The ability of new recruits to obtain the requisite licenses to sell our products has been, and will likely continue to be limited, by the availability of licensing jurisdictions to administer exams and maintain licensing operations.
At December 31, 2020, the Company had 134,907 independent life-licensed representatives compared to 130,522 at December 31, 2019. The number of independent life-licensed representatives at year end included 3,597 individuals with COVID-19 temporary licenses and 2,508 licenses with extended renewals dates. We estimate that approximately 4,200 of these individuals will either not pursue the steps necessary to obtain a permanent license or not renew an expiring license.
On December 15, 2020, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) published an interpretation of, and class exemption regarding, the rules governing fiduciary investment advice with respect to Individual Retirement Accounts (“IRAs”) and other retirement accounts (the “DOL Rule”). The effective date of the DOL Rule is February 16, 2021 and the DOL extended its non-enforcement policy through December 20, 2021. The DOL Rule in its current form imposes a higher standard of care and enhanced obligations that increase regulatory and litigation risk to our business.
Income Taxes. The profitability of the Company and its subsidiaries is affected by income taxes assessed by federal, state, and U.S. territorial jurisdictions in the U.S. and federal and provincial jurisdictions in Canada. Changes in tax legislation may impact the measurement of our deferred tax assets and liabilities and the amount of income tax expense we incur.
Credit Losses for Available-for-sale Fixed-maturity Securities. For available-for-sale securities in an unrealized loss position that we intend to sell or would more-likely-than-not be required to sell before the expected recovery of the amortized cost basis, we recognize the impairment as a credit loss in our consolidated statements of income by writing down the amortized cost basis to the fair value. For available-for-sale securities in an unrealized loss position that we do not intend to sell or it is not more-likely-than-not that we will be required to sell before the expected recovery of the amortized cost basis, we recognize the portion of the impairment that is due to a credit loss in our consolidated statements of income through an allowance. We reverse credit losses previously recognized in the allowance in situations where the estimate of credit losses on those securities has declined. We do not consider the length of time an available-for-sale security has been in an unrealized loss position when estimating credit losses.
Interest expense. Reflects interest on our notes payable, any interest and the commitment fee on our revolving credit facility, the financing charges related to the letter of credit issued under the credit facility agreement with Deutsche Bank, fees paid for the credit enhancement feature on our held-to-maturity invested asset, and a finance charge incurred pursuant to one of our coinsurance agreements with an IPO coinsurer.
Our invested asset portfolio is subject to a variety of risks, including risks related to general economic conditions, market volatility, interest rate fluctuations, liquidity risk and credit and default risk. Investment guideline restrictions have been established to minimize the effect of these risks but may not always be effective due to factors beyond our control. Interest rates are highly sensitive to many factors, including governmental monetary policies, domestic and international economic and political conditions and other factors beyond our control. A significant increase in interest rates could result in significant losses, realized or unrealized, in the value of our invested asset portfolio. For example, from December 31, 2019 to March 31, 2020, market volatility and economic uncertainty associated with the COVID-19 pandemic caused a sharp increase in credit spreads, which translated to a reduction in the net unrealized gain on our available-for-sale securities portfolio from $82.2 million to a net unrealized loss of $1.3 million. From March 31, 2020 to December 31, 2020, credit spreads tightened sharply and bond markets recovered, resulting in growth of the net unrealized gain on our available-for-sale securities portfolio to $163.3 million. Additionally, with respect to some of our investments, we are subject to prepayment and, therefore, reinvestment risk.
Interest income on fixed-maturity securities is recorded when earned by determining the effective yield, which gives consideration to amortization of premiums, accretion of discounts, and any previous credit losses. Dividend income on equity securities is recorded when declared. These amounts are included in net investment income in the accompanying consolidated statements of income.
We also had an amortizing intangible asset related to a 1995 sales agreement termination payment to Management Financial Services, Inc. This asset, which was fully amortized in 2019, was supported by a non-compete agreement with the founder of our business model that expired in 2019. We calculated the amortization of this contract buyout on a straight-line basis over 24 years, which represented the life of the non-compete agreement. Intangible asset amortization expense was $2.8 million in 2019 and $3.4 million in 2018.
As of December 31, 2020, we did not recognize credit losses in the consolidated statements of income on available-for-sale securities with unrealized losses that were due to interest rate sensitivity and changes in credit spreads. We believe that fluctuations caused by movement in interest rates and credit spreads generally have little bearing on the recoverability of our investments. For those investments that remain in an unrealized loss position we have the ability to hold these investments until maturity or a market price recovery, and we have no present intention to dispose of them.
Reinsurance recoverables represents ceded policy reserve balances and ceded claim liabilities. The amounts of ceded claim liabilities included in reinsurance recoverables that we paid and which are recoverable from those reinsurers were $24.3 million and $24.3 million as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. Benefits and claims ceded to reinsurers for 2020, 2019, and 2018 were $1,653.6 million, $1,311.3 million, and $1,279.0 million, respectively.
In Canada, dividends can typically be paid subject to the paying insurance company continuing to have adequate capital and forms of liquidity as defined by OSFI following the dividend payment and upon 15 days minimum notice to OSFI. However, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, OSFI set the expectation that payment of dividends above amounts paid prior to March 2020 would be halted, unless otherwise approved by OSFI. Primerica Life Canada’s dividend capacity at January 1, 2021 was estimated to be $113.6 million, which was calculated based on satisfying the Company’s internal capital targets. However, Primerica Life Canada would currently be limited to annualized dividends of $23.6 million as a result of the dividend halt unless otherwise permitted by OSFI.
Distribution of Other Third-party Financial Products. We distribute various other financial products on behalf of third parties to consumers. We receive upfront commissions and/or renewal commissions from product providers for sales of other financial product sales we have arranged. We recognize revenue at the point in time our performance obligation to product providers is satisfied, which is generally on the date the financial product is purchased by the consumer from the product provider. For certain financial products, most notably prepaid legal subscriptions and auto and homeowners’ insurance referrals, we receive ongoing renewal commissions that coincide with recurring payments received by product providers from active subscribers or policyholders. Ongoing renewal commissions represent variable consideration that will not be resolved until after the reporting period in which our performance obligation has been satisfied. We estimate variable consideration in the transaction price for these financial products (with the exception of miscellaneous products for which we expect nominal ongoing commissions) as the expected amount of commissions to be received over the life of the subscription or referred policy and apply a constraint so that it is probable that a subsequent change in estimate will not result in a significant revenue reversal. Management judgment primarily is required to determine the average life of a subscription or referred policy, which we establish based on historical information. We recognize variable consideration in excess of the amount constrained in subsequent reporting periods when the uncertainty is resolved and the excess amounts are due from the product providers.
Contract Balances. For revenue associated with ongoing renewal commissions on other distributed financial products, we record a contract asset for the amount of ongoing renewal commissions we anticipate collecting in reporting periods subsequent to the sale or referral, less amounts that are constrained, in other assets. The contract asset is reduced for commissions that are billed and become due receivables from product providers during the reporting period.