Summary of Significant Accounting Principles (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2021

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

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, 2020 (the “2020 Form 10-K”) of Alleghany Corporation (“Alleghany”).

Alleghany, a Delaware corporation, owns and supports certain operating subsidiaries and manages investments, anchored by a core position in property and casualty reinsurance and insurance. Through its wholly-owned subsidiary Transatlantic Holdings, Inc. (“TransRe”), an Alleghany subsidiary since March 2012, Alleghany is engaged in the property and casualty reinsurance business. Through its wholly-owned subsidiary Alleghany Insurance Holdings LLC (“AIHL”), Alleghany is engaged in the property and casualty insurance business. AIHL’s insurance operations are principally conducted by its subsidiaries RSUI Group, Inc. (“RSUI”) and CapSpecialty, Inc. (“CapSpecialty”). RSUI and CapSpecialty have been subsidiaries of AIHL since July 2003 and January 2002, respectively. AIHL Re LLC (“AIHL Re”), a captive reinsurance company, which provides reinsurance to Alleghany’s current and former insurance operating subsidiaries and affiliates, has been a subsidiary of Alleghany since its formation in May 2006.

Although Alleghany’s primary sources of revenues and earnings are its reinsurance and insurance operations and investments, Alleghany also generates revenues and expenses from a diverse portfolio of non-financial businesses that are owned and supported through its wholly-owned subsidiary Alleghany Capital Corporation (“Alleghany Capital”). Alleghany Capital’s businesses include:

• Precision Cutting Technologies, Inc. (“PCT”), a holding company headquartered in Rockford, Illinois, with four operating businesses: (i) Bourn & Koch, Inc., a provider of precision automated machine tool solutions; (ii) Diamond Technology Innovations, Inc., a manufacturer of waterjet orifices and nozzles and a provider of related services; (iii) Coastal Industrial Distributors, LLC, a provider of high-performance solid carbide end mills; and (iv) Supermill LLC, a manufacturer of high-performance carbide end mills;

• 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;

• IPS-Integrated Project Services, LLC (“IPS”), a design, engineering, procurement, construction management and validation service provider focused on the global pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania;

• Jazwares, LLC (together with its affiliates, “Jazwares”), a global toy and musical instrument company, headquartered in Sunrise, Florida;

• WWSC Holdings, LLC (“W&W|AFCO Steel”), a structural steel fabricator and erector, headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma;

• CHECO Holdings, LLC (“Concord”), a hotel management and development company, headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina; and

• Wilbert Funeral Services, Inc. (“Wilbert”), a provider of products and services for the funeral and cemetery industries and precast concrete markets, headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas.

On April 1, 2020, Alleghany Capital acquired an additional approximately 55 percent of Wilbert it previously did not own, bringing its equity interest in Wilbert to approximately 100 percent, and as of that date, the results of Wilbert were included in Alleghany’s consolidated results. Prior to April 1, 2020, Wilbert was accounted for under the equity method of accounting and was included in other invested assets.

In addition, Alleghany owns certain other holding-company investments. Alleghany’s wholly-owned subsidiary Alleghany Properties Holdings LLC (“Alleghany Properties”) owns and manages certain properties in the Sacramento, California region. Alleghany’s public equity investments are managed primarily through Alleghany’s wholly-owned subsidiary Roundwood Asset Management LLC. Prior to its December 31, 2020 sale, Stranded Oil Resources Corporation (“SORC”) was a wholly-owned subsidiary. Headquartered in Golden, Colorado, SORC was an exploration and production company focused on enhanced oil recovery.

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 U.S. (“GAAP”). All material inter-company balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

The portion of stockholders’ equity, net earnings and comprehensive income that is not attributable to Alleghany stockholders is presented on the consolidated balance sheets, the consolidated statements of earnings and comprehensive income and the consolidated statements of changes in stockholders’ equity as noncontrolling interests. Because all noncontrolling interests have the option to sell their ownership interests to Alleghany in the future (generally through 2024), the portion of stockholders’ equity that is not attributable to Alleghany stockholders is presented on the consolidated balance sheets and the consolidated statements of changes in stockholders’ equity as redeemable noncontrolling interests for all periods presented. In addition, Alleghany accretes the redeemable noncontrolling interests up to their future estimated redemption value over the period from the date of issuance to the earliest redemption date. The redemption value of the equity interests is generally based on the subsidiary’s earnings in specified periods preceding the applicable redemption date, calculated based on either a specified formula or an independent fair market valuation. During the first three months of 2021, the noncontrolling interests outstanding were approximately as follows: Kentucky Trailer - 23 percent; IPS - 15 percent; Jazwares - 24 percent; W&W|AFCO Steel - 20 percent; and Concord - 15 percent.

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 and reported revenues and expenses 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 statements of earnings and comprehensive income in the period in which the changes are made.

(b) Other Significant Accounting Principles

Alleghany’s significant accounting principles can be found in Note 1 to Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements set forth in Part II, Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of the 2020 Form 10-K.

Recent Accounting Standards

(c) Recent Accounting Standards

Recently Adopted   

In June 2016, the FASB issued guidance on credit losses. Under this guidance, a company is required to measure all expected credit losses on loans, reinsurance recoverables and other financial assets accounted for at cost or amortized cost, as applicable, over the remaining expected life of such assets. Estimates of expected credit losses are to be based on historical experience, current conditions and reasonable and supportable forecasts. Under former FASB guidance, credit losses on these assets generally required a company to recognize credit losses when it was probable that a loss had been incurred. Credit losses for securities accounted for on an available for sale (“AFS”) basis are to be measured in a manner similar to GAAP as applied under former guidance and cannot exceed the amount by which the fair value is less than the amortized cost, although the new guidance removes the length of time a security has been in an unrealized loss position as a possible indication of a credit impairment. Credit losses for all financial assets are to be recorded through an allowance for credit losses. Subsequent reversals in credit loss estimates are permitted and are to be recognized in earnings. This guidance also requires new disclosures about the significant estimates and judgments used in estimating credit losses, as well as the credit quality of financial assets. This guidance was effective in the first quarter of 2020 for public companies, with early adoption permitted. Alleghany adopted this guidance in the first quarter of 2020.

As of January 1, 2020, Alleghany increased its allowances for credit losses on certain financial assets accounted for at cost or amortized cost by $4.5 million and recorded an after-tax cumulative effect reduction in opening retained earnings of $3.6 million.  The increase in allowances for credit losses primarily relates to reinsurance recoverables and commercial mortgage loans. See Note 4 of this Form 10-Q for further information on Alleghany’s reinsurance recoverables and Note 3(i) of this Form 10-Q for further information on Alleghany’s investments in commercial mortgage loans.  The increase in allowances for credit losses also relates to premium balances receivable. Estimates of expected credit losses for all of these assets are based on certain market-based indicators of credit quality, which are updated on an annual basis and re-assessed at least quarterly. Related credit loss expenses are recorded as a component of other operating expenses.  

As of January 1, 2020, credit losses for Alleghany’s AFS securities are recorded through an allowance for credit losses on the consolidated balance sheets and as a change in allowance for credit losses on AFS securities in the consolidated statements of earnings and comprehensive income.  See Note 3(f) of this Form 10-Q for further information on the credit quality for Alleghany’s AFS securities.

In January 2017, the FASB issued guidance that simplifies the subsequent measurement of goodwill. Under this guidance, if an initial qualitative assessment indicates that the fair value of an operating subsidiary may be less than its carrying amount, an impairment charge is recognized for the amount by which the carrying amount of the operating subsidiary exceeds its estimated fair value. Any resulting impairment loss recognized cannot exceed the total amount of goodwill associated with the operating subsidiary. This guidance was effective in the first quarter of 2020 for public companies, with early adoption permitted. Alleghany adopted this guidance in the first quarter of 2020 and the implementation did not have a material impact on its results of operations and financial condition. See Note 2 to Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements set forth in Part II, Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of the 2020 Form 10-K for further information on Alleghany’s goodwill.

In August 2018, the FASB issued guidance that changes the financial statement disclosure requirements for measuring fair value. With respect to financial instruments classified as “Level 3” in the fair value disclosure hierarchy, the guidance requires certain additional disclosures for public companies related to amounts included in other comprehensive income and significant unobservable inputs used in the valuation, while removing disclosure requirements related to an entity’s overall valuation processes. The guidance also removes certain disclosure requirements related to transfers between financial instruments classified as “Level 1” and “Level 2” and provides clarification on certain other existing disclosure requirements. This guidance was effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2019, with early adoption permitted with respect to any eliminated or modified disclosures. Alleghany adopted this guidance in the first quarter of 2020 and the implementation did not impact its results of operations or financial condition. See Note 2 of this Form 10-Q for further information on the fair value of Alleghany’s financial instruments.

In March 2020, the FASB issued guidance to expedite and simplify the accounting associated with the anticipated migration away from the widely-used London Inter-bank Offered Rate and other similar rates as benchmark interest rates after 2021.  Under pre-existing GAAP, such modifications made to: (i) loans and certain other contracts would require re-assessments of the accounting for those contracts, such as whether they were extinguished and remeasured from an accounting perspective; and (ii) derivative contracts may cause a change in accounting, such as a possible dedesignation of hedge accounting. This new guidance largely eliminates these requirements as a result of this migration to one or more new benchmark rates and is generally applicable for contract modifications made prior to December 31, 2022. Alleghany adopted this guidance in March 2020 and the implementation did not have an impact on its results of operations and financial condition.

Future Application of Accounting Standards

In August 2020, the FASB issued guidance that simplifies the accounting and disclosure requirements for certain financial instruments with characteristics of liabilities and equity, such as convertible debt and convertible preferred stock. This guidance also modifies the accounting for certain contracts involving an entity’s own stock. This guidance is effective in the first quarter of 2022 for public companies, with early adoption permitted. Alleghany will adopt this guidance in the first quarter of 2022 and does not currently believe that the implementation will have a material impact on its results of operations and financial condition.