(10)Guaranteed Preferred Beneficial Interests in the Company’s Junior Subordinated Deferrable Interest Debentures (Trust Preferred Securities) and Interest Rate Swaps

We have two statutory business trusts: Northwest Bancorp Capital Trust III, a Delaware statutory business trust and Northwest Bancorp Statutory Trust IV, a Connecticut statutory business trust (“Trusts”). These trusts exist solely to issue preferred securities to third parties for cash, issue common securities to the Company in exchange for capitalization of the Trusts, invest the proceeds from the sale of the trust securities in an equivalent amount of debentures of the Company, and engage in other activities that are incidental to those previously listed.

Northwest Bancorp Capital Trust III (Trust III) issued 50,000 cumulative trust preferred securities in a private transaction to a pooled investment vehicle on December 5, 2006 (liquidation value of $1,000 per preferred security or $50,000,000) with a stated maturity of December 30, 2035. These securities carry a floating interest rate, which is reset quarterly, equal to three-month LIBOR plus 1.38%. Northwest Bancorp Statutory Trust IV (Trust IV) issued 50,000 cumulative trust preferred securities in a private transaction to a pooled investment vehicle on December 15, 2006 (liquidation value of $1,000 per preferred security or $50,000,000) with a stated maturity of December 15, 2035. These securities carry a floating interest rate, which is reset quarterly, equal to three-month LIBOR plus 1.38%. The Trusts have invested the proceeds of the offerings in junior subordinated deferrable interest debentures issued by the Company. The structure of these debentures mirrors the structure of the trust-preferred securities. Trust III holds $51,547,000 of the Company’s junior subordinated debentures and Trust IV holds $51,547,000 of the Company’s junior subordinated debentures. These subordinated debentures are the sole assets of the Trusts. Cash distri-butions on the trust securities are made on a quarterly basis to the extent interest on the debentures is received by the Trusts. We have the right to defer payment of interest on the subordinated debentures at any time, or from time-to-time, for periods not exceeding five years. If interest payments on the subordinated debentures are deferred, the distributions on the trust preferred securities are also deferred. Interest on the subordinated debentures and distributions on the trust securities is cumulative. To date, there have been no interest deferrals. Our obligation constitutes a full, irrevocable, and unconditional guarantee on a subordinated basis of the obligations of the trust under the preferred securities.

We are currently a counterparty to three interest rate swap agreements (swaps), designating the swaps as cash flow hedges. The swaps are intended to protect against the variability of cash flows associated with Trust III and Trust IV. The first swap modifies the re-pricing characteristics of Trust III, wherein for a ten year period expiring in September 2018, the Company receives interest of three-month LIBOR from a counterparty and pays a fixed rate of 4.61% to the same counterparty calculated on a notional amount of $25.0 million. The other two swaps modify the re-pricing characteristics of Trust IV, wherein (i) for a seven year period expiring in September 2015, the Company receives interest of three-month LIBOR from a counterparty and pays a fixed rate of 3.85% to the same counterparty calculated on a notional amount of $25.0 million and (ii) for a ten year period expiring in September 2018, the Company receives interest of three-month LIBOR from a counterparty and pays a fixed rate of 4.09% to the same counterparty calculated on a notional amount of $25.0 million. The swap agreements were entered into with a counterparty that met our credit standards and the agreements contain collateral provisions protecting the at-risk party. We believe that the credit risk inherent in the contracts is not significant. At March 31, 2015, $6.6 million of cash was pledged as collateral to the counterparty.

At March 31, 2015, the fair value of the swap agreements was $(6.2) million and was the amount we would have expected to pay if the contracts were terminated. There was no material hedge ineffectiveness for these swaps.

The following table shows liability derivatives, included in other liabilities, at March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014 (in thousands):

	March 31,		December 31,
	2015		2014
Fair value	$	6,205	6,273
Notional amount	75,000		75,000
Collateral posted	6,555		6,805