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Reinsurance | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2017
Reinsurance Disclosures [Abstract] |
Reinsurance | REINSURANCE The Company participates in reinsurance with third parties primarily to provide additional capacity for future growth, limit the maximum net loss potential arising from large risks and acquire or dispose of businesses. Effective April 1, 2015, the Company entered into an agreement with Union Hamilton Reinsurance, Ltd. (“Union Hamilton”) an external counterparty, to reinsure approximately 50% of the Prudential Premier® Retirement Variable Annuity with Highest Daily Lifetime Income (“HDI”) v.3.0 business, a guaranteed benefit feature. This reinsurance agreement covered most new HDI v.3.0 variable annuity business issued between April 1, 2015 and December 31, 2016 on a quota share basis, with Union Hamilton’s cumulative quota share amounting to $2.9 billion of new rider premiums as of December 31, 2016. Reinsurance on business subject to this agreement remains in force for the duration of the underlying annuity contracts. New sales subsequent to December 31, 2016 are not covered by this external reinsurance agreement. These guaranteed benefit features are accounted for as embedded derivatives. In January 2013, the Company acquired the Hartford Life Business through reinsurance transactions with three subsidiaries of Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (“Hartford Financial”). Under the related agreements, the Company provided reinsurance for approximately 700,000 life insurance policies with net retained face amount in force of approximately $141 billion. The Company acquired the general account business through a coinsurance arrangement and, for certain types of general account policies, a modified coinsurance arrangement. The Company acquired the separate account business through a modified coinsurance arrangement. In December 2017, Hartford Financial announced a definitive agreement to sell a group of operating subsidiaries, which includes two of the Company’s counterparties to these reinsurance arrangements. There is no impact to the terms, rights or obligations of the Company, or operation of these reinsurance arrangements, as a result of this change in control of such counterparties. Since 2011, the Company has entered into several reinsurance agreements to assume pension liabilities in the United Kingdom. Under these arrangements, the Company assumes the longevity risk associated with the pension benefits of certain named beneficiaries. In 2006, the Company acquired the variable annuity business of The Allstate Corporation (“Allstate”) through a reinsurance transaction. The reinsurance arrangements with Allstate include a coinsurance arrangement associated with the general account liabilities assumed and a modified coinsurance arrangement associated with the separate account liabilities assumed. The reinsurance payable, which represents the Company’s obligation under the modified coinsurance arrangement, is netted with the reinsurance receivable in the Consolidated Statements of Financial Position. In 2004, the Company acquired the retirement business of CIGNA and subsequently entered into various reinsurance arrangements. The Company still has indemnity coinsurance and modified coinsurance without assumption arrangements in effect related to this acquisition. For the domestic business, life and disability reinsurance is accomplished through various plans of reinsurance, primarily yearly renewable term, per person excess, excess of loss, and coinsurance. On policies sold since 2000, the Company has reinsured a significant portion of the individual life mortality risk. Placement of reinsurance is accomplished primarily on an automatic basis with some specific risks reinsured on a facultative basis. The Company is authorized and has historically retained up to $30 million per life, but reduced its operating retention limit to $20 million per life in 2013. Retention in excess of the operating limit is on an exception basis. The international business primarily uses reinsurance to obtain experience with respect to certain new product offerings and to a lesser extent, to manage risk and volatility as necessary. Reinsurance ceded arrangements do not discharge the Company as the primary insurer. Ceded balances would represent a liability of the Company in the event the reinsurers were unable to meet their obligations to the Company under the terms of the reinsurance agreements. Reinsurance premiums, commissions, expense reimbursements, benefits and reserves related to reinsured long-duration contracts under coinsurance arrangements are accounted for over the life of the underlying reinsured contracts using assumptions consistent with those used to account for the underlying contracts. Coinsurance arrangements contrast with the Company’s yearly renewable term arrangements, where only mortality risk is transferred to the reinsurer and premiums are paid to the reinsurer to reinsure that risk. The mortality risk that is reinsured under yearly renewable term arrangements represents the difference between the stated death benefits in the underlying reinsured contracts and the corresponding reserves or account value carried by the Company on those same contracts. The premiums paid to the reinsurer are based upon negotiated amounts, not on the actual premiums paid by the underlying contract holders to the Company. As yearly renewable term arrangements are usually entered into by the Company with the expectation that the contracts will be inforce for the lives of the underlying policies, they are considered to be long-duration reinsurance contracts. The cost of reinsurance related to short-duration reinsurance contracts is accounted for over the reinsurance contract period. The tables presented below exclude amounts pertaining to the Company’s discontinued operations. Reinsurance amounts included in the Consolidated Statements of Operations for premiums, policy charges and fee income and policyholders’ benefits for the years ended December 31, were as follows:
| 2017 |  | 2016 |  | 2015
| (in millions)
Direct premiums | $ | 31,797 |  |  | $ | 30,654 |  |  | $ | 27,996 |
Reinsurance assumed | 2,105 |  |  | 2,073 |  |  | 2,147 |
Reinsurance ceded | (1,811 | ) |  | (1,763 | ) |  | (1,622 | )
Premiums | $ | 32,091 |  |  | $ | 30,964 |  |  | $ | 28,521 |
Direct policy charges and fee income | $ | 4,541 |  |  | $ | 5,031 |  |  | $ | 5,127 |
Reinsurance assumed | 1,176 |  |  | 1,243 |  |  | 1,179 |
Reinsurance ceded | (414 | ) |  | (368 | ) |  | (334 | )
Policy charges and fee income | $ | 5,303 |  |  | $ | 5,906 |  |  | $ | 5,972 |
Direct policyholders’ benefits | $ | 33,261 |  |  | $ | 32,957 |  |  | $ | 29,242 |
Reinsurance assumed | 3,230 |  |  | 3,110 |  |  | 3,107 |
Reinsurance ceded | (2,697 | ) |  | (2,435 | ) |  | (1,722 | )
Policyholders’ benefits | $ | 33,794 |  |  | $ | 33,632 |  |  | $ | 30,627 |
Reinsurance recoverables at December 31, are as follows:
| 2017 |  | 2016
| (in millions)
Individual and group annuities(1) | $ | 698 |  |  | $ | 658 |
Life insurance(2) | 4,290 |  |  | 3,388 |
Other reinsurance | 171 |  |  | 165 |
Total reinsurance recoverables | $ | 5,159 |  |  | $ | 4,211 |
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(1) | Primarily represents reinsurance recoverables established under the reinsurance arrangements associated with the acquisition of the retirement business of CIGNA. The Company has recorded reinsurance recoverables related to the acquisition of the retirement business of CIGNA of $682 million and $656 million at December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively. Also included is $13 million and $0 million of reinsurance recoverables at December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively, established under the reinsurance agreement with Union Hamilton related to the ceding of certain embedded derivative liabilities associated with the Company’s guaranteed benefits.
(2) | Includes $2,145 million and $2,049 million of reinsurance recoverables established at December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively, under the reinsurance arrangements associated with the acquisition of the Hartford Life Business. The Company has also recorded reinsurance payables related to the Hartford Life Business acquisition of $1,301 million and $1,205 million at December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively.
Excluding the reinsurance recoverable associated with the acquisition of the Hartford Life Business and the retirement business of CIGNA, four major reinsurance companies account for approximately 59% of the reinsurance recoverable at December 31, 2017. The Company periodically reviews the financial condition of its reinsurers, amounts recoverable therefrom, and unearned reinsurance premium, in order to minimize its exposure to loss from reinsurer insolvencies. If deemed necessary, the Company would secure collateral in the form of a trust, letter of credit, or funds withheld arrangement to ensure collectability; otherwise, an allowance for uncollectible reinsurance would be recorded. Under the Company’s longevity reinsurance transactions, the Company has secured collateral from its counterparties to minimize counterparty default risk.

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- Definition The entire disclosure pertaining to the existence, magnitude and information about insurance that has been ceded to or assumed from another insurance company, including the methodologies and assumptions used in determining recorded amounts. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 944 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/topic&trid=2303980 + Details
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