Pre-tax charges of $51 million relating to profitability enhancement initiatives including reorganization and related expenses of $46 million and incremental corporate expenses of $5 million
growth of our Weather and Commodity Markets business unit which offers parametric risk management solutions to clients whose profit margins are exposed to adverse weather and commodity price risks;
During the third quarter of 2015, the Company implemented a number of profitability enhancement initiatives, including the decision to wind down our Australian retail insurance operations, which resulted in staff redundancies, the write-off of certain assets and recognition of lease abandonment charges. In connection with these initiatives we recognized reorganization and related expenses of $46 million and additional corporate expenses of $5 million in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. Refer to Item 8, Note 18 to the Consolidated Financial Statements 'Reorganization and Related Expenses' for additional information.
compared to 2013, related to the issuance during the first quarter of 2014 of $250 million of 2.65% senior unsecured notes due in 2019 and $250 million of 5.15% senior unsecured notes due in 2045.
Other investments include hedge funds, direct lending funds, real estate funds and both direct and indirect (through a fund structure) investments in CLO Equities. These investments are recorded at fair value, with the change in fair value and income distributions reported in net investment income. Consequently, the pre-tax return on other investments may vary materially period over period, particularly during volatile equity and credit markets.
The following table provides a breakdown of net realized investment gains (losses):
Hedge accounting was not applied to any of these derivatives so the corresponding net unrealized gains/losses on the hedged securities are recorded as part of accumulated other comprehensive income in shareholders' equity.
Includes restricted cash and cash equivalents of $187 million and $288 million for 2015 and 2014, respectively.
The cost of our total investments decreased by $238 million from December 31, 2014, due to the timing and settlement of trade activity and the funding of financing and operating activities. The $395 million decrease in the fair value of our total investments was driven by the factors outlined above along with lower valuations as a result of the increase in U.S. interest rates and the widening of credit spreads on both investment grade and high-yield corporate debt.
While we believe that our loss reserves at December 31, 2015 are adequate, new information, events or circumstances may result in ultimate losses that are materially greater or less than provided for in our loss reserves. As previously noted, there are many factors that may cause our reserves to increase or decrease, particularly those related to catastrophe losses and long-tail lines of business.
For business written under proportional contracts, our initial recognition of gross premiums written is based on estimates of premiums written at contract inception. We review these premium estimates on a quarterly basis and evaluate their reasonability in light of actual premiums reported to date by cedants. Factors contributing to changes from the initial premium estimates may include:
Termination fee received represents the break-up fee received on the cancellation of the Amalgamation Agreement between PartnerRe Ltd. and AXIS Capital and should be excluded from consolidated underwriting income since it is not related to underwriting operations.
During 2015, we made a $50 million commitment as a limited partner of a bank revolver opportunity fund. The fund is subject to an investment term of seven years and the General Partners have the option to extend the term by up to two years. At December 31, 2015, this commitment remains unfunded. It is not anticipated that the full amount of this fund will be drawn.
The following table provides an analysis of net realized investment gains (losses):
Accordingly, the degree of judgment exercised by management in determining fair value is greatest for instruments categorized in Level 3. In periods of market dislocation, the observability of prices and inputs may be reduced for many instruments. This may lead us to change the selection of our valuation technique (from market to cash flow approach) or may cause us to use multiple valuation techniques to estimate the fair value of a financial instrument. This circumstance could cause an instrument to be reclassified between levels within the fair value hierarchy.
The transfers to Level 2 from Level 3 made during 2015 and 2014 were primarily due to a review of the pricing inputs used on certain ABS and corporate debt securities and also due to certain hedge funds where we have the ability to liquidate holdings at the reported NAV in the near term due to the expiry of lockup provisions.
At December 31, 2015, letters of credit outstanding under the LOC Facility and the Credit Facility totaled $341 million and $nil, respectively. There was no debt outstanding under the Credit Facility. We were in compliance with all LOC Facility and Credit Facility covenants at December 31, 2015.