Business Segments

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2017

Segment Reporting [Abstract]

Business Segments

Business Segments

The Company's core property and casualty commercial insurance operations are managed and reported in three business segments: Specialty, Commercial and International. The Company's non-core operations are managed and reported in two segments: Life & Group Non-Core and Corporate & Other Non-Core.

The accounting policies of the segments are the same as those described in Note A to the Consolidated Financial Statements within CNAF's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016. The Company manages most of its assets on a legal entity basis, while segment operations are generally conducted across legal entities. As such, only Insurance and Reinsurance receivables, Insurance reserves, Deferred acquisition costs and Goodwill are readily identifiable for all individual segments. Distinct investment portfolios are not maintained for every individual segment; accordingly, allocation of assets to each segment is not performed. Therefore, a significant portion of Net investment income and Realized investment gains or losses are allocated primarily based on each segment's net carried insurance reserves, as adjusted. All significant intersegment income and expense has been eliminated. Income taxes have been allocated on the basis of the taxable income of the segments.

In the following tables, certain financial measures are presented to provide information used by management to monitor the Company's operating performance. Management utilizes these financial measures to monitor the Company's insurance operations and investment portfolio. Net operating income (loss), which is derived from certain income statement amounts, is used by management to monitor performance of the Company's insurance operations. The Company's investment portfolio is monitored by management through analysis of various factors including unrealized gains and losses on securities, portfolio duration and exposure to market and credit risk. Based on such analyses, the Company may recognize an OTTI loss on an investment security in accordance with its policy, or sell a security, which may produce realized gains and losses.

Net operating income (loss) is calculated by excluding from net income (loss) the after-tax effects of i) net realized investment gains (losses) ii) income or loss from discontinued operations and iii) any cumulative effects of changes in accounting guidance. The calculation of net operating income excludes net realized investment gains (losses) because net realized investment gains (losses) are largely discretionary, except for some losses related to OTTI, and are generally driven by economic factors that are not necessarily consistent with key drivers of underwriting performance, and are therefore not considered an indication of trends in insurance operations.

The Company's results of operations and selected balance sheet items by segment are presented in the following tables.

Three months ended March 31, 2017	Specialty			Commercial			International			Life & Group Non-Core			Corporate & Other Non-Core
(In millions)																Eliminations		Total
Operating revenues
Net earned premiums	$	664		$	651		$	197		$	133		$	—		$	—	$	1,645
Net investment income	153			178			12			197			5			—		545
Other revenues	94			9			—			1			—			—		104
Total operating revenues	911			838			209			331			5			—		2,294
Claims, Benefits and Expenses
Net incurred claims and benefits	386			437			115			330			21			—		1,289
Policyholders’ dividends	1			3			—			—			—			—		4
Amortization of deferred acquisition costs	143			116			46			—			—			—		305
Other insurance related expenses	69			126			27			32			—			—		254
Other expenses	81			14			(6		)	2			44			—		135
Total claims, benefits and expenses	680			696			182			364			65			—		1,987
Operating income (loss) before income tax	231			142			27			(33		)	(60		)	—		307
Income tax (expense) benefit on operating income (loss)	(77		)	(48		)	(7		)	37			23			—		(72		)
Net operating income (loss)	154			94			20			4			(37		)	—		235
Net realized investment gains (losses)	7			11			6			10			2			—		36
Income tax (expense) benefit on net realized investment gains (losses)	(3		)	(3		)	(1		)	(4		)	—			—		(11		)
Net realized investment gains (losses), after tax	4			8			5			6			2			—		25
Net income (loss)	$	158		$	102		$	25		$	10		$	(35	)	$	—	$	260

March 31, 2017
(In millions)
Reinsurance receivables	$	817	$	616	$	133	$	448	$	2,419	$	—		$	4,433
Insurance receivables	874		1,048		254		12		3		—			2,191
Deferred acquisition costs	314		225		87		—		—		—			626
Goodwill	117		—		29		—		—		—			146
Insurance reserves
Claim and claim adjustment expenses	6,224		8,760		1,343		3,373		2,560		—			22,260
Unearned premiums	1,941		1,375		450		147		—		(1		)	3,912
Future policy benefits	—		—		—		10,491		—		—			10,491

Three months ended March 31, 2016	Specialty			Commercial			International			Life & Group Non-Core			Corporate & Other Non-Core
(In millions)																Eliminations		Total
Operating revenues
Net earned premiums	$	682		$	688		$	198		$	131		$	—		$	—	$	1,699
Net investment income	107			126			12			187			3			—		435
Other revenues	87			6			1			—			3			—		97
Total operating revenues	876			820			211			318			6			—		2,231
Claims, Benefits and Expenses
Net incurred claims and benefits	390			442			121			323			128			—		1,404
Policyholders’ dividends	1			3			—			—			—			—		4
Amortization of deferred acquisition costs	144			116			47			—			—			—		307
Other insurance related expenses	75			141			28			33			—			—		277
Other expenses	75			5			9			3			54			—		146
Total claims, benefits and expenses	685			707			205			359			182			—		2,138
Operating income (loss) before income tax	191			113			6			(41		)	(176		)	—		93
Income tax (expense) benefit on operating income (loss)	(64		)	(39		)	—			39			62			—		(2		)
Net operating income (loss)	127			74			6			(2		)	(114		)	—		91
Net realized investment gains (losses)	(11		)	(18		)	4			(3		)	(8		)	—		(36		)
Income tax (expense) benefit on net realized investment gains (losses)	4			6			(1		)	—			2			—		11
Net realized investment gains (losses), after tax	(7		)	(12		)	3			(3		)	(6		)	—		(25		)
Net income (loss)	$	120		$	62		$	9		$	(5	)	$	(120	)	$	—	$	66

March 31, 2016
(In millions)
Reinsurance receivables	$	765	$	623	$	139	$	496	$	2,707	$	—		$	4,730
Insurance receivables	884		1,025		276		14		2		—			2,201
Deferred acquisition costs	309		225		88		—		—		—			622
Goodwill	117		—		33		—		—		—			150
Insurance reserves
Claim and claim adjustment expenses	6,325		9,095		1,395		3,311		2,892		—			23,018
Unearned premiums	1,861		1,347		464		136		—		(1		)	3,807
Future policy benefits	—		—		—		10,500		—		—			10,500

The following table presents revenue by line of business for each reportable segment. Revenues are comprised of operating revenues and net realized investment gains and losses.

Three months ended March 31
(In millions)	2017		2016
Specialty
Management & Professional Liability	$	661	$	618
Surety	123		127
Warranty & Alternative Risks	134		120
Specialty revenues	918		865
Commercial
Middle Market	458		401
Small Business	97		143
Other Commercial Insurance	294		258
Commercial revenues	849		802
International
Canada	51		50
CNA Europe	73		78
Hardy	91		87
International revenues	215		215
Life & Group Non-Core revenues	341		315
Corporate & Other Non-Core revenues	7		(2		)
Eliminations	—		—
Total revenues	$	2,330	$	2,195