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Statutory Requirements | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2016
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 ensure that it can meet its minimum solvency margin (“MSM”), defined as the minimum amount by which the value of the assets of the Company must exceed the value of its liabilities, the breach of which represents an unacceptable level of risk and triggers the strongest supervisory actions. In addition, the Company is required to 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. The ECR is equal to the greater of the MSM or required capital calculated by reference to the BSCR. Effective January 1, 2016, the BMA embedded the Economic Balance Sheet (“EBS”) framework in the Bermuda legislative and regulatory regime. This modified the reporting requirements applicable to commercial insurers and insurance groups. Under the EBS framework, the BMA prescribes the use of financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP as the basis on which statutory financial statements are prepared, and those statutory financial statements form the starting basis for the EBS. The ECR is then calculated based on the EBS, as opposed to the statutory financial statements on which it was previously based. The BMA expects the Company to operate at or above a target level capital (“TCL”) which is set at 120% of the ECR, the breach of which may trigger additional reporting requirements or other enhanced oversight. The Company is currently completing its 2016 group BSCR, which must be filed with the BMA on or before May 31, 2017, and at this time, the Company believes it will exceed the target level of required economic statutory capital. The actual statutory capital and surplus, required minimum 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 (1) |  | U.S. |  | U.K. (2) (3) |
| At December 31, | 2016 |  | 2015 |  | 2016 |  | 2015 |  | 2016 |  | 2015 |
| Actual statutory capital and surplus | $ | 4,212,787 |  |  | $ | 4,878,811 |  |  | $ | 523,340 |  |  | $ | 521,522 |  |  | $ | 491,213 |  |  | $ | 485,256 |  |
| Required statutory capital and surplus | 807,108 |  |  | 1,782,778 |  |  | 221,023 |  |  | 219,164 |  |  | 491,213 |  |  | 485,256 |  |
| Restricted net assets | 1,779,319 |  |  | 838,633 |  |  | 324,567 |  |  | 321,362 |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |
(1) | Required statutory capital and surplus of the Company's Bermuda-domiciled insurance subsidiaries is calculated as the greater of the MSM and the ECR, with the ECR being equal to the higher of each insurer's MSM or required capital calculated by reference to the BSCR. The Company's Bermuda-domiciled insurance subsidiaries’ BSCR for the year ended December 31, 2016 will not be filed with the BMA until April 30, 2017. Therefore, at December 31, 2016, actual capital and surplus is based on the relevant insurer’s statutory financial statements and required statutory capital and surplus is based on the MSM of all relevant insurers. Required capital and surplus presented above at December 31, 2015 reflects the higher of the MSM and ECR for all relevant insurers, as described above.
(2) | 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.
(3) | 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. (1) |  | U.K. |
| Year ended December 31, 2016 | $ | 625,371 |  |  | $ | 43,292 |  |  | $ | 28,007 |  |
| Year ended December 31, 2015 | 355,132 |  |  | 58,752 |  |  | 1,627 |  |
| Year ended December 31, 2014 | 623,931 |  |  | — |  |  | 24,433 |  |
(1) | Prior to the Company’s acquisition of Platinum on March 2, 2015, the Company did not have any U.S.-domiciled insurance subsidiaries.
The difference between statutory financial statements and statements prepared in accordance with GAAP varies by jurisdiction; however, the primary difference is that for the Company’s regulated entities the statutory financial statements do not reflect 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. In the U.S. and the U.K., deferred acquisition costs are generally not reflected in the statutory financial statements. None of the Company’s insurance subsidiaries used permitted practices that prevented the trigger of a regulatory event during the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014. 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, 2016, $1.4 billion of RenaissanceRe’s retained earnings would be unrestricted and available for payment of dividends or distribution to shareholders of RenaissanceRe. Bermuda-Domiciled Insurance Entities Under the Insurance Act, certain subsidiaries of RenaissanceRe are required to prepare and file statutory financial statements. Effective January 1, 2016, the BMA prescribed the use of financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP as the basis on which the statutory financial statements are prepared, subject to the application of certain prudential filters. These statutory financial statements are used to prepare the EBS. In addition, Bermuda insurance subsidiaries of RenaissanceRe are required to maintain certain measures of solvency and liquidity and file a BSCR return. Class 3B and Class 4 Insurers Under the Insurance Act, RenaissanceRe Specialty U.S. is defined as a Class 3B insurer, and Renaissance Reinsurance and DaVinci are classified as Class 4 insurers, and therefore must maintain statutory economic capital at a level equal to its ECR which is the greater of its MSM and the required capital calculated 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 2016 Bermuda-domiciled statutory filings for Renaissance Reinsurance, DaVinci and RenaissanceRe Specialty U.S., which must be filed with the BMA on or before April 30, 2017, and at this time, the Company believes each of Renaissance Reinsurance, DaVinci and RenaissanceRe Specialty U.S. will exceed the target level of required statutory economic capital. As a result of the acquisition of Platinum and the potential for organizational and capital changes, Renaissance Reinsurance and RenaissanceRe Specialty Risks 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. Effective October 1, 2016, each of RenaissanceRe Specialty Risks and Platinum Bermuda merged into Renaissance Reinsurance, with Renaissance Reinsurance being the sole surviving entity. As part of the merger, Renaissance Reinsurance applied for, and effective November 18, 2016 received, approval from the BMA to reduce its statutory capital by $500.0 million through a return of capital. The return of capital was completed prior to December 31, 2016. For the year ended December 31, 2015, 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 have been an increase to statutory liabilities $390.4 million, and a corresponding decrease to statutory capital and surplus. If these amounts were included in Renaissance Reinsurance’s statutory financial statements, Renaissance Reinsurance would have still exceeded the required measures of solvency and liquidity, and the target level of required statutory capital, as discussed above. During 2016, certain of these guarantees ceased to exist as a result of the merger of RenaissanceRe Specialty Risks into Renaissance Reinsurance. In addition, under the new statutory reporting regime in effect for the year ended December 31, 2016, as described above, applications to the BMA in respect of such guarantees are no longer required. Instead, such guarantees are valued based on the expected present value of future cash flows required to settle the contingent liability over the lifetime of that contingent liability, using the basic risk-free interest rate. SPIs Under the Insurance Act, Upsilon RFO is considered an SPI. See “Note 11. 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, 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, modifies its filing requirements in respect of statutory financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2016. U.S.-Domiciled Insurance Entities The Company has a U.S.-domiciled 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 2017, Renaissance Reinsurance U.S. will have ordinary dividend capacity of $25.4 million (2016 - $26.0 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 2016 statutory basis financial statements for Renaissance Reinsurance U.S., which must be filed with the NAIC, on or before March 1, 2017. At this time, the Company believes Renaissance Reinsurance U.S. will exceed the CAL. U.K.-Domiciled 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. Multi-Beneficiary Reinsurance Trusts 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, 2016 with respect to the MBRTs totaled $673.2 million and $136.7 million for Renaissance Reinsurance and DaVinci, respectively (2015 – $505.0 million and $135.3 million, respectively), compared to the minimum amount required under U.S. state regulations of $608.3 million and $90.4 million, respectively (2015 – $378.8 million and $100.1 million, respectively). Multi-Beneficiary Reduced Collateral Reinsurance Trusts 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, 2016 with respect to the RCTs totaled $39.5 million and $19.1 million for Renaissance Reinsurance and DaVinci, respectively (2015 - $41.7 million and $18.9 million, respectively), compared to the minimum amount required under U.S. state regulations of $14.9 million and $14.1 million, respectively (2015 - $15.2 million and $10.4 million, respectively).

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