Financial Instruments

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2021

Financial Instruments, Owned, at Fair Value [Abstract]

Financial instruments recorded in the consolidated balance sheets include investments, note receivable, other receivables, options sold, accounts payable, and unsecured notes payable. Due to their short-term maturity, the carrying values of other receivables and accounts payable approximate their fair values. All investments are carried at fair value in the consolidated balance sheets.

The following table presents the fair values of financial instruments:


	December 31,
	2021		2020
	(Amounts in thousands)
Assets
Investments	$	5,142,589	$	4,729,270
Note receivable	—		5,725
Liabilities
Options sold	301		—
Notes payable	413,378		415,253

Investments

The Company applies the fair value option to all fixed maturity and equity securities and short-term investments at the time an eligible item is first recognized. The cost of investments sold is determined on a first-in and first-out method, and realized and unrealized gains and losses are included in net realized investment gains in the Company's consolidated statements of operations. See Note 3. Investments for additional information.

Note Receivable

In August 2017, the Company completed the sale of approximately six acres of land located in Brea, California (the "Property"), for a total sale price of approximately $12.2 million. Approximately $5.7 million of the total sale price was received in the form of a promissory note (the "Note") and the remainder in cash. The Note was secured by a first trust deed and an assignment of rents on the Property, and bore interest at an annual rate of 3.5%, payable in monthly installments. The Company received the principal amount on the Note along with accrued interest in November 2021. Interest earned on the Note was recognized in other revenues in the Company's consolidated statements of operations. The Company elected to apply the fair value option to the Note at the time it was first recognized. The fair value of note receivable is included in other assets in the Company's consolidated balance sheets, while the changes in fair value of note receivable are included in net realized investment gains in the Company's consolidated statements of operations.

Options Sold

The Company writes covered call options through listed and over-the-counter exchanges. When the Company writes an option, an amount equal to the premium received by the Company is recorded as a liability and is subsequently adjusted to the current fair value of the option written. Premiums received from writing options that expire unexercised are treated by the Company as realized gains from investments on the expiration date. If a call option is exercised, the premium is added to the proceeds from the sale of the underlying security in determining whether the Company has realized a gain or loss. The Company, as writer of an option, bears the market risk of an unfavorable change in the price of the security underlying the written option. Liabilities for covered call options are included in other liabilities in the Company's consolidated balance sheets.

Notes payable

The fair value of the Company’s publicly traded $375 million unsecured notes at December 31, 2021 and 2020 was obtained from a third party pricing service.

For additional disclosures regarding methods and assumptions used in estimating fair values, see Note 4. Fair Value Measurements.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the fair value of financial instruments (as defined), including financial assets and financial liabilities (collectively, as defined), and the measurements of those instruments as well as disclosures related to the fair value of non-financial assets and liabilities. Such disclosures about the financial instruments, assets, and liabilities would include: (1) the fair value of the required items together with their carrying amounts (as appropriate); (2) for items for which it is not practicable to estimate fair value, disclosure would include: (a) information pertinent to estimating fair value (including, carrying amount, effective interest rate, and maturity, and (b) the reasons why it is not practicable to estimate fair value; (3) significant concentrations of credit risk including: (a) information about the activity, region, or economic characteristics identifying a concentration, (b) the maximum amount of loss the entity is exposed to based on the gross fair value of the related item, (c) policy for requiring collateral or other security and information as to accessing such collateral or security, and (d) the nature and brief description of such collateral or security; (4) quantitative information about market risks and how such risks are managed; (5) for items measured on both a recurring and nonrecurring basis information regarding the inputs used to develop the fair value measurement; and (6) for items presented in the financial statement for which fair value measurement is elected: (a) information necessary to understand the reasons for the election, (b) discussion of the effect of fair value changes on earnings, (c) a description of [similar groups] items for which the election is made and the relation thereof to the balance sheet, the aggregate carrying value of items included in the balance sheet that are not eligible for the election; (7) all other required (as defined) and desired information.

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