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Variable Interest Entities | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2019
Variable Interest Entity, Not Primary Beneficiary, Disclosures [Abstract] |
Variable Interest Entities | Variable Interest Entities BAM As a mutual insurance company, BAM is owned by its members. BAM charges an insurance premium on each municipal bond insurance policy it writes. A portion of the premium is a member surplus contribution (“MSC”) and the remainder is a risk premium. In the event of a municipal bond refunding, a portion of the MSC from the original issuance can be reutilized, in effect serving as a credit against the total insurance premium on the refunding of the municipal bond. Issuers of debt insured by BAM are members of BAM so long as any of their BAM-insured debt is outstanding, and as members they have certain interests in BAM, including the right to vote for BAM’s directors and to receive dividends in the future, if declared. The equity at risk funded by BAM’s members is not sufficient to fund its operations without the additional financial support provided by the BAM Surplus Notes and accordingly, BAM is considered to be a VIE. At inception, BAM and HG Re also entered into the FLRT. HG Re provides first loss protection up to 15%-of-par outstanding on each municipal bond insured by BAM. For capital appreciation bonds, par is adjusted to the estimated equivalent par value for current interest paying bonds. In return, BAM cedes 60% of the risk premium charged for insuring the municipal bond, net of a ceding commission. HG Re’s obligations under the FLRT are limited to the assets in the Regulation 114 Trust and the Supplemental Trust. Losses required to be reimbursed under the FLRT are subject to an aggregate limit equal to the assets held in the Collateral Trusts at any point in time. In addition, under the FLRT, HG Holdings Ltd, a subsidiary of HG Global, has the right to designate two directors for election to BAM’s board of directors. Since BAM is owned by its members, its equity and results of operations are included in non-controlling interests. However, White Mountains is required to consolidate BAM’s results in its financial statements because BAM is a VIE for which White Mountains is the primary beneficiary. Elementum On May 31, 2019, White Mountains acquired a 30.0% limited partnership interest in Elementum for $55.1 million. White Mountains has determined that Elementum is a VIE but that White Mountains is not the primary beneficiary. White Mountains’s ownership interest gives White Mountains the opportunity to exert significant influence over the significant financial and operating activities of Elementum. Accordingly, Elementum meets the criteria to be accounted for under the equity method. White Mountains has taken the fair value option for its investment in Elementum. Changes in the fair value of Elementum are recorded in realized and unrealized investment gains. White Mountains’s maximum loss in Elementum is limited to the amount invested. As of December 31, 2019, Elementum is recorded within other long-term investments at a carrying amount of $55.1 million. Kudu On April 4, 2019, White Mountains completed the Kudu Transaction for cash consideration of $81.4 million. White Mountains recognized total assets acquired of $155.5 million, including $7.6 million of goodwill and $2.2 other intangible assets, total liabilities assumed of $0.8 million and non-controlling interest of $1.5 million. As a result of the Kudu Transaction, White Mountains’s basic unit ownership of Kudu increased from 49.5% to 99.1% (42.7% to 85.4% on a fully diluted, fully converted basis), and White Mountains began consolidating Kudu as a reportable segment in its financial statements during the second quarter of 2019. White Mountains’s consolidated financial statements and its segment disclosures include Kudu’s results for the period from April 4, 2019 to December 31, 2019. For periods prior to the Kudu Transaction, White Mountains determined that Kudu was a VIE but that White Mountains was not the primary beneficiary. White Mountains’s ownership interest gave White Mountains the opportunity to exert significant influence over the significant financial and operating activities of Kudu. Accordingly, for the year ended December 31, 2018, Kudu met the criteria to be accounted for under the equity method. White Mountains took the fair value option for its investment in Kudu, measuring its investment in Kudu at fair value using NAV as a practical expedient with changes therein recorded in realized and unrealized investment gains for the year ended December 31, 2018.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for a variable interest entity (VIE), including but not limited to, judgments and assumptions in determining whether to consolidate and in identifying the primary beneficiary, gain (loss) recognized on the initial consolidation of the VIE, terms of arrangements, amounts and classification of the VIE's assets and liabilities, and the entity's maximum exposure to loss. + References Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 810 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/topic&trid=2197479 + Details
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- References No definition available. + Details
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