XML 38 R21.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.24.0.1
Reinsurance
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2023
Reinsurance Disclosures [Abstract]  
Reinsurance REINSURANCE
Ceded Reinsurance
In the normal course of business, the Company seeks to limit its exposure to loss on any single insured and to recover a portion of benefits paid by ceding reinsurance to other insurance or reinsurance companies under excess coverage and coinsurance contracts. In the individual life markets, the Company retains a maximum of $8 million of coverage per individual life. Claims in excess of this retention amount are retroceded to retrocessionaires; however, the Company remains fully liable to the ceding company for the entire amount of risk it assumes. In certain limited situations the Company has retained more than $8 million per individual policy. The Company enters into agreements with other reinsurers to mitigate the residual risk related to the over-retained policies. Additionally, due to some lower face amount reinsurance coverage provided by the Company in addition to individual life, such as group life, disability and health, under certain circumstances, the Company could potentially incur net claims totaling more than $8 million per individual life.
Retrocession reinsurance treaties do not relieve the Company from its obligations to the ceding companies. Failure of retrocessionaires to honor their obligations could result in losses to the Company. The Company regularly evaluates the financial condition of the insurance and reinsurance companies from which it assumes and to which it cedes reinsurance. Allowances would be established for amounts deemed uncollectible. At December 31, 2023 and 2022, no allowances were deemed necessary.
Retrocessions are arranged through the Company’s retrocession pools for amounts in excess of the Company’s retention limit. As of December 31, 2023, 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 in the pool 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.
During the fourth quarter of 2023, Ruby Reinsurance Company (Ruby Re), a Missouri-domiciled life reinsurance company to reinsure U.S. asset-intensive business was launched with the Company as a sponsor. The Company, which is not an investor in Ruby Re, does not consolidate the entity. The Company completed a coinsurance funds withheld transaction under which it retroceded $2.5 billion of existing liabilities associated with asset-intensive business to Ruby Re.
Excluding amounts retroceded to Ruby Re, two major reinsurance companies account for approximately 74% of reinsurance ceded receivables and other as of December 31, 2023.
As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, $10 million and $16 million of claims recoverable were in excess of 90 days past due, respectively. Also included in the total reinsurance ceded receivables and other is a deposit asset on reinsurance of $3.1 billion and $1.5 billion as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.
The effect of reinsurance on net premiums is as follows (dollars in millions):
Years ended December 31,202320222021
Direct insurance$1,477 $26 $33 
Reinsurance assumed14,281 13,830 13,354 
Reinsurance ceded(673)(778)(874)
Net premiums$15,085 $13,078 $12,513 
The effect of reinsurance on claims and other policy benefits and future policy benefits remeasurement gains and losses is as follows (dollars in millions):
Years ended December 31,202320222021
Direct insurance$1,577 $73 $59 
Reinsurance assumed12,912 12,867 12,944 
Reinsurance ceded(679)(667)(763)
Net claims and other policy benefits and future policy benefits remeasurement gains and losses$13,810 $12,273 $12,240 
The effect of reinsurance on life reinsurance in force is shown in the following schedule (dollars in millions):
DirectAssumedCededNetAssumed/Net %
December 31, 2023$924 $3,704,061 $69,242 $3,635,743 101.9 %
December 31, 20221,027 3,400,735 151,569 3,250,193 104.6 
December 31, 20211,117 3,467,054 166,842 3,301,329 105.0 
Fund Withheld
Certain of the Company’s retrocession agreements, including those with Ruby Re, are on a funds withheld basis. While the economic benefits of the funds withheld assets are passed on to the assuming company, the Company retains legal ownership of the assets within the funds withheld account and established a funds withheld liability. Net investment income related to the funds withheld assets are reported in other reinsurance expense and net realized gains (losses) related to the assets is reported net of the amount that is passed on to the assuming company. The following assets were held in support of the Company’s funds withheld arrangements and are reported in the line items shown in the consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2023 and 2022 (dollars in millions):
For the years ended December 31,
20232022
Fixed maturity securities available-for-sale$2,442 $203 
Equity securities
Mortgage loans451 18 
Funds withheld at interest1,545 1,596 
Real estate joint ventures35 — 
Short-term investments and cash and cash equivalents30 
Accrued investment income28 
Net other assets— 
Net assets$4,534 $1,822 
Certain assets are reported at amortized cost while the fair value of those assets is reflected in the funds withheld payable. The Company had a $4,483 million and $1,486 million funds withheld payable, net of an embedded derivative asset of $206 million and $361 million as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.
Assumed Reinsurance
At December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively, the Company provided approximately $28.3 billion and $28.7 billion of financial reinsurance, as measured by pre-tax statutory surplus, risk based capital and other financial reinsurance structures, to other insurance companies under financial reinsurance or capital solutions transactions to assist ceding companies in meeting applicable regulatory requirements. Generally, such financial reinsurance is provided by the Company committing cash or assuming insurance liabilities, which are collateralized by future profits on the reinsured business. The Company earns a fee based on the amount of net outstanding financial reinsurance.
Reinsurance treaties, whether facultative or automatic, may provide for recapture rights on the part of the ceding company. Recapture rights permit the ceding company to reassume all, or a portion of, the risk formerly ceded to the reinsurer after an agreed-upon period of time, generally 10 years, or in some cases due to changes in the financial condition or ratings of the reinsurer. Recapture of business previously ceded does not affect premiums ceded prior to the recapture of such business but
would reduce premiums in subsequent periods. Additionally, some reinsurance treaties give the ceding company the right to require the Company to place assets in trust for their benefit to support the ceding company’s statutory reserve credits, in the event of a downgrade of the Company’s credit ratings and or other statutory measure to specified levels, generally non-investment grade levels, or if minimum levels of financial condition are not maintained. As of December 31, 2023, neither the Company nor its subsidiaries have been required to post additional collateral or have had a reinsurance treaty recaptured as a result of credit downgrade or defined statutory measure decline.
Certain reinsurance treaties require the reinsurer to place assets in trust to collateralize the reinsurer’s obligation to the ceding company. Assets placed in trust continue to be owned by the Company, but their use is restricted based on the terms of the trust agreement. Securities with an amortized cost of $3.5 billion and $3.7 billion were held in trust for the benefit of the Company’s subsidiaries to satisfy collateral requirements for reinsurance business at December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. Additionally, securities with an amortized cost of $32.8 billion and $31.5 billion as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively, were held in trust to satisfy collateral requirements under certain third-party reinsurance treaties. Under certain conditions, the Company may be obligated to move reinsurance from one subsidiary to another subsidiary, post additional collateral or make payments under a given reinsurance treaty. These conditions include change in control or ratings of the subsidiary, insolvency, nonperformance under a reinsurance treaty, or loss of license or other regulatory authorization of such subsidiary. If the Company was ever required to move reinsurance from one subsidiary to another subsidiary, the risk to the Company on a consolidated basis under the reinsurance treaties would not change; however, additional collateral may need to be posted or additional capital may be required due to the change in jurisdiction of the subsidiary reinsuring the business, which could lead to a strain on liquidity.