Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2011

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Note 1. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Basis of Presentation

These interim consolidated financial statements include the accounts of White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd. (the “Company” or the “Registrant”) and its subsidiaries (collectively, with the Company, “White Mountains”) and have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”). The Company is an exempted Bermuda limited liability company whose principal businesses are conducted through its property and casualty insurance and reinsurance subsidiaries and affiliates. The Company’s headquarters is located at 14 Wesley Street, Hamilton, Bermuda HM 11, its principal executive office is located at 80 South Main Street, Hanover, New Hampshire 03755-2053 and its registered office is located at Clarendon House, 2 Church Street, Hamilton, Bermuda HM 11.  White Mountains’ reportable segments are OneBeacon, White Mountains Re and Other Operations.  As discussed further in Note 2, White Mountains entered into an agreement on May 17, 2011 to sell Esurance Insurance and AFI. Accordingly, effective for June 30, 2011, Esurance has been presented as discontinued operations and assets and liabilities held for sale in the financial statements. Prior year amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current year’s presentation.  (See Note 14 for discontinued operations and assets and liabilities held for sale).

The OneBeacon segment consists of OneBeacon Insurance Group, Ltd. (“OneBeacon Ltd.”), an exempted Bermuda limited liability company that owns a family of U.S. based property and casualty insurance companies (collectively “OneBeacon”), most of which operate in a multi-company pool. OneBeacon is a specialty property and casualty insurance writer that offers a wide range of insurance products through independent agencies, regional and national brokers, wholesalers and managing general agencies. As of June 30, 2011 and December 31, 2010, White Mountains owned 75.5% and 76.0% of OneBeacon Ltd.’s outstanding common shares.

The White Mountains Re segment consists of White Mountains Re Ltd., an exempted Bermuda limited liability company, and its subsidiaries (collectively, “White Mountains Re”).  White Mountains Re provides insurance and reinsurance products for property, accident and health, aviation and space, trade credit, marine, casualty, and agriculture and certain other exposures on a worldwide basis through its subsidiaries, Sirius International Insurance Corporation (“WMRe Sirius”) and White Mountains Reinsurance Company of America (“WMRe America”). White Mountains Re also specializes in the acquisition and management of run-off insurance and reinsurance companies both in the United States and internationally through its White Mountains Re Solutions division.  White Mountains Re also includes Scandinavian Reinsurance Company, Ltd. (“Scandinavian Re”) and Central National Insurance Company of Omaha (“Central National”), which was acquired during the first quarter of 2010 (see Note 2), both of which are in run-off.

White Mountains’ Other Operations segment consists of the Company and its intermediate holding companies, its wholly-owned investment management subsidiary, White Mountains Advisors LLC (“WM Advisors”), White Mountains’ investment in common shares and warrants to purchase common shares of Symetra Financial Corporation (“Symetra”), the consolidated results of Tuckerman Capital, LP fund (“Tuckerman Fund I”), White Mountains’ variable annuity reinsurance business, White Mountains Life Reinsurance (Bermuda) Ltd. (“WM Life Re”), which is in run-off, as well as other entities not included in other segments.  The Other Operations segment also included White Mountains’ investments in Lightyear Delos Acquisition Corporation (“Delos”) prior to its disposition in December 2010.

White Mountains’ discontinued operations consist of Esurance Holdings, Inc and its subsidiaries (“Esurance Insurance”) and Answer Financial Inc. and its subsidiaries (“AFI”) (collectively, “Esurance”) and the business that Esurance Insurance cedes to White Mountains Re.  Esurance Insurance writes personal auto insurance directly to customers in 30 states through its website and over the phone and also sells other lines of personal insurance for unaffiliated insurance companies.  Esurance Insurance also writes personal auto policies through select online agents and provides other insurance products through partnerships with industry leading online providers.  Esurance Insurance earns commissions and fees by referring to unaffiliated insurance companies those shoppers that it cannot underwrite because of pricing or underwriting eligibility.  AFI is one of the largest independent personal insurance agencies in the United States.  AFI sells insurance online and through call centers for both Esurance Insurance and unaffiliated companies utilizing a comparison quoting platform.

All significant intercompany transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. These interim financial statements include all adjustments considered necessary by management to fairly present the financial position, results of operations and cash flows of White Mountains that are of a normal recurring nature. These interim financial statements may not be indicative of financial results for the full year and should be read in conjunction with the Company’s 2010 Annual Report on Form 10-K. The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities as of the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.  Refer to the Company’s 2010 Annual Report on Form 10-K for a complete discussion regarding White Mountains’ significant accounting policies.

Noncontrolling Interests

Noncontrolling interests consist of the ownership interests of noncontrolling parties in consolidated subsidiaries and are presented separately as a component of equity on the balance sheet.

The percentage of the noncontrolling ownership interests in OneBeacon Ltd. at June 30, 2011 and December 31, 2010 was 24.5% and 24.0%. The increase in the noncontrolling ownership percentage during the first six months of 2011 was the result of the issuance of 630,000 restricted common shares of OneBeacon Ltd. to its CEO in May 2011 (see Note 12).

On May 24, 2007, White Mountains Re Group, Ltd. (“WMRe Group”), an intermediate holding company of White Mountains Re, issued 250,000 non-cumulative perpetual preference shares with a $1,000 per share liquidation preference (the “WMRe Preference Shares”). Proceeds of $245.7 million, net of $4.3 million of issuance costs and commissions, were received from the issuance.  The WMRe Preference Shares are included in noncontrolling interests on the balance sheet.

At June 30, 2011 and December 31, 2010, the noncontrolling equity interest in limited partnerships that are consolidated with White Mountains (Tuckerman Fund I, the Prospector Offshore Fund and the Prospector Turtle Fund) was $59.8 million and $59.7 million.  At June 30, 2011 and December 31, 2010, the noncontrolling equity interest in A.W.G. Dewar Inc, a subsidiary of OneBeacon, was $2.1 million and $3.1 million.

Recently Adopted Changes in Accounting Principles

Accounting Standards Codification

On June 29, 2009, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (“FAS”) 168, The FASB Accounting Standards Codification and the Hierarchy of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“FAS 168”), which establishes the FASB Accounting Standards Codification (“Codification” or Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”)) as the source of authoritative accounting principles to be applied in the preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP. FAS 168 (ASC 105-10) is effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. All existing non-SEC accounting and reporting standards were superseded by the Codification. White Mountains adopted the Codification for the interim period ended September 30, 2009. Adoption did not have any effect on the Company’s accounting policies or financial statement presentation. However, because the Codification changes the basis for reference to authoritative GAAP guidance, the Company’s footnote disclosures that reference such guidance reflect references to the codification. New accounting guidance is now issued by the FASB in the form of Accounting Standard Updates (“ASUs”).

Transfers of Financial Assets and Amendments to FIN 46R

On June 12, 2009, the FASB issued ASU 2009-16, Accounting for Transfers of Financial Assets, an amendment of FASB Statement No. 140 (included in ASC 860) and ASU 2009-17, Amendments to FIN46(R) (included in ASC 810).  Both ASU 2009-16 and ASU 2009-17 became effective as of the beginning of the first annual reporting period that began after November 15, 2009. White Mountains adopted the new guidance on January 1, 2010.

ASU 2009-16 eliminates the concept of a qualifying special-purpose entity (“QSPE”).  Under the new guidance, the appropriateness of de-recognition of assets held by an entity formerly considered a QSPE is evaluated based on whether or not the transferor has surrendered control of the transferred assets. The evaluation must consider any continuing involvement by the transferor. White Mountains did not have any entities that were considered a QSPE under guidance prior to the amendments to ASC 860 and there was no effect resulting from adoption.

ASU 2009-17 amends ASC 810-10 to clarify the application of consolidation accounting for entities for which the controlling financial interest might not be solely indentified through voting rights.  Under the new guidance a variable interest represents a controlling financial interest in a variable interest entity (“VIE”) when it has both of the following: (1) the power to direct the activities of a variable interest entity that most significantly impact the entity’s economic performance and (2) the obligation to absorb losses of the entity that could potentially be significant to the VIE or the right to receive benefits from the entity that could potentially be significant to the VIE.  A reporting entity must assess whether it has an implicit financial responsibility to ensure that a VIE operates as designed when determining if it has the power to direct the activities of the VIE that most significantly affect the entity’s economic performance. ASC 810-10 as amended requires ongoing reassessments of whether a reporting entity is the primary beneficiary of a VIE.

Upon adoption, White Mountains determined that its ownership interest in Tuckerman Fund II did not meet the criteria for consolidation under the revised guidance for variable interest entities and, accordingly, effective January 1, 2010, White Mountains deconsolidated its investment in Tuckerman Fund II. Upon deconsolidation, White Mountains made the fair value election for its investment in Tuckerman Fund II and recognized an adjustment to decrease opening retained earnings by $0.4 million.

Disclosures about Fair Value Measurements

White Mountains adopted ASU 2010-06, Improving Disclosures about Fair Value Measurements (included in ASC 820-10), effective March 31, 2010. The ASU clarifies existing disclosure requirements for fair value measurements and requires the disclosure of (1) the amounts and nature of transfers in and out of Level 1 and Level 2 measurements; (2) purchase, sale, issuance and settlement activity for Level 3 measurements presented on a gross rather than a net basis; (3) fair value measurements by Level presented on a more disaggregated basis, by asset or liability class; and (4) more detailed disclosures about inputs and valuation techniques for Level 2 and Level 3 measurements for interim and annual reporting periods. White Mountains has expanded its fair value disclosures to meet the requirements of the ASU effective for the period ended March 31, 2010 (see Note 5).

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

Policy Acquisition Costs

On October 13, 2010, the FASB issued ASU 2010-26, Accounting for Costs Associated with Acquiring or Renewing Insurance Contracts (ASC 944). The new standard changes the types of policy acquisition costs that are eligible for deferral. Specifically, the new guidance limits deferrable costs to those that are incremental direct costs of contract acquisition and certain costs related to acquisition activities performed by the insurer, such as underwriting, policy issuance and processing, medical and inspection costs and sales force contract selling. The ASU defines incremental direct costs as those costs that result directly from and were essential to the contract acquisition and would not have been incurred absent the acquisition. Accordingly, under the new guidance, deferrable acquisition costs are limited to costs related to successful contract acquisitions. Acquisition costs that are not eligible for deferral are to be charged to expense in the period incurred.

ASU 2010-26 is effective for interim periods and annual fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2011 and may be applied prospectively or retrospectively.  White Mountains currently defers certain advertising costs associated with contract acquisition that will likely not meet the criteria for deferral under ASU 2010-26 when it is adopted.  White Mountains is currently evaluating the effect the adoption of ASU 2010-26 will have on its financial position and results of operations.

Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures

On May 12, 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-04, Amendments to Achieve Common Fair Value Measurement and Disclosure Requirements in U.S. GAAP and IFRS. The ASU clarifies existing guidance with respect to the concepts of highest and best use and valuation premise and measuring instruments classified within a reporting entity’s shareholders’ equity.  The ASU also clarifies disclosure requirements, requiring disclosure of quantitative information about unobservable inputs used in Level 3 fair value measurements. The ASU also amends existing guidance. In circumstances where a reporting entity manages a portfolio of financial assets and liabilities based on the net market and counterparty credit risk exposures, the ASU permits determination of the fair value of those instruments to be based on the net risk exposure. In addition, the ASU permits the application of premiums or discounts to be applied in a fair value measurement to the extent that market participants would consider them in valuing the financial instruments. The ASU also expands the required disclosures for Level 3 measurements, requiring that reporting entities provide a narrative description of the sensitivity of Level 3 fair value measurements to changes in unobservable inputs and the interrelationships between those inputs, if any.  ASU 2011-04 is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2011. White Mountains is currently evaluating the effect the adoption of ASU 2011-04 will have on its financial position and results of operations.