CERTAIN LONG-DURATION CONTRACTS WITH GUARANTEES

The Company has issued variable annuity contracts through its separate accounts for which investment income and investment gains and losses accrue directly to, and investment risk is borne by, the contractholder. The Company has also issued variable annuity contracts with general and separate account options where the Company contractually guarantees to the contractholder a return of no less than (1) total deposits made to the contract less any partial withdrawals (“return of net deposits”), (2) total deposits made to the contract less any partial withdrawals plus a minimum return (“minimum return”), or (3) the highest contract value on a specified date adjusted for any withdrawals (“contract value”). These guarantees include benefits that are payable in the event of death, annuitization or at specified dates during the accumulation period and withdrawal and income benefits payable during specified periods. The Company has issued annuity contracts with market value adjusted investment options (“MVAs”), which provide for a return of principal plus a fixed-rate of return if held to maturity, or, alternatively, a “market adjusted value” if surrendered prior to maturity or if funds are allocated to other investment options. The market value adjustment may result in a gain or loss to the Company, depending on crediting rates or an indexed rate at surrender, as applicable. The Company issued fixed deferred annuity contracts without MVA that have a guaranteed credited rate and annuity benefit.

The assets supporting the variable portion of all variable annuities are carried at fair value and reported as “Separate account assets” with an equivalent amount reported as “Separate account liabilities.” Amounts assessed against the contractholders for mortality, administration, and other services are included within revenue in “Policy charges and fee income” and changes in liabilities for minimum guarantees are generally included in “Policyholders’ benefits” or "Realized investment gains (losses), net."

For those guarantees of benefits that are payable in the event of death, the net amount at risk is generally defined as the current guaranteed minimum death benefit in excess of the current account balance at the balance sheet date. The Company’s primary risk exposures for these contracts relates to actual deviations from, or changes to, the assumptions used in the original pricing of these products, including fixed income and equity market returns, contract lapses and contractholder mortality.

For guarantees of benefits that are payable at annuitization, the net amount at risk is generally defined as the present value of the minimum guaranteed annuity payments available to the contractholder determined in accordance with the terms of the contract in excess of the current account balance. The Company’s primary risk exposures for these contracts relates to actual deviations from, or changes to, the assumptions used in the original pricing of these products, including fixed income and equity market returns, timing of annuitization, contract lapses and contractholder mortality.

For guarantees of benefits that are payable at withdrawal, the net amount at risk is generally defined as the present value of the minimum guaranteed withdrawal payments available to the contractholder determined in accordance with the terms of the contract in excess of the current account balance. For guarantees of accumulation balances, the net amount at risk is generally defined as the guaranteed minimum accumulation balance minus the current account balance. The Company’s primary risk exposures for these contracts relates to actual deviations from, or changes to, the assumptions used in the original pricing of these products, including equity market returns, interest rates, market volatility and contractholder behavior.

The Company’s contracts with guarantees may offer more than one type of guarantee in each contract; therefore, the amounts listed may not be mutually exclusive. The liabilities related to the net amount at risk are reflected within “Future policy benefits.” As of December 31, 2016 and 2015, the Company had the following guarantees associated with its contracts, by product and guarantee type:



	December 31, 2016				December 31, 2015
	In the Event of Death(2)		At Annuitization/ Accumulation(1)(2)		In the Event of Death		At Annuitization/ Accumulation (1)

Variable Annuity Contracts	(in thousands)
Return of net deposits
Account value	$	110,194,439	N/A		$	34,305,352	N/A
Net amount at risk	$	463,423	N/A		$	341,707	N/A
Average attained age of contractholders	66 years		N/A		66 years		N/A
Minimum return or contract value
Account value	$	24,725,084	$	120,237,955	$	6,976,880	$	34,565,409
Net amount at risk	$	3,098,018	$	5,041,214	$	1,194,988	$	2,257,837
Average attained age of contractholders	69 years		66 years		68 years		66 years
Average period remaining until expected annuitization	N/A		0 years		N/A		0 years


(1)	Includes income and withdrawal benefits described herein.


(2)	Includes assumed reinsurance business from Pruco Life.

Account balances of variable annuity contracts with guarantees were invested in separate account investment options as follows:



	December 31, 2016(1)		December 31, 2015

	(in thousands)
Equity funds	$	77,133,820	$	24,639,438
Bond funds	44,025,867		12,264,741
Money market funds	9,099,337		2,081,684
Total	$	130,259,024	$	38,985,863


(1)	Amounts include assumed reinsurance business from Pruco Life.

In addition to the above mentioned amounts invested in separate account investment options, $4.7 billion and $2.3 billion of account balances of variable annuity contracts with guarantees, inclusive of contracts with MVA features, were invested in general account investment options as of December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively. The 2016 amount includes the impact of the Variable Annuities Recapture effective April 1, 2016, as described in Note 1. For the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, there were no transfers of assets, other than cash, from the general account to any separate account, and accordingly no gains or losses recorded.

Liabilities for Guarantee Benefits

The table below summarizes the changes in general account liabilities for guarantees. The liabilities for guaranteed minimum death benefits (“GMDB”) and guaranteed minimum income benefits (“GMIB”) are included in “Future policy benefits” and the related changes in the liabilities are included in “Policyholders’ benefits.” Guaranteed minimum accumulation benefits (“GMAB”), guaranteed minimum withdrawal benefits (“GMWB”) and guaranteed minimum income and withdrawal benefits (“GMIWB”) are accounted for as embedded derivatives and are recorded at fair value. Changes in the fair value of these derivatives, including changes in the Company’s own risk of non-performance, along with any fees attributed or payments made relating to the derivative are recorded in “Realized investment gains (losses), net.” See Note 10 for additional information regarding the methodology used in determining the fair value of these embedded derivatives. The liabilities for GMAB, GMWB and GMIWB are included in “Future policy benefits.” The Company and its reinsurance affiliates maintain a portfolio of derivative investments that serve as a partial hedge of the risks associated with these products, for which the changes in fair value are also recorded in “Realized investment gains (losses), net.” This portfolio of derivative investments does not qualify for hedge accounting treatment under U.S. GAAP.



	GMDB			GMAB/GMWB/ GMIWB			GMIB			Totals
Variable Annuity	(in thousands)
Balance as of December 31, 2013	$	199,870		$	778,226		$	11,279		$	989,375
Incurred guarantee benefits(1)	81,524			2,334,185			8,506			2,424,215
Paid guarantee benefits	(25,909		)	0			(724		)	(26,633		)
Changes in unrealized investment gains and losses	128			0			43			171
Balance as of December 31, 2014	255,613			3,112,411			19,104			3,387,128
Incurred guarantee benefits(1)	43,167			21,666			(4,616		)	60,217
Paid guarantee benefits	(29,240		)	0			(511		)	(29,751		)
Changes in unrealized investment gains and losses	(3,663		)	0			(113		)	(3,776		)
Balance as of December 31, 2015	265,877			3,134,077			13,864			3,413,818
Incurred guarantee benefits(1)(2)	43,185			(1,979,215		)	(3,683		)	(1,939,713		)
Paid guarantee benefits(2)	(55,604		)	0			(2,209		)	(57,813		)
Changes in unrealized investment gains and losses(2)	(5,206		)	0			(209		)	(5,415		)
Assumed guarantees upon reinsurance agreement with Pruco Life	389,067			6,552,471			30,130			6,971,668
Balance as of December 31, 2016	$	637,319		$	7,707,333		$	37,893		$	8,382,545


(1)	Incurred guarantee benefits include the portion of assessments established as additions to reserve as well as changes in estimates affecting the reserves. Also includes changes in the fair value of features accounted for as derivatives.


(2)	Amounts include assumed reinsurance business from Pruco Life.

The GMDB liability is determined each period end by estimating the accumulated value of a portion of the total assessments to date less the accumulated value of the death benefits in excess of the account balance. The GMIB liability associated with variable annuities is determined each period by estimating the accumulated value of a portion of the total assessments to date less the accumulated value of the projected income benefits in excess of the account balance. The portion of assessments used is chosen such that, at issue the present value of expected death benefits or expected income benefits in excess of the projected account balance and the portion of the present value of total expected assessments over the lifetime of the contracts are equal. The Company regularly evaluates the estimates used and adjusts the GMDB and GMIB liability balances with an associated charge or credit to earnings, if actual experience or other evidence suggests that earlier estimates should be revised.

The GMAB features provide the contractholder with a guaranteed return of initial account value or an enhanced value if applicable. The most significant of the Company’s GMAB features are the guaranteed return option (“GRO”) features, which include an asset transfer feature that reduces the Company’s exposure to these guarantees. The GMAB liability is calculated as the present value of future expected payments in excess of account balance less the present value of future expected rider fees attributable to the embedded derivative feature.

The GMWB features provide the contractholder with access to a guaranteed remaining balance if the account value is reduced to zero through a combination of market declines and withdrawals. The guaranteed remaining balance is generally equal to the protected value under the contract, which is initially established as the greater of the account value or cumulative deposits when withdrawals commence, less cumulative withdrawals. The contractholder also has the option, after a specified time period, to reset the guaranteed remaining balance to the then-current account value, if greater. The contractholder accesses the guaranteed remaining balance through payments over time, subject to maximum annual limits. The GMWB liability is calculated as the present value of future expected payments to customers less the present value of future expected rider fees attributable to the embedded derivative feature.

The GMIWB features, taken collectively, provide a contractholder two optional methods to receive guaranteed minimum payments over time, a “withdrawal” option or an “income” option. The withdrawal option (which was available under only one of the GMIWBs and is no longer offered) guarantees that a contractholder can withdraw an amount each year until the cumulative withdrawals reach a total guaranteed balance. The income option (which varies among the Company’s GMIWBs) in general guarantees the contractholder the ability to withdraw an amount each year for life (or for joint lives, in the case of any spousal version of the benefit) where such amount is equal to a percentage of a protected value under the benefit. The contractholder also has the potential to increase this annual amount, based on certain subsequent increases in account value that may occur. The GMIWB can be elected by the contractholder upon issuance of an appropriate deferred variable annuity contract or at any time following contract issue prior to annuitization. Certain GMIWB features include an asset transfer feature that reduces the Company’s exposure to these guarantees. The GMIWB liability is calculated as the present value of future expected payments to customers less the present value of future expected rider fees attributable to the embedded derivative feature.

As part of its risk management strategy, the Company limits its exposure to these risks through a combination of product design elements, such as an asset transfer feature, and affiliated reinsurance agreements. The asset transfer feature, included in the design of certain optional living benefits, transfers assets between certain variable investments selected by the annuity contractholder and, depending on the benefit feature, a fixed rate account in the general account or a bond portfolio within the separate accounts. The transfers are based on the static mathematical formula, used with the particular optional benefit, which considers a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the impact of investment performance on the contractholder total account value. In general, but not always, negative investment performance may result in transfers to a fixed-rate account in the general account or a bond portfolio within the separate accounts, and positive investment performance may result in transfers back to contractholder-selected variable investments. Other product design elements utilized for certain products to manage these risks include asset allocation restrictions and minimum issuance age requirements. For risk management purposes, the Company segregates the variable annuity living benefit features into those that include the asset transfer feature including certain GMIWB guarantees and certain GMAB guarantees that feature the GRO policyholder benefit, and those that do not include the asset transfer feature, including certain legacy GMIWB, GMWB, GMAB and GMIB guarantees. Living benefit guarantees that include the asset transfer feature also include GMDB guarantees, and as such, the GMDB risk in these guarantees also benefits from this feature.

Liabilities for guaranteed benefits for GMAB, GMWB and GMIWB features include amounts assumed from an affiliate. See Note 13 for amounts recoverable from reinsurer relating to the ceding of certain embedded derivative liabilities associated with these guaranteed benefits, which are not reflected in the tables above.

Sales Inducements

The Company defers sales inducements and amortizes them over the anticipated life of the policy using the same methodology and assumptions used to amortize DAC. DSI is included in “Deferred sales inducements” in the Company’s Statements of Financial Position. The Company offered various types of sales inducements. These inducements included: (1) a bonus whereby the policyholder’s initial account balance is increased by an amount equal to a specified percentage of the customer’s initial deposit and (2) additional credits after a certain number of years a contract is held. Changes in DSI, reported as “Interest credited to policyholders’account balances”, are as follows:



	Sales Inducements
	(in thousands)
Balance as of December 31, 2013	$	809,247
Capitalization	11,515
Amortization - Impact of assumption and experience unlocking and true-ups	45,417
Amortization - All other	(204,563		)
Change in unrealized investment gains and losses	3,591
Balance as of December 31, 2014	665,207
Capitalization	873
Amortization - Impact of assumption and experience unlocking and true-ups	21,125
Amortization - All other	(206,263		)
Change in unrealized investment gains and losses	11,063
Ceded DSI upon reinsurance agreement with Prudential Insurance(1)	(39,253		)
Balance as of December 31, 2015	452,752
Capitalization	1,805
Amortization - Impact of assumption and experience unlocking and true-ups	101,424
Amortization - All other	(81,603		)
Change in unrealized investment gains and losses	4,915
Assumed DSI upon reinsurance agreement with Pruco Life(1)	499,530
Balance as of December 31, 2016	$	978,823


(1)	See Note 1 for additional information.