In 2017, the average number of fee-generating positions slightly increased from 2016, reflecting the layered effect of growth in new product sales outpacing redemptions for those mutual funds that are serviced on the Company’s transfer agent recordkeeping and custodial services platform. Partially offsetting the growth in recordkeeping fee-generating positions in 2017 was the launch of the Lifetime Investment Platform and the closing of the Freedom Portfolios product line to new investments.
For additional information on income taxes, see Note 1 (Description of Business, Basis of Presentation, and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies) and Note 11 (Income Taxes) to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this report.
In 2017, amortization of DAC on our Canadian segregated funds product remained consistent with 2016 while each year experienced favorable market performance of the underlying funds and redemptions experience that was better than the original assumptions. The redemption assumption was reduced in both years based on emerging product experience.
We follow a conservative investment strategy designed to emphasize the preservation of our invested assets and provide adequate liquidity for the prompt payment of claims. To meet business needs and mitigate risks, our investment guidelines provide restrictions on our portfolio’s composition, including limits on asset type, per issuer limits, credit quality limits, portfolio duration, limits on the amount of investments in approved countries and permissible security types. We also manage and monitor our allocation of investments to limit the accumulation of any disproportionate concentrations of risk among industry sectors or issuer countries outside of the U.S. and Canada. In addition, as of December 31, 2018, we did not hold any country of issuer concentrations outside of the U.S. or Canada that represented more than 5% of the fair value of our available-for-sale invested asset portfolio or any industry concentrations of corporate bonds that represented more than 10% of the fair value of our available-for-sale invested asset portfolio.
Notes Payable. The Company has $375.0 million of publicly-traded, Senior Notes outstanding issued at a price of 99.843% with an annual interest rate of 4.75%, payable semi-annually in arrears on January 15 and July 15. The Senior Notes mature July 15, 2022. We were in compliance with the covenants of the Senior Notes at December 31, 2018. No events of default occurred on the Senior Notes during the year ended December 31, 2018.
Financial Ratings. As of December 31, 2018, the investment grade credit ratings for our Senior Notes were as follows:
Basis of Presentation. We prepare our financial statements in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”). These principles are established primarily by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”).
AFS short-term investments, consist of highly-liquid investments such as commercial paper and certificates of deposit, with remaining maturities greater than ninety days at the date of purchase, but not in excess of one year. These securities are carried at fair value.
Investments are reviewed on a quarterly basis for OTTI. Credit risk, interest rate risk, the amount of time the security has been in an unrealized loss position, actions taken by ratings agencies, and other factors are considered in determining whether an unrealized loss is other-than-temporary. OTTI in our accompanying consolidated statements of income reflect the impairment on AFS securities that we intend to sell or would more-likely-than-not be required to sell before the expected recovery of the amortized cost basis. For AFS securities that we have no intent to sell and believe that it is not more-likely-than-not we will be required to sell prior to recovery, only the credit loss component of OTTI is recognized in our accompanying consolidated statements of income, while the remainder is recognized in other comprehensive income (loss) in the accompanying consolidated statements of comprehensive income. The credit loss component of OTTI recognized in net income is identified as the amount of principal cash flows not expected to be received over the remaining term of the security. Any subsequent changes (if not an other-than-temporary impairment) in the fair value of AFS securities are recognized in other comprehensive income (loss) in the accompanying statements of comprehensive income.
All reinsurance contracts in effect for the three-year period ended December 31, 2018 transfer a reasonable possibility of substantial loss to the reinsurer or are accounted for under the deposit method of accounting.
Intangible Assets. Intangible assets are amortized over their estimated useful lives. Any intangible asset that was deemed to have an indefinite useful life is not amortized but is subject to an annual impairment test. An impairment exists if the carrying value of the
The scheduled maturity distribution of the AFS fixed-maturity securities portfolio at December 31, 2018 was as follows:
Where specific market information is unavailable for certain securities, pricing models produce estimates of fair value primarily using Level 2 inputs along with certain Level 3 inputs. These models include matrix pricing. The pricing matrix uses current U.S. Treasury rates and credit spreads received from third-party sources to estimate fair value. The credit spreads incorporate the issuer’s industry- or issuer-specific credit characteristics and the security’s time to maturity, if warranted. Remaining unpriced securities are valued using an estimate of fair value based on indicative market prices that include significant unobservable inputs not based on, nor corroborated by, market information, including the utilization of non-binding broker quotes.
We sponsor a defined contribution plan for the benefit of our employees. The expense associated with this plan was approximately $8.4 million, $7.7 million, and $7.4 million in 2018, 2017, and 2016, respectively.
Commissions and fees earned for the marketing and distribution of investment and savings products underwritten by mutual fund companies and annuity providers. For purposes of ASC 606, mutual fund companies and annuity providers are considered the customers in marketing and distribution arrangements.