Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk

Market Sensitive Instruments and Risk Management

Market risk represents the potential for loss due to adverse changes in the fair value of financial instruments. We are exposed to potential losses from various market risks including changes in interest rates, equity prices, and foreign currency exchange rates. Further, through writing the GLB and GMDB products, we are exposed to volatility in the equity and credit markets, as well as interest rates. Our investment portfolio consists primarily of fixed income securities, denominated in both U.S. dollars and foreign currencies, which are sensitive to changes in interest rates and foreign currency exchange rates. The majority of our fixed income portfolio is classified as available for sale. The effect of market movements on our available for sale investment portfolio impacts Net income (through Net realized gains (losses)) when securities are sold or when we record an OTTI charge in Net income. Changes in interest rates and foreign currency exchange rates will have an immediate effect on Shareholders' equity and Comprehensive income and in certain instances, Net income. From time to time, we also use derivative instruments such as futures, options, swaps, and foreign currency forward contracts to manage the duration of our investment portfolio and foreign currency exposures and also to obtain exposure to a particular financial market. At December 31, 2019 and 2018, our notional exposure to derivative instruments was $4.9 billion and $9.1 billion, respectively. These instruments are recognized as assets or liabilities in our consolidated financial statements and are sensitive to changes in interest rates, foreign currency exchange rates, and equity security prices. As part of our investing activities, we purchase to be announced mortgage backed securities (TBAs). Changes in the fair value of TBAs are included in Net realized gains (losses) and therefore, have an immediate effect on both our Net income and Shareholders' equity.

Table of Contents

We seek to mitigate market risk using a number of techniques, including maintaining and managing the assets and liabilities of our international operations consistent with the foreign currencies of the underlying insurance and reinsurance businesses, thereby limiting exchange rate risk to net assets denominated in foreign currencies.

The following is a discussion of our primary market risk exposures at December 31, 2019. Our policies to address these risks in 2019 were not materially different from 2018. We do not currently anticipate significant changes in our primary market risk exposures or in how those exposures are managed in future reporting periods based upon what is known or expected to be in effect in future reporting periods.

Interest rate risk – fixed income portfolio and debt obligations

Our fixed income portfolio and debt obligations have exposure to interest rate risk. Changes in investment values attributable to interest rate changes are mitigated by corresponding and partially offsetting changes in the economic value of our insurance reserves and debt obligations. We monitor this exposure through periodic reviews of our asset and liability positions.

The following table presents the impact at December 31, 2019 and 2018, on the fair value of our fixed income portfolio of a hypothetical increase in interest rates of 100 bps applied instantly across the U.S. yield curve (an immediate time horizon was used as this presents the worst case scenario):

Changes in interest rates will have an immediate effect on Comprehensive income and Shareholders' equity but will not ordinarily have an immediate effect on Net income. Variations in market interest rates could produce significant changes in the timing of prepayments due to available prepayment options. For these reasons, actual results could differ from those reflected in the tables.

Although our debt and trust preferred securities (collectively referred to as debt obligations) are reported at amortized cost and not adjusted for fair value changes, changes in interest rates could have a material impact on their fair value, albeit there would be no impact on our consolidated financial statements.

The following table presents the impact at December 31, 2019 and 2018, on the fair value of our debt obligations of a hypothetical decrease in interest rates of 100 bps applied instantly across the U.S. yield curve (an immediate time horizon was used as this presents the worst case scenario):

Table of Contents

Foreign currency management

As a global company, Chubb entities transact business in multiple currencies. Our policy is to generally match assets, liabilities and required capital for each individual jurisdiction in local currency, which would include the use of derivatives. We do not hedge our net asset non-U.S. dollar capital positions; however, we do consider hedging for planned cross border transactions.

The following table summarizes the net assets in non-U.S. currencies at December 31, 2019 and 2018:

NM – not meaningful

Effective July 1, 2018, Argentina was designated as a highly inflationary economy and therefore we changed the functional currency for our Argentine operations from the Argentine Peso to the U.S. dollar. Our net assets denominated in the Argentine Peso represented less than 0.1 percent of consolidated shareholders’ equity. Therefore, this change in the functional currency of our Argentine operations did not have a material impact on our financial condition or results of operations.

Table of Contents

Reinsurance of GMDB and GLB guarantees

Chubb views its variable annuity reinsurance business as having a similar risk profile to that of catastrophe reinsurance with the probability of long-term economic loss relatively small, at the time of pricing. Adverse changes in market factors and policyholder behavior will have an impact on both Life Insurance underwriting income and net income. When evaluating these risks, we expect to be compensated for taking both the risk of a cumulative long-term economic net loss, as well as the short-term accounting variations caused by these market movements. Therefore, we evaluate this business in terms of its long-term economic risk and reward.

Net income is directly impacted by changes in benefit reserves calculated in connection with reinsurance of variable annuity guarantees. In addition, net income is directly impacted by changes in the fair value of the GLB liability (FVL), which is classified as a derivative for accounting purposes. The FVL established for a GLB reinsurance contract represents the difference between the fair value of the contract and the benefit reserves. Benefit reserves and FVL calculations are directly affected by market factors, including equity levels, interest rate levels, credit risk, and implied volatilities, as well as policyholder behaviors, such as annuitization and lapse rates, and policyholder mortality.

The tables below are estimates of the sensitivities to instantaneous changes in economic inputs (e.g., equity shock, interest rate shock, etc.) or actuarial assumptions at December 31, 2019 of the FVL and of the fair value of specific derivative instruments held (hedge value) to partially offset the risk in the variable annuity guarantee reinsurance portfolio. The following assumptions should be considered when using the below tables:

Table of Contents

Variable Annuity Net Amount at Risk

All our VA reinsurance treaties include annual or aggregate claim limits and many include an aggregate deductible which limit the net amount at risk under these programs. The tables below present the net amount at risk at December 31, 2019 following an immediate change in equity market levels, assuming all global equity markets are impacted equally. For further information on the net amount at risk, refer to Note 5 c) to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

a) Reinsurance covering the GMDB risk only

The treaty claim limits function as a ceiling as equity markets fall. As the shocks in the table above become incrementally more negative, the impact on the NAR and claims at 100 percent mortality begin to drop due to the specific nature of these claim limits, many of which are annual claim limits calculated as a percentage of the reinsured account value. There is also some impact due to a small portion of the GMDB reinsurance under which claims are positively correlated to equity markets (claims decrease as equity markets fall).

Table of Contents

b) Reinsurance covering the GLB risk only

The treaty claim limits cause the net amount at risk to increase at a declining rate as equity markets fall.

c) Reinsurance covering both the GMDB and GLB risks on the same underlying policyholders

The treaty limits control the increase in the GMDB net amount at risk as equity markets fall. The GMDB net amount at risk continues to grow as equity markets fall because most of these reinsurance treaties do not have annual claim limits calculated as a percentage of the underlying account value. The treaty limits cause the GLB net amount at risk to increase at a declining rate as equity markets fall.