Reinsurance

Retrocession reinsurance treaties do not relieve the Company from its obligations to direct writing companies. Failure of retrocessionaires to honor their obligations could result in losses to the Company. Consequently, allowances would be established for amounts deemed uncollectible. At March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, no allowances were deemed necessary. The Company regularly evaluates the financial condition of the insurance companies from which it assumes and to which it cedes reinsurance.

Retrocessions are arranged through the Company’s retrocession pools for amounts in excess of the Company’s retention limit. As of March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, all rated retrocession pool participants followed by the A.M. Best Company were rated “A- (excellent)” or better. The Company verifies retrocession pool participants’ ratings on a quarterly basis. For a majority of the retrocessionaires that were not rated, security in the form of letters of credit or trust assets has been posted. In addition, the Company performs annual financial reviews of its retrocessionaires to evaluate financial stability and performance. In addition to its third party retrocessionaires, various RGA reinsurance subsidiaries retrocede amounts in excess of their retention to affiliated subsidiaries.

The following table presents information for the Company’s reinsurance ceded receivable assets, including the respective amount and A.M. Best rating for each reinsurer representing in excess of five percent of the total as of March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016 (dollars in thousands):



		March 31, 2017				December 31, 2016
Reinsurer	A.M. Best Rating	Amount		% of Total		Amount		% of Total
Reinsurer A	A+	$	273,387	35.9	%	$	240,894	35.2	%
Reinsurer B	A+	187,880		24.7		183,881		26.9
Reinsurer C	A+	72,191		9.5		68,832		10.1
Reinsurer D	A++	45,327		6.0		36,202		5.3
Reinsurer E	A	41,797		5.5		35,484		5.2
Other reinsurers		140,133		18.4		118,679		17.3
Total		$	760,715	100.0	%	$	683,972	100.0	%

Included in the total reinsurance ceded receivables balance were $278.4 million and $242.0 million of claims recoverable, of which $4.4 million and $4.0 million were in excess of 90 days past due, as of March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively.