Deposit contracts

Deposit liability contracts each contain a fixed interest crediting rate, which ranges from 2.5% to 3.0%. Certain deposit contracts also contain a variable interest crediting feature based on actual investment returns realized by the Company that can increase the overall effective interest crediting rate on those contracts to 6.1% to 6.5%. These variable interest crediting features are considered embedded derivatives. We include the estimated fair value of these embedded derivatives with the host deposit liability contracts. Changes in the estimated fair value of these embedded derivatives are recorded in other expenses in the condensed consolidated statements of income.

The following table represents activity in the deposit liabilities for the three months ended March 31, 2014 and the year ended December 31, 2013:



	March 31, 2014			December 31, 2013
	($ in thousands)
Balance, beginning of period	$	120,946		$	50,446
Consideration received	—			66,369
Net investment expense allocation and change in fair value of embedded derivatives	528			4,731
Payments	(100		)	(600		)
Balance, end of period	$	121,374		$	120,946