The following Management’s Narrative Analysis of the Results of Operations (“MNA”) is intended to help the reader understand the financial condition as of December 31, 2019, compared with December 31, 2018, and the results of operations in 2019 compared to 2018 of The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company and its consolidated subsidiaries. Discussions of 2017 items and year-to-year comparisons between 2018 and 2017 that are not included in this Form 10-K can be found in “Part II - Item 7. Management’s Narrative Analysis of the Results of Operations” in our 2018 Form 10-K. Unless otherwise stated or the context otherwise requires, “LNL,” “Company,” “we,” “our” or “us” refers to The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company and its consolidated subsidiaries. LNL is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lincoln National Corporation (“LNC”). Management’s narrative analysis is presented pursuant to General Instruction I(2) (a) of Form 10-K in lieu of Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“the PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company (“LNL” or the “Company,” which also may be referred to as “we,” “our” or “us”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lincoln National Corporation (“LNC” or the “Parent Company”), is domiciled in the state of Indiana. We own 100% of the outstanding common stock of two insurance company subsidiaries, Lincoln Life & Annuity Company of New York (“LLANY”) and Lincoln Life Assurance Company of Boston (“LLACB”). We also own several non-insurance companies, including Lincoln Financial Distributors, our wholesale distributor, and Lincoln Financial Advisors Corporation, part of LNC’s retail distributor, Lincoln Financial Network. LNL’s principal businesses consist of underwriting annuities, deposit-type contracts and life insurance through multiple distribution channels. LNL is licensed and sells its products throughout the U.S. and several U.S. territories. See Note 21 for additional information.
The accompanying consolidated financial statements include the accounts of LNL and all other entities in which we have a controlling financial interest and any variable interest entities (“VIEs”) in which we are the primary beneficiary. As discussed in Note 3, on May 1, 2018, LNC and LNL completed the acquisition of Liberty Life Assurance Company of Boston (“Liberty Life”), which effective September 1, 2019, was renamed Lincoln Life Assurance Company of Boston. We use the equity method of accounting to recognize all of our investments in limited liability partnerships. All material inter-company accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.
We use the acquisition method of accounting for all business combination transactions, and accordingly, recognize the fair values of assets acquired, liabilities assumed and any noncontrolling interests in our consolidated financial statements. The allocation of fair values may be subject to adjustment after the initial allocation for up to a one-year period as more information becomes available relative to the fair values as of the acquisition date. The consolidated financial statements include the results of operations of any acquired company since the acquisition date.
Fixed Maturity Available-For-Sale Securities - Fair Valuation Methodologies and Associated Inputs
The observable and unobservable inputs to our valuation methodologies are based on a set of standard inputs that we generally use to evaluate all of our fixed maturity AFS securities. Observable inputs include benchmark yields, reported trades, broker-dealer quotes, issuer spreads, two-sided markets, benchmark securities, bids, offers and reference data. In addition, market indicators, industry and economic events are monitored, and further market data is acquired if certain triggers are met. For certain security types, additional inputs may be used, or some of the inputs described above may not be applicable. For private placement securities, we use pricing matrices that utilize observable pricing inputs of similar public securities and Treasury yields as inputs to the fair value measurement. Depending on the type of security or the daily market activity, standard inputs may be prioritized differently or may not be available for all fixed maturity AFS securities on any given day. For broker-quoted only securities, non-binding quotes from market makers or broker-dealers are obtained from sources recognized as market participants. For securities trading in less liquid or illiquid markets with limited or no pricing information, we use unobservable inputs to measure fair value.
Fixed Maturity AFS Securities - Evaluation for Recovery of Amortized Cost
We regularly review our fixed maturity AFS securities (also referred to as “debt securities”) for declines in fair value that we determine to be other-than-temporary.
For a debt security, if we intend to sell a security, or it is more likely than not we will be required to sell a debt security before recovery of its amortized cost basis and the fair value of the debt security is below amortized cost, we conclude that an OTTI has occurred and the amortized cost is written down to current fair value, with a corresponding charge to realized gain (loss) on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss). If we do not intend to sell a debt security, or it is not more likely than not we will be required to sell a debt security before recovery of its amortized cost basis but the present value of the cash flows expected to be collected is less than the amortized cost of the debt security (referred to as the credit loss), we conclude that an OTTI has occurred and the amortized cost is written down to the estimated recovery value with a corresponding charge to realized gain (loss) on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss), as this amount is deemed the credit portion of the OTTI. The remainder of the decline to fair value is recorded in other comprehensive income (“OCI”) to unrealized OTTI on fixed maturity AFS securities on our Consolidated Statements of Stockholder’s Equity, as this amount is considered a noncredit (i.e., recoverable) impairment.
Our analysis of data from financial models and other internal and industry sources to evaluate the current effectiveness of our hedging and overall risk management strategies;
Recoveries or additional declines in fair value subsequent to the balance sheet date.
To determine recovery value of a corporate bond, CLO or CDO, we perform additional analysis related to the underlying issuer including, but not limited to, the following:
When evaluating MBS and mortgage-related ABS, we consider a number of pool-specific factors as well as market level factors when determining whether or not the impairment on the security is temporary or other-than-temporary. The most important factor is the
performance of the underlying collateral in the security and the trends of that performance in the prior periods. We use this information about the collateral to forecast the timing and rate of mortgage loan defaults, including making projections for loans that are already delinquent and for those loans that are currently performing but may become delinquent in the future. Other factors used in this analysis include the credit characteristics of borrowers, geographic distribution of underlying loans and timing of liquidations by state. Once default rates and timing assumptions are determined, we then make assumptions regarding the severity of a default if it were to occur. Factors that impact the severity assumption include expectations for future home price appreciation or depreciation, loan size, first lien versus second lien, existence of loan level private mortgage insurance, type of occupancy and geographic distribution of loans. Once default and severity assumptions are determined for the security in question, cash flows for the underlying collateral are projected including expected defaults and prepayments. These cash flows on the collateral are then translated to cash flows on our tranche based on the cash flow waterfall of the entire capital security structure. If this analysis indicates the entire principal on a particular security will not be returned, the security is reviewed for OTTI by comparing the expected cash flows to amortized cost. To the extent that the security has already been impaired or was purchased at a discount, such that the amortized cost of the security is less than or equal to the present value of cash flows expected to be collected, no impairment is required. Otherwise, if the amortized cost of the security is greater than the present value of the cash flows expected to be collected, and the security was not purchased at a discount greater than the expected principal loss, then impairment is recognized.
Alternative investments, which consist primarily of investments in limited partnerships (“LPs”), are included in other investments on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. We account for our investments in LPs using the equity method to determine the carrying value. Recognition of alternative investment income is delayed due to the availability of the related financial statements, which are generally obtained from the partnerships’ general partners. As a result, our private equity investments are generally on a three-month delay and our hedge funds are on a one-month delay. In addition, the impact of audit adjustments related to completion of calendar-year financial statement audits of the investees are typically received during the second quarter of each calendar year. Accordingly, our investment income from alternative investments for any calendar-year period may not include the complete impact of the change in the underlying net assets for the partnership for that calendar-year period.
Our policy for commercial mortgage loans is to report loans that are 60 or more days past due, which equates to two or more payments missed, as delinquent. Our policy for residential mortgage loans is to report loans that are 90 or more days past due, which equates to three or more payments missed, as delinquent. We do not accrue interest on loans 90 days past due, and any interest received on these loans is either applied to the principal or recorded in net investment income on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss) when received, depending on the assessment of the collectability of the loan. We resume accruing interest once a loan complies with all of its original terms or restructured terms. Mortgage loans deemed uncollectible are charged against the valuation allowance, and subsequent recoveries, if any, are credited to the valuation allowance.
We hedge certain portions of our exposure to interest rate risk, foreign currency exchange risk, equity market risk and credit risk by entering into derivative transactions. All of our derivative instruments are recognized as either assets or liabilities on our Consolidated Balance Sheets at estimated fair value. We categorized derivatives into a three-level hierarchy, based on the priority of the inputs to the respective valuation technique as discussed above in “Fair Value Measurement.” The accounting for changes in the estimated fair value of a derivative instrument depends on whether it has been designated and qualifies as part of a hedging relationship, and further, on the type of hedging relationship. For those derivative instruments that are designated and qualify as hedging instruments, we designate the hedging instrument based upon the exposure being hedged: as a cash flow hedge or a fair value hedge.
During the third quarter of each year, we conduct our annual comprehensive review of the assumptions and the projection models used for our estimates of future gross profits underlying the amortization of DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL and the calculations of the embedded derivatives and reserves for life insurance and annuity products. These assumptions include, but are not limited to, capital markets, investment margins, mortality, retention, rider utilization and maintenance expenses (costs associated with maintaining records relating to insurance and individual and group annuity contracts, and with the processing of premium collections, deposits, withdrawals and commissions). Based on our review, the cumulative balances of DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL included on our Consolidated Balance Sheets are adjusted with an offsetting benefit or charge to revenue or amortization expense to reflect such change related to our expectations of future EGPs (“unlocking”). We may have unlocking in other quarters as we become aware of information that warrants updating assumptions outside of our annual comprehensive review. We may also identify and implement actuarial modeling refinements that result in increases or decreases to the carrying values of DAC, VOBA, DSI, DFEL, embedded derivatives and reserves for life insurance and annuity products with living benefit and death benefit guarantees.
Other assets consist primarily of DSI, specifically identifiable intangible assets, property and equipment owned by the Company, balances associated with corporate-owned and bank-owned life insurance, certain reinsurance assets, receivables resulting from sales of securities that had not yet settled as of the balance sheet date, debt issuance costs associated with line-of-credit arrangements, operating lease right-of-use (“ROU”) assets, finance lease assets, certain financing arrangements and other prepaid expenses. Other liabilities consist primarily of current and deferred taxes, pension and other employee benefit liabilities, derivative instrument liabilities, certain reinsurance payables, payables resulting from purchases of securities that had not yet settled as of the balance sheet date, interest on borrowed funds, long-term operating lease liabilities, finance lease liabilities, certain financing arrangements, deferred gain on business sold through reinsurance and other accrued expenses.
The carrying values of specifically identifiable intangible assets are reviewed at least annually for indicators of impairment in value that are other-than-temporary, including unexpected or adverse changes in the following: the economic or competitive environments in which the company operates; profitability analyses; cash flow analyses; and the fair value of the relevant business operation. If there was an indication of impairment, then the discounted cash flow method would be used to measure the impairment, and the carrying value would be adjusted as necessary and reported in impairment of intangibles on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss). Sales force intangibles are attributable to the value of the new business distribution system acquired through business combinations. These assets are amortized on a straight-line basis over their useful life of 25 years. Specifically identifiable intangible assets also includes the value of customer relationships acquired (“VOCRA”) and value of distribution agreements (“VODA”) that were acquired through our business combination during 2018. The carrying values of VOCRA and VODA are amortized using a straight line basis over their weighted average life of 20 years and 13 years, respectively. See Note 10 for more information regarding specifically identifiable intangible assets acquired.
Property and equipment owned for company use is carried at cost less allowances for depreciation. Provisions for depreciation of investment real estate and property and equipment owned for company use are computed principally on the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets, which include buildings, computer hardware and software and other property and equipment. Certain assets on our Consolidated Balance Sheets are related to finance leases and certain financing arrangements and are depreciated in a manner consistent with our current depreciation policy for owned assets. We periodically review the carrying value of our long-lived assets, including property and equipment, for impairment whenever events or circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of such assets may not be fully recoverable. For long-lived assets to be held and used, impairments are recognized when the carrying amount of a long-lived asset is not recoverable and exceeds its fair value. The carrying amount of a long-lived asset is not recoverable if it exceeds the sum of the undiscounted cash flows expected to result from the use and eventual disposition of the asset. An impairment loss is measured as the amount by which the carrying amount of a long-lived asset exceeds its fair value.
The liabilities for future contract benefits and claim reserves for UL and VUL insurance policies consist of contract account balances that are equal to deposits net of withdrawals, excluding surrender charges and fees, plus interest credited, and if applicable an additional reserve for other insurance benefit guarantees. The liabilities for future insurance contract benefits and claim reserves for traditional life policies are computed using assumptions for investment yields, mortality and withdrawals based principally on generally accepted actuarial methods and assumptions at the time of contract issue. Investment yield assumptions for traditional direct individual life reserves for all contracts range from 2.25% to 7.75% depending on the time of contract issue. The investment yield assumptions for immediate and
Our short-term borrowings are defined as borrowings with contractual or expected maturities of one year or less. Long-term borrowings have contractual or expected maturities greater than one year.
The timing of revenue recognition as it relates to fees assessed on investment contracts is determined based on the nature of such fees. Asset-based fees, cost of insurance and contract administration charges are assessed on a daily or monthly basis and recognized as revenue as performance obligations are met, over the period underlying customer assets are owned or advisory services are provided. Wholesaling-related 12b-1 fees received from separate account fund sponsors as compensation for servicing the underlying mutual funds are recorded as revenues based on a contractual percentage of the market value of mutual fund assets over the period shares are owned by customers. Net investment advisory fees related to asset management of certain separate account funds are recorded as revenues based on a contractual percentage of the customer’s managed assets over the period advisory services are provided. Percent of premium charges are assessed at the time of premium payment and recognized as revenue when assessed and earned. Certain amounts assessed that represent compensation for services to be provided in future periods are reported as unearned revenue and recognized in income over the periods benefited. Surrender charges are recognized upon surrender of a contract by the contract holder in accordance with contractual terms.
Realized gain (loss) includes realized gains and losses from the sale of investments, write-downs for other-than-temporary impairments of investments, changes in fair value of equity securities, certain derivative and embedded derivative gains and losses, gains and losses on the sale of subsidiaries and businesses and net gains and losses on reinsurance embedded derivatives and trading securities. Realized gains and losses on the sale of investments are determined using the specific identification method. Realized gain (loss) is recognized in net income, net of associated amortization of DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL. Realized gain (loss) is also net of allocations of investment gains and losses to certain contract holders and certain funds withheld on reinsurance arrangements for which we have a contractual obligation.
The following table provides a description of our adoption of new ASUs issued by the FASB and the impact of the adoption on our financial statements. ASUs not listed below were assessed and determined to be either not applicable or insignificant in presentation or amount.
The adoption of this standard and related amendments will result in the recognition of a cumulative effect adjustment that is not expected to be material to our retained earnings, to record allowances for credit losses as of the date of adoption, primarily related to commercial and residential mortgage loans, as well as reinsurance recoverables.
‎These amendments also make targeted clarifications to ASC Topics 815 and 825. Early adoption is permitted.
As of December 31, 2019, the unrealized losses associated with our MBS and ABS were attributable primarily to widening credit spreads and rising interest rates since purchase. We assessed for credit impairment using a cash flow model that incorporates key assumptions including default rates, severities and prepayment rates. We estimated losses for a security by forecasting the underlying loans in each transaction. The forecasted loan performance was used to project cash flows to the various tranches in the structure, as applicable. Our forecasted cash flows also considered, as applicable, independent industry analyst reports and forecasts and other independent market data. Based upon our assessment of the expected credit losses of the security given the performance of the underlying collateral compared to our subordination or other credit enhancement, we expected to recover the entire amortized cost of each temporarily-impaired security.
Changes in the amount of credit loss of OTTI recognized in net income (loss) where the portion related to other factors was recognized in OCI (in millions) on fixed maturity AFS securities were as follows
Credit ratings express opinions about the credit quality of a security. Securities rated investment grade, that is those rated BBB- or higher by Standard & Poor’s (“S&P”) Rating Services or Baa3 or higher by Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”), are generally considered by the rating agencies and market participants to be low credit risk. As of December 31, 2019 and 2018, 96% of the fair value of our corporate bond portfolio was rated investment grade. As of December 31, 2019 and 2018, the portion of our corporate bond portfolio rated below investment grade had an amortized cost of $3.1 billion and a fair value of $3.1 billion and $2.9 billion, respectively. Based upon the analysis discussed above, we believed as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, that we would recover the amortized cost of each corporate bond.
For our residential mortgage loans, there were four specifically identified impaired loans with an aggregate carrying value of $1 million as of December 31, 2019. There were no specifically identified impaired residential mortgage loans as of December 31, 2018. The general allowance established on residential mortgage loans was $2 million and less than $1 million as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.
Additional information related to impaired commercial mortgage loans on real estate (in millions) was as follows:
As of December 31, 2019 and 2018, alternative investments included investments in 256 and 234 different partnerships, respectively, and the portfolios represented approximately 1% of our total investments.
Details underlying realized gain (loss) (in millions) reported on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss) were as follows:
(2)Represents changes in the fair values of certain derivative investments (not including those associated with our variable and indexed annuity and indexed variable universal life insurance (“IUL”) contracts net derivatives results), reinsurance related embedded derivatives and trading securities. See Notes 1 and 9 for information regarding Modco.
As of December 31, 2019 and 2018, our most significant investments in one issuer were our investments in securities issued by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation with a fair value of $1.3 billion and $1.4 billion, respectively, or 1% of total investments, and our investments in securities issued by the Federal National Mortgage Association with a fair value of $1.0 billion and $1.2 billion, respectively, or 1% of total investments. These concentrations include fixed maturity AFS, trading and equity securities.
As of December 31, 2019 and 2018, our most significant investments in one industry were our investments in securities in the financial services industry with a fair value of $18.2 billion and $16.0 billion, respectively, or 14% of total investments, and our investments in securities in the consumer non-cyclical industry with a fair value of $15.4 billion and $14.3 billion, respectively, or 12% and 13%, respectively, of total investments. These concentrations include fixed maturity AFS, trading and equity securities.
Our indexed annuity and IUL contracts permit the holder to elect an interest rate return or an equity market component, where interest credited to the contracts is linked to the performance of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index (“S&P 500”) and other indices. Contract holders may elect to rebalance index options at renewal dates. At the end of each indexed term, which can be up to 6 years, we have the opportunity to re-price the indexed component by establishing participation rates, caps, spreads and specified rates, subject to contractual guarantees. We use call options that are highly correlated to the portfolio allocation decisions of our contract holders, such that we are economically hedged with respect to equity returns for the current reset period.
We are exposed to risk and income statement volatility caused by changes in the equity markets, interest rates and volatility associated with GLBs offered in our variable annuity products, including products with GWB and GIB features. These GLB features are reinsured among various reinsurance counterparties on either a Modco or coinsurance basis. We cede a portion of the GLB features to LNBAR on a funds withheld Modco basis. The funds withheld arrangement includes a dynamic hedging strategy designed to mitigate selected risks. Changes in the value of the hedge contracts due to changes in equity markets, interest rates and implied volatilities hedge the changes in embedded derivative GLB reserves assumed by LNBAR caused by those same factors. The hedge positions are rebalanced based upon changes in these factors as needed. While we actively manage the hedge positions, these hedge positions may not be totally effective in offsetting changes in the embedded derivative reserve assumed by LNBAR due to, among other things, differences in timing between when a market exposure changes and corresponding changes to the hedge positions, extreme swings in the equity markets and interest rates, market volatility, contract holder behavior, divergence between the performance of the underlying funds and the hedging indices, divergence between the actual and expected performance of the hedge instruments and our ability to purchase hedging instruments at prices consistent with the desired risk and return trade-off. However, the hedging results do not impact LNL due to a funds withheld agreement with LNBAR, which causes the financial impact of the derivatives, as well as the cash flow activity, to be reflected on LNBAR.
As of December 31, 2019, $45 million of the deferred net gains (losses) on derivative instruments in AOCI were expected to be reclassified to earnings during the next 12 months. This reclassification would be due primarily to interest rate variances related to our interest rate swap agreements.
For the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, there were no material reclassifications to earnings due to hedged firm commitments no longer deemed probable or due to hedged forecasted transactions that had not occurred by the end of the originally specified time period.
Tax impact associated with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (2)
(2)As a result of the enactment of the Tax Act in 2017, we remeasured our existing deferred tax balances at the prevailing corporate federal income tax rate of 21% and recognized a $1.5 billion tax benefit. In 2018, we recognized a $3 million net tax benefit from the impact of the reduced federal statutory rate under the Tax Act on our adoption of an Internal Revenue Service pronouncement related to variable annuity contracts. In 2019, we recognized a $16 million net tax benefit from the impact of the reduced corporate tax rate under the Tax Act on our election to revalue policyholder tax reserves.
As of December 31, 2019, and 2018, $41 million and $12 million, respectively, of our unrecognized tax benefits presented below, if recognized, would have affected our federal income tax expense (benefit) and our effective tax rate. We are not aware of any events for which it is likely that unrecognized tax benefits will significantly increase or decrease within the next year. A reconciliation of the unrecognized tax benefits (in millions) was as follows:
We are subject to examination by U.S. federal, state, local and non-U.S. income authorities. We are currently not under examination by the Internal Revenue Service; however, tax years 2016 and forward remain open under the applicable statute of limitations. We are currently under examination by several state and local taxing jurisdictions; however, we do not expect these examinations will materially impact us.
We and our insurance subsidiaries cede insurance to other companies. The portion of our life insurance and annuity risks exceeding our retention limit is reinsured with other insurers. We seek reinsurance coverage to limit our exposure to mortality losses and to enhance our capital management. Reinsurance does not discharge us from our primary obligation to contract holders for losses insured under the policies we issue. As discussed in Note 24, a portion of this reinsurance activity is with affiliated companies.
As of December 31, 2019, the policy for our reinsurance program was to retain up to $20 million on a single insured life. As the amount we retain varies by policy, we reinsured approximately 25% of the mortality risk on newly issued life insurance contracts in 2019.
Our reinsurance operations were acquired by Swiss Re in December 2001 through a series of indemnity reinsurance transactions. As such, Swiss Re reinsured certain liabilities and obligations under the indemnity reinsurance agreements. As we are not relieved of our liability to the ceding companies for this business, the liabilities and obligations associated with the reinsured policies remain on our Consolidated Balance Sheets with a corresponding reinsurance receivable from Swiss Re, which totaled $1.3 billion and $1.5 billion as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. Swiss Re has funded a trust, with a balance of $2.7 billion as of December 31, 2019, to support this business. In addition to various remedies that we would have in the event of a default by Swiss Re, we continue to hold assets in support of certain of the transferred reserves. These assets consist of those reported as trading securities and certain mortgage loans. Our liabilities for funds withheld and embedded derivatives as of December 31, 2019, included $164 million and $31 million, respectively, related to the business sold to Swiss Re. In addition, the amounts recoverable from LNBAR were $2.4 billion and $2.5 billion as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. LNBAR has funded trusts to support the business ceded of which the balance in the trusts changes as a result of ongoing reinsurance activity and totaled $2.3 billion as of December 31, 2019.
The fair values of our reporting units (Level 3 fair value estimates) are comprised of the value of in-force (i.e., existing) business and the value of new business. Specifically, new business is representative of cash flows and profitability associated with policies or contracts we expect to issue in the future, reflecting our forecasts of future sales volume and product mix over a 10-year period. To determine the values of in-force and new business, we use a discounted cash flows technique that applies a discount rate reflecting the market expected,
weighted-average rate of return adjusted for the risk factors associated with operations to the projected future cash flows for each reporting unit.
As of October 1, 2019 and 2018, we performed our annual quantitative goodwill impairment test for our reporting units, and, as of each such date, the fair value was in excess of each reporting unit’s carrying value for Annuities, Retirement Plan Services, Life Insurance and Group Protection.
Future contract benefits and other contract holder funds include reserves for our secondary guarantee products sold through our Life Insurance segment. Reserves on UL and VUL products with secondary guarantees represented 35% and 33% of total life insurance in-force reserves as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. UL and VUL products with secondary guarantees represented 27%, 36% and 27% of total life insurance sales for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively.
We issued a surplus note of $750 million to LNC in 1998. The note calls for us to pay the principal amount of the note on or before December 31, 2028, and interest to be paid quarterly at an annual rate of 6.03%. Subject to approval by the Commissioner, LNC has the right to redeem the note for immediate repayment in total or in part once per year on the anniversary date of the note. Any payment of interest or repayment of principal may be paid only out of our statutory earnings, only if our statutory capital surplus exceeds our statutory capital surplus as of the date of note issuance of $2.4 billion, and subject to approval by the Commissioner.
On October 1, 2015, we issued a surplus note of $30 million to LNC. The note calls for us to pay the principal amount of the note on or before September 28, 2035, and interest to be paid quarterly at an annual rate of LIBOR + 200 bps. Subject to approval by the
On October 9, 2007, we issued a surplus note of $375 million that LNC has held effective December 31, 2008. The note calls for us to pay the principal amount of the note on or before October 9, 2037, and interest to be paid quarterly at an annual rate of LIBOR + 100 bps. On June 15, 2017, the surplus note was amended to include repayment terms stating subject to approval by the Commissioner, we have the right to repay the note in whole or in part prior to the maturity date, if our statutory capital surplus exceeds the sum of our surplus at closing plus any accrued but unpaid interest. The outstanding principal amount as of December 31, 2019, was $284 million due to executing our right to repay the surplus note in part to LNC.
On July 31, 2019, LNC refinanced its existing credit facility with a syndicate of banks. This facility (the “credit facility”) allows for the issuance of LOCs and borrowing of up to $2.25 billion. The credit facility is unsecured and has a commitment termination date of July 31, 2024. The LOCs under the credit facility are used primarily to satisfy reserve credit requirements of (i) LNL and LNC’s other domestic insurance companies for which reserve credit is provided by our captive reinsurance subsidiaries and LNBAR and (ii) certain ceding companies of our legacy reinsurance business.
Upon an event of default, the credit agreement provides that, among other things, the commitments may be terminated and the loans then outstanding may be declared due and payable. As of December 31, 2019, LNC was in compliance with all such covenants.
We establish liabilities for litigation and regulatory loss contingencies when information related to the loss contingencies shows both that it is probable that a loss has been incurred and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated. It is possible that some matters could require us to pay damages or make other expenditures or establish accruals in amounts that could not be estimated as of December 31, 2019. While the potential future charges could be material in the particular quarterly or annual periods in which they are recorded, based on information currently known by management, management does not believe any such charges are likely to have a material adverse effect on LNL’s financial condition.
TVPX ARS INC., as Securities Intermediary for Consolidated Wealth Management, LTD. v. The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, No. 2:18-cv-02989, is a putative class action that was filed on July 17, 2018. Plaintiff alleges that LNL charged more for non-guaranteed cost of insurance than permitted by the policy. Plaintiff seeks to represent all universal life and variable universal life policyholders who own policies issued by LNL or its predecessors containing non-guaranteed cost of insurance provisions that are similar to those of Plaintiff’s policy and seeks damages on behalf of all such policyholders. We are vigorously defending this matter.
(1)Amortization of ROU assets is reported in commissions and other expenses on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss).
We maintain defined benefit pension plans in which certain agents are participants. These defined benefit pension plans are closed to new entrants and existing participants do not accrue any additional benefits. We comply with applicable minimum funding requirements. In accordance with such practice, we were not required to make contributions but elected to contribute zero and $8 million for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. We do not expect to be required to make any contributions to these pension plans in 2020. We sponsor other postretirement benefit plans that provide health care and life insurance to certain retired agents. Total net periodic cost (recovery) for these plans was $6 million, $6 million and $5 million during 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively. In 2020, we expect the plans to make benefit payments of approximately $10 million.
We sponsor tax-qualified defined contribution plans for eligible agents that are administered in accordance with the plan documents and various limitations under section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. We also participate in defined contribution plans sponsored by LNC for eligible employees. Our expense for these plans was $101 million, $90 million and $85 million, for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively.
We sponsor non-qualified, unfunded, deferred compensation plans for certain current and former agents. Certain current employees participate in non-qualified, unfunded, deferred compensation plans sponsored by LNC. The results of certain notional investment options within some of the plans are hedged by total return swaps. Our expenses increase or decrease in direct proportion to the change in market value of the participants’ investment options. Participants of certain plans are able to select LNC stock as a notional investment option; however, it is not hedged by the total return swaps and is a primary source of expense volatility related to these plans. Our expense for these plans was $22 million, $12 million and $27 million for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively. For further discussion of total return swaps related to our deferred compensation plans, see Note 6.
We prepare financial statements in accordance with statutory accounting principles (“SAP”) prescribed or permitted by the insurance departments of our respective states of domicile, which may vary materially from GAAP.
Statutory net income (loss) decreased due primarily to lower dividends from affiliates, acquisition and integration costs incurred as part of the acquisition of Liberty Life and unfavorable reserve strain on certain products.
Other contract holder funds include remaining guaranteed interest and similar contracts and account values of certain investment contracts. The fair value for the remaining guaranteed interest and similar contracts is estimated using discounted cash flow calculations as of the balance sheet date. These calculations are based on interest rates currently offered on similar contracts with maturities that are consistent with those remaining for the contracts being valued. As of December 31, 2019 and 2018, the remaining guaranteed interest and similar contracts carrying value approximated fair value. The fair value of the account values of certain investment contracts is based on their approximate surrender value as of the balance sheet date. The inputs used to measure the fair value of our other contract holder funds are classified as Level 3 within the fair value hierarchy.
We did not have any assets or liabilities measured at fair value on a nonrecurring basis as of December 31, 2019 or 2018, and we noted no changes in our valuation methodologies between these periods.
(2)Issuances, sales, maturities, settlements, calls, net, includes financial instruments acquired in the Liberty Life transaction as follows: corporate bonds of $67 million and ABS of $17 million.
(3)Transfers into or out of Level 3 for fixed maturity AFS and trading securities are reported at amortized cost as of the beginning-of-year. For fixed maturity AFS and trading securities, the difference between beginning-of-year amortized cost and beginning-of-year fair value was included in OCI and earnings, respectively, in the prior years.
(3)The utilization of guaranteed withdrawals input represents the estimated percentage of contract holders that utilize the guaranteed withdrawal feature.
Investments - An increase in the liquidity/duration adjustment input would result in a decrease in the fair value measurement.
Indexed annuity and IUL contracts embedded derivatives - For direct embedded derivatives, an increase in the lapse rate or mortality rate inputs would result in a decrease in the fair value measurement.
Amortization of deferred gains arising from reserve changes on business sold through reinsurance.
LNC issues inter-company notes to us for a predetermined face value to be repaid by LNC at a predetermined maturity with a specified interest rate.
Substantially all reinsurance ceded to affiliated companies is with unauthorized companies. To take reserve credit for such reinsurance, we hold assets from the reinsurer, including funds held under reinsurance treaties, and are the beneficiary of LOCs aggregating to $115 million and $1.2 billion as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. The LOCs are obtained by the affiliate reinsurer and issued by banks in order for the Company to recognize the reserve credit.