Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.
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Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.
The Company’s earnings and financial condition are exposed to interest rate risk, credit quality risk, market valuation risk, foreign currency risk, commodity risk and operational risk.
Evaluation of Interest Rate and Credit Quality Risk
The Company manages interest rate risk by seeking to maintain a tight match between the durations of assets and liabilities when appropriate. The Company manages credit quality risk by seeking to maintain high average credit quality ratings and diversified sector exposure within its debt securities portfolio. In connection with its investment and risk management objectives, the Company also uses derivative financial instruments whose market value is at least partially determined by, among other things, levels of or changes in interest rates (short-term or long-term), duration, prepayment rates, equity markets or credit ratings/spreads. The Company’s use of these derivatives is generally limited to hedging risk and has principally consisted of using interest rate swaps, treasury rate locks, forward contracts, futures contracts, warrants, put options and credit default swaps. These instruments, viewed separately, subject the Company to varying degrees of interest rate, equity price and credit risk. However, when used for hedging, the Company expects these instruments to reduce overall risk.
Investments
The Company’s investment portfolio supported the following products at December 31, 2023 and 2022:
| In millions | 2023 | 2022 | |||||||||
| Experience-rated products | $ | 723 | $ | 744 | |||||||
| Remaining products | 25,555 | 23,147 | |||||||||
| Total investments (1) | $ | 26,278 | $ | 23,891 |
(1)Includes long-term investments of $17 million which were accounted for as assets held for sale and were included in assets held for sale on the consolidated balance sheet at December 31, 2022. See Note 2 ‘‘Acquisitions, Divestitures and Asset Sales’’ included in Item 8 of this 10-K for additional information.
Investment risks associated with experience-rated products generally do not impact the Company’s operating results. The risks associated with investments supporting experience-rated pension and annuity products in the large case pensions business in the Company’s Corporate/Other segment are assumed by the contract holders and not by the Company (subject to, among other things, certain minimum guarantees). Assets supporting experience-rated products may be subject to contract holder or participant withdrawals.
The debt securities in the Company’s investment portfolio had an average credit quality rating of A at both December 31, 2023 and 2022, with a fair value of approximately $4.6 billion and $6.0 billion rated AAA at December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The fair value of debt securities that were rated below investment grade (that is, having a credit quality rating below BBB-/Baa3) was $2.1 billion and $1.9 billion at December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively (of which 1.5% and 1.6% at December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively, supported experience-rated products).
At December 31, 2023 and 2022, the Company held $218 million and $202 million, respectively, of municipal debt securities that were guaranteed by third parties, representing 1% of total investments at both December 31, 2023 and 2022. These securities had an average credit quality rating of AA+ at both December 31, 2023 and 2022, with the guarantee. These securities had an average credit quality rating of AA- and A at December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively, without the guarantee. The Company does not have any significant concentration of investments with third party guarantors (either direct or indirect).
The Company generally classifies debt securities as available for sale, and carries them at fair value on the consolidated balance sheets. At both December 31, 2023 and 2022, less than 1% of debt securities were valued using inputs that reflect the Company’s assumptions (categorized as Level 3 inputs in accordance with GAAP). See Note 5 ‘‘Fair Value’’ included in Item 8 of this 10-K for additional information on the methodologies and key assumptions used to determine the fair value of investments. For additional information related to investments, see Note 4 ‘‘Investments’’ included in Item 8 of this 10-K.
The Company regularly reviews debt securities in its portfolio to determine whether a decline in fair value below the cost basis or carrying value has occurred. If a debt security is in an unrealized loss position and the Company has the intent to sell the security, or it is more likely than not that the Company will have to sell the security before recovery of its amortized cost basis, the amortized cost basis of the security is written down to its fair value and the difference is recognized in net income. If a debt
security is in an unrealized loss position and the Company does not have the intent to sell and it is more likely than not that the Company will not have to sell such security before recovery of its amortized cost basis, the Company bifurcates the impairment into credit-related and non-credit related components. The amount of the credit-related component is recorded as an allowance for credit losses and recognized in net income, and the amount of the non-credit related component is included in other comprehensive income (loss). The impairment of debt securities is considered a critical accounting policy. See ‘‘Critical Accounting Policies - Impairments of Debt Securities” in the MD&A included in Item 7 of this 10-K for additional information.
Evaluation of Market Valuation Risks
The Company regularly evaluates its risk from market-sensitive instruments by examining, among other things, levels of or changes in interest rates (short-term or long-term), duration, prepayment rates, equity markets and/or credit ratings/spreads. The Company also regularly evaluates the appropriateness of investments relative to management-approved investment guidelines (and operates within those guidelines) and the business objectives of its portfolios.
On a quarterly basis, the Company reviews the impact of hypothetical net losses in its investment portfolio on the Company’s consolidated near-term financial condition, operating results and cash flows assuming the occurrence of certain reasonably possible changes in near-term market rates and prices. Interest rate changes (whether resulting from changes in treasury yields or credit spreads or other factors) represent the most material risk exposure category for the Company. The Company has estimated the impact on the fair value of market sensitive instruments based on the net present value of cash flows using a representative set of likely future interest rate scenarios. The assumptions used were as follows: an immediate increase of 100 basis points in interest rates (which the Company believes represents a moderately adverse scenario) for long-term debt issued by the Company, as well as its interest rate sensitive investments and an immediate decrease of 15% in prices for publicly traded domestic equity securities in the Company’s investment portfolio.
Assuming an immediate increase of 100 basis points in interest rates, the theoretical decline in the fair values of market sensitive instruments at December 31, 2023 is as follows:
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The fair value of long-term debt issued by the Company would decline by approximately $3.5 billion ($4.4 billion pretax). Changes in the fair value of long-term debt do not impact the Company’s operating results or financial condition.
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The theoretical reduction in the fair value of interest rate sensitive investments partially offset by the theoretical reduction in the fair value of interest rate sensitive liabilities would result in a net decline in fair value of approximately $570 million ($720 million pretax) related to continuing non-experience-rated products. Net reductions in fair value would be reflected as an unrealized loss in equity, as the Company classifies these debt securities as available for sale and the effect of the interest rate on interest rate sensitive liabilities is recorded in other comprehensive income (loss).
If the value of the Company’s publicly traded domestic equity securities held within its investment portfolio were to decline by 15%, this would result in a net decline in fair value of $32 million ($41 million pretax).
Based on overall exposure to interest rate risk and equity price risk, the Company believes that these changes in market rates and prices would not materially affect consolidated near-term financial condition, operating results or cash flows as of December 31, 2023.
Evaluation of Foreign Currency and Commodity Risk
At December 31, 2023 and 2022, the Company did not have any material foreign currency exchange rate or commodity derivative instruments in place and believes its exposure to foreign currency exchange rate risk is not material.
Evaluation of Operational Risks
The Company also faces certain operational risks. Those risks include risks related to information security, including cybersecurity.
The Company and its vendors have experienced diverse cyber attacks and expect to continue to experience cyber attacks going forward. As examples, the Company and its vendors have experienced attempts to gain access to systems, denial of service attacks, attempted malware infections, account takeovers, scanning activity and phishing emails. Attacks can originate from external criminals, terrorists, nation states or internal actors. The Company is dedicating and will continue to dedicate significant resources and incur significant expenses to maintain and update on an ongoing basis the systems and processes that are designed to mitigate the information security risks it faces and protect the security of its computer systems, software,
networks and other technology assets against attempts by unauthorized parties to obtain access to confidential information, disrupt or degrade service or cause other damage. The impact of cyber attacks has not been material to the Company’s operations or operating results through December 31, 2023. The Board and its Audit Committee and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee are regularly informed regarding the Company’s information security policies, practices and status. Please see “Cybersecurity” included in Item 1C of this 10-K for further information.
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