Future Policy Benefits and Claims and Separate Account Liabilities

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Future Policy Benefits and Claims and Separate Account Liabilities

Future Policy Benefits and Claims and Separate Account Liabilities

10. Future Policy Benefits and Claims and Separate Account Liabilities

Future policy benefits and claims consisted of the following:

	December 31,
	2011		2010
	(in millions)
Fixed annuities	$	16,401	$	16,520
EIA accumulated host values		58		100
EIA embedded derivatives		2		3
Variable annuity fixed sub-accounts		4,852		4,868
Variable annuity GMWB		1,377		337
Variable annuity GMAB		237		104
Other variable annuity guarantees		14		13
Total annuities		22,941		21,945
VUL/UL insurance		2,662		2,588
IUL accumulated host values		4		—
IUL embedded derivatives		3		—
VUL/UL insurance additional liabilities		220		143
Other life, disability income and long term care insurance		5,352		5,004
Auto, home and other insurance		420		394
Policy claims and other policyholders' funds		121		134
Total	$	31,723	$	30,208

Separate account liabilities consisted of the following:

	December 31,
	2011		2010
	(in millions)
Variable annuity variable sub-accounts	$	57,556	$	57,862
VUL insurance variable sub-accounts		5,575		5,887
Other insurance variable sub-accounts		43		46
Threadneedle investment liabilities		3,606		4,535
Total	$	66,780	$	68,330

Fixed Annuities

Fixed annuities include both deferred and payout contracts. Deferred contracts offer a guaranteed minimum rate of interest and security of the principal invested. Payout contracts guarantee a fixed income payment for life or the term of the contract. The Company generally invests the proceeds from the annuity payments in fixed rate securities. The Company may hedge the interest rate risks related to fixed annuities with derivative instruments. As of December 31, 2011 and 2010, there were no outstanding derivatives to hedge these risks.

Equity Indexed Annuities

The Index 500 Annuity, the Company's EIA product, is a single premium deferred fixed annuity. The contract is issued with an initial term of seven years and interest earnings are linked to the S&P 500 Index. This annuity has a minimum interest rate guarantee of 3% on 90% of the initial premium, adjusted for any surrenders. The Company generally invests the proceeds from the annuity deposits in fixed rate securities and hedges the equity risk with derivative instruments. See Note 15 for additional information regarding the Company's derivative instruments. In 2007, the Company discontinued new sales of equity indexed annuities.

Variable Annuities

Purchasers of variable annuities can select from a variety of investment options and can elect to allocate a portion to a fixed account. A vast majority of the premiums received for variable annuity contracts are held in separate accounts where the assets are held for the exclusive benefit of those contractholders.

Most of the variable annuity contracts issued by the Company contain one or more guaranteed benefits, including GMWB, GMAB, GMDB and GGU provisions. The Company previously offered contracts with GMIB provisions. See Note 2 and Note 11 for additional information regarding the Company's variable annuity guarantees. The Company does not currently hedge its risk under the GMDB, GGU and GMIB provisions. See Note 15 for additional information regarding derivative instruments used to hedge risks related to GMWB and GMAB provisions.

Insurance Liabilities

VUL/UL is the largest group of insurance policies written by the Company. Purchasers of VUL can select from a variety of investment options and can elect to allocate a portion to a fixed account or a separate account. A vast majority of the premiums received for VUL contracts are held in separate accounts where the assets are held for the exclusive benefit of those policyholders. In 2011, the Company began offering IUL insurance. IUL is similar to UL in that it provides life insurance coverage and cash value that increases as a result of credited interest. Also, like UL, there is a minimum guaranteed credited rate of interest. Unlike UL the rate of credited interest above the minimum guarantee is linked to the S&P 500 Index (subject to a cap). The Company also offers term and whole life insurance as well as disability products. The Company no longer offers LTC products but has in force policies from prior years. Insurance liabilities include accumulation values, unpaid reported claims, incurred but not reported claims and obligations for anticipated future claims.

Portions of the Company's fixed and variable universal life contracts have product features that result in profits followed by losses from the insurance component of the contract. These profits followed by losses can be generated by the cost structure of the product or secondary guarantees in the contract. The secondary guarantee ensures that, subject to specified conditions, the policy will not terminate and will continue to provide a death benefit even if there is insufficient policy value to cover the monthly deductions and charges.

Threadneedle Investment Liabilities

Threadneedle provides a range of unitized pooled pension funds, which invest in property, stocks, bonds and cash. The investments are selected by the clients and are based on the level of risk they are willing to assume. All investment performance, net of fees, is passed through to the investors. The value of the liabilities represents the value of the units in issue of the pooled pension funds.