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Nature of Operations and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2019
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Nature of Operations and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Note 1. Nature of Operations and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Nature of operations:

Midwest Holding Inc. (“Midwest,” “the Company,” “we,” “our,” or “us”) was incorporated in Nebraska on October 31, 2003 for the primary purpose of operating a financial services company. The Company is in the life and annuity insurance business and operates through its wholly owned subsidiary, American Life & Security Corp. (“American Life”). As discussed in Note 3,  on June 28, 2018, we underwent a change in control as a result of the closing of a Loan, Convertible Preferred Stock and Convertible Senior Secured Note Purchase Agreement dated May 9, 2018 with a non-affiliated third party, Xenith Holdings LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Xenith”). On April 2, 2019, we obtained a 51% ownership in 1505 Capital, a Delaware limited liability company, that was established in 2018 to provide financial and investment advisory and management services to clients and related investment, trading and financial activities. 1505 Capital’s financial results are consolidated with the Company’s from the date of its acquisition.

Management evaluates the Company as one reporting segment in the life insurance industry. The Company is primarily engaged in the underwriting and marketing of life insurance and annuity products through American Life. The product offerings, the underwriting processes, and the marketing processes are similar. The Company’s historical product offerings consisted of a multi-benefit life insurance policy that combined cash value life insurance with a tax deferred annuity and a single premium term life product. These product offerings were underwritten, marketed, and managed as a group of similar products on an overall portfolio basis. The Company presently offers two products, a multi-year guaranteed annuity ("MYGA") and a fixed indexed annuity (“FIA”).

Basis of presentation: 

These consolidated financial statements, which include the accounts of American Life and 1505 Capital, have been prepared in conformity with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”) in the United States of America. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation and certain immaterial reclassifications have been made to the prior period results to conform to the current period’s presentation with no impact on results of operations or total stockholders’ equity.

Investments

All fixed maturities and a portion of the equity securities owned by the Company are considered available-for-sale and are included in the consolidated financial statements at their fair value as of the financial statement date. Bond premiums and discounts are amortized using the scientific-yield method over the term of the bonds. Realized gains and losses on securities sold during the year are determined using the specific identification method. Unrealized holding gains and losses, net of applicable income taxes, are included in accumulated other comprehensive income.

Declines in the fair value of available-for-sale securities below their amortized cost are evaluated to assess whether any other-than-temporary impairment loss should be recorded. In determining if these losses are expected to be other-than-temporary, the Company considers severity of impairment, duration of impairment, forecasted recovery period, industry outlook, the financial condition of the issuer, issuer credit ratings, and the intent and ability of the Company to hold the investment until the recovery of the cost.

The recognition of other-than-temporary impairment losses on debt securities is dependent on the facts and circumstances related to the specific security. If the Company intends to sell a security or it is more likely than not that the Company would be required to sell a security prior to recovery of the amortized cost, the difference between amortized cost and fair value is recognized in the statement of comprehensive income as an other-than-temporary impairment. If the Company does not expect to recover the amortized basis, does not plan to sell the security and if it is not more likely than not that the Company would be required to sell a security before the recovery of its amortized cost, the recognition of the other-than-temporary impairment is bifurcated. The Company recognizes the credit loss portion in the income statement and the noncredit loss portion in accumulated other comprehensive loss. The credit component of an other-than-temporary impairment is determined by comparing the net present value of projected cash flows with the amortized cost basis of the debt security. The net present value is calculated by discounting the Company’s best estimate of projected future cash flows at the effective interest rate implicit in the fixed income security at the date of acquisition. Cash flow estimates are driven by assumptions regarding probability of default, including changes in credit ratings, and estimates regarding timing and amount of recoveries associated with a default. The Company has analyzed the securities portfolio and performed cash flow testing and determined that there was not an other-than-temporary impairment for the year ended December 31, 2019.

Investment income consists of interest, dividends, gains and losses from equity method investments, and real estate income, which are recognized on an accrual basis and amortization of premiums and discounts.

Mortgage loans on real estate, held for investment

Mortgage loans on real estate, held for investment are carried at unpaid principal balances. Interest income on mortgage loans on real estate, held for investment is recognized in net investment income at the contract interest rate when earned. A mortgage loan is considered to be impaired when it is probable that the Company will be unable to collect all amounts due according to the contractual terms of the mortgage agreement. Valuation allowances on mortgage loans are established based upon losses expected by management to be realized in connection with future dispositions or settlements of mortgage loans, including foreclosures. The Company establishes valuation allowances for estimated impairments on an individual loan basis as of the balance sheet date. Such valuation allowances are based on the excess carrying value of the loan over the present value of expected future cash flows discounted at the loan’s original effective interest rate. These evaluations are revised as conditions change and new information becomes available. No such valuation allowance was established as of December 31, 2019.

Investment escrow

The Company holds in escrow as of December 31, 2019, cash that will be used to settle a mortgage loan that did not close until January 2020.

Other invested assets

The Company purchases and sells leases in its investment portfolio.  Within the third quarter 2019, the Company had invested in and sold two leases.  As of December 31, 2019, the Company owned one lease investment.    

Derivative Instruments

Derivatives are used to hedge the risks experienced in our ongoing operations, such as equity, interest rate and cash flow risks, or for other risk management purposes, which primarily involve managing liability risks associated with our indexed annuity products and reinsurance agreements. Derivatives are financial instruments whose values are derived from interest rates, foreign exchange rates, financial indices or other underlying notional amounts. Derivative assets and liabilities are carried at fair value on the consolidated balance sheets.

To qualify for hedge accounting, at the inception of the hedging relationship, we would formally document our designation of the hedge as a cash flow or fair value hedge and our risk management objective and strategy for undertaking the hedging transaction. In this documentation, we would identify how the hedging instrument is expected to hedge the designated risks related to the hedged item, the method that would be used to retrospectively and prospectively assess the hedging instrument’s effectiveness and the method which would be used to measure ineffectiveness. A derivative designated as a hedging instrument must be assessed as being highly effective in offsetting the designated risk of the hedged item. Hedge effectiveness is formally assessed at inception and periodically throughout the life of the designated hedging relationship.

In the fourth quarter of 2019, the Company began investing in options to hedge our interest rate risks on our FIA product.  Options typically do not qualify for hedge accounting therefore we chose not to use hedge accounting for our options that we currently have.  We value our derivatives at fair market value with the offset being recorded in our comprehensive income statement as a realized gain or (loss).

Additionally, reinsurance agreements written on a funds withheld or Modco basis contain embedded derivatives on our fixed indexed annuity product.

Preferred Stock

Preferred stock, of a non-affiliated company, was purchased during the third quarter of 2019.  The Company believes the cost of the preferred stock equals fair market value as of December 31, 2019. 

Policy loans

 Policy loans are carried at unpaid principal balances. Interest income on policy loans is recognized in net investment income at the contract interest rate when earned. No valuation allowance is established for these policy loans as the amount of the loan is fully secured by the death benefit of the policy and cash surrender value.

Cash and cash equivalents

The Company considers all liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents. At December 31, 2018, the Company had no cash equivalents. At December 31, 2019, the Company held approximately 1.8 million in Great British Pounds (“GBP”) in cash in two of our custody accounts.  The USD equivalent held was approximately $2.3 million.  The Company had money market investments of approximately $26.2 million as of December 31, 2019.

Deferred acquisition costs

Deferred acquisition costs (“DAC”) consist of incremental direct costs, net of amounts ceded to reinsurers, that result directly from and are essential to the contract acquisition transaction and would not have been incurred by the Company had the contract acquisition not occurred. These costs are capitalized, to the extent recoverable, and amortized over the life of the premiums produced. The Company evaluates the types of acquisition costs it capitalizes. The Company capitalizes agent compensation and benefits and other expenses that are directly related to the successful acquisition of contracts. The Company also capitalizes expenses directly related to activities performed by the Company, such as underwriting, policy issuance, and processing fees incurred in connection with successful contract acquisitions.

Recoverability of deferred acquisition costs is evaluated periodically by comparing the current estimate of the present value of expected pretax future profits to the unamortized asset balance. If this current estimate is less than the existing balance, the difference is charged to expense. The Company performs a recoverability analysis annually in the fourth quarter unless events occur which require an immediate review. The Company had reinsurance contracts with commission and administration allowances from each reinsurer that offset all the DAC costs incurred during 2019, as a result no recovery analysis was deem necessary as of December 31, 2019.

Property and equipment

Property and equipment are stated at cost net of accumulated depreciation. Annual depreciation is primarily computed using straight-line methods for financial reporting and straight-line and accelerated methods for tax purposes. Furniture and equipment is depreciated over 3 to 7 years and computer software and equipment is generally depreciated over 3 years. Depreciation expense totaled $40,000 and $49,309 for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. The accumulated depreciation net of disposals totaled $975,480 and $943,323 as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

Maintenance and repairs are expensed as incurred. Replacements and improvements which extend the useful life of the asset are capitalized. The net book value of assets sold or retired are removed from the accounts, and any resulting gain or loss is reflected in earnings.

Long-lived assets are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount may not be recoverable. An impairment loss is recognized if the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable and exceeds estimated future undiscounted cash flows of the asset. A recognized impairment loss reduces the carrying amount of the asset to its fair value. The Company determined that no such events occurred that would indicate the carrying amounts may not be recoverable.

Reinsurance

In the normal course of business, the Company seeks to limit any single exposure to losses on large risks by purchasing reinsurance. The amounts reported in the consolidated balance sheets as reinsurance recoverable include amounts billed to reinsurers on losses paid as well as estimates of amounts expected to be recovered from reinsurers on insurance liabilities that have not yet been paid. Reinsurance recoverable on unpaid losses are estimated based upon assumptions consistent with those used in establishing the liabilities related to the underlying reinsured contracts. Insurance liabilities are reported gross of reinsurance recoverable. Management believes the recoverables are appropriately established. The Company generally strives to diversify its credit risks related to reinsurance ceded. Reinsurance premiums are generally reflected in income in a manner consistent with the recognition of premiums on the reinsured contracts. Reinsurance does not extinguish the Company’s primary liability under the policies written. Therefore, the Company regularly evaluates the financial condition of its reinsurers including their activities with respect to claim settlement practices and commutations, and establishes allowances for uncollectible reinsurance recoverable as appropriate.  There were no allowances as of December 31, 2019 or 2018.

Benefit reserves

The Company establishes liabilities for amounts payable under insurance policies, including traditional life insurance and annuities. Generally, amounts are payable over an extended period of time. Liabilities for future policy benefits of traditional life insurance have been computed by a net level premium method based upon estimates at the time of issue for investment yields, mortality and withdrawals. These estimates include provisions for experience less favorable than initially expected. Mortality assumptions are based on industry experience expressed as a percentage of standard mortality tables.

Policy claims

 Policy claims are based on reported claims plus estimated incurred but not reported claims developed from trends of historical data applied to current exposure.

Deposit-type contracts

Deposit-type contracts consist of amounts on deposit associated with deferred annuity riders, premium deposit funds and supplemental contracts without life contingencies.

Notes payable

Notes payable consist of the convertible notes entered into due to the Xenith transaction and were recorded net of issuance costs.

Deferred gain on ceding commissions

American Life has entered into several indemnity reinsurance contracts where it is earning ceding commissions.  These ceding commissions are recorded as a deferred liability and amortized over the life of the business ceded. American Life receives commission, administrative, and option allowances from reinsurance transactions that represent recovery of acquisition costs.  These allowances first reduce the DAC associated with that reinsured block of business with the remainder being included in the deferred gain on ceding commissions to also be amortized.  

Income taxes

The Company is subject to income taxes in the U.S. federal and various state jurisdictions. Tax regulations within each jurisdiction are subject to the interpretation of the related tax laws and regulations and require significant judgment to apply. With few exceptions, the Company is no longer subject to U.S. federal, state or local tax examinations by tax authorities for the years before 2015. The Company is not currently under examination for any open years. The provision for income taxes is based on income as reported in the financial statements. The income tax provision is calculated under the asset and liability method. Deferred tax assets are recorded based on the differences between the financial statement and tax basis of assets and liabilities at the enacted tax rates. The principal assets and liabilities giving rise to such differences are investments, insurance reserves, and deferred acquisition costs. A deferred tax asset valuation allowance is established when there is uncertainty that such assets would be realized. The Company has no uncertain tax positions that it believes are more-likely-than not that the benefit will not to be realized. When applicable, the Company recognizes interest accrued related to unrecognized tax benefits and penalties in income tax expense.

Revenue recognition and related expenses

Revenues on traditional life insurance products consist of direct and assumed premiums reported as earned when due.