Investments in debt and equity securities available-for-sale

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2017

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, 2017		December 31, 2016
	Amortized costs	Fair values	Amortized costs	Fair values
	($000 omitted)
Debt securities:
Municipal	71,849	73,355	72,284	72,432
Corporate	334,143	342,760	338,365	343,047
Foreign	215,664	214,567	165,735	167,027
U.S. Treasury Bonds	12,837	12,721	12,795	12,613
Equity securities	29,900	36,279	30,255	36,384
	664,393	679,682	619,434	631,503

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

Gross unrealized gains and losses were:

	September 30, 2017		December 31, 2016
	Gains	Losses	Gains	Losses
	($000 omitted)
Debt securities:
Municipal	1,697	191	723	575
Corporate	8,879	262	6,871	2,189
Foreign	2,327	3,424	2,912	1,620
U.S. Treasury Bonds	12	128	4	186
Equity securities	6,744	365	6,800	671
	19,659	4,370	17,310	5,241

Debt securities as of September 30, 2017 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	31,735	31,933
After one year through five years	304,284	309,497
After five years through ten years	233,228	234,022
After ten years	65,246	67,951
	634,493	643,403

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, 2017, were:

	Less than 12 months		More than 12 months		Total
	Losses	Fair values	Losses	Fair values	Losses	Fair values
	($000 omitted)
Debt securities:
Municipal	55	3,771	136	4,353	191	8,124
Corporate	206	39,708	56	1,638	262	41,346
Foreign	3,191	131,992	233	5,071	3,424	137,063
U.S. Treasury Bonds	128	8,293	—	—	128	8,293
Equity securities	255	6,350	110	568	365	6,918
	3,835	190,114	535	11,630	4,370	201,744

The number of specific investment holdings in an unrealized loss position as of September 30, 2017 was 145, 15 securities 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 as 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, 2016, were:

	Less than 12 months		More than 12 months		Total
	Losses	Fair values	Losses	Fair values	Losses	Fair values
	($000 omitted)
Debt securities:
Municipal	575	32,038	—	—	575	32,038
Corporate	2,189	119,965	—	—	2,189	119,965
Foreign	1,427	70,012	193	3,160	1,620	73,172
U.S. Treasury Bonds	186	11,847	—	—	186	11,847
Equity securities	424	5,950	247	2,250	671	8,200
	4,801	239,812	440	5,410	5,241	245,222

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.