11.EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS

Due to the Dai-ichi Life transaction, PLC re-measured all materially impacted benefit plans as of January 31, 2015 (Predecessor Company). Financial re-measurement was performed for the defined benefit pension plan, the unfunded excess benefit plan, and the postretirement life insurance plan as of January 31, 2015 (Predecessor Company). The January results for the retiree life plan were not material, and therefore, re-measurement was not deemed necessary for this plan. The Company has disclosed relevant financial information related to the January 31, 2015 (Predecessor Company) re-measurement, as follows.

The following table presents the benefit obligation, fair value of plan assets, and the funded status of the PLC’s defined benefit pension plan and unfunded excess benefit plan of January 31, 2015 (Predecessor Company) and December 31, 2014 (Predecessor Company). This table also includes the amounts not yet recognized as components of net periodic pension costs as of January 31, 2015 (Predecessor Company) and December 31, 2014 (Predecessor Company).

	Predecessor Company
	Defined Benefit						Unfunded Excess
	Pension Plan						Benefits Plan
	As of			As of			As of			As of
	January 31, 2015			December 31, 2014			January 31, 2015			December 31, 2014
	(Dollars In Thousands)
Accumulated benefit obligation, end of period	$	262,290		$	249,453		$	49,251		$	47,368

Change in projected benefit obligation:
Projected benefit obligation at beginning of period	$	267,331		$	219,152		$	49,575		$	39,679
Service cost	974			9,411			95			954
Interest cost	1,002			10,493			140			1,696
Amendments	—			—			—			—
Actuarial (gain) or loss	12,384			38,110			1,555			9,153
Benefits paid	(592		)	(9,835		)	(122		)	(1,907		)

Projected benefit obligation at end of period	281,099			267,331			51,243			49,575


Change in plan assets:
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of period	203,772			180,173			—			—
Actual return on plan assets	(3,525		)	17,921			—			—
Employer contributions(1)	2,165			15,513			122			1,907
Benefits paid	(592		)	(9,835		)	(122		)	(1,907		)

Fair value of plan assets at end of period	201,820			203,772			—			—

After reflecting FASB guidance
Funded status	(79,279		)	(63,559		)	(51,243		)	(49,575		)

Amounts recognized in the balance sheet:
Other liabilities	(79,279		)	(63,559		)	(51,243		)	(49,575		)


Amounts recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income:
Net actuarial loss	96,965			80,430			22,401			20,983
Prior service cost/(credit)	(1,001		)	(1,033		)	23			24

Total amounts recognized in AOCI	$	95,964		$	79,397		$	22,424		$	21,007

(1) Employer contributions disclosed are based on the Company’s fiscal filing year.

As of January 31, 2015 (Predecessor Company) and December 31, 2014 (Predecessor Company), the projected benefit obligation associated with the postretirement life insurance plan was $9.8 million and $9.3 million, respectively.

As a result of the Merger on February 1, 2015, all unrecognized prior service costs or credits, actuarial gains or losses, and any remaining transition assets or obligations were not carried forward on the acquisition date. Therefore, the amounts presented in the “Amounts recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income” in the chart above were set to zero on the Merger date.

The benefit obligations as of January 31, 2015 (Predecessor Company) were determined based on the assumptions used in the 2014 year-end disclosures with the following exception:

	Defined Benefit		Unfunded Excess		Postretirement
	Pension Plan		Benefit Plan		Life Insurance Plan
Discount rate	3.55	%	3.26	%	3.79	%

Components of the net periodic benefit cost for the three months ended June 30, 2015 (Successor Company), the period of February 1, 2015 to June 30, 2015 (Successor Company), the period of January 1, 2015 to January 31, 2015 (Predecessor Company), and for the three and six months ended June 30, 2014 (Predecessor Company) are as follows:

	Successor										Predecessor
	Company										Company
	For The Three					February 1, 2015					January 1, 2015					For The Three					For The Six
	Months Ended					to					to					Months Ended					Months Ended
	June 30, 2015					June 30, 2015					January 31, 2015					June 30, 2014					June 30, 2014
	Defined			Unfunded		Defined			Unfunded		Defined			Unfunded		Defined			Unfunded		Defined			Unfunded
	Benefit			Excess		Benefit			Excess		Benefit			Excess		Benefit			Excess		Benefit			Excess
	Pension			Benefit		Pension			Benefit		Pension			Benefit		Pension			Benefit		Pension			Benefit
	Plan			Plan		Plan			Plan		Plan			Plan		Plan			Plan		Plan			Plan
	(Dollars In Thousands)										(Dollars In Thousands)
Service cost — benefits earned during the period	$	2,973		$	333	$	4,955		$	555	$	974		$	95	$	2,227		$	226	$	4,454		$	452
Interest cost on projected benefit obligation	2,433			408		4,055			680		1,002			140		2,587			406		5,174			812
Expected return on plan assets	(3,642		)	—		(6,070		)	—		(1,293		)	—		(3,065		)	—		(6,130		)	—
Amortization of prior service cost	—			—		—			—		(33		)	1		(98		)	3		(196		)	6
Amortization of actuarial losses	—			—		—			—		668			138		1,576			321		3,152			642

Total net periodic benefit cost	$	1,764		$	741	$	2,940		$	1,235	$	1,318		$	374	$	3,227		$	956	$	6,454		$	1,912

During the period of January 1, 2015 to January 31, 2015 (Predecessor Company), PLC contributed $2.2 million to its defined benefit pension plan which was applied for the 2014 plan year. PLC did not contribute to the defined benefit pension plan during the period of February 1, 2015 to June 30, 2015 (Successor Company). PLC will continue to make contributions in future periods as necessary to at least satisfy minimum funding requirements. PLC may also make additional contributions in future periods to maintain an adjusted funding target attainment percentage (“AFTAP”) of at least 80% and to avoid certain Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (“PBGC”) reporting triggers.