In Canada, we lease general office space in Mississauga, Ontario, under a lease expiring in April 2018 and warehouse and printing operation space in Mississauga, Ontario, under a separate lease also expiring in April 2018.
Each of these leased properties is used by both of our operating segments, with the exception of our NBLIC office space, which is not used by our Investment and Savings Products segment.
Positions. We earn recordkeeping fees for administrative functions we perform on behalf of several of our retail and managed mutual fund providers. An individual client account may include multiple fund positions for which we earn recordkeeping fees. We may also receive fees earned for non-bank custodial services that we provide to clients with retirement plan accounts.
For additional information on DAC, see Note 1 (Description of Business, Basis of Presentation, and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies) and Note 7 (Deferred Policy Acquisition Costs) to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this report.
Income taxes. Our effective income tax rate was relatively consistent each year at 35.0%, 34.7%, and 34.8% in 2016, 2015, and 2014, respectively.
Amortization of DAC. Amortization of DAC on our Canadian segregated funds product decreased in 2016 from 2015 largely due to the impact of favorable segregated funds market performance. The effect of lower redemption estimates for the 2016 annual update of assumptions based on emerging experience was in line with 2015 and therefore did not impact the year-over-year comparison of DAC amortization.
Other operating expenses. Other operating expenses increased in 2016 from 2015 largely due to $3.3 million of higher costs related to preparation for the DOL Fiduciary Rule. In addition, increased spending associated with our proprietary sales force support system’s mobile application resulted in approximately $2.4 million of higher operating expenses in 2016. Also contributing to the growth in operating expenses in 2016 as compared with 2015 were higher employee-related costs of approximately $0.9 million.
The increase in other operating expenses in 2015 from 2014 was primarily due to higher costs associated with the growth in the business. The year-over-year percentage growth in other operating expenses exceeded the percentage growth in total revenues due to several other business initiatives with the largest being approximately $0.9 million in higher spending on our proprietary sales force support system’s mobile application.
Cash used in financing activities during 2015 increased compared to 2014 primarily due to a larger amount of shares that were repurchased, which the Company increased in 2015 given our assessment of the market prices for which we had been able to execute our share repurchases. In addition, an increase in the dividends per share from 2014 to 2015 contributed to a higher amount of cash used in financing activities.
Commissions represent commissions that have been earned by our sales force but have not been paid as of December 31, 2016. We are only obligated to pay commissions as earned from sales of our products. The total liability amount is reported within other liabilities in our consolidated balance sheets.
distribute. In Canada, we offer a Primerica-branded fund-of-funds mutual fund product, as well as mutual funds of well-known mutual fund companies. These two operating segments are managed separately because their products serve different needs - term life insurance income protection versus wealth-building savings products.
The scheduled maturity distribution of the AFS fixed-maturity portfolio at December 31, 2016 follows:
We have a deferred loss related to closed forward contracts, which were settled several years ago, that were used to mitigate our exposure to foreign currency exchange rates that resulted from the net investment in our Canadian operations. The amount of deferred
During the year ended December 31, 2016, purchases of Level 3 assets primarily consisted of newly-issued fixed-maturity securities in the fourth quarter for which observable inputs, most notably quoted prices, used to derive valuations are not yet readily available.
In assessing the realizability of deferred tax assets, management considers whether it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. Management considers the scheduled reversal of deferred tax liabilities, projected future taxable income, carryback and carryforward periods, and tax planning strategies in making this assessment. Management believes that it is more likely than not that the results of future operations will generate sufficient taxable income to realize the deferred tax assets. Therefore, there was no deferred tax asset valuation allowance at December 31, 2016 or 2015.
Commitments. We lease office equipment and office and warehouse space under various noncancellable operating lease agreements that expire through June 2028. Total minimum rent expense was $7.0 million, $7.2 million, and $7.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015, and 2014, respectively. We had no contingent rent expense during 2016, 2015, or 2014. In March 2013, we began a 15-year lease agreement for our corporate headquarters in Duluth, Georgia with estimated minimum annual rental payments ranging from approximately $4.5 million at inception to approximately $5.6 million in year 15.
We sponsor a defined contribution plan for the benefit of our employees. The expense associated with this plan was approximately $7.4 million, $6.7 million, and $6.5 million in 2016, 2015, and 2014, respectively.