CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Parentheticals) (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Amortized cost of fixed maturities, available for sale	$ 27,728,771	$ 27,111,874
Cost of equity securities, available for sale	763,833	903,201
Amortized cost of short-term investments, available for sale	257,221	455,470
Amortized cost of fixed maturities, trading	1,180	0
Fair value of held to maturity securities	$ 0	$ 3,131,235
Ordinary shares, shares authorized (in shares)	999,990,000us-gaap_CommonStockSharesAuthorized	999,990,000us-gaap_CommonStockSharesAuthorized
Ordinary shares, par value (in dollars per share)	$ 0.01	$ 0.01
Ordinary shares, shares issued (in shares)	255,182,955us-gaap_CommonStockSharesIssued	278,253,308us-gaap_CommonStockSharesIssued
Ordinary shares, shares outstanding (in shares)	255,182,955us-gaap_CommonStockSharesOutstanding	278,253,308us-gaap_CommonStockSharesOutstanding

This item represents the cost of debt securities, which are categorized neither as held-to-maturity nor trading, net of adjustments including accretion, amortization, collection of cash, previous other-than-temporary impairments recognized in earnings (less any cumulative-effect adjustments recognized, as defined), and fair value hedge accounting adjustments, if any.

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Amortized cost of short-term investments in debt and equity securities and other forms of securities that provide ownership interests classified as available-for-sale.

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Face amount or stated value per share of common stock.

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The maximum number of common shares permitted to be issued by an entity's charter and bylaws.

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Total number of common shares of an entity that have been sold or granted to shareholders (includes common shares that were issued, repurchased and remain in the treasury). These shares represent capital invested by the firm's shareholders and owners, and may be all or only a portion of the number of shares authorized. Shares issued include shares outstanding and shares held in the treasury.

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Number of shares of common stock outstanding. Common stock represent the ownership interest in a corporation.

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Fair value of investments in debt securities classified as held-to-maturity.

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