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Statutory Requirements | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2015
Insurance [Abstract] |
Statutory Requirements | STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS The Company’s (re)insurance operations are subject to insurance laws and regulations in the jurisdictions in which they operate, the most significant of which currently include Bermuda, the U.S. and the U.K. These regulations include certain restrictions on the amount of dividends or other distributions, such as loans or cash advances, available to shareholders without prior approval of the respective regulatory authorities. Group Supervision The Bermuda Monetary Authority (“BMA”) is the group supervisor of the Company. Under the Insurance Act 1978, amendments thereto and related regulations of Bermuda (collectively, the “Insurance Act”), the Company shall maintain capital at a level equal to its enhanced capital requirement (“ECR”) which is established by reference to the Bermuda Solvency Capital Requirement (the “BSCR”) model. The BSCR is a mathematical model designed to give the BMA robust methods for determining an insurer’s capital adequacy. Underlying the BSCR is the belief that all insurers should operate on an ongoing basis with a view to maintaining their capital at a prudent level in excess of the minimum solvency margin otherwise prescribed under the Insurance Act. As of December 31, 2015, the Company's ECR is 70% of the amount calculated using the group standardized risk-based capital model of the BMA. The Company is also subject to an early-warning level based on 120% of the ECR which may trigger additional reporting requirements or other enhanced oversight. The Company is currently completing its 2015 group BSCR, which must be filed with the BMA on or before April 30, 2016, and at this time, the Company believes it will exceed the target level of required statutory capital. The actual statutory capital and surplus, required statutory capital and surplus and restricted net assets of the Company’s regulated insurance operations in its most significant regulatory jurisdictions are detailed below:
|  | Bermuda |  | U.S. |  | U.K. (1) (2) |
| At December 31, | 2015 |  | 2014 |  | 2015 |  | 2014 |  | 2015 |  | 2014 |
| Actual statutory capital and surplus | $ | 4,879,154 |  |  | $ | 3,375,317 |  |  | $ | 521,522 |  |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | 485,256 |  |  | $ | 409,046 |  |
| Required statutory capital and surplus | 686,854 |  |  | 479,346 |  |  | 219,164 |  |  | — |  |  | 485,256 |  |  | 409,046 |  |
| Restricted net assets | 838,633 |  |  | 1,018,878 |  |  | 321,362 |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |
(1) | With respect to actual and required statutory capital and surplus, and as described below, underwriting capacity of a member of Lloyd’s must be supported by providing a deposit in the form of cash, securities or letters of credit, which are referred to as Funds at Lloyd’s (“FAL”). FAL is determined by Lloyd’s and is based on Syndicate 1458’s solvency and capital requirements as calculated through its internal model.
(2) | Syndicate 1458 is capitalized by its FAL, with the related assets not held on its balance sheet. As such, restricted net assets is not applicable to Syndicate 1458; however, the Company can make an application to obtain approval from Lloyd’s to have funds released to RenaissanceRe from Syndicate 1458, subject to passing a Lloyd’s release test.
Statutory net income of the Company’s regulated insurance operations in its most significant regulatory jurisdictions are detailed below:
|  | Statutory Net Income |
|  | Bermuda |  | U.S. |  | U.K. |
| Year ended December 31, 2015 | $ | 355,132 |  |  | $ | 58,752 |  |  | $ | 1,627 |  |
| Year ended December 31, 2014 | 623,931 |  |  | — |  |  | 24,433 |  |
| Year ended December 31, 2013 | 712,820 |  |  | — |  |  | 7,745 |  |
The difference between statutory financial statements and statements prepared in accordance with GAAP vary by jurisdiction; however, the primary difference is that for the Company’s regulated entities the statutory financial statements do not reflect deferred acquisition costs or goodwill and intangible assets. Also, in the U.S., fixed maturity investments are generally recorded at amortized cost and deferred income tax is charged directly to equity. None of the Company’s insurance subsidiaries used permitted practices that prevented the trigger of a regulatory event during the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013. Dividend Restrictions of RenaissanceRe As a Bermuda-domiciled holding company, RenaissanceRe has limited operations of its own and its assets consist primarily of investments in subsidiaries, and to a degree, cash and securities. Accordingly, RenaissanceRe’s future cash flows largely depend on the availability of dividends or other statutorily permissible payments from subsidiaries. The ability to pay such dividends is limited by the applicable laws and regulations of the various countries and states in which these subsidiaries operate, including, among others, Bermuda, the U.S., the U.K. and Ireland. RenaissanceRe’s ability to pay dividends and distribute capital to shareholders is limited by the Bermuda Companies Act 1981, insofar as after the payment, RenaissanceRe must still be able to pay its liabilities as they come due and the realizable value of its assets must be greater than its liabilities. At December 31, 2015, $705.0 million of RenaissanceRe’s retained earnings would be unrestricted and available for payment of dividends or distribution to shareholders of RenaissanceRe. Bermuda-Based Insurance Entities Under the Insurance Act, certain subsidiaries of RenaissanceRe are required to prepare statutory financial statements and to file in Bermuda a statutory financial return. The Insurance Act also requires these Bermuda insurance subsidiaries of RenaissanceRe to maintain certain measures of solvency and liquidity. Class 3B and Class 4 Insurers Under the Insurance Act, RenaissanceRe Specialty Risks and RenaissanceRe Specialty U.S. are defined as Class 3B insurers, and Renaissance Reinsurance, DaVinci and Platinum Bermuda are classified as Class 4 insurers, and therefore must maintain capital at a level equal to its ECR which is established by reference to the BSCR. Class 3B and Class 4 insurers are prohibited from declaring or paying any dividends if in breach of the required minimum solvency margin or minimum liquidity ratio (the “Relevant Margins”) or if the declaration or payment of such dividend would cause the insurer to fail to meet the Relevant Margins. Where an insurer fails to meet its Relevant Margins on the last day of any financial year, it is prohibited from declaring or paying any dividends during the next financial year without the prior approval of the BMA. Further, Class 3B and Class 4 insurers are prohibited from declaring or paying in any financial year dividends of more than 25% of its total statutory capital and surplus (as shown on its previous financial year’s statutory balance sheet) unless it files (at least seven days before payment of such dividends) with the BMA an affidavit stating that it will continue to meet its Relevant Margins. Class 3B and Class 4 insurers must obtain the BMA’s prior approval for a reduction by 15% or more of the total statutory capital as set forth in its previous year’s financial statements. These restrictions on declaring or paying dividends and distributions under the Insurance Act are in addition to the solvency requirements under the Bermuda Companies Act 1981 which apply to all Bermuda companies. In addition, an insurer engaged in general business is also required to maintain the value of its relevant assets at not less than 75% of the amount of its relevant liabilities. The Company is currently completing its 2015 Bermuda-based statutory filings for Renaissance Reinsurance, DaVinci, Platinum Bermuda, RenaissanceRe Specialty Risks and RenaissanceRe Specialty U.S., which must be filed with the BMA on or before April 30, 2016, and at this time, the Company believes each of Renaissance Reinsurance, DaVinci, RenaissanceRe Specialty Risks and RenaissanceRe Specialty U.S. will exceed the target level of required statutory capital. As a result of the acquisition of Platinum and the potential for organizational and capital changes, Renaissance Reinsurance and RenaissanceRe Specialty Risks and its subsidiaries each received a request from the BMA, on February 24, 2015 and March 27, 2015, respectively, to obtain written approval prior to paying dividends or returning capital to RenaissanceRe during 2015. Subsequent to these requests and through December 31, 2015, Renaissance Reinsurance and RenaissanceRe Specialty Risks returned capital, which included dividends declared and return of capital, of $245.0 million and $680.0 million, respectively. For the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014, Renaissance Reinsurance submitted applications to the BMA, and received approval, to exempt it from recording and recognizing certain third party guarantees as statutory liabilities and corresponding reductions of statutory capital and surplus for purposes of filing its statutory financial statements. The maximum monetary impact of including the third party guarantees in Renaissance Reinsurance’s statutory financial statements at December 31, 2015 would be an increase to statutory liabilities of $390.4 million (2014 - $468.6 million), and a corresponding decrease to statutory capital and surplus. If these amounts were to be included in Renaissance Reinsurance’s statutory financial statements, Renaissance Reinsurance would still exceed the required measures of solvency and liquidity, and the target level of required statutory capital, as discussed above. In addition, RenaissanceRe Specialty Risks is also eligible as an excess and surplus lines insurer in a number of states in the U.S. and under the various capital and surplus requirements in these states is required to maintain a minimum amount of capital and surplus. In this regard, the declaration of dividends from retained earnings and distributions from additional paid-in capital may be limited to the extent that the applicable above requirements are not met. The Company does not consider these requirements to be material. SPIs Under the Insurance Act, Upsilon RFO is considered an SPI. See “Note 12. Variable Interest Entities” for additional information related to Upsilon RFO. Unlike other (re)insurers, such as the Class 3B and Class 4 insurers discussed above, SPIs are fully funded to meet their (re)insurance obligations and are not exposed to insolvency, therefore the application and supervision processes are streamlined to facilitate the transparent structure. Further, SPIs are currently not required to file annual loss reserve specialist opinions and the BMA has the discretion to modify such insurer’s reporting requirements under the Insurance Act. Like other (re)insurers, the principal representative of an SPI has a duty to inform the BMA in relation to solvency matters, where applicable. Upsilon RFO applied for and received a direction from the BMA, which, subject to specified conditions, exempts it from filing requirements in respect of statutory financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2015. U.S.-Based Insurance Entities The Company has a U.S. based insurance subsidiary, Renaissance Reinsurance U.S., which was acquired on March 2, 2015 and is subject to statutory accounting principles as defined by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (the “NAIC”). The NAIC uses a risk-based capital ("RBC") model to monitor and regulate the solvency of licensed life, health, and property and casualty insurance and reinsurance companies. Renaissance Reinsurance U.S. is domiciled in Maryland, which has adopted the NAIC's model law. Laws and regulations in the U.S. establish minimum capital adequacy levels and grant regulators the authority to take specific actions based on the level of impairment. For Renaissance Reinsurance U.S. this amount is the Company Action Level (“CAL”) based on the RBC model of the NAIC and represents the first level at which regulatory action is triggered. Under Maryland insurance law, Renaissance Reinsurance U.S. must notify the Maryland Insurance Commissioner (the "Commissioner") within five business days after the declaration of any dividend or distribution, other than an extraordinary dividend or extraordinary distribution, and notify the Commissioner at least ten days prior to the payment or distribution thereof. The Commissioner has the right to prevent payment of such a dividend or such a distribution if the Commissioner determines, in the Commissioner's discretion, that after the payment thereof, the policyholders' surplus of Renaissance Reinsurance U.S. would be inadequate or could cause Renaissance Reinsurance U.S. to be in a hazardous financial condition. Renaissance Reinsurance U.S. must give at least 30 days prior notice to the Commissioner before paying an extraordinary dividend or making an extraordinary distribution from other than earned surplus. Extraordinary dividends and extraordinary distributions are dividends or distributions which, together with any other dividends and distributions paid during the immediately preceding twelve-month period, would exceed the lesser of:
• | 10% of the insurer's statutory policyholders' surplus (as determined under statutory accounting principles) as of December 31 of the prior year; or
• | the insurer's net investment income excluding realized capital gains (as determined under statutory accounting principles) for the twelve-month period ending on December 31 of the prior year and pro rata distributions of any class of the insurer's securities, plus any amounts of net investment income (subject to the foregoing exclusions) in the three calendar years prior to the preceding year which have not been distributed.
During 2016, Renaissance Reinsurance U.S. has an ordinary dividend capacity of $26.0 million (2015 - $27.2 million). State insurance laws and regulations require Renaissance Reinsurance U.S. to file statutory basis financial statements with insurance regulators in each state where it is licensed, authorized or accredited to do business. The operations of Renaissance Reinsurance U.S. are subject to examination by those state insurance regulators at any time. The Company is currently completing the 2015 statutory basis financial statements for Renaissance Reinsurance U.S., which must be filed with the NAIC, on or before March 1, 2016. At this time, the Company believes Renaissance Reinsurance U.S. will exceed the CAL. During 2015, the Maryland Insurance Administration concluded its examination of the statutory basis financial statements of RenaissanceRe U.S. as of December 31, 2013. The examination report noted no findings or recommendations. U.K.-Based Syndicate 1458 RenaissanceRe CCL and Syndicate 1458 are subject to oversight by the Council of Lloyd’s. RSML is authorized by the U.K.’s Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. Underwriting capacity of a member of Lloyd’s must be supported by providing a deposit in the form of cash, securities or letters of credit, which are referred to as FAL. This amount is determined by Lloyd’s and is based on Syndicate 1458’s solvency and capital requirement as calculated through its internal model. In addition, if the FAL are not sufficient to cover all losses, the Lloyd’s Central Fund provides an additional level of security for policyholders. Singapore-Based Entities Branches of Renaissance Reinsurance and DaVinci based in the Republic of Singapore (the “Singapore Branches”) have each received a license to carry on insurance business as a general reinsurer. The activities of the Singapore Branches are primarily regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore pursuant to Singapore’s Insurance Act. Additionally, the Singapore Branches are regulated by the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority as a foreign company pursuant to Singapore’s Companies Act. Prior to the establishment of the Singapore Branches, Renaissance Reinsurance and DaVinci had maintained representative offices in Singapore since April 2012. The activities and regulatory requirements of the Singapore Branches are not considered to be material to the Company. Multi-Beneficiary Reinsurance Trusts Effective March 15, 2011, each of Renaissance Reinsurance and DaVinci was approved as a Trusteed Reinsurer in the state of New York and established a multi-beneficiary reinsurance trust (“MBRT”) to collateralize its (re)insurance liabilities associated with U.S. domiciled cedants. The MBRTs are subject to the rules and regulations of the state of New York and the respective deed of trust, including but not limited to certain minimum capital funding requirements, investment guidelines, capital distribution restrictions and regulatory reporting requirements. Assets held under trust at December 31, 2015 with respect to the MBRTs totaled $505.0 million and $135.3 million for Renaissance Reinsurance and DaVinci, respectively (2014 – $508.6 million and $173.7 million, respectively), compared to the minimum amount required under U.S. state regulations of $378.8 million and $100.1 million, respectively (2014 – $409.9 million and $105.7 million, respectively). Multi-Beneficiary Reduced Collateral Reinsurance Trusts Effective December 31, 2012, each of Renaissance Reinsurance and DaVinci has been approved as an “eligible reinsurer” in the state of Florida, and are authorized to provide reduced collateral equal to 20% and 50%, respectively, of their net outstanding insurance liabilities to Florida-domiciled insurers. Each of Renaissance Reinsurance and DaVinci has established a multi-beneficiary reduced collateral reinsurance trust (“RCT”) to collateralize its (re)insurance liabilities associated with Florida-domiciled cedants. Because the RCTs were established in New York, they are subject to the rules and regulations of the state of New York including but not limited to certain minimum capital funding requirements, investment guidelines, capital distribution restrictions and regulatory reporting requirements. Assets held under trust at December 31, 2015 with respect to the RCTs totaled $41.7 million and $18.9 million for Renaissance Reinsurance and DaVinci, respectively (2014 - $43.2 million and $18.8 million, respectively), compared to the minimum amount required under U.S. state regulations of $15.2 million and $10.4 million, respectively (2014 - $17.5 million and $10.3 million, respectively).

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