Derivative Instruments

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities Disclosure [Abstract]

Derivative Instruments

NOTE 14 - Derivative Instruments

Fixed indexed annuity products are deferred fixed annuities that guarantee the return of principal to the contractholder and credit interest based on a percentage of the gain in a specified market index. When fixed indexed annuity deposits are received, a portion of the deposit is used to purchase derivatives consisting of call options on the applicable market indices to fund the index credits due to fixed indexed annuity contractholders. For the Company, substantially all such call options are one-year options purchased to match the funding requirements of the underlying contracts. The call options are carried at fair value with the change in fair value included in Net Realized Investment Gains (Losses), a component of revenues, in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. The change in fair value of derivatives includes the gains or losses recognized at the expiration of the option term or early termination and the changes in fair value for open positions. On the respective anniversary dates of the indexed deposits, the index used to compute the annual index credit is reset and new one-year call options are purchased to fund the next annual index credit. The cost of these purchases is managed through the terms of the fixed indexed annuities, which permit changes to index return caps, participation rates and/or asset fees, subject to guaranteed minimums on each contract’s anniversary date. By adjusting the index return caps, participation rates or asset fees, crediting rates generally can be managed except in cases where the contractual features would prevent further modifications.

The Company carries all derivative instruments as assets or liabilities in the Consolidated Balance Sheets at fair value. The Company elected to not use hedge accounting for derivative transactions related to the FIA products. As a result, the Company records the purchased call options and the embedded derivative related to the provision of a contingent return at fair value, with changes in the fair value of the derivatives recognized immediately in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. The fair values of derivative instruments, including derivative instruments embedded in fixed indexed annuity contracts, presented in the Consolidated Balance Sheets were as follows:

	December 31,
	2014			2013
Assets
Derivative instruments, included in Short-term and Other Investments		$	2,458		$	-
Liabilities
Fixed indexed annuities - embedded derivatives, included in Other Policyholder Funds			20,049			-

The changes in fair value of derivatives included in the Consolidated Statements of Operations were as follows:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2014			2013		2012
Change in fair value of derivatives:
Revenues
Net realized investment gains (losses)	$	995		$	-	$	-
Change in fair value of embedded derivatives:
Revenues
Net realized investment gains (losses)		(1,157	)		-		-

The Company’s strategy attempts to mitigate any potential risk of loss under these agreements through a regular monitoring process, which evaluates the program's effectiveness. The Company is exposed to risk of loss in the event of nonperformance by the counterparties and, accordingly, option contracts are purchased from multiple counterparties, which are evaluated for creditworthiness prior to purchase of the contracts. All of these options have been purchased from nationally recognized financial institutions with a Standard and Poor's/Moody’s long-term credit rating of “A-”/“A3” or higher at the time of purchase and the maximum credit exposure to any single counterparty is subject to concentration limits. The Company also obtains credit support agreements that allow it to request the counterparty to provide collateral when the fair value of the exposure to the counterparty exceeds specified amounts.

The notional amount and fair value of call options by counterparty and each counterparty's long-term credit ratings were as follows:

	December 31, 2014								December 31, 2013
	Credit Rating (1)			Notional			Fair			Notional			Fair
Counterparty	S&P	Moody’s	Amount			Value			Amount			Value
Bank of America, N.A.	A	A2		$	8,700		$	439		$	-		$	-
Barclays Bank PLC	A	A2			5,000			70			-			-
Credit Suisse International	A	A1			27,500			1,193			-			-
Societe Generale	A	A2			25,400			756			-			-
Total				$	66,600		$	2,458		$	-		$	-

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(1) As assigned by Standard & Poor’s Corporation (“S&P”) and Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”).

As of December 31, 2014, the Company held $1,955 of cash received from counterparties for derivative collateral, which is included in Other Liabilities on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. This derivative collateral limits the Company’s maximum amount of economic loss due to credit risk that would be incurred if parties to the call options failed completely to perform according to the terms of the contracts to $503 at December 31, 2014.

The future annual index credits on fixed indexed annuities are treated as a "series of embedded derivatives" over the expected life of the applicable contract. Call options are not purchased to fund the index liabilities which may arise after the next annuity deposit anniversary date. Call options and the related forward embedded options in the annuity contracts are carried at fair value.