EDGAR 10-K Filing

Company CIK: 726865
Filing Year: 2022
Filename: 726865_10-K_2022_0000726865-22-000079.json

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ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Item 1. Business
OVERVIEW
The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company (“LNL” or the “Company,” which also may be referred to as “we,” “our” or “us”) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lincoln National Corporation (“LNC” or the “Parent Company ”). We own 100% of the outstanding common stock of one insurance company subsidiary, Lincoln Life & Annuity Company of New York (“LLANY”). We also own several non-insurance companies, including Lincoln Financial Distributors, Inc. (“LFD”), our wholesale distributor, and Lincoln Financial Advisors Corporation, part of LNC’s retail distributor, Lincoln Financial Network (“LFN”). LNL’s principal businesses consist of underwriting annuities, deposit-type contracts and life insurance through multiple distribution channels. LNL is licensed and sells its products throughout the U.S. and several U.S. territories. As of December 31, 2021, LNL had consolidated assets of $392.0 billion and consolidated stockholder’s equity of $22.4 billion.
We provide products and services and report results through four segments as follows:
Business Segments
Annuities
Retirement Plan Services
Life Insurance
Group Protection
We also have Other Operations, which includes the financial data for operations that are not directly related to the business segments.
The results of LFN and LFD are included in the segments for which they distribute products. LFD distributes our individual products and services, retirement plans and corporate-owned universal life insurance and variable universal life insurance (“COLI”) and bank-owned universal life insurance and variable universal life insurance (“BOLI”) products and services. The distribution occurs primarily through consultants, brokers, planners, agents, financial advisers, third-party administrators (“TPAs”) and other intermediaries. Group Protection distributes its products and services primarily through employee benefit brokers, TPAs and other employee benefit firms. As of December 31, 2021, LFD had approximately 530 internal and external wholesalers (including sales and relationship managers). As of December 31, 2021, LFN offered LNL and non-proprietary products and advisory services through a national network of approximately 11,600 active producers who placed business with us within the last 24 months.
Financial information in the tables that follow is presented in accordance with United States of America generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”), unless otherwise indicated. We provide revenues, income (loss) from operations and assets attributable to each of our business segments and Other Operations in Note 21.
Acquisitions and Dispositions
On May 1, 2018, we completed the acquisition from Liberty Mutual Insurance Company of 100% of the capital stock of Liberty Life Assurance Company of Boston (“Liberty Life”), an operator of a group benefits business (the “Liberty Group Business”) and an individual life and individual and group annuity business (the “Liberty Life Business”). In connection with the acquisition, Liberty Life sold the Liberty Life Business on May 1, 2018, by entering into reinsurance agreements and related ancillary documents with Protective Life Insurance Company and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Protective Life and Annuity Insurance Company (together with Protective Life Insurance Company, “Protective”), providing for the reinsurance and administration of the Liberty Life Business. Liberty Life’s excess capital of $1.8 billion was paid to Liberty Mutual Insurance Company through an extraordinary dividend at the acquisition date. We paid $1.5 billion of cash to Liberty Mutual Insurance Company to acquire the Liberty Group Business. Effective September 1, 2019, Liberty Life’s name was changed to Lincoln Life Assurance Company of Boston (“LLACB”). Effective October 1, 2021, LLACB was merged into LNL.
BUSI NESS SEGMENTS AND OTHER OPERATIONS
ANN UITIES
Overview
The Annuities segment provides tax-deferred investment growth and lifetime income opportunities for its clients by offering variable annuities, fixed (including indexed) annuities and indexed variable annuities. The “fixed” and “variable” classifications describe whether we or the contract holders bear the investment risk of the assets supporting the contract. With “indexed variable” annuities, the extent to which we or the contract holders bear the investment risk of the assets is based on the investment allocations. The annuity classification also determines the manner in which we earn investment margin profits from these products, either as investment spreads for fixed products, as asset-based fees charged to variable products, or as both for indexed variable products.
Annuities have several features that are attractive to customers. Annuities are unique in that contract holders can select a variety of payout alternatives to provide an income flow for life. Many annuity contracts also include guarantee features (living and death benefits) that are not found in any other investment vehicle and that, we believe, make annuities attractive especially in times of economic uncertainty. In addition, growth on the underlying principal in annuities is typically granted tax-deferred treatment, thereby deferring the tax consequences of the growth in value until withdrawals are made from the accumulation values, potentially at lower tax rates occurring during retirement.
Products
In general, an annuity is a contract between an insurance company and an individual in which the insurance company, after receipt of one or more premium payments, agrees to pay an amount of money either in one lump sum or on a periodic basis (i.e., annually, semi-annually, quarterly or monthly), beginning on a certain date and continuing for a period of time as specified in the contract or as requested. Periodic payments can begin within 12 months after the premium is received (referred to as an immediate annuity) or at a future date in time (referred to as a deferred annuity). This retirement vehicle helps protect an individual from outliving his or her money.
Variable Annuities
A variable annuity provides the contract holder the ability to direct the investment of premium deposits into one or more variable sub-accounts (“variable funds”) offered through the product (“variable portion”) and, for a specified period, into a fixed account (if available) with a guaranteed return (“fixed portion”). The value of the variable portion of the contract holder’s account varies with the performance of the underlying variable funds chosen by the contract holder.
Our variable funds include the Managed Risk Strategies fund options, a series of funds that embed volatility risk management and, with some funds, capital protection strategies inside the funds themselves. These funds seek to reduce equity market volatility risk for both the contract holder and us.
We charge mortality and expense assessments and administrative fees on variable annuity accounts to cover insurance and administrative expenses. These assessments are built into accumulation unit values, which when multiplied by the number of units owned for any variable fund equals the contract holder’s account value for that variable fund. In addition, for some contracts, we impose surrender charges, which are typically applicable to withdrawals during the early years of the annuity contract, with a declining level of surrender charges over time.
We offer guaranteed benefit riders with certain of our variable annuity products, such as a guaranteed death benefit (“GDB”), a guaranteed withdrawal benefit (“GWB”), a guaranteed income benefit (“GIB”) and a combination of such benefits.
The GDB features offered include those where we contractually guarantee to the contract holder that upon death, depending on the particular product, we will return no less than: the current contract value; the total deposits made to the contract, adjusted to reflect any partial withdrawals; or the highest contract value on a specified anniversary date adjusted to reflect any partial withdrawals following the contract anniversary.
We offer optional guaranteed benefit riders including the Lincoln Lifetime IncomeSM Advantage 2.0 (Managed Risk), Lincoln Market SelectSM Advantage and Max 6 SelectSM Advantage riders. All provide contract holders with protected lifetime income that is based on a maximum rate of the income base that grows annually at either the greater of a specified simple rate (available each year a withdrawal is not taken for a specified period of time) or account value growth. The riders provide higher income if the contract holder delays withdrawals. The Lincoln Lifetime Income Advantage 2.0 (Managed Risk) and Lincoln Market Select Advantage riders are hybrid benefit riders combining aspects of GWB and GIB that provide a specified maximum rate of income. The Lincoln Max 6 Select Advantage rider provides contract holders with protected lifetime income up to a specified maximum rate of the income base and a lower specified maximum rate of the income base if the account value falls to zero. Contract holders under the Lincoln Lifetime IncomeSM Advantage 2.0 (Managed Risk) rider are subject to the allocation of their account value to our Managed Risk Strategies fund options and certain fixed-income options. Contract
holders under the Lincoln Market SelectSM Advantage and Lincoln Max 6 SelectSM Advantage riders are subject to restrictions on the allocation of their account value within the various investment choices.
We also offer the American Legacy® Target Date Income variable annuity with an optional Target Date Income Benefit rider, which combines target date investing with a protected lifetime income. Contract holders who elect the Target Date Income Benefit are automatically allocated to the Target Date Fund based on their year of birth. The protected lifetime income is based on a percentage rate of income for their age at the time of purchase of the optional rider, which will grow at the greater of a specified simple rate (available each year a withdrawal is not taken for a specified period of time) or account value growth.
In addition, we offer the i4LIFE® Advantage and i4LIFE Advantage Guaranteed Income Benefit (Managed Risk) riders. These riders allow variable annuity contract holders access and control during a portion of the income distribution phase of their contract. This added flexibility allows the contract holder to access the account value for transfers, additional withdrawals and other service features like portfolio rebalancing.
We also offer the 4LATER® Select Advantage rider. This rider provides a minimum income base used to determine the GIB floor when a client begins income payments under the i4LIFE Advantage Select Guaranteed Income Benefit rider. The 4LATER Select Advantage rider provides growth during the accumulation phase through both an enhancement to the income base each year a withdrawal is not taken for a specified period of time and an annual step-up of the income base to the current contract value. Contract holders under the 4LATER Select Advantage rider are subject to restrictions on the allocation of their account value within the various investment choices.
We design and actively manage the features and structure of our guaranteed benefit riders to maintain a competitive suite of products consistent with profitability and risk management goals. To mitigate the increased risks associated with guaranteed benefits, we utilize a dynamic hedging program. The dynamic hedging program uses equity, interest rate and currency futures positions, interest rate and total return swaps and equity-based options depending upon the risks underlying the guarantees. For more information on our hedging program, see “Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates - Derivatives” and “Realized Gain (Loss)” in the MNA. For information regarding risks related to guaranteed benefits, see “Item 1A. Risk Factors - Market Conditions - Changes in the equity markets, interest rates and/or volatility affect the profitability of our products with guaranteed benefits; therefore, such changes may have a material adverse effect on our business and profitability.”
Fixed Annuities
A fixed annuity preserves the principal value of the contract while guaranteeing a minimum interest rate to be credited to the accumulation value. Our fixed annuity product offerings consist of traditional fixed-rate and fixed indexed deferred annuities, as well as fixed-rate immediate and deferred income annuities with various payment options, including lifetime incomes. Fixed annuity contracts are general account obligations. We bear the investment risk for fixed annuity contracts. To protect from premature withdrawals, we impose surrender charges. Surrender charges are typically applicable during the early years of the annuity contract, with a declining level of surrender charges over time. On most policies, within the surrender charge period, we also have a market value adjustment provision that protects us against disintermediation risk in the case of rapidly rising interest rates. We expect to earn a spread between what we earn on the underlying general account investments supporting the fixed annuity product line and what we credit to our fixed annuity contract holders’ accounts.
We offer single and flexible premium fixed deferred annuities. Single premium fixed deferred annuities are contracts that allow only a single premium to be paid. Flexible premium fixed deferred annuities are contracts that allow multiple premium payments, subject to contractual limits, on either a scheduled or non-scheduled basis.
Our fixed indexed annuities allow the contract holder to choose between a fixed interest crediting rate and an indexed interest crediting rate, which is based on the performance of the S&P 500® Index, the S&P 500 Daily Risk Control 5%TM Index, the J.P. Morgan First Trust Balanced Capital Strength 6SM Index, the J.P. Morgan First Trust Balanced Capital Strength 5SM Index, the BlackRock Dynamic Allocation Index, or the Fidelity AIMSM Dividend Index. The indexed interest credit is guaranteed never to be less than zero.
We use derivatives to hedge the equity market risk associated with our fixed indexed annuity products. For more information on our hedging program, see “Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates - Derivatives” and “Realized Gain (Loss)” in the MNA.
Indexed Variable Annuities
Lincoln Level Advantage® is our indexed variable annuity product, which is commonly referred to in the industry as a registered index-linked annuity. Lincoln Level Advantage provides the contract holder the ability to direct the investment of premium deposits into one or more variable sub-accounts (“variable funds”) and/or indexed accounts offered through the product. The value of the variable sub-accounts varies with the performance of the underlying variable funds chosen by the contract holder. The index interest crediting rate for an indexed account is based, in part, on the performance of an index. The available indices are the S&P 500® Index, the Russell 2000® Index, the MSCI EAFE and the Capital Strength Net Fee Index SM.
We charge mortality and expense assessments and administrative fees on the variable funds to cover insurance and administrative expenses. These assessments are built into accumulation unit values, which when multiplied by the number of units owned for any variable fund equals the contract holder’s account value for that variable fund. In addition, for some contracts, we impose surrender charges, which are typically applicable during the early years of the annuity contract, with a declining level of surrender charges over time.
We offer a guaranteed death benefit rider where we contractually guarantee to the contract holder that upon death, depending on the particular product, we will return no less than the current contract value or the total deposits made to the contract, adjusted to reflect any partial withdrawals.
We also offer the i4LIFE® Advantage rider. This rider allows annuity contract holders access and control during a portion of the income distribution phase of their contract. This added flexibility allows the contract holder to access the account value for transfers, additional withdrawals and other service features like portfolio rebalancing.
We use derivatives to hedge the equity market risk associated with our indexed variable annuity products. For more information on our hedging program, see “Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates - Derivatives” and “Realized Gain (Loss)” in the MNA.
Distribution
The Annuities segment distributes its individual fixed and variable annuity products through LFD. LFD’s distribution channels give the Annuities segment access to its target markets. LFD distributes the segment’s products to a large number of financial intermediaries, including LFN. The financial intermediaries include wire/regional firms, independent financial planners, financial institutions, registered investment advisers and managing general agents.
Competition
The annuities market is very competitive and consists of many companies, with no one company dominating the market for all products. The Annuities segment competes with numerous other financial services companies. The main factors upon which entities in this market compete are distribution channel access and the quality of wholesalers, investment performance, cost, breadth of product portfolio and features, speed to market, brand recognition, financial strength ratings, crediting rates and client service.
RETI REMENT PLAN SERVICES
Overview
The Retirement Plan Services segment provides employers with retirement plan products and services, primarily in the defined contribution retirement plan marketplace. Defined contribution plans are a popular employee benefit offered by employers large and small across a wide spectrum of industries. While our focus is employer-sponsored defined contribution plans, we also serve the defined benefit plan and individual retirement account (“IRA”) markets on a limited basis. We provide a variety of plan investment vehicles, including individual and group variable annuities, group fixed annuities and mutual fund-based programs. We also offer a broad array of plan services including plan recordkeeping, compliance testing, participant education and trust and custodial services through our affiliated trust company, Lincoln Financial Group Trust Company.
Products and Services
The Retirement Plan Services segment currently brings three primary offerings to the employer-sponsored market: LINCOLN DIRECTORSM group variable annuity, LINCOLN ALLIANCE® program and Multi-Fund® variable annuity. The LINCOLN ALLIANCE program is a mutual fund-based record-keeping platform. These offerings primarily cover the 403(b), 401(k) and 457 plan marketplaces. The 403(b) plans are available to educational institutions, not-for-profit healthcare organizations and certain other not-for-profit entities; 401(k) plans are generally available to for-profit entities; and 457 plans are available to not-for-profit entities and state and local government entities. The investment options for our annuities encompass the spectrum of asset classes with varying levels of risk and include both equity and fixed-income.
LINCOLN DIRECTORSM group variable annuity is a 401(k) defined contribution retirement plan solution available to small businesses, typically those with plans having less than $10 million in account values. The LINCOLN DIRECTOR product offers participants a broad array of investment options from several fund families and a fixed account. The Retirement Plan Services segment earns revenue through asset charges and/or separate account charges, which are used to pay our fees for recordkeeping services. We also receive fees from the underlying mutual fund companies for the services we provide, and we earn investment margins on assets in the fixed account. Through the LINCOLN DIRECTOR product, as well the LINCOLN ALLIANCE® product discussed below, we also offer our proprietary YourPath® portfolios, a series of target-date portfolios for employer-sponsored retirement plans. These target-date portfolios are managed along multiple risk-based paths to support a more personalized investment approach based upon financial circumstances and risk tolerance. These target-date portfolios are also available with an income solution in the form of a GWB.
The LINCOLN ALLIANCE program is a defined contribution retirement plan solution aimed at small, mid-large and large market employers, typically those that have defined contribution plans with $10 million or more in account value. The target market is primarily healthcare providers, public sector employers, corporations and educational institutions. The program bundles our traditional fixed annuity products with the employer’s choice of mutual funds, along with recordkeeping, plan compliance services and customized employee education services. The program allows the use of any mutual fund. We earn fees for our recordkeeping and educational services and other services that we provide to plan sponsors and participants. We also earn investment margins on fixed annuities.
Multi-Fund® variable annuity is a defined contribution retirement plan solution with fully bundled administrative services and investment choices for small- to mid-sized healthcare, education, governmental and not-for-profit employers sponsoring 403(b), 457(b) and 401(a)/(k) plans. The product is available to the employer through the Multi-Fund group variable annuity contract or directly to the individual participant through the Multi-Fund Select variable annuity contract. We earn mortality and expense charges, investment income on the fixed account and surrender charges from this product. We also receive fees for services that we provide to funds in the underlying separate accounts.
Additionally, we offer other products and services that complement our primary offerings:
The Lincoln Next Step® series of products is a suite of mutual fund-based IRAs available exclusively for participants in Lincoln-serviced retirement plans and their spouses. The products can accept rollovers and transfers from other providers as well as ongoing contributions. The Lincoln Next Step IRA product has no annual account charges and offers an array of mutual fund investment options provided by 20 fund families all offered at net asset value. The Lincoln Next Step Select IRA has an annual record keeping charge and offers an even wider array of mutual fund investment options from over 20 families, all at net asset value. We earn 12b-1 and service fees on the mutual funds within the product.
Through a group annuity contract, we offer a series of products intended to fulfill future needs of retirement security for our clients. By offering a GWB inside a retirement plan, we provide plan sponsors a solution that gives participants the ability to participate in the market and receive guaranteed income for life while still maintaining access to their plan account balance. These products are available both to retirement plans where we provide plan recordkeeping services and those where we do not.
Through a group annuity contract, we offer fixed annuity products to retirement plans where we do not provide plan recordkeeping services. The fixed annuity is used within small, mid-large and large market employers covering the 403(b), 401(a)/(k) and 457 plan marketplaces. The annuity provides a conservative investment option for those plan participants seeking stability. In some cases, we earn investment margins on assets in the fixed account, and in other product versions we earn a fee on assets in the underlying custodial account.
Distribution
Retirement Plan Services products are primarily distributed in two ways: through our Institutional Retirement Distribution team and by LFD. Wholesalers distribute these products through advisers, consultants, banks, wirehouses and individual planners. We remain focused on wholesaler productivity, increasing relationship management expertise and growing the number of broker-dealer relationships.
The Multi-Fund program is sold primarily by affiliated advisers. The LINCOLN ALLIANCE program is sold primarily through consultants, registered independent advisers and both affiliated and non-affiliated financial advisers, planners and wirehouses. LINCOLN DIRECTOR group variable annuity is sold in the small marketplace by intermediaries, including financial advisers and planners.
Competition
The retirement plan marketplace is very competitive and comprised of many providers with no one company dominating the market for all products. As stated above, we compete with numerous other financial services corporations in the small, mid and large employer markets. The main factors upon which entities in this market compete are product strength, technology, service model delivery, participant education models, quality of wholesale distribution access to intermediary firms and brand recognition. Our key differentiator is our high-touch, high-tech, digitally focused service model, which has been shown to drive positive outcomes for plan sponsors and participants.
LIFE INSURANCE
Overview
The Life Insurance segment focuses on the creation and protection of wealth for its clients by providing life insurance products, including term insurance, both single (including COLI and BOLI) and survivorship versions of universal life insurance (“UL”), variable universal life insurance (“VUL”) and indexed universal life insurance (“IUL”) products, linked-benefit products (which are UL and VUL with riders providing for long-term care costs), and critical illness and long-term care riders, which can be attached to UL, VUL or IUL policies. Some of our products include secondary guarantees, which are discussed more fully below. Generally, this segment has higher sales during the second half of the year with the fourth quarter being the strongest.
Similar to the annuity product classifications described above, life products can be classified as “fixed” (including indexed) or “variable” contracts. This classification describes whether we or the contract holders bear the primary investment risk of the assets supporting the policy. This also determines the manner in which we earn investment margin profits from these products, either as investment spreads for fixed products or as asset-based fees charged to variable products.
In general, the Life Insurance segment’s sources of revenue include premium payments, cost of insurance assessments, expense and fee charges and investment income. In turn, this segment incurs expenses, which include paying death claims, long-term care claims, and surrender benefits, crediting interest, accruing reserves for future claim payments, as well as other expenses related to the business. The difference between revenue collected and expenses incurred is the profit for the Life Insurance business. Profitability, including fluctuations from period to period, is impacted by factors such as changes in sales of products, mortality experience (the frequency and magnitude of mortality claims paid during a given period), persistency and investment income. The impact of each factor varies by product type.
Products
We offer four categories of life insurance products, consisting of:
UL and IUL
UL insurance products provide life insurance with account values that earn rates of return based on company-declared interest rates. Contract holder account values are invested in our general account investment portfolio, so we bear the risk of investment performance. We offer UL products, such as Lincoln LifeGuarantee® UL and Lincoln LifeGuarantee SUL. We also offer a UL BOLI product.
In a UL contract, contract holders typically have flexibility in the timing and amount of premium payments and the amount of death benefit, provided there is sufficient account value to cover all policy charges for cost of insurance and expenses for the coming period. Under certain contract holder options and market conditions, the death benefit amount may increase or decrease. Premiums received on a UL product, net of expense loads and charges, are added to the contract holder’s account value and accrued with interest. The client has access to their account value (or a portion thereof), less surrender charges and policy loan payoffs, through contractual liquidity features such as loans, partial withdrawals and full surrenders. Loans and withdrawals reduce the death benefit amount payable and are limited to certain contractual maximums (some of which are required under state law), and interest is charged on all loans. Our UL contracts assess surrender charges against the policies’ account values for full or partial surrenders and certain policy changes that occur during the contractual surrender charge period.
We also offer fixed IUL products that function similarly to a traditional UL policy, with the added flexibility of allowing contract holders to have portions of their account values earn credits based on the performance of indexes such as the S&P 500® Index. These products include Lincoln WealthPreserve® IUL and Lincoln WealthAccumulate® IUL.
As mentioned previously, we offer survivorship versions of our individual UL products, such as Lincoln LifeGuarantee SUL. These products insure two lives with a single policy and pay death benefits upon the second death.
A UL policy with a lifetime secondary guarantee can stay in force, even if the base policy cash value is zero, as long as secondary guarantee requirements have been met. These products include Lincoln LifeGuarantee UL and Lincoln LifeGuarantee SUL. The secondary guarantee requirement is based on the payment of a required minimum premium or on the evaluation of a reference value within the policy, calculated in a manner similar to the base policy account value, but using different expense charges, cost of insurance charges and credited interest rates. The parameters for the secondary guarantee requirement are listed in the contract. As long as the contract holder pays the minimum premium or funds the policy to a level that keeps this calculated reference value positive, the policy is guaranteed to stay in force. The reference value has no actual monetary value to the contract holder; it is only a calculated value used to determine whether or not the policy will lapse should the base policy cash value be less than zero.
VUL
VUL products are UL products that provide a return on account values linked to an underlying investment portfolio of variable funds offered through the product. The value of the variable portion of the contract holder’s account is driven by the performance of the underlying variable funds chosen by the contract holder. As the return on the investment portfolio increases or decreases, that portion of the account value of the VUL policy will increase or decrease. In addition, VUL products offer a fixed account option that is managed by us. As with fixed UL products, contract holders have access, within contractual maximums, to account values through loans, withdrawals and surrenders. Surrender charges are assessed during the surrender charge period. Our single life VUL offerings include Lincoln AssetEdge® VUL and Lincoln VULONE insurance products. Our COLI products are also VUL-type products.
We also offer survivorship versions of our individual VUL products, such as Lincoln SVULONE. These products insure two lives with a single policy and pay death benefits upon the second death.
We offer lifetime guaranteed benefit riders with our Lincoln VULONE and Lincoln SVULONE products. The ONE rider features guarantee to the contract holder that upon death, as long as secondary guarantee requirements have been met, the death benefit will be payable even if the account value equals zero.
Our secondary guarantee benefits maintain the flexibility of a traditional UL or VUL policy, which allow a contract holder to take loans or withdrawals. Although loans and withdrawals are likely to shorten the time period of the secondary guarantee, the guarantee is not automatically or completely forfeited. Additional premium may be deposited to extend the length of the guarantee.
Linked-Benefit Life Products and Products with Critical Illness Riders
Lincoln MoneyGuard®, our linked-benefit life product group, combines UL or VUL with long-term care insurance through the use of a rider or riders. The policy rider allows the contract holder to accelerate death benefits on a tax-free basis in the event of a qualified long-term care need, reducing the remaining death benefit, and, once the death benefit is exhausted, offers access to an additional pool of dollars that can be used for qualified long-term care expenses. Certain policies also provide a reduced death benefit to the contract holder’s beneficiary if the death benefit has been fully accelerated as long-term care benefits during the contract holder’s life.
Some life products provide for critical illness or long-term care insurance by the use of riders attached to UL, VUL or IUL policies. These riders allow the contract holder to accelerate death benefits on a tax-free basis in the event of a qualified condition.
Term Life Insurance
Term life insurance provides a fixed death benefit for a scheduled period of time. Some of our term life insurance products give the policyholder the option to reduce the death benefit at a future time. Scheduled policy premiums are required to be paid at least annually. These products include Lincoln TermAccel® Level Term and Lincoln LifeElements® Level Term.
Distribution
The Life Insurance segment’s products are sold through LFD. LFD provides the Life Insurance segment with access to financial intermediaries in the following primary distribution channels: wire/regional firms; independent planner firms (including LFN); financial institutions; and managing general agents/independent marketing organizations. LFD distributes BOLI/COLI products and services to banks and mid- to large-sized corporations, primarily through intermediaries who specialize in one or both of these markets and who are serviced through a network of internal and external LFD sales professionals.
Competition
The life insurance market is very competitive and consists of many companies with no one company dominating the market for all products. Principal competitive factors include product features, price, underwriting and issue process, customer service and insurers’ financial strength. With our broad distribution network, we compete in the three primary needs of life insurance: death benefit protection, accumulation and linked benefits (MoneyGuard). In addition, we use automated underwriting within a defined criteria as well as LincXpress®, a streamlined issue process, both of which are seen as marketplace competitive advantages.
Underwriting
In the context of life insurance, underwriting is the process of evaluating medical and non-medical information about an individual and determining the effect these factors statistically have on mortality. This process of evaluation is often referred to as risk classification. No one can accurately predict how long any individual will live, but certain risk factors can affect life expectancy and are evaluated during the underwriting process.
Claims Administration
Claims service is handled primarily in-house, and claims examiners are assigned to each claim notification based on coverage amount, type of claim and the experience of the examiner. Claims meeting certain criteria are referred to senior claims examiners. A formal quality assurance program is carried out to ensure the consistency and effectiveness of claims examining activities. A network of in-house legal counsel, compliance officers, medical personnel and an anti-fraud investigative unit also support claims examiners. A special team of claims examiners, in conjunction with claims management, focus on more complex claims matters such as claims incurred during the contestable period, beneficiary disputes and litigated claims.
GROUP P ROTECTION
Overview
The Group Protection segment offers group non-medical insurance products and services, including short- and long-term disability, statutory disability and paid family medical leave administration and absence management services, term life, dental, vision and accident,
critical illness and hospital indemnity benefits and services to the employer marketplace through various forms of employee-paid and employer-paid plans. Group Protection markets its products and services to employer groups of all sizes, from small companies with fewer than 100 employees to large employers with 10,000 or more employees, with enhanced disability and absence management competency.
Products
Disability Insurance and Services
We offer insured coverage for, as well as administrative services for employer self-funded, short- and long-term employer-sponsored group and voluntary disability insurance, which protects an employee against loss of wages due to illness or injury. Short-term disability insurance generally provides weekly benefits for up to 26 weeks following a short waiting period, ranging from 1 to 30 days. Long-term disability insurance provides benefits following a longer waiting period, usually between 90 and 180 days, and provides benefits for a longer period, ranging from 2 years to normal (Social Security) retirement age. The monthly benefits provided are subject to reduction when Social Security benefits are also paid. We also provide insured coverage for, as well as administrative services for employer self-funded, state-specific statutory disability and paid family leave programs as legislation is passed and implemented.
Absence Management
We offer a robust portfolio of absence management services to help employers manage their state and federal family medical and company leave programs (paid and unpaid), as well as accommodation services that help employers identify accommodations that could be made to help claimants return to work (e.g., assistive devices, ergonomic assessments, etc.). Our comprehensive and compliant solutions, with ease of intake, provide coordinated and integrated management expertise to handle both leave and disability events.
Life Insurance
We offer employer-sponsored group term life insurance products including basic, optional, and voluntary term life insurance to employees and their dependents. Additional benefits may be provided in the event of a covered individual’s accidental death or dismemberment.
Dental and Vision
We offer a variety of employer-sponsored group dental insurance plans, which cover a portion of the cost of eligible dental procedures for employees and their dependents. Products offered include: indemnity coverage, which does not distinguish benefits based on a dental provider’s participation in a network arrangement; Preferred Provider Organization (“PPO”) products, on an insured and administrative services only basis, that do reflect the dental provider’s participation in the PPO network arrangement, including an agreement with network fee schedules; a Dental Health Maintenance Organization product that limits benefit coverage to a closed panel of network providers; an in-network-only option that limits benefit coverage to providers in certain states; and self-funded options for groups with more than 200 employees.
We offer comprehensive employer-sponsored fully insured vision plans with a wide range of benefits for protecting employees’ and their covered dependents’ sight and vision health. All plans provide access to a national network of providers, with in and out-of-network benefits.
Accident, Critical Illness and Hospital Indemnity Insurance
We offer employer-sponsored group accident insurance products for employees and their covered dependents. This product is predominantly purchased on an employee-paid basis. Accident insurance provides scheduled benefits for over 30 types of benefit triggers related to accidental causes, including sports-related injuries, and is available for non-occupational accidents exclusively or on a 24-hour coverage basis.
We also offer employer-sponsored group critical illness insurance to employees and their covered dependents. This product is predominantly purchased on an employee-paid basis. The coverage provides for lump sum payouts upon the occurrence of one of the specified critical illness benefit triggers covered within a critical illness insurance policy. This product also includes benefits and services that assist employees and their family members in the prevention, early detection and treatment of critical illness events.
In 2021, we added hospital indemnity insurance to our suite of supplemental health solutions. Similar to our employer-sponsored group accident and critical illness insurance, hospital indemnity is offered to employees and their covered dependents and is predominantly purchased on an employee-paid basis. Hospital indemnity insurance provides scheduled benefits for hospital admission and daily confinement, as well as over 20 benefit triggers related to hospitalization due to an accident and/or illness.
Distribution
The Group Protection segment’s products are marketed primarily through a national distribution system. The managers and marketing representatives develop business through employee benefit brokers, consultants, TPAs and other employee benefit firms that work with employers to provide access to our products.
Competition
The group protection marketplace is very competitive. Principal competitive factors include particular product features, price, quality of customer service and claims management, technological capabilities, quality and efficiency of distribution and financial strength ratings. In this market, the Group Protection segment competes nationally with a number of major companies and regionally with other companies offering all or some of the products within our product set. In addition, there is competition in attracting brokers to actively market our products and attracting and retaining sales representatives to sell our products. Key competitive factors in attracting brokers include product offerings and features, financial strength, support services and compensation.
Underwriting
The Group Protection segment’s underwriters evaluate the risk characteristics of each employer group. Generally, the relevant characteristics evaluated include employee census information (such as age, gender, income and occupation), employer industry classification, geographic location, benefit design elements and other factors. The segment employs detailed underwriting policies, guidelines and procedures designed to assist the underwriter to properly assess and quantify risks. Individual underwriting techniques (including evaluation of individual medical history information) may be used on certain covered individuals selecting benefit amounts that are above guarantee issue limits set forth in the insurance policies. For voluntary and other forms of employee paid coverages, minimum participation requirements are used to obtain a better spread of risk and minimize the risk of anti-selection.
Claims Administration
Claims for the Group Protection segment are managed by in-house claim specialists. Claims are evaluated for eligibility and payment of benefits pursuant to the group insurance contract and in compliance with federal and state regulations. Disability claims management is especially important to segment results, as results depend on both the incidence and the length of approved disability claims. The segment employs a variety of clinical experts, including employee and contract medical professionals and rehabilitation specialists, to evaluate medically supported functional capabilities and develop return to work plans. The accuracy and speed of life claims are important customer service and risk management factors. Some life policies provide for the waiver of premium coverage in the event of the insured’s disability where our disability claims management expertise is utilized. Dental claims management focuses on assisting plan administrators and members with the rising costs of insurance by utilizing tools to optimize dental claims payment accuracy through advanced claims review and validation, improved data analysis, enhanced clinical review of claims and provider utilization monitoring.
OTHER OPERATIONS
Other Operations includes the financial data for operations that are not directly related to the business segments. Other Operations includes investments related to our excess capital; corporate investments; benefit plan net liability; the results of certain disability income business; our run-off Institutional Pension business in the form of group annuity and insured funding-type of contracts; debt; and Spark and strategic digitization expenses.
REIN SURANCE
Our reinsurance strategy is designed to protect us against the severity of losses on individual claims and unusually serious occurrences in which a number of claims produce an aggregate extraordinary loss. Although reinsurance does not discharge us from our primary liabilities to our contract holders for losses insured under the insurance policies, it does make the assuming reinsurer liable to us for the reinsured portion of the risk. Because we bear the risk of nonpayment by one or more of our reinsurers, we primarily cede reinsurance to well-capitalized, highly rated unaffiliated reinsurers. We also utilize inter-company reinsurance agreements to manage our statutory capital position as well as our hedge program for variable annuity guarantees.
As of December 31, 2021, the policy for our reinsurance program was to retain up to $20 million on a single insured life. As the amount we retain varies by policy, we reinsured 20% of the death benefit in-force on newly issued life insurance contracts in 2021. As of December 31, 2021, 38% of our total individual life in-force amount was reinsured.
Some portions of our annuity business have been reinsured on either a coinsurance or a modified coinsurance basis with other companies to limit our exposure associated with fixed and variable annuities. In a coinsurance program, the reinsurer shares proportionally in all financial terms of the reinsured policies (i.e., premiums, expenses, claims, etc.) based on their respective percentage of the risk. In a modified coinsurance program, we as the ceding company retain the reserves, as well as the assets backing those reserves, and the reinsurer shares proportionally in all financial terms of the reinsured policies based on their respective percentage of the risk.
In addition, we acquire other reinsurance to cover products other than as discussed above with retentions and limits that management believes are appropriate for the circumstances. For example, we use reinsurance to cover larger life and disability claims in our Group Protection business.
We obtain reinsurance from a diverse group of reinsurers, and we monitor concentration and financial strength ratings of our principal reinsurers. Protective, Security Life of Denver Insurance Company (a subsidiary of Resolution Life that we refer to herein as “Resolution Life”), Athene Holding Ltd. (“Athene”) and Lincoln National Reinsurance Company (Barbados) Limited (“LNBAR”), a wholly-owned reinsurance subsidiary of LNC, represent our largest reinsurance exposures. LNBAR is an affiliate of LNL as both are wholly-owned subsidiaries of LNC, but LNBAR is not a subsidiary of LNL. LNBAR assumes risk from LNL under certain variable annuity contracts and certain UL contracts with secondary guarantees.
For more information regarding our reinsurance arrangements and exposure, see “Reinsurance” in the MNA and Note 8. For risks involving reinsurance, see “Item 1A. Risk Factors - Operational Matters - We face risks of non-collectability of reinsurance and increased reinsurance rates, which could materially affect our results of operations.”
RESE RVES
The applicable insurance laws under which insurance companies operate require that they report, as liabilities, policy reserves to meet future obligations on their outstanding policies. These reserves are the amounts that, with the additional premiums to be received and interest thereon compounded annually at certain assumed rates, are calculated to be sufficient to meet the various policy and contract obligations as they mature. These laws specify that the reserves shall not be less than reserves calculated using certain specified mortality and morbidity tables, interest rates and methods of valuation. From time to time, the insurance laws, regulations, or regulatory guidance that specify the mortality and morbidity tables, interest rates and methods of valuation may be changed or interpreted differently, which may result in changes in the required reserves. For more information on reserves, see “Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates - Future Contract Benefits” and “Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates - Other Contract Holder Funds” in the MNA. For information on risks regarding changes in regulations, see “Item 1A. Risk Factors - Legislative, Regulatory and Tax - Our businesses are heavily regulated and changes in regulation and in supervisory and enforcement policies may affect our capital requirements, reduce our profitability, limit our growth or otherwise adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.”
See “Regulatory” below for information on permitted practices and proposed regulations that may impact the amount of statutory reserves necessary to support our current insurance liabilities.
For risks related to reserves, see “Item 1A. Risk Factors - Market Conditions - Changes in interest rates and sustained low interest rates may cause interest rate spreads to decrease, impacting our profitability, and make it more challenging to meet certain statutory requirements, and changes in interest rates may also result in increased contract withdrawals” and “Item 1A. Risk Factors - Operational Matters - We face risks of non-collectability of reinsurance and increased reinsurance rates, which could materially affect our results of operations.”
INVEST MENTS
An important component of our financial results is the return on investments. Our investment strategy is to balance the need for current income with prudent risk management, with an emphasis on generating sufficient current income to meet our obligations. This approach requires the evaluation of risk and expected return of each asset class utilized, while still meeting our income objectives. This approach also permits us to be more effective in our asset-liability management because decisions can be made based upon both the economic and current investment income considerations affecting assets and liabilities. Investments we make must comply with the insurance laws and regulations of our state of domicile and the state of domicile of our insurance subsidiary.
Derivatives are used primarily for hedging purposes and, to a lesser extent, income generation. Hedging strategies are employed for a number of reasons including, but not limited to, hedging certain portions of our exposure to changes in our GDB, GWB and GIB liabilities, interest rate fluctuations and credit, foreign exchange and equity risks.
For additional information on our investments, including carrying values by category, quality ratings and net investment income, see Notes 1 and 4.
FINANCIAL ST RENGTH RATINGS
The Nationally Recognized Statistical Ratings Organizations rate the financial strength of LNL and LLANY.
Rating agencies rate insurance companies based on financial strength and the ability to pay claims, factors more relevant to contract holders than investors. We believe that the ratings assigned by nationally recognized, independent rating agencies are material to our operations. There may be other rating agencies that also rate our insurance companies, which we do not disclose in our reports.
The insurer financial strength rating scales of A.M. Best, Fitch Ratings (“Fitch”), Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”) and S&P Global Ratings (“S&P”) are characterized as follows:
A.M. Best - A++ to D
Fitch - AAA to C
Moody’s - Aaa to C
S&P - AAA to D
As of March 4, 2022, the financial strength ratings of LNL and LLANY, as published by the principal rating agencies that rate us, were as follows:
A.M. Best
Fitch
Moody's
S&P
The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company (“LNL”)
A+
A+
A1
AA-
(2nd of 16)
(5th of 19)
(5th of 21)
(4th of 21)
Lincoln Life & Annuity Company of New York (“LLANY”)
A+
A+
A1
AA-
(2nd of 16)
(5th of 19)
(5th of 21)
(4th of 21)
A downgrade of the financial strength rating of LNL or LLANY could affect our competitive position in the insurance industry and make it more difficult for us to market our products, as potential customers may select companies with higher financial strength ratings. See also “Item 1A. Risk Factors - Covenants and Ratings - A downgrade in our financial strength ratings could limit our ability to market products, increase the number or value of policies being surrendered and/or hurt our relationships with creditors.”
All of our insurer financial strength ratings are on outlook stable except for the ratings assigned by S&P, which are on outlook negative. All of our ratings are subject to revision or withdrawal at any time by the rating agencies, and therefore, no assurance can be given that we or LLANY can maintain these ratings. Each rating should be evaluated independently of any other rating.
REGU LATORY
Insurance Regulation
Similar to other insurance companies, we are subject to regulation and supervision by the states, territories and countries in which we are licensed to do business. The extent of such regulation varies, but generally has its source in statutes that delegate regulatory, supervisory and administrative authority to supervisory agencies. In the U.S., this power is vested in state insurance departments.
In supervising and regulating insurance companies, state insurance departments, charged primarily with protecting contract holders and the public rather than investors, enjoy broad authority and discretion in applying applicable insurance laws and regulation for that purpose. We are domiciled in the state of Indiana. LLANY is domiciled in the state of New York.
The insurance departments of the domiciliary states exercise principal regulatory jurisdiction over us. The extent of regulation by the states varies, but, in general, most jurisdictions have laws and regulations governing standards of solvency, adequacy of reserves, reinsurance, capital adequacy, licensing of companies and agents to transact business, prescribing and approving policy forms, regulating premium rates for some lines of business, prescribing the form and content of financial statements and reports, regulating the type and amount of investments permitted and standards of business conduct.
As part of their regulatory oversight process, state insurance departments conduct periodic examinations, generally once every three to five years, of the books, records, accounts and business practices of insurers domiciled in their states. Examinations are generally carried out in cooperation with the insurance regulators of other states under guidelines promulgated by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (“NAIC”). State and federal insurance and securities regulatory authorities and other state law enforcement agencies and Attorneys General also, from time to time, make inquiries and conduct examinations or investigations regarding the compliance by our company, as well as other companies in our industry, with, among other things, insurance laws and securities laws. We, LLANY and our captive reinsurance subsidiaries are subject to periodic financial examinations by their respective domiciliary state insurance regulators. We have not received any material adverse findings resulting from state insurance department examinations of LNL or any of our insurance and captive reinsurance subsidiaries conducted during the three-year period ended December 31, 2021.
State insurance laws and regulations require us and LLANY to file financial statements with state insurance departments everywhere we do business, and our operations and accounts are subject to examination by those departments at any time. We and LLANY prepare statutory financial statements in accordance with accounting practices and procedures prescribed or permitted by these departments. The NAIC has approved a series of statutory accounting principles (“SAP”) that have been adopted, in some cases with minor modifications, by virtually all state insurance departments. Changes in these statutory accounting principles can significantly affect our capital and surplus.
The NAIC’s adoption of the Valuation Manual that defines a principles-based reserving framework for newly issued life insurance policies was effective January 1, 2017. Principles-based reserving places a greater weight on our past experience and anticipated future experience and considers current economic conditions in calculating life insurance product reserves in accordance with statutory accounting principles. We adopted the framework for our newly issued term business in 2017 and phased in the framework through January 1, 2020, for all other newly issued life insurance products. We believe that these changes may reduce our future use of captive reinsurance subsidiaries and LNBAR for reserve financing transactions for our life insurance business. In August 2020, the NAIC approved changes to Actuarial Guideline XLIX (“AG49”) that affect the way insurance companies are permitted to illustrate certain IUL products. We are required to comply with the amended guideline, AG49-A, for any IUL products sold on, or after, December 14, 2020, and such compliance could impact our sales of such products. Also, in August 2021, the NAIC adopted modifications to the risk-based capital (“RBC”) charges for bonds, which resulted in an increase in required capital for us and LLANY as of December 31, 2021. The NAIC is also considering modifications to the economic scenario generator used to calculate life and annuity reserves according to the Valuation Manual (e.g., VM-20 and VM-21) and the required capital for these life and annuity contracts, as well as certain fixed annuity and single premium life insurance products, which could affect the level and volatility of statutory reserves and required capital for products in scope. For more information, see “Item 1A. Risk Factors - Legislative, Regulatory and Tax - Our businesses are heavily regulated and changes in regulation and in supervisory and enforcement policies may affect our insurance subsidiary capital requirements, reduce our profitability, limit our growth or otherwise adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.” We are monitoring all potential changes and evaluating the potential impact they could have on our product offerings, financial condition and results of operations.
For more information on statutory reserving and our use of captive reinsurance structures, see “Liquidity and Capital Resources - Sources and Uses of Liquidity and Capital - Statutory Capital and Surplus” in the MNA.
Risk-Based Capital
The NAIC has adopted RBC requirements for life insurance companies to evaluate the adequacy of statutory capital and surplus in relation to investment and insurance risks. The requirements provide a means of measuring the minimum amount of statutory surplus appropriate for an insurance company to support its overall business operations based on its size and risk profile. There are five major risks involved in determining the requirements:
Category
Name
Description
Asset risk - affiliates
C-0
Risk of assets’ default for certain affiliated investments
Asset risk - others
C-1
Risk of assets’ default of principal and interest or fluctuation in fair value
Insurance risk
C-2
Risk of underestimating liabilities from business already written or inadequately pricing
business to be written in the future
Interest rate risk, health credit
Risk of losses due to changes in interest rate levels, risk that health benefits prepaid to
risk and market risk
C-3
providers become the obligation of the health insurer once again and risk of loss due
to changes in market levels associated with variable products with guarantees
Business risk
C-4
Risk of general business
A company’s risk-based statutory surplus is calculated by applying factors and performing calculations relating to various asset, premium, claim, expense and reserve items. Regulators can then measure adequacy of a company’s statutory surplus by comparing it to the RBC determined by the formula. Under RBC requirements, regulatory compliance is determined by the ratio of a company’s total adjusted capital, as defined by the NAIC, to its company action level of RBC (known as the RBC ratio), also as defined by the NAIC. Accordingly, factors that have an impact on the total adjusted capital of us and LLANY, such as the permitted practices discussed above, will also affect our RBC levels. Four levels of regulatory attention may be triggered if the RBC ratio is insufficient:
“Company action level” - If the RBC ratio is between 75% and 100%, then the insurer must submit a plan to the regulator detailing corrective action it proposes to undertake;
“Regulatory action level” - If the RBC ratio is between 50% and 75%, then the insurer must submit a plan, but a regulator may also issue a corrective order requiring the insurer to comply within a specified period;
“Authorized control level” - If the RBC ratio is between 35% and 50%, then the regulatory response is the same as at the “Regulatory action level,” but in addition, the regulator may take action to rehabilitate or liquidate the insurer; and
“Mandatory control level” - If the RBC ratio is less than 35%, then the regulator must rehabilitate or liquidate the insurer.
As of December 31, 2021, our RBC ratio and the ratio reported by LLANY to our respective states of domicile and the NAIC all exceeded the “company action level.” We believe that we will be able to maintain our RBC ratios in excess of “company action level” through prudent underwriting, claims handling, investing and capital management. However, no assurances can be given that developments affecting us or LLANY, many of which could be outside of our control, will not cause our RBC ratios to fall below our targeted levels. These developments may include, but may not be limited to: changes to the manner in which the RBC ratio is calculated; new regulatory requirements for calculating reserves, such as principles-based reserving; economic conditions leading to higher levels of impairments of securities in our general accounts; and an inability to finance life reserves.
See “Item 1A. Risk Factors - Liquidity and Capital Position - A decrease in our capital and surplus may result in a downgrade to our insurer financial strength ratings” and “Item 1A. Risk Factors - Legislative, Regulatory and Tax - Our businesses are heavily regulated and changes in regulation and in supervisory and enforcement policies may affect our capital requirements, reduce our profitability, limit our growth or otherwise adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.”
Privacy Regulations
In the course of our business, we collect and maintain personal data from our customers including personally identifiable non-public financial and health information, which subjects us to numerous privacy laws and regulations. These laws require, among other things, that we institute certain policies and procedures in our business to safeguard this information from improper use or disclosure, disclose our collection practices to consumers and customers, and promptly notify and report certain types of incidents involving this data. The laws and regulations vary by jurisdiction, and it is expected that additional laws and regulations will continue to be enacted. While we employ robust and tested privacy and information security programs, as regulators establish further regulations for addressing consumer and customer privacy, we may need to amend our policies and adapt our internal procedures. See “Item 1A. Risk Factors - Legislative, Regulatory and Tax - Compliance with existing and emerging privacy regulations could result in increased compliance costs and/or lead to changes in business practices and policies, and any failure to protect the confidentiality of consumer and client information could adversely affect our reputation and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.” For information regarding cybersecurity risks, see “Item 1A. Risk Factors - Operational Matters - Our information systems may experience interruptions, breaches in security and/or a failure of disaster recovery systems that could result in a loss or disclosure of confidential information, damage to our reputation, impairment of our ability to conduct business effectively and increased expenses.”
Federal Initiatives
The U.S. federal government does not directly regulate the insurance industry; however, federal initiatives from time to time can impact the insurance industry. The marketplace continues to evolve in the changing regulatory environment.
Financial Reform Legislation
Since it was enacted in 2010, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank Act”) has imposed considerable reform in the financial services industry. The ongoing implementation continues to present challenges and uncertainties for financial market participants. For instance, the Dodd-Frank Act and corresponding global initiatives imposed significant changes to the regulation of derivatives transactions, which we use to mitigate many types of risk in our business. As we post and collect initial margin in compliance with requirements that began in September 2021, we continue to evaluate the ways we are required to manage our derivatives trading and the attendant liquidity requirements. For more information, see “Item 1A. Risk Factors - Legislative, Regulatory and Tax - Implementation of the provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and European Market Infrastructure Regulation relating to the regulation of derivatives transactions subject us to margin requirements, the impact of which remains uncertain.”
Our trading activities are also affected by the scheduled phaseout of the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) (the publication of which is scheduled to cease by June 2023) and the use of alternative reference rates and related adjustments. We continue to prepare for and monitor developments regarding these changes in order to reduce potential disruptions. As financial services regulatory reform continues to evolve in the U.S. and abroad, and the marketplace continues to respond, the extent to which our derivatives costs and strategies may change and the extent to which those changes may affect the range or pricing of our products remains uncertain.
In addition, the Dodd-Frank Act directed the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) to study the implications resulting from the different standards applicable to broker-dealers and investment advisers and empowered the SEC to adopt a uniform fiduciary standard. In January 2011, the SEC released its study on the obligations and standards of conduct of financial professionals. The SEC staff initially recommended establishing a uniform fiduciary standard for investment advisers and broker-dealers when providing investment advice about securities, including guidance for principal trading and definitions of the duties of loyalty and care owed to retail customers that would be consistent with the standard that currently applies to investment advisers. Then, in June 2019, pursuant to the authority granted by the Dodd-Frank Act, the SEC adopted “Regulation Best Interest,” which established a higher standard of care and disclosure for broker-dealers when making recommendations to retail customers, but did not create an explicit fiduciary duty. For more information, see “SEC Rules and Other Regulations relating to the Standard of Care Applicable to Investment Advisers and Broker-Dealers” below.
Additional provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act include, among other things, the creation of a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to protect consumers of certain financial products; and changes to certain corporate governance rules. The Federal Insurance Office established under the Dodd-Frank Act issues annually a wide-ranging report on the state of insurance regulation in the U.S., together with a series of recommendations on ways to monitor and improve the regulatory environment. The ultimate impact of these recommendations on our business is undeterminable at this time.
SEC Rules and Other Regulations relating to the Standard of Care Applicable to Investment Advisers and Broker-Dealers
In 2016, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) released the DOL Fiduciary Rule, which became effective in 2017 and substantially expanded the range of activities considered to be fiduciary investment advice under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) and the Internal Revenue Code. The DOL Fiduciary Rule was subsequently vacated by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (the “Fifth Circuit”) in March 2018, and in June 2018, the Fifth Circuit issued a mandate stating that the original definition of “fiduciary,” including the original five-part test, would apply going forward.
In 2019, the SEC approved “Regulation Best Interest,” including a new standard of conduct for broker-dealers under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (“Exchange Act”), which requires a broker-dealer to act in the best interest of a retail customer when making a recommendation of any securities transaction, without putting its financial interests ahead of the interests of a retail customer. The final rule includes guidance on what constitutes a “recommendation” and a definition of who would be a “retail customer” in addition to provisions setting forth certain required disclosures, policies and procedures to identify conflicts of interest, and customer-specific best interest obligations.
In addition, the SEC approved the use of a new disclosure document, the customer or client relationship summary, or Form CRS. Form CRS is intended to provide retail investors with information about the nature of their relationship with their investment professional and supplements other more detailed disclosures, including existing Form ADV for advisers and the new disclosures under Regulation Best Interest for broker-dealers. Regulation Best Interest and Form CRS became effective as of September 10, 2019, with a transition period for compliance through June 30, 2020, as of which date broker-dealers were required to be compliant.
Finally, the SEC issued interpretative guidance regarding an investment adviser’s fiduciary obligation under the Advisers Act. The guidance indicates that investment advisers have a fiduciary duty to their clients that includes both a duty of care and a duty of loyalty and further describes an investment adviser’s responsibilities under these fiduciary duties.
In June 2020, the DOL proposed a new prohibited transaction exemption, which was finalized in December 2020. The new exemption went into effect on February 16, 2021, and had a transition period for compliance through January 31, 2022. The new exemption allows the payment of compensation to investment advice fiduciaries who comply with the exemption’s requirements and generally tracks the standard set forth in Regulation Best Interest. It is uncertain whether there will be efforts to challenge or revise this rule in the future. In addition, the DOL has indicated in its regulatory agenda that it plans to issue updated guidance on the definition of fiduciary. It is uncertain at this point whether these changes would have a material impact on our business.
In addition to the SEC and DOL rules, the NAIC and several states, including Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey and New York, have either enacted or proposed laws and regulations requiring investment advisers, broker-dealers and/or agents to meet a higher standard of care and provide additional disclosures when providing advice to their clients. The recently enacted state laws and regulations have resulted in, and upon adoption by other states such laws and regulations may result in, additional requirements related to the sale of our products. Additional disclosure and other requirements could adversely affect our business by causing us to reevaluate or change certain business practices or otherwise.
If any revised DOL fiduciary rule or any additional new rules that are implemented are more onerous than Regulation Best Interest, or are not coordinated with Regulation Best Interest, the impact on our business could be substantial. While we continue to monitor and evaluate the various proposals, we cannot predict what other proposals may be made, or what new legislation or regulation may be introduced or become law. Therefore, until such time as final rules or laws are in place, the potential impact on our business is uncertain.
Federal Tax Legislation
In late 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Tax Act”) was signed into law. The Tax Act resulted in significant reforms for corporations (in addition to individuals), including a number of provisions that directly impacted insurance companies. The vast majority of the changes became effective January 1, 2018. Throughout 2021, the Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Treasury finalized published guidance on the various provisions of the Tax Act. The issuance of this and prior guidance has not changed our interpretation and related implementation of the law changes in the Tax Act.
In 2021, Congress introduced proposed tax legislation that included the creation of a 15% minimum tax on corporate book income for corporations with profits over $1 billion, a 1% excise tax on the value of stock repurchases, a limit on individual retirement account contributions, and continued child tax credit expansion. Some of these provisions may be reintroduced piecemeal in 2022.
Until enacted into the tax law, the potential impact on our business is uncertain. We will continue to be actively engaged with policymakers including the Biden Administration to ensure the impacts of tax policy changes on our business and our customers are well understood.
Outside of potential tax law changes, the uncertainty of federal funding and the future of the Social Security Disability Insurance (“SSDI”) program can have a substantial impact on the entire group benefit market because SSDI benefits are a direct offset to the
benefits paid under group disability policies. Congress alleviated some of this uncertainty by passing the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015. As a result, the Social Security Administration’s 2021 Annual Report projects that the SSDI reserves will not be depleted until 2034.
Health Care Reform Legislation
In March 2010, President Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which was subsequently amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act. This legislation, as well as subsequent state and federal laws and regulations, includes provisions that provide for additional taxes to help finance the cost of these reforms and substantive changes and additions to health care and related laws, which could potentially impact some of our lines of business. We continue to monitor any efforts by the government to repeal or replace provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the effect those efforts may have on our businesses.
Patriot Act
The USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 includes anti-money laundering and financial transparency laws as well as various regulations applicable to broker-dealers and other financial services companies, including insurance companies. Financial institutions are required to collect information regarding the identity of their customers, watch for and report suspicious transactions, respond to requests for information by regulatory authorities and law enforcement agencies and share information with other financial institutions. As a result, we are required to maintain certain internal compliance practices, procedures and controls.
SECURE Act
In December 2019, President Trump signed into law the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act (the “SECURE Act”). Most of the provisions of the SECURE Act were effective for plan years beginning after December 31, 2019. Among other things, the provisions of the SECURE Act make it easier for employers to offer lifetime income options in defined contribution retirement plans, facilitate the ability of small employers to offer access to retirement savings vehicles to their employees and increase opportunities for workers to save by enhancing retirement plan automatic enrollment and escalation features. We believe that the financial services industry will benefit from the adoption of the SECURE Act through continued or increased savings in retirement and annuity solutions, including through the utilization of our suite of offerings.
ERISA Considerations
ERISA is a comprehensive federal statute that applies to U.S. employee benefit plans sponsored by private employers and labor unions. Plans subject to ERISA include pension and profit-sharing plans and welfare plans, including health, life and disability plans. ERISA provisions include reporting and disclosure rules, standards of conduct that apply to plan fiduciaries and prohibitions on transactions known as “prohibited transactions,” such as conflict-of-interest transactions and certain transactions between a benefit plan and a party in interest. ERISA also provides for a scheme of civil and criminal penalties and enforcement. Our insurance, asset management, plan administrative services and other businesses provide services to employee benefit plans subject to ERISA, including services where we may act as an ERISA fiduciary. In addition, because certain of our businesses provide products and services to ERISA plans, transactions with those plans are subject to ERISA’s prohibited transaction rules, which may affect our ability to enter into transactions, or the terms on which transactions may be entered into, with such plans, even if the business entering into the transaction is unrelated to the business giving rise to party-in-interest status.
Broker-Dealer and Securities Regulation
In addition to being registered under the Securities Act of 1933, some of our separate accounts as well as mutual funds that we sponsor are registered as investment companies under the Investment Company Act of 1940, and the shares of certain of these entities are qualified for sale in some or all states and the District of Columbia. We also have subsidiaries that are registered as broker-dealers under the Exchange Act and are subject to federal and state regulation, including, but not limited to, the Financial Industry Regulation Authority’s (“FINRA”) net capital rules. In addition, we have subsidiaries that are registered investment advisers under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. Agents, advisers and employees registered or associated with any of our investment adviser or broker-dealer subsidiaries are subject to federal securities laws and to examination requirements and regulation by state and federal securities regulators. Regulation also extends to various Parent Company entities that employ or control those individuals. The SEC and other governmental agencies and self-regulatory organizations, as well as state securities commissions in the U.S., have the power to conduct administrative proceedings that can result in censure, fines, the issuance of cease-and-desist orders or suspension and termination or limitation of the activities of the regulated entity or its employees. For more information about regulatory and litigation matters, see Note 13.
Environmental Considerations
Federal, state and local environmental laws and regulations apply to our ownership and operation of real property. Inherent in owning and operating real property are the risks of hidden environmental liabilities and the costs of any required clean-up. Under the laws of certain states, contamination of a property may give rise to a lien on the property to secure recovery of the costs of clean-up, which could adversely affect our commercial mortgage lending. In several states, this lien has priority over the lien of an existing mortgage against such property. In addition, in some states and under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability
Act of 1980 (“CERCLA”), we may be liable, as an “owner” or “operator,” for costs of cleaning-up releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances at a property mortgaged to us. We also risk environmental liability when we foreclose on a property mortgaged to us. Federal legislation provides for a safe harbor from CERCLA liability for secured lenders that foreclose and sell the mortgaged real estate, provided that certain requirements are met. However, there are circumstances in which actions taken could still expose us to CERCLA liability. Application of various other federal and state environmental laws could also result in the imposition of liability on us for costs associated with environmental hazards.
We routinely conduct environmental assessments for real estate we acquire for investment and before taking title through foreclosure to real property collateralizing mortgages that we hold. Although unexpected environmental liabilities can always arise, based on these environmental assessments and compliance with our internal procedures, we believe that any costs associated with compliance with environmental laws and regulations or any clean-up of properties would not have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.
Intellectual Property
We rely on a combination of copyright, trademark, patent and trade secret laws to establish and protect our intellectual property. We have implemented a patent strategy designed to protect innovative aspects of our products and processes which we believe distinguish us from competitors. We currently own several issued U.S. patents.
We have an extensive portfolio of trademarks and service marks that we consider important in the marketing of our products and services, including, among others, the trademarks of the Lincoln National and Lincoln Financial names, the Lincoln silhouette logo and the combination of these marks. Trademark registrations may be renewed indefinitely subject to continued use and registration requirements. We regard our trademarks as valuable assets in marketing our products and services and intend to protect them against infringement and dilution.
HUMAN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT
As of December 31, 2021, we had a total of 10,788 employees, all based in the United States. LNC’s mission is to help Americans achieve financial peace of mind by offering leading products and services. We believe that every move we make, including how we manage talent, shapes the future we share with our customers, communities and investors. Accordingly, each of our employees has access to important resources designed to, among other things, help them improve their well-being, understand the value of their work, develop their careers and thrive in a diverse and inclusive environment. From the moment our employees become part of our company, they’re empowered to “Be Lincoln” by living and acting with integrity and optimism in their communities, relationships and daily interactions with colleagues and clients. Our enterprise strategy is driven by continued focus on this unique employee culture, including the following key areas:
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
We believe that diversity, equity and inclusion are fundamental to our ability to deliver on our promise to help customers secure their financial futures. Our diversity, equity and inclusion strategy is designed to deliver outcomes based on objectives and milestones in our workplace, marketplace and the broader communities we serve. This strategy ensures that a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion permeates every level of our organization as well as our interactions with partners and suppliers.
LNC’s Board of Directors provides executive oversight of stated priorities, progress and strategic plans to support diversity, equity and inclusion across the enterprise. Our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion begins at the highest level of management as a formal expectation of our leaders and all employees, as part of our performance management process. Our employees are actively involved in our efforts to further diversity, equity and inclusion at the company and beyond, through the work of our seven Business Resource Groups (“BRGs”). We maintain our BRG chapters nationwide across seven categories: African American, Asian American, Latino, LGBTQ +, People with Disabilities, Veterans and Women. Each BRG is sponsored and supported by senior leaders across the enterprise.
Employee Feedback and Employee Engagement
We actively listen to our employees in a variety of ways, including enterprise-wide and department-specific engagement surveys and focus groups, and we gather feedback on an ongoing basis. LNC conducts a comprehensive, company-wide engagement survey every two years, and often conducts department-specific pulse surveys in the alternate years, to inform our human resources strategy, measure progress and adjust plans, as necessary. We focus on equipping our managers to foster employee development and strengthen their voices. We support our managers through tools, resources and development programs to help them be the best leaders possible. We have also created tools to help managers develop and execute on targeted action plans to address areas of opportunity for their work groups.
Talent and Development
Our talent strategy supports our ability to identify, develop, engage, retain and reward the talent we need for success in a competitive environment of constant change. Our employees work together with their managers to learn new skills, create an annual individual development plan and shape their careers. Their collaborative efforts are backed by a variety of resources we make available and guided by our Career Framework, which provides tools and resources to help employees discover, assess, plan and invest in their careers.
Our vision is to foster a premier learning culture, one that enhances leadership effectiveness, accelerates employee development and helps drive business performance. Employees can access a range of learning and development opportunities including numerous instructor-led, self-paced and curated courses. We have partnered with Harvard Business Publishing, a subsidiary of Harvard Business School, to offer courses specifically designed for our mid-level employees and senior level leaders. All of our employees can also access open online courses through two third party providers.
Total Rewards and Employee Well-Being
We invest in our employees’ futures by offering market-competitive compensation and a broad range of health and wellness programs as well as retirement savings, financial health and protection plans. Our employees receive a personalized Your Total Rewards statement that provides a comprehensive look at their direct and indirect compensation - the total investment that we make in them.
We offer paid time off and various flexible work arrangements, in addition to benefits and wellness programs focusing on the physical, social and financial well-being of our employees. For eligible employees, such programs include:
a subsidized medical plan with domestic partner eligibility, plus optional dental and vision, a health savings account with a company contribution and a healthcare flexible spending account;
a well-being program provides access to personal health coaches, health screenings and flu shots, discounts and reimbursements for programs that promote health;
an employee assistance program (“EAP”);
paid parental leave and adoption assistance programs;
a dependent care flexible spending account;
access to Homework Connection which, provides one-on-one, on-demand homework help to students at no cost to employees;
dedicated Lincoln Financial Retirement Consultants to evaluate employee retirement readiness and help them map out ways to improve;
our employee 401(k) plan with a company match and other convenient features; and
accident and critical illness insurance coverages, short- and long-term disability plans, and company-provided life insurance.
Health and Safety During COVID-19 Pandemic
To protect the health and safety of our employees and their loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic, we have implemented comprehensive measures to safeguard employees in alignment with guidelines established by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and state and local governments in the locations in which we operate. While at the close of 2021 our workforce is still primarily working from home, we have developed a new hybrid model that will ultimately provide flexibility for approximately 95% of our employees moving forward. This model was informed by direct feedback from our workforce.
Several policies and programs are in place to enhance support for our employees, including Emergency Leave Time, which provides additional time off for employees if needed, related to the impacts of COVID-19. Additionally, we’ve increased internal communication regarding many of our existing benefits and programs that could help employees during this continued challenging time, such as our free mental health and wellness resources, including access to the EAP for employees and members of their households.

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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
Item 1A. Risk Factors
You should carefully consider the risks described below. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones facing our Company. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also impair our business operations. If any of these risks actually occur, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially affected.
Market Conditions
The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have adversely affected and are expected to continue to adversely affect our business and results of operations, and the future impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the company’s business, results of operations and financial condition remain uncertain.
The health, economic and business conditions precipitated by the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic that emerged in 2020 continued to adversely affect us during 2021, and are expected to continue to adversely affect our earnings as well as our business, results of operations and financial condition in 2022. As a result of the pandemic and ensuing conditions, we have experienced and expect to continue to experience higher mortality claim payments due to an elevation in claim incidence. In addition, we have experienced and expect to continue to experience an increase in short-term and long-term disability claims related to the pandemic, and we may experience an increase in long-term disability claims due to the recessionary conditions and high levels of unemployment that emerged during the pandemic. Increased life and disability claim levels adversely affect our earnings. Our business may also be adversely affected by changes in consumer behavior as a result of financial stress due to the pandemic. Because the vast majority of our employees continue to work from home, along with many of our vendors and customers, and such conditions may continue well into 2022 and beyond, our business operations may be adversely impacted, among other things, due to privacy incidents, cybersecurity incidents, technological issues or operational disruptions on the part of our vendors, and we may experience distribution disruptions as we continue to sell our products virtually.
The severe restriction in economic activity caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and increased level of unemployment in the United States have contributed to increased volatility and uncertainty regarding expectations for the economy and markets going forward. Although states have eased restrictions and the capital markets have recovered, it is unclear when the economy will operate under normal or near-normal conditions. In response to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates to near zero in March 2020. In December 2021, in light of substantial progress in the economy since 2020 and elevated inflation, the Federal Reserve announced its intention to further reduce the monthly pace of its large-scale bond-buying program. Additionally, short term interest rates are expected to slowly rise beginning in 2022, although we expect the continuation of the low interest rate environment to continue to adversely affect the interest margins of our businesses. For a discussion of specific risks related to economic and market conditions and low interest rates see the additional risk factors under “Market Conditions” below.
In addition, although the economic environment has continued to improve from the early part of 2020 and economic restrictions have eased, there could be ongoing weakness if there is a resurgence of COVID-19 cases that causes renewed restrictions on economic activity. This could impact select corporate industries and parts of the commercial mortgage loan market, which could lead to increased credit defaults and/or negative ratings migrations within our investment portfolio.
The continuing impacts of the pandemic may also have the effect of increasing the likelihood and/or magnitude of many of the other risks described below, including in particular the risks described under “Liquidity and Capital Position” and “Investments.” The ultimate impact on our business, results of operations and financial condition depends on the severity and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and related health, economic and business impacts and actions taken by governmental authorities and other third parties in response, each of which is uncertain, rapidly changing and difficult to predict.
Weak conditions in the global capital markets and the economy generally may materially adversely affect our business and results of operations.
Our results of operations are materially affected by conditions in the global capital markets and the economy generally, both in the U.S. and elsewhere around the world. Major central bank policy actions, slowing of global growth, inflation and political policy uncertainty remain key challenges for markets and our business. These macro-economic conditions have in the past and may in the future have an adverse effect on us given our credit and equity market exposure. In the event of extreme prolonged market events, such as the global credit crisis and recession that occurred during 2008 and 2009, we could incur significant losses. Even in the absence of a market downturn, we are exposed to substantial risk of loss and ratings downgrades due to market volatility.
Factors such as consumer spending, business investment, domestic and foreign government spending, the volatility and strength of the capital markets, the potential for inflation or deflation and uncertainty over domestic and foreign government actions all affect the business and economic environment and, ultimately, the amount and profitability of our business. In an economic downturn characterized by inflation, higher unemployment, lower disposable income, lower corporate earnings, lower business investment and lower consumer spending, the demand for our financial and insurance products could be adversely affected. In addition, we have experienced and expect to continue to experience an elevated incidence of claims, and we could experience changes in the rate of lapses or surrenders of policies or other changes in consumer behavior as a result of financial stress. Our contract holders may choose to defer paying insurance premiums or stop paying insurance premiums altogether. Adverse changes in the economy have in the past and could in
the future affect earnings negatively and could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Changes in interest rates and sustained low interest rates may cause interest rate spreads to decrease, impacting our profitability, and make it more challenging to meet certain statutory requirements, and changes in interest rates may also result in increased contract withdrawals.
Interest rate fluctuations and/or a sustained period of low interest rates could negatively affect our profitability. Some of our products, principally fixed annuities and UL, including linked-benefit UL, have interest rate guarantees that expose us to the risk that changes in interest rates will reduce our spread, or the difference between the amounts that we are required to pay under the contracts and the amounts we are able to earn on our general account investments intended to support our obligations under the contracts. Spreads are an important component of our net income. Declines in our spread or instances where the returns on our general account investments are not enough to support the interest rate guarantees on these products could have a material adverse effect on our businesses or results of operations. In addition, low rates increase the cost of providing variable annuity living benefit guarantees, which could negatively affect our variable annuity profitability.
In periods when interest rates are declining or remain at low levels, we may have to reinvest the cash we receive as interest or return of principal on our investments in lower yielding instruments reducing our spread. Moreover, borrowers may prepay fixed-income securities, commercial mortgages and mortgage-backed securities in our general account in order to borrow at lower market rates, which exacerbates this risk. Lowering interest crediting rates helps to mitigate the effect of spread compression on some of our products. However, because we are entitled to reset the interest rates on our fixed-rate annuities only at limited, pre-established intervals, and since many of our contracts have guaranteed minimum interest or crediting rates, our spreads could still decrease. As of December 31, 2021, 39% of our annuities business, 85% of our retirement plan services business and 88% of our life insurance business with guaranteed minimum interest or crediting rates were at their guaranteed minimums.
Our expectation for future spreads is an important component in the amortization of DAC and value of business acquired (“VOBA”) as it affects the future profitability of the business. Currently, new money rates are at historically low levels, with the Federal Reserve decreasing the target range for the federal funds rate in March 2020 to a range of 0.00% to 0.25%. Due to the low interest rate environment, in 2019 and 2020 we updated our interest rate assumptions, and, as a result, recorded unfavorable after-tax unlocking during both years. Although we did not record significant unfavorable unlocking during 2021, we cannot give assurance that persistent low interest rates will not result in future unfavorable unlocking. For additional information on interest rate risks, see “Part II - Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk - Interest Rate Risk.”
Generally, a decline in market interest rates could also reduce our return on investments that do not support particular policy obligations. During periods of sustained lower interest rates, like the one we are experiencing currently, our recorded policy liabilities may not be sufficient to meet future policy obligations and may need to be strengthened, thereby reducing net income in the affected reporting period. Accordingly, declining interest rates or sustained low-interest rates may materially affect our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows and significantly reduce our profitability. In addition, a decline in or sustained period of low market interest rates may make it more challenging for us to pass certain asset adequacy tests related to statutory reserves, given the required conservatism of some of the regulations with which we must comply. To meet these requirements, we may be required to post asset adequacy reserves, which, depending on the size of the reserve, could materially affect our financial results.
Increases in market interest rates may also negatively affect our profitability. In periods of rapidly increasing interest rates, we may not be able to replace the assets in our general account with higher yielding assets needed to fund the higher crediting rates necessary to keep our interest-sensitive products competitive. We, therefore, may have to accept a lower spread and thus lower profitability or face a decline in sales and greater loss of existing contracts and related assets. Increases in interest rates may cause increased surrenders and withdrawals of insurance products. In periods of increasing interest rates, policy loans and surrenders and withdrawals of life insurance policies and annuity contracts may increase as contract holders seek to buy products with perceived higher returns. This process may lead to a flow of cash out of our businesses. These outflows may require investments to be sold at a time when the prices of those assets are lower because of the increase in market interest rates, which may result in realized investment losses. A sudden demand among consumers to change product types or withdraw funds could lead us to sell assets at a loss to meet the demand for funds. Furthermore, unanticipated increases in withdrawals and termination may cause a change in our DAC and VOBA assets due to a change in future expected profitability, which would reduce net income. An increase in market interest rates could also have a material adverse effect on the value of our investment portfolio, for example, by decreasing the estimated fair values of the fixed-income securities that comprise a substantial portion of our investment portfolio. An increase in interest rates could also result in decreased fee income associated with a decline in the value of variable annuity account balances invested in fixed-income funds.
Because the equity markets and other factors impact the profitability and expected profitability of many of our products, changes in equity markets and other factors may significantly affect our business and profitability.
The fee income that we earn on variable annuities is based primarily upon account values, and the fee income that we earn on VUL insurance policies is partially based upon account values. Because strong equity markets result in higher account values, strong equity markets positively affect our net income through increased fee income. Conversely, a weakening of the equity markets results in lower fee income and may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and capital resources.
The increased fee income resulting from strong equity markets increases the estimated gross profits (“EGPs”) from variable insurance products. As a result, higher EGPs may result in lower net amortized costs related to DAC, deferred sales inducements (“DSI”), VOBA, deferred front-end loads (“DFEL”) and changes in future contract benefits. However, a decrease in the equity markets, depending upon the significance, may result in higher net amortized costs associated with DAC, DSI, VOBA, DFEL and changes in future contract benefits and may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and capital resources.
Changes in the equity markets, interest rates and/or volatility affect the profitability of our products with guaranteed benefits; therefore, such changes may have a material adverse effect on our business and profitability.
Certain of our variable annuity and fixed indexed annuity products include optional guaranteed benefit riders. These include GDB (variable annuity only), GWB and GIB riders. Both the level of expected payments and expected total assessments used in calculating the benefit reserves are affected by the equity markets. The liabilities related to fair value are impacted by changes in equity markets, interest rates, volatility, foreign exchange rates and credit spreads. Accordingly, strong equity markets, increases in interest rates and decreases in volatility will generally decrease the reserves calculated using fair value. Conversely, a decrease in the equity markets along with a decrease in interest rates and an increase in volatility will generally result in an increase in the reserves calculated using fair value.
Increases in reserves would result in a charge to our earnings in the quarter in which the increase occurs. Our guaranteed benefit obligations are reinsured by both LNBAR and third-party reinsurance counterparties on either a modified coinsurance or coinsurance basis.
We remain liable for the guaranteed benefits in the event that the reinsurance counterparties are unable or unwilling to pay, resulting in a reduction to net income. These, individually or collectively, may have a material adverse effect on net income, financial condition or liquidity.
Legislative, Regulatory and Tax
Our businesses are heavily regulated and changes in regulation and in supervisory and enforcement policies may affect our capital requirements, reduce our profitability, limit our growth or otherwise adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
We are subject to extensive supervision and regulation in the states in which we do business. The insurance departments of the domiciliary states exercise principal regulatory jurisdiction over us. The extent of regulation by the states varies, but, in general, most jurisdictions have laws and regulations governing standards, adequacy of reserves, reinsurance, capital adequacy, licensing of companies and agents to transact business, prescribing and approving policy forms, regulating premium rates for some lines of business, prescribing the form and content of statutory financial statements and reports, regulating the type and amount of investments permitted, and standards of business conduct. In addition, state insurance holding company laws impose restrictions on certain inter-company transactions and limitations on the amount of dividends that we can pay.
State insurance regulators and the NAIC regularly re-examine existing laws and regulations applicable to insurance companies and their products. Changes in these laws and regulations, or in interpretations thereof, sometimes lead to changes in business practices or additional expense, statutory reserves and/or RBC requirements for the insurer and, thus, could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. For example, the NAIC is considering modifications to the economic scenario generator used to calculate life and annuity reserves according to the Valuation Manual (e.g. VM-20 and VM-21) and the required capital for these life and annuity contracts, as well as certain fixed annuity and single premium life insurance products, which could affect the level and volatility of statutory reserves and required capital for products in scope. The economic scenarios are a key input in the statutory reserve and required capital calculations for certain products, such as variable annuities. If the NAIC adopts an economic scenario generator that produces scenarios with characteristics that differ significantly from what the current economic scenario generator prescribed in these calculations would produce under the same circumstances, this could have a significant impact on the statutory reserves and required capital for products in scope upon adoption as well as affect how the statutory reserves and required capital for these products respond to changes in market conditions. We are monitoring all potential changes and evaluating the potential impact they could have on our product offerings and financial condition and results of operations. See “Item 1. Business - Regulatory - Insurance Regulation” for a discussion of additional changes under consideration and recent changes implemented by the NAIC, including changes to principles-based reserving and changes to actuarial guidelines, and the impact of such changes on our business.
Although we endeavor to maintain all required licenses and approvals, our businesses may not fully comply with the wide variety of applicable laws and regulations or the relevant authority’s interpretation of the laws and regulations, which may change from time to time.
Also, regulatory authorities have relatively broad discretion to grant, renew or revoke licenses and approvals. If we do not have the requisite licenses and approvals or do not comply with applicable regulatory requirements, the insurance regulatory authorities could preclude or temporarily suspend us from carrying on some or all of our activities or impose substantial fines. Further, insurance regulatory authorities have relatively broad discretion to issue orders of supervision, which permit such authorities to supervise the business and operations of an insurance company. As of December 31, 2021, no state insurance regulatory authority had imposed on us any material fines or revoked or suspended any of our licenses to conduct insurance business in any state or issued an order of supervision with respect to either LLANY or us that would have a material adverse effect on our results of operations or financial condition.
Compliance with existing and emerging privacy regulations could result in increased compliance costs and/or lead to changes in business practices and policies, and any failure to protect the confidentiality of consumer and client information could adversely affect our reputation and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Complying with the numerous privacy laws and regulations to which we are subject and other existing, emerging and changing privacy requirements could cause us to incur substantial costs or require us to change our business practices and policies. Non-compliance could result in monetary penalties or significant legal liability. For more information, see “Item 1. Business - Regulatory - Privacy Regulations.”
Many of the employees and associates who conduct our business have access to, and routinely process, personal information of clients through a variety of media, including information technology systems. We rely on various internal processes and controls to protect the confidentiality of consumer and client information that is accessible to, or in the possession of, our employees and our associates, including service providers, distribution partners, independent agents and others. It is possible that an employee or associate could, intentionally or unintentionally, disclose or misappropriate confidential consumer or client information or our data could be the subject of a cybersecurity attack. State and federal laws and regulations also require us to disclose our data collection and sharing practices to our consumers and customers and to provide certain consumers and customers with access to certain pieces of their personal information. We rely on various internal processes and associates to report our practices accurately and to respond appropriately to consumer and customer requests. We cannot predict what, if any, actions from U.S. state and federal regulators may be taken if we fail to maintain these processes or if we or our associates fail to comply with our policies or procedures. If we or our associates fail to comply with applicable processes, policies, procedures and controls, misappropriation or intentional or unintentional inappropriate disclosure or misuse of consumer or client information, or violation of applicable state or federal laws, could occur. Such an event could materially damage our reputation or lead to regulatory, civil or criminal investigations and penalties, which, in turn, could have a material impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In addition, we analyze customer data to better manage our business. There has been increased scrutiny, including from U.S. state and federal regulators, regarding the use of “big data” techniques such as price optimization. In August 2020, members of the NAIC unanimously adopted guiding principles on artificial intelligence, to inform and articulate general expectations for businesses, professionals and stakeholders across the insurance industry as they implement artificial intelligence tools to facilitate operations. We cannot predict what, if any, actions may be taken with regard to “big data,” but any inquiries and limitations could have a material impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Federal regulatory actions could result in substantial fines, penalties or prohibitions or restrictions on our business activities and could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.
Our broker-dealer and investment adviser subsidiaries as well as our variable annuities and variable life insurance products, are subject to regulation and supervision by the SEC and FINRA. Applicable laws and regulations generally grant supervisory agencies and self-regulatory organizations broad administrative powers, including the power to limit or restrict the subsidiaries from carrying on their businesses in the event that they fail to comply with such laws and regulations. The foregoing regulatory or governmental bodies, as well as the DOL and others, have the authority to review our products and business practices and those of our agents, advisers, registered representatives, associated persons and employees. In recent years, there has been increased scrutiny of insurance companies and their affiliates by these bodies, which has included more extensive examinations, regular sweep inquiries and more detailed review of disclosure documents. These regulatory or governmental bodies may bring regulatory or other legal actions against us if, in their view, our practices, or those of our agents or employees, are improper. These actions can result in substantial fines, penalties or prohibitions or restrictions on our business activities and could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.
Changes to laws or regulations could adversely affect our distribution model and may result in additional disclosure and other requirements related to the sale and delivery of our products and services, which may adversely affect our business.
In 2019, the SEC approved “Regulation Best Interest,” including a new standard of conduct for broker-dealers under the Exchange Act, which requires a broker-dealer to act in the best interest of a retail customer when making a recommendation of any securities transaction, without putting its financial interests ahead of the interests of a retail customer. Among other things, the final rule includes provisions setting forth certain required disclosures, policies and procedures to identify conflicts of interest, and customer-specific best interest obligations. In addition, the SEC approved the use of a new disclosure document, Form CRS, which is intended to provide retail investors with information about the nature of their relationship with their investment professional and supplements other more detailed disclosures. Regulation Best Interest and Form CRS became effective as of September 10, 2019, with a transition period for compliance
through June 30, 2020, as of which date broker-dealers were required to be compliant. The adoption of Regulation Best Interest has not had a material impact on our business to date.
In June 2020, the DOL proposed a new prohibited transaction exemption, which was finalized in December 2020. The new exemption went into effect on February 16, 2021, and had a transition period for compliance through January 31, 2022. The new exemption allows the payment of compensation to investment advice fiduciaries who comply with the exemption’s requirements and generally tracks the standard set forth in Regulation Best Interest. It is uncertain whether there will be efforts to challenge or revise this rule in the future. In addition, the DOL has indicated in its regulatory agenda that it plans to issue updated guidance on the definition of fiduciary. It is uncertain at this point whether these changes would have a material impact on our business.
In addition to the SEC and DOL rules, the NAIC and several states have either enacted or proposed laws and regulations requiring investment advisers, broker-dealers and/or agents to meet a higher standard of care and provide additional disclosures when providing advice to their clients, resulting in additional requirements related to the sale of our products. For more information on these regulations, see “Item 1. Business - Regulatory - Federal Initiatives - SEC Rules and Other Regulations relating to the Standard of Care Applicable to Investment Advisers and Broker-Dealers.”
Additional disclosure and other requirements could adversely affect our business by causing us to reevaluate or change certain business practices or otherwise. If any revised DOL fiduciary rule or any additional new rules that are implemented are more onerous than Regulation Best Interest, or are not coordinated with Regulation Best Interest, the impact on our business could be substantial. While we continue to monitor and evaluate the various proposals, we cannot predict what other proposals may be made, or what new legislation or regulation may be introduced or become law. Therefore, until such time as final rules or laws are in place, the potential impact on our business is uncertain.
Changes in U.S. federal income tax law could impact our tax costs and the products that we sell.
Changes in tax laws or interpretations of such laws could increase our corporate taxes and negatively impact our results of operations and financial condition. Tax authorities may enact changes in tax law or issue new regulations or other pronouncements that could increase our current tax burden and impose new taxes on our business. Guidance on previously enacted tax law changes could impact our interpretations of existing law and also have an impact on our business.
Currently in the U.S. Congress, tax policy changes are being considered related to the taxation of individuals and corporations. Changes to the individual tax system could affect the attractiveness of the products we sell, impacting our sales, product profitability and financial results. An increase in the marginal corporate tax rate or the reintroduction of a modified corporate minimum tax would negatively impact our earnings and free cash flows and also affect the value of our recorded deferred tax balances.
We continue to monitor and evaluate the various federal tax proposals put forward by the Biden Administration, and also those that are being considered by the various state and local jurisdictions as a direct or indirect result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Until such time that one or more of these proposals are introduced or enacted into law, the specific impact on our business is uncertain.
Legal and regulatory actions are inherent in our businesses and could result in financial losses or harm our businesses.
We are, and in the future may be, subject to legal and regulatory actions in the ordinary course of our business. Pending legal and regulatory actions include proceedings relating to aspects of our businesses and operations that are specific to us and proceedings that are typical of the businesses in which we operate. Some of these legal proceedings have been brought on behalf of various alleged classes of complainants. In certain of these matters, the plaintiffs are seeking large and/or indeterminate amounts, including punitive or exemplary damages. Substantial legal liability in these or future legal or regulatory actions could have a material financial effect or cause significant harm to our reputation, which in turn could materially harm our business prospects. See Note 13 for a description of legal and regulatory proceedings and actions.
Implementation of the provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and European Market Infrastructure Regulation relating to the regulation of derivatives transactions subjects us to margin requirements, the impact of which remains uncertain.
Significant rulemaking across numerous agencies within the federal government has been implemented since the enactment of the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010. The Dodd-Frank Act and corresponding global initiatives, including the European Market Infrastructure Regulation implemented in 2012, imposed significant changes to the regulation of derivatives transactions, which we use to mitigate many types of risk in our business. Significantly, swap documentation and processing requirements continue to change in light of rules for margining uncleared swaps. As we post and collect initial margin in compliance with requirements that began in September 2021, we continue to evaluate the ways we are required to manage our derivatives trading and the attendant liquidity requirements. We may not see the full impact of the implementation of these requirements until 2022, when we anticipate most of our derivatives will be in-scope for initial margin posting and collecting. In addition, our Europe-based swap providers may be subject to additional margin requirements with respect to equity options beginning in 2024, which may require us to post and collect additional initial margin. Until the application of initial margin requirements is complete, the impact of these provisions on liquidity and capital resources remains uncertain.
Changes in accounting standards issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board or other standard-setting bodies may adversely affect our financial statements.
Our financial statements are prepared in accordance with GAAP as identified in the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards CodificationTM (“ASC”). From time to time, we are required to adopt new or revised accounting standards or guidance that are incorporated into the FASB ASC. It is possible that future accounting standards we are required to adopt could change the current accounting treatment that we apply to our consolidated financial statements and that such changes could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
Specifically, in August 2018, the FASB released Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2018-12, Targeted Improvements to the Accounting for Long-Duration Contracts, which will result in significant changes to how we account for and report our insurance contracts (both in-force and new business), including updating assumptions used to measure the liability for future policy benefits for traditional and limited-payment contracts, measurement of market risk benefits and amortization of deferred acquisition costs (“DAC”) and DAC-like intangibles. These changes have and will continue to impose special demands on us in the areas of employee training, internal controls and disclosure and may affect how we manage our business, including business processes such as design of compensation plans, contract fulfillment, product design, etc. We will report results under the new accounting method as of the January 1, 2023, effective date. We are currently evaluating the impact of adopting this ASU on our consolidated financial condition and results of operations and will be able to better assess the effects as we progress with our implementation efforts. This ASU will significantly change the way we account for many of our existing and new insurance and annuity products and could potentially have an adverse impact to our stockholder’s equity, profit emergence and financial ratios. While we anticipate this impact may be material, the magnitude of the impact is significantly dependent on the interest rate environment at the time of implementation. See Note 2 for more information.
We are subject to SAP. Any changes in the method of calculating reserves for our life insurance and annuity products under SAP may result in increased reserve requirements.
The NAIC also adopts changes to its regulations from time to time, which, depending on the scope of the change, could materially our financial condition and results of operations. See “Item 1. Business - Regulatory - Insurance Regulation.”
Liquidity and Capital Position
Adverse capital and credit market conditions may affect our ability to meet liquidity needs, access to capital and cost of capital.
In the event that our current sources of liquidity do not satisfy our needs, we may have to seek additional financing. The availability of additional financing will depend on a variety of factors such as market conditions, the general availability of credit, the volume of trading activities, the overall availability of credit to the financial services industry, our credit capacity, as well as the possibility that customers or lenders could develop a negative perception of our long- or short-term financial prospects if we incur large investment losses or if the level of our business activity decreases due to a market downturn. Similarly, our access to funds may be impaired if regulatory authorities or rating agencies take negative actions against us. Our internal sources of liquidity may prove to be insufficient, and in such case, we may not be able to successfully obtain additional financing on favorable terms, or at all.
Disruptions, uncertainty or volatility in the capital and credit markets may also limit our access to capital required to operate our business, most significantly our insurance operations. Such market conditions may limit our ability to replace, in a timely manner, maturing liabilities; satisfy statutory capital requirements; generate fee income and market-related revenue to meet liquidity needs; and access the capital necessary to grow our business. As such, we may be forced to delay raising capital, issue shorter term securities than we prefer or bear an unattractive cost of capital which could decrease our profitability and significantly reduce our financial flexibility. Our results of operations, financial condition, cash flows and statutory capital position could be materially adversely affected by disruptions in the financial markets.
A decrease in our capital and surplus may result in a downgrade to our insurer financial strength ratings.
In any particular year, statutory surplus amounts and RBC ratios may increase or decrease depending on a variety of factors, including the amount of statutory income or losses generated by us and LLANY (which itself is sensitive to equity market and credit market conditions), the amount of additional capital we or LLANY must hold to support business growth, changes in reserving requirements, such as principles-based reserving, our inability to obtain reserve relief, changes in equity market levels, the value of certain fixed-income and equity securities in our investment portfolio, the value of certain derivative instruments that do not get hedge accounting treatment, changes in interest rates and foreign currency exchange rates, as well as changes to the NAIC RBC formulas. The RBC ratio is also affected by the product mix of the in-force book of business (i.e., the amount of business without guarantees is not subject to the same level of reserves as the business with guarantees). Most of these factors are outside of our control. Our insurer financial strength ratings are significantly influenced by our statutory surplus amounts and RBC ratios. Our RBC ratio is an important factor in the determination of the credit and financial strength ratings of LNC. In addition, rating agencies may implement changes to their internal models that have the effect of increasing or decreasing the amount of statutory capital we must hold in order to maintain our current ratings. In extreme scenarios of equity market declines, the amount of additional statutory reserves that we are required to hold for our VUL insurance
guarantees and variable annuity guarantees may increase at a rate greater than the rate of change of the markets. Increases in reserves reduce the statutory surplus used in calculating our RBC ratios. To the extent that our statutory capital resources are deemed to be insufficient to maintain a particular rating by one or more rating agencies, we may seek to raise additional capital through debt financing, which may be on terms not as favorable as in the past.
Alternatively, if we were not to raise additional capital in such a scenario, either at our discretion or because we were unable to do so, our financial strength ratings might be downgraded by one or more rating agencies. For more information on risks regarding our ratings, see “Covenants and Ratings - A downgrade in our financial strength ratings could limit our ability to market products, increase the number or value of policies being surrendered and/or hurt our relationships with creditors” below.
An inability to access our credit facilities could result in a reduction in our liquidity and lead to downgrades in our financial strength ratings.
We rely on credit facilities as a potential source of liquidity. We also use credit facilities as a potential backstop to provide statutory reserve credit. While our variable annuity hedge assets supporting the funds withheld reinsurance liability have normally exceeded the ceded statutory reserves, in certain stressed market conditions, it is possible that the hedge assets supporting the funds withheld reinsurance liability could be less than the ceded statutory reserve. The credit facility is available to provide reserve credit to us in such a case. If we were unable to access the facility in such circumstances, it could materially impact our capital position. The availability of these facilities could be critical to our financial strength ratings and our ability to meet our obligations as they come due in a market when alternative sources of credit are tight. See “Liquidity and Capital Resources - Sources and Uses of Liquidity and Capital” in the MNA and Note 12.
In addition, our failure to comply with the covenants in the credit facilities or fulfill the conditions to borrowings, or the failure of lenders to fund their lending commitments (whether due to insolvency, illiquidity or other reasons) in the amounts provided for under the terms of the facilities, would restrict our ability to access these credit facilities when needed and, consequently, could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
Assumptions and Estimates
As a result of changes in assumptions, estimates and methods in calculating reserves, our reserves for future policy benefits and claims related to our current and future business as well as businesses we may acquire in the future may prove to be inadequate.
We establish and carry, as a liability, reserves based on estimates of how much we will need to pay for future benefits and claims. For our insurance products, we calculate these reserves based on many assumptions and estimates, including, but not limited to, estimated premiums we will receive over the assumed life of the policies, the timing of the events covered by the insurance policies, the lapse rate of the policies, the amount of benefits or claims to be paid and the investment returns on the assets we purchase with the premiums we receive.
The sensitivity of our statutory reserves and surplus established for our variable universal life contracts and variable annuity base contracts and riders to changes in the equity markets will vary depending on the magnitude of the decline. The sensitivity will be affected by the level of account values relative to the level of guaranteed amounts, product design and reinsurance. Statutory reserves for variable annuities depend upon the cumulative equity market impacts on the business in force, and therefore, result in non-linear relationships with respect to the level of equity market performance within any reporting period.
The assumptions and estimates we use in connection with establishing and carrying our reserves are inherently uncertain. Accordingly, we cannot determine with precision the ultimate amount or the timing of the payment of actual benefits and claims or whether the assets supporting the policy liabilities will grow to the level we assume prior to payment of benefits or claims. If our actual experience is different from our assumptions or estimates, our reserves may prove to be inadequate in relation to our estimated future benefits and claims, which would adversely affect our financial position and results of operations. In addition, increases in reserves have a negative effect on income from operations in the quarter incurred.
We may be required to recognize an impairment of our goodwill or to establish a valuation allowance against our deferred income tax assets.
If our businesses do not perform well and/or their estimated fair values decline or the price of LNC’s common stock does not increase, we may be required to recognize an impairment of our goodwill or to establish a valuation allowance against the deferred income tax asset, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. For example, during the fourth quarter of 2017, we recorded goodwill impairment of $905 million related to our Life Insurance segment. Future reviews of goodwill could result in an impairment of goodwill, and such write-downs could have a material adverse effect on our net income and book value, although they would not affect our statutory capital. As of December 31, 2021, we had a total of $1.8 billion of goodwill on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. For more information on goodwill, see “Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates - Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets” in the MNA and Note 9.
As of December 31, 2021, we had a deferred tax asset of $4.1 billion. If, based on available information, including about the performance of a business and its ability to generate future capital gains, we determine that it is more likely than not that the deferred income tax asset
will not be realized, then a valuation allowance must be established with a corresponding charge to net income. Such valuation allowance could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. For more information on our deferred income tax assets, see Note 6.
The determination of the amount of allowance for credit losses and impairments taken on our investments is highly subjective and could materially impact our results of operations or financial condition.
The determination of the amount of allowances and impairments varies by investment type and is based upon our periodic evaluation and assessment of known and inherent risks associated with the respective asset class. Such evaluations and assessments are revised as conditions change and new information becomes available. Management updates its evaluations regularly and reflects changes in allowances and impairments in operations as such evaluations are revised. There can be no assurance that our management has accurately assessed the level of impairments taken and allowances reflected in our financial statements. Furthermore, additional impairments may need to be taken or allowances provided for in the future. Historical trends may not be indicative of future impairments or allowances.
With respect to unrealized losses, we establish deferred tax assets for the tax benefit we may receive in the event that losses are realized. The realization of significant realized losses could result in an inability to recover the tax benefits and may result in the establishment of valuation allowances against our deferred tax assets. Realized losses or impairments may have a material adverse impact on our results of operations and financial condition. See “Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates - Investments” in the MNA for additional information.
Changes to our valuation of investments and our methodologies, estimations and assumptions could harm our results of operations or financial condition.
During periods of market disruption or rapidly-changing market conditions, such as significantly rising or high interest rates, rapidly widening credit spreads or illiquidity, or infrequent trading, or when market data is limited, our investments may become less liquid and we may base our valuations on less-observable and more subjective inputs, assumptions, or methods that may result in estimated fair values that significantly vary by period, and may exceed the investment’s sale price. Decreases in the estimated fair value of our securities may harm our results of operations or financial condition. See “Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates - Investments” in the MNA for additional information.
Significant adverse mortality experience may result in the loss of, or higher prices for, reinsurance, which could adversely affect our profitability.
We reinsure a portion of the mortality risk on fully underwritten, newly issued, individual life insurance contracts. We regularly review retention limits for continued appropriateness, and they may be changed in the future. In the event that we experience adverse mortality or morbidity experience, a significant portion of that is reimbursed by our reinsurers. Prolonged or severe adverse mortality or morbidity experience could result in increased reinsurance costs and, ultimately, reinsurers being unwilling to offer future coverage. If we are unable to maintain our current level of reinsurance or obtain new reinsurance protection at comparable rates to what we are paying currently, we may have to accept an increase in our net exposures or revise our pricing to reflect higher reinsurance premiums or both. If this were to occur, we may be exposed to reduced profitability and cash flow strain or we may not be able to price new business at competitive rates.
Catastrophes have impacted, and may in the future, adversely impact liabilities for contract holder claims.
Our insurance operations are exposed to the risk of catastrophic mortality, such as a pandemic, an act of terrorism, natural disaster or other event that causes a large number of deaths or injuries, such as the COVID-19 pandemic that emerged during the first quarter of 2020. Neither the length nor severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, nor the likelihood, timing or severity of a future pandemic or other catastrophe, can be predicted. Additionally, the impact of climate change has caused, and may continue to cause, changes in weather patterns, resulting in more severe and more frequent natural disasters such as forest fires, hurricanes, tornados, floods and storm surges. In our group insurance operations, an event that affects the workplace of one or more of our group insurance customers, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, could cause a significant loss due to mortality or morbidity claims. During 2020 and 2021, we experienced a significant increase in mortality and morbidity claims associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, which negatively impacted our earnings for these years, as discussed further in “Introduction” in the MNA. The continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic, or future pandemics or other catastrophic events could cause a material adverse effect on our results of operations in any period and, depending on their severity, could also materially and adversely affect our financial condition.
The extent of losses from a catastrophe is a function of both the total amount of insured exposure in the area affected by the event and the severity of the event. Pandemics, natural disasters and man-made catastrophes, including terrorism, may produce significant damage in larger areas, especially those that are heavily populated. Claims resulting from natural or man-made catastrophic events could cause substantial volatility in our financial results for any fiscal quarter or year and could materially reduce our profitability or harm our financial condition. Also, catastrophic events could harm the financial condition of our reinsurers and thereby increase the probability of default on reinsurance recoveries. Accordingly, our ability to write new business could also be affected.
Consistent with industry practice and accounting standards, we establish liabilities for claims arising from a catastrophe only after assessing the probable losses arising from the event. We cannot be certain that the liabilities we have established or applicable
reinsurance will be adequate to cover actual claim liabilities, and a catastrophic event or multiple catastrophic events could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Operational Matters
We may not realize or sustain all of the benefits we expect from the Spark Initiative, our investments associated with the initiative could be greater than expected, and our efforts with respect to the initiative may result in disruption of our businesses or distraction of our management and employees, which could have a material effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In November 2021, LNC formally communicated our new expense savings initiative, the Spark Initiative, focused on driving efficiencies throughout all aspects of our business, from leveraging automation to simplifying and improving process efficiency. In addition, this program is targeting benefits beyond cost savings, including improving the way we work by focusing on reskilling and upskilling our valuable employee base. The multi-year program will require significant investment and resource prioritization. If we do not successfully manage and execute the Spark Initiative, or if the program is inadequate or ineffective, we may not achieve all of the cost savings we expect from the initiative, or projected savings may be delayed or not sustained. In addition, our investments related to the program may be greater than expected, and the work we are undertaking with respect to the initiative could result in disruption of our business or distraction of our management and employees. If any of these risks occur, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially affected.
Our enterprise risk management policies and procedures may leave us exposed to unidentified or unanticipated risk, which could negatively affect our businesses or result in losses.
Our policies and procedures to identify, monitor and manage risks may not be fully effective. Many of our methods of managing risk and exposures are based upon our use of observed historical market behavior or statistics based on historical models. As a result, these methods may not predict future exposures, which could be significantly greater than the historical measures indicate, such as the risk of pandemics causing a large number of deaths. Other risk management methods depend upon the evaluation of information regarding markets, clients, catastrophe occurrence or other matters that is publicly available or otherwise accessible to us, which may not always be accurate, complete, up-to-date or properly evaluated. Management of operational, legal and regulatory risks requires, among other things, policies and procedures to record properly and verify a large number of transactions and events, and these policies and procedures may not be fully effective.
We face risks of non-collectability of reinsurance and increased reinsurance rates, which could materially affect our results of operations.
We follow the insurance practice of reinsuring with other insurance and reinsurance companies a portion of the risks under the policies written by us and LLANY (known as “ceding”). As of December 31, 2021, we ceded $789.6 billion of life insurance in force to reinsurers for reinsurance protection. Although reinsurance does not discharge us from our primary obligation to pay contract holders for losses insured under the policies we issue, reinsurance does make the assuming reinsurer liable to us or LLANY for the reinsured portion of the risk. As of December 31, 2021, we had $22.8 billion of reinsurance receivables from reinsurers for paid and unpaid losses, for which they are obligated to reimburse us under our reinsurance contracts. Of this amount, $10.7 billion related to reinsurance agreements entered into with Protective in May 2018, providing for the reinsurance and administration of the Liberty Life Business sold to Protective in connection with the Liberty acquisition, $2.9 billion related to reinsurance agreements entered into with LNBAR, and $4.7 billion related to the agreement entered into with Resolution Life in September 2021 for the reinsurance of liabilities under a block of in-force executive benefit and universal life policies in our Life Insurance business. The balance of the reinsurance is due from a diverse group of reinsurers. In addition, our modified coinsurance agreement with Athene to reinsure fixed annuity products resulted in a $5.0 billion deposit asset as of December 31, 2021. For more information regarding our reinsurance arrangements and exposure, see “Reinsurance” in the MNA and Note 8.
The collectability of reinsurance is largely a function of the solvency of the individual reinsurers. We perform due diligence on our reinsurers, including, but not limited to, a review of creditworthiness prior to entering into any reinsurance transaction, and we review our reinsurers on an ongoing basis to monitor credit ratings. To support balances due and allow reserve credit when reinsurance is obtained from reinsurers not authorized to transact business in the applicable jurisdictions, we also require assets in trust, LOCs or other acceptable collateral. Despite these measures, the insolvency, inability or unwillingness to make payments under the terms of a reinsurance contract by a large reinsurer or multiple reinsurers could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
Reinsurers also may attempt to increase rates with respect to our existing reinsurance arrangements. The ability of our reinsurers to increase rates depends upon the terms of each reinsurance contract. Some of our reinsurance contracts contain provisions that limit the reinsurer’s ability to increase rates on in-force business. An increase in reinsurance rates may affect the profitability of our insurance business. Additionally, such a rate increase could result in our recapture of the business, which may result in a need for additional reserves and increase our exposure to claims. In recent years, we have faced a number of rate increase actions on in-force business, and reinsurers have initiated, and may in the future initiate, legal proceedings against us. Our management of these rate increase actions and the outcomes of legal proceedings have not to date had a material effect on our results of operations or financial condition, but we can
make, no assurance regarding the impact of future rate increase actions or outcomes of legal proceedings. See Note 13 for a description of reinsurance related actions.
Competition for our employees is intense, and we may not be able to attract and retain the highly skilled people we need to support our business.
Our success depends, in large part, on our ability to attract and retain qualified employees. Intense competition exists for employees with demonstrated ability, and the competition for talent has increased during 2021 due to pent-up demand, stimulus-induced growth and quicker-than-expected economic improvement. In addition, opportunities to work remotely have expanded the reach of recruiters and options for employees. As a result of this competition, we may be unable to hire or retain the qualified employees we need to support our business. Further, the unexpected loss of services of one or more of our key employees could have a material adverse effect on our operations due to their skills, knowledge of our business, their years of industry experience and the potential difficulty of promptly finding qualified replacement employees. We compete with other financial institutions primarily on the basis of our products, compensation, support services and financial condition. Sales in our businesses and our results of operations and financial condition could be materially adversely affected if we are unsuccessful in attracting and retaining employees, including financial advisers, wholesalers and other employees, as well as independent distributors of our products.
We may not be able to protect our intellectual property and may be subject to infringement claims.
We may have to litigate to enforce and protect our intellectual property, which represents a diversion of resources that may be significant and may not prove successful. The loss of intellectual property protection or the inability to secure or enforce the protection of our intellectual property assets could have a material adverse effect on our business and our ability to compete.
We also may be subject to costly litigation in the event that another party alleges our operations or activities infringe upon another party’s intellectual property rights. If we were found to have infringed a third-party patent or other intellectual property rights, we could incur substantial liability, and in some circumstances could be enjoined from providing certain products or services to our customers, or alternatively could be required to enter into costly licensing arrangements with third parties, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Our information systems may experience interruptions, breaches in security and/or a failure of disaster recovery systems that could result in a loss or disclosure of confidential information, damage to our reputation, impairment of our ability to conduct business effectively and increased expense.
Our information systems are critical to the operation of our business. We collect, process, maintain, retain and distribute large amounts of personal financial and health information and other confidential and sensitive data about our customers in the ordinary course of our business. Our business therefore depends on our customers’ willingness to entrust us with their personal information. Any failure, interruption or breach in security could result in disruptions to our critical systems and adversely affect our customer relationships.
Publicly reported cyber-security threats and incidents have increased over recent periods, including a proliferation of ransomware attacks. Although our computer systems have in the past been, and will likely in the future be, subject to or targets of unauthorized or fraudulent access, to date, we have not had a material security breach. While we employ a robust and tested information security program, the preventative actions we take to reduce the incidence and severity of cyber incidents and protect our information technology may be insufficient to prevent physical and electronic break-ins, cyberattacks, including ransomware and malware attacks, compromised credentials, fraud, other security breaches or other unauthorized access to our computer systems, and, given the increasing sophistication of cyberattacks, in some cases, such incidents could occur and persist for an extended period of time without detection. As a result, there can be no assurance that any such failure, interruption or security breach will not occur or, if any does occur, that it will be detected in a timely manner or that it can be sufficiently remediated. Such an occurrence may impede or interrupt our business operations, adversely affect our reputation or lead to increased expense, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In the event of a disaster such as a natural catastrophe, epidemic, industrial accident, blackout, computer virus, terrorist attack, cyberattack or war, unanticipated problems with our disaster recovery systems could have a material adverse impact on our ability to conduct business and on our results of operations and financial condition, particularly if those problems affect our computer-based data processing, transmission, storage and retrieval systems and destroy valuable data. In addition, in the event that a significant number of our managers were unavailable following a disaster, our ability to effectively conduct business could be severely compromised. These interruptions also may interfere with our suppliers’ ability to provide goods and services and our employees’ ability to perform their job responsibilities.
The failure of our computer systems and/or our disaster recovery plans for any reason could cause significant interruptions in our operations and result in a failure to maintain the security, confidentiality or privacy of sensitive data, including personal information relating to our customers. The occurrence of any such failure, interruption or security breach of our systems could damage our reputation, result in a loss of customer business, subject us to additional regulatory scrutiny, or expose us to civil litigation and financial liability. Depending on the nature of the information compromised, in the event of a data breach or other unauthorized access to our customer data, we may also have obligations to notify affected individuals about the incident, and we may need to provide some form of remedy, such as a subscription to a credit monitoring service, for the individuals affected by the incident. For more information, see
“Legislative, Regulatory and Tax - State Regulation - Compliance with existing and emerging privacy regulations could result in increased compliance costs and/or lead to changes in business practices and policies, and any failure to protect the confidentiality of client information could adversely affect our reputation and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.”
Although we conduct due diligence, negotiate contractual provisions and, in many cases, conduct periodic reviews of our vendors, distributors, and other third parties that provide operational or information technology services to us to confirm compliance with our information security standards, the failure of such third parties’ computer systems and/or their disaster recovery plans for any reason might cause significant interruptions in our operations and result in a failure to maintain the security, confidentiality or privacy of sensitive data, including personal information relating to our customers. Such a failure could harm our reputation, subject us to regulatory sanctions and legal claims, lead to a loss of customers and revenues and otherwise adversely affect our business and financial results. Finally, our cyber liability insurance may not be sufficient to protect us against all losses resulting from any cyberattack or other interruption, breach in security or failure of our disaster recovery systems.
Acquisitions of businesses may not produce anticipated benefits resulting in operating difficulties, unforeseen liabilities or asset impairments, which may adversely affect our operating results and financial condition.
Once completed, an acquired business may not perform as projected, expense and revenue synergies may not materialize as expected and costs associated with the integration may be greater than anticipated. Our financial results could be adversely affected by unanticipated performance issues, unforeseen liabilities, transaction-related charges, diversion of management time and resources to acquisition integration challenges or growth strategies, loss of key employees or customers, amortization of expenses related to intangibles, charges for impairment of long-term assets or goodwill and indemnifications. Factors such as receiving the required governmental or regulatory approvals to merge the acquired entity, delays in implementation or completion of transition activities or a disruption to our or the acquired entity’s business could impact our results.
Covenants and Ratings
A downgrade in our financial strength ratings could limit our ability to market products, increase the number or value of policies being surrendered and/or hurt our relationships with creditors.
A downgrade of the financial strength rating of us or LLANY could affect our competitive position in the insurance industry by making it more difficult for us to market our products, as potential customers may select companies with higher financial strength ratings, and by leading to increased withdrawals by current customers seeking companies with higher financial strength ratings. This could lead to a decrease in fees as net outflows of assets increase, and therefore, result in lower fee income and lower spread income. Furthermore, sales of assets to meet customer withdrawal demands could also result in losses, depending on market conditions.
All of our ratings are on outlook stable except for the ratings assigned by S&P, which are on outlook negative. All of our ratings are subject to revision or withdrawal at any time by the rating agencies, and therefore, no assurance can be given that we can maintain these ratings. See “Item 1. Business - Financial Strength Ratings” and “Sources and Uses of Liquidity and Capital” in the MNA for a description of our ratings.
Certain blocks of our insurance business purchased from third-party insurers under indemnity reinsurance agreements may require us to place assets in trust, secure letters of credit or return the business, if the financial strength ratings and/or capital ratios of us or LLANY are not maintained at specified levels.
Under certain indemnity reinsurance agreements, we and LLANY provide 100% indemnity reinsurance for the business assumed; however, the third-party insurer, or the “cedent,” remains primarily liable on the underlying insurance business. Under these types of agreements, as of December 31, 2021, we held statutory reserves of $4.6 billion. These indemnity reinsurance arrangements require that we, as the reinsurer, maintain certain insurer financial strength ratings and capital ratios. If these ratings or capital ratios are not maintained, depending upon the reinsurance agreement, the cedent may recapture the business, or require us to place assets in trust or provide LOCs at least equal to the relevant statutory reserves. See “Item 1. Business - Reinsurance” for a discussion of the indemnity reinsurance arrangements and the financial strength ratings and/or capital ratios that are required to be maintained under such arrangements. As of December 31, 2021, our and LLANY’s financial strength ratings and RBC ratios exceeded the ratings and ratios required under each agreement. See “Item 1. Business - Financial Strength Ratings” for a description of our financial strength ratings.
If the cedent recaptured the business, we and LLANY would be required to release reserves and transfer assets to the cedent. Such a recapture could adversely impact our future profits. Alternatively, if we and LLANY established a security trust for the cedent, the ability to transfer assets out of the trust could be severely restricted, thus negatively impacting our liquidity.
Investments
We may have difficulty selling certain holdings in our investment portfolio in a timely manner and realizing full value.
We hold certain investments that may lack liquidity, such as privately placed securities, mortgage loans on real estate, policy loans, limited partnership interests and other investments. These asset classes represented 29% of the carrying value of our total investments as of December 31, 2021. If we require significant amounts of cash on short notice in excess of normal cash requirements or are required to post or return collateral in connection with our investment portfolio, derivatives transactions or securities lending activities, we may have difficulty selling these investments in a timely manner, be forced to sell them for less than we otherwise would have been able to realize, or both.
The reported value of our relatively illiquid types of investments, our investments in the asset classes described in the paragraph above and, at times, our high quality, generally liquid asset classes, do not necessarily reflect the lowest current market price for the asset. If we were forced to sell certain of our assets in the current market, there can be no assurance that we would be able to sell them for the prices at which we have recorded them, and we might be forced to sell them at significantly lower prices.
The amount and timing of income from certain investments can be uneven, and their valuations infrequent or volatile, which can impact the amount of income we record or lead to lower than expected returns, and thereby adversely impact our earnings.
We invest a portion of our investments in investment funds, many of which make private equity investments. The amount and timing of income from such investment funds tends to be uneven as a result of the performance of the underlying investments, including private equity investments. The timing of distributions from the funds, which depends on particular events relating to the underlying investments, as well as the funds’ schedules for making distributions and their needs for cash, can be difficult to predict. In addition, because these funds, and private equity investments, do not trade on public markets and indications of realizable market value may not be readily available, valuations can be infrequent and/or more volatile. As a result, the amount of income that we record from these investments can vary substantially from quarter to quarter, and a sudden or sustained decline in the markets or valuation of one or more substantial investments could result in lower than expected returns earned by our investment portfolio and thereby adversely impact our earnings.
Defaults on our mortgage loans and write-downs of mortgage equity may adversely affect our profitability.
Our mortgage loans face default risk and are principally collateralized by commercial properties. The performance of our mortgage loan investments may fluctuate in the future. In addition, some of our mortgage loan investments have balloon payment maturities. An increase in the default rate of our mortgage loan investments could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Further, any geographic or sector exposure in our mortgage loans may have adverse effects on our investment portfolios and consequently on our consolidated results of operations or financial condition. While we seek to mitigate this risk by having a broadly diversified portfolio, events or developments that have a negative effect on any particular geographic region or sector may have a greater adverse effect on the investment portfolios to the extent that the portfolios are exposed.
The difficulties faced by other financial institutions could adversely affect us.
We have exposure to many different industries and counterparties, and routinely execute transactions with counterparties in the financial services industry, including brokers and dealers, commercial banks, investment banks and other institutions. Many of these transactions expose us to credit risk in the event of default of our counterparty. In addition, with respect to secured transactions, our credit risk may be exacerbated when the collateral held by us cannot be realized or is liquidated at prices not sufficient to recover the full amount of the related loan or derivative exposure. We also may have exposure to these financial institutions in the form of unsecured debt instruments, derivative transactions and/or equity investments. These parties may default on their obligations to us due to bankruptcy, lack of liquidity, downturns in the economy or real estate values, operational failure, corporate governance issues or other reasons. A downturn in the U.S. or other economies could result in increased impairments. There can be no assurance that any such losses or impairments to the carrying value of these assets would not materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.
Our requirements to post collateral or make payments related to declines in market value of specified assets may adversely affect our liquidity and expose us to counterparty credit risk.
Many of our transactions with financial and other institutions, including settling futures positions, specify the circumstances under which the parties are required to post collateral. The amount of collateral we may be required to post under these agreements may increase under certain circumstances, which could adversely affect our liquidity. In addition, under the terms of some of our transactions, we may be required to make payments to our counterparties related to any decline in the market value of the specified assets.
The elimination of LIBOR may affect the value of certain derivatives and floating rate securities we hold.
In July 2017, the Chief Executive of the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (the “FCA”), which regulates LIBOR, announced that the FCA will no longer persuade or compel banks to submit rates for the calculation of LIBOR after 2021. On March 5, 2021, the FCA
announced that all LIBOR settings will either cease to be provided by any benchmark administrator, or no longer be representative (a) immediately after December 31, 2021, in the case of the 1-week and 2-month U.S. dollar settings; and (b) immediately after June 30, 2023, in the case of the remaining U.S. dollar settings. Since the initial announcement in 2017, we have been monitoring developments, determining how our hedging strategies, asset portfolio, liabilities, systems and operations may be affected by the transition and taking actions to prepare for the transition to a post-LIBOR environment. Although we have taken actions to mitigate many of the potential risks, the transition to alternative reference rates may still adversely affect the value of certain derivatives and floating rate securities we hold. The ultimate effect of the discontinuation of LIBOR on new or existing financial instruments, liabilities or operational processes will vary depending on a number of factors, including the fallback provisions in contracts; adoption of replacement language in contracts where such language is currently absent; potential changes in spreads causing valuation changes; treatment of hedge effectiveness; and impacts on our models and systems. See Note 2 for additional information on reference rate reform.
Competition
Intense competition could negatively affect our ability to maintain or increase our profitability.
Our businesses are intensely competitive. We compete based on a number of factors, including name recognition, service, the quality of investment advice, investment performance, product features, price and perceived financial strength and claims-paying ratings. Our competitors include insurers, broker-dealers, investment advisers, asset managers, hedge funds and other financial institutions. A number of our business units face competitors that have greater market share, offer a broader range of products or have higher financial strength ratings than we do. In recent years, there has been consolidation and convergence among companies in the financial services industry resulting in increased competition from large, well-capitalized financial services firms. Many of these firms also have been able to increase their distribution systems through mergers or contractual arrangements. Furthermore, larger competitors may have lower operating costs and an ability to absorb greater risk while maintaining their financial strength ratings, thereby allowing them to price their products more competitively. Our customers and clients may engage other financial service providers, and the resulting loss of business may harm our results of operations or financial condition.
Our sales representatives are not captive and may sell products of our competitors.
We sell our annuity and life insurance products through independent sales representatives. These representatives are not captive, which means they may also sell our competitors’ products. If our competitors offer products that are more attractive than ours, or pay higher commission rates to the sales representatives than we do, these representatives may concentrate their efforts in selling our competitors’ products instead of ours.

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ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
Item 1B. U nresolved Staff Comments
None.

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ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
Item 2. Pr operties
Our principal executive office is located in Fort Wayne, Indiana. As of December 31, 2021, LNL and our subsidiaries owned or leased approximately 2.5 million square feet of office and other space. Space that is owned or leased includes office space in: (i) Fort Wayne, Indiana, primarily for our Annuities and Retirement Plan Services segments; (ii) Greensboro, North Carolina, primarily for our Life Insurance segment; and (iii) Omaha, Nebraska; Atlanta, Georgia; and Dover, New Hampshire, primarily for our Group Protection segment. A subsidiary of our Parent Company leased space in: (i) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which includes space for LFN; and (ii) Radnor, Pennsylvania, for the corporate center and for LFD. Additional office space is owned or leased in other U.S. cities for branch offices. This discussion regarding properties does not include information on field offices and investment properties.

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ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
Item 3. Le gal Proceedings
For information regarding legal proceedings, see “Regulatory and Litigation Matters” in Note 13, which is incorporated herein by reference.

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ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURE
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures
Not applicable.
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PART II

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ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY
Item 5. M arket for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
(a) Stock Market and Dividend Information
All of our outstanding common stock is owned by LNC. There is no established public trading market for our common stock. For discussion regarding The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company’s payment of dividends and restrictions on dividends, see Notes 14 and 19 in the accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements presented in “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
During the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, we paid dividends to LNC of $1.9 billion and $660 million, respectively. We expect that we could pay dividends to LNC of approximately $840 million in 2022 without prior approval from the state commissioner.
(b) Not Applicable
(c) Not Applicable

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ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
Item 6. [Reserved]

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ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
Item 7. Ma nagement’s Narrative Analysis of the Results of Operations
Page
Forward-Looking Statements - Cautionary Language
Introduction
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
Results of Consolidated Operations
Results of Annuities
Results of Retirement Plan Services
Results of Life Insurance
Results of Group Protection
Results of Other Operations
Realized Gain (Loss)
Reinsurance
Liquidity and Capital Resources
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The following Management’s Narrative Analysis of the Results of Operations (“MNA”) is intended to help the reader understand the financial condition as of December 31, 2021, compared with December 31, 2020, and the results of operations in 2021 compared to 2020 of The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company (“LNL”) and its consolidated subsidiaries. Discussions of 2019 items and year-to-year comparisons between 2020 and 2019 that are not included in this Form 10-K can be found in “Part II - Item 7. Management’s Narrative Analysis of the Results of Operations” in our 2020 Form 10-K. Unless otherwise stated or the context otherwise requires, “LNL,” “Company,” “we,” “our” or “us” refers to The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company and its consolidated subsidiaries. LNL is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lincoln National Corporation (“LNC”).
See “Part I - Item 1. Business” and Note 1 for a description of the business.
In this report, in addition to providing consolidated revenues and net income (loss), we also provide segment operating revenues and income (loss) from operations because we believe they are meaningful measures of revenues and the profitability of our operating segments. Operating revenues and income (loss) from operations are the financial performance measures we use to evaluate and assess the results of our segments. Accordingly, we define and report operating revenues and income (loss) from operations by segment in Note 21. Our management believes that operating revenues and income (loss) from operations explain the results of our ongoing businesses in a manner that allows for a better understanding of the underlying trends in our current businesses. Certain items are excluded from operating revenue and income (loss) from operations because they are unpredictable and not necessarily indicative of current operating fundamentals or future performance of the business segments, and, in many instances, decisions regarding these items do not necessarily relate to the operations of the individual segments. In addition, we believe that our definitions of operating revenues and income (loss) from operations will provide readers with a more valuable measure of our performance because it better reveals trends in our business.
The MNA is provided as a supplement to, and should be read in conjunction with, our consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements (“Notes”) presented in “Part II - Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data,” as well as “Part I - Item 1A. Risk Factors” above.
Management’s narrative analysis is presented pursuant to General Instruction I(2)(a) of Form 10-K in lieu of Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
FORW ARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS - CAUTIONARY LANGUAGE
Certain statements made in this report and in other written or oral statements made by us or on our behalf are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (“PSLRA”). A forward-looking statement is a statement that is not a historical fact and, without limitation, includes any statement that may predict, forecast, indicate or imply future results, performance or achievements. Forward-looking statements may contain words like: “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “project,” “shall,” “will” and other words or phrases with similar meaning in connection with a discussion of future operating or financial performance. In particular, these include statements relating to future actions, trends in our businesses, prospective services or products, future performance or financial results and the outcome of contingencies, such as legal proceedings. We claim the protection afforded by the safe harbor for forward-looking statements provided by the PSLRA.
Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors, including:
The continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic, or future outbreaks of COVID-19, and uncertainty surrounding the length and severity of future impacts on the global economy and on our business, results of operations and financial condition;
Further deterioration in general economic and business conditions that may affect account values, investment results and claims experience;
Adverse global capital and credit market conditions that may affect our ability to raise capital, if necessary, and may cause us to realize impairments on investments;
Legislative, regulatory or tax changes that affect the cost of, or demand for, our products or our ability to conduct business;
The impact of U.S. federal tax reform legislation on our business, earnings and capital;
The impact of Regulation Best Interest or other regulations adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), the Department of Labor or other federal or state regulators or self-regulatory organizations relating to the standard of care owed by investment advisers and/or broker-dealers that could affect our distribution model;
Actions taken by reinsurers to raise rates on in-force business;
Further declines in or sustained low interest rates causing a reduction in investment income, the interest margins of our businesses, and demand for our products;
Rapidly increasing interest rates causing contract holders to surrender life insurance and annuity policies, thereby causing realized investment losses, and reduced hedge performance related to variable annuities;
The impact of the implementation of the provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act relating to the regulation of derivatives transactions;
The initiation of legal or regulatory proceedings against us, and the outcome of any legal or regulatory proceedings, such as: adverse actions related to present or past business practices common in businesses in which we compete; adverse decisions in significant
actions including, but not limited to, actions brought by federal and state authorities and class action cases; new decisions that result in changes in law; and unexpected trial court rulings;
A decline or continued volatility in the equity markets causing a reduction in the sales of our products; a reduction of asset-based fees that we charge on various investment and insurance products; and an increase in liabilities related to guaranteed benefit features of our variable annuity products;
Changes in our assumptions related to deferred acquisition costs (“DAC”) or value of business acquired (“VOBA”);
Ineffectiveness of our risk management policies and procedures;
A deviation in actual experience regarding future persistency, mortality, morbidity, interest rates or equity market returns from the assumptions used in pricing our products;
Changes in accounting principles that may affect our business, results of operations and financial condition, including the pending implementation of Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2018-12, Targeted Improvements to the Accounting for Long-Duration Contracts;
Lowering of one or more of our financial strength ratings;
Interruption in telecommunication, information technology or other operational systems or failure to safeguard the confidentiality or privacy of sensitive data on such systems, including from cyberattacks or other breaches of our data security systems;
The inability to realize or sustain the benefits we expect from, greater than expected investments in, and the potential impact of efforts related to, our strategic initiatives, including the Spark Initiative;
The adequacy and collectability of reinsurance that we have obtained;
Future pandemics, acts of terrorism, war or other man-made and natural catastrophes that may adversely affect our businesses and the cost and availability of reinsurance;
Competitive conditions, including pricing pressures, new product offerings and the emergence of new competitors, that may affect the level of premiums and fees that we can charge for our products;
The unknown effect on our businesses resulting from evolving market preferences and the changing demographics of our client base; and
The unanticipated loss of key management, financial planners or wholesalers.
The risks and uncertainties included here are not exhaustive. Other sections of this report and other reports that we file with the SEC include additional factors that could affect our businesses and financial performance. Moreover, we operate in a rapidly changing and competitive environment. New risk factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for management to predict all such risk factors.
We do not intend, and are under no obligation, to update any particular forward-looking statement included in this document. See “Part I - Item 1A. Risk Factors” included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for a discussion of certain risks relating to our business.
INT RODUCTION
COVID-19 Pandemic
The health, economic and business conditions precipitated by the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic that emerged in 2020 continued to adversely affect us during 2021 and are expected to continue to adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition in 2022. The COVID-19 pandemic led to an extreme downturn in and volatility of the capital markets in the early part of 2020, record-low interest rates and wide-ranging changes in consumer behavior, including as a result of quarantines, shelter-in-place orders and limitations on business activity. While various treatments and vaccines are now available, COVID-19 variants continue to emerge, which could prolong or lead to increased hospitalization and death rates. We continue to monitor U.S. CDC reports related to COVID-19 and the potential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on our Life Insurance and Group Protection segments. See “Additional Information” within Results of Life Insurance and Results of Group Protection below for expected impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in the first quarter of 2022.
The ultimate impact on our business, results of operations and financial condition depends on the severity and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and related health, economic and business impacts and actions taken by governmental authorities and other third parties in response, each of which is uncertain, rapidly changing and difficult to predict. For more information on the risks related to the COVID-19 pandemic, see “Part I - Item 1A. Risk Factors - Market Conditions - The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have adversely affected and are expected to continue to adversely affect our business and results of operations, and the future impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the company’s business, results of operations and financial condition remain uncertain” above.
Spark and Strategic Digitization Initiatives
In the fourth quarter of 2021, LNC formally communicated its new expense savings initiative, the Spark Initiative, focused on driving efficiencies throughout all aspects of its business, from leveraging automation to simplifying and improving process efficiency. In addition, this program will target benefits beyond cost savings including improving the way we work by focusing on reskilling and upskilling our valuable employee base. Because we have almost completed the investments related to our strategic digitization initiative first announced in 2016, we have integrated the 2021 strategic digitization initiative program amounts and the remainder of the program’s projected amounts into the amounts associated with the Spark Initiative.
For risks related to the Spark Initiative, see “Part I - Item 1A. Risk Factors - Operational Matters - We may not realize or sustain all of the benefits we expect from the Spark Initiative, our investments associated with the initiative could be greater than expected, and our efforts with respect to the initiative may result in disruption of our businesses or distraction of our management and employees, which could have a material effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations” above.
CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND ESTIMATES
We have identified the accounting policies below as critical to the understanding of our results of operations and our financial condition. In applying these critical accounting policies in preparing our financial statements, management must use critical assumptions, estimates and judgments concerning future results or other developments, including the likelihood, timing or amount of one or more future events. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate our assumptions, estimates and judgments based upon historical experience and various other information that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. For a detailed discussion of other significant accounting policies, see Note 1.
DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL
Deferrals
Qualifying deferrable acquisition expenses are recorded as an asset on our Consolidated Balance Sheets as DAC for products we sold during a period or VOBA for books of business we acquired during a period. In addition, we defer costs associated with DSI and revenues associated with DFEL. DSI is an asset included within other assets on our Consolidated Balance Sheets, and when amortized, increases interest credited on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss). DFEL is a liability included within other contract holder funds on our Consolidated Balance Sheets, and when amortized, increases fee income on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss).
We incur certain costs that can be capitalized in the acquisition of insurance contracts. Only those costs incurred that result directly from and are essential to the successful acquisition of new or renewal insurance contracts may be capitalized as deferrable acquisition costs. This determination of deferability must be made on a contract-level basis. Some examples of acquisition costs that are subject to deferral include the following:
Employee, agent or broker commissions;
Wholesaler production bonuses;
Renewal commissions and bonuses to agents or brokers;
Medical and inspection fees;
Premium-related taxes and assessments; and
A portion of the salaries and benefits of certain employees involved in the underwriting, contract issuance and processing, medical and inspection and sales force contract selling functions.
All other acquisition-related costs, including costs incurred by the insurer for soliciting potential customers, market research, training, administration, management of distribution and underwriting functions, unsuccessful acquisition or renewal efforts and product development, are considered non-deferrable acquisition costs and must be expensed in the period incurred.
In addition, the following indirect costs are considered non-deferrable acquisition costs and must be charged to expense in the period incurred:
Administrative costs;
Rent;
Depreciation;
Occupancy costs;
Equipment costs (including data processing equipment dedicated to acquiring insurance contracts);
Trail commissions; and
Other general overhead.
Amortization
For our traditional life insurance and group protection products, we amortize deferrable acquisition costs either on a straight-line basis or as a level percent of premium of the related contracts, depending on the block of business. DAC for variable annuity and deferred fixed annuity contracts and universal life insurance (“UL”) and variable universal life insurance (“VUL”) policies is amortized over the expected lives of the contracts in relation to the incidence of EGPs derived from the contracts.
EGPs vary based on a number of factors, including assumptions about policy persistency, mortality, fee income, investment margins, expense margins and realized gains and losses on investments. When actual gross profits are higher in the period than EGPs, we recognize more amortization than planned. When actual gross profits are lower in the period than EGPs, we recognize less amortization than planned. In a calendar year where the gross profits for a certain group of policies, or “cohorts,” are negative, our actuarial process limits, or floors, the amortization expense offset to zero. For a discussion of the periods over which we amortize our DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL see “DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL” in Note 1.
During the third quarter of each year, we conduct our comprehensive review of the assumptions and projection models used for our EGPs underlying the amortization of DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL that may result in unlocking of assumptions. See “Annual Assumption Review” below for more information.
Reversion to the Mean
Because returns within the variable sub-accounts (“variable funds”) have a significant effect on the value of variable annuity and VUL products and the fees earned on these accounts, EGPs could increase or decrease with movements in variable fund returns. Significant and sustained changes in variable funds have had and could in the future have an effect on DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL amortization primarily within our Annuities and RPS segments, as well as, to a lesser extent, our Life Insurance segment.
As variable fund returns do not move in a systematic manner, we reset the baseline of account values from which EGPs are projected, which we refer to as our reversion to the mean (“RTM”) process. Under our RTM process, future EGPs are projected using stochastic modeling of a large number of market scenarios in conjunction with best estimates of lapse rates, interest rate spreads and mortality rates to develop a statistical distribution of the present value of future EGPs for our variable annuity products. Because variable fund returns are unpredictable, the underlying premise of this process is that best estimate projections of future EGPs need not be affected by random short-term and insignificant deviations from expectations in variable fund returns. However, long-term or significant deviations from expected variable fund returns require a change to best estimate projections of EGPs and unlocking of DAC, VOBA, DSI, DFEL and changes in future contract benefits. The statistical distribution is designed to identify when the deviations from expected returns have become significant enough to warrant a change of the future variable fund growth rate assumption.
As discussed above, stochastic modeling is used to develop a range of reasonably possible future EGPs. We compare the range of the present value of the future EGPs from the stochastic modeling to that used in our amortization model. A set of intervals around the mean of these scenarios is utilized to calculate two separate statistical ranges of reasonably possible EGPs. These intervals are then compared to the present value of the EGPs used in the amortization model. If the present value of EGPs utilized for amortization were to exceed the reasonable range of statistically calculated EGPs, a revision of the EGPs used to calculate amortization would be considered. If a revision is deemed necessary, future EGPs would be re-projected using the current account values at the end of the period during which the revision occurred along with a long-term variable fund growth rate assumption such that the re-projected EGPs would be our best estimate of EGPs.
Our practice is not necessarily to unlock immediately after exceeding the first of the two statistical ranges, but, rather, if we stay between the first and second statistical range for several quarters, we would likely unlock. Additionally, if we exceed the ranges as a result of a short-term market reaction, we would not necessarily unlock. However, if the second statistical range is exceeded for more than one quarter, it is likely that we would unlock. While this approach reduces adjustments to DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL due to short-term fluctuations, significant changes in variable fund returns that extend beyond one or two quarters could result in a significant favorable or unfavorable unlocking. Notwithstanding these intervals, if a severe decline or increase in variable fund values were to occur or should other circumstances suggest that the present value of future EGPs no longer represents our best estimate, we could determine that a revision of the EGPs is necessary.
Our long-term variable fund growth rate assumption, which is used in the determination of DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL amortization for the variable component of our variable annuity and VUL products, is an immediate decrease of approximately 19% followed by growth going forward of 6.5% to 8.25% depending on the block of business and reflecting differences in contract holder fund allocations between fixed-income and equity-type investments. If we had unlocked our RTM assumption as of December 31, 2021, we would have recorded favorable unlocking of approximately $475 million, pre-tax, primarily within our Annuities segment.
Investments
Investments are an integral part of our operations, and we invest in fixed maturity securities that are primarily classified as AFS and carried at fair value with the difference from amortized cost due to factors other than credit loss included in stockholder’s equity as a
component of AOCI. The difference between amortized cost and fair value due to credit loss impairment is recognized in realized gain (loss) on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss). We also invest in equity securities that are carried at fair value with changes in fair value recognized in realized gain (loss).
Investment Valuation
Our measurement of fair value is based on assumptions used by market participants in pricing the asset or liability, which may include inherent risk, restrictions on the sale or use of an asset or NPR, which would include our own credit risk. Our estimate of an exchange price is the price in an orderly transaction between market participants to sell the asset or transfer the liability (“exit price”) in the principal market, or the most advantageous market in the absence of a principal market, for that asset or liability, as opposed to the price that would be paid to acquire the asset or receive a liability (“entry price”). We categorize our financial instruments carried at fair value into a three-level fair value hierarchy, based on the priority of inputs to the respective valuation technique. The three-level hierarchy for fair value measurement is defined in Note 1.
For the categories and associated fair value of our fixed maturity AFS securities classified within Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, see Notes 1 and 20.
Our investments are valued using the appropriate market inputs based on the investment type, and include benchmark yields, reported trades, broker-dealer quotes, issuer spreads, two-sided markets, benchmark securities, bids, offers and reference data. In addition, market indicators and industry and economic events are monitored, and further market data is acquired if certain triggers are met. We incorporate the issuer’s credit rating and a risk premium, if warranted, given the issuer’s industry and the security’s time to maturity. We use an internationally recognized pricing service as our primary pricing source, and we do not adjust prices received from third parties or obtain multiple prices when measuring the fair value of our investments. We generally use prices from the pricing service rather than broker quotes because we have documentation from the pricing service on the observable market inputs they use, as compared to the limited information on the pricing inputs from broker quotes. For private placement securities, we use pricing matrices that utilize observable pricing inputs of similar public securities and Treasury yields as inputs to the fair value measurement. It is possible that different valuation techniques and models, other than those described above, could produce materially different estimates of fair value.
When the volume and level of activity for an asset or liability has significantly decreased in relation to normal market activity for the asset or liability, we believe that the market is not active. Activities that may indicate a market is not active include fewer recent transactions in the market, price quotations that lack current information and/or vary substantially over time or among market makers, limited public information, uncorrelated indexes with recent fair values of assets and abnormally wide bid-ask spread. As of December 31, 2021, we evaluated the markets that our securities trade in and concluded that none were inactive. We will continue to re-evaluate this conclusion, as needed, based on market conditions.
We use unobservable inputs to measure the fair value of securities trading in less liquid or illiquid markets with limited or no pricing information. We obtain broker quotes for securities such as synthetic convertibles, index-linked certificates of deposit and collateralized debt obligations when sufficient security structure or other market information is not available to produce an evaluation. For broker-quoted only securities, non-binding quotes from market makers or broker-dealers are obtained from sources recognized as market participants. Broker-quoted securities are based solely on receipt of updated quotes from a single market maker or a broker-dealer recognized as a market participant. Our broker-quoted only securities are generally classified as Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy.
In order to validate the pricing information and broker quotes, we employ, where possible, procedures that include comparisons with similar observable positions, comparisons with subsequent sales and observations of general market movements for those security classes. Our primary third-party pricing service has policies and processes to ensure that it is using objectively verifiable observable market data. The pricing service regularly reviews the evaluation inputs for securities covered, including broker quotes, executed trades and credit information, as applicable. If the pricing service determines it does not have sufficient objectively verifiable information about a security’s valuation, it discontinues providing a valuation for the security. The pricing service regularly publishes and updates a summary of inputs used in its valuations by major security type. In addition, we have policies and procedures in place to review the process that is utilized by the third-party pricing service and the output that is provided to us by the pricing service. On a periodic basis, we test the pricing for a sample of securities to evaluate the inputs and assumptions used by the pricing service, and we perform a comparison of the pricing service output to an alternative pricing source. In addition, we check prices provided by our primary pricing service to ensure that they are not stale or unreasonable by reviewing the prices for unusual changes from period to period based on certain parameters or for lack of change from one period to the next. If such anomalies in the pricing are observed, we may use pricing information from another pricing source.
Valuation of Alternative Investments
Recognition of investment income on alternative investments is delayed due to the availability of the related financial statements, which are generally obtained from the partnerships’ general partners, as our venture capital, real estate and oil and gas portfolios are generally reported to us on a three-month delay, and our hedge funds are reported to us on a one-month delay. In addition, the effect of annual audit adjustments related to completion of calendar-year financial statement audits of the investees are typically received during the first or second quarter of each calendar year. Accordingly, our investment income from alternative investments for any calendar year period
may not include the complete effect of the change in the underlying net assets for the partnership for that calendar year period. Recorded audit adjustments affect our investment income on alternative investments in the period that the adjustments are recorded.
Measurement of Allowances for Credit Losses and Recognition of Impairments
We regularly review our fixed maturity AFS securities for declines in fair value that we determine to be impairment-related. Realized gains and losses generally originate from asset sales to reposition the portfolio or to respond to product experience. In the process of evaluating whether a security with an unrealized loss reflects declines that are related to credit losses, we consider our ability and intent to sell the security prior to a recovery of value. However, subsequent decisions on securities sales are made within the context of overall risk monitoring, assessing value relative to other comparable securities and overall portfolio maintenance. Although our portfolio managers may, at a given point in time, believe that the preferred course of action is to hold securities with unrealized losses attributable to factors other than credit loss until such losses are recovered, the dynamic nature of portfolio management may result in a subsequent decision to sell. These subsequent decisions are consistent with the classification of our investment portfolio as AFS. We expect to continue to manage all non-trading investments within our portfolios in a manner that is consistent with the AFS classification.
We consider economic factors and circumstances within industries and countries where recent impairments have occurred in our assessment of the position of securities we own of similarly situated issuers. While it is possible for realized or unrealized losses on a particular investment to affect other investments, our risk management strategy has been designed to identify correlation risks and other risks inherent in managing an investment portfolio. Once identified, strategies and procedures are developed to effectively monitor and manage these risks. The areas of risk correlation that we pay particular attention to are risks that may be correlated within specific financial and business markets, risks within specific industries and risks associated with related parties. When the detailed analysis by our external asset managers and investment portfolio managers leads us to the conclusion that a security’s decline in fair value is due to credit loss, a credit loss allowance is recorded. In instances where declines are related to factors other than credit loss, the security will continue to be carefully monitored.
There are risks and uncertainties associated with determining whether an investment shows indications of impairment. These include subsequent significant changes in general overall economic conditions, as well as specific business conditions affecting particular issuers, future financial market effects such as interest rate spreads, stability of foreign governments and economies, future rating agency actions and significant accounting, fraud or corporate governance issues that may adversely affect certain investments. In addition, there are often significant estimates and assumptions that we use to estimate the fair values of securities as described in “Investment Valuation” above. We continually monitor developments and update underlying assumptions and financial models based upon new information.
For certain securitized fixed maturity AFS securities with contractual cash flows, including asset-backed securities (“ABS”), we use our best estimate of cash flows for the life of the security to determine whether it is credit impaired. In addition, we review for other indicators of impairment as required by the Investments - Debt and Equity Securities Topic of the FASB Accounting Standards CodificationTM (“ASC”).
Write-downs on real estate and other investments are experienced when the estimated value of the asset is deemed to be less than the carrying value. Write-downs and allowance for credit losses for commercial mortgage loans are established when the estimated value of the asset is deemed to be less than the carrying value. All commercial mortgage loans that are impaired are individually reviewed to determine an appropriate credit loss allowance. Changing economic conditions affect our valuation of commercial mortgage loans. Increasing vacancies, declining rents and the like are incorporated into the allowance for credit losses analysis that we perform for monitored loans and may contribute to an increase in the allowance for credit losses. In addition, we continue to monitor the entire commercial mortgage loan portfolio to identify both current and projected future risk based on reasonable and supportable forecasts. Areas of emphasis include properties that have deteriorating credits or have experienced debt-service coverage and/or loan-to-value reduction. Where warranted, we have established or increased our allowance for credit losses based upon this analysis.
We have also established an allowance for credit losses on our residential mortgage loan portfolio that includes a specific credit loss allowance for loans that are deemed to be impaired as well as an allowance for credit losses for pools of loans with similar risk characteristics. The allowance for credit losses for the performing population of loans is based on historical performance for similar loans, as well as projected future losses based on modeling, which includes reasonable and supportable forecasts. The historical data utilized in the allowance for credit losses calculation process is adjusted for current economic conditions.
Amortization of DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL and changes in other contract holder funds reflect an assumption for an expected level of credit-related investment losses. When actual credit-related investment losses are realized, we recognize a true-up to our DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL amortization and changes in other contract holder funds within realized losses reflecting the incremental effect of actual versus expected credit-related investment losses. These actual to expected amortization adjustments could create volatility in net realized gains and losses.
Derivatives
Derivatives are primarily used for hedging purposes. We hedge certain portions of our exposure to interest rate risk, default risk, basis risk, equity market risk, credit risk and foreign currency exchange risk by entering into derivative transactions. We also purchase and issue financial instruments that contain embedded derivative instruments. See “Future Contract Benefits” and “Other Contract Holder Funds” below for information on embedded derivatives. Assessing the effectiveness of these hedging programs and evaluating the carrying values of the related derivatives often involve a variety of assumptions and estimates.
We carry our derivative instruments at fair value, which we determine through valuation techniques or models that use market data inputs or independent broker quotations. The fair values fluctuate from period to period due to the volatility of the valuation inputs, including but not limited to swap interest rates, interest and equity volatility and equity index levels, foreign currency forward and spot rates, credit spreads and correlations, some of which are significantly affected by economic conditions. The effect to revenue is reported in realized gain (loss) and such amount along with the associated federal income taxes is excluded from income (loss) from operations of our segments.
For more information on derivatives, see Notes 1 and 5. For more information on market exposures associated with our derivatives, including sensitivities, see “Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.”
Future Contract Benefits
Reserves
Reserves are the amounts that, with the additional premiums to be received and interest thereon compounded annually at certain assumed rates, are calculated to be sufficient to meet the various policy and contract obligations as they mature. Generally, the reserves in excess of account value are reported within future contract benefits on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. Establishing adequate reserves for our obligations to contract holders requires assumptions to be made that are intended to represent an estimation of experience for the period that policy benefits are payable. If actual experience is better than or equal to the assumptions, then reserves should be adequate to provide for future benefits and expenses. If experience is worse than the assumptions, additional reserves may be required. Significant assumptions include mortality rates, morbidity, policy persistency and interest rates. We periodically review our experience and update our policy reserves for new issues and reserve for all claims incurred, as we believe appropriate.
GLB
We have certain GLB variable annuity products with GWB and GIB features that are embedded derivatives. Certain features of these guarantees have elements of both insurance benefits accounted for under the Financial Services - Insurance - Claim Costs and Liabilities for Future Policy Benefits Subtopic of the FASB ASC (“benefit reserves”) and embedded derivative reserves. We calculate the value of the embedded derivative reserve and the benefit reserve based on the specific characteristics of each GLB feature. Through our hybrid accounting approach, for reserve calculation purposes we assign product cash flows to the embedded derivative or insurance portion of the reserves based on the life-contingent nature of the benefits. We report the insurance portion of the reserves in future contract benefits with the embedded derivative reported in either other assets or other liabilities. During the third quarter of each year, we conduct our comprehensive review of the assumptions and projection models underlying our reserves and embedded derivatives. See “Annual Assumption Review” below for more information. These embedded derivatives are valued based on a stochastic projection of scenarios of the embedded derivative cash flows. The scenario assumptions, at each valuation date, are those we view to be appropriate for a hypothetical market participant and include assumptions for capital markets, actuarial lapse, benefit utilization, mortality, risk margin, administrative expenses and a margin for profit. In addition, an NPR component is determined at each valuation date that reflects our risk of not fulfilling the obligations of the underlying liability. The spread for the NPR is added to the discount rates used in determining the fair value from the net cash flows. We believe these assumptions are consistent with those that would be used by a market participant; however, as the related markets develop, we will continue to reassess our assumptions. These embedded derivatives are carried at fair value and are all classified as Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy. It is possible that different valuation techniques and assumptions could produce a materially different estimate of fair value. Changes in the fair value of these embedded derivatives result primarily from changes in market conditions. For more information, see Notes 1 and 20.
These GLB features are reinsured among various reinsurance counterparties on either a modified coinsurance or coinsurance basis. We cede a portion of the GLB features to Lincoln National Reinsurance Company (Barbados) Limited (“LNBAR”) on a funds withheld basis. The funds withheld arrangement includes a dynamic hedging strategy designed to mitigate selected risk. This dynamic hedging strategy utilizes options and total return swaps on U.S.-based equity indices, and futures on U.S.-based and international equity indices, as well as interest rate futures, interest rate swaps and currency futures. The notional amounts of the underlying hedge instruments are such that the magnitude of the change in the value of the hedge instruments due to changes in equity markets, interest rates and implied volatilities is designed to offset the magnitude of the change in the GLB embedded derivative reserves and benefit reserves assumed by LNBAR caused by changes in equity markets, as well as the change in GLB embedded derivative reserves caused by changes in interest rates and implied volatilities.
As part of the current hedging program, equity market, interest rate and market-implied volatility conditions are monitored on a daily basis. The hedge positions are rebalanced based upon changes in these factors as needed. While we actively manage the hedge positions, these positions may not completely offset changes in the fair value of embedded derivative reserves and benefit reserves caused by movements in these factors due to, among other things, differences in timing between when a market exposure changes and corresponding changes to the hedge positions, extreme swings in the equity markets, interest rates and market-implied volatilities, realized market volatility, contract holder behavior, divergence between the performance of the underlying funds and the hedging indices, divergence between the actual and expected performance of the hedge instruments or our ability to purchase hedging instruments at prices consistent with the desired risk and return trade-off. The hedging results do not impact LNL due to the funds withheld arrangement with LNBAR, which causes the financial impact of the derivatives, as well as the cash flow activity, to be reflected on LNBAR.
GDB
The reserves related to the GDB features available in our variable annuity products are based on the application of a “benefit ratio” (the present value of total expected benefit payments over the life of the contract divided by the present value of total expected assessments over the life of the contract) to total variable annuity assessments received in the period. The level and direction of the change in reserves will vary over time based on the emergence of the benefit ratio and the level of assessments associated with the variable annuity. These reserves are reported within future contract benefits on our Consolidated Balance Sheets with the change reported in benefits in our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss). The change in the liability for a period is the benefit ratio multiplied by the assessments recorded for the period less GDB claims paid in the period plus interest. As experience or assumption changes result in a change in expected benefit payments or assessments, the benefit ratio is unlocked or, in other words, recalculated using the updated expected benefit payments and assessments over the life of the contract since inception. During the third quarter of each year, we conduct our comprehensive review of the assumptions and projection models used in estimating these reserves and unlock assumptions similar to the DAC discussion above. We may have unlocking in other quarters as we become aware of information that warrants updating assumptions outside of our comprehensive review. We may also identify and implement actuarial modeling refinements that result in increases or decreases to the carrying values of these reserves. See “Annual Assumption Review” below for more information.
These GDB features are reinsured with LNBAR on a funds withheld coinsurance basis.
Within the funds withheld arrangement, a delta hedging strategy is utilized for variable annuity products with a GDB feature, which uses futures and total return swaps on equity market indices to hedge against movements in equity markets. The hedging strategy is designed to hedge LNBAR’s exposure to earnings volatility that results from equity market driven changes in the reserve for GDB contracts. The hedging results do not impact LNL due to the funds withheld arrangement with LNBAR, which causes the financial impact of the derivatives, as well as the cash flow activity, to be reflected on LNBAR.
UL Products with Secondary Guarantees
We issue UL-type contracts where we provide a secondary guarantee to the contract holder. The policy can remain in force, even if the base policy account value is zero, as long as contractual secondary guarantee requirements have been met. The reserves related to UL products with secondary guarantees are based on the application of a benefit ratio the same as our GDB features, which are discussed above. These secondary guarantees are reported within future contract benefits on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. The level and direction of the change in reserves will vary over time based on the emergence of the benefit ratio and the level of assessments associated with the contracts. During the third quarter of each year, we conduct our comprehensive review of the assumptions and projection models used in estimating these reserves and unlock assumptions similar to the DAC discussion above. We may have unlocking in other quarters as we become aware of information that warrants updating assumptions outside of our comprehensive review. We may also identify and implement actuarial modeling refinements that result in increases or decreases to the carrying values of these reserves. See “Annual Assumption Review” below for more information.
Liability for Unpaid Claims
Future contract benefits include reserves for long-term life and disability claims associated with our Group Protection segment. These reserves are based on assumptions as to interest, claim resolution rates and offsets for other insurance including social security. Claim resolution rate assumptions and social security offsets are based on our actual experience. The interest rate assumption used for
discounting long-term claim reserves is an important part of the reserving process due to the long benefit period for these claims. The interest rate assumptions used for discounting claim reserves are based on projected portfolio yield rates, after consideration for defaults and investment expenses, for assets supporting the liabilities. Our long-term disability reserves are discounted using rates ranging from 2.5% to 5.0 % and vary by year of claim incurral. During the third quarter of each year, we conduct our comprehensive review of the assumptions and reserving models used in calculating these reserves. We may also identify and implement actuarial modeling refinements that result in increases or decreases to the carrying values of these reserves. See “Annual Assumption Review” below for more information.
Other Contract Holder Funds
Other contract holder funds includes account balances on UL and VUL insurance and investment-type annuity products where account balances are equal to deposits plus interest credited less withdrawals, surrender charges, asset-based fees and contract administration charges, as well as amounts representing the fair value of embedded derivative instruments associated with our IUL and indexed annuity products. During the third quarter of each year, we conduct our comprehensive review of the assumptions and projection models underlying our reserves and embedded derivatives. We may have unlocking in other quarters as we become aware of information that warrants updating assumptions outside of our comprehensive review. See “Annual Assumption Review” below for more information.
Our indexed annuity and IUL contracts permit the holder to elect a fixed interest rate return or a return where interest credited to the contracts is linked to the performance of the S&P 500® Index or other indices. The value of the variable portion of the contract holder’s account balance varies with the performance of the underlying variable funds chosen by the contract holder. Contract holders may elect to rebalance among the various accounts within the product at renewal dates. At the end of each indexed term, which can be up to six years, we have the opportunity to re-price the indexed component by establishing different participation rates, caps, spreads or specified rates, subject to contractual guarantees. We purchase and sell index options that are highly correlated to the portfolio allocation decisions of our contract holders, such that we are economically hedged with respect to equity returns for the current reset period. The mark-to-market of the options held generally offsets the change in value of the embedded derivative within the contract, both of which are recorded as a component of realized gain (loss) on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss). The Derivatives and Hedging and the Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures Topics of the FASB ASC require that we calculate fair values of index options we may purchase or sell in the future to hedge contract holder index allocations in future reset periods. These fair values represent an estimate of the cost of the options we will purchase or sell in the future, discounted back to the date of the balance sheet, using current market indicators of volatility and interest rates. Changes in the fair values of these liabilities are included as a component of realized gain (loss) on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss). For information on our index benefits hedging results, see our discussion in “Realized Gain (Loss)” below.
Annual Assumption Review
Details underlying the effect to net income (loss) from our annual assumption review (in millions) were as follows:
For the Years Ended December 31,
Income (loss) from operations:
Annuities
$
$
(10
)
$
(54
)
Retirement Plan Services
-
(3
)
-
Life Insurance
(51
)
(426
)
(299
)
Group Protection
(3
)
Excluded realized gain (loss)
(11
)
$
$
-
Net income (loss)
$
(28
)
$
(421
)
$
(343
)
The impacts of our annual assumption review were driven primarily by the following:
 For Annuities, favorable unlocking was driven by updates to expense and policyholder behavior assumptions, partially offset by unfavorable updates to interest rate assumptions.
For Life Insurance, unfavorable unlocking was driven by updates to policyholder behavior and interest rate assumptions, partially offset by favorable updates to investment allocation assumptions.
For Group Protection, favorable updates to long term disability termination rate assumptions, partially offset by unfavorable updates to interest rate assumptions.
For excluded realized gain (loss), unfavorable unlocking was driven by updates to policyholder behavior assumptions, partially offset by favorable updates to other items.
As part of our annual assumption review in the third quarter of 2020, we updated our interest rate assumptions. These updates included lowering starting new money rates to reflect the current interest rate environment and reducing our long-term new money investment yield assumption by 50 basis points, resulting in an ultimate long-term assumption of 3.0% for a 10-year U.S. Treasury. As a result of these updates, we recorded unfavorable after-tax unlocking of $351 million for Life Insurance, $46 million for Annuities and $7 million for Retirement Plan Services.
For Annuities, unfavorable unlocking was driven by updates to interest rate assumptions, partially offset by favorable updates to policyholder behavior assumptions and other items.
For Retirement Plan Services, unfavorable unlocking was driven by updates to interest rate assumptions, partially offset by favorable updates to expense assumptions and other items.
For Life Insurance, unfavorable unlocking was driven by updates to interest rate and policyholder behavior assumptions.
For Group Protection, unfavorable updates to interest rate assumptions, partially offset by favorable updates to long term disability termination rate assumptions.
For excluded realized gain (loss), favorable unlocking was driven by updates to reserves for fixed and indexed annuities, partially offset by unfavorable updates to policyholder behavior assumptions.
Long-Term New Money Investment Yield Sensitivity
New money rates continue to be at low levels and, as a result, require careful analysis when forecasting the future direction of changes in rates. If we change our view of future new money rates and lower our current long-term new money investment yield assumption, then, assuming that all other assumptions remain constant, we estimate the impact of lowering this assumption by 50 basis points would be approximately $(160) million to income (loss) from operations due primarily to unlocking our DAC and VOBA assets. This impact would be most pronounced in our Life Insurance segment. The actual impact of a 50 basis point decline in the yield would be based upon a number of factors existing at the time of the assumption update, and, therefore, the actual amount of the loss may differ from our current estimate. In addition, lower investment margins may also impact the recoverability of intangible assets such as goodwill, require the establishment of additional liabilities or trigger loss recognition events on certain policyholder liabilities. For more information on our interest rate risk, see “II - Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk - Interest Rate Risk.”
Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets
Goodwill and intangible assets with indefinite lives are not amortized, but are reviewed for impairment annually as of October 1 and more frequently if an event occurs or circumstances change that would more likely than not reduce the fair value of a reporting unit below its carrying value. Intangibles that do not have indefinite lives are amortized over their estimated useful lives. We perform a quantitative goodwill impairment test where the fair value of the reporting unit is determined and compared to the carrying value of the reporting unit. If the carrying value of the reporting unit exceeds the reporting unit’s fair value, goodwill is impaired and written down to the reporting unit’s fair value. The results of one test on one reporting unit cannot subsidize the results of another reporting unit.
For the purposes of the evaluation of the carrying value of goodwill, our reporting units (Annuities, Retirement Plan Services, Life Insurance and Group Protection) correspond with our reporting segments.
The fair values of our reporting units are comprised of the value of in-force (i.e., existing) business and the value of new business. Specifically, new business is representative of cash flows and profitability associated with policies or contracts we expect to issue in the future, reflecting our forecasts of future sales volume and product mix over a 10-year period. To determine the values of in-force and new business, we use a discounted cash flows technique that applies a discount rate reflecting the market expected, weighted-average rate of return adjusted for the risk factors associated with operations to the projected future cash flows for each reporting unit.
As of October 1, 2021 and 2020, we performed our annual quantitative goodwill impairment test for our reporting units, and, as of each such date, the fair value was in excess of each reporting unit’s carrying value for Annuities, Retirement Plan Services, Life Insurance and Group Protection.
We apply significant judgment when determining the estimated fair value of our reporting units. Factors that can influence the value of goodwill include the capital markets, competitive landscape, regulatory environment, consumer confidence and any items that can directly or indirectly affect new business future cash flows. Factors that could affect production levels and profitability of new business include mix of new business, pricing changes, customer acceptance of our products and distribution strength. Spread compression and related effects to profitability caused by lower interest rates affect the valuation of in-force business more significantly than the valuation of new business, as new business pricing assumptions reflect the current and anticipated future interest rate environment. Estimates of fair value are inherently uncertain and represent only management’s reasonable expectation regarding future developments.
Examples of unfavorable changes to assumptions or factors that could result in future impairment include, but are not limited to, the following:
Lower expectations for future sales levels or future sales profitability;
Higher discount rates on new business assumptions;
Weakened expectations for the ability to execute future reserve financing transactions for life insurance business over the long-term or expectations for significant increases in the associated costs;
Legislative, regulatory or tax changes that affect the cost of, or demand for, our subsidiaries’ products, the required amount of reserves and/or surplus, or otherwise affect our ability to conduct business, including changes to statutory reserve requirements or changes to risk-based capital (“RBC”) requirements; and
Valuations of significant mergers or acquisitions of companies or blocks of business that would provide relevant market-based inputs for our impairment assessment that could support less favorable conclusions regarding the estimated fair value of our reporting units.
Refer to Note 9 for goodwill and specifically identifiable intangible assets by segment.
Income Taxes
Management uses certain assumptions and estimates in determining the income taxes payable or refundable for the current year, the deferred income tax liabilities and assets for items recognized differently in its financial statements from amounts shown on its income tax returns and the federal income tax expense. Determining these amounts requires analysis and interpretation of current tax laws and regulations. Management exercises considerable judgment in evaluating the amount and timing of recognition of the resulting income tax liabilities and assets. These judgments and estimates are re-evaluated on a continual basis as regulatory and business factors change. Legislative changes to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, modifications or new regulations, administrative rulings, or court decisions could increase or decrease our effective tax rate.
The application of GAAP requires us to evaluate the recoverability of our deferred tax assets and establish a valuation allowance, if necessary, to reduce our deferred tax asset to an amount that is more likely than not to be realizable. Considerable judgment and the use of estimates are required in determining whether a valuation allowance is necessary, and if so, the amount of such valuation allowance. In evaluating the need for a valuation allowance, we consider many factors, including: the nature and character of the deferred tax assets and liabilities; taxable income in prior carryback years; future reversals of existing temporary differences; the length of time carryovers can be utilized; and any tax planning strategies we would employ to avoid a tax benefit from expiring unused. Although realization is not assured, management believes it is more likely than not that the deferred tax assets, including our net operating loss deferred tax asset, will be realized. For additional information on our income taxes, see Note 6.
RESUL TS OF CONSOLIDATED OPERATIONS
Details underlying the consolidated results (in millions) were as follows:
For the Years Ended December 31,
Net Income (Loss)
Income (loss) from operations:
Annuities
$
1,326
$
1,125
$
Retirement Plan Services
Life Insurance
(12
)
Group Protection
(128
)
Other Operations
(243
)
(161
)
(148
)
Excluded realized gain (loss), after-tax
(93
)
(586
)
(804
)
Benefit ratio unlocking, after-tax
-
Net impact from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
-
Transaction and integration costs related to mergers,
acquisitions and divestitures, after-tax
(11
)
(15
)
(103
)
Net income (loss)
$
1,629
$
$
Comparison of 2021 to 2020
Net income increased due primarily to the following:
Realized gains in 2021 compared to realized losses in 2020.
Higher investment income on alternative investments, and higher prepayment and bond make-whole premiums.
The effect of unlocking.
Growth in average account values, business in force and group earned premiums.
The increase in net income was partially offset by the following:
Unfavorable experience in our Group Protection segment driven by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Higher trail commissions, legal expenses, incentive compensation and Spark and strategic digitization investments, partially offset by continued focus on expense management.
Spread compression due to average new money rates trailing our current portfolio yields, partially offset by actions implemented to reduce interest crediting rates.
We provide information about our segments’ and Other Operations’ operating revenue and expense line items and realized gain (loss), key drivers of changes and historical details underlying the line items below. For factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth, see “Forward-Looking Statements - Cautionary Language” above. For a discussion of the COVID-19 pandemic, see “Introduction” above and “Part I - Item 1A. Risk Factors - Market Conditions - The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have adversely affected and are expected to continue to adversely affect our business and results of operations, and the future impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the company’s business, results of operations and financial condition remain uncertain.”
‎
RES ULTS OF ANNUITIES
Details underlying the results for Annuities (in millions) were as follows:
For the Years Ended December 31,
Operating Revenues
Insurance premiums (1)
$
$
$
Fee income
2,503
2,203
2,174
Net investment income
1,316
1,192
1,070
Operating realized gain (loss) (2)
Amortization of deferred gain on
business sold through reinsurance
Other revenues (3)
Total operating revenues
4,566
4,067
4,240
Operating Expenses
Interest credited
Benefits (1)
Commissions and other expenses
1,980
1,724
1,778
Total operating expenses
2,989
2,755
3,105
Income (loss) from operations before taxes
1,577
1,312
1,135
Federal income tax expense (benefit)
Income (loss) from operations
$
1,326
$
1,125
$
(1)Insurance premiums include primarily our income annuities that have a corresponding offset in benefits. Benefits include changes in income annuity reserves driven by premiums.
(2)See “Realized Gain (Loss)” below.
(3)Consists primarily of revenues attributable to broker-dealer services, which are subject to market volatility, and the net settlement related to certain reinsurance transactions, which has a corresponding offset in net investment income and interest credited.
Comparison of 2021 to 2020
Income from operations for this segment increased due primarily to the following:
Higher fee income driven by higher average daily variable account values.
Higher net investment income, net of interest credited, driven by prepayment and bond make-whole premiums and investment income on alternative investments within our surplus portfolio.
Lower benefits due to the effect of unlocking.
The increase in income from operations was partially offset by higher commissions and other expenses due to trail commissions resulting from higher average account values, amortization expense as a result of higher actual gross profits and incentive compensation as a result of production performance, partially offset by expense management.
See “Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates - Annual Assumption Review” above for information about unlocking.
Additional Information
For a discussion of the COVID-19 pandemic, see “Introduction” above and “Part I - Item 1A. Risk Factors - Market Conditions - The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have adversely affected and are expected to continue to adversely affect our business and results of operations, and the future impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the company’s business, results of operations and financial condition remain uncertain.”
New deposits are an important component of net flows and key to our efforts to grow our business. Although deposits do not significantly affect current period income from operations, they can significantly impact future income from operations. As a result of our strategic actions, deposits increased from 2020 to 2021 but remain below pre-pandemic levels contributing to negative net flows. We expect the trend of negative net flows to persist.
The other component of net flows relates to the retention of new business and account values. An important measure of retention is the reduction in account values caused by full surrenders, deaths and other contract benefits. These outflows as a percentage of average gross account values were 8%, 7% and 9% in 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Our fixed and indexed variable annuities have discretionary fixed and indexed crediting rates that reset on an annual or periodic basis and may be subject to surrender charges. Our ability to retain these annuities will be subject to current competitive conditions at the time interest rates for these products reset. We expect to manage the effects of spreads on near-term income from operations through portfolio management and, to a lesser extent, crediting rate actions, which assumes no significant changes in net flows or other changes that may cause interest rate spreads to differ from our expectations. For information on interest rate spreads and interest rate risk, see “Part I - Item 1A. Risk Factors - Market Conditions - Changes in interest rates and sustained low interest rates may cause interest rate spreads to decrease, impacting our profitability, and make it more challenging to meet certain statutory requirements, and changes in interest rates may also result in increased contract withdrawals” and “Part II - Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk - Interest Rate Risk.”
RESULT S OF RETIREMENT PLAN SERVICES
Details underlying the results for Retirement Plan Services (in millions) were as follows:
For the Years Ended December 31,
Operating Revenues
Fee income
$
$
$
Net investment income
Other revenues (1)
Total operating revenues
1,308
1,197
1,186
Operating Expenses
Interest credited
Benefits
Commissions and other expenses
Total operating expenses
1,038
1,019
1,003
Income (loss) from operations before taxes
Federal income tax expense (benefit)
Income (loss) from operations
$
$
$
(1)Consists primarily of mutual fund account program revenues from mid to large employers.
Comparison of 2021 to 2020
Income from operations for this segment increased due primarily to the following:
Higher net investment income, net of interest credited, driven by prepayment and bond make-whole premiums and investment income on alternative investments within our surplus portfolio, partially offset by spread compression due to average new money rates trailing our current portfolio yields.
Higher fee income driven by higher average account values.
The increase in income from operations was partially offset by higher commissions and other expenses driven by trail commissions resulting from higher average account values and incentive compensation as a result of production performance, partially offset by expense management.
See “Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates - Annual Assumption Review” above for information about unlocking.
Additional Information
For a discussion of the COVID-19 pandemic, see “Introduction” above and “Part I - Item 1A. Risk Factors - Market Conditions - The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have adversely affected and are expected to continue to adversely affect our business and results of operations, and the future impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the company’s business, results of operations and financial condition remain uncertain.”
Net flows in this business fluctuate based on the timing of larger plans being implemented and terminating over the course of the year.
New deposits are an important component of net flows and key to our efforts to grow our business. Although deposits do not significantly affect current period income from operations, they can significantly impact future income from operations. The other component of net flows relates to the retention of the business. An important measure of retention is the reduction in account values
caused by plan sponsor terminations and participant withdrawals. These outflows as a percentage of average account values were 11%, 13% and 12% for 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Our net flows are negatively affected by the continued net outflows from our oldest blocks of annuities business, which are among our higher margin product lines in this segment, due to the fact that they are mature blocks with low distribution and servicing costs. The proportion of these products to our total account values was 18%, 19% and 21% for 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively. Due to this overall shift in business mix toward products with lower returns, new deposit production continues to be necessary to maintain earnings at current levels.
Our fixed annuity business includes products with discretionary and index-based crediting rates that are reset on either a quarterly or semi-annual basis. Our ability to retain quarterly or semi-annual reset annuities will be subject to current competitive conditions at the time interest rates for these products reset. We expect to manage the effects of spreads on near-term income from operations through portfolio management and, to a lesser extent, crediting rate actions, which assumes no significant changes in net flows into or out of our fixed accounts or other changes that may cause interest rate spreads to differ from our expectations. For information on interest rate spreads and interest rate risk, see “Part I - Item 1A. Risk Factors - Market Conditions - Changes in interest rates and sustained low interest rates may cause interest rate spreads to decrease, impacting our profitability, and make it more challenging to meet certain statutory requirements, and changes in interest rates may also result in increased contract withdrawals” and “Part II - Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk - Interest Rate Risk.”
RESU LTS OF LIFE INSURANCE
Details underlying the results for Life Insurance (in millions) were as follows:
For the Years Ended December 31,
Operating Revenues
Insurance premiums (1)
$
$
$
Fee income
3,820
3,671
3,828
Net investment income
3,056
2,689
2,494
Operating realized gain (loss) (2)
(2
)
Amortization of deferred gain (loss) on
business sold through reinsurance
(4
)
Other revenues
Total operating revenues
7,692
7,086
6,999
Operating Expenses
Interest credited
1,418
1,468
1,409
Benefits
3,891
4,200
3,822
Commissions and other expenses
1,720
1,458
1,451
Total operating expenses
7,029
7,126
6,682
Income (loss) from operations before taxes
(40
)
Federal income tax expense (benefit)
(28
)
Income (loss) from operations
$
$
(12
)
$
(1)Includes term insurance premiums, which have a corresponding partial offset in benefits for changes in reserves.
(2)See “Realized Gain (Loss)” below.
Comparison of 2021 to 2020
Income from operations for this segment increased due primarily to the following:
Higher net investment income, net of interest credited, driven by investment income on alternative investments and prepayment and bond make-whole premiums, partially offset by the impact of the fourth quarter 2021 reinsurance agreement (see “Additional Information” below) and spread compression due to average new money rates trailing our current portfolio yields.
Lower benefits due to the effect of unlocking, partially offset by growth in business in force; both periods were impacted by elevated mortality claims due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Higher fee income due to the effect of unlocking, growth in business in force and higher DFEL amortization as a result of higher actual gross profits, partially offset by the impact of the fourth quarter 2021 reinsurance agreement.
Higher amortization of deferred gain on business sold through reinsurance as a result of the fourth quarter 2021 reinsurance agreement.
The increase in income from operations was partially offset by higher commissions and other expenses due to the effect of unlocking and incentive compensation as a result of production performance, partially offset by expense management.
See “Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates - Annual Assumption Review” above for information about unlocking.
Additional Information
Effective October 1, 2021, we entered into a reinsurance agreement with Security Life of Denver Insurance Company (a subsidiary of Resolution Life that we refer to herein as “Resolution Life”) to reinsure liabilities under a block of in-force executive benefit and universal life policies. For more information, see “Liquidity and Capital Resources - Sources and Uses of Liquidity and Capital” below and Note 8. We expect an ongoing reduction in income from operations in future periods as a result of this reinsurance agreement.
We continue to expect elevated mortality to persist into the first quarter of 2022 as a result of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. For a discussion of the COVID-19 pandemic, see “Introduction” above and “Part I - Item 1A. Risk Factors - Market Conditions - The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have adversely affected and are expected to continue to adversely affect our business and results of operations, and the future impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the company’s business, results of operations and financial condition remain uncertain.”
Generally, we have higher mortality in the first quarter of the year due to the seasonality of claims.
Generally, we have higher sales during the second half of the year with the fourth quarter being our strongest.
For information on interest rate spreads and interest rate risk, see “Part I - Item 1A. Risk Factors - Market Conditions - Changes in interest rates and sustained low interest rates may cause interest rate spreads to decrease, impacting our profitability, and make it more challenging to meet certain statutory requirements, and changes in interest rates may also result in increased contract withdrawals” and “Part II - Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk - Interest Rate Risk.”
RESUL TS OF GROUP PROTECTION
Details underlying the results for Group Protection (in millions) were as follows:
For the Years Ended December 31,
Operating Revenues
Insurance premiums
$
4,450
$
4,280
$
4,113
Net investment income
Other revenues (1)
Total operating revenues
4,995
4,792
4,587
Operating Expenses
Interest credited
Benefits
3,890
3,500
3,036
Commissions and other expenses
1,260
1,234
1,246
Total operating expenses
5,156
4,739
4,287
Income (loss) from operations before taxes
(161
)
Federal income tax expense (benefit)
(33
)
Income (loss) from operations
$
(128
)
$
$
(1)Consists of revenue from third parties for administrative services performed, which has a corresponding partial offset in commissions and other expenses.
Comparison of 2021 to 2020
Income from operations for this segment decreased due primarily to the following:
Higher benefits driven by unfavorable experience in our life and disability businesses in 2021 and lower utilization in our dental business in 2020, partially offset by favorable reserve adjustments in our disability business. See “Additional Information” below for further discussion on the impacts to benefits.
Higher commissions and other expenses due to incentive compensation as a result of production performance and investments in our claims organization to address higher claims volume attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic, partially offset by a decrease in amortization as a VOBA intangible asset was fully amortized in 2020.
The decrease in income from operations was partially offset by the following:
Higher insurance premiums due to growth in the business and favorable persistency.
Higher net investment income, net of interest credited, driven by investment income on alternative investments within our surplus portfolio and prepayment and bond make-whole premiums.
See “Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates - Annual Assumption Review” above for information on our reserve adjustments.
Additional Information
Our total loss ratio for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, was 87.5% and 81.8%, respectively. The total loss ratio for the year ended December 31, 2021, increased due primarily to higher mortality in our life business and higher morbidity in our disability business as a result of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. We continue to expect elevated mortality in our life business, and we believe there is an on-going risk of morbidity headwinds in our disability business during the first quarter of 2022 as a result of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. For a discussion of the COVID-19 pandemic, see “Introduction” above and “Part I - Item 1A. Risk Factors - Market Conditions - The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have adversely affected and are expected to continue to adversely affect our business and results of operations, and the future impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the company’s business, results of operations and financial condition remain uncertain.”
Generally, we experience higher mortality in the first quarter of the year and higher disability claims in the fourth quarter of the year due to the seasonality of claims.
Management compares trends in actual loss ratios to pricing expectations as group-underwriting risks change over time. We expect normal fluctuations in our total loss ratio, as claims experience is inherently uncertain. For every one percent increase in the total loss ratio, we would expect an annual decrease to income from operations of approximately $34 million to $38 million. The effects are symmetrical for a comparable decrease in the loss ratio and, therefore, move in an equal and opposite direction.
For information on the effects of current interest rates on our long-term disability claim reserves, see “Part II - Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk - Interest Rate Risk - Effect of Interest Rate Sensitivity.”
RESUL TS OF OTHER OPERATIONS
Details underlying the results for Other Operations (in millions) were as follows:
For the Years Ended December 31,
Operating Revenues
Insurance premiums (1)
$
$
$
Net investment income
Other revenues
Total operating revenues
Operating Expenses
Interest credited
Benefits
Other expenses
Interest and debt expense
Spark and strategic digitization expense
Total operating expenses
Income (loss) from operations before taxes
(313
)
(212
)
(209
)
Federal income tax expense (benefit)
(70
)
(51
)
(61
)
Income (loss) from operations
$
(243
)
$
(161
)
$
(148
)
(1)Includes our disability income business, which has a corresponding offset in benefits for changes in reserves.
Comparison of 2021 to 2020
Loss from operations for Other Operations increased due primarily to the following:
Higher other expenses related to a one-time legal expense and the effect of changes in LNC’s stock price on our deferred compensation plans, as LNC’s stock price increased significantly during 2021, compared to a significant decrease during 2020.
Higher Spark and strategic digitization expense as part of the Spark and strategic digitization initiatives.
Lower net investment income, net of interest credited, related to lower allocated investments driven by a decrease in excess capital retained by Other Operations.
The increase in loss from operations was partially offset by the following:
Lower benefits attributable to favorable experience in our run-off institutional pension and disability income businesses and modifying certain assumptions in 2020 on the reserves supporting our institutional pension business.
Lower interest and debt expense driven by a decline in average interest rates.
REALIZED GAIN (LOSS)
Details underlying realized gain (loss), after-DAC (1) (in millions) were as follows:
For the Years Ended December 31,
Components of Realized Gain (Loss), Pre-Tax
Total operating realized gain (loss)
$
$
$
Total excluded realized gain (loss)
(117
)
(742
)
(1,019
)
Total realized gain (loss), pre-tax
$
$
(526
)
$
(828
)
Components of Excluded Realized Gain (Loss),
After-Tax
Realized gain (loss) related to certain financial assets
$
$
(128
)
$
(54
)
Realized gain (loss) on the mark-to-market on
certain instruments (2)
(112
)
(337
)
GLB fees ceded to LNBAR and attributed fees,
including benefit ratio unlocking
(327
)
(339
)
(354
)
Indexed annuity forward-starting option
(2
)
(59
)
Excluded realized gain (loss) including benefit
ratio unlocking, after-tax
(79
)
(581
)
(804
)
Less: benefit ratio unlocking, after tax
-
Total excluded realized gain (loss), after-tax
$
(93
)
$
(586
)
$
(804
)
(1)DAC refers to the associated amortization of DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL and changes in other contract holder funds and funds withheld reinsurance assets and liabilities.
(2)Includes activity with LNBAR. The modified coinsurance investment portfolio includes fixed maturity securities classified as AFS with changes in fair value recorded in OCI. Since the corresponding and offsetting changes in fair value of the embedded derivatives related to the modified coinsurance investment portfolio are recorded in realized gain (loss), volatility can occur within net income (loss). See Note 8 for more information.
Comparison of 2021 to 2020
We had lower realized losses due primarily to the following:
Gains related to the mark-to-market on certain instruments due to favorable changes in the fair value of embedded derivatives related to certain modified coinsurance arrangements.
Gains related to certain financial assets in 2021 as compared to losses in 2020 due to changes in economic projections associated with our review of credit losses for mortgage loans on real estate.
Gains related to our indexed annuity forward-starting option driven by an increase in discount rates, partially offset by the effect of unlocking.
The above components of excluded realized gain (loss) are described including benefit ratio unlocking, after-tax.
See “Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates - Annual Assumption Review” above for information about unlocking.
Operating Realized Gain (Loss)
Operating realized gain (loss) includes indexed annuity and IUL net derivative results representing the net difference between the change in the fair value of the options that we hold and a portion of the change in the fair value of the embedded derivative liabilities of our indexed annuity and IUL products. The portion of the change in the fair value of the embedded derivative liabilities reported in operating realized gain (loss) represents the amount that is credited to the indexed annuity and IUL contracts.
Our GWB, GIB and 4LATER® features have elements of both benefit reserves and embedded derivative reserves. We calculate the value of the benefit reserves and the embedded derivative reserves based on the specific characteristics of each GLB feature. For our GLBs that meet the definition of an embedded derivative under the Derivatives and Hedging Topic of the FASB ASC, we record them at fair value on our Consolidated Balance Sheets with changes in fair value recorded in realized gain (loss) on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss). In bifurcating the embedded derivative, we attribute to the embedded derivative the portion of total fees collected from the contract holder that relates to the GLB riders (the “attributed fees”). These attributed fees represent the present
value of future claims expected to be paid for the GLB at the inception of the contract (the “net valuation premium”) plus a margin that a theoretical market participant would include for risk/profit (the “risk/profit margin”).
We also include the risk/profit margin portion of the GLB attributed rider fees in operating realized gain (loss) and include the net valuation premium of the GLB attributed rider fees in excluded realized gain (loss).
Realized Gain (Loss) Related to Certain Financial Assets
For information on realized gain (loss) related to certain financial assets, see Note 15.
Realized Gain (Loss) on the Mark-to-Market on Certain Instruments
Gain (loss) on the mark-to-market on certain instruments, including those associated with our consolidated variable interest entities (“VIEs”) represents changes in the fair values of certain derivative investments, reinsurance related embedded derivatives and trading securities.
See Note 3 for information about our consolidated VIEs.
We also recognize the mark-to-market on certain mortgage loans on real estate for which we have elected the fair value option. See Note 20 for additional information.
GLB Fees Ceded to LNBAR and Attributed Fees
Our GLB fees ceded to LNBAR and attributed fees include the GLB rider fees ceded to LNBAR and the net valuation premium. See “Operating Realized Gain (Loss)” above for more information on the net valuation premium.
Indexed Annuity Forward-Starting Option
The liability for the forward-starting option reflects changes in the fair value of embedded derivative liabilities related to index options we may purchase or sell in the future to hedge contract holder index allocations applicable to future reset periods for our indexed annuity products accounted for under the Derivatives and Hedging and the Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures Topics of the FASB ASC. These fair values represent an estimate of the cost of the options we will purchase or sell in the future, discounted back to the date of the balance sheet, using current market indications of volatility and interest rates, which can vary significantly from period to period due to a number of factors and therefore can provide results that are not indicative of the underlying trends.
REIN SURANCE
We and Lincoln Life & Annuity Company of New York (“LLANY”) cede insurance to other companies. The portion of our life insurance risks exceeding each of our insurance companies’ retention limit is reinsured with other insurers. We seek life and annuity reinsurance coverage to limit our exposure to mortality losses and/or to enhance our capital and risk management. We acquire other reinsurance as applicable with retentions and limits that management believes are appropriate for the circumstances. The consolidated financial statements included in “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” reflect insurance premiums, insurance fees, benefits and DAC amortization net of insurance ceded. We remain liable if our reinsurers are unable to meet contractual obligations under applicable reinsurance agreements. We utilize inter-company and affiliate reinsurance agreements to manage our statutory capital position as well as our hedge program for variable annuity guarantees. For information regarding reserve financing and letter of credit (“LOC”) expenses from inter-company reinsurance agreements, see “Liquidity and Capital Resources - Sources and Uses of Liquidity and Capital” below.
We focus on obtaining reinsurance from a diverse group of reinsurers. We have established standards and criteria for our use and selection of reinsurers. In order for a new reinsurer to participate in our current program, we generally require the reinsurer to have an A.M. Best rating of A+ or greater or an S&P rating of AA- or better and a specified RBC percentage (or similar capital ratio measure). If the reinsurer does not have these ratings, we may require them to post collateral as described below; however, we may waive the collateral requirements based on the facts and circumstances. In addition, we may require collateral from a reinsurer to mitigate credit/collectability risk. Typically, in such cases, the reinsurer must either maintain minimum specified ratings and RBC ratios or establish the specified quality and quantity of collateral. Similarly, we have also required collateral in connection with books of business sold pursuant to indemnity reinsurance agreements.
Reinsurers, including affiliated reinsurers, that are not licensed, accredited or authorized in the state of domicile of the reinsured (“ceding company”), i.e., unauthorized reinsurers, are required to post statutorily prescribed forms of collateral for the ceding company to receive reinsurance credit. The three primary forms of collateral are: (i) qualifying assets held in a reserve credit trust; (ii) irrevocable, unconditional, evergreen LOCs issued by a qualified U.S. financial institution; and (iii) assets held by the ceding company in a segregated funds withheld account. Collateral must be maintained in accordance with the rules of the ceding company’s state of domicile and must
be readily accessible by the ceding company to cover claims under the reinsurance agreement. Accordingly, we require unauthorized reinsurers to post acceptable forms of collateral to support their reinsurance obligations to us.
Effective October 1, 2021, we entered into a reinsurance agreement with Resolution Life to reinsure liabilities under a block of in-force executive benefit and universal life policies. For more information, see Note 8.
As a result of our modified coinsurance agreement with Athene to reinsure fixed annuity products, we recorded a $5.0 billion deposit asset reflected within other assets on our Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2021. For additional information, see Note 8.
Our amounts recoverable from reinsurers represent receivables from and reserves ceded to reinsurers and LNBAR. As of December 31, 2021, 89%, or $20.3 billion, of our total reinsurance recoverable was secured by collateral for our benefit. Of this amount, $17.2 billion was held by reinsurers in reserve credit trusts (such reserve credit trusts are held by non-affiliated reinsurers; therefore, they are not reflected on our Consolidated Balance Sheets), $7.1 billion was reflected as funds withheld reinsurance liabilities on our Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2021, although only $3.0 billion can be utilized as collateral due to excess funds withheld above the reinsurance recoverable from our third-party reinsurers and LNBAR, and $154 million was secured by LOCs for which we are the beneficiary, an off-balance sheet arrangement.
We regularly evaluate the financial condition of our reinsurers and monitor concentration risk with our largest reinsurers. We monitor all of our existing reinsurers’ financial strength ratings on a monthly basis. We also monitor our reinsurers’ financial health, trends and commitment to the reinsurance business, statutory surplus, RBC levels, statutory earnings and fluctuations, current claims payment aging and our reinsurers’ own reinsurers. In addition, we present at least annually information regarding our reinsurance exposures to the Finance Committee of our Board of Directors. For more discussion of our counterparty risk with our reinsurers, see “Part I - Item 1A. Risk Factors - Operational Matters - We face risks of non-collectability of reinsurance and increased reinsurance rates, which could materially affect our results of operations.”
Under certain indemnity reinsurance agreements, we and LLANY provide 100% indemnity reinsurance for the business assumed; however, the third-party insurer, or the “cedent,” remains primarily liable on the underlying insurance business. These indemnity reinsurance arrangements require that we, as the reinsurer, maintain certain insurer financial strength ratings and capital ratios. If these ratings or capital ratios are not maintained, depending upon the reinsurance agreement, the cedent may recapture the business, or require us to place assets in trust or provide LOCs at least equal to the relevant statutory reserves. Under our reinsurance arrangement, we held approximately $2.9 billion of statutory reserves as of December 31, 2021. We must maintain an A.M. Best financial strength rating of at least B++, an S&P financial strength rating of at least BBB- and a Moody’s financial strength rating of at least Baa3. This arrangement may require us to place assets in trust equal to the relevant statutory reserves. Under LLANY’s largest indemnity reinsurance arrangement, we held approximately $1.1 billion of statutory reserves as of December 31, 2021. LLANY must maintain an A.M. Best financial strength rating of at least B+, an S&P financial strength rating of at least BB+ and a Moody’s financial strength rating of at least Ba1, as well as maintain an RBC ratio of at least 160% or an S&P capital adequacy ratio of 100%, or the cedent may recapture the business. Under two other LLANY arrangements, by which we established $655 million of statutory reserves as of December 31, 2021, LLANY must maintain an A.M. Best financial strength rating of at least B++, an S&P financial strength rating of at least BBB- and a Moody’s financial strength rating of at least Baa3. One of these arrangements also requires LLANY to maintain an RBC ratio of at least 185% or an S&P capital adequacy ratio of 115%. Each of these arrangements may require LLANY to place assets in trust equal to the relevant statutory reserves. See “Item 1. Business - Financial Strength Ratings” for a description of our financial strength ratings.
For more information about reinsurance, see Notes 8 and 13 and “Liquidity and Capital Resources - Sources and Uses of Liquidity and Capital - Statutory Capital and Surplus” below.
For factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in this section, see “Part I - Item 1A. Risk Factors” and “Forward-Looking Statements - Cautionary Language” above.
LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
Overview
Liquidity refers to our ability to generate adequate amounts of cash from our normal operations to meet cash requirements with a prudent margin of safety. Capital refers to our long-term financial resources to support the operations of our businesses, to fund long-term growth strategies and to support our operations during adverse conditions. Our ability to generate and maintain sufficient liquidity and capital depends on the profitability of our businesses, general economic conditions and access to the capital markets and other sources of liquidity and capital as described below. When considering our liquidity, it is important to distinguish between our needs, the needs of LLANY and the needs of the holding company, LNC. As a holding company with no operations of its own, LNC derives its cash primarily from its operating subsidiaries.
Sources and Uses of Liquidity and Capital
Our primary sources of liquidity and capital are insurance premiums and fees, investment income, maturities and sales of investments, issuance of debt and contract holder deposits. We also have access to alternative sources of liquidity as discussed below. Our primary uses are to pay policy claims and benefits, to fund commissions and other general operating expenses, to purchase investments, to fund policy surrenders and withdrawals, to pay dividends to LNC and to repay debt. Our operating activities provided (used) cash of $192 million, $285 million and $(3.6) billion in 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively. In addition, we received capital contributions from LNC of $65 million, $510 million and $50 million in 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively. We paid dividends to LNC of $1.9 billion, $660 million and $600 million in 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively. See Note 19 for additional information. We also received dividends from our subsidiaries of $406 million, $427 million and $499 million in 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Statutory Capital and Surplus
We must maintain certain regulatory capital levels. We utilize the RBC ratio as a primary measure of our capital adequacy. The RBC ratio is an important factor in the determination of our financial strength ratings. For a discussion of RBC ratios, see “Part I - Item 1. Business - Regulatory - Insurance Regulation - Risk-Based Capital.”
Our regulatory capital levels are also affected by statutory accounting rules, which are subject to change by each applicable insurance regulator. Our term products and UL products containing secondary guarantees require reserves calculated pursuant to XXX and AG38, respectively. We employ strategies to reduce the strain caused by XXX and AG38 by reinsuring the business to reinsurance captives. Our captive reinsurance subsidiaries and LNBAR provide a mechanism for financing a portion of the excess reserve amounts in a more efficient manner and free up capital we can use for any number of purposes, including paying dividends to LNC. We use long-dated letters of credit (“LOCs”) and debt financing as well as other financing strategies to finance those reserves. LOCs and related capital market solutions lower the capital effect of term products and UL products containing secondary guarantees. For information on the LOCs, see the credit facilities table in Note 12. Our captive reinsurance subsidiaries and LNBAR have also issued long-term notes to finance a portion of the excess reserves. For information on long-term notes issued by our captive reinsurance subsidiaries, see Note 3. We have also used the proceeds from certain senior notes issued by LNC to execute long-term structured solutions primarily supporting reinsurance of UL products containing secondary guarantees.
Statutory reserves established for variable annuity contracts and riders are sensitive to changes in the equity markets and interest rates, and are affected by the level of account values relative to the level of any guarantees, product design and reinsurance arrangements. As a result, the relationship between reserve changes and equity market performance is non-linear during any given reporting period. Market conditions greatly influence the ultimate capital required due to its effect on the valuation of reserves and derivative assets hedging these reserves. We also utilize inter-company reinsurance arrangements to manage our hedge program for variable annuity guarantees.
Changes in equity markets may also affect our capital position. We may decide to reallocate available capital among us and our insurance and captive reinsurance subsidiaries, which would result in different RBC ratios for us. In addition, changes in the equity markets can affect the value of our variable annuity and VUL separate accounts. When the market value of our separate account assets increases, the statutory surplus within us and LLANY also increases. Contrarily, when the market value of our separate account assets decreases, the statutory surplus within us and LLANY may also decrease, which may affect RBC ratios, and in the case of our separate account assets becoming less than the related product liabilities, we must allocate additional capital to fund the difference.
We continue to analyze the use of our existing captive reinsurance structures, as well as additional third-party reinsurance arrangements, and our current hedging strategies relative to managing the effects of equity markets and interest rates on the statutory reserves, statutory capital and the dividend capacity of LNL and LLANY.
Debt
For information about our short-term and long-term debt and our credit facilities, see Note 12.
Alternative Sources of Liquidity
Inter-Company Cash Management Program
In order to manage our capital more efficiently, we participate in an inter-company cash management program where LNL, certain of our subsidiaries and certain affiliates, can lend to or borrow from the holding company to meet short-term borrowing needs. The cash management program is essentially a series of demand loans between LNC and participating subsidiaries that reduces overall borrowing costs by allowing LNC and its subsidiaries to access internal resources instead of incurring third-party transaction costs. As of December 31, 2021, we had a net outstanding receivable (payable) of $2.8 billion from (to) certain subsidiaries and affiliates in the inter-company cash management program. Loans under the cash management program are permitted under applicable insurance laws subject to certain restrictions. LNL, domiciled in Indiana, is subject to a borrowing and lending limit of, currently, 3% of the insurance company’s admitted assets as of its most recent year end. For our New York-domiciled insurance subsidiary, it may borrow from LNC less than 2% of its admitted assets as of its most recent year end but may not lend any amounts to LNC.
Federal Home Loan Bank
LNL is a member of the Federal Home Loan Bank (“FHLB”) of Indianapolis (“FHLBI”). Membership allows LNL access to the FHLBI’s financial services, including the ability to obtain loans and to issue funding agreements as an alternative source of liquidity that are collateralized by qualifying mortgage-related assets, agency securities or U.S. Treasury securities. Borrowings under this facility are subject to the FHLBI’s discretion and require the availability of qualifying assets at LNL. As of December 31, 2021, LNL had an estimated maximum borrowing capacity of $7.0 billion under the FHLBI facility and maximum available borrowing based on qualifying assets of $4.1 billion. As of December 31, 2021, LNL had outstanding borrowings of $3.1 billion under this facility reported within payables for collateral on investments on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. LLANY is a member of the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York (“FHLBNY”) with an estimated maximum borrowing capacity of $750 million. Borrowings under this facility are subject to the FHLBNY’s discretion and require the availability of qualifying assets at LLANY. As of December 31, 2021, LLANY had no outstanding borrowings under this facility. For additional information, see “Payables for Collateral on Investments” in Note 4.
Securities Lending Programs and Repurchase Agreements
LNL and LLANY, by virtue of their general account fixed-income investment holdings, can access liquidity through securities lending programs and repurchase agreements. As of December 31, 2021, we had securities pledged under securities lending agreements with a carrying value of $241 million. In addition, LNL, LLANY and LNBAR had access to $1.75 billion through committed repurchase agreements, of which $25 million was utilized as of December 31, 2021. The cash received in our securities lending programs and repurchase agreements is typically invested in cash and invested cash or fixed maturity AFS securities. For additional information, see “Payables for Collateral on Investments” in Note 4.
Collateral on Derivative Contracts
Our cash flows associated with collateral received from counterparties (when we are in a net collateral payable position) and posted with counterparties (when we are in a net collateral receivable position) change as the market value of the underlying derivative contract changes. The net collateral position depends on changes in interest rates and equity markets related to the amount of the exposures hedged. As of December 31, 2021, we were in a net collateral payable position of $5.5 billion compared to $2.8 billion as of December 31, 2020. In the event of adverse changes in fair value of our derivative instruments, we may need to post collateral with a counterparty. If we do not have sufficient high quality securities or cash and invested cash to provide as collateral, we have committed liquidity sources through facilities that can provide up to $1.25 billion of additional liquidity to help meet collateral needs. Access to such facilities is contingent upon interest rates having achieved certain threshold levels. In addition to these facilities, we have the FHLB facilities and the repurchase agreements discussed above as well as the five-year revolving credit facility discussed in Note 12 to leverage that would be eligible for collateral posting. For additional information, see “Credit Risk” in Note 5.
Material Cash Outflows
Details underlying our estimated material cash outflows as of December 31, 2021, were as follows:
Less
More
Than
1 - 3
3 - 5
Than
1 Year
Years
Years
5 Years
Total
Future contract benefits and other contract holder
obligations (1)
$
25,069
$
49,867
$
50,982
$
430,871
$
556,789
Short-term and long-term debt (2)
1,084
-
2,284
3,418
Reserve financing and LOC expenses (3)
Payables for collateral on investments (4)
3,371
-
-
-
3,371
Investment commitments (5)
1,701
3,106
Operating leases (6)
Finance leases (6)
-
Certain financing arrangements (7)
Retirement and other plans (8)
Total
$
31,405
$
50,582
$
52,097
$
433,799
$
567,883
(1)Estimates are based on financial projections over 40 years and are not discounted for the time value of money. New business issued or acquired, business ceded or sold, changes to or variances from actuarial assumptions and economic conditions will cause these amounts to change over time, possibly materially. See Note 1 for details of what these liabilities include and represent.
(2)Represents principal amounts of debt only. See Note 12 for additional information.
(3)Estimates are based on the level of capacity we expect to utilize during the life of the LOCs and other reserve financing arrangements. See Note 12 for additional information
(4)Excludes collateral payable held for derivative investments. See Note 4 for additional information.
(5)See Note 4 for additional information.
(6)See Note 13 for additional information.
(7)Represents certain financing arrangements that did not meet the requirements to be classified as a sale-leaseback arrangement. See Note 13 for additional information.
(8)Includes anticipated funding for benefit payments for our retirement and postretirement plans through 2031. In addition to these benefit payments, we periodically contribute to the agents’ defined benefit plan and remit funds to LNC to assist in funding the employees’ defined benefit plan. See Note 17 for additional information.
Ratings
Financial Strength Ratings
See “Part I - Item 1. Business - Financial Strength Ratings” for information on our financial strength ratings.
If our current financial strength ratings were downgraded in the future, terms in our derivative agreements may be triggered, which could negatively affect overall liquidity. For the majority of our derivative counterparties, there is a termination event if our financial strength ratings drop below BBB-/Baa3 (S&P/Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”)). In addition, contractual selling agreements with intermediaries could be negatively affected, which could have an adverse effect on overall sales of annuities, life insurance and investment products.
See “Part I - Item 1A. Risk Factors - Liquidity and Capital Position - A decrease in our capital and surplus may result in a downgrade to our insurer financial strength ratings” and “Part I - Item 1A. Risk Factors - Covenants and Ratings - A downgrade in our financial strength ratings could limit our ability to market products, increase the number or value of policies being surrendered and/or hurt our relationships with creditors” for more information.

---

ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
We analyze and manage the risks arising from market exposures of financial instruments, as well as other risks, in an integrated asset-liability management process that considers diversification. By aggregating the potential effect of market and other risks on the entire enterprise, we estimate, review and in some cases manage the risk to our earnings and enterprise value. We have exposures to several market risks including interest rate risk, equity market risk, credit risk and, to a lesser extent, foreign currency exchange risk. The exposures of financial instruments to market risks, and the related risk management processes, are most important to our business where most of the investments support accumulation and investment-oriented insurance products. As an important element of our integrated asset-liability management processes, we use derivatives to minimize the effects of changes in interest levels, the shape of the yield curve, currency movements and volatility. In this context, derivatives serve to minimize interest rate risk by mitigating the effect of significant increases in interest rates on our earnings. Additional market exposures exist in our other general account insurance products and in our debt structure and derivatives positions. Our primary sources of market risk are substantial, relatively rapid and sustained increases or decreases in interest rates or a sharp drop in equity market values. These market risks are discussed in detail in the following pages and should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and the accompanying Notes presented in “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data,” as well as “Item 7. Management’s Narrative Analysis of the Results of Operations.”
Interest Rate Risk
Interest rate risk is the risk of financial loss due to adverse changes in the value of assets and liabilities due to movements in interest rates. We are exposed to interest rate risk arising from our fixed maturity securities and interest sensitive liabilities.
With respect to accumulation and investment-oriented products, we seek to earn a stable and profitable spread, or margin, between investment income we earn on our investments and interest credited to account values of our contract holders. If we have adverse experience on investments that cannot be passed on to customers, our spreads are reduced. The combination of a probable range of interest rate changes over the next 12 months, asset-liability management strategies, flexibility in adjusting policy crediting rate levels and protection afforded by policy surrender charges all work together to mitigate this risk. The interest rate scenarios of concern are those in which there is a substantial, relatively prolonged decrease in interest rates that is sustained over a long period or a rapid increase in interest rates.
‎
Significant Interest Rate Exposures
The following provides a general measure of our significant interest rate risk; principal, including amortization of premiums and discounts, notional amounts, and estimated fair values of assets, liabilities and derivatives are shown by year of maturity (dollars in millions) as of December 31, 2021:
Estimated
Thereafter
Total
Fair Value
Rate Sensitive Assets
Fixed maturity AFS securities:
Fixed interest rate securities
$
2,771
$
2,908
$
3,719
$
3,819
$
4,646
$
83,387
$
101,250
$
114,079
Average interest rate
3.8%
4.1%
3.8%
4.0%
3.7%
4.1%
4.0%
Variable interest rate securities
$
$
$
$
$
$
2,576
$
3,276
$
3,432
Average interest rate
4.2%
5.9%
3.3%
1.3%
5.0%
2.8%
3.0%
Trading securities:
Fixed interest rate securities
$
$
$
$
$
$
3,502
$
4,106
$
4,407
Average interest rate
3.0%
4.0%
4.2%
4.8%
4.3%
4.4%
4.3%
Variable interest rate securities
$
-
$
$
-
$
-
$
-
$
$
$
Average interest rate
0.0%
3.1%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
7.6%
7.3%
Mortgage loans on real estate:
Total mortgage loans
$
$
$
1,193
$
1,174
$
1,451
$
12,512
$
17,975
$
18,599
Average interest rate
4.1%
4.0%
3.9%
3.9%
3.7%
3.8%
3.8%
Rate Sensitive Liabilities
Investment type
insurance contracts (1)
$
2,296
$
1,822
$
2,978
$
2,830
$
3,791
$
38,719
$
52,436
$
55,215
Average interest rate (1)
3.6%
3.7%
3.6%
3.6%
3.3%
3.4%
3.4%
Debt
$
-
$
-
$
-
$
-
$
-
$
2,334
$
2,334
$
2,675
Average interest rate
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
4.5%
4.5%
Rate Sensitive Derivative Financial Instruments
Interest rate, foreign currency swaps and forwards: (4)
Pay variable/receive fixed
$
$
4,392
$
2,719
$
$
4,629
$
22,808
$
35,901
$
1,231
Average pay rate
1.1%
0.3%
6.4%
0.5%
0.3%
0.5%
0.9%
Average receive rate
3.1%
0.3%
2.7%
3.3%
1.7%
2.2%
2.0%
Pay fixed/receive variable
$
$
4,998
$
2,580
$
-
$
4,343
$
11,755
$
24,246
$
(508
)
Average pay rate
2.0%
0.3%
2.7%
0.0%
1.1%
1.9%
1.5%
Average receive rate
0.2%
0.2%
6.6%
0.0%
0.1%
0.2%
0.9%
Interest rate cap corridors:
$
1,000
$
13,500
$
12,300
$
-
$
-
$
-
$
26,800
$
-
Average buy strike rate (2)
7.0%
7.0%
6.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
6.5%
Average sell strike rate (2)
11.0%
11.0%
10.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
10.5%
Forward swap curve
1.7%
1.8%
1.7%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
1.8%
Reverse Treasury locks:
5-year on-the-run Treasury
$
$
-
$
-
$
-
$
-
$
-
$
$
-
Average strike rate
1.4%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
1.4%
Forward CMT curve (3)
1.6%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
1.6%
10-year on-the-run Treasury
$
$
-
$
-
$
-
$
-
$
-
$
$
-
Average strike rate
1.6%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
1.6%
Forward CMT curve (3)
1.7%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
1.7%
30-year on-the-run Treasury
$
$
$
-
$
-
$
-
$
-
$
1,100
$
Average strike rate
2.2%
2.6%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2.3%
Forward CMT curve (3)
2.0%
2.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2.0%
Total return swaps:
Pay variable/receive fixed
$
1,020
$
-
$
-
$
-
$
-
$
-
$
1,020
$
(4
)
Pay fixed/receive variable
3,596
-
-
-
-
4,387
Interest rate futures:
2-year Treasury notes
$
$
-
$
-
$
-
$
-
$
-
$
$
-
5-year Treasury notes
-
-
-
-
-
-
10-year Treasury notes
-
-
-
-
-
-
Treasury bonds
-
-
-
-
-
-
Foreign currency futures (5)
$
$
-
$
-
$
-
$
-
$
-
$
$
-
(1)The information shown is for our fixed maturity securities and mortgage loans on real estate that support these insurance contracts.
(2)The indexes are the 7-year and 10-year constant maturity swap.
(3)The Constant Maturity Treasury (“CMT”) curve is the applicable 5-year, 10-year or 30-year CMT forward curve.
(4)Includes notional of $283 million and fair value of $4 million that support our modified coinsurance agreements. Investment results for these agreements are passed directly to the reinsurers.
(5)Includes $53 million of Euro, $50 million of Japanese Yen, $33 million of British Pound and $27 million of Australian Dollar.
The following provides the principal, including amortization of premiums and discounts, notional amounts, and estimated fair values of assets, liabilities and derivatives (in millions) having significant interest rate risks as of December 31, 2020:
Principal/
Notional
Estimated
Amount
Fair Value
Fixed maturity AFS securities
$
103,021
$
121,111
Trading securities
4,023
4,442
Mortgage loans on real estate
16,881
18,129
Investment type insurance contracts (1)
50,187
54,606
Debt
2,412
2,834
Interest rate and foreign currency swaps
103,785
2,080
Interest rate cap corridors
34,800
-
Reverse Treasury locks
Total return swaps
5,427
(30
)
Interest rate futures
-
Foreign currency futures
-
(1)The information shown is for our fixed maturity securities and mortgage loans on real estate that support these insurance contracts.
Effect of Interest Rate Sensitivity
The following table presents our estimate of the effect on income (loss) from operations by segment (in millions) for the next 12-month period if the level of interest rates were to instantaneously increase or decrease by 1% and remain at those levels immediately after December 31, 2021, relative to interest rates remaining flat:
1%
1%
Increase
Decrease
Annuities (1)
$
(11
)
$
Retirement Plan Services
(8
)
Life Insurance
(4
)
Group Protection
(3
)
Income (loss) from operations
$
$
-
(1)Includes the impact on bond funds in our separate accounts, which move in the opposite direction of interest rates.
For purposes of this estimate, we assumed asset purchases are made at prevailing new money rates and exclude the impact of new business, unlocking, persistency, hedge program performance or customer behavior caused by the interest rate changes.
Interest Rate Risk on Fixed Insurance Businesses - Falling Rates
In periods of declining interest rates, we have to reinvest the cash we receive as interest or return of principal on our investments in lower yielding instruments. Moreover, borrowers may prepay fixed-income securities, commercial mortgages and MBS in our general accounts in order to borrow at lower market rates, which exacerbates this risk. Because we are entitled to reset the interest rates on our fixed-rate annuities only at limited, pre-established intervals, and because many of our contracts have guaranteed minimum interest or crediting rates, our spreads could decrease and potentially become negative.
Prolonged historically low rates are not healthy for our business fundamentals. However, we have recognized this risk and have been proactive in our investment strategies, product designs, crediting rate strategies and overall asset-liability practices to mitigate the risk of unfavorable consequences in this type of environment. For some time now, new products have been sold with low minimum crediting floors, and we apply disciplined asset-liability management standards, such as locking in spreads on these products at the time of issue. See “Part I - Item 1A. Risk Factors - Market Conditions - Changes in interest rates and sustained low interest rates may cause interest
rate spreads to decrease, impacting our profitability, and make it more challenging to meet certain statutory requirements and changes in interest rates may also result in increased contract withdrawals” for additional information on interest rate risks.
The following provides detail on the percentage differences between the December 31, 2021, interest rates being credited to contract holders based on the fourth quarter of 2021 declared rates and the respective minimum guaranteed policy rate (in millions), broken out by contract holder account values reported within our segments:
Account Values
Retirement
%
Plan
Life
Account
Annuities
Services
Insurance (1)
Total
Values
Excess of Crediting Rates over Contract Minimums
Discretionary rate setting products: (2)
Occurring within the next twelve months: (3)
No difference
$
9,487
$
18,247
$
28,816
$
56,550
56.4%
Up to 0.50%
2,913
2,526
5,599
5.6%
0.51% to 1.00%
3,359
4,135
4.1%
1.01% to 1.50%
2,371
-
2,614
2.6%
1.51% to 2.00%
-
3,435
3,780
3.8%
2.01% to 2.50%
-
-
0.0%
2.51% to 3.00%
-
-
-
-
0.0%
3.01% or greater
-
-
-
-
0.0%
Occurring after the next twelve months (4)
5,876
-
-
5,876
5.8%
Total discretionary rate setting products
24,351
21,394
32,822
78,567
78.3%
Other contracts (5)
19,492
2,245
-
21,737
21.7%
Total account values
$
43,843
$
23,639
$
32,822
$
100,304
100.0%
Percentage of discretionary rate setting product account
values at minimum guaranteed rates
39.0%
85.3%
87.8%
72.0%
(1)Excludes policy loans.
(2)Contracts currently within new money rate bands are grouped according to the corresponding portfolio rate band in which they will fall upon their first anniversary.
(3)The average crediting rates were 39 basis points, 5 basis points and 23 basis point in excess of average minimum guaranteed rates for our Annuities, Retirement Plan Services and Life Insurance segments, respectively.
(4)The average crediting rates were 147 basis points in excess of average minimum guaranteed rates. Of our account values for these products, 30% are scheduled to reset in more than one year but not more than two years; 51% are scheduled to reset in more than two years but not more than three years; and 19% are scheduled to reset in more than three years.
(5)For Annuities, this amount relates primarily to income annuity and short-term dollar cost averaging business. For Retirement Plan Services, this amount relates primarily to indexed-based rate setting products in which the average crediting rates were 9 basis points in excess of average minimum guaranteed rates, and 85% of account values were already at their minimum guaranteed rates.
The maturity structure and call provisions of the related portfolios are structured to afford protection against erosion of investment portfolio yields during periods of declining interest rates. We devote extensive effort to evaluating the risks associated with falling interest rates by simulating asset and liability cash flows for a wide range of interest rate scenarios. We seek to manage these exposures by maintaining a suitable maturity structure and by limiting our exposure to call risk in each respective investment portfolio.
Interest Rate Risk on Fixed Insurance Businesses - Rising Rates
For both annuities and UL, a rapid rise in interest rates poses risks of deteriorating spreads and high surrenders. The portfolios supporting these products have fixed-rate assets laddered over maturities generally ranging from 1 to 10 years or more. Accordingly, the earned rate on each portfolio lags behind changes in market yields. As rates rise, the lag may be increased by slowing MBS prepayments. The greater and faster the rise in interest rates, the more the earned rate will tend to lag behind market rates. If we set renewal crediting rates to earn the desired spread, the gap between our renewal crediting rates and competitors’ new money rates may be wide enough to cause increased surrenders that could cause us to liquidate a portion of our portfolio to fund these surrenders. If we credit more competitive renewal rates to limit surrenders, our spreads will narrow. We devote extensive effort to evaluating these risks by simulating asset and liability cash flows for a wide range of interest rate scenarios. Such analysis has led to adjustments in the target maturity structure and to hedging the risk of rising rates by entering into interest rate cap corridor agreements. With these instruments in place, the potential adverse effect of a rapid and sustained rise in rates is kept within our risk tolerances.
Short-Term and Long-Term Debt
We manage the timing of maturities and the mixture of fixed-rate and floating-rate debt as part of the process of integrated management of interest rate risk for the entire enterprise. See Note 12 for additional information on our debt.
Derivatives
See Note 5 for information on our derivatives used to hedge our exposure to changes in interest rates.
Equity Market Risk
Equity market risk is the risk of financial loss due to changes in the value of equity securities or equity indices. Our revenues, assets and liabilities are exposed to equity market risk that we often hedge with derivatives. Due to the use of our RTM process and our hedging strategies, we expect that, in general, short-term fluctuations in the equity markets should not have a significant effect on our quarterly earnings from unlocking of assumptions for DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL. However, earnings are affected by equity market movements on account values and the related fees we earn on those assets. Refer to “Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates - DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL - Reversion to the Mean” in the MNA for further discussion of the effects of equity markets on our RTM.
Fee Income
The fees earned from variable annuities and variable life insurance products are exposed to the risk of a decline in equity market values. These fees are generally a fixed percentage of the market value of account values. In a severe equity market decline, fee income could be reduced by not only reduced market valuations but also by customer withdrawals and redemptions. Such withdrawals and redemptions from equity funds and accounts might be partially offset by transfers to our fixed-income accounts and the transfer of funds to us from our competitors’ customers.
Equity Assets
While we invest in equity assets with the expectation of achieving higher returns than would be available in our core fixed-income investments, the returns on and values of these equity investments are subject to somewhat greater market risk than our fixed-income investments. These investments, however, add diversification benefits to our fixed-income investments.
Derivatives Hedging Equity Market Risk
We enter into derivative transactions to hedge our exposure to equity market risk. Such derivatives include over-the-counter equity options, total return swaps, variance swaps, and equity futures. See Note 5 for additional information on our derivatives used to hedge our exposure to equity market fluctuations.
‎
The following provides the sensitivity of price changes (in millions) to our equity assets owned and derivatives hedging equity market risk:
As of December 31, 2021
As of December 31, 2020
Carrying/
10% Fair
10% Fair
Carrying/
Notional
Estimated
Value
Value
Notional
Estimated
Value
Fair Value
Increase (1)
Decrease (1)
Value
Fair Value
Equity Assets
Domestic equities
$
$
$
$
(24
)
$
$
Foreign equities
(7
)
Total equity securities
(31
)
Hedge funds
(27
)
Private equities
2,599
2,599
(260
)
1,828
1,828
Tax credits
-
-
-
-
Other equity interests
(1
)
Total equity assets
$
3,190
$
3,192
$
$
(319
)
$
2,220
$
2,223
Derivatives Hedging Equity
Market Risk
Call options (2)
$
34,140
$
5,441
$
1,354
$
(1,390
)
$
26,536
$
2,805
Equity futures
1,453
-
(87
)
1,619
-
Put options
17,971
(931
)
(110
)
13,804
(602
)
Total return swaps
24,668
(157
)
(838
)
18,587
(632
)
Total derivatives hedging
equity market risk
$
78,232
$
4,353
$
$
(639
)
$
60,546
$
1,571
(1)Assumes a plus or minus 10% change in underlying indexes. Estimated fair value does not reflect daily settlement of futures or monthly settlement of total return swaps.
(2)Includes notional of $2.2 billion and fair value of $88 million that support our modified coinsurance agreements. Investment results for these agreements are passed directly to the reinsurers.
Liabilities
We have exposure to changes in LNC’s stock price through both LNC’s deferred and stock-based incentive compensation plans. For additional information on the deferred and stock-based incentive compensations plans, see Notes 17 and 18, respectively.
Effect of Equity Market Sensitivity
If the level of the equity markets were to have instantaneously increased or decreased by 1% immediately after December 31, 2021, we estimate the effect on income (loss) from operations for the next 12-month period from the change in asset-based fees and related expenses would be approximately $10 million. For purposes of this estimate, we excluded any effect related to net flows, unlocking, persistency, hedge program performance, customer behavior or reduction in account values attributable to contract holder assessments.
The effect of quarterly equity market changes upon fee income and asset-based expenses is generally not fully recognized in the first quarter of the change because fee income is earned and related expenses are incurred based upon daily variable account values. The difference between the current period average daily variable account values compared to the end-of-period variable account values affects fee income in subsequent periods. Additionally, the effect on earnings may not necessarily be symmetrical with comparable increases or decreases in the equity markets. This discussion concerning the estimated effects of ongoing equity market volatility on the fees we earn from account values is intended to be illustrative and is concentrated primarily in our Annuities and Retirement Plan Services segments. Actual effects may vary depending on a variety of factors, many of which are outside of our control, such as changing customer behaviors that might result in changes in the mix of our business between variable and fixed annuity contracts, switching among investment alternatives available within variable products, changes in sales production levels or changes in policy persistency. For purposes of this guidance, the change in account values is assumed to correlate with the change in the relevant index.
Credit Risk
Credit risk is the risk to earnings and capital that arises from uncertainty of an obligor’s or counterparty’s ability or willingness to meet its obligations in accordance with contractually agreed upon terms. We are exposed to credit risk primarily by our investments in corporate bonds and mortgage loans on real estate and through our use of derivatives.
Investments
The majority of our credit risk is concentrated in investment holdings. Our portfolio of investments was $151.4 billion and $150.9 billion as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. Of this total, $100.1 billion and $104.5 billion consisted of corporate bonds and $17.9 billion and $16.7 billion consisted of mortgage loans on real estate as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. We manage the risk of adverse default experience on these investments by applying disciplined credit evaluation and underwriting standards, prudently limiting allocations to lower-quality, higher-yielding investments and diversifying exposures by issuer, industry, region and property type. For each counterparty or borrowing entity and its affiliates, our exposures from all transactions are aggregated and managed in relation to formal limits set by rating quality. Additional diversification limits, such as limits per industry, are also applied. We remain exposed to occasional adverse cyclical economic downturns during which default rates may be significantly higher than the long-term historical average used in pricing.
Derivatives
We are exposed to counterparty credit risk through our various derivative contracts. We depend on the ability of derivative product dealers and their guarantors to honor their obligations to pay the contract amounts under various derivatives agreements. In order to minimize the risk of default losses, we diversify our exposures among several dealers and limit the amount of exposure to each in accordance with the credit rating of each dealer or its guarantor. We generally limit our selection of counterparties that are obligated under these derivative contracts to those with an “A” credit rating or above. See Note 5 for additional information on managing the credit risk of our counterparties.
We are also exposed to credit risk through the use of certain derivatives. We buy credit default swaps to minimize our exposure to credit-related events with respect to a single entity or referenced index. We also sell credit default swaps to offer credit protection to our contract holders and investors with respect to a single entity or referenced index. See Note 5 for additional information on our use of credit derivatives.
Foreign Currency Exchange Risk
Foreign Currency Denominated Investments
Foreign currency exchange risk is the risk of financial loss due to changes in the relative value between currencies. We have foreign currency exchange risk in our non-U.S. dollar denominated investments, which primarily consist of fixed maturity securities. The currency risk is hedged using foreign currency derivatives of the same currency as the foreign denominated security.
We invest in fixed maturity securities denominated in foreign currencies for incremental return and risk diversification relative to U.S. dollar-denominated securities. We use foreign currency swaps to hedge the foreign exchange risk related to our investment in fixed maturity securities denominated in foreign currencies. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, our unhedged positions consisted of $4 million and $6 million, respectively, of principal in U.S. dollar equivalents of Canadian-denominated investments with maturity dates up to 2025 and an average interest rate of 2%. As of the same dates, our modified coinsurance portfolios were partially hedged and consisted of $181 million and $184 million, respectively, of principal in U.S. dollar equivalents of foreign denominated investments with maturity dates up to 2063 and an average interest rate of 4%. Investment results for our modified coinsurance agreements are passed directly to the reinsurers. See “Interest Rate Risk - Significant Interest Rate Exposures” above for our notional amounts in U.S. dollar equivalents (in millions) by year of maturity for our foreign currency swaps.
See Note 5 for additional information on our foreign currency swaps used to hedge our exposure to foreign currency exchange risk.
‎

---

ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
Consolidated Financial Statements
Page
Management Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm (PCAOB ID: 42)
Consolidated Balance Sheets
Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss)
Consolidated Statements of Stockholder’s Equity
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements:
Note 1 - Nature of Operations, Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Note 2 - New Accounting Standards
Note 3 - Variable Interest Entities
Note 4 - Investments
Note 5 - Derivatives
Note 6 - Federal Income Taxes
Note 7 - DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL
Note 8 - Reinsurance
Note 9 - Goodwill and Specifically Identifiable Intangible Assets
Note 10 - Guaranteed Benefit Features
Note 11 - Liability for Unpaid Claims
Note 12 - Short-Term and Long-Term Debt
Note 13 - Contingencies and Commitments
Note 14 - Shares and Stockholder’s Equity
Note 15 - Realized Gain (Loss)
Note 16 - Commissions and Other Expenses
Note 17 - Retirement and Deferred Compensation Plans
Note 18 - Stock-Based Incentive Compensation Plans
Note 19 - Statutory Information and Restrictions
Note 20 - Fair Value of Financial Instruments
Note 21 - Segment Information
Note 22 - Supplemental Disclosures of Cash Flow Data
Note 23 - Transactions with Affiliates
‎
Management Repo rt on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
Management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting for The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of our financial reporting and the preparation of the consolidated financial statements for external purposes in accordance with United States of America generally accepted accounting principles. Internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that: (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of our assets; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with United States of America generally accepted accounting principles, and that our receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with authorizations of our management and directors; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of our assets that could have a material effect on the consolidated financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Projections of any evaluation of internal control over financial reporting effectiveness to future periods are subject to risks. Over time, controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions or deterioration in the degree of compliance with policies or procedures.
Management assessed our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021, the end of our fiscal year. Management based its assessment on criteria established in Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (2013 framework). Management’s assessment included evaluation of such elements as the design and operating effectiveness of key financial reporting controls, process documentation, accounting policies, and our overall control environment.
Based on the assessment, management has concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of the end of the fiscal year to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of consolidated financial statements for external reporting purposes in accordance with United States of America generally accepted accounting principles.
This Annual Report does not include an attestation report of the Company’s registered public accounting firm, Ernst & Young LLP, regarding the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. Management’s report was not subject to attestation by the Company’s registered public accounting firm pursuant to rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission that permit the Company to provide only a management report in this Annual Report.
‎
Report of Independent Registered Public Acc ounting Firm
To the Stockholder and the Board of Directors of The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company (the Company) as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, and the related consolidated statements of comprehensive income (loss), stockholder’s equity and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2021, and the related notes and financial statement schedules listed in the Index at Item 15(a)(2) (collectively referred to as the “consolidated financial statements”). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company at December 31, 2021 and 2020, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2021, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.
Basis for Opinion
These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s 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.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audits we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company's internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
Critical Audit Matters
The critical audit matters communicated below are matters arising from the current period audit of the financial statements that were communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relate to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the consolidated financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matters below, providing separate opinions on the critical audit matters or on the accounts or disclosures to which they relate.
‎
Deferred Acquisition Costs Asset and Future Contract Benefits Liability
Description of the Matter
At December 31, 2021, deferred acquisition costs totaled $5.8 billion and future contract benefits liabilities totaled $40.4 billion, a portion of which related to universal life-type contracts with secondary guarantees and variable annuity contracts with guaranteed benefit riders.
The carrying amount of the deferred acquisition costs related to these products is the total of costs deferred less amortization, which is calculated in relation to the present value of estimated gross profits of the underlying contracts. As described in Notes 1 (see section on DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL) and 7 to the consolidated financial statements, there is a significant amount of uncertainty inherent in calculating estimated gross profits as the calculation includes significant management judgment in developing certain assumptions, such as expected future frequency and level of mortality claims, investment margins, retention and rider utilization. Management’s assumptions are adjusted, also known as unlocked, for emerging experience and expected changes in trends. The unlocking results in deferred acquisition cost amortization being recalculated, using the new assumptions for estimated gross profits, that results either in additional or less cumulative amortization expense.
The future contract benefits liability related to these product guarantees is based on estimates of how much the Company will need to pay for future benefits and the amount of fees to be collected from policyholders for these policy features. As described in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements (see section on Future Contract Benefits), there is significant uncertainty inherent in estimating this liability because there is a significant amount of management judgment involved in developing certain assumptions that impact the liability balance, which are consistent with the assumptions used to amortize the related deferred acquisition cost asset as noted above and which include expected future frequency and level of mortality claims, investment margins, retention and rider utilization.
Auditing the valuation of deferred acquisition costs and future contract benefits liabilities related to these products was complex and required the involvement of our actuarial specialists due to the high degree of judgment used by management in setting the assumptions used in the estimate of both the amortization of deferred acquisition costs and the future contract benefits liability related to these products.
How We Addressed the Matter in Our Audit
We obtained an understanding, evaluated the design and tested the operating effectiveness of controls over the deferred acquisition costs and future contract benefits liability estimation processes, including, among others, controls related to the review and approval processes that management has in place for the assumptions used in estimating the estimated gross profits related to deferred acquisition costs and the future contract benefits liability. This included testing controls related to management’s evaluation of the need to update assumptions based on the comparison of actual Company experience to previous assumptions and updating investment margins for current and expected future market conditions.
We involved actuarial specialists to assist with our audit procedures which included, among others, an evaluation of the methodology applied by management with those methods used in prior periods. To assess the significant assumptions used by management, we compared the significant assumptions noted above to historical experience, observable market data or management’s estimates of prospective changes in these assumptions. In addition, we performed an independent recalculation of estimated gross profits related to deferred policy acquisition costs and the future policy benefit reserves for a sample of cohorts or contracts which we compared to the actuarial model used by management.
‎
Variable Annuity Guaranteed Living Benefit Riders Embedded Derivatives
Description of the Matter
The Company’s variable annuity guaranteed living benefit riders include an embedded derivative, represented by an asset totaling $2.0 billion as of December 31, 2021, related to the non-life contingent feature of the product which is accounted for at fair value, with changes in fair value recognized in income. As described in Notes 1 (see section on Future Contract Benefits), 5 and 20 to the consolidated financial statements, there is a significant amount of estimation uncertainty inherent in measuring the fair value of the embedded derivative because of the sensitivity of certain assumptions underlying the estimate, including stock market performance, policy lapse experience and rider utilization. Management’s assumptions are adjusted over time for emerging experience and expected changes in trends, resulting in changes to the estimated fair value of the embedded derivative.
Auditing the valuation of the embedded derivative related to variable annuity guaranteed living benefit riders was complex and required the involvement of our actuarial specialists due to the high degree of judgment used by management in setting the assumptions used in the estimate of the value of the embedded derivative.
How We Addressed the Matter in Our Audit
We obtained an understanding, evaluated the design and tested the operating effectiveness of controls over the embedded derivative estimation process, including, among others, controls related to the review and approval processes that management has in place to develop the assumptions used in measuring the fair value of the embedded derivative. This included testing controls related to management’s evaluation of current and future market conditions and the need to update policy lapse and rider utilization assumptions.
We involved actuarial specialists to assist with our audit procedures which included, among others, an evaluation of the methodology applied by management with those methods used in prior periods. To assess the significant assumptions used by management, we compared the significant assumptions noted above to historical experience, observable market data or management’s estimates of prospective changes in these assumptions. In addition, we performed an independent recalculation of the embedded derivative for a sample of contracts which we compared to the fair value model used by management.
Valuation of Goodwill for the Life Insurance Reporting Unit
Description of the Matter
At December 31, 2021, the Company’s goodwill was $1.8 billion, of which $634 million related to the Company’s Life Insurance reporting unit. As discussed in Notes 1 (see section on Goodwill) and 9 of the consolidated financial statements, goodwill is tested for impairment at least annually at the reporting unit level. Determining the fair value of the Life Insurance reporting unit as part of the goodwill impairment analysis is sensitive to significant assumptions such as the discount rate, which reflects the market expected, weighted-average rate of return adjusted for the risk factors associated with the operations, and other relevant assumptions impacting projected financial information, such as the profitability of new and in-force business, all of which are affected by expectations about future market or economic conditions.
Auditing the fair value of the Company’s Life Insurance reporting unit was complex and required the involvement of our valuation and actuarial specialists due to the high degree of judgment used by management.
How We Addressed the Matter in Our Audit
We obtained an understanding, evaluated the design and tested the operating effectiveness of controls over the Company’s goodwill impairment review process. This included, among others, controls related to the review and approval processes that management has in place to develop the assumptions used in the estimation process, including management’s determination of the applicable discount rate, and other assumptions for the Life Insurance reporting unit.
We involved actuarial and valuation specialists to assist with our audit procedures which included, among others, an evaluation of the methodology applied by management with those methods used in prior periods. To assess the significant assumptions used by management, we compared the significant assumptions noted above to current industry and economic trends, recent market transactions and other relevant factors. We reviewed the historical accuracy of management’s estimate and performed sensitivity analyses of significant assumptions to evaluate the changes in the fair value of the Life Insurance reporting unit that would result from changes in the assumptions.
/s/ Ernst & Young LLP
We have served as the Company's auditor since 1966.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
March 8, 2022
THE LINCOLN NATIONAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY
CONSOLIDATE D BALANCE SHEETS
(in millions, except share data)
As of December 31,
ASSETS
Investments:
Fixed maturity available-for-sale securities, at fair value
(amortized cost: 2021 - $104,526; 2020 - $103,021; allowance for credit losses: 2021 - $19; 2020 - $13)
$
117,511
$
121,111
Trading securities
4,427
4,442
Equity securities
Mortgage loans on real estate, net of allowance for credit losses
(portion at fair value: 2021 - $739; 2020 - $832)
17,893
16,681
Policy loans
2,349
2,411
Derivative investments
5,437
3,109
Other investments
3,449
3,025
Total investments
151,380
150,906
Cash and invested cash
2,331
1,462
Deferred acquisition costs and value of business acquired
5,985
5,824
Premiums and fees receivable
Accrued investment income
1,157
1,217
Reinsurance recoverables, net of allowance for credit losses
22,755
18,752
Funds withheld reinsurance assets
Goodwill
1,778
1,778
Other assets
22,949
19,401
Separate account assets
182,583
167,965
Total assets
$
392,015
$
368,319
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDER’S EQUITY
Liabilities
Future contract benefits
$
40,416
$
40,146
Other contract holder funds
111,174
104,858
Short-term debt
1,084
Long-term debt
2,334
2,412
Reinsurance related embedded derivatives
Funds withheld reinsurance liabilities
7,089
7,179
Payables for collateral on investments
8,936
6,215
Other liabilities
15,441
13,466
Separate account liabilities
182,583
167,965
Total liabilities
369,635
343,278
Contingencies and Commitments (See Note 13)
Stockholder’s Equity
Common stock - 10,000,000 shares authorized, issued and outstanding
11,950
11,853
Retained earnings
3,886
4,167
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)
6,544
9,021
Total stockholder’s equity
22,380
25,041
Total liabilities and stockholder’s equity
$
392,015
$
368,319
‎
See accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
THE LINCOLN NATIONAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT S OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS)
(in millions)
For the Years Ended December 31,
Revenues
Insurance premiums
$
5,359
$
5,122
$
5,277
Fee income
6,612
6,120
6,247
Net investment income
5,844
5,264
4,962
Realized gain (loss)
(526
)
(828
)
Amortization of deferred gain on business sold through reinsurance
Other revenues
Total revenues
18,601
16,566
16,192
Expenses
Interest credited
2,893
2,899
2,754
Benefits
8,039
8,050
7,585
Commissions and other expenses
5,546
4,889
5,065
Interest and debt expense
Spark and strategic digitization expense
Total expenses
16,679
16,031
15,615
Income (loss) before taxes
1,922
Federal income tax expense (benefit)
(56
)
(37
)
Net income (loss)
1,629
Other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax:
Unrealized investment gains (losses)
(2,480
)
3,177
5,173
Funded status of employee benefit plans
Total other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax
(2,477
)
3,185
5,177
Comprehensive income (loss)
$
(848
)
$
3,776
$
5,791
‎
See accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
THE LINCOLN NATIONAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF STOCKHOLDER’S EQUITY
(in millions)
For the Years Ended December 31,
Common Stock
Balance as of beginning-of-year
$
11,853
$
11,312
$
11,237
Capital contribution from Lincoln National Corporation
Stock compensation/issued for benefit plans
Balance as of end-of-year
11,950
11,853
11,312
Retained Earnings
Balance as of beginning-of-year
4,167
4,437
4,423
Cumulative effect from adoption of new accounting standards
-
(201
)
-
Net income (loss)
1,629
Dividends paid to Lincoln National Corporation
(1,910
)
(660
)
(600
)
Balance as of end-of-year
3,886
4,167
4,437
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)
Balance as of beginning-of-year
9,021
5,836
Other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax
(2,477
)
3,185
5,177
Balance as of end-of-year
6,544
9,021
5,836
Total stockholder’s equity as of end-of-year
$
22,380
$
25,041
$
21,585
‎
See accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
THE LINCOLN NATIONAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY
CONSOLIDATED STATE MENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(in millions)
For the Years Ended December 31,
Cash Flows from Operating Activities
Net income (loss)
$
1,629
$
$
Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash provided by (used in) operating activities:
Realized (gain) loss
(89
)
Trading securities purchases, sales and maturities, net
(108
)
(2,522
)
Amortization of deferred gain on business sold through reinsurance
(40
)
(33
)
(27
)
Change in:
Deferred acquisition costs, value of business acquired, deferred sales inducements
and deferred front-end loads deferrals and interest, net of amortization
(448
)
Premiums and fees receivable
(95
)
(20
)
Accrued investment income
(88
)
(22
)
Insurance liabilities and reinsurance-related balances
(585
)
(1,195
)
Accrued expenses
(21
)
Federal income tax accruals
(134
)
(282
)
Cash management agreement
(1,286
)
(1,341
)
(1,115
)
Other
(165
)
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities
(3,633
)
Cash Flows from Investing Activities
Purchases of available-for-sale securities and equity securities
(16,834
)
(16,149
)
(14,927
)
Sales of available-for-sale securities and equity securities
2,341
1,214
6,771
Maturities of available-for-sale securities
9,417
5,180
6,426
Purchases of alternative investments
(754
)
(395
)
(433
)
Sales and repayments of alternative investments
Issuance of mortgage loans on real estate
(3,062
)
(1,790
)
(4,218
)
Repayment and maturities of mortgage loans on real estate
1,873
1,133
1,144
Issuance (repayment) of policy loans, net
Net change in collateral on investments, derivatives and related settlements
3,095
1,775
Other
(253
)
(149
)
(259
)
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities
(3,739
)
(8,961
)
(4,984
)
Cash Flows from Financing Activities
Capital contribution from Lincoln National Corporation
Payment of long-term debt, including current maturities
(60
)
(30
)
(28
)
Issuance of long-term debt, net of issuance costs
-
Issuance (payment) of short-term debt
(112
)
Payment related to sale-leaseback transactions
(59
)
(47
)
(83
)
Proceeds from certain financing arrangements
Deposits of fixed account values, including the fixed portion of variable
12,622
14,009
16,049
Withdrawals of fixed account values, including the fixed portion of variable
(6,575
)
(6,069
)
(5,800
)
Transfers to and from separate accounts, net
(340
)
(1,362
)
Common stock issued for benefit plans
(13
)
(9
)
(34
)
Dividends paid to Lincoln National Corporation
(1,910
)
(660
)
(600
)
Other
(60
)
-
-
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities
4,416
8,259
8,648
Net increase (decrease) in cash, invested cash and restricted cash
(417
)
Cash, invested cash and restricted cash as of beginning-of-year
1,462
1,879
1,848
Cash, invested cash and restricted cash as of end-of-year
$
2,331
$
1,462
$
1,879
See accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
THE LINCOLN NATIONAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
1. N ature of Operations, Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Nature of Operations
The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company (“LNL” or the “Company,” which also may be referred to as “we,” “our” or “us”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lincoln National Corporation (“LNC” or the “Parent Company”), is domiciled in the state of Indiana. We own 100% of the outstanding common stock of one insurance company subsidiary, Lincoln Life & Annuity Company of New York (“LLANY”). Effective October 1, 2021, Lincoln Life Assurance Company of Boston (“LLACB”) was merged into LNL, which had no impact on our consolidated financial statements. We also own several non-insurance companies, including Lincoln Financial Distributors, our wholesale distributor, and Lincoln Financial Advisors Corporation, part of LNC’s retail distributor, Lincoln Financial Network. LNL’s principal businesses consist of underwriting annuities, deposit-type contracts and life insurance through multiple distribution channels. LNL is licensed and sells its products throughout the U.S. and several U.S. territories. See Note 21 for additional information.
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with United States of America generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). Certain GAAP policies, which significantly affect the determination of financial condition, results of operations and cash flows, are summarized below.
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Principles of Consolidation
The accompanying consolidated financial statements include the accounts of LNL and all other entities in which we have a controlling financial interest and any variable interest entities (“VIEs”) in which we are the primary beneficiary. We use the equity method of accounting to recognize all of our investments in limited liability partnerships. All material inter-company accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.
Our involvement with VIEs is primarily to invest in assets that allow us to gain exposure to a broadly diversified portfolio of asset classes. A VIE is an entity that does not have sufficient equity to finance its own activities without additional financial support or where investors lack certain characteristics of a controlling financial interest. We assess our contractual, ownership or other interests in a VIE to determine if our interest participates in the variability the VIE was designed to absorb and pass onto variable interest holders. We perform an ongoing qualitative assessment of our variable interests in VIEs to determine whether we have a controlling financial interest and would therefore be considered the primary beneficiary of the VIE. If we determine we are the primary beneficiary of a VIE, we consolidate the assets and liabilities of the VIE in our consolidated financial statements.
Accounting Estimates and Assumptions
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions affecting the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities as of the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses for the reporting period. In applying these estimates and assumptions, management makes subjective and complex judgments that frequently require assumptions about matters that are uncertain and inherently subject to change, including matters related to or impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Actual results could differ from these estimates and assumptions. Included among the material (or potentially material) reported amounts and disclosures that require extensive use of estimates are: fair value of certain financial assets, derivatives, allowances for credit losses, deferred acquisition costs (“DAC”), value of business acquired (“VOBA”), deferred sales inducements (“DSI”), goodwill and other intangibles, future contract benefits, other contract holder funds including deferred front-end loads (“DFEL”), pension plans, stock-based incentive compensation, income taxes including the recoverability of our deferred tax assets, and the potential effects of resolving litigated matters.
Business Combinations
We use the acquisition method of accounting for all business combination transactions, and accordingly, recognize the fair values of assets acquired, liabilities assumed and any noncontrolling interests in our consolidated financial statements. The allocation of fair values may be subject to adjustment after the initial allocation for up to a one-year period as more information becomes available relative to the fair values as of the acquisition date. The consolidated financial statements include the results of operations of any acquired company since the acquisition date.
Fair Value Measurement
Our measurement of fair value is based on assumptions used by market participants in pricing the asset or liability, which may include inherent risk, restrictions on the sale or use of an asset or non-performance risk (“NPR”), which would include our own credit risk. Our estimate of an exchange price is the price in an orderly transaction between market participants to sell the asset or transfer the liability (“exit price”) in the principal market, or the most advantageous market in the absence of a principal market, for that asset or liability, as opposed to the price that would be paid to acquire the asset or receive a liability (“entry price”). Pursuant to the Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures Topic of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards CodificationTM (“ASC”), we categorize our financial instruments carried at fair value into a three-level fair value hierarchy, based on the priority of inputs to the respective valuation technique. The three-level hierarchy for fair value measurement is defined as follows:
Level 1 - inputs to the valuation methodology are quoted prices available in active markets for identical investments as of the reporting date, except for large holdings subject to “blockage discounts” that are excluded;
Level 2 - inputs to the valuation methodology are other than quoted prices in active markets, which are either directly or indirectly observable as of the reporting date, and fair value can be determined through the use of models or other valuation methodologies; and
Level 3 - inputs to the valuation methodology are unobservable inputs in situations where there is little or no market activity for the asset or liability, and we make estimates and assumptions related to the pricing of the asset or liability, including assumptions regarding risk.
In certain cases, the inputs used to measure fair value may fall into different levels of the fair value hierarchy. In such cases, the level within the fair value hierarchy is based on the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement. Our assessment of the significance of a particular input to the fair value measurement in its entirety requires judgment and considers factors specific to the investment.
When a determination is made to classify an asset or liability within Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy, the determination is based upon the significance of the unobservable inputs to the overall fair value measurement. Because certain securities trade in less liquid or illiquid markets with limited or no pricing information, the determination of fair value for these securities is inherently more difficult. However, Level 3 fair value investments may include, in addition to the unobservable or Level 3 inputs, observable components, which are components that are actively quoted or can be validated to market-based sources.
Fixed Maturity Available-For-Sale Securities - Fair Valuation Methodologies and Associated Inputs
Securities classified as available-for-sale (“AFS”) consist of fixed maturity securities and are stated at fair value with unrealized gains and losses included within accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) (“AOCI”), net of associated DAC, VOBA, DSI, future contract benefits, other contract holder funds and deferred income taxes.
We measure the fair value of our securities classified as fixed maturity AFS based on assumptions used by market participants in pricing the security. The most appropriate valuation methodology is selected based on the specific characteristics of the fixed maturity security, and we consistently apply the valuation methodology to measure the security’s fair value. Our fair value measurement is based on a market approach that utilizes prices and other relevant information generated by market transactions involving identical or comparable securities. Sources of inputs to the market approach primarily include third-party pricing services, independent broker quotations or pricing matrices. We do not adjust prices received from third parties; however, we do analyze the third-party pricing services’ valuation methodologies and related inputs and perform additional evaluation to determine the appropriate level within the fair value hierarchy.
The observable and unobservable inputs to our valuation methodologies are based on a set of standard inputs that we generally use to evaluate all of our fixed maturity AFS securities. Observable inputs include benchmark yields, reported trades, broker-dealer quotes, issuer spreads, two-sided markets, benchmark securities, bids, offers and reference data. In addition, market indicators, industry and economic events are monitored, and further market data is acquired if certain triggers are met. For certain security types, additional inputs may be used, or some of the inputs described above may not be applicable. For private placement securities, we use pricing matrices that utilize observable pricing inputs of similar public securities and Treasury yields as inputs to the fair value measurement. Depending on the type of security or the daily market activity, standard inputs may be prioritized differently or may not be available for all fixed maturity AFS securities on any given day. For broker-quoted only securities, non-binding quotes from market makers or broker-dealers are obtained from sources recognized as market participants. For securities trading in less liquid or illiquid markets with limited or no pricing information, we use unobservable inputs to measure fair value.
The following summarizes our fair valuation methodologies and associated inputs, which are particular to the specified security type and are in addition to the defined standard inputs to our valuation methodologies for all of our fixed maturity AFS securities discussed above:
Corporate bonds and U.S. government bonds - We also use Trade Reporting and Compliance EngineTM reported tables for our corporate bonds and vendor trading platform data for our U.S. government bonds.
Mortgage- and asset-backed securities (“ABS”) - We also utilize additional inputs, which include new issues data, monthly payment information and monthly collateral performance, including prepayments, severity, delinquencies, step-down features and over collateralization features for each of our mortgage-backed securities (“MBS”), which include collateralized mortgage obligations and mortgage pass through securities backed by residential mortgages (“RMBS”), commercial mortgage-backed securities (“CMBS”) and collateralized loan obligations (“CLOs”).
State and municipal bonds - We also use additional inputs that include information from the Municipal Securities Rule Making Board, as well as material event notices, new issue data, issuer financial statements and Municipal Market Data benchmark yields for our state and municipal bonds.
Hybrid and redeemable preferred securities - We also utilize additional inputs of exchange prices (underlying and common stock of the same issuer) for our hybrid and redeemable preferred securities.
In order to validate the pricing information and broker-dealer quotes, we employ, where possible, procedures that include comparisons with similar observable positions, comparisons with subsequent sales and observations of general market movements for those security classes. We have policies and procedures in place to review the process that is utilized by our third-party pricing service and the output that is provided to us by the pricing service. On a periodic basis, we test the pricing for a sample of securities to evaluate the inputs and assumptions used by the pricing service, and we perform a comparison of the pricing service output to an alternative pricing source. We also evaluate prices provided by our primary pricing service to ensure that they are not stale or unreasonable by reviewing the prices for unusual changes from period to period based on certain parameters or for lack of change from one period to the next.
Fixed Maturity AFS Securities - Evaluation for Recovery of Amortized Cost
We regularly review our fixed maturity AFS securities (also referred to as “debt securities”) for declines in fair value that we determine to be impairment-related, including those attributable to credit risk factors that may require a credit loss allowance.
For our debt securities, we generally consider the following to determine whether our debt securities with unrealized losses are credit impaired:
The estimated range and average period until recovery;
The estimated range and average holding period to maturity;
Remaining payment terms of the security;
Current delinquencies and nonperforming assets of underlying collateral;
Expected future default rates;
Collateral value by vintage, geographic region, industry concentration or property type;
Subordination levels or other credit enhancements as of the balance sheet date as compared to origination; and
Contractual and regulatory cash obligations.
For a debt security, if we intend to sell a security, or it is more likely than not we will be required to sell a debt security before recovery of its amortized cost basis and the fair value of the debt security is below amortized cost, we conclude that an impairment has occurred and the amortized cost is written down to current fair value, with a corresponding charge to realized gain (loss) on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss). If we do not intend to sell a debt security, or it is not more likely than not we will be required to sell a debt security before recovery of its amortized cost basis but the present value of the cash flows expected to be collected is less than the amortized cost of the debt security (referred to as the credit loss), we conclude that an impairment has occurred, and a credit loss allowance is recorded, with a corresponding charge to realized gain (loss) on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss). The remainder of the decline to fair value related to factors other than credit loss is recorded in other comprehensive income (“OCI”) to unrealized losses on fixed maturity AFS securities on our Consolidated Statements of Stockholder’s Equity, as this amount is considered a noncredit impairment.
When assessing our intent to sell a debt security, or if it is more likely than not we will be required to sell a debt security before recovery of its cost basis, we evaluate facts and circumstances such as, but not limited to, decisions to reposition our security portfolio, sales of securities to meet cash flow needs and sales of securities to capitalize on favorable pricing. Management considers the following as part of the evaluation:
The current economic environment and market conditions;
Our business strategy and current business plans;
The nature and type of security, including expected maturities and exposure to general credit, liquidity, market and interest rate risk;
Our analysis of data from financial models and other internal and industry sources to evaluate the current effectiveness of our hedging and overall risk management strategies;
The current and expected timing of contractual maturities of our assets and liabilities, expectations of prepayments on investments and expectations for surrenders and withdrawals of life insurance policies and annuity contracts;
The capital risk limits approved by management; and
Our current financial condition and liquidity demands.
In order to determine the amount of the credit loss for a debt security, we calculate the recovery value by performing a discounted cash flow analysis based on the current cash flows and future cash flows we expect to recover. The discount rate is the effective interest rate implicit in the underlying debt security. The effective interest rate is the original yield, or the coupon if the debt security was previously impaired. See the discussion below for additional information on the methodology and significant inputs, by security type, that we use to determine the amount of a credit loss.
To determine the recovery period of a debt security, we consider the facts and circumstances surrounding the underlying issuer including, but not limited to, the following:
Historical and implied volatility of the security;
The extent to which the fair value has been less than amortized cost;
Adverse conditions specifically related to the security or to specific conditions in an industry or geographic area;
Failure, if any, of the issuer of the security to make scheduled payments; and
Recoveries or additional declines in fair value subsequent to the balance sheet date.
In periods subsequent to the recognition of a credit loss impairment through a credit loss allowance, we continue to reassess the expected cash flows of the debt security at each subsequent measurement date as necessary. If the measurement of credit loss changes, we recognize a provision for (or reversal of) credit loss expense through realized gain (loss) on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss), limited by the amount that amortized cost exceeds fair value. Losses are charged against the allowance for credit losses when management believes the uncollectibility of a debt security is confirmed or when either of the criteria regarding intent or requirement to sell is met. Accrued interest on debt securities is written-off when deemed uncollectible.
To determine the recovery value of a corporate bond or CLO, we perform additional analysis related to the underlying issuer including, but not limited to, the following:
Fundamentals of the issuer to determine what we would recover if they were to file bankruptcy versus the price at which the market is trading;
Fundamentals of the industry in which the issuer operates;
Earnings multiples for the given industry or sector of an industry that the underlying issuer operates within, divided by the outstanding debt to determine an expected recovery value of the security in the case of a liquidation;
Expected cash flows of the issuer (e.g., whether the issuer has cash flows in excess of what is required to fund its operations);
Expectations regarding defaults and recovery rates;
Changes to the rating of the security by a rating agency; and
Additional market information (e.g., if there has been a replacement of the corporate debt security).
Each quarter, we review the cash flows for the MBS portfolio, including current credit enhancements and trends in the underlying collateral performance to determine whether or not they are sufficient to provide for the recovery of our amortized cost. To determine recovery value of a MBS, we perform additional analysis related to the underlying issuer including, but not limited to, the following:
Discounted cash flow analysis based on the current cash flows and future cash flows we expect to recover;
Level of borrower creditworthiness of the home equity loans or residential mortgages that back an RMBS or commercial mortgages that back a CMBS;
Susceptibility to fair value fluctuations for changes in the interest rate environment;
Susceptibility to reinvestment risks, in cases where market yields are lower than the securities’ book yield earned;
Susceptibility to reinvestment risks, in cases where market yields are higher than the book yields earned on a security;
Expectations of sale of such a security where market yields are higher than the book yields earned on a security; and
Susceptibility to variability of prepayments.
When evaluating MBS and mortgage-related ABS, we consider a number of pool-specific factors as well as market level factors when determining whether or not the impairment on the security requires a credit loss allowance. The most important factor is the performance of the underlying collateral in the security and the trends of that performance in the prior periods. We use this information about the collateral to forecast the timing and rate of mortgage loan defaults, including making projections for loans that are already delinquent and for those loans that are currently performing but may become delinquent in the future. Other factors used in this analysis include the credit characteristics of borrowers, geographic distribution of underlying loans and timing of liquidations by state. Once default rates and timing assumptions are determined, we then make assumptions regarding the severity of a default if it were to occur. Factors that impact the severity assumption include expectations for future home price appreciation or depreciation, loan size, first lien versus second lien, existence of loan level private mortgage insurance, type of occupancy and geographic distribution of loans. Once default and severity assumptions are determined for the security in question, cash flows for the underlying collateral are projected including expected defaults and prepayments. These cash flows on the collateral are then translated to cash flows on our tranche based on the cash flow waterfall of the entire capital security structure. If this analysis indicates the entire principal on a particular security will not be returned, the security is reviewed for a credit loss by comparing the expected cash flows to amortized cost. To the extent that the security has already been impaired through a credit loss allowance or was purchased at a discount, such that the amortized cost of the security is less than or equal to the present value of cash flows expected to be collected, no credit loss allowance is required. Otherwise, if the amortized cost of the security is greater than the present value of the cash flows expected to be collected, and the security was not purchased at a discount greater than the expected principal loss, then an impairment through a credit loss allowance is recognized.
We further monitor the cash flows of all of our debt securities backed by mortgages on an ongoing basis. We also perform detailed analysis on all of our subprime, Alt-A, non-agency residential MBS and on a significant percentage of our debt securities backed by pools of commercial mortgages. The detailed analysis includes revising projected cash flows by updating the cash flows for actual cash received and applying assumptions with respect to expected defaults, foreclosures and recoveries in the future. These revised projected cash flows are then compared to the amount of credit enhancement (subordination) in the structure to determine whether the amortized cost of the security is recoverable. If it is not recoverable, we record an impairment through a credit loss allowance for the security.
Trading Securities
Trading securities consist of fixed maturity securities in designated portfolios, some of which support modified coinsurance and coinsurance with funds withheld reinsurance agreements. Investment results for the portfolios that support modified coinsurance and coinsurance with funds withheld reinsurance agreements, including gains and losses from sales, are passed directly to the reinsurers pursuant to contractual terms of the reinsurance agreements. Trading securities are carried at fair value, and changes in fair value and changes in the fair value of embedded derivative liabilities associated with the underlying reinsurance agreements are recorded in realized gain (loss) on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss) as they occur.
Equity Securities
Equity securities are carried at fair value, and changes in fair value are recorded in realized gain (loss) on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss) as they occur. Equity securities consist primarily of common stock of publicly-traded companies, privately placed securities and mutual fund shares. We measure the fair value of our equity securities based on assumptions used by market participants in pricing the security. The most appropriate valuation methodology is selected based on the specific characteristics of the equity security. Fair values of publicly-traded equity securities are determined using quoted prices in active markets for identical or comparable securities. When quoted prices are not available, we use valuation methodologies most appropriate for the specific asset. Fair values for private placement securities are determined using discounted cash flow, earnings multiple and other valuation models. The fair values of mutual fund shares that transact regularly are based on transaction prices of identical fund shares.
Mortgage Loans on Real Estate
Mortgage loans on real estate consist of commercial and residential mortgage loans and are generally carried at unpaid principal balances adjusted for amortization of premiums and accretion of discounts and are net of allowance for credit losses. We carry certain commercial
mortgage loans at fair value where the fair value option has been elected. Interest income is accrued on the principal balance of the loan based on the loan’s contractual interest rate. Premiums and discounts are amortized using the effective yield method over the life of the loan. Interest income and amortization of premiums and discounts are reported in net investment income on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss) along with mortgage loan fees, which are recorded as they are incurred.
Our policy for commercial mortgage loans is to report loans that are 60 or more days past due, which equates to two or more payments missed, as delinquent. Our policy for residential mortgage loans is to report loans that are 90 or more days past due, which equates to three or more payments missed, as delinquent. We do not accrue interest on loans 90 days past due, and any interest received on these loans is either applied to the principal or recorded in net investment income on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss) when received, depending on the assessment of the collectability of the loan. We resume accruing interest once a loan complies with all of its original terms or restructured terms. Mortgage loans deemed uncollectible are charged against the allowance for credit losses, and subsequent recoveries, if any, are likewise credited to the allowance for credit losses. Accrued interest on mortgage loans is written-off when deemed uncollectible.
In connection with our recognition of an allowance for credit losses for mortgage loans on real estate, we perform a quantitative analysis using a probability of default/loss given default/exposure at default approach to estimate expected credit losses in our mortgage loan portfolio as well as unfunded commitments related to commercial mortgage loans, exclusive of certain mortgage loans held at fair value. Our model estimates expected credit losses over the contractual terms of the loans, which are the periods over which we are exposed to credit risk, adjusted for expected prepayments. Credit loss estimates are segmented by commercial mortgage loans, residential mortgage loans, and unfunded commitments related to commercial mortgage loans.
The allowance for credit losses for pooled loans of similar risk (i.e., commercial and residential mortgage loans) is estimated using relevant historical credit loss information adjusted for current conditions and reasonable and supportable forecasts of future conditions. Historical credit loss experience provides the basis for the estimation of expected credit losses with adjustments for differences in current loan-specific risk characteristics, such as differences in underwriting standards, portfolio mix, delinquency level, or term lengths as well as adjustments for changes in environmental conditions, such as unemployment rates, property values, or other factors that management deems relevant. We apply probability weights to the positive, base and adverse scenarios we use. For periods beyond our reasonable and supportable forecast, we use implicit mean reversion over the remaining life of the recoverable, meaning our model will inherently revert to the baseline scenario as the baseline is representative of the historical average over a longer period of time.
Loans are considered impaired when it is probable that, based upon current information and events, we will be unable to collect all amounts due under the contractual terms of the loan agreement. When we determine that a loan is impaired, a specific credit loss allowance is established for the excess carrying value of the loan over its estimated value. The loan’s estimated value is based on: the present value of expected future cash flows discounted at the loan’s effective interest rate; the loan’s observable market price; or the fair value of the loan’s collateral.
Allowance for credit losses are maintained at a level we believe is adequate to absorb current expected lifetime credit losses. Our periodic evaluation of the adequacy of the allowance for credit losses is based on historical loss experience, known and inherent risks in the portfolio, adverse situations that may affect the borrower’s ability to repay (including the timing of future payments), the estimated value of the underlying collateral, composition of the loan portfolio, current economic conditions, reasonable and supportable forecasts about the future and other relevant factors.
Mortgage loans on real estate are presented net of the allowance for credit losses on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. Changes in the allowance are reported in realized gain (loss) on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss). Mortgage loans on real estate deemed uncollectible are charged against the allowance for credit losses, and subsequent recoveries, if any, are credited to the allowance for credit losses, limited to the aggregate of amounts previously charged-off and expected to be charged-off.
Our commercial loan portfolio is primarily comprised of long-term loans secured by existing commercial real estate. We believe all of the commercial loans in our portfolio share three primary risks: borrower credit worthiness; sustainability of the cash flow of the property; and market risk; therefore, our methods of monitoring and assessing credit risk are consistent for our entire portfolio.
For our commercial mortgage loan portfolio, trends in market vacancy and rental rates are incorporated into the analysis that we perform for monitored loans and may contribute to the establishment of (or an increase or decrease in) an allowance for credit losses. In addition, we review each loan individually in our commercial mortgage loan portfolio on an annual basis to identify emerging risks. We focus on properties that experienced a reduction in debt-service coverage or that have significant exposure to tenants with deteriorating credit profiles. Where warranted, we establish or increase a credit loss allowance for a specific loan based upon this analysis.
We measure and assess the credit quality of our commercial mortgage loans by using loan-to-value and debt-service coverage ratios. The loan-to-value ratio compares the principal amount of the loan to the fair value at origination of the underlying property collateralizing the loan and is commonly expressed as a percentage. Loan-to-value ratios greater than 100% indicate that the principal amount is greater than the collateral value. Therefore, all else being equal, a lower loan-to-value ratio generally indicates a higher quality loan. The debt-service coverage ratio compares a property’s net operating income to its debt-service payments. Debt-service coverage ratios of less than 1.0 indicate that property operations do not generate enough income to cover its current debt payments. Therefore, all else being equal, a
higher debt-service coverage ratio generally indicates a higher quality loan. These credit quality metrics are monitored and reviewed at least annually.
We have off-balance sheet commitments related to commercial mortgage loans. As such, an allowance for credit losses is developed based on the commercial mortgage loan process outlined above, along with an internally developed conversion factor.
Our residential loan portfolio is primarily comprised of first lien mortgages secured by existing residential real estate. In contrast to the commercial mortgage loan portfolio, residential mortgage loans are primarily smaller-balance homogenous loans that share similar risk characteristics. Therefore, these pools of loans are collectively evaluated for inherent credit losses. Such evaluations consider numerous factors, including, but not limited to borrower credit scores, collateral values, loss forecasts, geographic location, delinquency rates and economic trends. These evaluations and assessments are revised as conditions change and new information becomes available, including updated forecasts, which can cause the allowance for credit losses to increase or decrease over time as such evaluations are revised. Generally, residential mortgage loan pools exclude loans that are nonperforming, as those loans are evaluated individually using the evaluation framework for specific allowance for credit losses described above.
For residential mortgage loans, our primary credit quality indicator is whether the loan is performing or nonperforming. We generally define nonperforming residential mortgage loans as those that are 90 or more days past due and/or in nonaccrual status. There is generally a higher risk of experiencing credit losses when a residential mortgage loan is nonperforming. We monitor and update aging schedules and nonaccrual status on a monthly basis.
Policy Loans
Policy loans represent loans we issue to contract holders that use the cash surrender value of their life insurance policy as collateral. Policy loans are carried at unpaid principal balances.
Derivative Instruments
We hedge certain portions of our exposure to interest rate risk, foreign currency exchange risk, equity market risk and credit risk by entering into derivative transactions. All of our derivative instruments are recognized as either assets or liabilities on our Consolidated Balance Sheets at estimated fair value. We categorized derivatives into a three-level hierarchy, based on the priority of the inputs to the respective valuation technique as discussed above in “Fair Value Measurement.” The accounting for changes in the estimated fair value of a derivative instrument depends on whether it has been designated and qualifies as part of a hedging relationship, and further, on the type of hedging relationship. For those derivative instruments that are designated and qualify as hedging instruments, we designate the hedging instrument based upon the exposure being hedged: as a cash flow hedge or a fair value hedge.
For derivative instruments that are designated and qualify as a cash flow hedge, the effective portion of the gain or loss on the derivative instrument is reported as a component of AOCI and reclassified into net income in the same period or periods during which the hedged transaction affects net income. The remaining gain or loss on the derivative instrument in excess of the cumulative change in the present value of designated future cash flows of the hedged item (hedge ineffectiveness), if any, is recognized in net income during the period of change. For derivative instruments that are designated and qualify as a fair value hedge, the gain or loss on the derivative instrument, as well as the offsetting gain or loss on the hedged item attributable to the hedged risk are recognized in net income during the period of change in estimated fair values. For derivative instruments not designated as hedging instruments, but that are economic hedges, the gain or loss is recognized in net income.
We purchase and issue financial instruments and products that contain embedded derivative instruments. When it is determined that the embedded derivative possesses economic characteristics that are not clearly and closely related to the economic characteristics of the host contract, and a separate instrument with the same terms would qualify as a derivative instrument, the embedded derivative is bifurcated from the host for measurement purposes. The embedded derivative is carried at fair value with changes in fair value recognized in net income during the period of change.
We employ several different methods for determining the fair value of our derivative instruments. The fair value of our derivative contracts are measured based on current settlement values, which are based on quoted market prices, industry standard models that are commercially available and broker quotes. These techniques project cash flows of the derivatives using current and implied future market conditions. We calculate the present value of the cash flows to measure the current fair market value of the derivative.
Other Investments
Other investments consist primarily of alternative investments, cash collateral receivables related to our derivative instruments, Federal Home Loan Bank (“FHLB”) common stock and short-term investments.
Alternative investments consist primarily of investments in limited partnerships (“LPs”). We account for our investments in LPs using the equity method to determine the carrying value. Recognition of alternative investment income is delayed due to the availability of the related financial statements, which are generally obtained from the partnerships’ general partners. As a result, our private equity investments are generally on a three-month delay and our hedge funds are on a one-month delay. In addition, the impact of audit
adjustments related to completion of calendar-year financial statement audits of the investees are typically received during the second quarter of each calendar year. Accordingly, our investment income from alternative investments for any calendar-year period may not include the complete impact of the change in the underlying net assets for the partnership for that calendar-year period.
In uncleared derivative transactions, we and the counterparty enter into a credit support annex requiring either party to post collateral, which may be in the form of cash, equal to the net derivative exposure. Cash collateral we have posted to a counterparty is recorded within other investments. Cash collateral a counterparty has posted is recorded within payables for collateral on investments. We also have investments in FHLB common stock, carried at cost, that enable access to the FHLB lending program. For more information on our collateralized financing arrangements, see “Payables for Collateral on Investments” below.
Short-term investments consist of securities with original maturities of one year or less, but greater than three months. Securities included in short-term investments are carried at fair value, with valuation methods and inputs consistent with those applied to fixed maturity AFS securities.
Cash and Invested Cash
Cash and invested cash is carried at cost and includes all highly liquid debt instruments purchased with an original maturity of three months or less.
DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL
Acquisition costs directly related to successful contract acquisitions or renewals of universal life insurance (“UL”), variable universal life insurance (“VUL”), traditional life insurance, group life and disability insurance, annuities and other investment contracts have been deferred (i.e., DAC) to the extent recoverable. VOBA is an intangible asset that reflects the estimated fair value of in-force contracts in a life insurance company acquisition and represents the portion of the purchase price that is allocated to the value of the right to receive future cash flows from the business in force at the acquisition date. Bonus credits and excess interest for dollar cost averaging contracts are considered DSI, and the unamortized balance is reported within other assets on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. Contract sales charges that are collected in the early years of an insurance contract are deferred (i.e., DFEL), and the unamortized balance is reported in other contract holder funds on our Consolidated Balance Sheets.
Both DAC and VOBA amortization, excluding amounts reported in realized gain (loss), is reported within commissions and other expenses on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss). DSI amortization, excluding amounts reported in realized gain (loss), is reported in interest credited on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss). The amortization of DFEL, excluding amounts reported in realized gain (loss), is reported within fee income on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss). The methodology for determining the amortization of DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL varies by product type. Amortization is based on assumptions consistent with those used in the development of the underlying contract adjusted for emerging experience and expected trends.
The carrying amounts of DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL are adjusted for the effects of realized and unrealized gains and losses on securities classified as fixed maturity AFS and certain derivatives and embedded derivatives. Amortization expense of DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL reflects an assumption for an expected level of credit-related investment losses. When actual credit-related investment losses are realized, we recognize a true-up to our DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL amortization within realized gain (loss) on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss) reflecting the incremental effect of actual versus expected credit-related investment losses. These actual to expected amortization adjustments can create volatility from period to period in realized gain (loss).
We account for modifications of insurance contracts that result in a substantially unchanged contract as a continuation of the replaced contract. We account for modifications of insurance contracts that result in a substantially changed contract as an extinguishment of the replaced contract.
Acquisition costs for all traditional contracts, including term life insurance, individual whole life and group business, are amortized over the premium-paying period or level term period, depending on the contract, which generally results in amortization less than or equal to 30 years. Acquisition costs are either amortized on a straight-line basis or as a level percent of premium of the related policies depending on the block of business. There is currently no intangible balance or related amortization for fixed and variable payout annuities.
Acquisition costs for UL and VUL insurance and investment-type products, which include fixed and variable deferred annuities, are generally amortized over the lives of the policies in relation to the incidence of estimated gross profits (“EGPs”) from surrender charges, investment, death benefits expected to be paid, net of reinsurance ceded and expense margins and actual realized gain (loss) on investments. Contract lives for UL and VUL policies are estimated to be 40 years based on the expected lives of the contracts. Contract lives for fixed and variable deferred annuities are generally between 15 and 30 years, while some of our fixed multi-year guarantee products have amortization periods equal to the guarantee period. The front-end load annuity product has an assumed life of 25 years. Longer lives are assigned to those blocks that have demonstrated lower lapse experience.
During the third quarter of each year, we conduct our comprehensive review of the assumptions and the projection models used for our estimates of future gross profits underlying the amortization of DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL. These assumptions include, but are not
limited to, capital markets, investment margins, mortality rates, retention, rider utilization and maintenance expenses (costs associated with maintaining records relating to insurance and individual and group annuity contracts, and with the processing of premium collections, deposits, withdrawals and commissions). Based on our review, the cumulative balances of DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL included on our Consolidated Balance Sheets are adjusted with an offsetting benefit or charge to revenue or amortization expense to reflect such change related to our expectations of future EGPs (“unlocking”). We may have unlocking in other quarters as we become aware of information that warrants updating assumptions outside of our comprehensive review. We may also identify and implement actuarial modeling refinements that result in increases or decreases to the carrying values of DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL.
DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL are reviewed to ensure that the unamortized portion does not exceed the expected recoverable amounts.
Reinsurance
We and LLANY enter into reinsurance agreements in the normal course of business to limit our exposure to the risk of loss and to enhance our capital management.
In order for a reinsurance agreement to qualify for reinsurance accounting, the agreement must satisfy certain risk transfer conditions that include, among other items, a reasonable possibility of a significant loss for the assuming entity. When we apply reinsurance accounting, premiums, benefits and DAC amortization are reported net of insurance ceded on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss). Amounts currently recoverable, such as ceded reserves, are reported in reinsurance recoverables and amounts currently payable to the reinsurers, such as premiums, are included in other liabilities on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. Assets and liabilities and revenue and expenses from certain reinsurance contracts that grant statutory surplus relief to our insurance companies are netted on our Consolidated Balance Sheets and Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss), respectively, if there is a contractual right of offset.
We use deposit accounting to recognize reinsurance agreements that do not transfer significant insurance risk. This accounting treatment results in amounts paid or received by us to be considered on deposit with the reinsurer and such amounts are reported in other assets and other liabilities, respectively, on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. As amounts are paid or received, consistent with the underlying contracts, deposit assets or liabilities are adjusted.
We estimated an allowance for credit losses for all reinsurance recoverables and related reinsurance deposit assets held by our subsidiaries. As such, we performed a quantitative analysis using a probability of loss approach to estimate expected credit losses for reinsurance recoverables, inclusive of similar assets recognized using the deposit method of accounting. The credit loss allowance is a general allowance for pools of receivables with similar risk characteristics segmented by credit risk ratings and receivables assessed on an individual basis that do not share similar risk characteristics where we anticipate a credit loss over the life of reinsurance-related assets.
Our model uses relevant internal or external historical loss information adjusted for current conditions and reasonable and supportable forecasts of future events and conditions in developing our loss estimate. We utilized historical credit rating data to form an estimation of probability of default of counterparties by means of a transition matrix that provides the rates of credit migration for credit ratings transitioning to impairment. We updated reinsurer credit ratings during the quarter to incorporate the most up-to-date information on the current state of the financial stability of our reinsurers. To simulate changes in economic conditions, we used positive, base and adverse scenarios that include varying levels of loss given default assumptions to reflect the impact of changes in severity of losses. We applied probability weights to the positive, base and adverse scenarios. For periods beyond our reasonable and supportable forecasts, we used implicit mean reversion over the remaining life of the recoverable. Additionally, we considered factors that impact our exposure at default that are driven by actuarial expectations around term assumptions rather than being directly driven by market or economic environment.
Our model estimates the expected credit losses over the life of the reinsurance asset. Credit loss estimates are segmented based on counterparty credit risk. Our modeling process utilizes counterparty credit ratings, collateral types and amounts, and term and run-off assumptions. For reinsurance recoverables that do not share similar risk characteristics, we assessed on an individual basis to determine a specific credit loss allowance.
We estimated expected credit losses over the contractual term of the recoverable, which is the period during which we are exposed to the credit risk. Reinsurance recoverables may not have explicit contractual lives, but are tied to the underlying insurance products; as a result, we estimated the contractual life by utilizing actuarial estimates of the timing of payouts related to those underlying products.
Reinsurance agreements often require the reinsurer to collateralize the recoverable with funds in a trust account or with a letter of credit for the benefit of the ceding insurance entity that can reduce the expected credit losses on a given agreement. As such, we review reinsurance collateral by individual agreement to sensitize risk of loss based on level of collateralization. This review is driven by the assumption that non-collateralized reinsurance recoverables would have materially higher losses in time of default. Therefore, reinsurance recoverables are pooled as either fully-collateralized or non-collateralized.
Reinsurance recoverables are presented net of the allowance for credit losses on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. Changes in the allowance for credit losses are reported in realized gain (loss) on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss).
Reinsurance recoverables deemed uncollectible are charged against the allowance for credit losses, and subsequent recoveries, if any, are credited to the allowance for credit losses, limited to the aggregate of amounts previously charged-off and expected to be charged-off.
Goodwill
We recognize the excess of the purchase price, plus the fair value of any noncontrolling interest in the acquiree, over the fair value of identifiable net assets acquired as goodwill. Goodwill is not amortized, but is reviewed for impairment annually as of October 1 and more frequently if an event occurs or circumstances change that would more likely than not reduce the fair value of a reporting unit below its carrying value.
We perform a quantitative goodwill impairment test where the fair value of the reporting unit is determined and compared to the carrying value of the reporting unit. If the carrying value of the reporting unit is greater than the reporting unit’s fair value, goodwill is impaired and written down to the reporting unit’s fair value; and a charge is reported in impairment of intangibles on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss). The results of one goodwill impairment test on one reporting unit cannot subsidize the results of another reporting unit.
Other Assets and Other Liabilities
Other assets consist primarily of certain reinsurance assets, net of allowance for credit losses, certain guaranteed living benefit (“GLB”) features, specifically identifiable intangible assets, property and equipment owned by the Company, balances associated with corporate-owned and bank-owned life insurance, receivables resulting from sales of securities that had not yet settled as of the balance sheet date, DSI, operating lease right-of-use (“ROU”) assets, finance lease assets and other receivables and prepaid expenses. Other liabilities consist primarily of certain reinsurance payables, certain GLB features, current and deferred taxes, pension and other employee benefit liabilities, deferred gain on business sold through reinsurance, derivative instrument liabilities, payables resulting from purchases of securities that had not yet settled as of the balance sheet date, long-term operating lease liabilities, certain financing arrangements, finance lease liabilities and other accrued expenses.
The carrying values of specifically identifiable intangible assets are reviewed at least annually for indicators of impairment in value that are related to credit loss or non-credit, including unexpected or adverse changes in the following: the economic or competitive environments in which the company operates; profitability analyses; cash flow analyses; and the fair value of the relevant business operation. If there was an indication of impairment, then the discounted cash flow method would be used to measure the impairment, and the carrying value would be adjusted as necessary and reported in impairment of intangibles on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss). Sales force intangibles are attributable to the value of the new business distribution system acquired through business combinations. These assets are amortized on a straight-line basis over their useful life of 25 years. Specifically identifiable intangible assets also includes the value of customer relationships acquired (“VOCRA”) and value of distribution agreements (“VODA”). The carrying values of VOCRA and VODA are amortized using a straight-line basis over their weighted average life of 20 years and 13 years, respectively. See Note 9 for more information regarding specifically identifiable intangible assets.
Property and equipment owned for company use is carried at cost less allowances for depreciation. Provisions for depreciation of investment real estate and property and equipment owned for company use are computed principally on the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets, which include buildings, computer hardware and software and other property and equipment. Certain assets on our Consolidated Balance Sheets are related to finance leases and certain financing arrangements and are depreciated in a manner consistent with our current depreciation policy for owned assets. We periodically review the carrying value of our long-lived assets, including property and equipment, for impairment whenever events or circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of such assets may not be fully recoverable. For long-lived assets to be held and used, impairments are recognized when the carrying amount of a long-lived asset is not recoverable and exceeds its fair value. The carrying amount of a long-lived asset is not recoverable if it exceeds the sum of the undiscounted cash flows expected to result from the use and eventual disposition of the asset. An impairment loss is measured as the amount by which the carrying amount of a long-lived asset exceeds its fair value.
Long-lived assets to be disposed of by abandonment or in an exchange for a similar productive long-lived asset are classified as held-for-use until they are disposed. Long-lived assets to be sold are classified as held-for-sale and are no longer depreciated. Certain criteria have to be met in order for the long-lived asset to be classified as held-for-sale, including that a sale is probable and expected to occur within one year. Long-lived assets classified as held-for-sale are recorded at the lower of their carrying amount or fair value less cost to sell.
We lease office space and certain equipment under various long-term lease agreements. We determine if an arrangement is a lease at inception. Operating lease ROU assets and operating lease liabilities are recognized based on the present value of the future minimum lease payments over the lease term at the commencement date. Our leases do not provide an implicit rate; therefore, we use our incremental borrowing rate at the commencement date in determining the present value of future payments. The ROU asset is calculated using the lease liability carrying amount, plus or minus prepaid/accrued lease payments, minus the unamortized balance of lease incentives received, plus unamortized initial direct costs. Lease terms used to calculate our lease obligation include options when we are reasonably certain that we will exercise such options. Our lease agreements may contain both lease and non-lease components, which are accounted for separately. Lease expense for minimum lease payments is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term.
Other assets includes deferred losses on business sold through reinsurance attributable to our 2012 and 2014 reinsurance transactions where we ceded closed blocks of UL contracts with secondary guarantees to Lincoln National Reinsurance Company (Barbados) Limited (“LNBAR”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of LNC. We are recognizing the losses related to these transactions over a period of 30 years.
Other liabilities includes deferred gains on business sold through reinsurance. During 2009, we completed a reinsurance transaction whereby we assumed a closed block of term contracts from First Penn-Pacific Life Insurance Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of LNC. We are recognizing the gain related to this transaction over a period of 15 years. During 2012, we completed a reinsurance transaction whereby we ceded a closed block of UL contracts with secondary guarantees to LNBAR. We are recognizing the gain related to the transaction over a period of 30 years. During 2013, we completed a reinsurance transaction whereby we ceded a closed block of UL contracts with secondary guarantees to LNBAR. During 2019, we amended the 2013 reinsurance transaction by recapturing the underlying base policy from LNBAR while continuing to cede the associated riders. We are recognizing the gain related to this transaction over the expected life of the underlying business, or 20 years. Effective October 1, 2018, we entered into a reinsurance agreement with Athene Holding Ltd. (“Athene”). We are recognizing the gain related to this transaction over the period over which the majority of account values is expected to run off, or 20 years. Effective October 1, 2021, we entered into a reinsurance agreement with Security Life of Denver Insurance Company (a subsidiary of Resolution Life that we refer to herein as “Resolution Life”). We are recognizing the gain related to this transaction over the projected life of the policies, or 30 years. See Note 8 for additional information.
Separate Account Assets and Liabilities
Separate accounts represent segregated funds that are maintained to meet specific investment objectives of contract holders who direct the investments and bear the investment risk, except to the extent of minimum guarantees made by the Company with respect to certain accounts. The assets of each account are legally segregated and are not subject to claims that arise out of any other business of the Company.
We report separate account assets as a summary total on the Consolidated Balance Sheets based on the fair value of the underlying investments. The underlying investments consist primarily of mutual funds, fixed maturity securities, short-term investments and cash. Investment income and net realized and unrealized gains (losses) of the separate accounts generally accrue directly to the contract holders; therefore, they are not reflected in the Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss), and the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows do not reflect investment activity of the separate accounts. Asset-based fees and contract administration charges are assessed against the accounts and included within fee income on the Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss). An amount equivalent to the separate account assets is recorded as separate account liabilities, representing the account balance obligated to be returned to the contract holder.
Future Contract Benefits
Future contract benefits represent liability reserves that we have established and carry based on estimates of how much we will need to pay for future benefits and claims. We continually review overall reserve position, reserving techniques and reinsurance arrangements. As experience develops and new information becomes known, liabilities are adjusted as deemed necessary.
The liabilities for future insurance contract benefits and claim reserves for traditional life policies are computed using assumptions for investment yields, mortality rates and withdrawals based principally on generally accepted actuarial methods and assumptions at the time of contract issue. Investment yield assumptions for traditional direct individual life reserves for all contracts range from 2.25% to 7.75% depending on the time of contract issue. The liabilities for future contract benefits and claims reserves for immediate and deferred paid-up annuities are computed using investment yield assumptions that range from 0.50% to 12.75%. These investment yield assumptions are intended to represent an estimation of the interest rate experience for the period that these contract benefits are payable.
The liability for future claim reserves for long-term disability contracts for incurred and reported claims are calculated based on assumptions as to interest, claim resolution rates and offsets for other insurance including social security. Claim resolution rate assumptions and social security offsets are based on our actual experience. The interest rate assumptions used for discounting claim reserves are based on projected portfolio yield rates, after consideration for defaults and investment expenses, for assets supporting the liabilities. During the third quarter of each year, we conduct our comprehensive review of the assumptions and reserving models used in calculating these reserves. The incurred but not reported claim reserves are based on our experiences as to the reporting lags and ultimate loss experience. Claim reserves are subject to revision as current claim experience and projections of future factors affecting claim experience change. Claim reserves do not include a provision for adverse deviation.
The business written or assumed by us includes participating life insurance contracts, under which the contract holder is entitled to share in the earnings of such contracts via receipt of dividends. The dividend scale for participating policies is reviewed annually and may be adjusted to reflect recent experience and future expectations. As of December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, participating policies comprised less than 1% of the face amount of business in force, and dividend expenses were $48 million, $53 million and $51 million for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
We issue variable annuity and life contracts through separate accounts that may include various types of guaranteed benefits. The liabilities for these guarantees are calculated by estimating the present value of total expected benefit payments over the life of the contract from inception divided by the present value of total expected assessments over the life of the contract (“benefit ratio”) multiplied by the cumulative assessments recorded from the contract inception through the balance sheet date less the cumulative payments plus
interest on the liability. The change in the liability for a period is the benefit ratio multiplied by the assessments recorded for the period less payments made in the period plus interest. As experience or assumption changes result in a change in expected benefit payments or assessments, the benefit ratio is unlocked or, in other words, recalculated using the updated expected benefit payments and assessments over the life of the contract since inception. The revised benefit ratio is then applied to the liability calculation described above, with the resulting change in liability reported in benefits on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss). During the third quarter of each year, we conduct our comprehensive review of the assumptions and projection models used in estimating these reserves and unlock assumptions similar to the DAC discussion above. We may have unlocking in other quarters as we become aware of information that warrants updating assumptions outside of our comprehensive review. We may also identify and implement actuarial modeling refinements that result in increases or decreases to the carrying value of these reserves. The change in liability impacts EGPs used to calculate amortization of DAC, VOBA, DFEL and DSI.
Certain of our variable annuity contracts reported within future contract benefits contain GLB reserves embedded derivatives, a portion of which may be reported in either other assets or other liabilities, and include guaranteed interest and similar contracts, that are carried at fair value on our Consolidated Balance Sheets, which represents approximate exit price including an estimate for our NPR. Certain of these features have elements of both insurance benefits and embedded derivatives. Through our hybrid accounting approach, for reserve calculation purposes we assign product cash flows to the embedded derivative or insurance portion of the reserves based on the life-contingent nature of the benefits. We report the insurance portion of the reserves in future contract benefits. We classify these GLB reserves embedded derivatives items in Level 3 within the hierarchy levels described above in “Fair Value Measurement.” The “market consistent scenarios” used in the determination of the fair value of the GLB liability are similar to those used by an investment bank to value derivatives for which the pricing is not transparent and the aftermarket is nonexistent or illiquid. We use risk-neutral Monte Carlo simulations in our calculation to value the entire block of guarantees, which involve 100 unique scenarios per policy or approximately 45 million scenarios. The market consistent scenario assumptions, as of each valuation date, are those we view to be appropriate for a hypothetical market participant. The market consistent inputs include, but are not limited to, assumptions for capital markets (e.g., implied volatilities, correlation among indices, risk-free swap curve, etc.), policyholder behavior (e.g., policy lapse, rider utilization, etc.), mortality rates, risk margins, maintenance expenses and a margin for profit. We believe these assumptions are consistent with those that would be used by a market participant; however, as the related markets develop we will continue to reassess our assumptions. It is possible that different valuation techniques and assumptions could produce a materially different estimate of fair value. As discussed in Note 5, we use derivative instruments to hedge our exposure to the risks and earnings volatility that result from the embedded derivatives for living benefits in certain of our variable annuity products. The change in fair value of these instruments tends to move in the opposite direction of the change in the value of the associated reserves. The net impact of these changes is reported as a component of realized gain (loss) on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss).
Other Contract Holder Funds
Other contract holder funds includes account balances on UL and VUL insurance and investment-type annuity products where account balances are equal to deposits plus interest credited less withdrawals, surrender charges, asset-based fees and contract administration charges, as well as amounts representing the fair value of embedded derivative instruments associated with our IUL and indexed annuity products. During the third quarter of each year, we conduct our comprehensive review of the assumptions and projection models used in estimating these embedded derivatives and unlock assumptions similar to the DAC discussion above. We may have unlocking in other quarters as we become aware of information that warrants updating assumptions outside of our comprehensive review. We may also identify and implement actuarial modeling refinements that result in increases or decreases to the carrying value of these embedded derivatives. Other contract holder funds also includes DFEL (see “DAC, VOBA, DFEL and DSI” above), dividends payable to contract holders and undistributed earnings on participating business.
Short-Term and Long-Term Debt
Short-term debt has contractual or expected maturities of one year or less. Long-term debt has contractual or expected maturities greater than one year.
Payables for Collateral on Investments
When we enter into collateralized financing transactions on our investments, a liability is recorded equal to the cash or non-cash collateral received. This liability is included within payables for collateral on investments on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. Income and expenses associated with these transactions are recorded as investment income and investment expenses within net investment income on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss). Changes in payables for collateral on investments are reflected within cash flows from investing activities on our Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows.
Contingencies and Commitments
A loss contingency is an existing condition, situation or set of circumstances involving uncertainty as to possible loss that will ultimately be resolved when one or more future events occur or fail to occur. Contingencies arising from environmental remediation costs, regulatory judgments, claims, assessments, guarantees, litigation, recourse reserves, fines, penalties and other sources are recorded when deemed probable and reasonably estimable, based on our best estimate.
Fee Income
Fee income for investment and interest-sensitive life insurance contracts consists of asset-based fees, percent of premium charges, contract administration charges and surrender charges that are assessed against contract holder account balances. Investment products consist primarily of individual and group variable and fixed deferred annuities. Interest-sensitive life insurance products include UL insurance, VUL insurance and other interest-sensitive life insurance policies. These products include life insurance sold to individuals, corporate-owned life insurance and bank-owned life insurance.
In bifurcating the embedded derivative of our GLB features on our variable annuity products, we attribute to the embedded derivative the portion of total fees collected from the contract holder that relate to the GLB riders (the “attributed fees”), which are not reported within fee income on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss). These attributed fees represent the present value of future claims expected to be paid for the GLB at the inception of the contract plus a margin that a theoretical market participant would include for risk/profit and are reported within realized gain (loss) on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss).
The timing of revenue recognition as it relates to fees assessed on investment contracts is determined based on the nature of such fees. Asset-based fees and contract administration charges are assessed on a daily or monthly basis and recognized as revenue as performance obligations are met, over the period underlying customer assets are owned or advisory services are provided. Wholesaling-related 12b-1 fees received from separate account fund sponsors as compensation for servicing the underlying mutual funds are recorded as revenues based on a contractual percentage of the market value of mutual fund assets over the period shares are owned by customers. Net investment advisory fees related to asset management of certain separate account funds are recorded as revenues based on a contractual percentage of the customer’s managed assets over the period advisory services are provided. Percent of premium charges are assessed at the time of premium payment and recognized as revenue when assessed and earned. Certain amounts assessed that represent compensation for services to be provided in future periods are reported as unearned revenue and recognized in income over the periods benefited. Surrender charges are recognized upon surrender of a contract by the contract holder in accordance with contractual terms.
For investment and interest-sensitive life insurance contracts, the amounts collected from contract holders are considered deposits and are not included in revenue.
Insurance Premiums
Our insurance premiums for traditional life insurance, certain annuities with life contingencies and group insurance products are recognized as revenue when due from the contract holder. Our traditional life insurance products include those products with fixed and guaranteed premiums and benefits and consist primarily of whole life insurance, limited-payment life insurance and term life insurance. Our group insurance products consist primarily of term life, disability and dental.
Net Investment Income
We earn investment income on the underlying general account investments supporting our fixed products less related expenses. Dividends and interest income, recorded in net investment income, are recognized when earned. Amortization of premiums and accretion of discounts on investments in debt securities are reflected in net investment income over the contractual terms of the investments in a manner that produces a constant effective yield.
For CLOs and MBS, included in the trading and fixed maturity AFS securities portfolios, we recognize income using a constant effective yield based on anticipated prepayments and the estimated economic life of the securities. When actual prepayments differ significantly from originally anticipated prepayments, the retrospective effective yield is recalculated to reflect actual payments to date and a catch up adjustment is recorded in the current period. In addition, the new effective yield, which reflects anticipated future payments, is used prospectively. Any adjustments resulting from changes in effective yield are reflected in net investment income on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss).
Realized Gain (Loss)
Realized gain (loss) includes realized gains and losses from the sale of investments, write-downs for impairments of investments and changes in the allowance for credit losses for financial assets, changes in fair value for mortgage loans on real estate accounted for under the fair value option, changes in fair value of equity securities, certain derivative and embedded derivative gains and losses, gains and losses on the sale of subsidiaries and businesses and net gains and losses on reinsurance embedded derivatives and trading securities. Realized gains and losses on the sale of investments are determined using the specific identification method. Realized gain (loss) is recognized in net income, net of associated amortization of DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL. Realized gain (loss) is also net of allocations of investment gains and losses to certain contract holders and certain funds withheld on reinsurance arrangements for which we have a contractual obligation.
Other Revenues
Other revenues consists primarily of fees attributable to broker-dealer services recorded as performance obligations are met, either at the time of sale or over time based on a contractual percentage of customer account values, and proceeds from reinsurance recaptures. The broker-dealer services primarily relate to our retail sales network and consist of commission revenue for the sale of non-affiliated
securities recorded on a trade date basis and advisory fee income. Advisory fee income is asset-based revenues recorded as earned based on a contractual percentage of customer account values. Other revenues earned by our Group Protection segment consist of fees from administrative services performed, which are recognized as performance obligations are met over the terms of the underlying agreements.
Interest Credited
We credit interest to our contract holder account balances based on the contractual terms supporting our products.
Benefits
Benefits for UL and other interest-sensitive life insurance products include benefit claims incurred during the period in excess of contract account balances. Benefits also include the change in reserves for life insurance products with secondary guarantee benefits, annuity products with guaranteed death and living benefits and certain annuities with life contingencies. For traditional life, group life and disability income products, benefits are recognized when incurred in a manner consistent with the related premium recognition policies.
Spark and Strategic Digitization Expense
Spark and strategic digitization expense consists primarily of costs related to our Spark and strategic digitization initiatives.
Pension and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans
Pursuant to the accounting rules for our obligations to employees and agents under our various pension and other postretirement benefit plans, we are required to make a number of assumptions to estimate related liabilities and expenses. The mortality assumption is based on actual and anticipated plan experience, determined using acceptable actuarial methods. We use assumptions for the weighted-average discount rate and expected return on plan assets to estimate pension expense. The discount rate assumptions are determined using an analysis of current market information and the projected benefit flows associated with these plans. The expected long-term rate of return on plan assets is based on historical and projected future rates of return on the funds invested in the plan. The calculation of our accumulated postretirement benefit obligation also uses an assumption of weighted-average annual rate of increase in the per capita cost of covered benefits, which reflects a health care cost trend rate.
Stock-Based Compensation
In general, we expense the fair value of stock awards included in our incentive compensation plans. As of the date LNC’s Board of Directors approves stock awards, the fair value of stock options is determined using a Black-Scholes options valuation methodology, and the fair value of other stock awards is based upon the market value of the stock. The fair value of the awards is expensed over the performance or service period, which generally corresponds to the vesting period, and is recognized as an increase to common stock in stockholder’s equity. We apply an estimated forfeiture rate to our accrual of compensation cost. We classify certain stock awards as liabilities. For these awards, the settlement value is classified as a liability on our Consolidated Balance Sheets, and the liability is marked-to-market through net income at the end of each reporting period. Stock-based compensation expense is reflected in commissions and other expenses on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss).
Interest and Debt Expense
Interest expense on our short-term and long-term debt is recognized as due over the term of the related borrowing.
Income Taxes
LNC files a U.S. consolidated income tax return that includes us and LNC’s other eligible subsidiaries. Ineligible subsidiaries file separate individual corporate tax returns. Deferred income taxes are recognized, based on enacted rates, when assets and liabilities have different values for financial statement and tax reporting purposes. A valuation allowance is recorded to the extent required. Considerable judgment and the use of estimates are required in determining whether a valuation allowance is necessary and, if so, the amount of such valuation allowance. In evaluating the need for a valuation allowance, we consider many factors, including: the nature and character of the deferred tax assets and liabilities; taxable income in prior carryback years; future reversals of temporary differences; the length of time carryovers can be utilized; and any tax planning strategies we would employ to avoid a tax benefit from expiring unused.
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2. New Ac c ounting Standards
The following table provides a description of our adoption of new Accounting Standards Updates (“ASUs”) issued by the FASB and the impact of the adoption on our consolidated financial statements. ASUs not listed below were assessed and determined to be either not applicable or insignificant in presentation or amount.
Standard
Description
Effective Date
Effect on Financial Statements or Other Significant Matters
ASU 2020-04, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848) and related amendments
The amendments in this update provide optional guidance for a limited period of time to ease the potential burden in accounting for (or recognizing the effects of) reference rate reform on financial reporting. The amendments provide optional expedients and exceptions for applying GAAP to contracts, hedging relationships and other transactions impacted by reference rate reform. If certain criteria are met, an entity will not be required to remeasure or reassess contracts impacted by reference rate reform. Additionally, changes to the critical terms of a hedging relationship affected by reference rate reform will not require entities to de-designate the relationship if certain requirements are met. The expedients and exceptions provided by the amendments do not apply to contract modifications made and hedging relationships entered into or evaluated after December 31, 2022, with certain exceptions. The amendments are effective for contract modifications made between March 12, 2020, and December 31, 2022.
March 12, 2020 through December 31, 2022
This standard may be elected and applied prospectively as reference rate reform unfolds. We have elected practical expedients to maintain hedge accounting for certain derivatives. We will continue to evaluate our options under this guidance as our reference rate reform adoption process continues. This ASU has not had a material impact to our consolidated financial condition and results of operations, but we will continue to evaluate those impacts as our transition progresses.
‎
Standard
Description
Effective Date
Effect on Financial Statements or Other Significant Matters
ASU 2018-12, Targeted Improvements to the Accounting for Long-Duration Contracts and related amendments
These amendments make changes to the accounting and reporting for long-duration contracts issued by an insurance entity that will significantly change how insurers account for long-duration contracts, including how they measure, recognize and make disclosures about insurance liabilities and deferred acquisition costs. Under this ASU, insurers will be required to review cash flow assumptions at least annually and update them if necessary. They also will have to make quarterly updates to the discount rate assumptions they use to measure the liability for future policyholder benefits. The ASU creates a new category of market risk benefits (i.e., features that protect the contract holder from capital market risk and expose the insurer to that risk) that insurers will have to measure at fair value. The ASU provides various transition methods by topic that entities may elect upon adoption. The ASU is effective January 1, 2023, and early adoption is permitted.
January 1, 2023
We will adopt this ASU effective January 1, 2023, with a transition date of January 1, 2021, using a modified retrospective approach, except for market risk benefits in which we will apply a full retrospective transition approach.
We continue to make progress in our implementation process that includes, but is not limited to, making significant accounting policy decisions, employing appropriate internal controls, building and updating actuarial models and systems, revising reporting processes and developing informative qualitative and quantitative disclosures. In 2022, we will begin the process of recording our transition adjustments and restating applicable prior periods.
We are currently evaluating the impact of adopting this ASU on our consolidated financial condition and results of operations and will be able to better assess the effects as we progress with our implementation efforts. For example, upon adoption, there will be adjustments to retained earnings resulting from the remeasurement of certain current benefits (e.g., guaranteed minimum death benefits on variable annuities) to fair valued market risk benefits, excluding the portion attributable to non-performance risk, which will result in an impact to AOCI. There will be additional impacts to AOCI resulting from the remeasurement of in-force future contract benefits using current upper-medium grade fixed income instrument yields as well as the elimination of shadow accounting for DAC and DAC-like intangibles. While the impact may be material, the magnitude is currently being assessed.
3. Variable Int erest Entities
Unconsolidated VIEs
Reinsurance Related Notes
Effective October 1, 2017, our captive reinsurance subsidiary, the Lincoln Reinsurance Company of Vermont VI, restructured the $275 million, long-term surplus note which was originally issued to a non-affiliated VIE in October 2015 in exchange for two corporate bond AFS securities of like principal and duration. The activities of the VIE are primarily to acquire, hold and issue notes and loans and to pay and collect interest on the notes and loans. The outstanding principal balance of the long-term surplus note is variable in nature; moving concurrently with any variability in the face amount of the corporate bond AFS securities. We have concluded that we are not the primary beneficiary of the non-affiliated VIE because we do not have power over the activities that most significantly affect its economic performance. As of December 31, 2021, the principal balance of the long-term surplus note was zero and we do not currently have any exposure to this VIE.
Structured Securities
Through our investment activities, we make passive investments in structured securities issued by VIEs for which we are not the manager. These structured securities include our ABS, RMBS and CMBS. We have not provided financial or other support with respect to these VIEs other than our original investment. We have determined that we are not the primary beneficiary of these VIEs due to the relative size of our investment in comparison to the principal amount of the structured securities issued by the VIEs and the level of credit subordination that reduces our obligation to absorb losses or right to receive benefits. Our maximum exposure to loss on these structured securities is limited to the amortized cost for these investments. We recognize our variable interest in these VIEs at fair value on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. For information about these structured securities, see Note 4.
Limited Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies
We invest in certain LPs and limited liability companies (“LLCs”), including qualified affordable housing projects, that we have concluded are VIEs. Our exposure to loss is limited to the capital we invest in the LPs and LLCs. We do not hold any substantive kick-out or participation rights in the LPs and LLCs, and we do not receive any performance fees or decision maker fees from the LPs and LLCs. Based on our analysis of the LPs and LLCs, we are not the primary beneficiary of the VIEs as we do not have the power to direct the most significant activities of the LPs and LLCs. The carrying amounts of our investments in the LPs and LLCs are recognized in other investments on our Consolidated Balance Sheets and were $2.8 billion and $2.1 billion as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
4. Investm ents
Fixed Maturity AFS Securities
In 2020, we adopted ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments and related amendments (“ASU 2016-13”), which resulted in a new recognition and measurement of credit losses on most financial assets.
The amortized cost, gross unrealized gains, losses, allowance for credit losses and fair value of fixed maturity AFS securities (in millions) were as follows:
As of December 31, 2021
Allowance
Amortized
Gross Unrealized
for Credit
Fair
Cost
Gains
Losses
Losses
Value
Fixed maturity AFS securities:
Corporate bonds
$
86,197
$
11,569
$
$
$
97,423
U.S. government bonds
-
State and municipal bonds
5,113
1,275
-
6,377
Foreign government bonds
-
RMBS
2,132
2,305
CMBS
1,542
-
1,590
ABS
8,433
-
8,506
Hybrid and redeemable preferred securities
Total fixed maturity AFS securities
$
104,526
$
13,431
$
$
$
117,511
As of December 31, 2020
Allowance
Amortized
Gross Unrealized
for Credit
Fair
Cost
Gains
Losses
Losses
Value
Fixed maturity AFS securities:
Corporate bonds
$
85,625
$
15,947
$
$
$
101,424
U.S. government bonds
-
State and municipal bonds
5,145
1,517
-
-
6,662
Foreign government bonds
-
RMBS
2,551
2,838
CMBS
1,380
-
-
1,495
ABS
7,035
-
7,178
Hybrid and redeemable preferred securities
-
Total fixed maturity AFS securities
$
103,021
$
18,287
$
$
$
121,111
The amortized cost and fair value of fixed maturity AFS securities by contractual maturities (in millions) as of December 31, 2021, were as follows:
Amortized
Fair
Cost
Value
Due in one year or less
$
2,854
$
2,868
Due after one year through five years
15,315
15,944
Due after five years through ten years
19,344
20,660
Due after ten years
54,906
65,638
Subtotal
92,419
105,110
Structured securities (RMBS, CMBS, ABS)
12,107
12,401
Total fixed maturity AFS securities
$
104,526
$
117,511
Actual maturities may differ from contractual maturities because issuers may have the right to call or pre-pay obligations.
The fair value and gross unrealized losses of fixed maturity AFS securities (dollars in millions) for which an allowance for credit losses has not been recorded, aggregated by investment category and length of time that individual securities have been in a continuous unrealized loss position, were as follows:
As of December 31, 2021
Less Than or Equal
Greater Than
to Twelve Months
Twelve Months
Total
Gross
Gross
Gross
Fair
Unrealized
Fair
Unrealized
Fair
Unrealized
Value
Losses
Value
Losses
Value
Losses (1)
Fixed maturity AFS securities:
Corporate bonds
$
10,611
$
$
1,386
$
$
11,997
$
U.S. government bonds
-
State and municipal bonds
Foreign government bonds
RMBS
CMBS
ABS
4,646
4,811
Hybrid and redeemable
preferred securities
Total fixed maturity AFS securities
$
16,570
$
$
1,781
$
$
18,351
$
Total number of fixed maturity AFS securities in an unrealized loss position
2,577
As of December 31, 2020
Less Than or Equal
Greater Than
to Twelve Months
Twelve Months
Total
Gross
Gross
Gross
Fair
Unrealized
Fair
Unrealized
Fair
Unrealized
Value
Losses
Value
Losses
Value
Losses (1)
Fixed maturity AFS securities:
Corporate bonds
$
2,785
$
$
$
$
3,373
$
U.S. government bonds
-
-
Foreign government bonds
-
-
RMBS
-
ABS
1,527
1,882
Hybrid and redeemable
preferred securities
Total fixed maturity AFS securities
$
4,552
$
$
1,045
$
$
5,597
$
Total number of fixed maturity AFS securities in an unrealized loss position
(1)As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, we recognized $8 million and $1 million of gross unrealized losses, respectively, in OCI for fixed maturity AFS securities for which an allowance for credit losses has been recorded.
The fair value, gross unrealized losses (in millions) and number of fixed maturity AFS securities where the fair value had declined and remained below amortized cost by greater than 20% were as follows:
As of December 31, 2021
Gross
Number
Fair
Unrealized
of
Value
Losses
Securities (1)
Less than six months
$
$
Twelve months or greater
Total
$
$
As of December 31, 2020
Gross
Number
Fair
Unrealized
of
Value
Losses
Securities (1)
Less than six months
$
$
Six months or greater, but less than nine months
Nine months or greater, but less than twelve months
Twelve months or greater
Total
$
$
(1)We may reflect a security in more than one aging category based on various purchase dates.
Our gross unrealized losses on fixed maturity AFS securities increased by $243 million for the year ended December 31, 2021. As discussed further below, we believe the unrealized loss position as of December 31, 2021, did not require an impairment recognized in earnings as (i) we did not intend to sell these fixed maturity AFS securities; (ii) it is not more likely than not that we will be required to sell the fixed maturity AFS securities before recovery of their amortized cost basis; and (iii) the difference in the fair value compared to the amortized cost was due to factors other than credit loss. Based upon this evaluation as of December 31, 2021, management believes we have the ability to generate adequate amounts of cash from our normal operations (e.g., insurance premiums, fee income and investment income) to meet cash requirements with a prudent margin of safety without requiring the sale of our impaired securities.
As of December 31, 2021, the unrealized losses associated with our corporate bond, U.S. government bond, state and municipal bond and foreign government bond securities were attributable primarily to widening credit spreads and rising interest rates since purchase. We performed a detailed analysis of the financial performance of the underlying issuers and determined that we expected to recover the entire amortized cost of each impaired security.
Credit ratings express opinions about the credit quality of a security. Securities rated investment grade (those rated BBB- or higher by S&P Global Ratings (“S&P”) or Baa3 or higher by Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”)) are generally considered by the rating agencies and market participants to be low credit risk. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, 96% of the fair value of our corporate bond portfolio was rated investment grade. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the portion of our corporate bond portfolio rated below investment grade had an amortized cost of $3.5 billion and $3.8 billion, respectively, and a fair value of $3.7 billion and $4.0 billion, respectively. Based upon the analysis discussed above, we believe that as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, we would have recovered the amortized cost of each corporate bond.
As of December 31, 2021, the unrealized losses associated with our MBS and ABS were attributable primarily to widening credit spreads and rising interest rates since purchase. We assessed for credit impairment using a cash flow model that incorporates key assumptions including default rates, severities and prepayment rates. We estimated losses for a security by forecasting the underlying loans in each transaction. The forecasted loan performance was used to project cash flows to the various tranches in the structure, as applicable. Our forecasted cash flows also considered, as applicable, independent industry analyst reports and forecasts and other independent market data. Based upon our assessment of the expected credit losses of the security given the performance of the underlying collateral compared to our subordination or other credit enhancement, we expected to recover the entire amortized cost of each impaired security.
As of December 31, 2021, the unrealized losses associated with our hybrid and redeemable preferred securities were attributable primarily to wider credit spreads caused by illiquidity in the market and subordination within the capital structure, as well as credit risk of underlying issuers. For our hybrid and redeemable preferred securities, we evaluated the financial performance of the underlying issuers based upon credit performance and investment ratings and determined that we expected to recover the entire amortized cost of each impaired security.
Credit Loss Impairment on Fixed Maturity AFS Securities
We regularly review our fixed maturity AFS securities for declines in fair value that we determine to be impairment-related, including those attributable to credit risk factors that may require an allowance for credit losses. See Note 1 for a detailed discussion regarding our accounting policy relating to the allowance for credit losses on our fixed maturity AFS securities.
Changes in the allowance for credit losses on fixed maturity AFS securities (in millions), aggregated by investment category, were as follows:
For the Year Ended December 31, 2021
Corporate
Bonds
RMBS
Other
Total
Balance as of beginning-of-year
$
$
$
-
$
Additions for securities for which credit losses were not
previously recognized
-
Additions from purchases of PCD debt securities (1)
-
-
-
-
Additions (reductions) for securities for which credit losses
were previously recognized
-
-
Reductions for securities disposed
(2
)
-
-
(2
)
Reductions for securities charged-off
(6
)
-
-
(6
)
Balance as of end-of-year (2)
$
$
$
$
For the Year Ended December 31, 2020
Corporate
Bonds
RMBS
ABS
Total
Balance as of beginning-of-year
$
-
$
-
$
-
$
-
Additions for securities for which credit losses were not
previously recognized
Additions from purchases of PCD debt securities (1)
-
-
-
-
Additions (reductions) for securities for which credit losses
were previously recognized
(1
)
-
(1
)
(2
)
Reductions for securities disposed
(15
)
-
-
(15
)
Reductions for securities charged-off
(12
)
-
-
(12
)
Balance as of end-of-year (2)
$
$
$
-
$
(1)Represents purchased credit-deteriorated (“PCD”) fixed maturity AFS securities.
(2)As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, accrued interest receivable on fixed maturity AFS securities totaled $944 million and $1.0 billion, respectively, and was excluded from the estimate of credit losses.
Changes in the amount of credit loss of other-than-temporary impairment (“OTTI”) recognized in net income (loss) where the portion related to other factors was recognized in OCI (in millions) on fixed maturity AFS securities were as follows:
For the
Year
Ended
December 31,
Balance as of beginning-of-year
$
Increases attributable to:
Credit losses on securities for which an
OTTI was not previously recognized
Credit losses on securities for which an
OTTI was previously recognized
Decreases attributable to:
Securities sold, paid down or matured
(148
)
Balance as of end-of-year
$
Trading Securities
Trading securities at fair value (in millions) consisted of the following:
As of December 31,
Fixed maturity securities:
Corporate bonds
$
2,679
$
3,049
U.S. government bonds
-
State and municipal bonds
Foreign government bonds
RMBS
CMBS
ABS
1,338
Hybrid and redeemable preferred securities
Total trading securities
$
4,427
$
4,442
The portion of the market adjustment for trading gains and losses recognized in realized gain (loss) that relate to trading securities still held as of December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, was $(48) million, $117 million and $225 million, respectively.
Mortgage Loans on Real Estate
The following provides the current and past due composition of our mortgage loans on real estate (in millions):
As of December 31, 2021
As of December 31, 2020
Commercial
Residential
Total
Commercial
Residential
Total
Current
$
17,068
$
$
17,905
$
16,162
$
$
16,772
30 to 59 days past due
60 to 89 days past due
-
-
90 or more days past due
-
-
Allowance for credit losses
(78
)
(17
)
(95
)
(186
)
(17
)
(203
)
Unamortized premium (discount)
(11
)
(14
)
Mark-to-market gains (losses) (1)
(3
)
-
(3
)
(5
)
-
(5
)
Total carrying value
$
16,991
$
$
17,893
$
15,961
$
$
16,681
(1)Represents the mark-to-market on certain mortgage loans on real estate for which we have elected the fair value option. See Note 20 for additional information.
Our commercial mortgage loan portfolio has the largest concentrations in California, which accounted for 26% and 24% of commercial mortgage loans on real estate as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, and Texas, which accounted for 9% and 10% of commercial mortgage loans on real estate as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
Our residential mortgage loan portfolio has the largest concentrations in California, which accounted for 22% and 32% of residential mortgage loans on real estate as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, and Florida, which accounted for 14% and 18% of residential mortgage loans on real estate as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, we had 65 and 147 residential mortgage loans, respectively, that were either delinquent or in foreclosure. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, we had 34 and 75 residential mortgage loans in foreclosure, respectively, with an aggregate carrying value of $15 million and $27 million, respectively.
As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, there were four specifically identified impaired commercial mortgage loans with an aggregate carrying value of $1 million.
As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, there were 50 and 76 specifically identified impaired residential mortgage loans, respectively, with an aggregate carrying value of $22 million and $34 million, respectively.
Additional information related to impaired mortgage loans on real estate (in millions) was as follows:
For the Years Ended December 31,
Average aggregate carrying value for impaired mortgage loans on real estate
$
$
$
-
Interest income recognized on impaired mortgage loans on real estate
-
-
-
Interest income collected on impaired mortgage loans on real estate
-
-
-
The amortized cost of mortgage loans on real estate on nonaccrual status (in millions) was as follows:
As of December 31, 2021
As of December 31, 2020
Nonaccrual
Nonaccrual
with no
with no
Allowance
Allowance
for Credit
for Credit
Losses
Nonaccrual
Losses
Nonaccrual
Commercial mortgage loans on real estate
$
-
$
-
$
-
$
-
Residential mortgage loans on real estate
-
-
Total
$
-
$
$
-
$
We use loan-to-value and debt-service coverage ratios as credit quality indicators for our commercial mortgage loans on real estate. The amortized cost of commercial mortgage loans on real estate (dollars in millions) by year of origination and credit quality indicator was as follows:
As of December 31, 2021
Debt-
Debt-
Debt-
Service
Service
Service
Less
Coverage
65%
Coverage
Greater
Coverage
than 65%
Ratio
to 75%
Ratio
than 75%
Ratio
Total
Origination Year
$
2,361
3.05
$
1.74
$
-
-
$
2,497
1,349
3.02
2.06
-
-
1,493
2,875
2.14
1.42
-
-
3,062
2,272
2.13
1.59
1.02
2,455
1,648
2.33
1.74
0.83
1,824
2016 and prior
5,543
2.41
1.76
1.08
5,741
Total
$
16,048
$
$
$
17,072
As of December 31, 2020
Debt-
Debt-
Debt-
Service
Service
Service
Less
Coverage
65%
Coverage
Greater
Coverage
than 65%
Ratio
to 75%
Ratio
than 75%
Ratio
Total
Origination Year
$
1,495
2.85
$
1.52
$
-
-
$
1,527
3,098
2.24
1.78
1.74
3,358
2,379
2.16
1.49
0.71
2,576
1,779
2.34
1.73
-
-
1,948
1,711
2.37
1.56
1.58
1,907
2015 and prior
4,695
2.38
1.95
1.02
4,836
Total
$
15,157
$
$
$
16,152
We use loan performance status as the primary credit quality indicator for our residential mortgage loans on real estate. The amortized cost of residential mortgage loans on real estate (in millions) by year of origination and credit quality indicator was as follows:
As of December 31, 2021
Performing
Nonperforming
Total
Origination Year
$
$
$
-
-
-
2016 and prior
-
-
-
Total
$
$
$
As of December 31, 2020
Performing
Nonperforming
Total
Origination Year
$
$
$
-
-
-
-
-
-
2015 and prior
-
-
-
Total
$
$
$
Credit Losses on Mortgage Loans on Real Estate
In connection with our recognition of an allowance for credit losses for mortgage loans on real estate, we perform a quantitative analysis using a probability of default/loss given default/exposure at default approach to estimate expected credit losses in our mortgage loan portfolio as well as unfunded commitments related to commercial mortgage loans, exclusive of certain mortgage loans held at fair value. See Note 1 for a detailed discussion regarding our accounting policy relating to the allowance for credit losses on our mortgage loans on real estate.
Changes in the allowance for credit losses on mortgage loans on real estate (in millions) were as follows:
For the Year Ended December 31, 2021
Commercial
Residential
Total
Balance as of beginning-of-year
$
$
$
Additions (reductions) from provision for credit loss expense (1)
(108
)
-
(108
)
Additions from purchases of PCD mortgage loans on real estate
-
-
-
Balance as of end-of-year (2)
$
$
$
For the Year Ended December 31, 2020
Commercial
Residential
Total
Balance as of beginning-of-year
$
-
$
$
Impact of adopting ASU 2016-13
Additions (reductions) from provision for credit loss expense (3)
(11
)
Additions from purchases of PCD mortgage loans on real estate
-
-
-
Balance as of end-of-year (2)
$
$
$
(1)Due to improving economic projections, the provision for credit loss expense decreased by $108 million for the year ended December 31, 2021. We recognized $3 million of credit loss benefit (expense) related to unfunded commitments for mortgage loans on real estate for the year ended December 31, 2021.
(2)Accrued interest receivable on mortgage loans on real estate totaled $48 million as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, and was excluded from the estimate of credit losses.
(3)Due to changes in economic projections driven by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the provision for credit loss expense increased by $114 million for the year ended December 31, 2020. We recognized $(2) million of credit loss benefit (expense) related to unfunded commitments for mortgage loans on real estate for the year ended December 31, 2020.
There were no changes in the valuation allowance associated with impaired mortgage loans on real estate for the year ended December 31, 2019.
Alternative Investments
As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, alternative investments included investments in 305 and 270 different partnerships, respectively, and represented approximately 2% and 1% of total investments, respectively.
Net Investment Income
The major categories of net investment income (in millions) on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss) were as follows:
For the Years Ended December 31,
Fixed maturity AFS securities
$
4,242
$
4,241
$
4,214
Trading securities
Equity securities
Mortgage loans on real estate
Real estate
-
Policy loans
Invested cash
-
Commercial mortgage loan prepayment
and bond make-whole premiums
Alternative investments
Consent fees
Other investments
Investment income
6,144
5,597
5,366
Investment expense
(300
)
(333
)
(404
)
Net investment income
$
5,844
$
5,264
$
4,962
Impairments on Fixed Maturity AFS Securities
Details underlying credit loss benefit (expense) incurred as a result of impairments that were recognized in net income (loss) and included in realized gain (loss) on fixed maturity AFS securities (in millions) were as follows:
For the Years Ended December 31,
Credit Loss Benefit (Expense) (1)
Fixed maturity AFS securities:
Corporate bonds
$
(10
)
$
(24
)
$
(13
)
RMBS
-
(1
)
(1
)
ABS
-
-
(1
)
Hybrid and redeemable preferred securities
(1
)
-
-
Gross credit loss benefit (expense)
(11
)
(25
)
(15
)
Associated amortization of DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL
-
-
Net credit loss benefit (expense)
$
(11
)
$
(24
)
$
(15
)
(1)For the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, we recognized credit loss benefit (expense) incurred and write-downs taken as a result of impairments through net income (loss), pursuant to ASU 2016-13. For the year ended December 31, 2019, prior to the adoption of ASU 2016-13, we recognized write-downs taken as a result of OTTI through net income (loss).
During the year ended December 31, 2019, we recorded $14 million of OTTI recognized in OCI.
‎
Payables for Collateral on Investments
The carrying value of the payables for collateral on investments included on our Consolidated Balance Sheets and the fair value of the related investments or collateral (in millions) consisted of the following:
As of December 31, 2021
As of December 31, 2020
Carrying
Fair
Carrying
Fair
Value
Value
Value
Value
Collateral payable for derivative investments (1)
$
5,565
$
5,565
$
2,970
$
2,970
Securities pledged under securities lending agreements (2)
Investments pledged for Federal Home Loan Bank of
Indianapolis (“FHLBI”) (3)
3,130
4,876
3,130
5,049
Total payables for collateral on investments
$
8,936
$
10,676
$
6,215
$
8,131
(1)We obtain collateral based upon contractual provisions with our counterparties. These agreements take into consideration the counterparties’ credit rating as compared to ours, the fair value of the derivative investments and specified thresholds that if exceeded result in the receipt of cash that is typically invested in cash and invested cash. This also includes interest payable on collateral. See Note 5 for additional information.
(2)Our pledged securities under securities lending agreements are included in fixed maturity AFS securities on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. We generally obtain collateral in an amount equal to 102% and 105% of the fair value of the domestic and foreign securities, respectively. We value collateral daily and obtain additional collateral when deemed appropriate. The cash received in our securities lending program is typically invested in cash and invested cash or fixed maturity AFS securities.
(3)Our pledged investments for FHLBI are included in fixed maturity AFS securities and mortgage loans on real estate on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. The collateral requirements are generally 105% to 115% of the fair value for fixed maturity AFS securities and 155% to 175% of the fair value for mortgage loans on real estate. The cash received in these transactions is primarily invested in cash and invested cash or fixed maturity AFS securities.
We have repurchase agreements through which we can obtain liquidity by pledging securities. The collateral requirements are generally 80% to 95% of the fair value of the securities, and our agreements with third parties contain contractual provisions to allow for additional collateral to be obtained when necessary. The cash received in our repurchase program is typically invested in fixed maturity AFS securities. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, we were not participating in any open repurchase agreements.
Increase (decrease) in payables for collateral on investments (in millions) consisted of the following:
For the Years Ended December 31,
Collateral payable for derivative investments
$
2,595
$
1,587
$
Securities pledged under securities lending agreements
Securities pledged under repurchase agreements
-
-
(152
)
Investments pledged for FHLBI
-
(450
)
(350
)
Total increase (decrease) in payables for collateral on investments
$
2,721
$
1,138
$
We have elected not to offset our securities lending transactions in our consolidated financial statements. The remaining contractual maturities of securities lending transactions accounted for as secured borrowings (in millions) were as follows:
As of December 31, 2021
Overnight and Continuous
Up to 30 Days
30 - 90 Days
Greater Than 90 Days
Total
Securities Lending
Corporate bonds
$
$
-
$
-
$
-
$
Equity securities
-
-
-
Foreign government bonds
-
-
-
Total gross secured borrowings
$
$
-
$
-
$
-
$
As of December 31, 2020
Overnight and Continuous
Up to 30 Days
30 - 90 Days
Greater Than 90 Days
Total
Securities Lending
Corporate bonds
$
$
-
$
-
$
-
$
Foreign government bonds
-
-
-
Total gross secured borrowings
$
$
-
$
-
$
-
$
We accept collateral in the form of securities in connection with repurchase agreements. In instances where we are permitted to sell or re-pledge the securities received, we report the fair value of the collateral received and a related obligation to return the collateral in the consolidated financial statements. In addition, we receive securities in connection with securities borrowing agreements that we are permitted to sell or re-pledge. As of December 31, 2021, the fair value of all collateral received that we are permitted to sell or re-pledge was $22 million, and we had re-pledged all of this collateral to cover initial margin and over-the-counter collateral requirements on certain derivative investments.
Investment Commitments
As of December 31, 2021, our investment commitments were $3.1 billion, which included $1.5 billion of LPs, $987 million of private placement securities and $574 million of mortgage loans on real estate.
Concentrations of Financial Instruments
As of December 31, 2021, our most significant investments in one issuer were our investments in securities issued by the White Chapel LLC and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation with a fair value of $995 million and $910 million, respectively, or 1% of total investments. As of December 31, 2020, our most significant investments in one issuer were our investments in securities issued by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation and by White Chapel LLC with a fair value of $1.2 billion and $1.0 billion, respectively, or 1% of total investments. These concentrations include fixed maturity AFS, trading and equity securities.
As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, our most significant investments in one industry were our investments in securities in the financial services industry with a fair value of $21.7 billion, or 14% of total investments, and our investments in securities in the consumer non-cyclical industry with a fair value of $18.6 billion and $19.2 billion, respectively, or 12% and 13%, respectively, of total investments. These concentrations include fixed maturity AFS, trading and equity securities.
5. Derivative I nstruments
We maintain an overall risk management strategy that incorporates the use of derivative instruments to minimize significant unplanned fluctuations in earnings that are caused by interest rate risk, foreign currency exchange risk, equity market risk, basis risk and credit risk. We assess these risks by continually identifying and monitoring changes in our exposures that may adversely affect expected future cash flows and by evaluating hedging opportunities.
Derivative activities are monitored by various management committees. The committees are responsible for overseeing the implementation of various hedging strategies that are developed through the analysis of financial simulation models and other internal and industry sources. The resulting hedging strategies are incorporated into our overall risk management strategies.
See Note 1 for a detailed discussion of the accounting treatment for derivative instruments. See Note 20 for additional disclosures related to the fair value of our derivative instruments and Note 3 for derivative instruments related to our consolidated VIEs.
Interest Rate Contracts
We use derivative instruments as part of our interest rate risk management strategy. These instruments are economic hedges unless otherwise noted and include:
Forward-Starting Interest Rate Swaps
We use forward-starting interest rate swaps designated and qualifying as cash flow hedges to hedge our exposure to interest rate fluctuations related to the forecasted purchases of certain assets.
We also use forward-starting interest rate swaps to hedge the interest rate exposure within our life products related to the forecasted purchases of certain assets.
Interest Rate Cap Corridors
We use interest rate cap corridors to provide a level of protection from the effect of rising interest rates for certain life insurance products and annuity contracts. Interest rate cap corridors involve purchasing an interest rate cap at a specific cap rate and selling an interest rate cap with a higher cap rate. For each corridor, the amount of quarterly payments, if any, is determined by the rate at which the underlying index rate resets above the original capped rate. The corridor limits the benefit the purchaser can receive as the related interest rate index rises above the higher capped rate. There is no additional liability to us other than the purchase price associated with the interest rate cap corridor.
Interest Rate Futures
We use interest rate futures contracts to hedge the liability exposure on certain options in variable annuity products. These futures contracts require payment between our counterparty and us on a daily basis for changes in the futures index price.
Interest Rate Swap Agreements
We use interest rate swap agreements to hedge the liability exposure on certain options in variable annuity products.
We also use interest rate swap agreements designated and qualifying as cash flow hedges to hedge the interest rate risk of floating-rate bond coupon payments by replicating a fixed-rate bond.
Finally, we use interest rate swap agreements designated and qualifying as fair value hedges to hedge against changes in the fair value of certain fixed maturity securities due to interest rate risks.
Reverse Treasury Locks
We use reverse treasury locks designated and qualifying as cash flow hedges to hedge the interest rate exposure related to the anticipated purchase of fixed-rate securities or the anticipated future cash flows of floating-rate fixed maturity securities due to changes in interest rates. These derivatives are primarily structured to hedge interest rate risk inherent in the assumptions used to price certain liabilities.
Foreign Currency Contracts
We use derivative instruments as part of our foreign currency risk management strategy. These instruments are economic hedges unless otherwise noted and include:
Currency Futures
We use currency futures to hedge foreign exchange risk associated with certain options in variable annuity products. Currency futures exchange one currency for another at a specified date in the future at a specified exchange rate.
Foreign Currency Swaps
We use foreign currency swaps to hedge foreign exchange risk of investments in fixed maturity securities denominated in foreign currencies. A foreign currency swap is a contractual agreement to exchange one currency for another at specified dates in the future at a specified exchange rate.
We also use foreign currency swaps designated and qualifying as cash flow hedges to hedge foreign exchange risk of investments in fixed maturity securities denominated in foreign currencies.
Foreign Currency Forwards
We use foreign currency forwards to hedge foreign exchange risk of investments in fixed maturity securities denominated in foreign currencies. A foreign currency forward is a contractual agreement to exchange one currency for another at specified dates in the future at a specified current exchange rate.
Equity Market Contracts
We use derivative instruments as part of our equity market risk management strategy that are economic hedges and include:
Call Options Based on the S&P 500® Index and Other Indices
We use call options to hedge the liability exposure on certain options in variable annuity products, indexed variable annuity products and fixed indexed annuity products.
Our indexed annuity and indexed universal life insurance (“IUL”) contracts permit the holder to elect an interest rate return or an equity market component, where interest credited to the contracts is linked to the performance of the S&P 500 Index or other indices. Contract holders may elect to rebalance index options at renewal dates. At the end of each indexed term, which can be up to six years, we have the opportunity to re-price the indexed component by establishing participation rates, caps, spreads and specified rates, subject to contractual guarantees. We use call options that are highly correlated to the portfolio allocation decisions of our contract holders, such that we are economically hedged with respect to equity returns for the current reset period.
Consumer Price Index Swaps
We use consumer price index swaps to hedge the liability exposure on certain options in fixed annuity products. Consumer price index swaps are contracts entered into at no cost and whose payoff is the difference between the consumer price index inflation rate and the fixed-rate determined as of inception.
Equity Futures
We use equity futures contracts to hedge the liability exposure on certain options in variable annuity products. These futures contracts require payment between our counterparty and us on a daily basis for changes in the futures index price.
Put Options
We use put options to hedge the liability exposure on certain options in variable annuity products. Put options are contracts that require counterparties to pay us at a specified future date the amount, if any, by which a specified equity index is less than the strike rate stated in the agreement, applied to a notional amount.
Total Return Swaps
We use total return swaps to hedge the liability exposure on certain options in variable annuity products and indexed variable annuity products.
In addition, we use total return swaps to hedge a portion of the liability related to our deferred compensation plans. We receive the total return on a portfolio of indexes and pay a floating-rate of interest.
Credit Contracts
We use derivative instruments as part of our credit risk management strategy that are economic hedges and include:
Credit Default Swaps - Buying Protection
We use credit default swaps (“CDSs”) to hedge the liability exposure on certain options in variable annuity products.
We buy CDSs to hedge against a drop in bond prices due to credit concerns of certain bond issuers. A CDS allows us to put the bond back to the counterparty at par upon a default event by the bond issuer. A default event is defined as bankruptcy, failure to pay, obligation acceleration or restructuring.
CDSs - Selling Protection
We use CDSs to hedge the liability exposure on certain options in variable annuity products.
We sell CDSs to offer credit protection to contract holders and investors. The CDSs hedge the contract holders and investors against a drop in bond prices due to credit concerns of certain bond issuers. A CDS allows the investor to put the bond back to us at par upon a default event by the bond issuer. A default event is defined as bankruptcy, failure to pay, obligation acceleration or restructuring.
Other Derivatives
Lapse Protection Rider Ceded Derivative
We also have an inter-company agreement through which LNBAR, an affiliated insurer, assumes the risk under certain UL contracts for lapse protection riders (“LPR”). If the contract holder’s account value is insufficient to pay the cost of insurance charges required to keep the policy in force, and the contract holder has made the required deposits, we will be reimbursed for those charges.
Embedded Derivatives
We have embedded derivatives that include:
GLB Reserves Embedded Derivatives
Certain features of these guarantees have elements of both insurance benefits accounted for under the Financial Services - Insurance - Claim Costs and Liabilities for Future Policy Benefits Subtopic of the FASB ASC (“benefit reserves”) and embedded derivatives accounted for under the Derivatives and Hedging and the Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures Topics of the FASB ASC (“embedded derivative reserves”). We calculate the value of the benefit reserves and the embedded derivative reserves based on the specific characteristics of each GLB feature.
We use a hedging strategy designed to mitigate the risk and income statement volatility caused by changes in the equity markets, interest rates and volatility associated with GLBs oﬀered in our variable annuity products, including products with guaranteed withdrawal benefit and guaranteed income benefit features. These GLB features are reinsured among various reinsurance counterparties on a coinsurance basis. We cede a portion of the GLB features to LNBAR, a wholly-owned subsidiary of LNC, on a funds withheld coinsurance basis. The funds withheld arrangement includes a dynamic hedging strategy designed to mitigate selected risks. Changes in the value of the hedge contracts due to changes in equity markets, interest rates and implied volatilities hedge the income statement eﬀect of changes in embedded derivative GLB reserves assumed by LNBAR caused by those same factors. We rebalance our hedge positions based upon changes in these factors as needed. While we actively manage our hedge positions, these hedge positions may not be totally eﬀective in oﬀsetting changes in the embedded derivative reserve assumed by LNBAR due to, among other things, diﬀerences in timing between when a market exposure changes and corresponding changes to the hedge positions, extreme swings in the equity markets and interest rates, market volatility, contract holder behavior, divergence between the performance of the underlying funds and the hedging indices, divergence between the actual and expected performance of the hedge instruments and our ability to purchase hedging instruments at prices consistent with our desired risk and return trade-oﬀ. However, the hedging results do not impact LNL due to a funds withheld agreement with LNBAR, which causes the financial impact of the derivatives, as well as the cash flow activity, to be reflected on LNBAR.
Indexed Annuity and IUL Contracts Embedded Derivatives
Our indexed annuity and IUL contracts permit the holder to elect an interest rate return or an equity market component, where interest credited to the contracts is linked to the performance of the S&P 500® Index or other indices. Contract holders may elect to rebalance index options at renewal dates. At the end of each indexed term, which can be up to six years, we have the opportunity to re-price the indexed component by establishing participation rates, caps, spreads and specified rates, subject to contractual guarantees. We use options that are highly correlated to the portfolio allocation decisions of our contract holders, such that we are economically hedged with respect to equity returns for the current reset period.
Reinsurance Related Embedded Derivatives
We have certain modified coinsurance and coinsurance with funds withheld reinsurance agreements with embedded derivatives related to the withheld assets of the related funds. These derivatives are considered total return swaps with contractual returns that are attributable to various assets and liabilities associated with these reinsurance agreements.
‎
We have derivative instruments with off-balance-sheet risks whose notional or contract amounts exceed the related credit exposure. Outstanding derivative instruments with off-balance-sheet risks (in millions) were as follows:
As of December 31, 2021
As of December 31, 2020
Notional
Fair Value
Notional
Fair Value
Amounts
Asset
Liability
Amounts
Asset
Liability
Qualifying Hedges
Cash flow hedges:
Interest rate contracts (1)
$
2,009
$
$
$
$
$
Foreign currency contracts (1)
3,979
3,089
Total cash flow hedges
5,988
4,053
Fair value hedges:
Interest rate contracts (1)
-
-
Non-Qualifying Hedges
Interest rate contracts (1)
82,786
135,434
1,587
Foreign currency contracts (1)
Equity market contracts (1)
92,278
6,461
2,108
74,300
3,486
1,952
Credit contracts (1)
-
-
-
-
LPR ceded derivative (2)
-
-
-
-
-
Embedded derivatives:
GLB direct (3)
-
1,963
-
-
-
GLB ceded (3)
-
2,015
-
Reinsurance related (4)
-
-
-
-
Indexed annuity and IUL contracts (3) (5)
-
6,131
-
3,594
Total derivative instruments
$
182,114
$
10,611
$
11,282
$
214,672
$
6,390
$
7,217
(1)Reported in derivative investments and other liabilities on our Consolidated Balance Sheets.
(2)Reported in other assets on our Consolidated Balance Sheets.
(3)Reported in other assets and other liabilities on our Consolidated Balance Sheets.
(4)Reported in reinsurance related embedded derivatives on our Consolidated Balance Sheets.
(5)Reported in future contract benefits on our Consolidated Balance Sheets.
The maturity of the notional amounts of derivative instruments (in millions) was as follows:
Remaining Life as of December 31, 2021
Less Than
1 - 5
6 - 10
11 - 30
Over 30
1 Year
Years
Years
Years
Years
Total
Interest rate contracts (1)
$
4,413
$
49,847
$
17,324
$
13,737
$
-
$
85,321
Foreign currency contracts (2)
1,574
1,856
4,466
Equity market contracts
57,636
17,752
8,267
8,612
92,278
Credit contracts
-
-
-
-
Total derivative instruments
with notional amounts
$
62,459
$
68,201
$
27,165
$
15,604
$
8,685
$
182,114
(1)As of December 31, 2021, the latest maturity date for which we were hedging our exposure to the variability in future cash flows for these instruments was June 15, 2037.
(2)As of December 31, 2021, the latest maturity date for which we were hedging our exposure to the variability in future cash flows for these instruments was June 16, 2061.
‎
The following amounts (in millions) were recorded on the Consolidated Balance Sheets related to cumulative basis adjustments for fair value hedges:
Cumulative Fair Value
Hedging Adjustment
Included in the
Amortized Cost of the
Amortized Cost of the
Hedged
Hedged
Assets / (Liabilities)
Assets / (Liabilities)
As of
As of
As of
As of
December 31,
December 31,
December 31,
December 31,
Line Item in the Consolidated Balance Sheets in
which the Hedged Item is Included
Fixed maturity AFS securities, at fair value
$
$
$
$
The change in our unrealized gain (loss) on derivative instruments within AOCI (in millions) was as follows:
For the Years Ended December 31,
Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Derivative Instruments
Balance as of beginning-of-year
$
$
$
Other comprehensive income (loss):
Unrealized holding gains (losses) arising during the period:
Cash flow hedges:
Interest rate contracts
(16
)
Foreign currency contracts
Change in foreign currency exchange rate adjustment
(174
)
(52
)
Change in DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL
(23
)
(5
)
Income tax benefit (expense)
(65
)
(26
)
Less:
Reclassification adjustment for gains (losses)
included in net income (loss):
Cash flow hedges:
Interest rate contracts (1)
Foreign currency contracts (1)
Foreign currency contracts (2)
(2
)
Associated amortization of DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL
(2
)
(7
)
(2
)
Income tax benefit (expense)
(10
)
(12
)
(9
)
Balance as of end-of-year
$
$
$
(1)The OCI offset is reported within net investment income on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss).
(2)The OCI offset is reported within realized gain (loss) on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss).
‎
The effects of qualifying and non-qualifying hedges (in millions) on the Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss) were as follows:
Gain (Loss) Recognized in Income
For the Year Ended December 31, 2021
Realized
Net
Gain
Investment
(Loss)
Income
Benefits
Total Line Items in which the Effects of Fair Value or Cash
Flow Hedges are Recorded
$
$
5,844
$
8,039
Qualifying Hedges
Gain or (loss) on fair value hedging relationships:
Interest rate contracts:
Hedged items
-
(60
)
-
Derivatives designated as hedging instruments
-
-
Gain or (loss) on cash flow hedging relationships:
Interest rate contracts:
Amount of gain or (loss) reclassified from AOCI into income
-
-
Foreign currency contracts:
Amount of gain or (loss) reclassified from AOCI into income
(2
)
-
Non-Qualifying Hedges
Interest rate contracts
(957
)
-
-
Foreign currency contracts
(1
)
-
-
Equity market contracts
3,355
-
-
Credit contracts
(1
)
-
-
Embedded derivatives:
GLB
-
-
Reinsurance related
-
-
Indexed annuity and IUL contracts
(2,622
)
-
-
Gain (Loss) Recognized in Income
For the Year Ended December 31, 2020
Realized
Net
Gain
Investment
(Loss)
Income
Benefits
Total Line Items in which the Effects of Fair Value or Cash
Flow Hedges are Recorded
$
(526
)
$
5,264
$
8,050
Qualifying Hedges
Gain or (loss) on fair value hedging relationships:
Interest rate contracts:
Hedged items
-
-
Derivatives designated as hedging instruments
-
(69
)
Gain or (loss) on cash flow hedging relationships:
Interest rate contracts:
Amount of gain or (loss) reclassified from AOCI into income
-
-
Foreign currency contracts:
Amount of gain or (loss) reclassified from AOCI into income
-
Non-Qualifying Hedges
Interest rate contracts
1,287
-
-
Foreign currency contracts
(3
)
-
-
Equity market contracts
-
-
Credit contracts
(6
)
-
-
Embedded derivatives:
GLB
-
-
Reinsurance related
(241
)
-
-
Indexed annuity and IUL contracts
(471
)
-
-
Gain (Loss) Recognized in Income
For the Year Ended December 31, 2019
Realized
Net
Gain
Investment
(Loss)
Income
Benefits
Total Line Items in which the Effects of Fair Value or Cash
Flow Hedges are Recorded
$
(828
)
$
4,962
$
7,585
Qualifying Hedges
Gain or (loss) on fair value hedging relationships:
Interest rate contracts:
Hedged items
-
-
Derivatives designated as hedging instruments
-
(63
)
Gain or (loss) on cash flow hedging relationships:
Interest rate contracts:
Amount of gain or (loss) reclassified from AOCI into income
-
-
Foreign currency contracts:
Amount of gain or (loss) reclassified from AOCI into income
-
Non-Qualifying Hedges
Interest rate contracts
-
-
Foreign currency contracts
(1
)
-
-
Equity market contracts
(137
)
-
-
Credit contracts
-
-
-
Embedded derivatives:
GLB
-
-
Reinsurance related
(626
)
-
-
Indexed annuity and IUL contracts
(742
)
-
-
As of December 31, 2021, $79 million of the deferred net gains (losses) on derivative instruments in AOCI were expected to be reclassified to earnings during the next 12 months. This reclassification would be due primarily to interest rate variances related to our interest rate swap agreements.
For the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, there were no material reclassifications to earnings due to hedged firm commitments no longer deemed probable or due to hedged forecasted transactions that had not occurred by the end of the originally specified time period.
As of December 31, 2021, we did not have any exposure related to CDSs for which we are the seller.
Information related to our CDSs for which we are the seller (dollars in millions) was as follows:
As of December 31, 2020
Credit
Reason
Nature
Rating of
Number
Maximum
for
of
Underlying
of
Fair
Potential
Credit Contract Type
Maturity
Entering
Recourse
Obligation (1)
Instruments
Value (2)
Payout
Basket CDSs
12/20/2025
(3)
(4)
BBB+
$
$
(1)Represents average credit ratings based on the midpoint of the applicable ratings among Moody’s, S&P and Fitch Ratings, as scaled to the corresponding S&P ratings.
(2)Broker quotes are used to determine the market value of our CDSs.
(3)CDSs were entered into in order to hedge the liability exposure on certain variable annuity products.
(4)Sellers do not have the right to demand indemnification or compensation from third parties in case of a loss (payment) on the contract.
Details underlying the associated collateral of our CDSs for which we are the seller if credit risk-related contingent features were triggered (in millions) were as follows:
As of
As of
December 31,
December 31,
Maximum potential payout
$
-
$
Less: Counterparty thresholds
-
-
Maximum collateral potentially required to post
$
-
$
Certain of our CDS agreements contain contractual provisions that allow for the netting of collateral with our counterparties related to all of our collateralized financing transactions that we have outstanding. If these netting agreements were not in place, we would have been required to post collateral if the market value was less than zero.
Credit Risk
We are exposed to credit losses in the event of non-performance by our counterparties on various derivative contracts and reflect assumptions regarding the credit or NPR. The NPR is based upon assumptions for each counterparty’s credit spread over the estimated weighted average life of the counterparty exposure, less collateral held. As of December 31, 2021, the NPR adjustment was zero. The credit risk associated with such agreements is minimized by entering into agreements with financial institutions with long-standing, superior performance records. Additionally, we maintain a policy of requiring derivative contracts to be governed by an International Swaps and Derivatives Association (“ISDA”) Master Agreement. We are required to maintain minimum ratings as a matter of routine practice in negotiating ISDA agreements. Under some ISDA agreements, we and LLANY have agreed to maintain certain financial strength or claims-paying ratings. A downgrade below these levels could result in termination of derivative contracts, at which time any amounts payable by us would be dependent on the market value of the underlying derivative contracts. In certain transactions, we and the counterparty have entered into a credit support annex requiring either party to post collateral when net exposures exceed pre-determined thresholds. These thresholds vary by counterparty and credit rating. The amount of such exposure is essentially the net replacement cost or market value less collateral held for such agreements with each counterparty if the net market value is in our favor. We did not have any exposure as of December 31, 2021 or 2020.
The amounts recognized (in millions) by S&P credit rating of counterparty, for which we had the right to reclaim cash collateral or were obligated to return cash collateral, were as follows:
As of December 31, 2021
As of December 31, 2020
Collateral
Collateral
Collateral
Collateral
Posted by
Posted by
Posted by
Posted by
S&P
Counter-
LNL
Counter-
LNL
Credit
Party
(Held by
Party
(Held by
Rating of
(Held by
Counter-
(Held by
Counter-
Counterparty
LNL)
Party)
LNL)
Party)
AA-
$
2,346
$
-
$
1,232
$
(7
)
A+
2,762
(44
)
1,112
(175
)
A
-
-
A-
-
-
-
$
5,564
$
(44
)
$
2,969
$
(182
)
Balance Sheet Offsetting
Information related to the effects of offsetting on our Consolidated Balance Sheets (in millions) was as follows:
As of December 31, 2021
Embedded
Derivative
Derivative
Instruments
Instruments
Total
Financial Assets
Gross amount of recognized assets
$
7,938
$
2,547
$
10,485
Gross amounts offset
(2,241
)
-
(2,241
)
Net amount of assets (1)
5,697
2,547
8,244
Gross amounts not offset:
Cash collateral
(5,564
)
-
(5,564
)
Non-cash collateral
(133
)
-
(133
)
Net amount
$
-
$
2,547
$
2,547
Financial Liabilities
Gross amount of recognized liabilities
$
$
8,724
$
9,073
Gross amounts offset
(68
)
-
(68
)
Net amount of liabilities
8,724
9,005
Gross amounts not offset:
Cash collateral
(44
)
-
(44
)
Non-cash collateral
-
-
-
Net amount
$
$
8,724
$
8,961
(1)Includes deferred premiums of $260 million reported in other assets on our Consolidated Balance Sheets.
‎
As of December 31, 2020
Embedded
Derivative
Derivative
Instruments
Instruments
Total
Financial Assets
Gross amount of recognized assets
$
4,978
$
1,082
$
6,060
Gross amounts offset
(1,869
)
-
(1,869
)
Net amount of assets
3,109
1,082
4,191
Gross amounts not offset:
Cash collateral
(2,969
)
-
(2,969
)
Non-cash collateral
(56
)
-
(56
)
Net amount
$
$
1,082
$
1,166
Financial Liabilities
Gross amount of recognized liabilities
$
$
4,665
$
5,567
Gross amounts offset
(330
)
-
(330
)
Net amount of liabilities
4,665
5,237
Gross amounts not offset:
Cash collateral
(182
)
-
(182
)
Non-cash collateral
-
-
-
Net amount
$
$
4,665
$
5,055
6. Federal Incom e Taxes
The federal income tax expense (benefit) on continuing operations (in millions) was as follows:
For the Years Ended December 31,
Current
$
$
(59
)
$
Deferred
(212
)
Federal income tax expense (benefit)
$
$
(56
)
$
(37
)
A reconciliation of the effective tax rate differences (in millions) was as follows:
For the Years Ended December 31,
Income (loss) before taxes
$
1,922
$
$
Federal statutory rate
21%
21%
21%
Federal income tax expense (benefit) at federal statutory rate
Effect of:
Tax-preferred investment income (1)
(88
)
(98
)
(99
)
Tax credits
(26
)
(39
)
(40
)
Excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation
-
(6
)
Tax impact associated with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (2)
-
(37
)
(16
)
Other items
Federal income tax expense (benefit)
$
$
(56
)
$
(37
)
Effective tax rate
15%
-10%
-6%
(1)Relates primarily to separate account dividends eligible for the dividends-received deduction.
(2)In 2019, we recognized a $16 million tax benefit from the impact of the reduced corporate tax rate under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Tax Act”) on our election to revalue policyholder tax reserves. In 2020, we recognized a $37 million tax benefit attributable to the carry back of a 2020 net operating loss under the provisions of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, which provides for a five-year carryback period.
The federal income tax asset (liability) (in millions) was as follows:
As of December 31,
Current
$
$
Deferred
(3,022
)
(3,422
)
Total federal income tax asset (liability)
$
(2,640
)
$
(3,041
)
Significant components of our deferred tax assets and liabilities (in millions) were as follows:
As of December 31,
Deferred Tax Assets
Future contract benefits and other contract holder funds
$
3,381
$
2,262
Reinsurance related embedded derivative asset
Compensation and benefit plans
Intangibles
Net operating losses
Other
Total deferred tax assets
$
4,102
$
2,788
Deferred Tax Liabilities
DAC
$
$
VOBA
Net unrealized gain on fixed maturity AFS securities
2,754
3,836
Net unrealized gain on trading securities
Investment activity
3,423
1,299
Other
Total deferred tax liabilities
$
7,124
$
6,210
Net deferred tax asset (liability)
$
(3,022
)
$
(3,422
)
As of December 31, 2021, we have $1.4 billion of net operating losses to carry forward to future years. The net operating losses arose in tax years 2018 and 2021, and under the Tax Act changes, have an unlimited carryforward period. As a result, management believes that it is more likely than not that the deferred tax asset associated with the loss carryforwards will be realized. Inclusive of the tax attribute for the net operating losses, although realization is not assured, management believes that it is more likely than not that we will realize the benefits of all our deferred tax assets, and, accordingly, no valuation allowance has been recorded.
We are subject to examination by U.S. federal, state, local and non-U.S. income authorities. With few exceptions for limited scope review, we are no longer subject to U.S. federal examinations for years before 2018. In the first quarter of 2021, the Internal Revenue Service commenced an examination of our refund claims for 2014 and 2015 that is anticipated to be completed by the end of 2022. We are currently under examination by several state and local taxing jurisdictions; however, we do not expect these examinations will materially impact us.
A reconciliation of the unrecognized tax benefits (in millions) was as follows:
For the Years Ended
December 31,
Balance as of beginning-of-year
$
$
Increases for prior year tax positions
Balance as of end-of-year
$
$
As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, $45 million and $43 million , respectively, of our unrecognized tax benefits presented above, if recognized, would have affected our federal income tax expense (benefit) and our effective tax rate. We anticipate that it is reasonably possible that unrecognized tax benefits associated with separate account dividends-received deduction and tax credits will decrease by $8 million by the end of 2022, upon the completion of the examination of our refund claims for 2014 and 2015.
We recognize interest and penalties accrued, if any, related to unrecognized tax benefits as a component of tax expense. For the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, we recognized no interest and penalty expense (benefit), and there was no accrued interest and penalty expense related to the unrecognized tax benefits as of December 31, 2021 and 2020.
7. DAC, VOBA , DSI and DFEL
Changes in DAC (in millions) were as follows:
For the Years Ended December 31,
Balance as of beginning-of-year
$
5,590
$
7,418
$
9,509
Cumulative effect from adoption of new accounting
standard
-
-
Business acquired (sold) through reinsurance
(362
)
(26
)
-
Business recaptured through reinsurance
-
-
Deferrals
1,364
1,427
1,900
Amortization, net of interest:
Amortization, excluding unlocking, net of interest
(980
)
(811
)
(922
)
Unlocking
(558
)
(211
)
(471
)
Adjustment related to realized (gains) losses
(45
)
(35
)
(43
)
Adjustment related to unrealized (gains) losses
(2,177
)
(2,614
)
Balance as of end-of-year
$
5,801
$
5,590
$
7,418
Changes in VOBA (in millions) were as follows:
For the Years Ended December 31,
Balance as of beginning-of-year
$
$
$
Business acquired (sold) through reinsurance
(288
)
-
-
Deferrals
-
Amortization:
Amortization, excluding unlocking
(91
)
(107
)
(115
)
Unlocking
(8
)
(201
)
Accretion of interest (1)
Adjustment related to realized (gains) losses
(3
)
-
(1
)
Adjustment related to unrealized (gains) losses
(550
)
Balance as of end-of-year
$
$
$
(1)The interest accrual rates utilized to calculate the accretion of interest ranged from 4.2% to 6.9%.
Estimated future amortization of VOBA, net of interest (in millions), as of December 31, 2021, was as follows:
$
Changes in DSI (in millions) were as follows:
For the Years Ended December 31,
Balance as of beginning-of-year
$
$
$
Deferrals
Amortization, net of interest:
Amortization, excluding unlocking, net of interest
(25
)
(20
)
(28
)
Unlocking
-
(1
)
(3
)
Adjustment related to realized (gains) losses
(2
)
(2
)
(2
)
Adjustment related to unrealized (gains) losses
(6
)
(10
)
Balance as of end-of-year
$
$
$
Changes in DFEL (in millions) were as follows:
For the Years Ended December 31,
Balance as of beginning-of-year
$
$
$
2,763
Cumulative effect from adoption of new accounting
standard
-
-
Business acquired (sold) through reinsurance
(290
)
-
-
Business recaptured through reinsurance
-
-
Deferrals
1,014
1,002
1,092
Amortization, net of interest:
Amortization, excluding unlocking, net of interest
(593
)
(529
)
(533
)
Unlocking
(387
)
(275
)
(426
)
Adjustment related to realized (gains) losses
(22
)
(11
)
Adjustment related to unrealized (gains) losses
(468
)
(2,244
)
Balance as of end-of-year
$
$
$
8. Reinsura nce
The following summarizes reinsurance amounts (in millions) recorded on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss), excluding amounts attributable to the indemnity reinsurance agreements with Protective and Swiss Re Life & Health America, Inc. (“Swiss Re”):
For the Years Ended December 31,
Direct insurance premiums and fee income
$
14,010
$
13,159
$
13,347
Reinsurance assumed
Reinsurance ceded
(2,136
)
(2,018
)
(1,920
)
Total insurance premiums and fee income
$
11,971
$
11,242
$
11,524
Direct insurance benefits
$
10,578
$
10,497
$
9,482
Reinsurance recoveries netted against benefits
(2,539
)
(2,447
)
(1,897
)
Total benefits
$
8,039
$
8,050
$
7,585
We and LLANY cede insurance to other companies. The portion of our life insurance and annuity risks exceeding our retention limit is reinsured with other insurers. We seek reinsurance coverage to limit our exposure to mortality losses and to enhance our capital management. Reinsurance does not discharge us from our primary obligation to contract holders for losses incurred under the policies we issue. We evaluate each reinsurance agreement to determine whether the agreement provides indemnification against loss or liability. As discussed in Note 23, a portion of this reinsurance activity is with affiliated companies.
As of December 31, 2021, the policy for our reinsurance program was to retain up to $20 million on a single insured life. As the amount we retain varies by policy, we reinsured 20% of the mortality risk on newly issued life insurance contracts in 2021.
Reinsurance Exposures
We focus on obtaining reinsurance from a diverse group of reinsurers, and we monitor concentration as well as financial strength ratings of our reinsurers. Our amounts recoverable from reinsurers represent receivables from and reserves ceded to reinsurers and LNBAR.
The amounts recoverable from reinsurers were $22.8 billion and $18.8 billion as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. Protective represents our largest reinsurance exposure following the sale of individual life and individual and group annuity business acquired from Liberty Life Assurance Company of Boston in 2018, which resulted in amounts recoverable from Protective of $10.7 billion and $11.3 billion as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. Protective has funded trusts, of which the balance in the trusts changes as a result of ongoing reinsurance activity, to support the business ceded, which totaled $14.0 billion and $15.2 billion as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
Effective October 1, 2021, we entered into a reinsurance agreement with Resolution Life to reinsure liabilities under a block of in-force executive benefit and universal life policies. The agreement is structured as coinsurance for the general account reserves and modified coinsurance for the separate account reserves. Amounts recoverable from Resolution Life were $4.7 billion as of December 31, 2021. Resolution Life has funded trusts, the balances of which change as a result of ongoing reinsurance activity to support the business ceded, that totaled $4.1 billion as of December 31, 2021. As described in Note 1, we recorded a deferred gain on business sold through reinsurance related to the transaction with Resolution Life and amortized $10 million of the gain during 2021.
Some portions of our annuity business have been reinsured on a modified coinsurance basis with other companies. In a modified coinsurance agreement, we as the ceding company retain the reserves, as well as the assets backing those reserves, and the reinsurer shares proportionally in all financial terms of the reinsured policies based on their respective percentage of the risk.
Effective October 1, 2018, we entered into one such modified coinsurance agreement with Athene to reinsure fixed annuity products, which resulted in a deposit asset of $5.0 billion and $5.8 billion as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, within other assets on our Consolidated Balance Sheets.
We held assets in support of reserves associated with the Athene transaction in a modified coinsurance investment portfolio, which consisted of the following (in millions):
As of
As of
December 31,
December 31,
Fixed maturity AFS securities
$
$
1,531
Trading securities
3,399
3,357
Equity securities
Mortgage loans on real estate
Derivative investments
Other investments
Cash and invested cash
Accrued investment income
Other assets
Total
$
5,404
$
6,144
The portfolio was supported by $157 million of over-collateralization and a $146 million letter of credit as of December 31, 2021. Additionally, we recorded a deferred gain on business sold through reinsurance related to the transaction with Athene and amortized $26 million, $29 million and $30 million of the gain during 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
See “Realized Gain (Loss)” in Note 15 for information on reinsurance related embedded derivatives.
Our reinsurance operations were acquired by Swiss Re in December 2001 through a series of indemnity reinsurance transactions. As such, Swiss Re reinsured certain liabilities and obligations under the indemnity reinsurance agreements. As we are not relieved of our liability to the ceding companies for this business, the liabilities and obligations associated with the reinsured policies remain on our Consolidated Balance Sheets with a corresponding reinsurance receivable from Swiss Re, which totaled $1.1 billion and $1.2 billion as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. Swiss Re has funded a trust, with a balance of $1.0 billion and $1.2 billion as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, to support this business. In addition to various remedies that we would have in the event of a default by Swiss Re, we continue to hold assets in support of certain of the transferred reserves. These assets consist of those reported as trading securities and certain mortgage loans. Our liabilities for funds withheld and embedded derivatives as of December 31, 2021, included $143 million and $31 million, respectively, related to the business sold to Swiss Re.
The amounts recoverable from LNBAR were $2.9 billion and $2.7 billion as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. LNBAR has funded trusts to support the business ceded of which the balance in the trusts changes as a result of ongoing reinsurance activity and totaled $3.0 billion and $3.2 billion as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
Credit Losses on Reinsurance Related Assets
In connection with our recognition of an allowance for credit losses for reinsurance-related assets, we perform a quantitative analysis using a probability of loss approach to estimate expected credit losses for reinsurance recoverables, inclusive of similar assets recognized using the deposit method of accounting. Our allowance for credit losses was $188 million and $190 million as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
9. Goodwi ll and Specifically Identifiable Intangible Assets
The changes in the carrying amount of goodwill (in millions) by reportable segment were as follows:
For the Year Ended December 31, 2021
Gross
Accumulated
Goodwill
Impairment
Net
as of
as of
Acquisition
Goodwill
Beginning-
Beginning-
Accounting
as of End-
of-Year
of-Year
Adjustments
Impairment
of-Year
Annuities
$
1,040
$
(600
)
$
-
$
-
$
Retirement Plan Services
-
-
-
Life Insurance
2,186
(1,552
)
-
-
Group Protection
-
-
-
Total goodwill
$
3,930
$
(2,152
)
$
-
$
-
$
1,778
For the Year Ended December 31, 2020
Gross
Accumulated
Goodwill
Impairment
Net
as of
as of
Acquisition
Goodwill
Beginning-
Beginning-
Accounting
as of End-
of-Year
of-Year
Adjustments
Impairment
of-Year
Annuities
$
1,040
$
(600
)
$
-
$
-
$
Retirement Plan Services
-
-
-
Life Insurance
2,186
(1,552
)
-
-
Group Protection
-
-
-
Total goodwill
$
3,930
$
(2,152
)
$
-
$
-
$
1,778
The fair values of our reporting units (Level 3 fair value estimates) are comprised of the value of in-force (i.e., existing) business and the value of new business. Specifically, new business is representative of cash flows and profitability associated with policies or contracts we expect to issue in the future, reflecting our forecasts of future sales volume and product mix over a 10-year period. To determine the values of in-force and new business, we use a discounted cash flows technique that applies a discount rate reflecting the market expected, weighted-average rate of return adjusted for the risk factors associated with operations to the projected future cash flows for each reporting unit.
As of October 1, 2021 and 2020, we performed our annual quantitative goodwill impairment test for our reporting units, and, as of each such date, the fair value was in excess of each reporting unit’s carrying value for Annuities, Retirement Plan Services, Life Insurance and Group Protection.
The gross carrying amounts and accumulated amortization (in millions) for each major specifically identifiable intangible asset class by reportable segment were as follows:
As of December 31, 2021
As of December 31, 2020
Gross
Gross
Carrying
Accumulated
Carrying
Accumulated
Amount
Amortization
Amount
Amortization
Retirement Plan Services:
Mutual fund contract rights (1)
$
$
-
$
$
-
Life Insurance:
Sales force
Group Protection:
VOCRA
VODA
Insurance licenses (1)
-
-
Total
$
$
$
$
(1)No amortization recorded as the intangible asset has indefinite life.
Future estimated amortization of specifically identifiable intangible assets (in millions) as of December 31, 2021, was as follows:
$
Thereafter
10. Guaranteed Be nefit Features
The GDB features include those where we contractually guarantee to the contract holder either: return of no less than total deposits made to the contract less any partial withdrawals (“return of net deposits”); total deposits made to the contract less any partial withdrawals plus a minimum return (“minimum return”); or the highest contract value on any contract anniversary date through age 80. The highest contract value is increased by purchase payments and is decreased by withdrawals subsequent to that anniversary date in the same proportion that withdrawals reduce the contract value. Information on the GDB features outstanding (dollars in millions) was as follows:
As of December 31,
2021 (1)
2020 (1)
Return of Net Deposits
Total account value
$
117,503
$
109,856
Net amount at risk (2)
Average attained age of contract holders
67 years
66 years
Minimum Return
Total account value
$
$
Net amount at risk (2)
Average attained age of contract holders
79 years
78 years
Guaranteed minimum return
5%
5%
Anniversary Contract Value
Total account value
$
28,788
$
27,650
Net amount at risk (2)
Average attained age of contract holders
73 years
72 years
(1)Our variable contracts with guarantees may offer more than one type of guarantee in each contract; therefore, the amounts listed are not mutually exclusive.
(2)Represents the amount of death benefit in excess of the account balance that is subject to market fluctuations.
The determination of GDB liabilities is based on models that involve a range of scenarios and assumptions, including those regarding expected market rates of return and volatility, contract surrender rates and mortality experience. The following summarizes the balances of and changes in the liabilities for GDBs (in millions), which were recorded in future contract benefits on our Consolidated Balance Sheets:
For the Years Ended December 31,
Balance as of beginning-of-year
$
$
$
Changes in reserves
(24
)
Benefits paid
(20
)
(26
)
(20
)
Balance as of end-of-year
$
$
$
Variable Annuity Contracts
Account balances of variable annuity contracts, including those with guarantees, (in millions) were invested in separate account investment options as follows:
As of December 31,
Asset Type
Domestic equity
$
77,290
$
70,362
International equity
21,223
20,855
Fixed income
45,231
43,521
Total
$
143,744
$
134,738
Secondary Guarantee Products
Future contract benefits and other contract holder funds include reserves for our secondary guarantee products sold through our Life Insurance segment. Reserves on UL and VUL products with secondary guarantees represented 37% of total life insurance in-force reserves as of December 31, 2021 and 2020.
11. Liability for Unpaid Claims
The liability for unpaid claims consists primarily of long-term disability claims and is reported in future contract benefits on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. Changes in the liability for unpaid claims (in millions) were as follows:
For the Years Ended December 31,
Balance as of beginning-of-year
$
5,934
$
5,552
$
5,335
Reinsurance recoverable
Net balance as of beginning-of-year
5,783
5,400
5,192
Incurred related to:
Current year
4,026
3,517
3,193
Prior years:
Interest
All other incurred (1)
(271
)
(209
)
(308
)
Total incurred
3,896
3,456
3,036
Paid related to:
Current year
(2,074
)
(1,707
)
(1,518
)
Prior years
(1,472
)
(1,366
)
(1,310
)
Total paid
(3,546
)
(3,073
)
(2,828
)
Net balance as of end-of-year
6,133
5,783
5,400
Reinsurance recoverable
Balance as of end-of-year
$
6,280
$
5,934
$
5,552
(1)All other incurred is primarily impacted by the level of claim resolutions in the period compared to that which is expected by the reserve assumption. A negative number implies a favorable result where claim resolutions were more favorable than assumed. Our claim resolution rate assumption used in determining reserves is our expectation of the resolution rate we will experience over the long-term life of the block of claims. It will vary from actual experience in any one period, both favorably and unfavorably.
The interest rate assumption used for discounting long-term claim reserves is an important part of the reserving process due to the long benefit period for these claims. Interest accrued on prior years’ reserves has been calculated on the opening reserve balance less one-half of the prior years’ incurred claim payments at our average reserve discount rate.
Long-term disability benefits may extend for many years, and claim development schedules do not reflect these longer benefit periods. As a result, we use longer term retrospective runoff studies, experience studies and prospective studies to develop our liability estimates. Long-term disability reserves are discounted using rates ranging from 2.5% to 5.0% that vary by year of claim incurral.
12. Short-Term and Long-Term Debt
Details underlying short-term and long-term debt (in millions) were as follows:
As of December 31,
Short-Term Debt
Short-term debt (1)
$
1,084
$
Long-Term Debt, Excluding Current Portion
9.76% surplus note, due 2024
$
$
6.56% surplus note, due 2028
LIBOR + 111 bps surplus note, due 2028
LIBOR + 226 bps surplus note, due 2028
6.03% surplus note, due 2028
LIBOR + 200 bps surplus note, due 2035
LIBOR + 155 bps surplus note, due 2037
4.20% surplus note, due 2037
LIBOR + 100 bps surplus note, due 2037
4.225% surplus note, due 2037
4.00% surplus note, due 2037
4.50% surplus note, due 2038
Total long-term debt
$
2,334
$
2,412
(1)The short-term debt represents short-term notes payable to LNC.
Future principal payments due on long-term debt (in millions) as of December 31, 2021, were as follows:
$
-
-
-
-
Thereafter
2,284
Total
$
2,334
We issued a surplus note of $50 million to LNC in 1994. The note calls for us to pay the principal amount of the note on or before September 30, 2024, and interest to be paid semiannually at an annual rate of 9.76%. Subject to approval by the Commissioner, we have the right to repay the note on any March 31 or September 30.
We issued a surplus note of $500 million to LNC in 1998. The note calls for us to pay the principal amount of the note on or before March 31, 2028, and interest to be paid quarterly at an annual rate of 6.56%. Subject to approval by the Commissioner, LNC has the right to redeem the note for immediate repayment in total or in part once per year on the anniversary date of the note. Any payment of interest or repayment of principal may be paid only out of our statutory earnings, only if our statutory capital surplus exceeds our statutory capital as of the date of note issuance of $2.3 billion, and subject to approval by the Commissioner.
On October 1, 2013, we issued a surplus note of $71 million to LNC. The note calls for us to pay the principal amount of the note on or before September 24, 2028, and interest to be paid quarterly at an annual rate of LIBOR + 111 bps. Subject to approval by the Commissioner, we have the right to repay the note in whole or in part prior to the maturity date, if our statutory capital surplus exceeds the sum of our surplus at closing plus any accrued but unpaid interest.
On December 17, 2013, we issued a variable surplus note to a wholly-owned subsidiary of LNC with an initial outstanding principal amount of $287 million. The outstanding principal amount as of December 31, 2021, was $593 million. The note calls for us to pay the principal amount of the note on or before October 1, 2028, and interest to be paid quarterly at an annual rate of LIBOR + 226 bps.
We issued a surplus note of $750 million to LNC in 1998. The note calls for us to pay the principal amount of the note on or before December 31, 2028, and interest to be paid quarterly at an annual rate of 6.03%. Subject to approval by the Commissioner, LNC has the right to redeem the note for immediate repayment in total or in part once per year on the anniversary date of the note. Any payment of interest or repayment of principal may be paid only out of our statutory earnings, only if our statutory capital surplus exceeds our statutory capital surplus as of the date of note issuance of $2.4 billion, and subject to approval by the Commissioner.
On October 1, 2015, we issued a surplus note of $30 million to LNC. The note calls for us to pay the principal amount of the note on or before September 28, 2035, and interest to be paid quarterly at an annual rate of LIBOR + 200 bps. Subject to approval by the Commissioner, we have the right to repay the note in whole or in part prior to the maturity date, if our statutory capital surplus exceeds the sum of our surplus at closing plus any accrued but unpaid interest.
On July 1, 2017, we issued a surplus note of $25 million to LNC. The note calls for us to pay the principal amount of the note on or before June 30, 2037, and interest to be paid quarterly at an annual rate of LIBOR + 155 bps. Subject to approval by the Commissioner, we have the right to repay the note in whole or in part prior to the maturity date, if our statutory capital surplus exceeds the sum of our surplus at closing plus any accrued but unpaid interest.
On October 1, 2017, we issued a surplus note of $50 million to LNC. The note calls for us to pay the principal amount of the note on or before July 1, 2037, and interest to be paid quarterly at an annual rate of 4.20%. Subject to approval by the Commissioner, we have the right to repay the note in whole or in part prior to the maturity date, if our statutory capital surplus exceeds the sum of our surplus at closing plus any accrued but unpaid interest.
On October 9, 2007, we issued a surplus note of $375 million that LNC has held effective December 31, 2008. The note calls for us to pay the principal amount of the note on or before October 9, 2037, and interest to be paid quarterly at an annual rate of LIBOR + 100 bps. On June 15, 2017, the surplus note was amended to include repayment terms stating subject to approval by the Commissioner, we have the right to repay the note in whole or in part prior to the maturity date, if our statutory capital surplus exceeds the sum of our surplus at closing plus any accrued but unpaid interest. The outstanding principal amount as of December 31, 2021, was $194 million due to executing our right to repay the surplus note in part to LNC.
On July 1, 2018, we issued a surplus note of $13 million to LNC. The note calls for us to pay the principal amount of the note on or before June 30, 2038, and interest to be paid quarterly at an annual rate of 4.50%. Subject to approval by the Commissioner, we have the right to repay the note in whole or in part prior to the maturity date, if our statutory capital surplus exceeds the sum of our surplus at closing plus any accrued but unpaid interest.
On July 1, 2019, we issued a surplus note of $28 million to LNC. The note calls for us to pay the principal amount of the note on or before October 9, 2037, and interest to be paid quarterly at an annual rate of 4.225%. Subject to approval by the Commissioner, we have the right to repay the note in whole or in part prior to the maturity date, if our statutory capital surplus exceeds the sum of our surplus at closing plus any accrued but unpaid interest.
On March 31, 2020, we issued a surplus note of $30 million to LNC. The note calls for us to pay the principal amount of the note on or before October 9, 2037, and interest to be paid quarterly at an annual rate of 4.00%. Subject to approval by the Commissioner, we have the right to repay the note in whole or in part prior to the maturity date, if our statutory capital surplus exceeds the sum of our surplus at closing plus any accrued but unpaid interest.
Credit Facilities
Credit facilities, which allow for borrowing or issuances of letters of credit (“LOCs”), (in millions) were as follows:
As of December 31, 2021
Expiration
Maximum
LOCs
Date
Available
Issued
Credit Facilities
Five-year revolving credit facility
June 19, 2026
$
2,500
$
LOC facility (1)
August 26, 2031
LOC facility (1)
October 1, 2031
Total
$
4,403
$
1,856
(1)Our wholly-owned subsidiaries entered into irrevocable LOC facility agreements with third-party lenders supporting inter-company reinsurance agreements.
During June 2021, LNC entered into an amended and restated credit agreement with a syndicate of banks, which amended and restated our existing five-year revolving credit facility agreement. The amended credit facility, which is unsecured, allows for the issuance of LOCs and borrowing of up to $2.5 billion and has a commitment termination date of June 19, 2026. The LOCs under the credit facility are used primarily to satisfy reserve credit requirements of (i) LNL and LNC’s other domestic insurance companies for which reserve credit is provided by our captive reinsurance subsidiaries and LNBAR and (ii) certain ceding companies of our legacy reinsurance business.
The amended credit facility agreement contains:
Customary terms and conditions, including covenants restricting the ability of LNC and its subsidiaries to incur liens and the ability of LNC to merge or consolidate with another entity where it is not the surviving entity and dispose of all or substantially all of its assets;
Financial covenants including maintenance by LNC of a minimum consolidated net worth equal to the sum of $10.0 billion plus 50% of the aggregate net proceeds of equity issuances received by LNC or any of its subsidiaries in accordance with the terms of the agreement; and a debt-to-capital ratio as defined in accordance with the agreement not to exceed 0.35 to 1.00;
A cap on LNC’s secured non-operating indebtedness and non-operating indebtedness of LNC’s subsidiaries equal to 7.5% of total capitalization, as defined in accordance with the agreement; and
Customary events of default, subject to certain materiality thresholds and grace periods for certain of those events of default.
Upon an event of default, the amended credit facility agreement provides that, among other things, the commitments may be terminated and the loans then outstanding may be declared due and payable. As of December 31, 2021, LNC was in compliance with all such covenants.
Our LOC facility agreements each contain customary terms and conditions, including early termination fees, covenants restricting the ability of the subsidiaries to incur liens, merge or consolidate with another entity and dispose of all or substantially all of their assets. Upon an event of early termination, the agreements require the immediate payment of all or a portion of the present value of the future LOC fees that would have otherwise been paid. Further, the agreements contain customary events of default, subject to certain materiality thresholds and grace periods for certain of those events of default. The events of default include payment defaults, covenant defaults, material inaccuracies in representations and warranties, bankruptcy and liquidation proceedings and other customary defaults. Upon an event of default, the agreements provide that, among other things, obligations to issue, amend or increase the amount of any LOC shall be terminated and any obligations shall become immediately due and payable. As of December 31, 2021, we were in compliance with all such covenants.
13. Contingencies and Commit ments
Contingencies
Regulatory and Litigation Matters
Regulatory bodies, such as state insurance departments, the SEC, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and other regulatory bodies regularly make inquiries and conduct examinations or investigations concerning our compliance with, among other things, insurance laws, securities laws, laws governing the activities of broker-dealers, registered investment advisers and unclaimed property laws.
LNL and its affiliates are involved in various pending or threatened legal or regulatory proceedings, including purported class actions, arising from the conduct of business both in the ordinary course and otherwise. In some of the matters, very large and/or indeterminate amounts, including punitive and treble damages, are sought. Modern pleading practice in the U.S. permits considerable variation in the assertion of monetary damages or other relief. Jurisdictions may permit claimants not to specify the monetary damages sought or may permit claimants to state only that the amount sought is sufficient to invoke the jurisdiction of the trial court. In addition, jurisdictions may permit plaintiffs to allege monetary damages in amounts well exceeding verdicts obtained in the jurisdiction for similar matters. This variability in pleadings, together with the actual experiences of LNL in litigating or resolving through settlement numerous claims over an extended period of time, demonstrates to management that the monetary relief which may be specified in a lawsuit or claim bears little relevance to its merits or disposition value.
Due to the unpredictable nature of litigation, the outcome of a litigation matter and the amount or range of potential loss at particular points in time is normally difficult to ascertain. Uncertainties can include how fact finders will evaluate documentary evidence and the credibility and effectiveness of witness testimony, and how trial and appellate courts will apply the law in the context of the pleadings or evidence presented, whether by motion practice, or at trial or on appeal. Disposition valuations are also subject to the uncertainty of how opposing parties and their counsel will themselves view the relevant evidence and applicable law.
We establish liabilities for litigation and regulatory loss contingencies when information related to the loss contingencies shows both that it is probable that a loss has been incurred and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated. It is possible that some matters could require us to pay damages or make other expenditures or establish accruals in amounts that could not be estimated as of December 31, 2021.
For some matters, the Company is able to estimate a reasonably possible range of loss. For such matters in which a loss is probable, an accrual has been made. For such matters where a loss is believed to be reasonably possible, but not probable, no accrual has been made. Accordingly, the estimate contained in this paragraph reflects two types of matters. For some matters included within this estimate, an accrual has been made, but there is a reasonable possibility that an exposure exists in excess of the amount accrued. In these cases, the estimate reflects the reasonably possible range of loss in excess of the accrued amount. For other matters included within this estimation, no accrual has been made because a loss, while potentially estimable, is believed to be reasonably possible but not probable. In these cases, the estimate reflects the reasonably possible loss or range of loss. As of December 31, 2021, we estimate the aggregate range of
reasonably possible losses, including amounts in excess of amounts accrued for these matters as of such date, to be up to approximately $120 million, after-tax. Any estimate is not an indication of expected loss, if any, or of the Company’s maximum possible loss exposure on such matters.
For other matters, we are not currently able to estimate the reasonably possible loss or range of loss. We are often unable to estimate the possible loss or range of loss until developments in such matters have provided sufficient information to support an assessment of the range of possible loss, such as quantification of a damage demand from plaintiffs, discovery from other parties and investigation of factual allegations, rulings by the court on motions or appeals, analysis by experts and the progress of settlement negotiations. On a quarterly and annual basis, we review relevant information with respect to litigation contingencies and update our accruals, disclosures and estimates of reasonably possible losses or ranges of loss based on such reviews.
Among other matters, we are presently engaged in litigation, including relating to cost of insurance rates (“Cost of Insurance and Other Litigation”), as described below. No accrual has been made for several of these matters. Although a loss is believed to be reasonably possible for these matters, we are not able to estimate a reasonably possible amount or range of potential liability. An adverse outcome in one or more of these matters may have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements, but, based on information currently known, management does not believe those cases are likely to have such an impact.
Reinsurance Disputes
Certain reinsurers have sought rate increases on certain yearly renewable term agreements. We are disputing the requested rate increases under these agreements. We may initiate legal proceedings, as necessary, under these agreements in order to protect our contractual rights. Additionally, reinsurers have initiated, and may in the future initiate, legal proceedings against us. We believe it is unlikely the outcome of these disputes would have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements. For more information about reinsurance, see Note 8.
Cost of Insurance and Other Litigation
Cost of Insurance Litigation
Glover v. Connecticut General Life Insurance Company and The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, No. 3:16-cv-00827, is a putative class action that was served on LNL on June 8, 2016. Plaintiff is the owner of a universal life insurance policy who alleges that LNL charged more for non-guaranteed cost of insurance than permitted by the policy. Plaintiff seeks to represent all universal life and variable universal life policyholders who owned policies containing non-guaranteed cost of insurance provisions that are similar to those of Plaintiff’s policy and seeks damages on behalf of all such policyholders. On January 11, 2019, the court dismissed Plaintiff’s complaint in its entirety. In response, Plaintiff filed a motion for leave to amend the complaint, which we have opposed.
Hanks v. Lincoln Life & Annuity Company of New York (“LLANY”) and Voya Retirement Insurance and Annuity Company (“Voya”), filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 1:16-cv-6399, is a putative class action that was served on LLANY on August 12, 2016. Plaintiff owns a universal life policy originally issued by Aetna (now Voya) and alleges that (i) Voya breached the terms of the policy when it increased non-guaranteed cost of insurance rates on Plaintiff’s policy; and (ii) LLANY, as reinsurer and administrator of Plaintiff’s policy, engaged in wrongful conduct related to the cost of insurance increase and was unjustly enriched as a result. Plaintiff seeks to represent all owners of Aetna life insurance policies that were subject to non-guaranteed cost of insurance rate increases in 2016 and seeks damages on their behalf. On March 13, 2019, the court issued an order granting plaintiff’s motion for class certification for the breach of contract claim and denying such motion with respect to the unjust enrichment claim against LLANY, and, on September 12, 2019, the court issued an order approving the parties’ joint stipulation of dismissal with respect to the unjust enrichment claim and dismissed LLANY as a defendant in the case. In light of LLANY’s role as reinsurer and administrator under the 1998 coinsurance agreement with Aetna (now Voya), and of the parties’ rights and obligations thereunder, LLANY continues to be actively engaged in the defense of this case. On September 30, 2020, the court denied plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment and granted in part Voya’s motion for summary judgment. On October 22, 2021, the parties informed the presiding judge that they have reached a settlement of the action, subject to court approval. On January 19, 2022, plaintiffs filed a renewed motion for preliminary approval of the class action settlement. The settlement, subject to final approval by the court, consists of $92.5 million in pre-tax cash and a five-year cost of insurance rate freeze, among other terms. On February 3, 2022, the court preliminarily approved the class action settlement and set a final fairness hearing for June 9, 2022.
EFG Bank AG, Cayman Branch, et al. v. The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company, pending in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, No. 2:17-cv-02592, is a civil action filed on February 1, 2017. Plaintiffs own Legend Series universal life insurance policies originally issued by Jefferson-Pilot (now LNL). Plaintiffs allege that LNL breached the terms of policyholders’ contracts when it increased non-guaranteed cost of insurance rates beginning in 2016. We are vigorously defending this matter.
In re: Lincoln National COI Litigation, pending in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Master File No. 2:16-cv-06605-GJP, is a consolidated litigation matter related to multiple putative class action filings that were consolidated by an order dated March 20, 2017. In addition to consolidating a number of existing matters, the order also covers any future cases filed in the same district related to the same subject matter. Plaintiffs own universal life insurance policies originally issued by Jefferson-Pilot (now LNL).
Plaintiffs allege that LNL and LNC breached the terms of policyholders’ contracts by increasing non-guaranteed cost of insurance rates beginning in 2016. Plaintiffs seek to represent classes of policyowners and seek damages on their behalf. We are vigorously defending this matter.
In re: Lincoln National 2017 COI Rate Litigation, pending in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Master File No. 2:17-cv-04150 is a consolidated litigation matter related to multiple putative class action filings that were consolidated by an order of the court in March 2018. Plaintiffs own universal life insurance policies originally issued by former Jefferson-Pilot (now LNL). Plaintiffs allege that LNL and LNC breached the terms of policyholders’ contracts by increasing non-guaranteed cost of insurance rates beginning in 2017. Plaintiffs seek to represent classes of policyholders and seek damages on their behalf. We are vigorously defending this matter.
TVPX ARS INC., as Securities Intermediary for Consolidated Wealth Management, LTD. v. The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, No. 2:18-cv-02989, is a putative class action that was filed on July 17, 2018. Plaintiff alleges that LNL charged more for non-guaranteed cost of insurance than permitted by the policy. Plaintiff seeks to represent all universal life and variable universal life policyholders who own policies issued by LNL or its predecessors containing non-guaranteed cost of insurance provisions that are similar to those of Plaintiff’s policy and seeks damages on behalf of all such policyholders. We are vigorously defending this matter.
LSH Co. and Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as securities intermediary for LSH Co. v. Lincoln National Corporation and The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company, pending in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, No. 2:18-cv-05529, is a civil action filed on December 21, 2018. Plaintiffs own universal life insurance policies originally issued by Jefferson-Pilot (now LNL). Plaintiffs allege that LNL breached the terms of policyholders’ contracts when it increased non-guaranteed cost of insurance rates in 2016 and 2017. We are vigorously defending this matter.
Vida Longevity Fund, LP v. Lincoln Life & Annuity Company of New York, pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 1:19-cv-06004, is a putative class action that was filed on June 27, 2019. Plaintiff alleges that LLANY charged more for non-guaranteed cost of insurance than was permitted by the policies. Plaintiff seeks to represent all current and former owners of universal life (including variable universal life) policies who own or owned policies issued by LLANY and its predecessors in interest that were in force at any time on or after June 27, 2013, and which contain non-guaranteed cost of insurance provisions that are similar to those of Plaintiff’s policies. Plaintiff also seeks to represent a sub-class of such policyholders who own or owned “life insurance policies issued in the State of New York.” Plaintiff seeks damages on behalf of the policyholder class and sub-class. We are vigorously defending this matter.
Other Litigation
Andrew Nitkewicz v. Lincoln Life & Annuity Company of New York, pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 1:20-cv-06805, is a putative class action that was filed on August 24, 2020. Plaintiff Andrew Nitkewicz, as trustee of the Joan C. Lupe Trust, seeks to represent all current and former owners of universal life (including variable universal life) policies who own or owned policies issued by LLANY and its predecessors in interest that were in force at any time on or after June 27, 2013, and for which planned annual, semi-annual, or quarterly premiums were paid for any period beyond the end of the policy month of the insured’s death. Plaintiff alleges LLANY failed to refund unearned premium in violation of New York Insurance Law Section 3203(a)(2) in connection with the payment of death benefit claims for certain insurance policies. Plaintiff seeks compensatory damages and pre-judgment interest on behalf of the various classes and sub-class. On July 2, 2021, the court granted, with prejudice, LLANY’s November 2020 motion to dismiss this matter. On July 28, 2021, plaintiff filed a notice of appeal with respect to this ruling.
Commitments
Leases
As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, we had operating lease ROU assets of $134 million and $162 million, respectively, and associated lease liabilities of $140 million and $170 million, respectively. The weighted-average discount rate was 2.5% and 3.1%, respectively, and the remaining lease term was five years and six years, respectively, as of December 31, 2021 and 2020. Operating lease expense for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, was $41 million, $42 million and $46 million, respectively, and reported in commissions and other expenses on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss).
As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, we had finance lease assets of $37 million and $75 million, respectively, and associated finance lease liabilities of $175 million and $234 million, respectively. The accumulated amortization associated with the finance lease assets was $436 million and $398 million as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. These assets will continue to be amortized on a straight-line basis over the assets’ remaining lives. The weighted-average discount rate was 1.4% and 2.2%, respectively, and the remaining lease term was one year and two years, respectively, as of December 31, 2021 and 2020.
Finance lease expense (in millions) was as follows:
For the Years Ended
December 31,
Amortization of finance lease assets (1)
$
$
$
Interest on finance lease liabilities (2)
Total
$
$
$
(1)Amortization of finance lease assets is reported in commissions and other expenses on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss).
(2)Interest on finance lease liabilities is reported in interest and debt expense on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss).
The table below presents cash flow information (in millions) related to leases:
For the Years Ended
December 31,
Supplemental Cash Flow Information
Cash paid for amounts included in the measurement of lease liabilities:
Operating cash flows from operating leases
$
$
$
Financing cash flows from finance leases
Supplemental Non-cash Information
ROU assets obtained in exchange for new lease obligations:
Operating leases
$
$
$
Our future minimum lease payments (in millions) under non-cancellable leases as of December 31, 2021, were as follows:
Operating
Finance
Leases
Leases
$
$
Thereafter
-
Total future minimum lease payments
Less: Amount representing interest
Present value of minimum lease payments
$
$
As of December 31, 2021, we had one lease that had not yet commenced.
Certain Financing Arrangements
We periodically enter into sale-leaseback arrangements that do not meet the criteria of a sale for accounting purposes. As such, we account for these transactions as financing arrangements. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, we had $375 million and $216 million, respectively, of financing obligations reported within other liabilities on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. Future payments due on certain financing arrangements (in millions) as of December 31, 2021, were as follows:
$
Thereafter
Total future minimum lease payments
Less: Amount representing interest
Present value of minimum lease payments
$
Vulnerability from Concentrations
As of December 31, 2021, we did not have a concentration of: business transactions with a particular customer or lender; sources of supply of labor or services used in the business; or a market or geographic area in which business is conducted that makes us vulnerable to an event that is at least reasonably possible to occur in the near term and which could cause a severe impact to our financial condition. For information on our investment and reinsurance concentrations, see Notes 4 and 8, respectively.
Other Contingency Matters
State guaranty funds assess insurance companies to cover losses to contract holders of insolvent or rehabilitated companies. Mandatory assessments may be partially recovered through a reduction in future premium taxes in some states. We have accrued for expected assessments and the related reductions in future state premium taxes, which net to assessments (recoveries) of $(7) million and $(9) million as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
‎
14. Shares and Stockho lder’s Equity
All authorized and issued shares of LNL are owned by LNC.
AOCI
The following summarizes the components and changes in AOCI (in millions):
For the Years Ended December 31,
Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Fixed Maturity AFS Securities and Certain Other
Investments
Balance as of beginning-of-year
$
8,993
$
5,637
$
Cumulative effect from adoption of new accounting standards
-
-
Unrealized holding gains (losses) arising during the year
(5,109
)
7,585
8,856
Change in foreign currency exchange rate adjustment
(146
)
Change in DAC, VOBA, DSI, future contract benefits and other contract holder funds
1,818
(3,559
)
(2,460
)
Income tax benefit (expense)
(901
)
(1,370
)
Less:
Reclassification adjustment for gains (losses) included in net income (loss)
(10
)
(52
)
(26
)
Associated amortization of DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL
(23
)
(11
)
Income tax benefit (expense)
Balance as of end-of-year
$
6,315
$
8,993
$
5,637
Unrealized OTTI on Fixed Maturity AFS Securities
Balance as of beginning-of-year
$
-
$
$
(Increases) attributable to:
Cumulative effect from adoption of new accounting standards
-
(40
)
-
Gross OTTI recognized in OCI during the year
-
-
(14
)
Change in DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL
-
-
Income tax benefit (expense)
-
-
Decreases attributable to:
Changes in fair value, sales, maturities or other settlements of AFS securities
-
-
Change in DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL
-
-
(2
)
Income tax benefit (expense)
-
-
(7
)
Balance as of end-of-year
$
-
$
-
$
Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Derivative Instruments
Balance as of beginning-of-year
$
$
$
Unrealized holding gains (losses) arising during the year
Change in foreign currency exchange rate adjustment
(174
)
(52
)
Change in DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL
(23
)
(5
)
Income tax benefit (expense)
(65
)
(26
)
Less:
Reclassification adjustment for gains (losses) included in net income (loss)
Associated amortization of DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL
(2
)
(7
)
(2
)
Income tax benefit (expense)
(10
)
(12
)
(9
)
Balance as of end-of-year
$
$
$
Funded Status of Employee Benefit Plans
Balance as of beginning-of-year
$
(14
)
$
(22
)
$
(25
)
Adjustment arising during the year
Income tax benefit (expense)
(1
)
(2
)
(1
)
Balance as of end-of-year
$
(11
)
$
(14
)
$
(22
)
‎
The following summarizes the reclassifications out of AOCI (in millions) and the associated line item in the Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss):
For the Years Ended December 31,
Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Fixed Maturity AFS
Securities and Certain Other Investments
Gross reclassification
$
(10
)
$
(52
)
$
(26
)
Realized gain (loss)
Associated amortization of DAC,
VOBA, DSI and DFEL
(23
)
(11
)
Realized gain (loss)
Reclassification before income
tax benefit (expense)
(33
)
(14
)
(37
)
Income (loss) before taxes
Income tax benefit (expense)
Federal income tax expense (benefit)
Reclassification, net of income tax
$
(26
)
$
(11
)
$
(29
)
Net income (loss)
Unrealized OTTI on Fixed Maturity AFS Securities
Gross reclassification
$
-
$
-
$
Realized gain (loss)
Change in DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL
-
-
-
Realized gain (loss)
Reclassification before income
tax benefit (expense)
-
-
Income (loss) before taxes
Income tax benefit (expense)
-
-
(1
)
Federal income tax expense (benefit)
Reclassification, net of income tax
$
-
$
-
$
Net income (loss)
Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Derivative Instruments
Gross reclassifications:
Interest rate contracts
$
$
$
Net investment income
Foreign currency contracts
Net investment income
Foreign currency contracts
(2
)
Realized gain (loss)
Total gross reclassifications
Associated amortization of DAC,
VOBA, DSI and DFEL
(2
)
(7
)
(2
)
Commissions and other expenses
Reclassifications before income
tax benefit (expense)
Income (loss) before taxes
Income tax benefit (expense)
(10
)
(12
)
(9
)
Federal income tax expense (benefit)
Reclassifications, net of income tax
$
$
$
Net income (loss)
‎
15. Realized Gain (Loss)
Details underlying realized gain (loss) (in millions) reported on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss) were as follows:
For the Years Ended December 31,
Fixed maturity AFS securities:
Gross gains
$
$
$
Gross losses
(28
)
(78
)
(70
)
Credit loss benefit (expense) (1)
(11
)
(25
)
-
Gross OTTI
-
-
(15
)
Realized gain (loss) on equity securities (2)
(4
)
Credit loss benefit (expense) on mortgage loans on real estate
(117
)
(2
)
Credit loss benefit (expense) on reinsurance related assets
-
-
Other gain (loss) on investments
-
(7
)
(9
)
Associated amortization of DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL
and changes in other contract holder funds
(25
)
(13
)
Total realized gain (loss) related to certain financial assets
(162
)
(69
)
Realized gain (loss) on the mark-to-market on certain instruments (3)(4)
(142
)
(426
)
Indexed annuity and IUL contracts net derivative results: (5)
Gross gain (loss)
(80
)
Associated amortization of DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL
(26
)
GLB fees ceded to LNBAR and attributed fees:
Gross gain (loss)
(192
)
(205
)
(223
)
Associated amortization of DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL
(33
)
(29
)
(32
)
Total realized gain (loss)
$
$
(526
)
$
(828
)
(1)Includes changes in the allowance for credit losses as well as direct write-downs to amortized cost as a result of negative credit events.
(2)Includes market adjustments on equity securities still held of $43 million, $8 million and $(4) million for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
(3)Represents changes in the fair values of certain derivative investments (not including those associated with our variable and indexed annuity and IUL contracts, net derivative results), reinsurance related embedded derivatives, mortgage loans on real estate accounted for under the fair value option and trading securities. See Notes 1 and 8 for information regarding modified coinsurance.
(4)Includes gains and losses from fair value changes on mortgage loans on real estate accounted for under the fair value option of $3 million and $(24) million for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
(5)Represents the net difference between the change in fair value of the index options that we hold and the change in the fair value of the embedded derivative liabilities of our indexed annuity and IUL contracts along with changes in the fair value of embedded derivative liabilities related to index options we may purchase or sell in the future to hedge contract holder index allocations applicable to future reset periods for our indexed annuity products.
16. Comm issions and Other Expenses
Details underlying commissions and other expenses (in millions) were as follows:
For the Years Ended December 31,
Commissions
$
2,225
$
2,193
$
2,566
General and administrative expenses
2,187
2,014
2,152
Expenses associated with reserve financing and LOCs
DAC and VOBA deferrals and interest, net of amortization
(144
)
(586
)
Broker-dealer expenses
Specifically identifiable intangible asset amortization
Taxes, licenses and fees
Transaction and integration costs related to mergers, acquisitions and divestitures
Total
$
5,546
$
4,889
$
5,065
17. Re tirement and Deferred Compensation Plans
Defined Benefit Pension and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans
We maintain defined benefit pension plans in which certain agents are participants. These defined benefit pension plans are closed to new entrants and existing participants do not accrue any additional benefits. We comply with applicable minimum funding requirements. In accordance with such practice, we were not required to make contributions for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020. We do not expect to be required to make any contributions to these pension plans in 2022. We sponsor other postretirement benefit plans that provide health care and life insurance to certain retired agents. Total net periodic cost (recovery) for these plans was $1 million, $4 million and $6 million during 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively, which was reported within commissions and other expenses on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss). In 2022, we expect the plans to make benefit payments of approximately $11 million.
Information (in millions) with respect to these plans was as follows:
As of or For the Years Ended December 31,
Other Postretirement
Pension Plans
Benefit Plans
Fair value of plan assets
$
$
$
$
Projected benefit obligation
Funded status
$
$
(1
)
$
(1
)
$
(2
)
Amounts Recognized on the
Consolidated Balance Sheets
Other assets
$
$
-
$
-
$
-
Other liabilities
(3
)
(1
)
(1
)
(2
)
Net amount recognized
$
$
(1
)
$
(1
)
$
(2
)
Weighted-Average Assumptions
Benefit obligations:
Weighted-average discount rate
3.07%
2.95%
3.10%
2.96%
Net periodic benefit cost:
Weighted-average discount rate
2.95%
3.50%
2.96%
3.50%
Expected return on plan assets
4.25%
4.25%
6.50%
6.50%
The weighted average discount rate was determined based on a corporate yield curve as of December 31, 2021, and projected benefit obligation cash flows. The expected return on plan assets was determined based on historical and expected future returns of the various asset categories, using the plans’ target plan allocation. We reevaluate these assumptions each plan year.
The following summarizes our fair value measurements of our benefit plans’ assets (in millions) on a recurring basis by asset category:
As of December 31,
Fixed maturity securities:
Corporate bonds
$
$
U.S. government bonds
CMBS
-
Common stock
-
Cash and invested cash
Other investments
Total
$
$
Participation in Defined Benefit Pension and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans
We participate in defined benefit pension plans that are sponsored by LNC for certain employees and non-employee directors. These defined benefit pension plans are closed to new entrants, and existing participants do not accrue any additional benefits. We also participate in other postretirement benefit plans sponsored by LNC that provide health care and life insurance to certain retired employees. Our expense (benefit) for these plans was $(28) million, $(9) million and $10 million for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Defined Contribution Plans
We sponsor tax-qualified defined contribution plans for eligible agents that are administered in accordance with the plan documents and various limitations under section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. We also participate in defined contribution plans sponsored by LNC for eligible employees. Our expense for these plans was $104 million, $97 million and $101 million, for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Deferred Compensation Plans
We sponsor non-qualified, unfunded, deferred compensation plans for certain current and former agents. Certain current employees participate in non-qualified, unfunded, deferred compensation plans sponsored by LNC. The results of certain notional investment options within some of the plans are hedged by total return swaps. Our expenses increase or decrease in direct proportion to the change in market value of the participants’ investment options. Participants of certain plans are able to select LNC stock as a notional investment option; however, it is not hedged by the total return swaps and is a primary source of expense volatility related to these plans. Our expense for these plans was $18 million, $35 million and $22 million for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively. For further discussion of total return swaps related to our deferred compensation plans, see Note 5.
Information (in millions) with respect to these plans was as follows:
As of December 31,
Total liabilities (1)
$
$
Investments dedicated to fund liabilities (2)
(1)Reported in other liabilities on our Consolidated Balance Sheets.
(2)Reported in other assets on our Consolidated Balance Sheets.
18. Stock-Based In centive Compensation Plans
Our employees and agents are included in LNC’s various stock-based incentive compensation plans that provide for the issuance of stock options, performance shares, and restricted stock units (“RSUs”), among other types of awards. LNC issues new shares to satisfy option exercises and vested performance shares and RSUs.
Total compensation expense (in millions) by award type for stock-based incentive compensation plans was as follows:
For the Years Ended December 31,
Stock options
$
$
$
Performance shares
RSUs
Total
$
$
$
Recognized tax benefit
$
$
$
19. Statutory In formation and Restrictions
We prepare financial statements in accordance with statutory accounting principles (“SAP”) prescribed or permitted by the insurance departments of our respective states of domicile, which may vary materially from GAAP.
Prescribed SAP includes the Accounting Practices and Procedures Manual of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (“NAIC”) as well as state laws, regulations and administrative rules. Permitted SAP encompasses all accounting practices not so prescribed. The principal differences between statutory financial statements and financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP are that statutory financial statements do not reflect DAC, some bond portfolios may be carried at amortized cost, assets and liabilities are presented net of reinsurance, contract holder liabilities are generally valued using more conservative assumptions and certain assets are non-admitted.
We are subject to the applicable laws and regulations of our respective states of domicile. Changes in these laws and regulations could change capital levels or capital requirements for the Company.
Statutory capital and surplus, net gain (loss) from operations, after-tax, net income (loss) and dividends to the LNC holding company amounts (in millions) below consist of all or a combination of the following entities: LNL, LLANY, Lincoln Reinsurance Company of South Carolina, Lincoln Reinsurance Company of Vermont I, Lincoln Reinsurance Company of Vermont III, Lincoln Reinsurance Company of Vermont IV, Lincoln Reinsurance Company of Vermont V, Lincoln Reinsurance Company of Vermont VI and Lincoln Reinsurance Company of Vermont VII.
As of December 31,
U.S. capital and surplus
$
8,647
$
8,783
For the Years Ended December 31,
U.S. net gain (loss) from operations, after-tax
$
(1,285
)
$
(247
)
$
U.S. net income (loss)
(569
)
U.S. dividends to LNC holding company
1,910
Comparison of 2021 to 2020
Statutory net income (loss) decreased due primarily to the fourth quarter 2021 reinsurance agreement with Resolution Life (see Note 8 for more information) and unfavorable reserve strain on certain products, partially offset by favorable equity markets. U.S. dividends to LNC holding company included an extraordinary dividend from LNL of $900 million related to proceeds received from the fourth quarter 2021 reinsurance agreement with Resolution Life.
Comparison of 2020 to 2019
Statutory net income (loss) decreased due primarily to increases in benefits and unfavorable reserve strain on certain products, partially offset by favorable equity markets.
State Prescribed and Permitted Practices
The states of domicile for LNL and LLANY, Indiana and New York, respectively, have adopted certain prescribed or permitted accounting practices that differ from those found in NAIC SAP. These prescribed practices are the calculation of reserves on universal life policies based on the Indiana universal life method as prescribed by the state of Indiana for policies issued before January 1, 2006, the use of a more conservative valuation interest rate on certain annuities prescribed by the states of Indiana and New York. Also, the state of New York prescribes use of the continuous Commissioners’ Annuity Reserve Valuation Method in the calculation of reserves and use of minimum reserve methods and assumptions for variable annuity contracts that may be more conservative than those required by NAIC SAP. The statutory permitted practice allows accounting for certain call option derivative assets at amortized cost and allows determining certain indexed annuity and indexed life statutory reserve calculations with the assumption that the market value of the related liability call option(s) associated with the current index term is zero. At the conclusion of the index term, credited interest is reflected in the reserve as realized, based on actual index performance.
The Vermont reinsurance subsidiaries also have certain accounting practices permitted by the state of Vermont that differ from those found in NAIC SAP. One permitted practice involves accounting for the lesser of the face amount of all amounts outstanding under an LOC and the value of the Valuation of Life Insurance Policies Model Regulation (“XXX”) additional statutory reserves as an admitted asset and a form of surplus as of December 31, 2021 and 2020. Another permitted practice involves the acquisition of an LLC note in exchange for a variable value surplus note that is recognized as an admitted asset and a form of surplus as of December 31, 2021 and 2020. Lastly, the state of Vermont has permitted a practice to account for certain excess of loss reinsurance agreements with unaffiliated reinsurers as an asset and form of surplus as of December 31, 2021 and 2020. These permitted practices are related to structures that continue to be allowed in accordance with the grandfathered structures under the provisions of Actuarial Guideline 48 (“AG48”) or are compliant under AG48 requirements.
‎
The favorable (unfavorable) effects on statutory surplus compared to NAIC statutory surplus from the use of these prescribed and permitted practices (in millions) were as follows:
As of December 31,
State Prescribed Practices
Calculation of reserves using the Indiana universal life method
$
$
Conservative valuation rate on certain annuities
(40
)
(44
)
Calculation of reserves using continuous CARVM
-
(1
)
Conservative Reg 213 reserves on VA contracts
(27
)
-
State Permitted Practice
Derivative instruments and equity indexed reserves
(113
)
(100
)
Vermont Subsidiaries Permitted Practices
Lesser of LOC and XXX additional reserve as surplus
1,847
1,897
LLC notes and variable value surplus notes
1,616
1,640
Excess of loss reinsurance agreements
The NAIC has adopted RBC requirements for life insurance companies to evaluate the adequacy of statutory capital and surplus in relation to investment and insurance risks. The requirements provide a means of measuring the minimum amount of statutory surplus appropriate for an insurance company to support its overall business operations based on its size and risk profile. Under RBC requirements, regulatory compliance is determined by the ratio of a company’s total adjusted capital, as defined by the NAIC, to its company action level of RBC (known as the “RBC ratio”), also as defined by the NAIC. The company action level may be triggered if the RBC ratio is between 75% and 100%, which would require the insurer to submit a plan to the regulator detailing corrective action it proposes to undertake. As of December 31, 2021, the Company’s RBC ratio was in excess of four times the aforementioned company action level RBC.
We are subject to certain insurance department regulatory restrictions as to the transfer of funds and payment of dividends to the holding company. Under Indiana laws and regulations, LNL may pay dividends to LNC without prior approval of the Indiana Insurance Commissioner (the “Commissioner”), only from unassigned surplus and must receive prior approval of the Commissioner to pay a dividend if such dividend, along with all other dividends paid within the preceding 12 consecutive months, would exceed the statutory limitation. The current statutory limitation is the greater of 10% of the insurer’s contract holders’ surplus, as shown on its last annual statement on file with the Commissioner or the insurer’s statutory net gain from operations for the previous 12 months, but in no event to exceed statutory unassigned surplus. Indiana law gives the Commissioner broad discretion to disapprove requests for dividends in excess of these limits. LNL’s subsidiary, LLANY, a New York-domiciled insurance company, is bound by similar restrictions under the laws of New York. Under New York law, the applicable statutory limitation on dividends is equal to the lesser of 10% of surplus to contract holders as of the immediately preceding calendar year or net gain from operations for the immediately preceding calendar year, not including realized capital gains. We expect that we could pay dividends to LNC of approximately $840 million in 2022 without prior approval from the Commissioner of Insurance.
All payments of principal and interest on surplus notes must be approved by the respective Commissioner of Insurance.
‎
20. Fair Value of Financial I nstruments
The carrying values and estimated fair values of our financial instruments (in millions) were as follows:
As of December 31, 2021
As of December 31, 2020
Carrying
Fair
Carrying
Fair
Value
Value
Value
Value
Assets
Fixed maturity AFS securities
$
117,511
$
117,511
$
121,111
$
121,111
Trading securities
4,427
4,427
4,442
4,442
Equity securities
Mortgage loans on real estate
17,893
18,599
16,681
18,129
Derivative investments (1)
5,437
5,437
3,109
3,109
Other investments
3,439
3,439
3,015
3,015
Cash and invested cash
2,331
2,331
1,462
1,462
Other assets:
GLB direct embedded derivatives
1,963
1,963
GLB ceded embedded derivatives
Indexed annuity ceded embedded derivatives
LPR ceded derivative
-
-
Separate account assets
182,583
182,583
167,965
167,965
Liabilities
Future contract benefits - indexed annuity
and IUL contracts embedded derivatives
(6,131
)
(6,131
)
(3,594
)
(3,594
)
Other contract holder funds:
Remaining guaranteed interest and similar contracts
(1,788
)
(1,788
)
(1,854
)
(1,854
)
Account values of certain investment contracts
(41,164
)
(47,828
)
(40,917
)
(49,709
)
Short-term debt
(1,084
)
(1,084
)
(497
)
(497
)
Long-term debt
(2,334
)
(2,675
)
(2,412
)
(2,834
)
Reinsurance related embedded derivatives
(578
)
(578
)
(540
)
(540
)
Other liabilities:
Derivative liabilities (1)
(249
)
(249
)
(353
)
(353
)
GLB ceded embedded derivatives
(2,015
)
(2,015
)
(531
)
(531
)
(1)We have master netting agreements with each of our derivative counterparties, which allow for the netting of our derivative asset and liability positions by counterparty.
Valuation Methodologies and Associated Inputs for Financial Instruments Not Carried at Fair Value
The following discussion outlines the methodologies and assumptions used to determine the fair value of our financial instruments not carried at fair value on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. Considerable judgment is required to develop these assumptions used to measure fair value. Accordingly, the estimates shown are not necessarily indicative of the amounts that would be realized in a one-time, current market exchange of all of our financial instruments.
Mortgage Loans on Real Estate
The fair value of mortgage loans on real estate, excluding mortgage loans accounted for using the fair value option, is established using a discounted cash flow method based on credit rating, maturity and future income. The ratings for mortgages in good standing are based on property type, location, market conditions, occupancy, debt-service coverage, loan-to-value, quality of tenancy, borrower and payment record. The fair value for impaired mortgage loans is based on the present value of expected future cash flows discounted at the loan’s effective interest rate, the loan’s market price or the fair value of the collateral if the loan is collateral dependent. The inputs used to measure the fair value of our mortgage loans on real estate, excluding mortgage loans accounted for using the fair value option, are classified as Level 2 within the fair value hierarchy.
Other Investments
The carrying value of our assets classified as other investments, excluding short-term investments, approximates fair value. Other investments includes primarily LPs and other privately held investments that are accounted for using the equity method of accounting and the carrying value is based on our proportional share of the net assets of the LPs. Other investments also includes FHLB stock carried at cost and periodically evaluated for impairment based on ultimate recovery of par value. The inputs used to measure the fair value of our LPs, other privately held investments and FHLB stock are classified as Level 3 within the fair value hierarchy. The remaining assets in other investments include cash collateral receivables and securities that are not LPs or other privately held investments. The inputs used to measure the fair value of these assets are classified as Level 2 within the fair value hierarchy.
Separate Account Assets
Separate account assets are primarily carried at fair value. A portion of our separate account assets includes LPs, which are accounted for using the equity method of accounting. The carrying value is based on our proportional share of the net assets of the LPs and approximates fair value. The inputs used to measure the fair value of the separate account asset LPs are classified as Level 3 within the fair value hierarchy.
Other Contract Holder Funds
Other contract holder funds include remaining guaranteed interest and similar contracts and account values of certain investment contracts. The fair value for the remaining guaranteed interest and similar contracts is estimated using discounted cash flow calculations as of the balance sheet date. These calculations are based on interest rates currently offered on similar contracts with maturities that are consistent with those remaining for the contracts being valued. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the remaining guaranteed interest and similar contracts carrying value approximated fair value. The fair value of the account values of certain investment contracts is based on their approximate surrender value as of the balance sheet date. The inputs used to measure the fair value of our other contract holder funds are classified as Level 3 within the fair value hierarchy.
Short-Term and Long-Term Debt
The fair value of short-term and long-term debt is based on quoted market prices. The inputs used to measure the fair value of our short-term and long-term debt are classified as Level 2 within the fair value hierarchy.
Fair Value Option
Mortgage loans on real estate, net of allowance for credit losses, as reported on our Consolidated Balance Sheets, includes mortgage loans on real estate for which the fair value option was elected. The fair value option allows us to elect fair value as an alternative measurement for mortgage loans not otherwise reported at fair value. We have made these elections for certain mortgage loans associated with modified coinsurance agreements to help mitigate the inconsistency in earnings that would otherwise result from the use of embedded derivatives included with these loans. Changes in fair value are reflected in realized gain (loss) on our Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income (Loss). Changes in fair value due to instrument-specific credit risk are estimated using changes in credit spreads and quality ratings for the period reported. Mortgage loans on real estate for which the fair value option was elected are valued using third-party pricing services. We have procedures in place to review the valuations each quarter to ensure they are reasonable, including utilizing a separate third party to reperform the valuation for a selection of mortgage loans on an annual basis. Due to lack of observable inputs, mortgage loans electing the fair value option are categorized as Level 3 within the fair value hierarchy.
The fair value and aggregate contractual principal for mortgage loans on real estate where the fair value option was elected (in millions) were as follows:
As of
As of
December 31,
December 31,
Fair value
$
$
Aggregate contractual principal
As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, no loans for which the fair value option was elected were in non-accrual status, and none were more than 90 days past due and still accruing interest.
Financial Instruments Carried at Fair Value
Short-Term Investments
Short-term investments consist of securities with original maturities of one year or less, but greater than three months, and are included in other investments on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. Securities included in short-term investments are carried at fair value, with valuation methods and inputs consistent with those applied to fixed maturity AFS securities.
We did not have any assets or liabilities measured at fair value on a nonrecurring basis as of December 31, 2021 or 2020.
The following summarizes our financial instruments carried at fair value (in millions) on a recurring basis by the fair value hierarchy levels:
As of December 31, 2021
Quoted
Prices
in Active
Markets for
Significant
Significant
Identical
Observable
Unobservable
Total
Assets
Inputs
Inputs
Fair
(Level 1)
(Level 2)
(Level 3)
Value
Assets
Investments:
Fixed maturity AFS securities:
Corporate bonds
$
-
$
88,622
$
8,801
$
97,423
U.S. government bonds
-
State and municipal bonds
-
6,377
-
6,377
Foreign government bonds
-
RMBS
-
2,302
2,305
CMBS
-
1,590
-
1,590
ABS
-
7,636
8,506
Hybrid and redeemable preferred securities
Trading securities
3,567
4,427
Equity securities
Mortgage loans on real estate
-
-
Derivative investments (1)
-
7,597
7,746
Other investments - short-term investments
-
-
Cash and invested cash
-
2,331
-
2,331
Other assets:
GLB direct embedded derivatives
-
-
1,963
1,963
GLB ceded embedded derivatives
-
-
Indexed annuity ceded embedded derivatives
-
-
LPR ceded derivative
-
-
Separate account assets
181,929
-
182,575
Total assets
$
1,133
$
303,012
$
14,477
$
318,622
Liabilities
Future contract benefits - indexed annuity
and IUL contracts embedded derivatives
$
-
$
-
$
(6,131
)
$
(6,131
)
Reinsurance related embedded derivatives
-
(578
)
-
(578
)
Other liabilities:
Derivative liabilities (1)
-
(2,430
)
(128
)
(2,558
)
GLB ceded embedded derivatives
-
-
(2,015
)
(2,015
)
Total liabilities
$
-
$
(3,008
)
$
(8,274
)
$
(11,282
)
‎
As of December 31, 2020
Quoted
Prices
in Active
Markets for
Significant
Significant
Identical
Observable
Unobservable
Total
Assets
Inputs
Inputs
Fair
(Level 1)
(Level 2)
(Level 3)
Value
Assets
Investments:
Fixed maturity AFS securities:
Corporate bonds
$
-
$
93,663
$
7,761
$
101,424
U.S. government bonds
State and municipal bonds
-
6,662
-
6,662
Foreign government bonds
-
RMBS
-
2,836
2,838
CMBS
-
1,494
1,495
ABS
-
6,608
7,178
Hybrid and redeemable preferred securities
Trading securities
3,794
4,442
Equity securities
Mortgage loans on real estate
-
-
Derivative investments (1)
-
1,733
3,575
5,308
Cash and invested cash
-
1,462
-
1,462
Other assets:
GLB direct embedded derivatives
-
-
GLB ceded embedded derivatives
-
-
Indexed annuity ceded embedded derivatives
-
-
Separate account assets
167,351
-
167,957
Total assets
$
1,124
$
286,492
$
14,705
$
302,321
Liabilities
Future contract benefits - indexed annuity
and IUL contracts embedded derivatives
$
-
$
-
$
(3,594
)
$
(3,594
)
Reinsurance related embedded derivatives
-
(540
)
-
(540
)
Other liabilities:
Derivative liabilities (1)
-
(519
)
(2,033
)
(2,552
)
GLB ceded embedded derivatives
-
-
(531
)
(531
)
Total liabilities
$
-
$
(1,059
)
$
(6,158
)
$
(7,217
)
(1)Derivative investment assets and liabilities are presented within the fair value hierarchy on a gross basis by derivative type and not on a master netting basis by counterparty.
‎
The following summarizes changes to our financial instruments carried at fair value (in millions) and classified within Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy. This summary excludes any effect of amortization of DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL. The gains and losses below may include changes in fair value due in part to observable inputs that are a component of the valuation methodology.
For the Year Ended December 31, 2021
Purchases,
Gains
Issuances,
Transfers
Items
(Losses)
Sales,
Into or
Included
in
Maturities,
Out
Beginning
in
OCI
Settlements,
of
Ending
Fair
Net
and
Calls,
Level 3,
Fair
Value
Income
Other (1)
Net
Net
Value
Investments: (2)
Fixed maturity AFS securities:
Corporate bonds
$
7,761
$
$
(182
)
$
1,189
$
$
8,801
U.S. government bonds
-
-
(5
)
-
-
Foreign government bonds
-
(11
)
(102
)
RMBS
-
-
(1
)
CMBS
(1
)
-
(8
)
-
ABS
(9
)
(294
)
Hybrid and redeemable preferred
securities
-
(38
)
-
Trading securities
(3
)
-
(22
)
Equity securities
-
(4
)
-
Mortgage loans on real estate
(109
)
-
Derivative investments
1,542
1,255
(3
)
(139
)
(2,634
)
Other assets:
GLB direct embedded derivatives (3)
1,513
-
-
-
1,963
GLB ceded embedded derivatives (3)
(26
)
-
-
-
Indexed annuity ceded embedded derivatives (3)
-
(109
)
-
LPR ceded derivative (4)
-
-
-
-
Future contract benefits - indexed annuity
and IUL contracts embedded derivatives (3)
(3,594
)
(2,709
)
-
-
(6,131
)
Other liabilities - GLB ceded embedded
derivatives (3)
(531
)
(1,484
)
-
-
-
(2,015
)
Total, net
$
8,547
$
(1,315
)
$
(175
)
$
1,859
$
(2,713
)
$
6,203
‎
For the Year Ended December 31, 2020
Purchases,
Gains
Issuances,
Transfers
Items
(Losses)
Sales,
Into or
Included
in
Maturities,
Out
Beginning
in
OCI
Settlements,
of
Ending
Fair
Net
and
Calls,
Level 3,
Fair
Value
Income
Other (1)
Net
Net
Value
Investments: (2)
Fixed maturity AFS securities:
Corporate bonds
$
6,978
$
(7
)
$
$
$
$
7,761
U.S. government bonds
-
-
-
-
Foreign government bonds
-
(19
)
-
RMBS
-
-
-
(9
)
CMBS
-
-
-
-
ABS
-
(203
)
Hybrid and redeemable preferred
securities
-
(2
)
Trading securities
-
(32
)
(1
)
Equity securities
-
Mortgage loans on real estate
-
(1
)
(10
)
Derivative investments
(363
)
(216
)
1,542
Other assets: (3)
GLB direct embedded derivatives
-
-
-
-
GLB ceded embedded derivatives
-
-
-
Indexed annuity ceded embedded derivatives
-
(915
)
-
Future contract benefits - indexed annuity
and IUL contracts embedded derivatives (3)
(2,585
)
(1,009
)
-
-
-
(3,594
)
Other liabilities - GLB ceded embedded
derivatives (3)
(510
)
(21
)
-
-
-
(531
)
Total, net
$
7,337
$
$
$
(316
)
$
$
8,547
‎
For the Year Ended December 31, 2019
Purchases,
Gains
Issuances,
Transfers
Items
(Losses)
Sales,
Into or
Included
in
Maturities,
Out
Beginning
in
OCI
Settlements,
of
Ending
Fair
Net
and
Calls,
Level 3,
Fair
Value
Income
Other (1)
Net
Net
Value
Investments: (2)
Fixed maturity AFS securities:
Corporate bonds
$
5,652
$
$
$
1,195
$
(49
)
$
6,978
U.S. government bonds
-
-
-
-
Foreign government bonds
-
(25
)
-
RMBS
-
-
(17
)
CMBS
-
(7
)
ABS
-
(486
)
Hybrid and redeemable preferred
securities
-
-
-
Trading securities
-
(268
)
Equity securities
(12
)
-
-
Derivative investments
-
Other assets: (3)
GLB direct embedded derivatives
-
-
-
GLB ceded embedded derivatives
(12
)
-
-
-
Indexed annuity ceded embedded derivatives
-
(133
)
-
Future contract benefits - indexed annuity
and IUL contracts embedded derivatives (3)
(1,305
)
(900
)
-
(380
)
-
(2,585
)
Other liabilities - GLB ceded embedded
derivatives (3)
(196
)
(314
)
-
-
-
(510
)
Total, net
$
6,200
$
(723
)
$
$
2,331
$
(822
)
$
7,337
(1)The changes in fair value of the interest rate swaps are offset by an adjustment to derivative investments (see Note 5).
(2)Amortization and accretion of premiums and discounts are included in net investment income on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss). Gains (losses) from sales, maturities, settlements and calls and credit loss expense are included in realized gain (loss) on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss).
(3)Gains (losses) from the changes in fair value are included in realized gain (loss) on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss).
(4)Gains (losses) from the changes in fair value are included in benefits on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss).
‎
The following provides the components of the items included in issuances, sales, maturities, settlements and calls, net, excluding any effect of amortization of DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL and changes in future contract benefits, (in millions) as reported above:
For the Year Ended December 31, 2021
Issuances
Sales
Maturities
Settlements
Calls
Total
Investments:
Fixed maturity AFS securities:
Corporate bonds
$
1,861
$
(110
)
$
(109
)
$
(423
)
$
(30
)
$
1,189
U.S. government bonds
-
-
(5
)
-
-
(5
)
Foreign government bonds
-
-
-
-
RMBS
-
-
-
-
CMBS
-
-
-
-
ABS
-
-
(233
)
-
Hybrid and redeemable preferred
securities
(20
)
-
-
(30
)
(38
)
Trading securities
(25
)
-
(148
)
-
Equity securities
(10
)
-
-
-
(4
)
Mortgage loans on real estate
(101
)
(26
)
(78
)
-
(109
)
Derivative investments
(124
)
(189
)
-
-
(139
)
Other assets - indexed annuity ceded
embedded derivatives
-
-
(164
)
-
(109
)
Future contract benefits - indexed annuity
and IUL contracts embedded derivatives
(400
)
-
-
-
Total, net
$
3,112
$
(390
)
$
(329
)
$
(474
)
$
(60
)
$
1,859
For the Year Ended December 31, 2020
Issuances
Sales
Maturities
Settlements
Calls
Total
Investments:
Fixed maturity AFS securities:
Corporate bonds
$
1,123
$
(318
)
$
(43
)
$
(195
)
$
(132
)
$
Foreign government bonds
-
-
(19
)
-
-
(19
)
ABS
-
-
(76
)
-
Hybrid and redeemable preferred
securities
(4
)
-
-
-
Trading securities
(126
)
(40
)
(166
)
-
(32
)
Equity securities
(2
)
-
-
-
Mortgage loans on real estate
(15
)
-
-
-
Derivative investments
(412
)
(471
)
-
-
(363
)
Other assets - indexed annuity ceded
embedded derivatives
-
-
(940
)
-
(915
)
Future contract benefits - indexed annuity
and IUL contracts embedded derivatives
(284
)
-
-
-
-
Total, net
$
2,359
$
(877
)
$
(573
)
$
(1,093
)
$
(132
)
$
(316
)
‎
For the Year Ended December 31, 2019
Issuances
Sales
Maturities
Settlements
Calls
Total
Investments:
Fixed maturity AFS securities:
Corporate bonds
$
1,502
$
(45
)
$
(78
)
$
(154
)
$
(30
)
$
1,195
Foreign government bonds
-
-
(25
)
-
-
(25
)
RMBS
-
-
-
-
CMBS
-
-
(2
)
-
ABS
(8
)
-
(19
)
-
Trading securities
-
-
(22
)
-
Equity securities
(33
)
-
-
Derivative investments
(61
)
(332
)
-
-
Other assets - indexed annuity ceded
embedded derivatives
-
-
(189
)
-
(133
)
Future contract benefits - indexed annuity
and IUL contracts embedded derivatives
(591
)
-
-
-
(380
)
Total, net
$
3,118
$
(147
)
$
(435
)
$
(175
)
$
(30
)
$
2,331
The following summarizes changes in unrealized gains (losses) included in net income, excluding any effect of amortization of DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL and changes in future contract benefits, related to financial instruments carried at fair value classified within Level 3 that we still held (in millions):
For the Years Ended December 31,
Trading securities
$
$
-
$
-
Equity securities
-
-
Mortgage loans on real estate
-
-
Derivative investments
1,051
Embedded derivatives:
Indexed annuity and IUL contracts
(97
)
Other assets - GLB direct and ceded
2,311
1,015
Other liabilities - GLB ceded
(2,306
)
(671
)
(1,015
)
Total, net (1)
$
1,156
$
1,170
$
(1)Included in realized gain (loss) on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss).
The following summarizes changes in unrealized gains (losses) included in OCI, net of tax, excluding any effect of amortization of DAC, VOBA, DSI and DFEL and changes in future contract benefits, related to financial instruments carried at fair value classified within Level 3 that we still held (in millions):
For the Years Ended
December 31,
Fixed maturity AFS securities:
Corporate bonds
$
(183
)
$
Foreign government bonds
(10
)
ABS
(9
)
Hybrid and redeemable preferred securities
(3
)
Mortgage loans on real estate
-
Total, net
$
(172
)
$
The following provides the components of the transfers into and out of Level 3 (in millions) as reported above:
For the Year Ended December 31, 2021
Transfers
Transfers
Into
Out of
Level 3
Level 3
Total
Investments:
Fixed maturity AFS securities:
Corporate bonds
$
$
(134
)
$
Foreign government bonds
-
(102
)
(102
)
RMBS
-
(1
)
(1
)
CMBS
-
(8
)
(8
)
ABS
(330
)
(294
)
Trading securities
(34
)
(22
)
Derivative investments
(2,658
)
(2,634
)
Other assets - LPR ceded derivative
-
Total, net
$
$
(3,267
)
$
(2,713
)
For the Year Ended December 31, 2020
Transfers
Transfers
Into
Out of
Level 3
Level 3
Total
Investments:
Fixed maturity AFS securities:
Corporate bonds
$
$
(216
)
$
RMBS
(10
)
(9
)
ABS
-
(203
)
(203
)
Hybrid and redeemable preferred securities
-
Trading securities
(2
)
(1
)
Equity securities
-
Mortgage loans on real estate
-
Derivative investments
-
(216
)
(216
)
Total, net
$
1,102
$
(647
)
$
For the Year Ended December 31, 2019
Transfers
Transfers
Into
Out of
Level 3
Level 3
Total
Investments:
Fixed maturity AFS securities:
Corporate bonds
$
$
(222
)
$
(49
)
U.S. government bonds
-
RMBS
-
(17
)
(17
)
CMBS
-
(7
)
(7
)
ABS
(495
)
(486
)
Trading securities
(273
)
(268
)
Total, net
$
$
(1,014
)
$
(822
)
Transfers into and out of Level 3 are generally the result of observable market information on financial instruments no longer being available or becoming available to our pricing vendors. For the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, transfers in and out of Level 3 were attributable primarily to the financial instruments’ observable market information no longer being available or becoming available. During 2021, transfers into and out of Level 3 included free-standing instruments for which we changed valuation techniques. This change in valuation technique was primarily from unobservable inputs in counterparty models to a mathematical model provided by a third party. The updated valuation technique is considered industry standard and provides us with greater visibility into the economic valuation inputs.
‎
The following summarizes the fair value (in millions), valuation techniques and significant unobservable inputs of the Level 3 fair value measurements as of December 31, 2021:
Weighted
Average
Fair
Valuation
Significant
Assumption or
Input
Value
Technique
Unobservable Inputs
Input Ranges
Range (1)
Assets
Investments:
Fixed maturity AFS and
trading securities:
Corporate bonds
$
3,736
Discounted cash flow
Liquidity/duration adjustment (2)
0.1
%
-
4.9
%
1.5
%
Foreign government
bonds
Discounted cash flow
Liquidity/duration adjustment (2)
1.3
%
-
8.0
%
6.0
%
Hybrid and redeemable
preferred securities
Discounted cash flow
Liquidity/duration adjustment (2)
1.7
%
-
1.7
%
1.7
%
Equity securities
Discounted cash flow
Liquidity/duration adjustment (2)
4.5
%
-
6.7
%
6.1
%
Other assets:
GLB direct and ceded
embedded derivatives
2,019
Discounted cash flow
Long-term lapse rate (3)
%
-
%
(10)
Utilization of guaranteed withdrawals (4)
%
-
%
%
Claims utilization factor (5)
%
-
%
(10)
Premiums utilization factor (5)
%
-
%
(10)
NPR (6)
0.07
%
-
1.27
%
0.86
%
Mortality rate (7)
(9)
(10)
Volatility (8)
%
-
%
14.59
%
Indexed annuity ceded
embedded derivatives
Discounted cash flow
Lapse rate (3)
%
-
%
(10)
Mortality rate (7)
(9)
(10)
LPR ceded derivative
Discounted cash flow
Long-term lapse rate (3)
%
-
1.65
%
(10)
NPR (6)
0.07
%
-
1.27
%
0.84
%
Mortality rate (7)
(9)
(10)
Liabilities
Future contract benefits -
indexed annuity contracts
embedded derivatives
$
(6,062
)
Discounted cash flow
Lapse rate (3)
%
-
%
(10)
Mortality rate (7)
(9)
(10)
Other liabilities -
GLB ceded embedded
derivatives
(2,015
)
Discounted cash flow
Long-term lapse rate (3)
%
-
%
(10)
Utilization of guaranteed withdrawals (4)
%
-
%
%
Claims utilization factor (5)
%
-
%
(10)
Premiums utilization factor (5)
%
-
%
(10)
NPR (6)
0.07
%
-
1.27
%
0.86
%
Mortality rate (7)
(9)
(10)
Volatility (8)
%
-
%
14.59
%
(1)Unobservable inputs were weighted by the relative fair value of the instruments, unless otherwise noted.
(2)The liquidity/duration adjustment input represents an estimated market participant composite of adjustments attributable to liquidity premiums, expected durations, structures and credit quality that would be applied to the market observable information of an investment.
(3)The lapse rate input represents the estimated probability of a contract surrendering during a year, and thereby forgoing any future benefits. The range for indexed annuity contracts represents the lapse rates during the surrender charge period.
(4)The utilization of guaranteed withdrawals input represents the estimated percentage of contract holders that utilize the guaranteed withdrawal feature.
(5)The utilization factors are applied to the present value of claims or premiums, as appropriate, in the GLB reserve calculation to estimate the impact of inefficient withdrawal behavior, including taking less than or more than the maximum guaranteed withdrawal.
(6)The NPR input represents the estimated additional credit spread that market participants would apply to the market observable discount rate when pricing a contract. The NPR input for direct and ceded embedded derivatives was weighted by the absolute value of the sensitivity of the reserve to the NPR assumption. The NPR input for LPR ceded derivative was weighted using a simple average.
(7)The mortality rate input represents the estimated probability of when an individual belonging to a particular group, categorized according to age or some other factor such as gender, will die.
(8)The volatility input represents overall volatilities assumed for the underlying variable annuity funds, which include a mixture of equity and fixed-income assets. Fair value of the variable annuity GLB embedded derivatives would increase if higher volatilities were used for valuation. Volatility assumptions vary by fund due to the benchmarking of different indices. The volatility input was weighted by the relative account value assigned to each index.
(9)The mortality rate is based on a combination of company and industry experience, adjusted for improvement factors.
(10)A weighted average input range is not a meaningful measurement for lapse rate, utilization factors or mortality rate.
From the table above, we have excluded Level 3 fair value measurements obtained from independent, third-party pricing sources. We do not develop the significant inputs used to measure the fair value of these assets and liabilities, and the information regarding the significant inputs is not readily available to us. Independent broker-quoted fair values are non-binding quotes developed by market makers or broker-dealers obtained from third-party sources recognized as market participants. The fair value of a broker-quoted asset or liability is based solely on the receipt of an updated quote from a single market maker or a broker-dealer recognized as a market participant as we do not adjust broker quotes when used as the fair value measurement for an asset or liability. Significant increases or decreases in any of the quotes received from a third-party broker-dealer may result in a significantly higher or lower fair value measurement.
Changes in any of the significant inputs presented in the table above would have resulted in a significant change in the fair value measurement of the asset or liability as follows:
Investments - An increase in the liquidity/duration adjustment input would have resulted in a decrease in the fair value measurement.
Indexed annuity contracts embedded derivatives - For direct embedded derivatives, an increase in the lapse rate or mortality rate inputs would have resulted in a decrease in the fair value measurement.
LPR ceded derivative - Assuming our LPR ceded derivative is in an asset position: an increase in our lapse rate, NPR or mortality rate inputs would have resulted in an increase in the fair value measurement.
GLB embedded derivatives - Assuming our GLB direct embedded derivatives are in a liability position: an increase in our lapse rate, NPR or mortality rate inputs would have resulted in a decrease in the fair value measurement; and an increase in the utilization of guaranteed withdrawal or volatility inputs would have resulted in an increase in the fair value measurement.
For each category discussed above, the unobservable inputs are not inter-related; therefore, a directional change in one input would not have affected the other inputs.
As part of our ongoing valuation process, we assess the reasonableness of our valuation techniques or models and make adjustments as necessary. For more information, see Note 1.
21. Segment I nformation
We provide products and services and report results through our Annuities, Retirement Plan Services, Life Insurance and Group Protection segments. We also have Other Operations, which includes the financial data for operations that are not directly related to the business segments. Our reporting segments reflect the manner by which our chief operating decision makers view and manage the business. The following is a brief description of these segments and Other Operations.
The Annuities segment provides tax-deferred investment growth and lifetime income opportunities for its clients by offering fixed (including indexed) and variable annuities.
The Retirement Plan Services segment provides employer-sponsored defined benefit and individual retirement accounts, as well as individual and group variable annuities, group fixed annuities and mutual-fund based programs in the retirement plan marketplace.
The Life Insurance segment focuses in the creation and protection of wealth through life insurance products, including term insurance, a linked-benefit product (which is a UL policy linked with riders that provide for long-term care costs), IUL and both single and survivorship versions of UL and VUL, including corporate-owned UL and VUL and bank-owned UL and VUL products.
The Group Protection segment offers group non-medical insurance products, including short and long-term disability, absence management services, term life, dental, vision and accident, critical illness and hospital indemnity benefits and services to the employer marketplace through various forms of employee-paid and employer-paid plans.
Other Operations includes investments related to our excess capital; benefit plan obligations; the unamortized deferred gain on indemnity reinsurance related to the sale of reinsurance; the results of certain disability income business; our run-off institutional pension business, the majority of which was sold on a group annuity basis; debt costs; Spark and strategic digitization expense; and other corporate investments.
Segment operating revenues and income (loss) from operations are internal measures used by our management and Board of Directors to evaluate and assess the results of our segments. Income (loss) from operations is GAAP net income excluding the after-tax effects of the following items, as applicable:
Realized gains and losses associated with the following (“excluded realized gain (loss)”):
Sales or disposals and impairments of financial assets;
Changes in the fair value of equity securities;
Changes in the fair value of derivatives, embedded derivatives within certain reinsurance arrangements and trading securities (“gain (loss) on the mark-to-market on certain instruments”);
GLB rider fees ceded to LNBAR;
The net valuation premium of the GLB attributed rider fees; and
Changes in the fair value of the embedded derivative liabilities related to index options we may purchase or sell in the future to hedge contract holder index allocations applicable to future reset periods for our indexed annuity products accounted for at fair value (“indexed annuity forward-starting option”);
Changes in reserves resulting from benefit ratio unlocking on our GLB riders (“benefit ratio unlocking”);
Income (loss) from reserve changes, net of related amortization, on business sold through reinsurance;
Gains (losses) on modification or early extinguishment of debt;
Losses from the impairment of intangible assets;
Income (loss) from discontinued operations;
Transaction and integration costs related to mergers and acquisitions including the acquisition or divestiture, through reinsurance or other means, of businesses or blocks of business; and
Income (loss) from the initial adoption of new accounting standards, regulations, and policy changes including the net impact from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
Operating revenues represent GAAP revenues excluding the pre-tax effects of the following items, as applicable:
Excluded realized gain (loss);
Revenue adjustments from the initial adoption of new accounting standards;
Amortization of DFEL arising from changes in GLB benefit ratio unlocking; and
Amortization of deferred gains arising from reserve changes on business sold through reinsurance.
The tables below reconcile our segment measures of performance to the GAAP measures presented in our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss) (in millions):
For the Years Ended December 31,
Revenues
Operating revenues:
Annuities
$
4,566
$
4,067
$
4,240
Retirement Plan Services
1,308
1,197
1,186
Life Insurance
7,692
7,086
6,999
Group Protection
4,995
4,792
4,587
Other Operations
Excluded realized gain (loss), pre-tax
(117
)
(742
)
(1,019
)
Total revenues
$
18,601
$
16,566
$
16,192
For the Years Ended December 31,
Net Income (Loss)
Income (loss) from operations:
Annuities
$
1,326
$
1,125
$
Retirement Plan Services
Life Insurance
(12
)
Group Protection
(128
)
Other Operations
(243
)
(161
)
(148
)
Excluded realized gain (loss), after-tax
(93
)
(586
)
(804
)
Benefit ratio unlocking, after-tax
-
Net impact from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
-
Transaction and integration costs related to mergers, acquisitions
and divestitures, after-tax
(11
)
(15
)
(103
)
Net income (loss)
$
1,629
$
$
Other segment information (in millions) was as follows:
For the Years Ended December 31,
Net Investment Income
Annuities
$
1,316
$
1,192
$
1,070
Retirement Plan Services
Life Insurance
3,056
2,689
2,494
Group Protection
Other Operations
Total net investment income
$
5,844
$
5,264
$
4,962
For the Years Ended December 31,
Amortization of DAC and VOBA, Net of Interest
Annuities
$
$
$
Retirement Plan Services
Life Insurance
1,029
Group Protection
Total amortization of DAC and VOBA, net of interest
$
1,603
$
1,286
$
1,320
For the Years Ended December 31,
Federal Income Tax Expense (Benefit)
Annuities
$
$
$
Retirement Plan Services
Life Insurance
(28
)
Group Protection
(33
)
Other Operations
(70
)
(51
)
(61
)
Excluded realized gain (loss)
(25
)
(155
)
(215
)
Benefit ratio unlocking
-
Net impact from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
-
(37
)
(16
)
Transaction and integration costs related to mergers,
acquisitions and divestitures
(4
)
(5
)
(27
)
Total federal income tax expense (benefit)
$
$
(56
)
$
(37
)
As of December 31,
Assets
Annuities
$
200,827
$
183,721
Retirement Plan Services
47,633
45,379
Life Insurance
106,973
102,806
Group Protection
10,522
10,201
Other Operations
26,060
26,212
Total assets
$
392,015
$
368,319
22. Supplem ental Disclosures of Cash Flow Data
The following summarizes our supplemental cash flow data (in millions):
For the Years Ended December 31,
Interest paid
$
$
$
Income taxes paid (received)
Significant non-cash investing transactions:
Equity securities received in exchange of fixed maturity AFS securities
-
-
Significant non-cash financing transactions:
Net increase (decrease) in fixed maturity AFS securities and
accrued investment income in connection with reinsurance transactions
(3,066
)
Decrease in other assets in connection with the expiration of a repurchase agreement
-
-
(150
)
‎
23. Transactions with A ffiliates
The following summarizes transactions with affiliates (in millions) and the associated line item on our Consolidated Balance Sheets:
As of December 31,
Assets with affiliates:
Inter-company notes
$
1,474
$
1,514
Fixed maturity AFS securities
Ceded reinsurance contracts
(150
)
(141
)
Deferred acquisition costs and value of
business acquired
Accrued inter-company interest receivable
Accrued investment income
Ceded reinsurance contracts
2,867
2,701
Reinsurance recoverables, net of allowance
for credit losses
Ceded reinsurance contracts
Other assets
Cash management agreement
3,854
2,568
Other assets
Service agreement receivable
Other assets
Liabilities with affiliates:
Assumed reinsurance contracts
Future contract benefits
Assumed reinsurance contracts
Other contract holder funds
Ceded reinsurance contracts
(37
)
(34
)
Other contract holder funds
Inter-company short-term debt
1,084
Short-term debt
Inter-company long-term debt
2,334
2,412
Long-term debt
Ceded reinsurance contracts
Reinsurance related embedded derivatives
Ceded reinsurance contracts
4,971
5,233
Funds withheld reinsurance liabilities
Ceded reinsurance contracts
2,124
(287
)
Other liabilities
Accrued inter-company interest payable
Other liabilities
Service agreement payable
Other liabilities
The following summarizes transactions with affiliates (in millions) and the associated line item on our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss):
For the Years Ended December 31,
Revenues with affiliates:
Premiums received on assumed (paid on ceded)
reinsurance contracts
$
(463
)
$
(439
)
$
(407
)
Insurance premiums
Fees for management of general account
(138
)
(140
)
(133
)
Net investment income
Net investment income on ceded funds withheld treaties
(113
)
(119
)
(139
)
Net investment income
Net investment income on inter-company notes
Net investment income
Realized gains (losses) on ceded reinsurance contracts:
GLB reserves embedded derivatives
(1,301
)
(30
)
(305
)
Realized gain (loss)
Other gains (losses)
(175
)
(301
)
Realized gain (loss)
Reinsurance related settlements
1,626
Realized gain (loss)
Amortization of deferred gain (loss) on reinsurance
contracts
(4
)
Amortization of deferred gain
on business sold through
reinsurance
Benefits and expenses with affiliates:
Interest credited on assumed reinsurance contracts
Interest credited
Reinsurance (recoveries) benefits on ceded reinsurance
(443
)
(585
)
(254
)
Benefits
Ceded reinsurance contracts
-
(1
)
(19
)
Commissions and other
expenses
Service agreement payments (receipts)
(29
)
(17
)
Commissions and other
expenses
Interest expense on inter-company debt
Interest and debt expense
Inter-Company Notes
LNC issues inter-company notes to us for a predetermined face value to be repaid by LNC at a predetermined maturity with a specified interest rate.
Cash Management Agreement
In order to manage our capital more efficiently, we participate in an inter-company cash management program where LNC can lend to or borrow from us to meet short-term borrowing needs. The cash management program is essentially a series of demand loans, which are permitted under applicable insurance laws, among LNC and its affiliates that reduces overall borrowing costs by allowing LNC and its subsidiaries to access internal resources instead of incurring third-party transaction costs. The borrowing and lending limit is currently 3% of our admitted assets as of December 31, 2021.
Service Agreements
In accordance with service agreements with LNC and other subsidiaries of LNC for personnel and facilities usage, general management services and investment management services, we receive services from and provide services to affiliated companies and receive an allocation of corporate overhead. Corporate overhead expenses are allocated based on specific methodologies for each function. The majority of the expenses are allocated based on the following methodologies: headcount, capital, investments by product, account values, weighted policies in force and sales.
Ceded Reinsurance Contracts
As discussed in Note 8, we cede insurance contracts to LNBAR. We cede certain guaranteed benefit risks (including certain GDB and GWB benefits) to LNBAR. As discussed in Note 5, we cede the GLB reserves embedded derivatives and the related hedge results to LNBAR.
Substantially all reinsurance ceded to affiliated companies is with unauthorized companies. To take reserve credit for such reinsurance, we hold assets from the reinsurer, including funds held under reinsurance treaties, and are the beneficiary of LOCs aggregating to $1 million as of December 31, 2021 and 2020. The LOCs are obtained by the affiliate reinsurer and issued by banks in order for the Company to recognize the reserve credit.
‎

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ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS
Item 9. Ch anges in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure
None.

---

ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Item 9A. Con trols and Procedures
(a) Conclusions Regarding Disclosure Controls and Procedures
As of the end of the period required by this report, we, under the supervision and with the participation of our President and Chief Financial Officer, conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)). Based on that evaluation, our President and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures are effective.
(b) Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting is included on page 64 of “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” and is incorporated herein by reference.
A control system, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance that the control system’s objectives will be met. Further, because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that misstatements due to error or fraud will not occur or that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, within the Company have been detected. Projections of any evaluation of controls’ effectiveness to future periods are subject to risks. Over time, controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions or deterioration in the degree of compliance with policies or procedures.
(c) Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
There was no change in our internal control over financial reporting (as that term is defined in rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act) that occurred during the quarter ended December 31, 2021, that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

---

ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION
Item 9B. Oth er Information
None.
PART III

---

ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Item 10. Di rectors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance
Item omitted.

---

ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
Item 11. Executive Compensation
Item omitted.

---

ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS
Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters
Item omitted.

---

ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS
Item 13. C ertain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence
Item omitted.
‎

---

ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES
Item 14. Pri ncipal Accounting Fees and Services
Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm Fees and Services
The table below reflects the total fees by category of work (in millions) that Ernst & Young received for professional services rendered:
For the Years Ended December 31,
% of
% of
Expense
Total Fees
Expense
Total Fees
Audit fees (1)
$
11.7
83%
$
11.5
80%
Audit-related fees (2)
2.3
17%
2.8
20%
Tax fees (3)
-
0%
-
0%
All other fees
-
0%
-
0%
Total fees
$
14.0
100%
$
14.3
100%
(1)Fees for audit services include fees and expenses associated with the annual audit, the reviews of our interim financial statements included in quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, accounting consultations directly associated with the audit and services normally provided in connection with statutory and regulatory filings.
(2)Audit-related services principally include employee benefit plan audits, service auditor reports on internal controls, due diligence procedures in connection with acquisitions and dispositions, reviews of registration statements and prospectuses and accounting consultations not directly associated with the audit or quarterly reviews.
(3)Fees for tax services including tax filing and advisory services.
Audit Committee Pre-Approval Policy
The Audit Committee of the Board of Directors of LNC (the “Audit Committee”) has policies and procedures to preapprove all audit and permissible non-audit services that our independent auditors provide. Management submits to the Audit Committee for approval a schedule of all audit, tax and other related services it expects the firm to provide during the year to LNC and its subsidiaries, including LNL. The schedule includes examples of typical or known services expected to be performed, listed by category, to illustrate the types of services to be provided under each category. The Audit Committee preapproves the services by category, with specific dollar limits for each category. If management wants to engage the accounting firm for additional services, management must receive approval from the Audit Committee for those services. The Audit Committee chair also has the authority to preapprove services between meetings, subject to certain dollar limitations, and must notify the full Audit Committee of any such preapprovals at its next scheduled meeting.
Other Information
Ernst & Young has advised us that neither it nor any member of the firm has any financial interest, direct or indirect, in any capacity in us or our subsidiaries. The Company has made similar inquiries of our directors and executive officers, and we have identified no such direct or indirect financial interest in Ernst & Young.
PART IV

---

ITEM 15. EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
Item 15. Ex hibits, Financial Statement Schedules
(a) (1) Financial Statements
The following Consolidated Financial Statements of The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company are included in Part II - Item 8:
Management Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
Consolidated Balance Sheets - December 31, 2021 and 2020
Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss) - Years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019
Consolidated Statements of Stockholder’s Equity - Years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows - Years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
(a) (2) Financial Statement Schedules
The Financial Statement Schedules are listed in the Index to Financial Statement Schedules on page FS-1, which is incorporated herein by reference.
(a) (3) Listing of Exhibits
The Exhibits are listed in the Index to Exhibits beginning on page 153, which is incorporated herein by reference.
(c) The Financial Statement Schedules for The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company begin on page FS-2, which are incorporated herein by reference.
‎
INDEX T O EXHIBITS
3.1
Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation of LNL, incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to LNL’s Form 10 (File No. 000-55871) filed with the SEC on November 15, 2017.
3.2
Amended and Restated Bylaws of LNL (effective April 26, 2006), incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.2 to LNL’s Form 10 (File No. 000-55871) filed with the SEC on November 15, 2017.
10.1
Indemnity Reinsurance Agreement, dated as of January 1, 1998, between Connecticut General Life Insurance Company and Lincoln Life & Annuity Company of New York is incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.67 to LNC’s Form 10-K (File No. 1-6028) for the year ended December 31, 2008.*
10.2
Coinsurance Agreement, dated as of October 1, 1998, AETNA Life Insurance and Annuity Company and Lincoln Life & Annuity Company of New York is incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.68 to LNC’s Form 10-K (File No. 1-6028) for the year ended December 31, 2008.*
10.3
Master Transaction Agreement, dated as of January 18, 2018, by and among The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company, for the limited purposes set forth therein, Lincoln National Corporation, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Company, for the limited purposes set forth therein, Liberty Mutual Group Inc., Protective Life Insurance Company and for the limited purposes set forth therein, Protective Life Corporation (filed as Exhibit 2.1 to Lincoln National Corporation’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on January 22, 2018, and incorporated herein by reference).*
Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm.
31.1
Certification of the President pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
31.2
Certification of the Chief Financial Officer pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
32.1
Certification of the President pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
32.2
Certification of the Chief Financial Officer pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
101.INS
XBRL Instance Document - the instance document does not appear in the Interactive Data File because its XBRL tags are embedded within the Inline XBRL document.
101.SCH
XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document.
101.CAL
XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document.
101.LAB
XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document.
101.PRE
XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document.
101.DEF
XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document.
Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as Inline XBRL and contained in Exhibit 101).
* Schedules to this agreement have been omitted pursuant to Item 601(a) of Regulation S-K. LNL will furnish supplementally a copy of the schedule to the SEC upon request.
‎
SIGNA TURES
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
THE LINCOLN NATIONAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY
Dated: March 8, 2022
By:
/s/ Randal J. Freitag
Randal J. Freitag
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities indicated on March 8, 2022.