In the United States, Aflac owns land and buildings that comprise two primary campuses located in Columbus, Georgia. These campuses include buildings that serve as the Company's worldwide headquarters and house administrative support and information technology functions for U.S. operations. Aflac leases office space in Columbia, South Carolina, which houses the Company's CAIC subsidiary (branded as Aflac Group Insurance). Aflac leases office space in New York that houses the Company's Global Investment division. Aflac leases administrative office space in Georgia, South Carolina, New York, Nebraska, and in 39 additional states throughout the United States, as well as Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico.
In Tokyo, Japan, Aflac has three primary campuses. The first campus includes a building, owned by Aflac, for the customer call center, the claims department, information technology departments, and training facility. It also includes a leased property, which houses Aflac Japan's policy administration and customer service departments. The second campus comprises leased space, which serves as Aflac Japan's headquarters and houses administrative and investment support functions. The third campus comprises leased space for the information technology departments. Aflac also leases additional office space in Tokyo, along with regional offices located throughout the country.
Prior-year amounts have been adjusted for the two-for-one stock split of the Company’s common stock in March 2018.
The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a “safe harbor” to encourage companies to provide prospective information, so long as those informational statements are identified as forward-looking and are accompanied by meaningful cautionary statements identifying important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those included in the forward-looking statements. The Company desires to take advantage of these provisions. This report contains cautionary statements identifying important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected herein, and in any other statements made by Company officials in communications with the financial community and contained in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Forward-looking statements are not based on historical information and relate to future operations, strategies, financial results or other developments. Furthermore, forward-looking information is subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties. In particular, statements containing words such as the following or similar words as well as specific projections of future results, generally qualify as forward-looking. Aflac undertakes no obligation to update such forward-looking statements.
The Company cautions readers that the following factors, in addition to other factors mentioned from time to time, could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements:
(1) Yen/ U.S dollar exchange rates are based on the published MUFG Bank, Ltd. telegraphic transfer middle rate (TTM)
On December 19, 2018, the Parent Company and Aflac Japan entered into the Basic Agreement with Japan Post Holdings. Pursuant to the terms of the Basic Agreement, Japan Post Holdings agreed to form a capital relationship with the Parent Company, and Japan Post Holdings and Aflac Japan agreed to reconfirm existing initiatives regarding cancer insurance and to consider new joint initiatives, including leveraging digital technology in various processes, cooperation in new product development to promote customer-centric business management, cooperation in domestic and/or overseas business expansion and joint investment in third party entities and cooperation regarding asset management.
Pursuant to the terms of the Shareholders Agreement a voting trust established and funded by Japan Post Holdings (Trust) will use commercially reasonable efforts to acquire, through open market or private block purchases, ownership of approximately 7% of the outstanding shares of the Parent Company’s outstanding common stock within a year after the Trust begins acquiring such stock. The Trust has agreed not to own more than 10% of the Parent Company’s outstanding shares for a period expiring on the earlier of four years after the Trust acquires 7% of such shares, five years after it acquires 5% of such shares, or ten years after the Trust begins acquiring the Parent Company’s stock. After expiration of such period, the Trust has agreed not to own more than the greater of 10% of the Parent Company’s outstanding shares or such shares representing 22.5% of the voting rights in the Parent Company.
This strategic investment is subject to certain regulatory approvals in Japan and the U.S. The Company anticipates that regulatory approvals will be received in the second half of 2019.
Aflac's investments, primarily consisting of debt and equity securities, include both publicly issued and privately issued securities. For publicly issued securities, the Company determines the fair values from quoted market prices readily available from public exchange markets and price quotes and valuations from third party pricing vendors. For the majority of privately issued securities within the Company's investment portfolio, a third party pricing vendor has developed valuation models that the Company utilizes to determine fair values. For the remaining privately issued securities, the Company uses non-binding price quotes from outside brokers.
The Company's policy liabilities, which are determined in accordance with applicable guidelines as defined under U.S. GAAP and Actuarial Standards of Practice, include two components that involve analysis and judgment: future policy benefits and unpaid policy claims, which accounted for 84% and 4% of total policy liabilities as of December 31, 2018, respectively.
As a part of its established financial reporting and accounting practices and controls, the Company performs detailed annual actuarial reviews of its policyholder liabilities (gross premium valuation, GPV, analysis) and reflects the results of those reviews in its results of operations and financial condition as required by U.S. GAAP. For Aflac Japan, the Company's annual review in 2016 indicated that it needed to strengthen the liability associated with a block of care policies, primarily due to low investment yields. The Company strengthened its future policy benefits liability by $52 million in 2016 as a result of this review. Results of the Company’s annual review in 2018 and 2017 concluded that no further strengthening was required for these liabilities. For Aflac U.S., the Company's annual reviews in 2018, 2017 and 2016 indicated no need to strengthen liabilities associated with policies in the United States. In the U.S. and Japan, investment assumptions were reviewed in 2017 and the Company adopted expected forward rates in its GPV yield projections. In addition, in Japan, assets were allocated to blocks of business to align with yield and duration requirements of the businesses.
The growth of the future policy benefits liability in yen for Aflac Japan and in dollars for Aflac U.S. has been due to the aging of the Company's in-force block of business and the addition of new business.
In computing the estimate of unpaid policy claims, the Company considers many factors, including the benefits and amounts available under the policy; the volume and demographics of the policies exposed to claims; and internal business practices, such as incurred date assignment and current claim administrative practices. The Company monitors these conditions closely and make adjustments to the liability as actual experience emerges. Claim levels are generally stable from period to period; however, fluctuations in claim levels may occur. In calculating the unpaid policy claim liability, the Company does not calculate a range of estimates. The following table shows the expected sensitivity of the unpaid policy claims liability as of December 31, 2018, to changes in severity and frequency of claims.
The Tax Act also transitions international corporate taxation from a worldwide system to a modified territorial system, which in light of the current tax treatment of Aflac Japan has the effect of subjecting the earnings of Aflac Japan to Japan taxation and subjecting the Company’s other earnings, including the consolidated earnings of the Parent Company, to U.S. taxation.
changing regulations, interpretations and tax guidance in the future, as well as further refinement of the Company’s calculations and changes in the interpretations and assumptions that the Company had made. In the fourth quarter of 2018, the Company recorded an immaterial adjustment to the provisional Japan deferred tax balances and no valuation allowance adjustment related to anticipatory foreign tax credit asset, rendering final values for the Company's deferred tax liability.
The Company expects that under either transition method, the impact to its reported financial statements under U.S. GAAP will be greatly influenced by the nature of the Company’s business model. Adoption of the new guidance under either method will reflect the Company’s concentration in Japan third-sector business, in particular cancer insurance, with respect to which the duration of liabilities is materially longer than asset durations. Depending on the transition method chosen upon adoption, the impact of a low discount rate applied to long-duration third sector liabilities is recognized at adoption, while associated favorable morbidity margins are recognized over time thus driving a pronounced timing impact to U.S. GAAP equity. In addition, with respect to the Japan segment, the Company maintains a large portfolio of assets designated as held-to-maturity (HTM) as a strategy to reduce capital (solvency margin ratio or SMR) volatility. In a low interest rate environment, such as presently exists in Japan, assets designated as HTM that were purchased in a higher interest rate environment have significant embedded gains not reflected in AOCI, which serves as an economic offset to a low discount rate applied to policy liabilities. At December 31, 2018, the Company’s HTM portfolio was $30.3 billion at amortized cost and had $6.5 billion in net unrealized gains. After adoption of the new guidance, the Company also expects net earnings and net earnings per share (which were $2.9 billion and $3.77 per diluted share, respectively, in 2018) to reflect larger quarterly fluctuations due to the new requirement to update assumptions for liability for future policy benefits.
compared to the modified retrospective method due to the potential offsetting effect from updating experience and cash flow projections
The ultimate impact on these items from the Company’s implementation of the updated standard is subject to assessments that are dependent on many variables, including but not limited to (i) the transition method selected by the Company, which the Company continues to evaluate, (ii) how certain aspects of the new standard will be interpreted and implemented by the Company and other similar companies, such as (but not limited to) amortization of deferred acquisition costs, as well as establishment of policies, processes and controls for setting, monitoring and periodically updating reserve assumptions, and (iii) changes in the interest rate environment in the US and Japan.
The Company is in the early stages of reviewing transition methods and has only begun to assess the full impact of adoption; as such, the Company expects to provide periodic updates on its continuing assessment. However, the Company expects that while the adoption of this new accounting guidance will affect the Company’s financial statements under U.S. GAAP, it will not impact financial statements for Aflac Japan under FSA requirements or for Aflac U.S. under applicable statutory requirements. Therefore, the Company does not expect adoption of the updated standard to impact its subsidiaries’ dividend capacity or their ability to meet applicable regulatory capital standards, nor does the Company anticipate adoption to affect its strategies for capital deployment.
During the last three years, various accounting standard-setting bodies have been active in soliciting comments and issuing statements, interpretations and exposure drafts. For information on new accounting pronouncements and the impact, if any, on the Company's financial position or results of operations, see Note 1 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
The following discussion includes references to the Company's performance measures, adjusted earnings, adjusted earnings per diluted share, and amortized hedge costs, which are not calculated in accordance with U.S. GAAP. These measures exclude items that the Company believes may obscure the underlying fundamentals and trends in the Company's insurance operations because they tend to be driven by general economic conditions and events or related to infrequent activities not directly associated with its insurance operations. The Company's management uses adjusted earnings and adjusted earnings per diluted share to evaluate the financial performance of its insurance operations on a consolidated basis, and the Company believes that a presentation of these measures is vitally important to an understanding of its underlying profitability drivers and trends of its insurance business. The Company believes that amortized hedge costs, which are a component of adjusted earnings, measure the periodic currency risk management costs associated with hedging a portion of Aflac Japan’s U.S. dollar-denominated investments and are an important component of net investment income.
In 2018, the Company began utilizing the term “adjusted earnings” for the measure formerly referred to as "operating earnings" on both a pretax and after-tax basis, as well as an absolute and per-share basis. This change only pertained to the label of the measure and did not alter its definition or calculation.
Aflac defines adjusted earnings (a non-U.S. GAAP financial measure) as the profits derived from operations. The most comparative U.S. GAAP measure is net earnings. Adjusted earnings are adjusted revenues less benefits and adjusted expenses. The adjustments to both revenues and expenses account for certain items that cannot be predicted or that are outside management’s control. Adjusted revenues are U.S. GAAP total revenues excluding realized investment gains and losses, except for amortized hedge costs related to foreign currency exposure management strategies and net interest cash flows from derivatives associated with certain investment strategies. Adjusted expenses are U.S. GAAP total acquisition and operating expenses including the impact of interest cash flows from derivatives associated with notes payable but excluding any nonrecurring or other items not associated with the normal course of the Company’s insurance operations and that do not reflect Aflac’s underlying business performance.
Amortized hedge costs represent costs incurred in using foreign currency forward contracts to hedge the foreign exchange risk of a portion of U.S. dollar-denominated assets in the Company’s Japan segment investment portfolio. These amortized hedge costs are derived from the difference between the foreign currency spot rate at time of trade
inception and the contractual foreign currency forward rate, recognized on a straight line basis over the term of the hedge. There is no comparable U.S. GAAP financial measure for amortized hedge costs.
(1) "Adjusted earnings" was formerly referred to as "operating earnings." Amounts may not foot due to rounding.
(5) Excludes a gain of $67 in 2018, $77 in 2017 and $85 in 2016, related to the interest rate component of the change in fair value of foreign currency swaps on notes payable which is classified as an operating gain when analyzing segment operations
(6) The impact of Tax Reform was estimated in 2017, and adjustments were recorded in 2018 for return-to-provision adjustments, various amended returns filed by the Company, and final true-ups of deferred tax liabilities.
Effective January 1, 2017, adjusted earnings includes the impact of amortized hedge costs. Amortized hedge costs represent costs incurred in using foreign currency forward contracts to hedge the foreign exchange risk of a portion of U.S. dollar-denominated assets in the Company's Japan segment investment portfolio. Amortized hedge costs are offset by a hedge cost amortization benefit recognized for foreign currency forwards that economically hedge the Company's long-term exposure to a weakening yen. These amortized hedge costs are derived from the difference between the foreign currency spot rate at time of trade inception and the contractual foreign currency forward rate, recognized on a straight line basis over the term of the hedge. There is no comparable U.S. GAAP financial measure for amortized hedge costs.
Hedge costs can fluctuate based upon many factors, including the derivative notional amount, the length of time of the derivative contract, changes in both U.S. and Japan interest rates, and supply and demand for dollar funding. Hedge costs have increased in recent periods due to changes in the previously mentioned factors. In late 2017, the Company
in Aflac Japan and to reduce hedge cost volatility by extending hedge duration. For additional information regarding
currency hedging, refer to Hedging Activities in the Analysis of Financial Condition section of this MD&A.
The United States insurance industry has a policyholder protection system that provides funds for the policyholders of insolvent insurers. The system can result in periodic charges to the Company as a result of insolvencies/bankruptcies that occur with other companies in the life insurance industry. Some states permit member insurers to recover assessments paid through full or partial premium tax offsets. These charges neither relate to the ordinary course of the Company’s business nor reflect the Company’s underlying business performance, but result from external situations not controlled by the Company. Based on the underlying nature of these assessments in the United States, effective January 1, 2017, the Company adopted a policy of excluding any charges associated with U.S. guaranty fund assessments and the corresponding tax benefit or expense from adjusted earnings.
Among other changes, the Tax Act reduced the U.S. federal statutory corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21% effective January 1, 2018. Because changes to tax rates are accounted for in the period of enactment, during the year ended December 31, 2017, the Company revalued its deferred tax assets and liabilities and recognized a non-recurring estimated $1.9 billion benefit for the reduction of the net deferred tax liability. In the fourth quarter of 2018, the Company recorded an immaterial adjustment to the provisional Japan deferred tax balances and no valuation allowance adjustment related to anticipatory foreign tax credit asset, rendering final values for the Company's deferred tax liability.
For further information, see Critical Accounting Estimates - Income Taxes above in this MD&A, and Note 10 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements in this report.
The Company's combined U.S. and Japanese effective income tax rate on pretax earnings was 26.7% in 2018, (14.6)% in 2017 and 34.6% in 2016. The reduction in the tax rate for 2017 was primarily due to the $1.9 billion benefit as a result of the Tax Act. The decrease in the U.S. federal statutory corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21% effective January 1, 2018 drove the reduction in the effective tax rate for 2018 compared with years prior to 2017. Total income taxes were $1.1 billion in 2018, compared with $(586) million in 2017 and $1.4 billion in 2016. Japanese income taxes on Aflac Japan's results account for most of the Company's consolidated income tax expense. For further information, see Critical Accounting Estimates - Income Taxes above in this MD&A, and Note 10 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
In Japan, the Company anticipates that the shift in earned premium from first sector savings products to third sector cancer and medical products and first sector protection products, will continue to result in moderately lower benefit ratios in the Aflac Japan segment. The Company also expects this shift in business mix, plus continued investment in IT and digital advancements, to result in moderately higher expense ratios for Aflac Japan. The Company believes that the Japan segment will face revenue challenges in 2019 due to the run-off and paid-up status of first sector savings products. In addition, net investment income is expected to decline modestly as compared to 2018, due in part to the low rate environment in Japan, de-risking of the portfolio and rolling U.S. dollar hedge positions into higher cost contracts.
The Company expects the profit margins for the Aflac U.S. segment to remain strong, providing a prudent opportunity to reinvest profits back into the U.S. business. The Company believes that in 2019, benefit ratios in the U.S. will continue to trend favorably and that expense ratios will continue to be elevated in light of investments into U.S. platforms in both the individual and group channels. Net investment income is expected to decline modestly, primarily as the result of the Company’s U.S. capital and RBC draw-down plan.
U.S. GAAP financial reporting requires that a company report financial and descriptive information about operating segments in its annual and interim period financial statements. Furthermore, the Company is required to report a measure of segment profit or loss, certain revenue and expense items, and segment assets. Aflac's insurance business consists of two segments: Aflac Japan and Aflac U.S. Aflac Japan is the principal contributor to consolidated earnings. Businesses that are not individually reportable, such as the Parent Company, and business activities, including reinsurance retrocession activities, not included in Aflac Japan or Aflac U.S. are included in the "Corporate and other" category. See the Item 1. Business section of this Form 10-K for a summary of each segment's products and distribution channels, and a discussion of the conversion of Aflac Japan from a branch to a subsidiary and the creation of asset management subsidiaries in 2018.
In yen terms, Aflac Japan's net premium income decreased in 2018, with growth in third sector premium more than offset by an anticipated reduction in first sector premium due to savings products reaching premium paid-up status. Net investment income, net of amortized hedge costs, increased in 2018 largely due to higher income from U.S. dollar-denominated floating rate assets. Pretax adjusted earnings in yen increased, driven by higher net investment income and a favorable third sector benefit ratio.
Annualized premiums in force at December 31, 2018, were 1.53 trillion yen, compared with 1.55 trillion yen in 2017 and 1.61 trillion yen in 2016. The decrease in annualized premiums in force in yen of 1.6% in 2018 and 3.4% in 2017 was driven primarily by limited-pay policies becoming paid-up during the year. The decrease in annualized premiums in force in yen of .7% in 2016 reflects the net effect of sales of new policies combined with limited-pay policies becoming paid-up and the persistency of Aflac Japan’s business. Annualized premiums in force, translated into dollars at respective year-end exchange rates, were $13.8 billion in 2018, $13.7 billion in 2017, and $13.8 billion in 2016.
(1) Aflac defines pretax adjusted earnings (a non-U.S. GAAP financial measure) as adjusted earnings before the application of income taxes. See the Results of Operations section of this MD&A for the Company's definition of adjusted earnings and a reconciliation of adjusted earnings to the most directly comparable U.S. GAAP measure of net earnings.
In 2018, the benefit ratio decreased, compared to the prior year, primarily due to the continued change in mix of first and third sector business as first sector products become paid-up, as well as continued favorable third sector claims trends, and higher surrender rates for the cancer products. In 2018, the adjusted expense ratio increased due to lower premium income impacted by first sector products becoming paid-up, higher expenses primarily related to increased system development, outsourcing costs for new products, and DAC amortization due to the increase of surrender for cancer products. In total for 2018, the pretax adjusted profit margin increased, reflecting the decrease in the benefit ratio partially offset by a smaller increase in the expense ratio. For 2019, the Company anticipates the Aflac Japan pretax adjusted profit margin (calculated by dividing adjusted earnings by adjusted revenues) to remain stable.
The foundation of Aflac Japan's product portfolio has been, and continues to be, third sector products, which include cancer, medical and Income Support insurance products. New annualized premium sales of third sector products on a yen basis increased 1.6% during 2018, compared with 2017. Third sector sales included growth in the new cancer insurance product that was launched in April 2018, however medical sales have declined compared with 2017 as a result of strong sales in 2017 driven by the introduction of the new medical insurance product in the second quarter of 2017. Aflac Japan has been focusing more on promotion of cancer and medical insurance products in this low-interest-rate environment. These products are less interest-rate sensitive and more profitable compared to first sector products. With continued cost pressure on Japan’s health care system, the Company expects the need for third sector products will continue to rise in the future and that the medical and cancer insurance products Aflac Japan provides will continue to be an important part of its product portfolio.
Independent corporate agencies and individual agencies contributed 40.1% of total new annualized premium sales for Aflac Japan in 2018, compared with 42.8% in 2017 and 46.7% in 2016. Affiliated corporate agencies, which include Japan Post, contributed 55.3% of total new annualized premium sales in 2018, compared with 52.0% in 2017 and 44.4% in 2016. Japan Post offers Aflac's cancer insurance products in more than 20,000 post offices. In 2018, Japan Post's sales of cancer insurance constituted approximately 25% of Aflac Japan's third sector sales. The Company believes this alliance with Japan Post has and will further benefit its cancer insurance sales. In 2018, Aflac Japan recruited 85 new sales agencies. At December 31, 2018, Aflac Japan was represented by more than 9,800 sales agencies, with more than 109,000 licensed sales associates employed by those agencies.
assets, including public equity securities and alternative investments in limited partnerships or similar investment vehicles. Aflac Japan has been investing in both publicly-traded and privately originated U.S. dollar-denominated investment-grade and below-investment-grade fixed maturity securities and loan receivables, Aflac Japan has entered into foreign currency forwards and options to hedge the currency risk on the fair value of a portion of the U.S. dollar investments, interest rate swaptions to hedge interest rate fluctuations on some U.S. dollar investments, and interest rate swaps to economically hedge interest rate fluctuations in certain variable-rate investments.
Aflac Japan purchased $1.2 billion of yen-denominated private placements in 2018, compared with $1.1 billion in 2017.
The benefit ratio decreased in 2018, compared with 2017, due in large part to benefit reserve releases related to slightly elevated lapses of older individual cancer policies in the first and fourth quarters of 2018. The adjusted expense ratio increased slightly in 2018 compared with 2017, primarily due to planned spending increases reflecting elevated investments in the platform. The pretax adjusted profit margin increased slightly in 2018 when compared with 2017, primarily due to lower benefit ratios. In 2019, the Company expects benefit ratios to be slightly lower than 2018 levels, reflecting ongoing changes in business mix, and expects somewhat higher expense ratios reflecting further investments in its U.S. platform. Net investment income is expected to decline modestly, primarily the result of the Company’s U.S. capital and RBC drawdown plan. (Note that all of these ratios-to-revenue reflect reduced net investment income due to the Company's planned drawdown of excess capital to lower RBC ratios. See the Capital Resources and Liquidity section of this MD&A for further discussion of the planned reduction of RBC.)
The following table details the contributions to Aflac's U.S. new annualized premium sales by major insurance product category for the years ended December 31.
New annualized premium sales for accident insurance, the Aflac U.S. leading product category, increased 2.4%, short-term disability sales increased 1.8%, critical care insurance sales (including cancer insurance) decreased .1%, and hospital indemnity insurance sales increased 10.4% in 2018, compared with 2017.
The addition of group products has expanded Aflac U.S.'s reach and enabled Aflac U.S. to generate more sales opportunities with larger employers and through brokers and sales agent channels. The Company anticipates that the appeal of Aflac U.S. group products will continue to enhance opportunities to connect with larger businesses and their employees. The Aflac U.S. portfolio of group and individual products offers businesses the opportunity to give their employees a more valuable and comprehensive selection of benefit options.
In 2018, the Aflac U.S. sales forces included an average of more than 8,500 U.S. agents, including brokers, who were actively producing business on a weekly basis. The Company believes that this average weekly producer equivalent metric allows sales management to monitor progress and needs.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), federal health care legislation, was intended to give Americans of all ages and income levels access to comprehensive major medical health insurance and gave the U.S. federal government direct regulatory authority over the business of health insurance. While the ACA was enacted in 2010, the major elements of the law became effective on January 1, 2014. The ACA included major changes to the U.S. health care insurance marketplace. Among other changes, the ACA included an individual medical insurance coverage mandate (which has since been repealed effective 2019 by the Tax Act), provided for penalties on certain employers for failing to provide adequate coverage, created health insurance exchanges, and addressed coverage and exclusions as well as medical loss ratios. It also imposed an excise tax on certain high cost plans, known as the “Cadillac tax,” that is currently scheduled to begin in 2022. The ACA also included changes in government reimbursements and tax credits for individuals and employers and altered federal and state regulation of health insurers. The ACA, as enacted, does not require material changes in the design of the Company's insurance products. However, indirect consequences of the legislation and regulations could present challenges that could potentially have an impact on the Company's sales model, financial condition and results of operations. The United States Congress has considered and may continue to consider legislation that would repeal and replace key provisions of the ACA. There can be no assurance that any legislation affecting the ACA will be passed by Congress, nor as to the ultimate timing or provisions of any such legislation, nor as to the effect of any such legislation on the design or marketability of the Company's insurance products. Further, certain provisions of the ACA have been and may continue to be subject to challenge through litigation, the ultimate effects of which on the ACA are uncertain.
The Tax Act was signed into law on December 22, 2017. Among other things, effective January 1, 2018, the Tax Act reduced the U.S. federal statutory corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21%, eliminated or reduced certain deductions and credits and limited the deductibility of interest expense and executive compensation.
Aflac U.S. prices its business on an internal rate of return basis. The Aflac U.S. business has a financial structure that the Company expects to be neutral on a pricing basis from these tax changes. The Aflac U.S. products have high initial costs for marketing, underwriting and administration, which will have less tax relief under the changes and will increase the amount required to invest in new business. In addition, the Company expects that RBC requirements will increase on an after-tax basis, being another source of initial funding required for these products. The tax basis for reserves and DAC may also change the timing of tax payments in an accelerated or unfavorable direction. All of these effects will offset a favorable lower tax rate on income in later years. The overall impact is expected to be neutral on a pricing basis from these various effects.
Corporate adjusted expenses consist primarily of personnel compensation, benefits, reinsurance retrocession benefits expense, and facilities expenses. Corporate expenses were $478 million in 2018, compared with $486 million in 2017, and $516 million in 2016. The decline in adjusted expenses in 2018 was considered insignificant. The decline in adjusted expenses from 2016 to 2017 was driven in large part by fluctuations in retrocession activity, which results in corresponding declines in total premiums.
The Company's financial condition has remained strong in the functional currencies of its operations. The yen/dollar exchange rate at the end of each period is used to translate yen-denominated balance sheet items to U.S. dollars for reporting purposes.
The Company’s investment strategy utilizes disciplined asset and liability management while seeking long-term risk-adjusted investment returns and the delivery of stable income within regulatory and capital objectives, and preserving shareholder value. In attempting to optimally balance these objectives, the Company seeks to maintain on behalf of Aflac Japan a diversified portfolio of yen-denominated investment assets, U.S. dollar-denominated investment portfolio hedged back to yen and a portfolio of unhedged U.S. dollar-denominated assets. As part of the Company's portfolio management and asset allocation process, Aflac U.S. invests in fixed maturity investments and growth assets, including public equity securities and alternative investments in limited partnerships. Aflac U.S. invests in both publicly traded and privately originated investment-grade and below-investment-grade fixed maturity securities and loans.
The distributions of debt securities the Company owns, by credit rating, as of December 31 were as follows:
The following table presents the 10 largest unrealized loss positions in the Company's portfolio as of December 31, 2018.
In January 2019, PG&E Corporation (PG&E) and its operating subsidiary, Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E Utility) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the Northern District of California. At December 31, 2018, debt of the PG&E utility was rated investment grade and the Company's net exposure was $126 million (amortized cost), all of which was issued by PG&E utility. Subsequently, the rating on this exposure migrated to below investment grade.
The following tables show the breakout of our exposure to the oil and gas industry as of December 31.
The Company held $1,202 million and $1,789 million of perpetual securities at fair value ($1,201 million and $1,462 million at amortized cost) as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. The perpetual securities the Company holds were largely issued by banks that are systemically important to the financial markets of the sovereign country of domicile of the issuer. Generally, the Company believes regulatory changes made in the banking industry following the Global Financial Crisis and the European Sovereign Crisis, including increased capital and liquidity requirements and a reduction of business risk, have improved overall bank creditworthiness. However, bank capital securities may be subject to varying bail-in/resolution regimes in their home countries, which may include conversion or write-down provisions when bank regulators determine that the institution has reached the point of non-viability. Such actions could result in lower cash flows and ratings downgrades of the affected securities, which in turn could result in a reduction of fair value of the securities and increase the Company’s regulatory capital requirements. These factors are an integral part of the Company's credit review process.
have protective covenants appropriate to the specific investment. These may include a prohibition of certain activities by the borrower, maintenance of certain financial measures, and specific conditions impacting the payment of the Company's notes.
The Parent Company enters into forward contracts to accomplish a dual objective of hedging foreign currency exchange rate risk related to dividend payments by its subsidiary, Aflac Japan, and reducing enterprise-wide hedge costs. (see Parent Company’s Foreign Currency Hedge Program below).
(2) See Note 1 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8. for the adoption of accounting guidance related to financial instruments effective January 1, 2018.
The following table presents metrics related to Aflac Japan hedge costs as of December 31.
(1) See the Results of Operations section of this MD&A for the Company's definition of amortized hedge costs.
(3) Tenor based on derivative's original execution date to settlement date
The Company makes its accounting designation of net investment hedge at the beginning of each quarter. If the total of the designated Parent Company non-derivative and derivative notional is equal to or less than the Company's net investment in Aflac Japan, the hedge is deemed to be effective, and the currency exchange effect on the yen-denominated liabilities and the change in estimated fair value of the derivatives are reported in the unrealized foreign currency component of other comprehensive income. The Company's net investment hedge was effective during the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively.
In order to economically mitigate risks associated with the enterprise-wide exposure to the yen and the level and volatility of hedge costs, the Parent Company enters into foreign exchange forward contracts. By buying U.S. dollars and selling yen, the Parent Company is effectively lowering its overall economic exposure to the yen, while Aflac Japan's U.S dollar exposure remains reduced as a result of Aflac Japan's U.S. dollar-denominated hedge program that synthetically creates yen assets. Among other objectives, this strategy is intended to reduce the enterprise-wide hedge costs. In 2018, the portion of the enterprise-wide hedge costs reduction contributed by this strategy was $36 million. This activity is reported in the Corporate and other segment. As this program evolves, the Company will continue to evaluate the program’s efficacy, including third-party review.
For additional discussion of the risks associated with the foreign currency exposure refer to the Currency Risk section in Item 1A, specifically to the Risk Factors titled “The Company is exposed to foreign currency fluctuations in the yen/dollar exchange rate“ and “Lack of availability of acceptable yen-denominated investments could adversely affect the Company's results of operations, financial position or liquidity." For discussion of the Company’s view on the stressed economic surplus in Aflac Japan, refer to the Investments subsection within Item 1, Business.
(1) Aflac Japan’s policy liabilities increased 2.3% in yen during the year ended December 31, 2018.
In October 2018, the Parent Company issued three series of senior notes totaling 53.4 billion yen through a public debt offering under its U.S. shelf registration statement. The first series, which totaled 29.3 billion yen, bears interest at a fixed rate of 1.159% per annum, payable semi-annually, and has a 12-year maturity. The second series, which totaled 15.2 billion yen, bears interest at a fixed rate of 1.488% per annum, payable semiannually, and has a 15-year maturity. The third series, which totaled 8.9 billion yen, bears interest at a fixed rate of 1.750% per annum, payable semi-annually, and has a 20-year maturity. These notes may only be redeemed before maturity, in whole but not in part, upon the occurrence of certain changes affecting U.S. taxation, as specified in the indenture governing the terms of the issuance.
As of December 31, 2018, the Company has estimated and recognized the impact of its share of guaranty fund assessments resulting from the liquidation of a long-term care insurer. See Note 15 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for further information on the assessment.
As of December 31, 2018, the Company had no material letters of credit, standby letters of credit, guarantees or standby repurchase obligations. See Note 15 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for information on material unconditional purchase obligations that are not recorded on the Company's balance sheet.
Company to increase the proportion of regulatory earnings transferred from Aflac U.S. and Aflac Japan to the Parent
Company. The Company intends to maintain higher than historical levels of capital and liquidity at the Parent Company with the goals of addressing the Company’s hedge costs and related potential need for collateral and mitigating against long-term weakening of the Japanese yen. Further, the Company plans to continue to maintain a portfolio of unhedged U.S. dollar based investments at Aflac Japan and consider whether the amount of such investments should be increased
or decreased relative to the Company’s view of economic equity surplus in Aflac Japan in light of potentially rising hedge costs and other factors. See Item 2., Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations under “Forward-Looking Information,” for a description of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the Company in regards to its capital management intentions.
The Parent Company accesses debt security markets to provide additional sources of capital. In September 2018, the Parent Company filed a shelf registration statement with the SEC that allows the Company to issue an indefinite amount of debt securities, in one or more series, from time to time until September 2021. In August 2018, the Parent Company filed a shelf registration with Japanese regulatory authorities that allows the Parent Company to conduct public offerings of bonds in Japan, including yen-denominated Samurai notes, up to 200 billion yen or its equivalent through August 2020. The shelf registration statement is for possible public offerings in Japan, but the bonds issued under the shelf may be transferred by the bondholders to U.S. persons in compliance with U.S. law. The Company believes outside sources for additional debt and equity capital, if needed, will continue to be available. For additional information, see Note 9 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
The Company's financial statements convey its financing arrangements during the periods presented. The Company has not engaged in material intra-period short-term financings during the periods presented that are not otherwise reported in its balance sheet or disclosed therein. The Company was in compliance with all of the covenants of its notes payable and lines of credit at December 31, 2018. The Company has not entered into transactions involving the transfer of financial assets with an obligation to repurchase financial assets that have been accounted for as a sale under applicable accounting standards, including securities lending transactions. See Notes 1, 3, and 4 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for more information on the Company's securities lending and derivative activities. With the exception of disclosed activities in those referenced footnotes and the Risk Factors entitled, "The Company is exposed to foreign currency fluctuations in the yen/dollar exchange rate" and "Lack of availability of acceptable yen-denominated investments could adversely affect the Company's results of operations, financial position or liquidity," the Company does not have a known trend, demand, commitment, event or uncertainty that would reasonably result in its liquidity increasing or decreasing by a material amount. As of December 31, 2018, the Parent Company had $1.0 billion as a capital reserve and an additional $1.0 billion of contingent liquidity in order to mitigate liquidity risk of derivative positions that are reducing enterprise-wide foreign currency exposure. The Company's cash and cash equivalents include unrestricted cash on hand, money market instruments, and other debt instruments with a maturity of 90 days or less when purchased, all of which has minimal market, settlement or other risk exposure.
(1)Liability amounts are those reported on the consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2018.
(2)The estimated payments due by period reflect future estimated cash payments to be made to policyholders and others for future policy benefits. These projected cash outflows are based on assumptions for future policy persistency, mortality, morbidity, and other assumptions comparable with the Company's experience, consider future premium receipts on current policies in force, and assume market growth and interest crediting consistent with assumptions used in amortizing deferred acquisition costs. These cash outflows are undiscounted with respect to interest and, as a result, the sum of the cash outflows shown for all years in the table of $251,577 exceeds the corresponding liability amount of $86,368. The Company has made significant assumptions to determine the future estimated cash outflows related to the underlying policies and contracts. Due to the significance of the assumptions used, actual cash outflow amounts and timing will differ, possibly materially, from these estimates.
Consolidated cash used by financing activities was $1.6 billion in 2018, $2.1 billion in 2017 and $1.6 billion in 2016.
In October 2018, the Parent Company issued three series of senior notes totaling 53.4 billion yen through a public debt offering under its U.S. shelf registration statement. The first series, which totaled 29.3 billion yen, bears interest at a fixed rate of 1.159% per annum, payable semi-annually, and has a 12-year maturity. The second series, which totaled 15.2 billion yen, bears interest at a fixed rate of 1.488% per annum, payable semi-annually, and has a 15-year maturity. The third series, which totaled 8.9 billion yen, bears interest at a fixed rate of 1.750% per annum, payable semi-annually, and has a 20-year maturity. These notes may only be redeemed before maturity, in whole but not in part, upon the occurrence of certain changes affecting U.S. taxation, as specified in the indenture governing the terms of the issuance.
In October 2017, the Parent Company issued 60.0 billion yen of subordinated debentures through a U.S. public debt offering. The debentures bear interest at an initial rate of 2.108% per annum through October 22, 2027, or earlier redemption. Thereafter, the rate of the interest of the debentures will be reset every five years at a rate of interest equal to the then-current JPY 5-year Swap Offered Rate plus 205 basis points. The debentures are payable semi-annually in arrears and have a 30-year maturity. The debentures are redeemable (i) at any time, in whole but not in part, upon the occurrence of certain tax events or certain rating agency events, as specified in the indenture governing the terms of the debentures or (ii) in 10 years, in whole or in part, at a redemption price equal to their principal amount plus accrued and unpaid interest to, but excluding, the date of redemption. In November 2017, the Parent Company used a portion of net proceeds from the debenture offering to redeem $500 million of the Parent Company's 5.50% subordinated debentures due 2052. The pretax non-operating expense due to the early redemption of these notes was $13 million.
In September 2016, the Parent Company issued two series of senior notes totaling $700 million through a U.S. public debt offering. The first series, which totaled $300 million, bears interest at a fixed rate of 2.875% per annum, payable semi-annually, and has a 10-year maturity. The second series, which totaled $400 million, bears interest at a fixed rate of 4.00% per annum, payable semi-annually, and has a 30-year maturity.
See the preceding discussion in this Capital Resources and Liquidity section of MD&A for details and any outstanding balances as of December 31, 2018 for the Company's lines of credit and FHLB financing arrangement.
The Company was in compliance with all of the covenants of its notes payable and lines of credit at December 31, 2018.
Cash returned to shareholders through dividends and treasury stock purchases was $2.1 billion in 2018, compared with $2.0 billion in 2017 and $2.1 billion in 2016.
In January 2019, the board of directors announced a 3.8% increase in the quarterly cash dividend, effective with the first quarter of 2019. The first quarter 2019 cash dividend of $.27 per share is payable on March 1, 2019, to shareholders of record at the close of business on February 20, 2019.
Aflac and CAIC are domiciled in Nebraska and are subject to its regulations. Subsequent to the Japan branch conversion to a subsidiary, Aflac Japan is domiciled in Japan and subject to local regulations. See further discussion
The continued long-term growth of the Company's business may require increases in the statutory capital and surplus of its insurance operations. Aflac’s insurance operations may secure additional statutory capital through various sources, such as internally generated statutory earnings, capital contributions by the Parent Company from funds generated through debt or equity offerings, or reinsurance transactions. The NAIC’s RBC formula is used by insurance regulators to help identify inadequately capitalized insurance companies. The RBC formula quantifies insurance risk, business risk, asset risk and interest rate risk by weighing the types and mixtures of risks inherent in the insurer’s operations.
Aflac is subject to the NAIC’s Own Risk and Solvency Assessment (ORSA), effective January 1, 2015. Through the ORSA requirements, Aflac is expected to regularly, no less than annually, conduct an ORSA to assess the adequacy of its risk management framework, and its current and estimated projected future solvency position; internally document the process and results of the assessment; and provide a confidential high-level ORSA Summary Report annually to the lead state commissioner if the insurer is a member of an insurance group. In November 2018, Aflac filed its ORSA report with the Nebraska Department of Insurance.
The FSA has been conducting field testing with the insurance industry concerning the introduction of an economic value-based solvency regime. The field testing will assist the FSA in determining if an economic value-based solvency regime in Japan will be appropriate for the insurance industry.
Payments are made from Aflac Japan to the Parent Company for management fees, allocated expenses and remittances of earnings. Prior to the Aflac Japan branch conversion on April 1, 2018, Aflac Japan paid allocated expenses and profit remittances to Aflac U.S. The following table details Aflac Japan remittances for the years ended December 31.
Investors should note that the Company announces material financial information in its SEC filings, press releases and public conference calls. In accordance with SEC guidance, the Company may also use the Investor Relations section of the Company's website (http://investors.aflac.com) to communicate with investors about the Company. It is possible that the financial and other information the Company posts there could be deemed to be material information. The information on the Company's website is not part of this document.
Management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting, as such term is defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Exchange Act. Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, we conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting based on the framework in Internal Control - Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) in 2013. Based on our evaluation under this framework, management has concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2018.
(1) See Note 1 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for the adoption of accounting guidance on January 1, 2018 related to financial instruments.
(2) Includes expense of $13 in 2017 and $137 in 2016 for the early extinguishment of debt
(3) Includes $182 in 2018 and $151 in 2017 of derivatives from consolidated variable interest entities
(4) Includes $102 in 2018 and $128 in 2017 of derivatives from consolidated variable interest entities
(5) See Note 1 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for the adoption of accounting guidance on January 1, 2018 related to financial instruments.
Insurance Revenue and Expense Recognition: Substantially all of the supplemental health and life insurance policies the Company issues are classified as long-duration contracts. The contract provisions generally cannot be
changed or canceled during the contract period; however, the Company may adjust premiums for supplemental health policies issued in the United States within prescribed guidelines and with the approval of state insurance regulatory authorities.
The Company has investments in equity securities which are carried at fair value. Effective January 1, 2018 upon the adoption of new accounting guidance, changes in fair value of equity securities are recorded in earnings as a component of realized investment gains and losses. Prior to January 1, 2018, equity securities were carried at fair value with unrealized gains and losses, less related deferred income taxes, recorded in other comprehensive income and included in accumulated other comprehensive income.
The Company has investments in variable interest entities (VIEs). Criteria for evaluating VIEs for consolidation focuses on identifying which enterprise has the power to direct the activities of a variable interest entity that most significantly impact the entity's economic performance and (1) the obligation to absorb losses of the entity or (2) the right to receive benefits from the entity. The Company is the primary beneficiary of certain VIEs, and therefore consolidates these entities in its financial statements. While the consolidated VIEs generally operate within a defined set of contractual
For the mortgage- and asset-backed securities held in the Company's fixed maturity portfolio, the Company recognizes income using a constant effective yield, which is based on anticipated prepayments and the estimated economic life of the securities. When estimates of prepayments change, the effective yield is recalculated to reflect actual payments to date and anticipated future payments. The net investment in mortgage- and asset-backed securities is adjusted to the amount that would have existed had the new effective yield been applied at the time of acquisition. This adjustment is reflected in net investment income.
If, after monitoring and analyses, management believes that fair value will not recover to amortized cost, the Company recognizes an other-than-temporary impairment of the security. Once a security is considered to be other-than-temporarily impaired, the impairment loss is separated into two components: the portion of the impairment related to credit and the portion of the impairment related to factors other than credit. The Company recognizes a charge to earnings for the credit-related portion of other-than-temporary impairments. Impairments related to factors other than credit are charged to earnings in the event the Company intends to sell the security prior to the recovery of its amortized cost or if it is more likely than not that the Company would be required to dispose of the security prior to recovery of its amortized cost; otherwise, non-credit-related other-than-temporary impairments are charged to other comprehensive income.
Other investments include transitional real estate loans (TREs), commercial mortgage loans (CMLs), middle market loans (MMLs), policy loans, limited partnerships, and short-term investments with maturities at the time of purchase of one year or less, but greater than 90 days. The Company's investments in TREs, CMLs, and MMLs are accounted for as loan receivables and are recorded at amortized cost on the acquisition date. The Company has the intent and ability to hold these loan receivables for the foreseeable future or until they mature and therefore, they are considered held for investment and are carried at amortized cost in the other investments line in its consolidated balance sheets. The amortized cost of the loan receivables reflects allowances for expected incurred losses estimated based on past events and current economic conditions as of each reporting date. Limited partnership investments are accounted for using the equity method of accounting. Under the equity method of accounting, the Company reports its portion of partnership earnings as a component of net investment income in its consolidated statements of earnings. The underlying investments held by the Company’s limited partnerships primarily consist of private equity and real estate. Short-term investments are stated at amortized cost, which approximates fair value.
Derivatives and Hedging: Freestanding derivative instruments are reported in the consolidated balance sheet at fair value and are reported in other assets and other liabilities, with changes in value reported in earnings and/or other comprehensive income. These freestanding derivatives are foreign currency forwards, foreign currency options, foreign currency swaps, interest rate swaps, interest rate swaptions, and, in prior year periods, credit default swaps (CDSs). Foreign currency forwards and options are used in hedging foreign exchange risk on U.S. dollar-denominated investments in Aflac Japan's portfolio. Foreign currency forwards and options are also used to economically hedge certain portions of forecasted cash flows denominated in yen and hedge the Company's long term exposure to a weakening yen. Cross-currency interest rate swaps, also referred to as foreign currency swaps, are used to economically convert certain U.S. dollar-denominated note obligations into yen-denominated principal and interest obligations. Foreign currency swaps are used within special-purpose entities, including VIEs where the Company is the primary beneficiary, to hedge the risk arising from interest rate and currency exchange risk. Interest rate swaps are used to economically hedge interest rate fluctuations in certain variable-rate investments. Interest rate swaptions, which are options to enter into interest rate swaps, are used to hedge interest rate fluctuations on certain U.S. dollar-denominated available-for-sale securities in Aflac Japan's portfolio. The Company does not use derivatives for trading purposes, nor does the Company engage in leveraged derivative transactions.
From time to time, the Company purchases certain investments that contain an embedded derivative. The Company assesses whether this embedded derivative is clearly and closely related to the asset that serves as its host contract. If the Company deems that the embedded derivative's terms are not clearly and closely related to the host contract, and a separate instrument with the same terms would qualify as a derivative instrument, the derivative is separated from that contract, held at fair value, and reported with the host instrument in the consolidated balance sheet, with changes in fair value reported in earnings. If the Company has elected the fair value option, the embedded derivative is not bifurcated, and the entire investment is held at fair value with changes in fair value reported in earnings.
For assessing hedge effectiveness, qualitative methods may include the comparison of critical terms of the derivative to the hedged item, and quantitative methods may include regression, dollar offset, or other statistical analysis of changes in fair value or cash flows associated with the hedge relationship. For derivative instruments that are designated and
qualify as cash flow hedges, the gain or loss on the derivative is reported as a component of other comprehensive income (loss) and reclassified into earnings in the same period or periods during which the hedged transaction affects earnings. In cash flow hedges, all components of each derivative's gain or loss are included in the assessment of hedge effectiveness and are recorded in the line item of the consolidated statements of earnings in which the cash flows of the hedged item are recorded.
For hedges of the Company's net investment in Aflac Japan, the Company has designated the majority of the Parent Company's yen-denominated liabilities (notes payable and yen-denominated loans) as non-derivative hedging instruments and from time to time may designate certain foreign currency forwards and options as derivative hedging instruments. The Company makes its net investment hedge designation at the beginning of each quarter. For assessing hedge effectiveness of net investment hedges, if the total of the designated Parent Company non-derivative and derivatives notional is equal to or less than its net investment in Aflac Japan, the hedge is deemed to be effective. If the hedge is effective, the related exchange effect on the yen-denominated liabilities is reported in the unrealized foreign currency component of other comprehensive income. For derivative hedging instruments designated as net investment hedges, Aflac follows the forward-rate method. According to that method, all changes in fair value, including changes related to the forward-rate component of foreign currency forward contracts and the time value of foreign currency options, are reported in the unrealized foreign currency component of other comprehensive income. Should these designated net investment hedge positions exceed the Company's net investment in Aflac Japan, the foreign exchange effect on the portion that exceeds its investment in Aflac Japan would be recognized in current earnings within derivative and other gains (losses).
Income Taxes: Income tax provisions are generally based on pretax earnings reported for financial statement purposes, which differ from those amounts used in preparing the Company's income tax returns. Deferred income taxes are recognized for temporary differences between the financial reporting basis and income tax basis of assets and
Perpetual securities have been reclassified in prior periods from a separate line item to fixed maturity securities to conform to current period reporting classifications. This reclassification had no impact on net earnings or total shareholder’s equity.
The adoption of this guidance did not have a significant impact on the Company’s financial position, results of operations or disclosures.
In February 2018, the FASB issued amendments to clarify certain aspects of the guidance issued in the original Financial Instruments - Overall - Recognition and Measurement pronouncement summarized below. Specifically, for entities who have chosen the measurement alternative approach for equity securities without readily determinable fair values, the amendments clarify that entities may change from a measurement alternative approach to a fair value method through an irrevocable election that would apply to a specific equity security and all identical or similar investments of the same issuer; entities should use an observable price at the date of the transaction rather than reporting date for the measurement alternative calculation; and insurance companies should use a prospective transition method when applying the measurement alternative.
AOCI to retained earnings include the income tax effects of the change in the federal corporate tax rate enacted by the Tax Act. The Company’s policy is to follow the portfolio approach for releasing income tax effects from AOCI. The adoption of this guidance resulted in an increase to beginning 2018 AOCI of $374 million with a corresponding decrease to beginning 2018 retained earnings as of January 1, 2018.
The adoption of this guidance did not have a significant impact on the Company’s financial position, results of operations, or disclosures.
The adoption of this guidance did not have a significant impact on the Company's financial position, results of operations, or disclosures.
In January 2017, the FASB issued amendments clarifying when a set of assets and activities is a business. The amendments provide a screen to exclude transactions where substantially all the fair value of the transferred set is concentrated in a single asset, or group of similar assets, from being evaluated as a business.
Consolidation - Interests Held through Related Parties That Are under Common Control
In October 2016, the FASB issued amendments that require an entity to recognize the income tax consequences of an intra-entity transfer of an asset other than inventory when the transfer occurs.
In March 2016, the FASB issued amendments which simplify several aspects for share-based payment award transactions, including the income tax consequences, classification of awards as either liability or equity, classification of taxes paid on the statement of cash flows and treatment of forfeitures.
Derivatives and Hedging - Contingent Put and Call Options in Debt Instruments
In May 2015, the FASB issued updated guidance requiring enhanced disclosures by all insurance entities that issue short-duration contracts. The amendments require insurance entities to disclose for annual reporting periods information about the liability for unpaid claims and claim adjustment expenses. The amendments also require insurance entities to disclose information about significant changes in methodologies and assumptions used to calculate the liability for unpaid claims and claim adjustment expenses. In addition, the amendments require insurance entities to disclose for annual and interim reporting periods a roll-forward of the liability for unpaid claims and claim adjustment expenses. For health insurance claims, the amendments require the disclosure of the total of incurred-but-not-reported liabilities and expected development on reported claims included in the liability for unpaid claims and claim adjustment expenses.
Interest - Imputation of Interest - Simplifying the Presentation of Debt Issuance Costs
Derivatives and Hedging - Determining Whether the Host Contract in a Hybrid Financial Instrument Issued in the Form of a Share Is More Akin to Debt or to Equity
Compensation - Stock Compensation - Accounting for Share-Based Payments When the Terms of an Award Provide That a Performance Target Could Be Achieved after the Requisite Service Period
The adoption of this guidance is not expected to have a significant impact on the Company’s financial position, results of operations or disclosures.
In August 2018, the FASB issued amendments to align the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred in a hosting arrangement that is a service contract with the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred to develop or obtain internal-use software. The amendments are effective for public business entities for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2019. Early adoption is permitted.
In August 2018, the FASB issued amendments to the disclosure requirements on fair value measurements in Topic 820, Fair Value Measurement. The amendments remove, modify, and add certain disclosures. The amendments are effective for all entities for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2019. Early adoption is permitted upon issuance of this Update. An entity is permitted to early adopt any removed or modified disclosures upon issuance of this update and delay adoption of the additional disclosures until their effective date.
In August 2018, the FASB issued amendments that will significantly change how insurers account for long-duration contracts. The amendments will change existing recognition, measurement, presentation, and disclosure requirements. Issues addressed in the new guidance include: 1) a requirement to review and, if there is a change, update assumptions for the liability for future policy benefits at least annually, and to update the discount rate assumption quarterly, 2) accounting for market risk benefits at fair value, 3) simplified amortization for deferred acquisition costs, and 4) enhanced financial statement presentation and disclosures. The amendments are effective for public business entities for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2020. Early application of the amendments is permitted.
The Company is thoroughly evaluating the impact of adoption and expects that the adoption will have a significant impact on the Company’s financial position, results of operations, and disclosures. The Company anticipates that the requirement to update assumptions for liability for future policy benefits will have a significant impact on its results of operations, systems, processes and controls while the requirement to update the discount rate will have a significant impact on its equity. The Company does not expect to early adopt the updated standard.
As of December 31, 2018, the Company did not have land easements, but has elected this practical expedient as a safe harbor. The adoption of this guidance is not expected to have a significant impact on the Company's financial position, results of operations, or disclosures.
Financial Instruments - Credit Losses: Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments
In June 2016, the FASB issued amendments that require a financial asset (or a group of financial assets) measured on an amortized cost basis to be presented net of an allowance for credit losses in order to reflect the amount expected to be collected on the financial asset(s). The measurement of expected credit losses is amended by replacing the incurred loss impairment methodology in current U.S. GAAP with a methodology that reflects expected credit losses and requires consideration of a broader range of reasonable and supportable information to inform about a credit loss. Credit losses on available-for-sale debt securities will continue to be measured in a manner similar to current U.S. GAAP; however, the amendments require that credit losses be presented as an allowance rather than as a write-down. Other amendments include changes to the balance sheet presentation and interest income recognition of purchased financial assets with a more-than-insignificant amount of credit deterioration since origination (PCD financial assets). The amendments are effective for public companies for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Companies may early adopt this guidance as of the fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The amendments will be adopted following a modified-retrospective approach resulting in a cumulative effect adjustment in retained earnings as of the beginning of the year of adoption. Two exceptions to this adoption method are for PCD financial assets and debt securities for which other-than-temporary impairment (OTTI) will have been recognized before the effective date. Loans purchased with credit deterioration accounted for under current U.S. GAAP as "purchased credit impaired" (PCI) financial assets will be classified as PCD financial assets at transition and PCD guidance will be applied prospectively. Debt securities that have experienced OTTI before the effective date will follow a prospective adoption method which allows an entity to maintain the same amortized cost basis before and after the effective date.
The Company consists of two reportable insurance business segments: Aflac Japan and Aflac U.S., both of which sell supplemental health and life insurance. Operating business segments that are not individually reportable and business activities, including reinsurance retrocession activities, not included in Aflac Japan or Aflac U.S. are included in the "Corporate and other" category.
The Company does not allocate corporate overhead expenses to business segments. Consistent with U.S. GAAP accounting guidance for segment reporting, the Company evaluates and manages its business segments using a financial performance measure called pretax adjusted earnings. Adjusted earnings are adjusted revenues less benefits and adjusted expenses. The adjustments to both revenues and expenses account for certain items that cannot be predicted or that are outside management’s control. Adjusted revenues are U.S. GAAP total revenues excluding realized investment gains and losses, except for amortized hedge costs related to foreign currency exposure management strategies and net interest cash flows from derivatives associated with certain investment strategies. Adjusted expenses are U.S. GAAP total acquisition and operating expenses including the impact of interest cash flows from derivatives associated with notes payable but excluding any nonrecurring or other items not associated with the normal course of the Company’s insurance operations and that do not reflect Aflac’s underlying business performance. The Company excludes income taxes related to operations to arrive at pretax adjusted earnings. Information regarding operations by segment for the years ended December 31 follows:
(1) Amortized hedge costs related to hedging U.S. dollar-denominated investments held in Aflac Japan were $236, $228 and $186 for 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively, and have been reclassified from realized investment gains (losses) and reported as a deduction from pretax adjusted earnings when analyzing segment operations.
(3) An immaterial amount of net interest cash flows from derivatives associated with certain investment strategies in 2018, were reclassified from realized investment gains (losses) into net investment income when analyzing operations.
(5) Includes expense of $13 in 2017 and $137 in 2016 for the early extinguishment of debt
Yen-Translation Effects: The following table shows the yen/dollar exchange rates used for or during the periods ended December 31. Exchange effects were calculated using the same yen/dollar exchange rate for the current year as for each respective prior year.
(1) Includes perpetual securities ($1,462 at amortized cost and $1,789 at fair value)
The contractual maturities of the Company's investments in fixed maturity securities at December 31, 2018, were as follows:
(3) Includes impairments of $22 in 2017 and $57 in 2016
The unrealized holding losses, net of gains, recorded as a component of realized investment gains and losses for the year ended December 31, 2018, that relates to equity securities still held at the December 31, 2018, reporting date was $124 million.
See Notes 1 and 10 for discussion of the accounting treatment of tax on amounts recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income pursuant to the Tax Act and Note 1 for the adoption of accounting guidance on January 1, 2018 related to financial instruments.
The unrealized losses on the Company's fixed maturity securities investments have been primarily related to general market changes in interest rates, foreign exchange rates, and/or the levels of credit spreads rather than specific concerns with the issuer's ability to pay interest and repay principal.
Assuming no credit-related factors develop, unrealized gains and losses on fixed maturity securities are expected to diminish as investments near maturity. Based on its credit analysis, the Company believes that the issuers of its fixed maturity investments in the sectors shown in the table above have the ability to service their obligations to the Company.
Middle market loans are generally considered to be below investment grade. The carrying value for middle market loans included an unfunded amount of $56 million and $109 million, as of December 31, 2018, and 2017, respectively, that is reflected in other liabilities on the consolidated balance sheets.
Other investments primarily includes investments in limited partnerships. As of December 31, 2018, the Company had $916 million in outstanding commitments to fund alternative investments in limited partnerships.
The Company lends fixed maturity and public equity securities to financial institutions in short-term security-lending transactions. These short-term security-lending arrangements increase investment income with minimal risk. The Company's security lending policy requires that the fair value of the securities received as collateral be 102% or more of the fair value of the loaned securities and that unrestricted cash received as collateral be 100% or more of the fair value of the loaned securities. These securities continue to be carried as investment assets on the Company's balance sheet during the terms of the loans and are not reported as sales. The Company receives cash or other securities as collateral for such loans. For loans involving unrestricted cash or securities as collateral, the collateral is reported as an asset with a corresponding liability for the return of the collateral. For loans where the Company receives as collateral securities that the Company is not permitted to sell or repledge, the collateral is not reported as an asset.
The Company did not have any repurchase agreements or repurchase-to-maturity transactions outstanding as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.
Certain fixed maturity securities can be pledged as collateral as part of derivative transactions, or pledged to support state deposit requirements on certain investment programs. For additional information regarding pledged securities related to derivative transactions, see Note 4.
The Company's freestanding derivative financial instruments have historically consisted of: (1) foreign currency forwards and options used in hedging foreign exchange risk on U.S. dollar-denominated investments in Aflac Japan's portfolio; (2) foreign currency forwards and options used to economically hedge certain portions of forecasted cash flows denominated in yen and hedge the Company's long term exposure to a weakening yen; (3) cross-currency interest rate swaps, also referred to as foreign currency swaps, associated with certain senior notes and subordinated debentures; (4) foreign currency swaps and, in prior periods, credit default swaps that are associated with investments in special-purpose entities, including VIEs where the Company is the primary beneficiary; (5) interest rate swaps used to economically hedge interest rate fluctuations in certain variable-rate investments; and (6) interest rate swaptions used to hedge changes in the fair value associated with interest rate fluctuations for certain U.S. dollar-denominated available-for-sale fixed-maturity securities. Some of the Company's derivatives are designated as cash flow hedges, fair value hedges or net investment hedges; however, other derivatives do not qualify for hedge accounting or the Company elects not to designate them as accounting hedges.
Foreign currency forwards and options are executed for the Aflac Japan segment in order to hedge the currency risk on the carrying value of certain U.S. dollar-denominated investments. The average maturity of these forwards and options can change depending on factors such as market conditions and types of investments being held. In situations where the maturity of the forwards and options is shorter than the underlying investment being hedged, the Company may enter into new forwards and options near maturity of the existing derivative in order to continue hedging the underlying investment. In forward transactions, Aflac Japan agrees with another party to buy a fixed amount of yen and sell a corresponding amount of U.S. dollars at a specified future date. Aflac Japan also executes foreign currency option transactions in a collar strategy, where Aflac Japan agrees with another party to simultaneously purchase put options and sell call options. In the purchased put transactions, Aflac Japan obtains the option to buy a fixed amount of yen and sell a corresponding amount of U.S. dollars at a specified future date. In the sold call transaction, Aflac Japan agrees to sell a fixed amount of yen and buy a corresponding amount of U.S. dollars at a specified future date. The combination of purchasing the put option and selling the call option results in no net premium being paid (i.e. a costless or zero-cost collar). The foreign currency forwards and options are used in fair value hedging relationships to mitigate the foreign exchange risk associated with U.S. dollar-denominated investments supporting yen- denominated liabilities.
Prior to April 1, 2018, foreign currency forwards and options (through a collar strategy, as discussed above) were used to hedge the currency risk associated with the net investment in Aflac Japan. In these forward transactions, Aflac agreed with another party to buy a fixed amount of U.S. dollars and sell a corresponding amount of yen at a specified price at a specified future date. In the option transactions, the Company used a combination of foreign currency options to protect expected future cash flows by simultaneously purchasing yen put options (options that protect against a weakening yen) and selling yen call options (options that limit participation in a strengthening yen). The combination of these two actions created a zero-cost collar.
(2) Gains (losses) excluded from effectiveness testing includes the forward point on foreign currency forwards and time value change on foreign currency options which are reported in the consolidated statement of earnings as realized investment gains (losses). It also includes the change in the fair value of the interest rate swaptions related to the time value of the swaptions which is recognized as a component of other comprehensive income (loss).
The following table shows the December 31, 2018 carrying amounts of assets designated and qualifying as hedged items in fair value hedges of interest rate risk and the related cumulative hedge adjustment included in the carrying amount.
(1) The balance includes $294 million of hedging adjustment on discontinued hedging relationships.
For the Company's derivative instruments in consolidated VIEs that do not qualify for hedge accounting treatment, all changes in their fair value are reported in current period earnings within realized investment gains (losses). The amount of gain or loss recognized in earnings for the Company's VIEs is attributable to the derivatives in those investment structures. While the change in value of the swaps is recorded through current period earnings, the change in value of the available-for-sale fixed maturity securities associated with these swaps is recorded through other comprehensive income.
As of December 31, 2018, the Parent Company had cross-currency interest rate swap agreements related to its $350 million senior notes due February 2022, $700 million senior notes due June 2023, $750 million senior notes due November 2024 and $450 million senior notes due March 2025. Changes in the values of these swaps are recorded through current period earnings. For additional information regarding these swaps, see Note 9.
(2) Impact of cash flow hedges reported as realized investment gains (losses) includes an immaterial amount of gains or losses reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) into earnings. It also includes an immaterial amount excluded from effectiveness testing during the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017 and $1 million during the year ended December 31, 2016.
(3)Impact shown net of effect of hedged items (see Fair Value Hedges section of this Note 4 for further detail)
The impact on earnings from derivatives in cash flow hedge relationships also included a loss of $2 million during the year ended December 31, 2018 and an immaterial amount during the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016 resulting from reclassifications from accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) to net investment income. There was no gain or loss reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) into earnings related to the net investment hedge for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016. As of December 31, 2018, deferred gains and losses on derivative instruments recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income that are expected to be reclassified to earnings during the next twelve months were immaterial.
As of December 31, 2018, there were 16 counterparties to the Company's derivative agreements, with three comprising 52% of the aggregate notional amount. The counterparties to these derivatives are financial institutions with the following credit ratings as of December 31:
The Company engages in over-the-counter (OTC) bilateral derivative transactions directly with unaffiliated third parties under International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) agreements and other documentation. Most of the ISDA agreements also include Credit Support Annexes (CSAs) provisions, which generally provide for two-way collateral postings at the first dollar of exposure. The Company mitigates the risk that counterparties to transactions might be unable to fulfill their contractual obligations by monitoring counterparty credit exposure and collateral value while generally requiring that collateral be posted at the outset of the transaction. In addition, a significant portion of the derivative transactions have provisions that give the counterparty the right to terminate the transaction upon a downgrade of Aflac’s financial strength rating. The actual amount of payments that the Company could be required to make depends on market conditions, the fair value of outstanding affected transactions, and other factors prevailing at and after the time of the downgrade.
The Company also engages in OTC cleared derivative transactions through regulated central clearing counterparties. These positions are marked to market and margined on a daily basis (both initial margin and variation margin), and the Company has minimal exposure to credit-related losses in the event of nonperformance by counterparties to these derivatives.
Collateral posted by the Company to third parties for derivative transactions can generally be repledged or resold by the counterparties. The aggregate fair value of all derivative instruments with credit-risk-related contingent features that were in a net liability position by counterparty was approximately $139 million and $264 million as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. If the credit-risk-related contingent features underlying these agreements had been triggered on December 31, 2018, the Company estimates that it would be required to post a maximum of $34 million of additional collateral to these derivative counterparties. The Company is generally allowed to sell or repledge collateral obtained from its derivative counterparties, although it does not typically exercise such rights. (See the Offsetting tables below for collateral posted or received as of the reported balance sheet dates.)
The Company uses derivative instruments to manage the risk associated with certain assets. However, the derivative instrument may not be classified in the same fair value hierarchy level as the associated asset. The Company uses pricing models to determine the estimated fair value of derivatives. Inputs used to value derivatives include, but are not limited to, interest rates, credit spreads, foreign currency forward and spot rates, and interest volatility. The significant inputs to pricing derivatives are generally observable in the market or can be derived by observable market data. When these inputs are observable, the derivatives are classified as Level 2.
observable inputs, accordingly, they are classified as Level 2. For its interest rate swaptions, the Company estimates their fair values using observable market data, including interest rate curves and volatilities. Their fair values are also classified as Level 2.
Other investments where fair value is disclosed above include short-term investments and loan receivables. Loan receivables include transitional real estate loans, commercial mortgage loans, and middle market loans. The Company's loan receivables do not have readily determinable market prices and generally lack market liquidity. Fair values for loan receivables are determined based on the present value of expected future cash flows discounted at the applicable U.S. Treasury or London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) yield plus an appropriate spread that considers other risk factors, such as credit and liquidity risk. These spreads are provided by the applicable asset managers based on their knowledge of the current loan pricing environment and market conditions. The spreads are a significant component of the pricing inputs and are generally considered unobservable. Therefore, these investments have been assigned a Level 3 within the fair value hierarchy.
There were no transfers between Level 1 and 2 for assets and liabilities that are measured and carried at fair value on a recurring basis for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.
The following tables present the changes in fair value of the Company's investments and derivatives carried at fair value classified as Level 3 as of December 31.
(d) Range of base correlation for the Company's bespoke tranche for attachment and detachment points corresponding to market indices
The Company holds certain unlisted equity securities whose fair value is derived based on the financial statements published by the investee. These securities do not trade on an active market and the valuations derived are dependent on the availability of timely financial reporting of the investee. Net asset value is an unobservable input in the determination of fair value of equity securities.
The significant drivers of the valuation of the interest and foreign exchange swaps are interest rates and CDS spreads. Some of the Company's swaps have long maturities that increase the sensitivity of the swaps to interest rate fluctuations. For the Company's foreign exchange or cross currency swaps that are in a net asset position, an increase in yen interest rates (all other factors held constant) will decrease the present value of the yen final settlement receivable (receive leg), thus decreasing the value of the swap as long as the derivative remains in a net asset position.
Consolidated policy acquisition costs deferred were $1.5 billion in 2018, compared with $1.5 billion in 2017 and $1.4 billion in 2016. The following table presents a rollforward of deferred policy acquisition costs by segment for the years ended December 31.
Commissions deferred as a percentage of total acquisition costs deferred were 72% in 2018, compared with 72% in 2017 and 74% in 2016.
Personnel, compensation and benefit expenses as a percentage of insurance expenses were 54% in 2018, compared with 56% in 2017 and 53% in 2016. Advertising expense, which is included in insurance expenses in the consolidated statements of earnings, was as follows for the years ended December 31:
The Company has experienced continued favorable claim trends in 2018 for its core health products in Japan. The Company's experience in Japan related to the average length of stay in the hospital for cancer treatment has shown continued decline in the current period. In addition, cancer treatment patterns in Japan are continuing to be influenced by significant advances in early-detection techniques and by the increased use of pathological diagnosis rather than clinical exams. Additionally, follow-up radiation and chemotherapy treatments are occurring more often on an outpatient basis. Such changes in treatment not only increase the quality of life and initial outcomes for the patients, but also decrease the average length of each hospital stay, resulting in favorable claims development.
As of December 31, 2018 and 2017, the largest component of the other policyholders' funds liability was the Company's annuity line of business in Aflac Japan. The Company's annuities have fixed benefits and premiums. These annuities represented 97% of other policyholders' funds liability at December 31, 2018, compared with 98% at December 31, 2017 .
The Company has recorded a deferred profit liability related to reinsurance transactions. The remaining deferred profit liability of $1.0 billion, as of December 31, 2018, is included in future policy benefits in the consolidated balance sheet and is being amortized into income over the expected lives of the policies. The Company has also recorded a reinsurance recoverable for reinsurance transactions, which is included in other assets in the consolidated balance sheet and had a remaining balance of $941 million and $908 million as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. The increase in the reinsurance recoverable balance was driven by two aggregating factors: yen strengthening and the growth in reserves related to the business that has been reinsured as the policies age. The spot yen/dollar exchange rate strengthened by approximately 2% and ceded reserves increased approximately 2% from December 31, 2017, to December 31, 2018.
As a part of its capital contingency plan, the Company entered into a committed reinsurance facility agreement on December 1, 2015 in the amount of approximately 110 billion yen of reserves. This reinsurance facility agreement was renewed in 2018 and is effective until December 31, 2019. There are also additional commitment periods of a one-year duration each of which are automatically extended unless notification is received from the reinsurer within 60 days prior to the expiration. The reinsurer can withdraw from the committed facility if Aflac‘s Standard and Poor's (S&P) rating drops below BBB-. As of December 31, 2018, the Company had not executed a reinsurance treaty under this committed reinsurance facility.
In October 2017, the Parent Company issued 60.0 billion yen of subordinated debentures through a U.S. public debt offering. The debentures bear interest at an initial rate of 2.108% per annum through October 22, 2027, or earlier redemption. Thereafter, the rate of the interest of the debentures will be reset every five years at a rate of interest equal to the then-current JPY 5-year Swap Offered Rate plus 205 basis points. The debentures are payable semi-annually in arrears and have a 30-year maturity. The debentures are redeemable (i) at any time, in whole but not in part, upon the occurrence of certain tax events or certain rating agency events, as specified in the indenture governing the terms of the
In February 2012, the Parent Company issued $350 million of senior notes through a U.S. public debt offering. The notes bear interest at a fixed rate of 4.00% per annum, payable semiannually, and have a 10-year maturity. These notes are redeemable at the Parent Company's option in whole at any time or in part from time to time at a redemption price equal to the greater of: (i) the principal amount of the notes or (ii) the present value of the remaining scheduled payments of principal and interest to be redeemed, discounted to the redemption date, plus accrued and unpaid interest. The Parent Company entered into cross-currency interest rate swaps to reduce interest expense by converting the U.S. dollar-denominated principal and interest on the senior notes it issued into yen-denominated obligations. By entering into these swaps, the Parent Company economically converted its $350 million liability into a 27.0 billion yen liability and reduced the interest rate on this debt from 4.00% in dollars to 2.07% in yen.
The aggregate contractual maturities of notes payable during each of the years after December 31, 2018, are as follows:
A summary of the Company's lines of credit as of December 31, 2018 follows:
The Parent Company was in compliance with all of the covenants of its notes payable and lines of credit at December 31, 2018. No events of default or defaults occurred during 2018 and 2017.
due to Japan's current tax year not closing until March 31, 2019. Based upon a review of the Company's anticipated future taxable income, and including all other available evidence, both positive and negative, the Company's management has concluded that, notwithstanding the items noted above, it is more likely than not that all other deferred tax assets will be realized.
Under U.S. income tax rules, only 35% of non-life operating losses can be offset against life insurance taxable income each year. For current U.S. income tax purposes, as of December 31, 2018, there were non-life operating loss carryforwards of $21 million available to offset against future taxable income. The Company has capital loss carryforwards of $22 million available to offset capital gains, of which $4 million expires in 2021 and $18 million expires in 2023.
See Note 1 for a discussion of the stock split that occurred in March 2018. All share and per-share amounts have been adjusted to reflect the stock split for any of the periods presented.
Share Repurchase Program: During 2018, the Company repurchased 28.9 million shares of its common stock in the open market, compared with 35.5 million shares in 2017 and 43.2 million shares in 2016. As of December 31, 2018, a remaining balance of 69.0 million shares of the Company's common stock was available for purchase under share repurchase authorizations by its board of directors.
Voting Rights: In accordance with the Parent Company's articles of incorporation, shares of common stock are generally entitled to one vote per share until they have been held by the same beneficial owner for a continuous period of 48 months, at which time they become entitled to 10 votes per share.
As of December 31, 2018, the Company has outstanding share-based awards under the Aflac Incorporated Long-Term Incentive Plan (the "Plan"). Share-based awards are designed to reward employees for their long-term contributions to the Company and provide incentives for them to remain with the Company. The number and frequency of share-based awards are based on competitive practices, operating results of the Company, government regulations, and other factors.
The Plan allows awards to Company employees for incentive stock options (ISOs), non-qualifying stock options (NQSOs), restricted stock, restricted stock units, and stock appreciation rights. Non-employee directors are eligible for grants of NQSOs, restricted stock, and stock appreciation rights. As of December 31, 2018, approximately 40.3 million shares were available for future grants under this plan. The ISOs and NQSOs have a term of 10 years, and the share-based awards generally vest upon time-based conditions or time and performance-based conditions. Time-based vesting generally occurs after three years. Performance-based vesting conditions generally include the attainment of goals related to Company financial performance. As of December 31, 2018, the only performance-based awards issued and outstanding were restricted stock awards.
The Company estimates the fair value of each stock option granted using the Black-Scholes-Merton multiple option approach. Expected volatility is based on historical periods generally commensurate with the estimated terms of the options. The Company uses historical data to estimate option exercise and termination patterns within the model. Separate groups of employees that have similar historical exercise patterns are stratified and considered separately for valuation purposes. The expected term of options granted is derived from the output of the Company's option model and represents the weighted-average period of time that options granted are expected to be outstanding. The Company bases the risk-free interest rate on the Treasury note rate with a term comparable to that of the estimated term of the options. The weighted-average fair value of options at their grant date was $8.81 per share for 2018, compared with $7.64 for 2017 and $6.35 in 2016. The following table presents the assumptions used in valuing options granted during the years ended December 31.
The following table summarizes information about stock options outstanding and exercisable at December 31, 2018.
Under the Plan, the Company grants selected executive officers performance-based restricted stock awards (PBRS) each February whose vesting is contingent upon meeting various performance goals. PBRS are generally granted at-the-money and contingently cliff vest over a period of three years, generally subject to continued employment. In February
2018, the Company granted 432 thousand performance-based stock awards, which are contingent on the achievement of the Company's financial performance metrics and its market-based conditions. On the date of grant, the Company estimated the fair value of restricted stock awards with market-based conditions using a Monte Carlo simulation model. The model discounts the value of the stock at the assumed vesting date based on a risk-free interest rate. Based on estimates of actual performance versus the vesting thresholds, the calculated fair value percentage pay-out estimate will be updated each quarter. Actual performance, including modification for relative total shareholder return, may result in the ultimate award of 0% to 200% percent of the initial number of PBRS issued, with the potential for no award if company performance goals are not achieved during the three-year period. PBRS subject to accelerated vesting at the date of retirement eligibility is recognized over the implicit service period.
Aflac entered into a reinsurance agreement effective March 31, 2015 with a then unauthorized reinsurer. The effective date of this agreement predated the effective date of Nebraska's Amended Credit for Reinsurance statute (44-416) allowing certified reinsurers and also predated the subsequent approval of the agreement's assuming reinsurer as a Certified Reinsurer, which occurred on August 30, 2015 and December 24, 2015, respectively. Aflac obtained a permitted practice to recognize this treaty and counterparty as a Certified Reinsurer for the purpose of determining the collateral required to receive reinsurance reserve credit.
As of December 31, 2018, Aflac's capital and surplus significantly exceeded the required company action level capital and surplus of $.5 billion. As determined on a U.S. statutory accounting basis, Aflac's net income was $1.3 billion in 2018, $2.6 billion in 2017 and $2.8 billion in 2016.
After the Japan branch conversion as of April 1, 2018, Aflac Japan is required to meet certain financial criteria as governed by Japanese corporate law in order to provide dividends to the Parent Company. Under these criteria, dividend capacity at Aflac Japan is basically defined as retained earnings excluding capital reserves, which represent equity generated by capital profits that are statutorily required in Japan, less net after-tax unrealized losses on available-for-sale securities based on the previous fiscal year-end. Prior to April 1, 2018, a portion of Aflac Japan earnings, as determined on a Japanese regulatory accounting basis, could be remitted each year to Aflac U.S. after complying with solvency margin provisions and satisfying various conditions imposed by Japanese regulatory authorities for protecting policyholders. Profit remittances to the United States could fluctuate due to changes in the amounts of Japanese regulatory earnings. Among other items, factors affecting regulatory earnings include Japanese regulatory accounting practices and fluctuations in currency translation of Aflac Japan's U.S. dollar-denominated investments and related investment income into yen. Profits remitted by Aflac Japan to the Parent Company, after April 1, 2018, and to Aflac U.S., prior to April 1, 2018, were as follows for the years ended December 31:
The Company provides certain health care benefits for eligible U.S. retired employees, their beneficiaries and covered dependents ("other postretirement benefits"). The health care plan is contributory and unfunded. Effective January 1, 2014, employees eligible for benefits included the following: (1) active employees whose age plus service, in years, equaled or exceeded 80 (rule of 80); (2) active employees who were age 55 or older and have met the 15 years of service requirement; (3) active employees who would meet the rule of 80 in the next five years; (4) active employees who were age 55 or older and who would meet the 15 years of service requirement within the next five years; and (5) current retirees. For certain employees and former employees, additional coverage is provided for all medical expenses for life.
(2)For the years 2018, 2017 and 2016, the health care cost trend rates are expected to trend down to 4.1% in 61 years, 4.5% in 77 years, and 4.5% in 74 years, respectively.
Assumed health care cost trend rates have a significant effect on the amounts reported for the health care plan. A one-percentage point increase and decrease in assumed health care cost trend rates would have the following effects as of December 31, 2018:
Pension and other postretirement benefit expenses are included in acquisition and operating expenses in the consolidated statements of earnings, which includes $25 million, $35 million and $17 million of other components of net periodic pension cost and postretirement costs (other than services costs) for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively. Total net periodic benefit cost includes the following components:
No transition obligations arose during 2018, and the transition obligations amortized to expense were immaterial for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016. Amortization of actuarial losses to expense in 2019 is estimated to be $4 million for the Japanese plans, $11 million for the U.S. plans and $1 million for the other postretirement benefits plan. Amortization of prior service costs and credits and transition obligations for all plans is expected to be negligible in 2019.
The plan fiduciaries for the Company's funded defined benefit plans have developed guidelines for asset allocations reflecting a percentage of total assets by asset class, which are reviewed on an annual basis. Asset allocation targets as of December 31, 2018 were as follows:
The Company leases office space and equipment under agreements that expire in various years through 2028. Future minimum lease payments due under non-cancelable operating leases at December 31, 2018, were as follows:
In management's opinion, the following quarterly financial information fairly presents the results of operations for such periods and is prepared on a basis consistent with the Company's annual audited financial statements.