Investments in debt and equity securities available-for-sale

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2015

Investments, Debt and Equity Securities [Abstract]

Investments in debt and equity securities available-for-sale

Investments in debt and equity securities available-for-sale. The amortized costs and fair values follow:

	September 30, 2015		December 31, 2014
	Amortized costs	Fair values	Amortized costs	Fair values
	($000 omitted)
Debt securities:
Municipal	65,789	67,106	60,656	61,689
Corporate	280,249	289,536	296,578	308,691
Foreign	149,303	153,334	163,099	166,685
U.S. Treasury Bonds	13,804	14,061	14,337	14,802
Equity securities	29,805	29,455	22,710	28,236
	538,950	553,492	557,380	580,103

Foreign debt securities consist primarily of Canadian government and corporate bonds, United Kingdom treasury bonds, and Mexican government bonds. Equity securities consist of common stocks and master limited partnerships.

Gross unrealized gains and losses were:

	September 30, 2015		December 31, 2014
	Gains	Losses	Gains	Losses
	($000 omitted)
Debt securities:
Municipal	1,373	56	1,125	92
Corporate	10,523	1,236	12,559	446
Foreign	4,373	342	3,690	104
U.S. Treasury Bonds	257	—	492	27
Equity securities	3,673	4,023	5,982	456
	20,199	5,657	23,848	1,125

Debt securities as of September 30, 2015 mature, according to their contractual terms, as follows (actual maturities may differ due to call or prepayment rights):

	Amortized costs	Fair values
	($000 omitted)
In one year or less	26,212	26,443
After one year through five years	238,660	245,170
After five years through ten years	205,953	212,373
After ten years	38,320	40,051
	509,145	524,037

Gross unrealized losses on investments and the fair values of the related securities, aggregated by investment category and length of time that individual securities have been in a continuous unrealized loss position at September 30, 2015, were:

	Less than 12 months		More than 12 months		Total
	Losses	Fair values	Losses	Fair values	Losses	Fair values
	($000 omitted)
Debt securities:
Municipal	56	4,987	—	—	56	4,987
Corporate	646	30,408	590	30,043	1,236	60,451
Foreign	171	33,756	171	4,634	342	38,390
Equity securities	4,019	14,134	4	223	4,023	14,357
	4,892	83,285	765	34,900	5,657	118,185

The number of investments in an unrealized loss position as of September 30, 2015 was 131, 16 of which were in unrealized loss positions for more than 12 months. Since the Company does not intend to sell and will more-likely-than-not maintain each investment security until its maturity or anticipated recovery, and no significant credit risk is deemed to exist, these investments are not considered other-than-temporarily impaired.

Gross unrealized losses on investments and the fair values of the related securities, aggregated by investment category and length of time that individual securities have been in a continuous unrealized loss position at December 31, 2014, were:

	Less than 12 months		More than 12 months		Total
	Losses	Fair values	Losses	Fair values	Losses	Fair values
	($000 omitted)
Debt securities:
Municipal	1	2,673	91	12,076	92	14,749
Corporate	107	7,167	339	26,545	446	33,712
Foreign	11	34,236	93	6,446	104	40,682
U.S. Treasury Bonds	—	—	27	3,694	27	3,694
Equity securities	456	6,540	—	—	456	6,540
	575	50,616	550	48,761	1,125	99,377

The Company believes its investment portfolio is diversified and expects no material loss to result from the failure to perform by issuers of the debt securities it holds. Investments made by the Company are not collateralized.