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Derivatives | 3 Months Ended
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Mar. 31, 2015
Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities Disclosure [Abstract] |
Derivatives | Derivatives As discussed under “Derivatives” in Note A — “Accounting Policies” to the financial statements, AFG uses derivatives in certain areas of its operations. Derivatives That Do Not Qualify for Hedge Accounting The following derivatives that do not qualify for hedge accounting under GAAP are included in AFG’s Balance Sheet at fair value (in millions):
|  |  |  | March 31, 2015 |  | December 31, 2014
Derivative |  | Balance Sheet Line |  | Asset |  | Liability |  | Asset |  | Liability
MBS with embedded derivatives |  | Fixed maturities |  | $ | 164 |  |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | 158 |  |  | $ | — |
Public company warrants |  | Equity securities |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | 19 |  |  | — |
Interest rate swaptions |  | Other investments |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | — |
Fixed-indexed annuities (embedded derivative) |  | Annuity benefits accumulated |  | — |  |  | 1,243 |  |  | — |  |  | 1,160 |
Equity index call options |  | Other investments |  | 316 |  |  | — |  |  | 322 |  |  | — |
Reinsurance contracts (embedded derivative) |  | Other liabilities |  | — |  |  | 13 |  |  | — |  |  | 13 |
|  |  |  | $ | 480 |  |  | $ | 1,256 |  |  | $ | 499 |  |  | $ | 1,173 |
The MBS with embedded derivatives consist primarily of interest-only MBS with interest rates that float inversely with short-term rates. AFG records the entire change in the fair value of these securities in earnings. These investments are part of AFG’s overall investment strategy and represent a small component of AFG’s investment portfolio. Warrants to purchase shares of publicly traded companies, which represent a small component of AFG’s overall investment portfolio, are considered to be derivatives that must be marked to market through earnings. AFG exercised its most significant warrant position in the first three months of 2015. AFG has $200 million notional amount of pay-fixed interest rate swaptions (options to enter into pay-fixed/receive floating interest rate swaps at future dates expiring in 2015) outstanding at March 31, 2015, which are used to mitigate interest rate risk in its annuity operations. AFG paid $4 million to purchase these swaptions, which represents its maximum potential economic loss over the life of the contracts. AFG’s fixed-indexed annuities, which represented approximately one-half of annuity benefits accumulated at March 31, 2015, provide policyholders with a crediting rate tied, in part, to the performance of an existing stock market index. AFG attempts to mitigate the risk in the index-based component of these products through the purchase of call options on the appropriate index. AFG receives collateral from its counterparties to support its purchased call option assets. This collateral ($262 million at March 31, 2015) is included in other assets in AFG’s Balance Sheet with an offsetting liability to return the collateral, which is included in other liabilities. AFG’s strategy is designed so that an increase in the liabilities, due to an increase in the market index, will be generally offset by unrealized and realized gains on the call options purchased by AFG. Both the index-based component of the annuities and the related call options are considered derivatives. Fluctuations in interest rates and the stock market, among other factors, can cause volatility in the periodic measurement of fair value of the embedded derivative that management believes can be inconsistent with the long-term economics of these products. As discussed under “Reinsurance” in Note A to the financial statements, certain reinsurance contracts are considered to contain embedded derivatives. The following table summarizes the gain (loss) included in the Statement of Earnings for changes in the fair value of derivatives that do not qualify for hedge accounting for the first three months of 2015 and 2014 (in millions):
|  |  |  | Three months ended March 31,
Derivative |  | Statement of Earnings Line |  | 2015 |  | 2014
MBS with embedded derivatives |  | Realized gains on securities |  | $ | (2 | ) |  | $ | 3 |
Public company warrants |  | Realized gains on securities |  | — |  |  | (2 | )
Interest rate swaptions |  | Realized gains on securities |  | — |  |  | (1 | )
Fixed-indexed annuities (embedded derivative) |  | Annuity benefits |  | (50 | ) |  | (54 | )
Equity index call options |  | Annuity benefits |  | 20 |  |  | 30 |
Reinsurance contracts (embedded derivative) |  | Net investment income |  | — |  |  | (2 | )
|  |  |  | $ | (32 | ) |  | $ | (26 | )
Derivatives Designated and Qualifying as Cash Flow Hedges In the third quarter of 2014, AFG entered into a five-year $431 million notional amount interest rate swap under which AFG receives fixed rate interest payments in exchange for variable interest payments based on one-month LIBOR. The purpose of the swap is to effectively convert a portion of AFG’s floating rate MBS to fixed rate by offsetting the variability in cash flows attributable to changes in one-month LIBOR. The notional amount of the swap amortizes down over its five-year life in anticipation of an expected decline in AFG’s portfolio of MBS with interest rates based on one-month LIBOR ($374 million and $401 million notional amounts at March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014, respectively). The fair value of the effective portion of the interest rate swap was $2 million and less than $1 million at March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014, respectively, and is included in AOCI, net of DPAC and tax. During the first three months of 2015, $1 million was reclassified from AOCI to net investment income. There was no ineffectiveness recorded in Net Earnings.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for derivative instruments and hedging activities including, but not limited to, risk management strategies, non-hedging derivative instruments, assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses, and methodologies and assumptions used in determining the amounts. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 815 -SubTopic 30 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35736893&loc=d3e80748-113994 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 815 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 4A -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35706170&loc=SL5618551-113959 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 815 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 4K -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35706170&loc=SL5708775-113959 Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 815 -SubTopic 25 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6886632&loc=d3e76258-113986 Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 815 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 4E -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35706170&loc=SL5624181-113959 Reference 6: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 815 -SubTopic 30 -Section 45 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6441202&loc=d3e80720-113993 Reference 7: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 815 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 4H -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35706170&loc=SL5624258-113959 Reference 8: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 815 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 4B -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35706170&loc=SL5624163-113959 Reference 9: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 235 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (SX 210.4-08.(n)) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=26873400&loc=d3e23780-122690 Reference 10: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 815 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 4J -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35706170&loc=SL5708773-113959 Reference 11: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 815 -SubTopic 30 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35736893&loc=d3e80784-113994 Reference 12: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 815 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 4D -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35706170&loc=SL5624177-113959 Reference 13: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 815 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35706170&loc=d3e41620-113959 Reference 14: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 815 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1A -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35706170&loc=SL5579245-113959 Reference 15: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 815 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1B -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35706170&loc=SL5580258-113959 Reference 16: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 815 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35706170&loc=SL5579240-113959 Reference 17: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 815 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 5 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35706170&loc=d3e41641-113959 Reference 18: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 815 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 4 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35706170&loc=d3e41638-113959 Reference 19: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 815 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 4C -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35706170&loc=SL5624171-113959 + Details
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