XML 14 R39.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT
v3.3.0.814

Investments (Investments in Fixed Maturity and Equity Securities Available-for-Sale by Sector) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands | 9 Months Ended | 12 Months Ended
--- | --- | ---
Sep. 30, 2015 | Dec. 31, 2014
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items] |  |
Amortized Cost | $ 15,801,362 | $ 14,010,604
Unrealized Losses | 452,058 | 134,919
Estimated Fair Value | $ 16,173,447 | $ 14,885,583
% of Total | 100.00% | 100.00%
Fixed maturity securities |  |
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items] |  |
Amortized Cost | $ 25,844,795 | $ 23,105,597
Unrealized Gains | 2,009,994 | 2,508,673
Unrealized Losses | 443,001 | 133,298
Estimated Fair Value | $ 27,411,788 | $ 25,480,972
% of Total | 100.00% | 100.00%
Other-than-temporary impairments in AOCI | $ (1,555) | $ 1,555
Equity securities |  |
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items] |  |
Amortized Cost | 116,694 | 120,534
Unrealized Gains | 2,737 | 7,947
Unrealized Losses | 9,057 | 1,621
Estimated Fair Value | $ 110,374 | $ 126,860
% of Total | 100.00% | 100.00%
Corporate Debt Securities [Member] | Fixed maturity securities |  |
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items] |  |
Amortized Cost | $ 15,801,362 | $ 14,010,604
Unrealized Gains | 702,697 | 965,523
Unrealized Losses | 330,612 | 90,544
Estimated Fair Value | $ 16,173,447 | $ 14,885,583
% of Total | 59.10% | 58.40%
Other-than-temporary impairments in AOCI | $ 0 | $ 0
Canadian and Canadian provincial governments | Fixed maturity securities |  |
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items] |  |
Amortized Cost | 2,520,495 | 2,668,852
Unrealized Gains | 1,023,160 | 1,196,420
Unrealized Losses | 929 | 7
Estimated Fair Value | $ 3,542,726 | $ 3,865,265
% of Total | 12.90% | 15.20%
Other-than-temporary impairments in AOCI | $ 0 | $ 0
Residential mortgage-backed securities | Fixed maturity securities |  |
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items] |  |
Amortized Cost | 1,234,158 | 991,867
Unrealized Gains | 55,711 | 52,640
Unrealized Losses | 6,409 | 6,611
Estimated Fair Value | $ 1,283,460 | $ 1,037,896
% of Total | 4.70% | 4.10%
Other-than-temporary impairments in AOCI | $ 300 | $ 300
Asset-backed securities | Fixed maturity securities |  |
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items] |  |
Amortized Cost | 1,055,760 | 1,059,660
Unrealized Gains | 16,971 | 20,301
Unrealized Losses | 11,359 | 10,375
Estimated Fair Value | $ 1,061,372 | $ 1,069,586
% of Total | 3.90% | 4.20%
Other-than-temporary impairments in AOCI | $ 354 | $ 354
Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities [Member] | Fixed maturity securities |  |
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items] |  |
Amortized Cost | 1,441,845 | 1,453,657
Unrealized Gains | 58,555 | 87,593
Unrealized Losses | 8,449 | 8,659
Estimated Fair Value | $ 1,491,951 | $ 1,532,591
% of Total | 5.40% | 6.00%
Other-than-temporary impairments in AOCI | $ 1,609 | $ 1,609
US Treasury and Government [Member] | Fixed maturity securities |  |
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items] |  |
Amortized Cost | 1,337,493 | 501,352
Unrealized Gains | 20,688 | 25,014
Unrealized Losses | 40,963 | 515
Estimated Fair Value | $ 1,317,218 | $ 525,851
% of Total | 4.80% | 2.00%
Other-than-temporary impairments in AOCI | $ 0 | $ 0
US States and Political Subdivisions Debt Securities [Member] | Fixed maturity securities |  |
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items] |  |
Amortized Cost | 466,685 | 378,457
Unrealized Gains | 42,564 | 51,117
Unrealized Losses | 7,746 | 3,498
Estimated Fair Value | $ 501,503 | $ 426,076
% of Total | 1.80% | 1.70%
Other-than-temporary impairments in AOCI | $ 0 | $ 0
Foreign Government Debt Securities [Member] | Fixed maturity securities |  |
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items] |  |
Amortized Cost | 1,986,997 | 2,041,148
Unrealized Gains | 89,648 | 110,065
Unrealized Losses | 36,534 | 13,089
Estimated Fair Value | $ 2,040,111 | $ 2,138,124
% of Total | 7.40% | 8.40%
Other-than-temporary impairments in AOCI | $ 0 | $ 0
Nonredeemable Preferred Stock [Member] | Equity securities |  |
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items] |  |
Amortized Cost | 89,726 | 93,540
Unrealized Gains | 2,737 | 7,350
Unrealized Losses | 7,754 | 1,527
Estimated Fair Value | $ 84,709 | $ 99,363
% of Total | 76.70% | 78.30%
Other equity securities | Equity securities |  |
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items] |  |
Amortized Cost | $ 26,968 | $ 26,994
Unrealized Gains | 0 | 597
Unrealized Losses | 1,303 | 94
Estimated Fair Value | $ 25,665 | $ 27,497
% of Total | 23.30% | 21.70%

X
- Definition Percentage of available for sale securities + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | rga_PercentageOfTotalAvailableForSaleSecurities
Namespace Prefix: | rga_
Data Type: | num:percentItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | instant

X
- Definition Accumulated other comprehensive loss related to portion of other than temporary impairment (OTTI) due to factors other than credit losses on debt securities categorized as available-for-sale that an entity does not intend to sell and which it is not more likely than not that the entity will be required to sell before recovery of the amortized cost basis of the debt security. The amount represented by this item is net of tax, as applicable. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 320 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -Subparagraph (aaa) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=27724398&loc=d3e27161-111563 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 220 -SubTopic 10 -Section 45 -Paragraph 14A -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=36458714&loc=SL7669686-108580 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_AccumulatedOtherComprehensiveIncomeLossOtherThanTemporaryImpairmentNotCreditLossNetOfTaxAvailableforsaleDebtSecurities
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | debit
Period Type: | instant

X
- Definition Amount of investment in debt and equity securities categorized neither as held-to-maturity nor trading. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 320 -SubTopic 10 -Section 25 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (b) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=51813488&loc=d3e22054-111558 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 320 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 5 -Subparagraph (aa) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=27724398&loc=d3e27232-111563 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 320 -SubTopic 10 -Section 45 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=49167202&loc=d3e26610-111562 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_AvailableForSaleSecurities
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | debit
Period Type: | instant

X
- Definition This item represents the cost of debt and equity securities, which are categorized neither as held-to-maturity nor trading, net of adjustments including accretion, amortization, collection of cash, previous other-than-temporary impairments recognized in earnings (less any cumulative-effect adjustments recognized, as defined), and fair value hedge accounting adjustments, if any. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 210 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.2) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_AvailableForSaleSecuritiesAmortizedCost
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | debit
Period Type: | instant

X
- Definition Amount of unrealized gain before deducting unrealized loss on investments in debt and equity securities classified as available-for-sale securities. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 320 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -Subparagraph (b) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=27724398&loc=d3e27161-111563 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_AvailableForSaleSecuritiesGrossUnrealizedGains
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | credit
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Amount of unrealized loss before deducting unrealized gain on investments in available-for-sale securities. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 320 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -Subparagraph (c) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=27724398&loc=d3e27161-111563 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_AvailableForSaleSecuritiesGrossUnrealizedLoss
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | debit
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | us-gaap_ScheduleOfAvailableForSaleSecuritiesLineItems
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_ScheduleOfFairValueOfSeparateAccountsByMajorCategoryOfInvestmentAxis=us-gaap_FixedMaturitiesMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_ScheduleOfFairValueOfSeparateAccountsByMajorCategoryOfInvestmentAxis=us-gaap_EquitySecuritiesMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_MajorTypesOfDebtAndEquitySecuritiesAxis=us-gaap_CorporateDebtSecuritiesMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_MajorTypesOfDebtAndEquitySecuritiesAxis=rga_CanadianProvincialGovernmentsMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_MajorTypesOfDebtAndEquitySecuritiesAxis=us-gaap_ResidentialMortgageBackedSecuritiesMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_MajorTypesOfDebtAndEquitySecuritiesAxis=us-gaap_AssetBackedSecuritiesMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_MajorTypesOfDebtAndEquitySecuritiesAxis=us-gaap_CommercialMortgageBackedSecuritiesMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_MajorTypesOfDebtAndEquitySecuritiesAxis=us-gaap_USTreasuryAndGovernmentMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_MajorTypesOfDebtAndEquitySecuritiesAxis=us-gaap_USStatesAndPoliticalSubdivisionsMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_MajorTypesOfDebtAndEquitySecuritiesAxis=us-gaap_ForeignGovernmentDebtSecuritiesMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_MajorTypesOfDebtAndEquitySecuritiesAxis=us-gaap_NonredeemablePreferredStockMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_MajorTypesOfDebtAndEquitySecuritiesAxis=rga_EquitySecuritiesOtherThanNonRedeemablePreferredStockMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |