Summary of Significant Accounting Principles (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2016

Principles of Financial Statement Presentation

 (a) Principles of Financial Statement Presentation

This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (this “Form 10-Q”) should be read in conjunction with the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015 (the “2015 10-K”) of Alleghany Corporation (“Alleghany”).

Alleghany, a Delaware corporation, which was initially incorporated in Delaware in 1929, owns and manages certain operating subsidiaries and investments, anchored by a core position in property and casualty reinsurance and insurance. Through its wholly-owned subsidiary Alleghany Insurance Holdings LLC (“AIHL”) and its subsidiaries, Alleghany is engaged in the property and casualty insurance business. AIHL’s insurance operations are principally conducted by its subsidiaries RSUI Group, Inc. (“RSUI”), CapSpecialty, Inc. (“CapSpecialty”) and Pacific Compensation Corporation (“PacificComp”). CapSpecialty has been a subsidiary of AIHL since January 2002, RSUI has been a subsidiary of AIHL since July 2003 and PacificComp has been a subsidiary of AIHL since July 2007. AIHL Re LLC (“AIHL Re”), a captive reinsurance company which provides reinsurance to Alleghany’s insurance operating subsidiaries and affiliates, has been a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alleghany since its formation in May 2006. Alleghany’s reinsurance operations commenced on March 6, 2012 when Alleghany consummated a merger with Transatlantic Holdings, Inc. (“TransRe”), and TransRe became one of Alleghany’s wholly-owned subsidiaries. Alleghany’s public equity investments, including those held by TransRe’s and AIHL’s operating subsidiaries, are managed primarily through Alleghany’s wholly-owned subsidiary Roundwood Asset Management LLC.

Although Alleghany’s primary sources of revenues and earnings are its reinsurance and insurance operations and investments, Alleghany also manages, sources, executes and monitors certain private capital investments primarily through its wholly-owned subsidiary Alleghany Capital Corporation (“Alleghany Capital”). Alleghany Capital’s private capital investments are included in other activities for segment reporting purposes and include: (i) Stranded Oil Resources Corporation (“SORC”), an exploration and production company focused on enhanced oil recovery, headquartered in Golden, Colorado; (ii) Bourn & Koch, Inc. (“Bourn & Koch”), a manufacturer and remanufacturer/retrofitter of precision machine tools and supplier of replacement parts, headquartered in Rockford, Illinois; (iii) R.C. Tway Company, LLC (“Kentucky Trailer”), a manufacturer of custom trailers and truck bodies for the moving and storage industry and other markets, headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky; (iv) IPS-Integrated Project Services, LLC (“IPS”), a technical service provider focused on the global pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, acquired on October 31, 2015; (v) an approximately 40 percent equity interest in ORX Exploration, Inc. (“ORX”), a regional oil and gas exploration and production company, headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana; and (vi) a 30 percent equity interest in Jazwares, LLC (“Jazwares”), a toy and consumer electronics company, headquartered in Sunrise, Florida. ORX and Jazwares are accounted for under the equity method of accounting. On April 15, 2016, Alleghany Capital acquired an additional 50 percent equity interest in Jazwares, bringing its equity interest in Jazwares to 80 percent, and as of that date, the results of Jazwares will be included in Alleghany’s consolidated results. In addition, Alleghany owns and manages properties in the Sacramento, California region through its wholly-owned subsidiary Alleghany Properties Holdings LLC (“Alleghany Properties”).

Unless the context otherwise requires, references to “Alleghany” include Alleghany together with its subsidiaries.

The accompanying consolidated financial statements include the results of Alleghany and its wholly-owned and majority-owned subsidiaries and have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”). All significant inter-company balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. The results of IPS have been included in Alleghany’s consolidated results beginning with its acquisition by Alleghany Capital on October 31, 2015.

The portion of stockholders’ equity, net earnings and accumulated other comprehensive income that is not attributable to Alleghany stockholders is presented on the Consolidated Balance Sheets and the Consolidated Statements of Earnings and Comprehensive Income as noncontrolling interest. Because all noncontrolling interests have the option to sell their interests to Alleghany in the future (generally through 2023), the portion of stockholders’ equity that is not attributable to Alleghany stockholders is presented on the Consolidated Balance Sheets as redeemable noncontrolling interest for all periods presented. During the first three months of 2016, Bourn & Koch had approximately 12 percent noncontrolling interests outstanding, Kentucky Trailer had approximately 20 percent noncontrolling interests outstanding and IPS had approximately 16 percent noncontrolling interests outstanding.

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions. These estimates and assumptions affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities as of the date of the financial statements, as well as the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Alleghany relies on historical experience and on various other assumptions that it believes to be reasonable under the circumstances to make judgments about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ materially from those reported results to the extent that those estimates and assumptions prove to be inaccurate. Changes in estimates are reflected in the consolidated statement of earnings and comprehensive income in the period in which the change is made.

Recent Accounting Standards

(c) Recent Accounting Standards

Recently Adopted

In February 2015, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (the “FASB”) issued guidance that amended the analysis that must be performed to determine whether an entity should consolidate certain types of legal entities. Under the new guidance, the evaluation of whether limited partnerships and similar entities are variable interest entities or voting interest entities is modified, the presumption that general partners should consolidate limited partnerships is eliminated and the process to determine the primary beneficiary of a variable interest entity is modified. This guidance is effective in the first quarter of 2016. Alleghany adopted this guidance in the first quarter of 2016 and the implementation did not have a material impact on its results of operations and financial condition.

In April 2015, the FASB issued guidance that requires debt issuance costs related to debt liabilities be presented in the balance sheet as a direct deduction from the carrying amount of that debt liability, which is consistent with debt discounts. The recognition and measurement guidance for debt issuance costs are not affected. This guidance was effective in the first quarter of 2016. Alleghany adopted this guidance on a retrospective basis in the first quarter of 2016 and the implementation resulted in a reduction of other assets and a corresponding decrease in senior notes of approximately $7 million as of March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015.

Future Application of Accounting Standards

In May 2014, the FASB, together with the International Accounting Standards Board, issued guidance on the recognition of revenue from contracts with customers. Under the new guidance, revenue is recognized as the transfer of goods and services to customers takes place, and in amounts that reflect the payment or payments that are expected to be received from the customers for those goods and services. The new guidance also requires new disclosures about revenue. Revenues related to insurance and reinsurance are not impacted by this guidance. In July 2015, the FASB decided to delay the effective date of the new revenue standard by a year. This guidance is now effective in the first quarter of 2018 for public entities, with early adoption permitted in 2017. Alleghany will adopt this guidance in the first quarter of 2018 and does not currently believe that the implementation will have a material impact on its results of operations and financial condition.

In May 2015, the FASB issued guidance that requires disclosures related to short-duration insurance contracts. The guidance applies to property and casualty insurance and reinsurance entities, among others, and requires the following annual disclosure related to the liability for loss and loss adjustment expenses (“LAE”): (i) net incurred and paid claims development information by accident year for up to ten years; (ii) a reconciliation of incurred and paid claims development information to the aggregate carrying amount of the liability for loss and LAE; (iii) incurred-but-not-reported liabilities by accident year and in total; (iv) a description of reserving methodologies (as well as any changes to those methodologies); (v) quantitative information about claim frequency by accident year; and (vi) the average annual percentage payout of incurred claims by age by accident year. In addition, the guidance requires insurance entities to disclose for annual and interim reporting periods a roll-forward of the liability for loss and LAE. This guidance is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2015, and interim periods within annual periods beginning after December 15, 2016, with early adoption permitted. Alleghany will adopt this guidance as of December 31, 2016 and does not currently believe that the implementation will have an impact on its results of operations and financial condition.

In January 2016, the FASB issued guidance that changes the recognition and measurement of certain financial instruments. The new guidance requires investments in equity securities (except those accounted for under the equity method of accounting) to be measured at fair value with changes in fair value recognized in net income. For equity securities that do not have readily determinable fair values, measurement may be at cost, adjusted for any impairment and changes resulting from observable price changes for a similar investment of the same issuer. The new guidance also changes the presentation and disclosure of financial instruments by: (i) requiring that financial instrument disclosures of fair value use the exit price notion; (ii) requiring separate presentation of financial assets and financial liabilities by measurement category and form, either on the balance sheet or the accompanying notes to the financial statements; (iii) requiring separate presentation in other comprehensive income for the portion of the change in a liability’s fair value resulting from instrument-specific credit risk when an election has been made to measure the liability at fair value; and (iv) eliminating the requirement to disclose the methods and significant assumptions used to estimate the fair value for financial instruments measured at amortized cost on the balance sheet. The new guidance is effective for public companies for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Except for the change in presentation for instrument-specific credit risk, the new guidance does not permit early adoption. Alleghany will adopt this guidance in the first quarter of 2018. As of January 1, 2018, unrealized gains or losses of equity securities, net of deferred taxes, will be reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income to retained earnings. Subsequently, all changes in unrealized gains or losses of equity securities, net of deferred taxes, will be presented in the consolidated statement of earnings, rather than the consolidated statement of comprehensive income. Alleghany does not currently believe that the implementation will have a material impact on its financial condition.

In February 2016, the FASB issued guidance on leases. Under the new guidance, a lessee is required to recognize assets and liabilities for leases with lease terms of more than one year, whereas under current guidance, a lessee is only required to recognize assets and liabilities for those leases qualifying as capital leases. The new guidance also requires new disclosures about the amount, timing and uncertainty of cash flows arising from leases. The accounting by lessors is to remain largely unchanged. This guidance is effective in the first quarter of 2019 for public entities, with early adoption permitted. Alleghany will adopt this guidance in the first quarter of 2019 and does not currently believe that the implementation will have a material impact on its results of operations and financial condition.