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Financial Guaranty Variable Interest Entities and Consolidated Investment Vehicles
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2023
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Financial Guaranty Variable Interest Entities and Consolidated Investment Vehicles Financial Guaranty Variable Interest Entities and Consolidated Investment Vehicles
Accounting Policy

The types of entities that the Company assesses for consolidation principally include: (i) financial guaranty variable interest entities; which include entities whose debt obligations the insurance subsidiaries insure in its financial guaranty business, and Puerto Rico Trusts, and (ii) investment vehicles in which the Company has a variable interest and which Sound Point manages, including (1) Sound Point funds since July 1, 2023 and (2) CLOs that are collateralized financing entities (CFEs), and CLO warehouses managed by AssuredIM prior to July 1, 2023.
For each of these types of entities, the Company first determines whether the entity is a VIE or a voting interest entity (VOE) which involves assessing, amongst other conditions, (i) whether the equity investment at risk is sufficient to cover the entity’s expected losses and (ii) whether the holders of the equity investment at risk (as a group) have substantive voting rights. The Company reassesses whether an entity is a VIE upon the occurrence of certain significant events.

If the entity being evaluated for consolidation is not initially determined to be a VIE (or, later, if a significant event occurs that causes an entity to no longer qualify as a VIE), then the entity is a VOE. Consolidation generally is required when the Company, directly or indirectly, has a controlling financial interest of the VOE being assessed.

For entities determined to be a VIE, and in which the Company has a variable interest, the Company assesses whether it is the primary beneficiary of the VIE at the time it becomes involved with the entity and performs this assessment quarterly. In determining whether it is the primary beneficiary, the Company considers all facts and circumstances, including an evaluation of economic interests in the VIE held directly and indirectly through related parties. The Company is the primary beneficiary of a VIE when it has both: (i) the power to direct the activities of a VIE that most significantly impact the entity’s economic performance; and (ii) the obligation to absorb losses (or the right to receive benefits) from the entity that could potentially be significant to the VIE.

If the Company concludes that it is the primary beneficiary of the VIE, it consolidates the VIE in the Company’s consolidated financial statements. If, as part of its continual reassessment of the primary beneficiary determination, the Company concludes that it is no longer the primary beneficiary of a VIE, the Company deconsolidates the VIE and recognizes the impact of that change on the consolidated financial statements.

FG VIEs

For FG VIEs other than the Puerto Rico Trusts, the Company elected the fair value option (FVO) for all assets and liabilities. Upon initial adoption of the accounting guidance for VIEs in 2010, the Company elected to fair value its structured finance and other FG VIEs’ assets and liabilities as the carrying amount transition method was not practical. To allow for consistency in the accounting for the assets and liabilities of its consolidated FG VIEs other than the Puerto Rico Trusts, the Company elected the FVO.

The consolidated Puerto Rico Trusts described below primarily include (i) cash or fixed-maturity debt securities that are carried at fair value and classified as either available-for-sale or trading securities similar to the fixed-maturity debt securities received pursuant to the 2022 Puerto Rico Resolutions and reported in the investment portfolio, and (ii) Puerto Rico Trust liabilities for which the Company elected the FVO in order to more closely mirror the fair value measurement of the Puerto Rico Trust liabilities to the fair value measurement of the Puerto Rico Trust assets.

The change in fair value of FG VIEs’ assets and liabilities is reported in “fair value gains (losses) on FG VIEs” in the consolidated statement of operations, except for (i) the change in fair value attributable to change in instrument-specific credit risk (ISCR) on FG VIEs’ liabilities, and (ii) unrealized gains and losses on the New Recovery Bonds in the Puerto Rico Trusts, which are both reported in other comprehensive income (OCI). Interest income and interest expense are derived from the trustee reports and also included in “fair value gains (losses) on FG VIEs.” Investment income on the New Recovery Bonds and changes in fair value on the CVIs in the Puerto Rico Trusts are all reported in “fair value gains (losses) on FG VIEs” on the consolidated statement of operations, as applicable.

For those FG VIE liabilities with recourse to the Company, the portion of the inception-to-date change in fair value, attributable to ISCR, is calculated by holding all current period assumptions constant for each security and isolating the effect of the change in the Company’s CDS spread from the most recent date of consolidation to the current period. In general, if the Company’s CDS spread tightens, more value will be assigned to the Company’s credit; however, if the Company’s CDS spread widens, less value is assigned to the Company’s credit.

The Company has limited contractual rights to obtain the financial records of its consolidated structured finance and other FG VIEs. The structured finance and other FG VIEs do not prepare separate GAAP financial statements; therefore, the Company compiles the FG VIE GAAP financial information based on trustee reports prepared by and received from third parties. Such trustee reports are not available to the Company in time for quarterly reporting and therefore FG VIEs other than the Puerto Rico Trusts are reported on a one quarter lag. As a result of the lag, cash and short-term investments do not reflect cash outflows (due to claim payments made by the Company) to the holders of the FG VIEs’ debt until the subsequent reporting period.
The cash flows generated by the FG VIEs’ assets, except for interest income, are classified as cash flows from investing activities. Paydowns of FG VIEs’ liabilities are supported by the cash flows generated by FG VIEs’ assets and, for liabilities with recourse, possibly claim payments made by AGM or AGC under their financial guaranty insurance contracts. Paydowns of FG VIEs’ liabilities both with and without recourse are classified as cash flows used in financing activities. Interest income, interest expense and other expenses of the FG VIEs’ assets and liabilities are classified as operating cash flows. Claim payments made by AGM and AGC under the financial guaranty contracts issued to the FG VIEs are eliminated upon consolidation. Therefore, such claim payments are treated as paydowns of the FG VIEs’ liabilities and as a financing activity as opposed to an operating activity.

The Company’s exposure provided through its financial guaranties with respect to debt obligations of FG VIEs is included within net par outstanding in Note 3, Outstanding Exposure.

CIVs

CIVs consist of certain Sound Point (and prior to July 1, 2023, AssuredIM) funds, CLOs and CLO warehouses in which the Company is the primary beneficiary. The consolidated funds are investment companies for accounting purposes and therefore account for their underlying investments at fair value. All CLOs and CLO warehouses (collectively, the consolidated CLOs) were deconsolidated by the Company on July 1, 2023. The consolidated CLOs were CFEs and, therefore, the debt issued by, and loan assets held by, the consolidated CLOs were measured under the FVO using the CFE practical expedient. The assets and liabilities of consolidated CLO warehouses were also reported at fair value under the FVO election. Changes in the fair value of assets and liabilities of CIVs, interest income and interest expense are reported in “fair value gains (losses) on consolidated investment vehicles” in the consolidated statements of operations. Interest income from CLO assets is recorded based on contractual rates. All CIVs are reported on a quarter lag.

Upon consolidation of a Sound Point (and prior to July 1, 2023, AssuredIM) fund, the Company records NCI for the portion of each fund owned by employees and any third-party investors.

Investment transactions in the consolidated Sound Point (and prior to July 1, 2023, AssuredIM) funds are recorded on a trade/contract date basis. Money market investments held by these consolidated funds are classified as cash equivalents and carried at cost, consistent with those funds’ separately issued financial statements. Therefore, the Company has included these amounts in the total amount of cash and cash equivalents on the consolidated statements of cash flows. Cash flows of the CIVs attributable to such entities’ investment purchases and dispositions, as well as operating expenses of the investment vehicles, are presented as cash flows from operating activities in the consolidated statements of cash flows. Borrowings under credit facilities, debt issuances and repayments, and capital cash flows to and from investors are presented as financing activities, consistent with investment company guidelines.

FG VIEs

Structured Finance and Other FG VIEs

    The insurance subsidiaries provide financial guaranties with respect to debt obligations of special purpose entities, including VIEs, but do not act as the servicer or collateral manager for any VIE obligations they guarantee. The transaction structure generally provides certain financial protection to the insurance subsidiaries. This financial protection can take several forms, the most common of which are overcollateralization, first loss protection (or subordination) and excess spread. In the case of overcollateralization (i.e., the principal amount of the securitized assets exceeds the principal amount of the structured finance obligations), the structure allows defaults of the securitized assets before a default is experienced on the structured finance obligation guaranteed by the insurance subsidiaries. In the case of first loss, the insurance subsidiaries’ financial guaranty insurance policy only covers a senior layer of losses experienced by multiple obligations issued by the VIEs. The first loss exposure with respect to the assets is either retained by the seller or sold off in the form of equity or mezzanine debt to other investors. In the case of excess spread, the financial assets contributed to VIEs generate interest income that is in excess of the interest payments on the debt issued by the VIE. Such excess spread is typically distributed through the transaction’s cash flow waterfall and may be used to create additional credit enhancement, applied to redeem debt issued by the VIE (thereby, creating additional overcollateralization), or distributed to equity or other investors in the transaction.

The insurance subsidiaries are not primarily liable for the debt obligations issued by the structured finance and other FG VIEs (which excludes the Puerto Rico Trusts described below) they insure and would only be required to make payments on those insured debt obligations in the event that the issuer of such debt obligations defaults on any principal or interest due and only for the amount of the shortfall. AGL’s and its insurance subsidiaries’ creditors do not have any rights with regard to
the collateral supporting the debt issued by the structured finance and other FG VIEs. Proceeds from sales, maturities, prepayments and interest from such underlying collateral may only be used to pay debt service on structured finance and other FG VIEs’ liabilities.
 
As part of the terms of its financial guaranty contracts, the insurance subsidiaries obtain certain protective rights with respect to the VIE that give them additional controls over a VIE. These protective rights are triggered by the occurrence of certain events, such as failure to be in compliance with a covenant due to poor deal performance or a deterioration in a servicer’s or collateral manager’s financial condition. At deal inception, the insurance subsidiaries typically are not deemed to control the VIE; however, once a trigger event occurs, the insurance subsidiaries’ control of the VIE typically increases. The Company continuously evaluates its power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the economic performance of VIEs that have debt obligations insured by the insurance subsidiaries and, accordingly, where they are obligated to absorb VIE losses or receive benefits that could potentially be significant to the VIE. The insurance subsidiaries are deemed to be the control party for certain VIEs under GAAP, typically when their protective rights give them the power to both terminate and replace the transaction’s servicer or collateral manager, which are characteristics specific to the Company’s financial guaranty contracts. If the protective rights that could make the insurance subsidiaries the control party have not been triggered, then the VIE is not consolidated. If the insurance subsidiaries are deemed to no longer have those protective rights, the VIE is deconsolidated.

The structured finance and other FG VIEs’ liabilities that are guaranteed by the insurance subsidiaries are considered to be with recourse, because the insurance subsidiaries guarantee the payment of principal and interest regardless of the performance of the related FG VIEs’ assets. The structured finance and other FG VIEs’ liabilities that are not guaranteed by the insurance subsidiaries are considered to be without recourse, because the payment of principal and interest of these liabilities is wholly dependent on the performance of the FG VIEs’ assets.

Number of Consolidated
Structured Finance and Other FG VIEs
 Year Ended December 31,
 202320222021
 
Beginning of year25 25 25 
Consolidated— 
Deconsolidated (1)(2)(1)
December 3124 25 25 

Puerto Rico Trusts

With respect to certain insured securities covered by the 2022 Puerto Rico Resolutions, insured bondholders were permitted to elect to receive custody receipts that represent an interest in the legacy insurance policy plus cash, New Recovery Bonds and/or CVIs that constitute distributions under the 2022 Puerto Rico Resolutions. At least one separate custodial trust was set up for each legacy insured bond, and the trusts are deconsolidated when their liabilities are paid off. For those who made the election above, distributions of Plan Consideration are passed through to insured bondholders under the custody receipts to the extent of any cash or proceeds of new securities held in the custodial trust and are applied to make payments and/or prepayments of amounts due under the legacy insured bonds. The Company’s insurance policy continues to guarantee principal and interest coming due on the legacy insured bonds in accordance with the terms of such insurance policy on the originally scheduled legacy bond interest and principal payment dates to the extent that distributions of Plan Consideration are insufficient to pay or prepay such amounts after giving effect to the distributions described in the immediately preceding sentence. In the case of insured bondholders who elected to receive custody receipts, the Company retains the right to satisfy its obligations under the insurance policy with respect to the related legacy insured bonds at any time thereafter, with 30 days’ notice, by paying 100% of the then outstanding principal amount of insured bonds plus accrued interest.

As of December 31, 2023, substantially all of the securities in the Puerto Rico Trusts had been called, and the assets in the Puerto Rico Trusts consisted primarily of cash. In January 2024, such cash proceeds were used to pay down a portion of the liabilities of the Puerto Rico Trusts. The remaining liabilities of the Puerto Rico Trusts will be paid by the U.S. Insurance Subsidiaries under their financial guaranty policies and are no longer dependent on the credit of PRHTA. As of December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, respectively, the Company consolidated 24 and 45 custodial trusts established as part of the 2022 Puerto Rico Resolutions discussed in Note 3, Outstanding Exposure, Exposure to Puerto Rico.
As of December 31, 2022, New Recovery Bonds in the Puerto Rico Trusts had an amortized cost and fair value of $204 million. As of December 31, 2022, 14 New Recovery Bonds in the Puerto Rico Trusts were in a gross unrealized loss position totaling $4 million and had a fair value of $110 million, all of which were in a continuous unrealized loss position for less than 12 months. The Company considered the credit quality, cash flows, interest rate movements, ability to hold a security to recovery and intent to sell a security in determining whether a security had a credit loss. The Company has determined that the unrealized losses recorded as of December 31, 2022 were primarily attributable to the change in interest rates, rather than credit quality. The Company did not intend to and was not required to sell these investments prior to an expected recovery in value. As of December 31, 2022, of the securities in an unrealized loss position for which an allowance for credit loss was not recorded, eight securities had unrealized losses in excess of 10% of their carrying value. The total unrealized loss for these securities was $3 million.

Components of FG VIEs’ Assets and Liabilities

Net fair value gains and losses on FG VIEs are expected to reverse to zero by the maturity of the FG VIEs’ debt, except for net premiums received and net claims paid by the insurance subsidiaries under the financial guaranty insurance contracts. The Company’s estimate of expected loss to be paid (recovered) for FG VIEs is included in Note 4, Expected Loss to be Paid (Recovered).

The table below shows the carrying value of FG VIEs’ assets and liabilities, segregated by type of collateral.

Consolidated FG VIEs by Type of Collateral 
As of December 31,
 20232022
 (in millions)
FG VIEs’ assets:  
U.S. RMBS first lien$145 $167 
U.S. RMBS second lien28 30 
Puerto Rico Trusts’ assets (includes $1 and $209 at fair value) (1)
155 212 
Other— 
Total FG VIEs’ assets$328 $416 
FG VIEs’ liabilities with recourse:
U.S. RMBS first lien$156 $176 
U.S. RMBS second lien21 24 
Puerto Rico Trusts’ liabilities366 495 
Other— 
Total FG VIEs’ liabilities with recourse$543 $702 
FG VIEs’ liabilities without recourse:
U.S. RMBS first lien$11 $13 
Total FG VIEs’ liabilities without recourse$11 $13 
____________________
(1)    Includes $154 million and $2 million of cash as of December 31, 2023 and 2022.

The change in the ISCR of the FG VIEs’ assets for which the Company elected the FVO (FG VIEs’ assets at FVO) held as of December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021 that was reported in the consolidated statements of operations for 2023, 2022 and 2021 were gains of $3 million, $10 million and $14 million, respectively. The ISCR amount is determined by using expected cash flows at the original date of consolidation, discounted at the effective yield, less current expected cash flows discounted at that same original effective yield.

The inception-to-date change in fair value of the FG VIEs’ liabilities with recourse (all of which are measured at fair value under the FVO) attributable to the ISCR is calculated by holding all current period assumptions constant for each security and isolating the effect of the change in the insurance subsidiaries’ CDS spread from the most recent date of consolidation to the current period.
Selected Information for FG VIEs’ Assets and Liabilities
Measured under the FVO
As of December 31,
 20232022
 (in millions)
Excess of unpaid principal over fair value of:
FG VIEs’ assets$259 $265 
FG VIEs’ liabilities with recourse 25 21 
FG VIEs’ liabilities without recourse16 15 
Unpaid principal balance for FG VIEs’ assets that were 90 days or more past due29 34 
Unpaid principal for FG VIEs’ liabilities with recourse (1)568 723 
____________________
(1)    FG VIEs’ liabilities with recourse will mature at various dates ranging from 2024 through 2041.

CIVs

In connection with the Sound Point Transaction and AHP Transaction, the Company reevaluated its consolidation conclusion for each CIV and deconsolidated all but three CIVs consisting of funds currently managed by Sound Point. The deconsolidation reduced CIV assets by $4.7 billion and CIV liabilities by $4.4 billion. The Company recognized a loss on deconsolidation of $16 million, which is reported in “fair value gains (losses) on CIVs.” In addition, the deconsolidation resulted in a decrease in NCI of $132 million at the time of deconsolidation. During 2022, the Company deconsolidated a CLO with assets and liabilities of $417 million. In the fourth quarter of 2021, the Company consolidated AssuredIM managed fund and recognized a gain on consolidation of $31 million in 2021.

The assets and liabilities of the Company’s CIVs are held within separate legal entities. The assets of the CIVs are not available to creditors of the Company, other than creditors of the applicable CIVs. In addition, creditors of the CIVs have no recourse against the assets of the Company, other than the assets of such applicable CIVs. Liquidity available at the Company’s CIVs is not available for corporate liquidity needs, except to the extent of the Company’s investment in the funds, subject to redemption provisions. Changes in the fair value of assets and liabilities of CIVs, interest income and expense, and gains and losses on consolidation and deconsolidation of CIVs are reported in “fair value gains (losses) on CIVs” in the consolidated statements of operations. Interest income from CLO assets is recorded based on contractual rates.

Number of Consolidated CIVs by Type
 As of December 31,
CIV Type20232022
Funds
CLOs— 10 
CLO warehouses— 
Total number of consolidated CIVs (1)22 
____________________
(1)    As of December 31, 2022 two CIVs were VOEs.

The table below summarizes the change in the number of consolidated CIVs during each of the periods. During 2022 and 2021, two and five, respectively, consolidated CLO warehouses became CLOs.

Roll Forward of Number of Consolidated CIVs
 Year Ended December 31,
 202320222021
Beginning of year22 20 11 
Consolidated— 10 
Deconsolidated(19)(2)(1)
December 3122 20 
Assets and Liabilities of CIVs
As of December 31,
20232022
 (in millions)
Assets:
Fund assets:
Cash and cash equivalents$35 $59 
Fund investments, at fair value:
Equity securities and warrants 83 434 
Structured products248 128 
Corporate securities— 96 
Other— 
CLO and CLO warehouse assets:
Cash— 38 
CLO investments:
Loans in CLOs and CLO warehouses, FVO— 4,570 
Short-term investments, at fair value— 135 
Due from brokers and counterparties— 32 
Total assets (1)$366 $5,493 
Liabilities:
CLO obligations, FVO (2)
$— $4,090 
Warehouse financing debt, FVO (3)— 313 
Due to brokers and counterparties— 112 
Other liabilities (4)110 
Total liabilities
$$4,625 
____________________
(1)    Includes investments with affiliated entities of $281 million as of December 31, 2023. Includes investments in AssuredIM funds and other affiliated entities of $392 million as of December 31, 2022. Includes assets and liabilities of a VOE of $58 million and $1 million, respectively, as of December 31, 2022.
(2)     As of December 31, 2022, the weighted average maturity of CLO obligations was 6.2 years and the weighted average interest rate of CLO obligations was 5.3%.
(3)    The weighted average maturity of warehouse financing debt of CLO warehouses was 1.9 years as of December 31, 2022. The weighted average interest rate of warehouse financing debt of CLO warehouses was 4.5% as of December 31, 2022.
(4)    Includes $3 million with affiliated entities as of December 31, 2023 and $21 million of redeemable NCI as of December 31, 2022.


As of December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, the CIVs included derivative contracts with notional amounts totaling $36 million and $46 million, respectively, and average notional amounts of $41 million and $47 million, respectively. The fair value of derivative contracts is reported in the “assets of CIVs” or “liabilities of CIVs” in the consolidated balance sheets. The net change in fair value is reported in “fair value gains (losses) on CIVs” in the consolidated statements of operations.

NCI in CIVs

NCI represents the portion of the consolidated funds not owned by the Company and includes ownership interests of third parties, employees and former employees. The NCI is non-redeemable and presented on the statement of shareholders’ equity.

Other Consolidated VIEs

    In certain instances where the Company consolidates a VIE that was established as part of a loss mitigation negotiated settlement that results in the termination of the obligations under the original financial guaranty insurance or insured credit
derivative contract, the Company classifies the assets and liabilities of that VIE in the line items that most accurately reflect the nature of such assets and liabilities, as opposed to within FG VIEs’ assets and FG VIEs’ liabilities. The largest of these VIEs had assets of $92 million and liabilities of $7 million as of December 31, 2023 and assets of $86 million and liabilities of $12 million as of December 31, 2022, which were reported in “investments” and “credit derivative liabilities” on the consolidated balance sheets.

Non-Consolidated VIEs
 
    As described in Note 3, Outstanding Exposure, the Company monitors all policies in the insured portfolio. Of the approximately 15 thousand policies monitored as of December 31, 2023, approximately 14 thousand policies are not within the scope of ASC 810 because these financial guaranties relate to the debt obligations of governmental organizations or financing entities established by a governmental organization. The majority of the remaining policies involve transactions where the Company is not deemed to currently have control over the FG VIEs’ most significant activities. As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, the Company identified 68 and 85, respectively, policies that contain provisions and experienced events that may trigger consolidation.
    The Company holds variable interests in non-FG VIEs which are not consolidated, as the Company is not the primary beneficiary. As of December 31, 2023, the Company’s maximum exposure to losses relating to these non-FG VIEs was $326 million, which is limited to the carrying value of these investments of $314 million and other assets of $12 million.