•Results of Operations. For the year ended 2020, we reported a net gain of $197 million, inclusive of the unfavorable financial market conditions and COVID-19 related claims that impacted our reported results. See “Results of Operations” for a discussion of results for the full year of 2020.
•Risk Factors. The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely impacted our results of operations, financial position, investment portfolio, new business opportunities and operations, and these impacts are expected to continue. For additional information on the risks to our business posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, see “Risk Factors.”
•Business Continuity. One of the main impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic has been executing Prudential Financial Inc.'s ("Prudential Financial") and our business continuity protocols to ensure our employees are safe and able to serve our customers. This included effectively transitioning the vast majority of our employees to remote work arrangements.
•CARES Act and Other Regulatory Developments. In March 2020 Congress enacted the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act ("the CARES Act"), which provides $2 trillion in economic stimulus to taxpayers, small businesses, and corporations through various grant and loan programs, tax provisions and regulatory relief. One provision of the CARES Act amends the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ("TCJA") and allows companies with net operating losses (“NOLs”) originating in 2018, 2019 or 2020 to carry back those losses for five years. See Note 10 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for more information.
The Company is not aware of any new or proposed government mandates that could materially impact the Company’s solvency or liquidity position.
For more information on interest rate risks, see "Risk Factors-Market Risk".
•For certain contract features, such as those related to guaranteed minimum death benefits (“GMDB”), guaranteed minimum income benefits (“GMIB”) and no-lapse guarantees, a liability is established when associated assessments (which include policy charges for administration, mortality, expense, surrender, and other, regardless of how characterized) are recognized. This liability is established using current best estimate assumptions and is based on the ratio of the present value of total expected excess payments (e.g., payments in excess of account value) over the life of the contract divided by the present value of total expected assessments (i.e., benefit ratio). The liability equals the current benefit ratio multiplied by cumulative assessments recognized to date, plus interest, less cumulative excess payments to date. The result of the benefit ratio method is that the liability at any point in time represents an accumulation of the portion of assessments received to date expected to be needed to fund future excess payments, less any excess payments already paid. The liability does not necessarily reflect the full policyholder obligation the Company expects to pay at the conclusion of the contract since a portion of that excess payment would be funded by assessments received in the future and would be recognized in the liability at that time. Similar to as described above for DAC, the reserves are subject to adjustments based on annual reviews of assumptions and quarterly adjustments for experience, including market performance. These adjustments reflect the impact on the benefit ratio of using actual historical experience from the issuance date to the balance sheet date plus updated estimates of future experience. The updated benefit ratio is then applied to all prior periods’ assessments to derive an adjustment to the reserve recognized through a benefit or charge to current period earnings.
The reserves for certain optional living benefit features, including GMAB, GMWB and GMIWB are accounted for as embedded derivatives at fair value, as described above. This methodology could result in either a liability or contra-liability balance, given changing capital market conditions and various actuarial assumptions. Since there is no observable active market for the transfer of these obligations, the valuations are calculated using internally-developed models with option pricing techniques. The models are based on a risk neutral valuation framework and incorporate premiums for risks inherent in valuation techniques, inputs, and the general uncertainty around the timing and amount of future cash flows. The significant inputs to the valuation models for these embedded derivatives include capital market assumptions, such as interest rate levels and volatility assumptions, the Company’s market-perceived risk of its own non-performance risk (“NPR”), as well as actuarially determined assumptions, including mortality rates and contractholder behavior, such as lapse rates, benefit utilization rates and withdrawal rates. Capital market inputs and actual contractholders’ account values are updated each quarter based on capital market conditions as of the end of the quarter, including interest rates, equity markets and volatility. In the risk neutral valuation, the initial swap curve drives the total returns used to grow the contractholders’ account values. The Company’s discount rate assumption is based on the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) swap curve adjusted for an additional spread, which includes an estimate of NPR. Actuarial assumptions, including contractholder behavior and mortality, are reviewed at least annually and updated based upon emerging experience, future expectations and other data, including any observable market data, such as available industry studies or market transactions such as acquisitions and reinsurance transactions. For additional information regarding the valuation of these optional living benefit features, see Note 5 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
The impacts presented within this table exclude the related impacts of our asset liability management strategy which seeks to offset the changes in the balances presented within this table and is primarily composed of investments and derivatives. See further below for a discussion of the estimates and assumptions involved with the application of U.S. GAAP accounting policies for these instruments and “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk” for hypothetical impacts on related balances as a result of changes in certain significant assumptions.
For our investments classified as available-for-sale, the impact of changes in fair value is recorded as an unrealized gain or loss in “Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)” (“AOCI”), a separate component of equity. For our investments classified as trading and equity securities, the impact of changes in fair value is recorded within “Other income”. Our commercial mortgage and other loans are carried primarily at unpaid principal balances, net of unamortized deferred loan origination fees and expenses and unamortized premiums or discounts and a valuation allowance for losses.
In December 2017, Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) staff issued “Staff Accounting Bulletin 118, Income Tax Accounting Implications of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” (“SAB 118”), which allowed the registrants to record provisional amounts during a ‘measurement period’ not to extend beyond one year. Under the relief provided by SAB 118, a company could recognize provisional amounts when it did not have the necessary information available, prepared or analyzed in reasonable detail to complete its accounting for the change in tax law. See Note 10 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for a discussion of refinements to provisional amounts related to The United States Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (“Tax Act of 2017”) included in “Income tax expense (benefit) before equity in earnings of operating joint ventures” in 2018.
An increase or decrease in our effective tax rate by one percentage point would have resulted in a decrease or increase in our 2020 "Income tax expense (benefit)" of $1 million.
ASU 2018-12, Financial Services - Insurance (Topic 944): Targeted Improvements to the Accounting for Long-Duration Contracts, was issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) on August 15, 2018 and is expected to have a significant impact on the Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements. In October 2019, the FASB issued ASU 2019-09, Financial Services - Insurance (Topic 944): Effective Date to affirm its decision to defer the effective date of ASU 2018-12 to January 1, 2022 (with early adoption permitted), representing a one year extension from the original effective date of January 1, 2021. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, in November 2020 the FASB issued ASU 2020-11, Financial Services - Insurance (Topic 944): Effective Date and Early Application to defer for an additional one year the effective date of ASU 2018-12 from January 1, 2022 to January 1, 2023, and to provide transition relief to facilitate the early adoption of the ASU. The transition relief would allow large calendar-year public companies that early adopt ASU 2018-12 to apply the guidance either as of January 1, 2020 or January 1, 2021 (and record transition adjustments as of January 1, 2020 or January 1, 2021, respectively) in the 2022 financial statements. Companies that do not early adopt ASU 2018-12 would apply the guidance as of January 1, 2021 (and record transition adjustments as of January 1, 2021) in the 2023 financial statements. The Company currently intends to adopt ASU 2018-12 effective January 1, 2023. ASU 2018-12 will impact, at least to some extent, the accounting and disclosure requirements for all long-duration insurance and investment contracts issued by the Company. In addition to the impacts to the balance sheet upon adoption, the Company also expects an impact to how earnings emerge thereafter. See Note 2 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for a more detailed discussion of ASU 2018-12, as well as other accounting pronouncements issued but not yet adopted and newly adopted accounting pronouncements.
Total assets increased $17 billion from $191 billion at December 31, 2019 to $208 billion at December 31, 2020. Significant components were:
•Separate account liabilities increased $7 billion corresponding to the increase in Separate account assets, as discussed above; and
Income from operations before income taxes decreased $91 million from income of $159 million in 2019 to income of $68 million in 2020. Excluding the impact of our annual reviews and update of assumptions and other refinements, income decreased $131 million primarily driven by:
•Higher Policyholders’ benefits from an increase in reserves due to continued growth in retained principle-based reserving (“PBR”) products and higher mortality;
Revenues increased $174 million from a gain of $949 million in 2019 to a gain of $1,123 million in 2020. Excluding the impact of our annual reviews and update to our assumptions and other refinements, the increase was $136 million primarily driven by:
•Higher Premiums from continued growth in PBR term policies retained; and
•Higher Policyholders’ benefits from an increase in reserves due to continued growth in retained PBR products and higher mortality; and
A portion of the variable annuity contracts that we offer include an asset transfer feature. This feature is implemented at the contract level, and transfers assets between certain variable investment sub-accounts selected by the annuity contractholder and, depending on the benefit feature, a fixed-rate account in the general account or a bond fund sub-account within the separate account. The objective of the asset transfer feature is to reduce our exposure to equity market risk and market volatility. The asset transfer feature associated with currently-sold highest daily living benefit products uses a designated bond fund sub-account within the separate account. The transfers are based on a static mathematical formula used with the particular benefit which considers a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the impact of investment performance on the contractholder’s total account value. Other product design features we utilize include, among others, asset allocation restrictions, minimum issuance age requirements and certain limitations on the amount of contractholder purchase payments, as well as a required minimum allocation to our general account for certain of our products. We continue to introduce products that diversify our risk profile and have incorporated provisions in product design allowing frequent revisions of key pricing elements for certain of our products. In addition, there is diversity in our fee arrangements, as certain fees are primarily based on the benefit guarantee amount, the contractholder account value and/or premiums, which helps preserve certain revenue streams when market fluctuations cause account values to decline.
PALAC and Prudential Insurance employ an ALM strategy that utilizes a combination of both traditional fixed income instruments and derivatives to help defray potential claims associated with our variable annuity living benefit guarantees. The economic liability we manage with this ALM strategy consists of expected living benefit claims under less severe market conditions, which are managed using an ALM strategy through the accumulation of fixed income and derivative instruments, and potential living benefit claims resulting from more severe market conditions, which are hedged using derivative instruments. For our Prudential Defined Income variable annuity, we utilize fixed income instruments to help defray potential claims. For the portion of our ALM strategy executed with derivatives, PALAC and Prudential Insurance enter into a range of exchange-traded and over-the-counter equity and interest rate derivatives, including, but not limited to: equity and treasury futures; total return and interest rate swaps; and options, including equity options, swaptions, and floors and caps. The intent of this strategy is to more efficiently manage the capital and liquidity associated with these products while continuing to mitigate fluctuations in net income due to movements in capital markets. Since the ALM strategy is conducted in PALAC and Prudential Insurance, the results of the strategy do not directly impact the Company's results of operations or financial condition.
For additional information on income tax related items, see “Business-Regulation” and Note 10 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Capital. As of December 31, 2020, the Company maintained capital levels consistent with its ratings targets. However, market conditions could negatively impact the statutory capital and constrain our overall capital flexibility. For example, adverse market conditions may lead to increased defaults and/or further deterioration in the credit quality or fair values of our investment portfolio, which would negatively impact the statutory capital of the Company and its insurance subsidiary. Adverse market conditions could require us to take additional management actions to maintain capital consistent with ratings objectives, which may include redeploying financial resources from internal sources or, using available external sources of capital or seeking additional sources.
We manage the Company to regulatory capital levels consistent with our "AA" ratings targets. We utilize the risk-based capital (“RBC”) ratio as a primary measure of capital adequacy. RBC is calculated based on statutory financial statements and risk formulas consistent with the practices of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners ("NAIC"). RBC considers, among other things, risks related to the type and quality of the invested assets, insurance-related risks associated with an insurer’s products and liabilities, interest rate risks and general business risks. RBC ratio calculations are intended to assist insurance regulators in measuring an insurer’s solvency and ability to pay future claims. The reporting of RBC measures is not intended for the purpose of ranking any insurance company or for use in connection with any marketing, advertising or promotional activities, but is available to the public. The Company’s capital levels substantially exceed the minimum level required by applicable insurance regulations. Our regulatory capital levels may be affected in the future by changes to the applicable regulations, proposals for which are currently under consideration by both domestic and international insurance regulators.
Prudential Financial and the Company use captive reinsurance companies for our individual life business to more effectively manage our reserves and capital on an economic basis and to enable the aggregation and transfer of risks. The captive reinsurance companies assume business from affiliates only. To support the risks they assume, the captives are capitalized to a level we believe is consistent with the “AA” financial strength rating targets of Prudential Financial’s insurance subsidiaries. All of the captive reinsurance companies are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Prudential Financial and are located domestically, typically in the state of domicile of the direct writing insurance subsidiary that cedes the majority of business to the captive. In addition to state insurance regulation, the captives are subject to internal policies governing their activities. In the normal course of business, Prudential Financial contributes capital to the captives to support business growth and other needs. Prudential Financial has also entered into support agreements with several of the captives in connection with financing arrangements.
Liquidity is measured against internally-developed benchmarks that take into account the characteristics of both the asset portfolio and the liabilities that they support. We consider attributes of the various categories of liquid assets (e.g., type of asset and credit quality) in calculating internal liquidity measures to evaluate our liquidity under various stress scenarios, including company-specific and market-wide events. We continue to believe that cash generated by ongoing operations and the liquidity profile of our assets provide sufficient liquidity under reasonably foreseeable stress scenarios.
Liquid assets include cash and cash equivalents, short-term investments, U.S. Treasury fixed maturities, fixed maturities that are not designated as held-to-maturity, and public equity securities. As of December 31, 2020 and 2019, the Company had liquid assets of $7.6 billion and $6.3 billion, respectively. The portion of liquid assets comprised cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments was $0.5 billion and $0.6 billion as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. As of December 31, 2020, $6.6 billion, or 94%, of the fixed maturity investments in the Company's general account portfolios were rated high or highest quality based on NAIC or equivalent rating.
As of December 31, 2020, our affiliated captive reinsurance companies had outstanding an aggregate of $2.8 billion of debt issued for the purpose of financing Regulation XXX and Guideline AXXX non-economic reserves, of which approximately $1.2 billion relates to Regulation XXX reserves and approximately $1.6 billion relates to Guideline AXXX reserves. In addition, as of December 31, 2020, for purposes of financing Guideline AXXX reserves, one of our affiliated captives had approximately $4.0 billion of surplus notes outstanding that were issued to affiliates.
Management of Pruco Life Insurance Company (together with its consolidated subsidiary, the “Company”) is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. Management conducted an assessment of the effectiveness, as of December 31, 2020, of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting, based on the framework established in Internal Control-Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission ("COSO"). Based on our assessment under that framework, management concluded that the Company’s internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2020.
To the Board of Directors and Stockholder of Pruco Life Insurance Company
As discussed in Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company changed the manner in which it accounts for credit losses on certain financial assets reported at amortized cost, certain off-balance sheet exposures, and impairments for fixed maturities, available-for-sale in 2020, and the manner in which it accounts for certain financial assets and liabilities and in which it accounts for certain tax effects originally recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income in 2018.
These consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s consolidated financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) ("PCAOB") and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
Valuation of Guaranteed Benefit Features Associated with Certain Life Products Included in the Liability for Future Policy Benefits
As described in Notes 2, 5, 7 and 8 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company issues certain life insurance products that include certain contract features, including no-lapse guarantees. The liability for no-lapse guarantee features is grouped with guaranteed minimum death benefit ("GMDB") features in Note 8. For GMDB contract features, additional policyholder liabilities are established when associated assessments are recognized. As of December 31, 2020, the additional liability for these contract features included in the liability for future policy benefits was $9.4 billion. As disclosed by management, this liability is established using current best estimate assumptions, including mortality rates, lapse rates, and premium pattern rates, as well as interest rate and equity market return assumptions, and is based on the ratio of the present value of total expected excess payments (i.e., payments in excess of account value) over the life of the contract divided by the present value of total expected assessments (i.e., benefit ratio). The liability equals the current benefit ratio multiplied by cumulative assessments recognized to date, plus interest, less cumulative excess payments to date.
Addressing the matter involved performing procedures and evaluating audit evidence in connection with forming our overall opinion on the consolidated financial statements. These procedures included testing the effectiveness of controls relating to the valuation of guaranteed benefit features associated with certain life products included in the liability for future policy benefits, including controls over the development of the assumptions used in the valuation of the additional policyholder liabilities. These procedures also included, among others, testing management’s process for determining the valuation of guaranteed benefit features associated with certain life products included in the liability for future policy benefits, which included the involvement of professionals with specialized skill and knowledge to assist in (i) evaluating the appropriateness of management’s models and (ii) evaluating the reasonableness of the aforementioned assumptions used in the valuation based on industry knowledge and data as well as historical Company data and experience. The procedures also included testing the completeness and accuracy of data used to develop the aforementioned assumptions and testing that the aforementioned assumptions are accurately reflected in the models.
Valuation of the Deferred Acquisition Costs Related to Universal Life and Variable Life Products
Addressing the matter involved performing procedures and evaluating audit evidence in connection with forming our overall opinion on the consolidated financial statements. These procedures included testing the effectiveness of controls relating to the valuation of DAC related to universal life and variable life products, including controls over the development of the significant assumptions. These procedures also included, among others, testing management’s process for determining the valuation of DAC related to universal life and variable life products, which included the involvement of professionals with specialized skill and knowledge to assist in (i) evaluating the appropriateness of management’s models, and (ii) evaluating the reasonableness of the significant assumptions used in the valuation based on industry knowledge and data as well as historical Company data and experience. The procedures also included testing the completeness and accuracy of data used to develop the assumptions and testing that the assumptions are accurately reflected in the models.
The Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America ("U.S. GAAP"). Intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated.
During the third quarter of 2020, the Company recorded an out of period adjustment which resulted in a net decrease of $7 million to "Income (loss) from operations before income taxes and equity in earnings of operating joint venture" for the year ended December 31, 2020. This adjustment primarily increased “General, administrative and other expenses” and relates to a correction of inputs to certain actuarial calculations which resulted in an overstatement of deferred policy acquisition costs. Management has evaluated the impact of all out of period adjustments, both individually and in the aggregate, and concluded that they are not material to any current or previously reported quarterly or annual financial statements.
The Company adopted Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") 2016-13, and related ASUs, effective January 1, 2020. See “Recent Accounting Pronouncements” in this Note for additional information about the adoption. Prior to the adoption of ASU 2016-13, credit impairments were recognized as a direct write down to the cost basis of the security.
Policy loans represent funds loaned to policyholders up to the cash surrender value of the associated insurance policies and are carried at the unpaid principal balances due to the Company from the policyholders. Interest income on policy loans is recognized in “Net investment income” at the contract interest rate when earned. Policy loans are fully collateralized by the cash surrender value of the associated insurance policies.
Commercial mortgage and other loans acquired, including those related to the acquisition of a business, are recorded at fair value when purchased, reflecting any premiums or discounts to unpaid principal balances. Interest income, and the amortization of the related premiums or discounts, are included in “Net investment income” under the effective yield method. Prepayment fees are also included in “Net investment income.”
The allowance is calculated separately for commercial mortgage loans, agricultural mortgage loans, other collateralized and uncollateralized loans. For commercial mortgage and agricultural mortgage loans, the allowance is calculated using an internally developed CECL model.
The CECL allowance on commercial mortgage and other loans can increase or decrease from period to period based on the factors noted above. The change in allowance is reported in “Realized investment gains (losses), net.” As it relates to unfunded commitments that are in scope of this guidance, the CECL allowance is reported in “Other liabilities,” and the change in the allowance is reported in “Realized investment gains (losses), net.”
Deferred policy acquisition costs are costs directly related to the successful acquisition of new and renewal insurance and annuity business that have been deferred to the extent such costs are deemed recoverable from future profits. Such DAC primarily includes commissions, costs of policy issuance and underwriting, and certain other expenses that are directly related to successfully acquired contracts. In each reporting period, capitalized DAC is amortized to “Amortization of DAC," net of the accrual of imputed interest on DAC balances. DAC is subject to periodic recoverability testing. DAC, for applicable products, is adjusted for the impact of unrealized gains or losses on investments as if these gains or losses had been realized, with corresponding credits or charges included in AOCI.
Reinsurance recoverables include corresponding receivables associated with reinsurance arrangements with affiliates and third party reinsurers, and are reported on the Consolidated Statements of Financial Position net of the CECL allowance. The CECL allowance considers the credit quality of the reinsurance counterparty and is generally determined based on the probability of default and loss given default assumptions, after considering any applicable collateral arrangements. The CECL allowance does not apply to reinsurance recoverables with affiliated counterparties under common control. Additions to or releases of the allowance are reported in “Policyholders’ benefits.” Prior to the adoption of this standard, an allowance for credit losses for reinsurance recoverables was established only when it was deemed probable that a reinsurer may fail to make payments to us in a timely manner. For additional information about these arrangements see Note 9.
The Company’s liability for income taxes includes a liability for unrecognized tax benefits, interest and penalties which relate to tax years still subject to review by the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") or other taxing jurisdictions. Audit periods remain open for review until the statute of limitations has passed. Generally, for tax years which produce net operating losses, capital losses or tax credit carryforwards (“tax attributes”), the statute of limitations does not close, to the extent of these tax attributes, until the expiration of the statute of limitations for the tax year in which they are fully utilized. The completion of review or the expiration of the statute of limitations for a given audit period could result in an adjustment to the liability for income taxes. The Company classifies all interest and penalties related to tax uncertainties as income tax expense. See Note 10 for additional information regarding income taxes.
Derivatives are financial instruments whose values are derived from interest rates, foreign exchange rates, financial indices, values of securities or commodities, credit spreads, market volatility, expected returns, and liquidity. Values can also be affected by changes in estimates and assumptions, including those related to counterparty behavior and non-performance risk ("NPR") used in valuation models. Derivative financial instruments generally used by the Company include swaps, futures, forwards and options and may be exchange-traded or contracted in the over-the-counter (“OTC”) market. Certain of the Company’s OTC derivatives are cleared and settled through central clearing counterparties, while others are bilateral contracts between two counterparties. Derivative positions are carried at fair value, generally by obtaining quoted market prices or through the use of valuation models.
Derivatives are used to manage the interest rate and currency characteristics of assets or liabilities. Additionally, derivatives may be used to seek to reduce exposure to interest rate, credit, foreign currency and equity risks associated with assets held or expected to be purchased or sold, and liabilities incurred or expected to be incurred. As discussed in detail below and in Note 4, all realized and unrealized changes in fair value of derivatives are recorded in current earnings, with the exception of cash flow hedges. Cash flows from derivatives are reported in the operating, investing or financing activities sections in the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows based on the nature and purpose of the derivative.
The Company sells variable annuity contracts that include optional living benefit features that may be treated from an accounting perspective as embedded derivatives. Effective April 1, 2016, the Company reinsured the variable annuity base contracts, along with the living benefit guarantees, to Prudential Annuities Life Assurance Corporation ("PALAC"), excluding the PLNJ business, which was reinsured to Prudential Insurance, in each case under a coinsurance and modified coinsurance agreement. See Note 9 for additional information. The embedded derivatives related to the living benefit features and the related reinsurance agreements are carried at fair value and included in “Future policy benefits" and “Reinsurance recoverables”. Changes in the fair value are determined using valuation models as described in Note 5 and are recorded in “Realized investment gains (losses), net".
Changes to U.S. GAAP are established by the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") in the form of ASUs to the FASB Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC"). The Company considers the applicability and impact of all ASUs. ASUs listed below include those that have been adopted during the current fiscal year and/or those that have been issued but not yet adopted as of December 31, 2020, and as of the date of this filing. ASUs not listed below were assessed and determined to be either not applicable or not material.
The Company adopted ASU 2016-13, and related ASUs, effective January 1, 2020 using the modified retrospective method for certain financial assets carried at amortized cost and certain off-balance sheet exposures. The modified retrospective method results in a cumulative effect adjustment to opening retained earnings. The Company adopted the guidance related to fixed maturities, available-for-sale on a prospective basis.
Adoption of the standard resulted in a cumulative effect adjustment to opening retained earnings in the amount of $1.8 million, primarily related to commercial mortgage and other loans. The impact of adoption is not material to the following financial statement line items: deferred policy acquisition costs; reinsurance recoverables; income taxes receivable; future policy benefits; policyholders' account balances; and other liabilities. The prospective adoption of the portions of the standard related to fixed maturities, available-for-sale resulted in no impact to opening retained earnings.
The allowance for credit losses is presented parenthetically on relevant line items in the Consolidated Statements of Financial Position. In the Consolidated Statements of Operations, realized investment gains (losses), net are presented on one line item and will no longer reflect the breakout of OTTI on fixed maturity securities; OTTI on fixed maturity securities transferred to OCI; and other realized investment gains (losses), net. The presentation of this detail in prior periods is immaterial.
ASU 2018-12, Financial Services - Insurance (Topic 944): Targeted Improvements to the Accounting for Long-Duration Contracts, was issued by the FASB on August 15, 2018 and is expected to have a significant impact on the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements. In October 2019, the FASB issued ASU 2019-09, Financial Services - Insurance (Topic 944): Effective Date to affirm its decision to defer the effective date of ASU 2018-12 to January 1, 2022 (with early adoption permitted), representing a one year extension from the original effective date of January 1, 2021. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, in November 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-11, Financial Services-Insurance (Topic 944): Effective Date and Early Application to defer for an additional one year the effective date of ASU 2018-12 from January 1, 2022 to January 1, 2023, and to provide transition relief to facilitate the early adoption of the ASU. The transition relief would allow large calendar-year public companies that early adopt ASU 2018-12 to apply the guidance either as of January 1, 2020 or January 1, 2021 (and record transition adjustments as of January 1, 2020 or January 1, 2021, respectively) in the 2022 financial statements. Companies that do not early adopt ASU 2018-12 would apply the guidance as of January 1, 2021 (and record transition adjustments as of January 1, 2021) in the 2023 financial statements. The Company currently intends to adopt ASU 2018-12 effective January 1, 2023. ASU 2018-12 will impact, at least to some extent, the accounting and disclosure requirements for all long-duration insurance and investment contracts issued by the Company. Outlined below are four key areas of change, although there are other less significant changes not noted below. In addition to the impacts to the balance sheet upon adoption, the Company also expects an impact to how earnings emerge thereafter.
(1)Includes credit-tranched securities collateralized by loan obligations, credit cards, auto loans, education loans and sub-prime mortgages.
(1)Includes credit-tranched securities collateralized by loan obligations, sub-prime mortgages, auto loans, education loans and other asset types.
As of December 31, 2019, the gross unrealized losses on fixed maturity securities were composed of $16.0 million related to “1” highest quality or “2” high quality securities based on the NAIC or equivalent rating and $7.8 million related to other than high or highest quality securities based on NAIC or equivalent rating. As of December 31, 2019, the $20.7 million of gross unrealized losses of twelve months or more were concentrated in the Company's corporate securities within the finance, energy and consumer non-cyclical sectors.
(3)For the year ended December 31, 2020, amounts represent write-downs of credit adverse securities, write-downs on securities approaching maturity related to foreign exchange movements and securities actively marketed for sale.
The net change in unrealized gains (losses) from equity securities still held at period end, recorded within “Other income,” was $(1.2) million, $(1.0) million and $(2.8) million during the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively.
For both the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, there were no commercial mortgage and other loans acquired, other than those through direct origination. For the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, there were $0 million and $5 million of commercial mortgage and other loans sold, respectively.
(2)Amount represents gross liabilities of each fund where the Company has a significant investment. These liabilities consist primarily of third-party-borrowed funds and other miscellaneous liabilities.
(3)Includes net unrealized gains (losses) on certain joint ventures that are strategic in nature and are included in “Other assets.”
In the normal course of business, the Company sells securities under agreements to repurchase and enters into securities lending transactions. As of both December 31, 2020 and 2019, the Company had no repurchase agreements.
Equity options are used by the Company to manage its exposure to the equity markets which impacts the value of assets and liabilities it owns or anticipates acquiring or selling.
The Company offers certain products (for example, variable annuities and index-linked universal life) which may include guaranteed benefit features that are accounted for as embedded derivatives; related to certain of these derivatives, the Company has entered into reinsurance agreements with both affiliated and unaffiliated parties. Effective April 1, 2016, the Company entered into reinsurance agreements with affiliates, PALAC and Prudential Insurance. Additionally, the Company has entered into a reinsurance agreement with an external counterparty, Union Hamilton Reinsurance, Ltd. ("Union Hamilton"). See Note 9 for additional information on the reinsurance agreements.
The table below provides a summary of the gross notional amount and fair value of derivative contracts by the primary underlying risks, excluding embedded derivatives and associated reinsurance recoverables. Many derivative instruments contain multiple underlying risks. The fair value amounts below represent the value of derivative contracts prior to taking into account the netting effects of master netting agreements and cash collateral.
(1)Excludes embedded derivatives and associated reinsurance recoverables which contain multiple underlying risks. The fair value of these embedded derivatives was a net liability of $13,228 million and $8,530 million as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively included in "Future policy benefits" and $1,155 million and $962 million as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively included in "Policyholders' account balances". The fair value of the related reinsurance, included in "Reinsurance recoverables" or "Other liabilities" was an asset of $13,240 million and $8,540 million as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Assets and Liabilities by Hierarchy Level - The tables below present the balances of assets and liabilities reported at fair value on a recurring basis, as of the dates indicated.
(4)Separate account assets represent segregated funds that are invested for certain customers. Investment risks associated with market value changes are borne by the customers, except to the extent of minimum guarantees made by the Company with respect to certain accounts. Separate account liabilities are not included in the above table as they are reported at contract value and not fair value in the Consolidated Statements of Financial Position.
Equity Securities - Equity securities consist principally of investments in common and preferred stock of publicly traded companies, privately traded securities, as well as mutual fund shares. The fair values of most publicly traded equity securities are based on quoted market prices in active markets for identical assets and are classified within Level 1 in the fair value hierarchy. Estimated fair values for most privately traded equity securities are determined using discounted cash flow, earnings multiple and other valuation models that require a substantial level of judgment around inputs and therefore are classified within Level 3. The fair values of mutual fund shares that transact regularly (but do not trade in active markets because they are not publicly available) are based on transaction prices of identical fund shares and are classified within Level 2 in the fair value hierarchy.
The Company's exchange-traded futures and options include treasury and equity futures. Exchange-traded futures and options are valued using quoted prices in active markets and are classified within Level 1 in the fair value hierarchy.
The Company’s cleared interest rate swaps and credit derivatives linked to an index are valued using models that utilize actively quoted or observable market inputs, including the secured overnight financing rate ("SOFR"), obtained from external market data providers, third-party pricing vendors and/or recent trading activity. These derivatives are classified as Level 2 in the fair value hierarchy.
(3)Represents multiples of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization "EBITDA", and are amounts used when the Company has determined that market participants would use such multiples when valuing the investments.
(2)Other includes reclassifications of certain assets and liabilities between reporting categories.
(2) Includes ceded DAC upon reinsurance agreement with Prudential Arizona Reinsurance Term Company and Prudential Arizona Reinsurance Captive Company in 2019. See Note 9 for additional information.
Future policy benefits for domestic and Taiwanese individual non-participating traditional life insurance policies are generally equal to the present value of future benefit payments and related expenses, less the present value of future net premiums. Assumptions as to mortality and persistency are based on the Company’s experience, industry data, and/or other factors, when the basis of the reserve is established. Interest rates used in the determination of the present values range from 1.7% to 7.8% for setting domestic insurance reserves and 6.2% to 7.4% for setting Taiwanese reserves.
Future policy benefits for individual annuities and supplementary contracts with life contingencies are generally equal to the present value of expected future payments. Assumptions as to mortality are based on the Company’s experience, industry data, and/or other factors, when the basis of the reserve is established. The interest rates used in the determination of the present values range from 0.0% to 14.8%; less than 0.3% of the reserves based on an interest rate in excess of 8%.
Policyholders’ account balances represent an accumulation of account deposits plus credited interest less withdrawals, expenses and mortality charges, if applicable. These policyholders’ account balances also include provisions for benefits under non-life contingent payout annuities and certain unearned revenues. Policyholders' account balances also include amounts representing the fair value of embedded derivative instruments associated with the index-linked features of certain universal life products. See Note 5 for additional information on the fair value of these embedded derivative instruments. Interest crediting rates for interest-sensitive life contracts range from 1.9% to 4.6% . Interest crediting rates for individual annuities range from 0.0% to 6.3%. Interest crediting rates for guaranteed interest accounts range from 1.0% to 10.0%. Interest crediting rates range from 0.5% to 8.0% for other.
The assets supporting the variable portion of all variable annuities are carried at fair value and reported as “Separate account assets” with an equivalent amount reported as “Separate account liabilities.” Amounts assessed against the contractholders for mortality, administration, and other services are included within revenue in “Policy charges and fee income” and changes in liabilities for minimum guarantees are generally included in “Policyholders’ benefits” or “Realized investment gains (losses), net.”
(2)Excludes assumed reinsurance of GUL business from Prudential Insurance in connection with the acquisition of The Hartford Life Business that is retroceded 100% to PAR U.
The table below summarizes the changes in general account liabilities for guarantees. The liabilities for GMDB and guaranteed minimum income benefits (“GMIB”) are included in “Future policy benefits” and the related changes in the liabilities are included in “Policyholders' benefits”. GMAB, GMWB and GMIWB are accounted for as embedded derivatives and are recorded at fair value within “Future policy benefits”. Changes in the fair value of these derivatives, including changes in the Company’s own risk of non-performance, along with any fees attributed or payments made relating to the derivative, are recorded in “Realized investment gains (losses), net.” See Note 5 for additional information regarding the methodology used in determining the fair value of these embedded derivatives. The Company maintains a portfolio of derivative investments that serve as a partial hedge of the risks associated with these products, for which the changes in fair value are also recorded in "Realized investment gains (losses), net." This portfolio of derivative investments does not qualify for hedge accounting treatment under U.S. GAAP. Additionally, the Company externally reinsures the guaranteed benefit features associated with certain contracts. See Note 9 for further information regarding the external reinsurance arrangement.
There were no deferred sales inducements balances at December 31, 2020 and 2019 because they were fully ceded.
The Company participates in reinsurance with its affiliates Prudential Life Insurance Company of Taiwan Inc. (“Prudential of Taiwan”), Prudential Arizona Reinsurance Captive Company (“PARCC”), Prudential Arizona Reinsurance Term Company (“PAR Term”), Prudential Arizona Reinsurance Universal Company (“PAR U”), Prudential Universal Reinsurance Company ("PURC"), Prudential Term Reinsurance Company (“Term Re”), PALAC, Gibraltar Universal Life Reinsurance Company ("GUL Re") and Dryden Arizona Reinsurance Term Company (“DART”), its parent company Prudential Insurance, as well as third parties. The reinsurance agreements provide risk diversification and additional capacity for future growth, limit the maximum net loss potential, manage statutory capital, and facilitate the Company's capital market hedging program. Life reinsurance is accomplished through various plans of reinsurance, primarily yearly renewable term and coinsurance. Reinsurance ceded arrangements do not discharge the Company as the primary insurer. Ceded balances would represent a liability of the Company in the event the reinsurers were unable to meet their obligations to the Company under the terms of the reinsurance agreements. The Company believes a material reinsurance liability resulting from such inability of reinsurers to meet their obligations is unlikely.
Reinsurance amounts included in the Company’s Consolidated Statements of Financial Position as of December 31, were as follows:
(1)Includes $0.0 million of unaffiliated activity as of both December 31, 2020 and 2019.
(3)Includes $42.6 million and $43.1 million of unaffiliated activity as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
(2)Includes $(10.5) million, $(0.6) million and $(0.2) million of unaffiliated activity for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively.
(6)Includes $0.9 million, $1.9 million and $0.0 million of unaffiliated activity for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively.
(7)Includes $(70) million, $(30) million and $(10) million of unaffiliated activity for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively.
Effective July 1, 2012, PLNJ reinsures an amount equal to 95% of all the risks associated with Universal Protector policies having no-lapse guarantees as well as certain of its universal policies, with effective dates through December 31, 2019, excluding those policies that are subject to principle-based reserving.
Pruco Life reinsures an amount equal to 70% of all the risks associated with its Universal Protector policies having no-lapse guarantees as well as certain of its universal policies, with effective dates from January 1, 2011 through December 31, 2013 with PURC and 95% of all the risks associated with Universal Protector policies having no-lapse guarantees, as well as certain of its universal policies, with effective dates from January 1, 2014 through December 31, 2016.
On January 31, 2001, Pruco Life transferred all of its assets and liabilities associated with its Taiwanese branch, including its Taiwanese insurance book of business, to Prudential of Taiwan, an affiliated company. The mechanism used to transfer this block of business in Taiwan is referred to as a “full acquisition and assumption” transaction. Under this mechanism, Pruco Life is jointly liable with Prudential of Taiwan for two years from the giving of notice to all obligees for all matured obligations and for two years after the maturity date of not-yet-matured obligations. Prudential of Taiwan is also contractually liable, under indemnification provisions of the transaction, for any liabilities that may be asserted against Pruco Life.
The transfer of the insurance related assets and liabilities was accounted for as a long-duration coinsurance transaction under U.S. GAAP. Under this accounting treatment, the insurance related liabilities remain on the books of Pruco Life and an offsetting reinsurance recoverable is established. These assets and liabilities are denominated in U.S. dollars.
The Company reinsures 95% of the risks under its term life insurance policies, with effective dates on or after January 1, 2014, through December 31, 2017, through an automatic coinsurance agreement with Term Re.
The Company has a yearly renewable term reinsurance agreement with Prudential Insurance and reinsures the majority of all mortality risks not otherwise reinsured. Effective July 1, 2017, this agreement has been terminated for certain new business, primarily Universal Life insurance policies. As of January 1, 2020, the remaining portions of new business (specifically Term policies) ceased being reinsured by the Company to Prudential Insurance. Effective July 1, 2017, the Company reinsures a portion of the mortality risk directly to third-party reinsurers and retains all of the non-reinsured portion of the mortality risk. Effective July 1, 2019, this agreement has been recaptured for certain term life insurance policies which are now reinsured to PARCC and PAR Term as noted above.
On January 2, 2013, Pruco Life began to assume GUL business from Prudential Insurance in connection with the acquisition of the Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. ("Hartford Financial"). The GUL business assumed from Prudential Insurance was subsequently retroceded to PAR U. In May 2018, Hartford Financial sold a group of operating subsidiaries, which includes two of Prudential Insurance's counterparties to these reinsurance arrangements. There was no impact to the terms, rights or obligations of Prudential Insurance, or operation of these reinsurance arrangements, as a result of this change in control of such counterparties. Similarly, there was no impact to the Company's reinsurance arrangements with respect to such GUL business as a result of this change in control. In January 2021, there was a definitive agreement announced to subsequently sell the two counterparties mentioned above. We anticipate there will be no impact to the terms, rights or obligations of the Company, or operation of these reinsurance arrangements, as a result of this change in control of such counterparties.
Between April 1, 2015 and December 31, 2016, the Company, excluding its subsidiary, reinsured approximately 50% of the new business related to “highest daily” living benefits rider guarantees on HDI v.3.0 product, available with Prudential Premier® Retirement Variable Annuity, to Union Hamilton. This reinsurance remains in force for the duration of the underlying annuity contracts. New sales of HDI v.3.0 subsequent to December 31, 2016 are not covered by this external reinsurance agreement. As of December 31, 2020, $3.2 billion of HDI v.3.0 account values are reinsured to Union Hamilton.
Non-Taxable Investment Income. The U.S. Dividends Received Deduction (“DRD”) reduces the amount of dividend income subject to U.S. tax and accounts for most of the non-taxable investment income shown in the table above. More specifically, the U.S. DRD constitutes $45 million of the total $47 million of 2020 non-taxable investment income, $50 million of the total $52 million of 2019 non-taxable investment income, and $47 million of the total $50 million of 2018 non-taxable investment income. The DRD for the current period was estimated using information from 2019, current year investment results, and current year’s equity market performance. The actual current year DRD can vary based on factors such as, but not limited to, changes in the amount of dividends received that are eligible for the DRD, changes in the amount of distributions received from fund investments, changes in the account balances of variable life and annuity contracts, and the Company’s taxable income before the DRD.
2018 Industry Issue Resolution. In August 2018, the IRS released a Directive to provide guidance on the tax reserving for guaranteed benefits within variable annuity contracts and principle-based reserves on certain life insurance contracts. Adopting the methodology specified in the Directive resulted in an acceleration of taxable income for the Company's 2017 tax return that would have otherwise been deductible in future years. Prior to the adoption of this Directive, the Company accounted for these future deductions as deferred tax assets measured using the current 21% corporate income tax rate. Upon adoption of the Directive, the tax benefits were revalued using the 35% tax rate applicable for the 2017 tax year and resulted in an increase in income tax expense of $5 million in 2018.
Net Unrealized Gains (Losses) on Available-for-Sale Fixed Maturity Securities on which an allowance for credit losses has been recognized and All Other
Statutory net income (loss) for the Company, including its subsidiary PLNJ, amounted to $(828) million, $262 million and $192 million for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively. Statutory surplus of the Company, including its subsidiary PLNJ, amounted to $1,304 million and $1,665 million at December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Prudential Insurance sponsors voluntary savings plans for its employee 401(k) plans. The plans provide for salary reduction contributions by employees and matching contributions by the Company of up to 4% of annual salary. The Company’s expense for its share of the voluntary savings plan was $7 million, $9 million and $10 million for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively.
The Company is charged for its share of corporate expenses incurred by Prudential Financial to benefit its businesses, such as advertising, executive oversight, external affairs and philanthropic activity. The Company’s share of corporate expenses was $76 million, $116 million and $69 million for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively.
The Company has sold five Corporate Owned Life Insurance (“COLI”) policies to Prudential Insurance, and one to Prudential Financial. The cash surrender value included in separate accounts for these COLI policies was $4,757 million at December 31, 2020 and $4,339 million at December 31, 2019. Fees related to these COLI policies were $50 million, $48 million and $45 million for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively. The Company retains the majority of the mortality risk associated with these COLI policies up to $3.5 million per individual policy.
In accordance with an agreement with PGIM, Inc. ("PGIM"), the Company pays investment management expenses to PGIM who acts as investment manager to certain Company general account and separate account assets. Investment management expenses paid to PGIM related to this agreement were $15 million, $14 million and $13 million for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively. These expenses are recorded as “Net investment income” in the Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income.
The Company has a revenue sharing agreement with PGIM Investments, whereby the Company receives fee income based on policyholders’ separate account balances invested in The Prudential Series Fund. Income received from PGIM Investments related to this agreement was $11 million, $10 million and $10 million for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively. These revenues are recorded as “Asset administration fees” in the Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income.
Accrued interest receivable related to these loans was $1 million at both December 31, 2020 and 2019, and is included in “Other assets.” Revenues related to these loans were $4 million, $4 million and $5 million for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively, and are included in “Other income.”
The Company is authorized to borrow funds up to $2.2 billion from affiliates to meet its capital and other funding needs. There was no debt outstanding as of December 31, 2020. Short-term debt outstanding was $2.8 million as of December 31, 2019.
The total interest expense to the Company related to loans payable to affiliates was $0.7 million, $2.3 million and $0.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively.
In February of 2021, the Company received a capital contribution in the amount of $100 million from Prudential Insurance. In June, September, and December of 2020, the Company received capital contributions in the amounts of $325 million, $75 million and $175 million, respectively, from Prudential Insurance. In December of 2019, the Company received a capital contribution in the amount of $6 million from Prudential Insurance. In March of 2018, the Company received a capital contribution in the amount of $6 million from Prudential Insurance.
The Company establishes accruals for litigation and regulatory matters when it is probable that a loss has been incurred and the amount of that loss can be reasonably estimated. For litigation and regulatory matters where a loss may be reasonably possible, but not probable, or is probable but not reasonably estimable, no accrual is established, but the matter, if material, is disclosed. The Company estimates that as of December 31, 2020, the aggregate range of reasonably possible losses in excess of accruals established for those litigation and regulatory matters for which such an estimate currently can be made is less than $100 million. This estimate is not an indication of expected loss, if any, or the Company's maximum possible loss exposure on such matters. The Company reviews relevant information with respect to its litigation and regulatory matters on a quarterly and annual basis and updates its accruals, disclosures and estimates of reasonably possible loss based on such reviews.