided quarterly, and the amortized cost and effective yield of the securities are adjusted as necessary to reflect historical prepayment experience and changes in estimated future prepayments. The adjustments to amortized cost are recorded as a charge or credit to "Net investment income" in accordance with the retrospective method. For mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities rated below AA or those for which an OTTI has been recorded, the effective yield is adjusted prospectively for any changes in estimated cash flows. See the discussion below on realized investment gains and losses for a description of the accounting for impairments.
Other invested assets consist of the Company’s non-coupon investments in Limited Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies ("LPs/LLCs")(other than operating joint ventures) and derivative assets. LPs/LLCs interests are accounted for using either the equity method of accounting, or at fair value with changes in fair value reported in “Other income (loss)”. The Company’s income from investments in LPs/LLCs accounted for using the equity method, other than the Company’s investments in operating joint ventures, is included in “Net investment income”. The carrying value of these investments is written down, or impaired, to fair value when a decline in value is considered to be other-than-temporary. In applying the equity method (including assessment for OTTI), the Company uses financial information provided by the investee, generally on a one to three-month lag. For the investments reported at fair value with changes in fair value reported in current earnings, the associated realized and unrealized gains and losses are reported in “Other income (loss)”.
An OTTI is recognized in earnings for a debt security in an unrealized loss position when the Company either (1) has the intent to sell the debt security or (2) it is more likely than not will be required to sell the debt security before its anticipated recovery. For all debt securities in unrealized loss positions that do not meet either of these two criteria, the Company analyzes its ability to recover the amortized cost by comparing the net present value of projected future cash flows with the amortized cost of the security. The net present value is calculated by discounting the Company’s best estimate of projected future cash flows at the effective interest rate implicit in the debt security prior to impairment. The Company may use the estimated fair value of collateral as a proxy for the net present value if it believes that the security is dependent on the liquidation of collateral for recovery of its investment. If the net present value is less than the amortized cost of the investment, an OTTI is recognized.
When an OTTI of a debt security has occurred, the amount of the OTTI recognized in earnings depends on whether the Company intends to sell the security or more likely than not will be required to sell the security before recovery of its amortized cost basis. If the debt security meets either of these two criteria, the OTTI recognized in earnings is equal to the entire difference between the security’s amortized cost basis and its fair value at the impairment measurement date. For OTTI of debt securities that do not meet these criteria, the net amount recognized in earnings is equal to the difference between the amortized cost of the debt security and its net present value calculated as described above. Any difference between the fair value and the net present value of the debt security at the impairment measurement date is recorded in “Other comprehensive income (loss)” (“OCI”). Unrealized gains or losses on securities for which an OTTI has been recognized in earnings is tracked as a separate component of AOCI.
DAC related to universal and variable life products and fixed and variable deferred annuity products are generally deferred and amortized over the expected life of the contracts in proportion to gross profits arising principally from investment margins, mortality and expense margins, and surrender charges, based on historical and anticipated future experience, which is updated periodically. The Company uses a reversion to the mean approach for equities to derive future equity return assumptions. However, if the projected equity return calculated using this approach is greater than the maximum equity return assumption, the maximum equity return is utilized. Gross profits also include impacts from the embedded derivatives associated with certain of the optional living benefit features of the Company’s variable annuity contracts and related hedging activities. In calculating gross profits, profits and losses related to contracts issued by the Company that are reported in affiliated legal entities other than the Company as a result of, for example, reinsurance agreements with those affiliated entities are also included. The Company is an indirect subsidiary of Prudential Financial, an United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") registrant, and has extensive transactions and relationships with other subsidiaries of Prudential Financial, including reinsurance agreements, as described in Note 9. Incorporating all product-related profits and losses in gross profits, including those that are reported in affiliated legal entities, produces a DAC amortization pattern representative of the total economics of the products. Total gross profits include both actual gross profits and estimates of gross profits for future periods. The Company regularly evaluates and adjusts DAC balances with a corresponding charge or credit to current period earnings, representing a cumulative adjustment to all prior periods’ amortization, for the impact of actual gross profits and changes in the Company's projections of estimated future gross profits. Adjustments to DAC balances include: (i) annual review of assumptions that reflect the comprehensive review of the assumptions used in estimating gross profits for future periods, (ii) quarterly adjustments for current period experience (also referred to as “experience true-up” adjustments) that reflect the impact of differences between actual gross profits for a given period and the previously estimated expected gross profits for that period, and (iii) quarterly adjustments for market performance (also referred to as “experience unlocking”) that reflect the impact of changes to the Company's estimate of total gross profits to reflect actual fund performance and market conditions.
Derivatives are financial instruments whose values are derived from interest rates, foreign exchange rates, financial indices, values of securities or commodities, credit spreads, market volatility, expected returns, and liquidity. Values can also be affected by changes in estimates and assumptions, including those related to counterparty behavior and non-performance risk ("NPR") used in valuation models. Derivative financial instruments generally used by the Company include swaps, futures, forwards and options and may be exchange-traded or contracted in the over-the-counter (“OTC”) market. Derivative positions are carried at fair value, generally by obtaining quoted market prices or through the use of valuation models.
Derivatives are used to manage the interest rate and currency characteristics of assets or liabilities. Additionally, derivatives may be used to seek to reduce exposure to interest rate, credit, foreign currency and equity risks associated with assets held or expected to be purchased or sold, and liabilities incurred or expected to be incurred. As discussed in detail below and in Note 4, all realized and unrealized changes in fair value of derivatives are recorded in current earnings, with the exception of the effective portion of cash flow hedges. Cash flows from derivatives are reported in the operating, investing or financing activities sections in the Statements of Cash Flows based on the nature and purpose of the derivative.
The Company formally documents at inception all relationships between hedging instruments and hedged items, as well as its risk-management objective and strategy for undertaking various hedge transactions. This process includes linking all derivatives designated as cash flow hedges to specific assets and liabilities on the balance sheet or to specific firm commitments or forecasted transactions.
The impacts of the pre-tax charge of $2 million in the second quarter of 2017 were as follows:
(1) Changes to the presentation within the Statements of Financial Position
Eliminated the line item “Trading account assets, at fair value” and reclassified each component to another line item.
The provisions of ASU 2016-01 require that the Company apply the amendments through a cumulative-effect adjustment to the Statements of Financial Position as of the beginning of the fiscal year of adoption. The following table illustrates the impact on the Company’s Statement of Financial Position as a result of recording this cumulative-effect adjustment on January 1, 2018.
The Company early adopted the ASU effective January 1, 2018 and elected to apply the ASU in the period of adoption subsequent to recording the adoption impacts of ASU 2016-01 as described above. As a result, the Company reclassified stranded effects resulting from the Tax Act of 2017 by increasing AOCI and decreasing retained earnings, each
by $5.9 million. Stranded effects unrelated to the Tax Act of 2017 are generally released from AOCI when an entire portfolio of the type of item related to the
Requires an entity to measure all market risk benefits (e.g., living benefit and death benefit guarantees associated with variable annuities) at fair value with changes in value attributable to changes in an entity’s NPR to be recognized in OCI.
Represents the amount of unrealized losses remaining in AOCI, from the impairment measurement date. Amount excludes $0.3 million of net unrealized gains on impaired available-for-sale securities relating to changes in the value of such securities subsequent to the impairment measurement date.
The following table sets forth the sources of fixed maturity proceeds and related investment gains (losses), as well as losses on impairments of both fixed maturities, for the periods indicated:
Includes $0.0 million, $0.0 million and $0.0 million of non-cash related proceeds due to the timing of trade settlements for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively.
The net change in unrealized gains (losses) from equity securities still held at period end, recorded within “Other income (loss),” was $(1.0) million during the year ended December 31, 2018. The net change in unrealized gains (losses) from equity securities, still held at period end, recorded within "Other comprehensive income (loss)," was $0.2 million and $1.2 million during the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively.
As of December 31, 2018, the commercial mortgage and agricultural property loans were secured by properties geographically dispersed throughout the United States (with the largest concentrations in Illinois (17%), New York (14%) and Texas (10%)) and included loans secured by properties in Europe (8%).
Prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to current period presentation. For additional information, see Note 2.
Effective January 1, 2018, realized gains (losses) on equity securities are recorded within "Other income (loss)."
The following table below sets forth net unrealized gains (losses) on investments, as of the dates indicated:
In the normal course of business, the Company sells securities under agreements to repurchase and enters into securities lending transactions. As of both December 31, 2018 and 2017, the Company had no repurchase agreements.
As of December 31, 2018 and 2017, there were fixed maturities of $0.5 million and $0.5 million, respectively, on deposit with governmental authorities or trustees as required by certain insurance laws.
The Company sells certain products (for example, variable annuities), which may include guaranteed benefit features that are accounted for as embedded derivatives. Related to these derivatives, the Company has entered into reinsurance agreements (previously reinsured to Pruco Re and Pruco Life) with an affiliate, Prudential Insurance, effective April 1, 2016. See Note 1 for additional information on the reinsurance agreements.
The changes in fair value of cash flow hedges are deferred in AOCI and are included in “Net unrealized investment gains (losses)” in the Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss); these amounts are then reclassified to earnings when the hedged item affects earnings. Using December 31, 2018 values, it is estimated that a pre-tax gain of $1.5 million will be reclassified from AOCI to earnings during the subsequent twelve months ending December 31, 2019, offset by amounts pertaining to the hedged items.
The Company has purchased credit protection using credit derivatives in order to hedge specific credit exposures in the Company’s investment portfolio. The Company has outstanding notional amounts of $1 million and $2 million reported at fair value as a liability of $0 million and $0.1 million as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.
“Netting” amounts represent cash collateral of $0.2 million and $5.0 million as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively, and the impact of offsetting asset and liability positions held with the same counterparty, subject to master netting arrangements.
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, 2018 and 2017, the fair values of such investments were $2.9 million and $0.7 million, respectively.
Separate account assets represent segregated funds that are invested for certain customers. Investment risks associated with market value changes are borne by the customers, except to the extent of minimum guarantees made by the Company with respect to certain accounts. Separate account liabilities are not included in the above table as they are reported at contract value and not fair value in the Company’s Statements of Financial Position.
As of December 31, 2018, the net embedded derivative liability position of $489 million includes $60 million of embedded derivatives in an asset position and $549 million of embedded derivatives in a liability position. As of December 31, 2017, the net embedded derivative liability position of $472 million includes $77 million of embedded derivatives in an asset position and $549 million of embedded derivatives in a liability position.
Receivables from Parent and Affiliates - Receivables from parent and affiliates carried at fair value include affiliated bonds within the Company’s legal entity where fair value is determined consistent with similar securities described above under “Fixed Maturity Securities” managed by affiliated asset managers.
The table below presents the carrying amount and fair value by fair value hierarchy level of certain financial instruments that are not reported at fair value. The financial instruments presented below are reported at carrying value on the Company’s Statements of Financial Position. In some cases, as described below, the carrying amount equals or approximates fair value.
The information presented as of December 31, 2017 , excludes certain hedge funds, private equity funds and other funds that were accounted for using the cost method and for which the fair value was measured at NAV per share (or its equivalent) as a practical expedient. The fair value and the carrying value of these cost method investments were $2.3 million and $2.6 million, respectively. Due to the adoption of ASU 2016-01 effective January 1, 2018, these assets are carried at fair value at each reporting date with changes in fair value reported in “Other income.” Therefore, as of December 31, 2018 , these assets are excluded from this table but are reported in the fair value recurring measurement table.
Represents ceded DAC upon reinsurance agreement with Prudential Insurance in 2016. See Note 1 and Note 9 for additional information.
Life insurance liabilities include reserves for death benefits. Individual annuities and supplementary contract liabilities include reserves for life contingent immediate annuities. Other contract liabilities include unearned premiums and certain other reserves for annuities and individual life products.
In addition to the amounts invested in separate account investment options above, $324 million at December 31, 2018 and $287 million at December 31, 2017 of account balances of variable annuity contracts with guarantees, inclusive of contracts with MVA features were invested in general account investment options. For the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, there were no transfers of assets, other than cash, from the general account to any separate account, and accordingly no gains or losses recorded.
The GMAB features provide the contractholder with a guaranteed return of initial account value or an enhanced value if applicable. The most significant of the Company’s GMAB features are the guaranteed return option features, which includes an automatic rebalancing element that reduces the Company’s exposure to these guarantees. The GMAB liability is calculated as the present value of future expected payments in excess of the account balance less the present value of future expected rider fees attributable to the embedded derivative feature.
There were no deferred sales inducements balances at December 31, 2018 and 2017 because they were fully ceded.
Realized investment gains and losses include the impact of reinsurance agreements, particularly reinsurance agreements involving living benefit guarantees. The Company has entered into a reinsurance agreement to transfer the risk related to living benefit guarantees on variable annuities to Prudential Insurance. See Note 1 for additional information on the change effective April 1, 2016 related to the Variable Annuities Recapture. These reinsurance agreements are derivatives and have been accounted for in the same manner as embedded derivatives and the changes in the fair value of these derivatives are recognized through “Realized investment gains (losses), net”. See Note 4 for additional information related to the accounting for embedded derivatives.
Reinsurance amounts, included in the Company’s Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income for the years ended December 31, were as follows:
The Company has a yearly renewable term reinsurance agreement with Prudential Insurance and reinsures the majority of all mortality risks not otherwise reinsured. Effective July 1, 2017, this agreement was terminated for certain new business, primarily Universal Life business, and such business was reinsured to Pruco Life under a yearly renewable term reinsurance agreement. Effective April 1, 2016 the Company entered into a reinsurance agreement with Prudential Insurance to reinsure its variable annuity base contracts, along with the living benefit guarantees. See Note 1 for additional information related to the Variable Annuities Recapture.
Effective July 1, 2012, the Company reinsures an amount equal to 95% of all risks associated with Universal Protector policies having no-lapse guarantees as well as certain of its universal policies, excluding those policies that are subject to principles-based reserving.
Through March 31, 2016, the Company entered into various automatic coinsurance agreements with Pruco Re to reinsure its living benefit guarantees sold on certain of its annuities. See Note 1 for additional information on the change effective April 1, 2016 related to the Variable Annuities Recapture.
The differences between income taxes expected at the U.S. federal statutory income tax rate of 21% applicable for 2018 and 35% applicable for the periods prior to 2018, and reported income tax expense (benefit) are summarized as follows:
Non-Taxable Investment Income. The U.S. Dividends Received Deduction (“DRD”) reduces the amount of dividend income subject to U.S. tax and accounts for most of the non-taxable investment income shown in the table above. More specifically, the U.S. DRD constitutes $5 million of the total $5 million of 2018 non-taxable investment income, $15 million of the total $16 million of 2017 non-taxable investment income, and $15 million of the total $15 million of 2016 non-taxable investment income. The DRD for the current period was estimated using information from 2017, current year investment results, and current year’s equity market performance. The actual current year DRD can vary based on factors such as, but not limited to, changes in the amount of dividends received that are eligible for the DRD, changes in the amount of distributions received from fund investments, changes in the account balances of variable life and annuity contracts, and the Company’s taxable income before the DRD.
The Company is subject to New Jersey law, which limits the amount of dividends that insurance companies can pay to stockholders without approval of the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance. The maximum dividend, which may be paid in any twelve-month period without notification or approval, is limited to the greater of 10% of statutory surplus as of December 31 of the preceding year or the net gain from operations of the preceding calendar year. Cash dividends may only be paid out of surplus derived from realized net profits. Based on these limitations, there is a capacity to pay a dividend of $32 million in 2019 without prior approval. The Company paid dividends to Pruco Life of $0 million, $100 million and $241 million in 2018, 2017 and 2016 respectively.
The Company is charged for its share of employee benefit expenses. These expenses include costs for funded and non-funded contributory and non-contributory defined benefit pension plans. Some of these benefits are based on final earnings and length of service while others are based on an account balance, which takes into consideration age, service and earnings during a career. The Company’s share of net expense for the pension plans was $3 million for each of the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016.
Prudential Insurance sponsors voluntary savings plans for its employee 401(k) plans. The plans provide for salary reduction contributions by employees and matching contributions by the Company of up to 4% of annual salary. The Company’s expense for its share of the voluntary savings plan was $1 million for each of the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016.
The Company is charged for its share of corporate expenses incurred by Prudential Financial to benefit its businesses, such as advertising, executive oversight, external affairs and philanthropic activity. The Company’s share of corporate expenses was $8 million, $8 million and $6 million for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively.
In accordance with an agreement with PGIM, Inc. (“PGIM”), the Company pays investment management expenses to PGIM who acts as investment manager to certain Company general account and separate account assets. Investment management expenses paid to PGIM related to this agreement were $2 million for each of the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016. These expenses are recorded as “Net investment income” in the Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss).
All long-term notes receivable may be called for prepayment prior to the respective maturity dates under specified circumstances.
Accrued interest receivable related to these loans was $0.1 million at both December 31, 2018 and 2017, and is included in “Other assets”. Revenues related to these loans were $0.3 million, $0.3 million and $0.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively, and are included in “Other income”.
The Company participates in affiliated asset trades with parent and sister companies. Book and market value differences for trades with a parent and sister are recognized within "Additional paid-in capital" (“APIC”) and "Realized investment gains (losses), net", respectively. The table below shows affiliated assets trades for the year ended December 31, 2018 and 2017:
The Company is authorized to borrow funds up to $200 million from affiliates to meet its capital and other funding needs. During the second quarter of 2016, the Company reassigned all the remaining debt to Prudential Insurance as part of the Variable Annuities Recapture. See Note 1 for additional information on the reassignment effective April 1, 2016. As of December 31, 2018 and 2017, there was no debt outstanding.
The total interest expense to the Company related to loans payable to affiliates was $0.0 million, $0.0 million and $1 million for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively.
In March of 2018, 2017 and 2016, the Company received capital contributions in the amount of $1 million from Pruco Life.
On an ongoing basis, the Company's internal supervisory and control functions review the quality of sales, marketing and other customer interface procedures and practices and may recommend modifications or enhancements. From time to time, this review process results in the discovery of product administration, servicing or other errors, including errors relating to the timing or amount of payments or contract values due to customers. In certain cases, if appropriate, the Company may offer customers remediation and may incur charges, including the cost of such remediation, administrative costs and regulatory fines.
In 2011 the New York Attorney General subpoenaed the Company, along with other companies, regarding its unclaimed property procedures and may ultimately seek remediation and other relief, including damages. Additionally, in 2011 the New York Office of Unclaimed Funds commenced an audit of the Company’s compliance with New York’s unclaimed property laws.