Significant Accounting Policies and Pronouncements

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2023

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Significant Accounting Policies and Pronouncements

SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND PRONOUNCEMENTS

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Changes to U.S. GAAP are established by the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") in the form of ASUs to the FASB Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC"). The Company considers the applicability and impact of all ASUs. ASUs listed below include those that have been adopted during the current fiscal year and/or those that have been issued but not yet adopted as of June 30, 2023, and as of the date of this filing. ASUs not listed below were assessed and determined to be either not applicable or not material.

Adoption of ASU 2018-12

Effective January 1, 2023, the Company adopted ASU 2018-12, Financial Services—Insurance (Topic 944): Targeted Improvements to the Accounting for Long-Duration Contracts. Adoption of this ASU impacted, at least to some extent, the accounting and disclosure requirements for all long-duration insurance and investment contracts issued by the Company and had a significant financial impact on the Consolidated Financial Statements and disclosures. See Note 1 for additional information.

As of the January 1, 2021 transition date, the adoption of the standard resulted in a decrease to “Total equity” of $271 million, primarily from remeasuring in force contract liabilities using upper-medium grade fixed income instrument yields as of the transition date and from other changes in reserves. As of the January 1, 2023 adoption date, the impact amounted to an increase to "Total equity" of $673 million. The changes in the impacts from January 1, 2021 to January 1, 2023 primarily reflect the increase in market interest rates during 2021 and 2022.

Outlined below are: (1) key accounting policy changes effected by the ASU and (2) updated accounting policies for all of the periods presented in the Unaudited Interim Consolidated Financial Statements.

(1) Key Accounting Policy Changes

Area of Change	Description	Method of adoption	Effect on the financial statements or other significant matters
Cash flow assumptions used to measure the liability for future policy benefits for non-participating traditional and limited-payment insurance products	Requires an entity to review, and if necessary, update the cash flow assumptions used to measure the liability for future policy benefits, for both changes in future assumptions and actual experience, at least annually using a retrospective update method with a cumulative catch-up adjustment recorded in a separate line item in the Consolidated Statements of Operations.	Effective January 1, 2023 using the modified retrospective transition method, which includes a cumulative effect adjustment to the balance sheet as of January 1, 2021 (the “transition date”). Under this method, the amendments to contracts in force were applied as of January 1, 2021 on the basis of their existing carrying amounts, adjusted for the removal of any related amounts in AOCI	The impact upon transition reflects the impact on in force contract liabilities in instances where expected net premiums exceeded expected gross premiums at an issue-year cohort level as a result of updating to current best estimate cash flow assumptions as of the transition date. As a result of the modified retrospective transition method, the vast majority of the impact of updating cash flow assumptions to best estimates as of the transition date will be reflected in the pattern of earnings in subsequent periods. See Note 1 for additional information regarding the effect on the financial statements. Adoption of the standard also resulted in additional required disclosures. See Note 8 for additional information.
Discount rate assumption used to measure the liability for future policy benefits for non-participating traditional and limited-payment insurance products	Requires discount rate assumptions to be based on an upper-medium grade fixed income instrument yields, which will be updated each quarter with the impact recorded through OCI. An entity shall maximize the use of relevant observable information and minimize the use of unobservable information in determining the discount rate assumptions.	As noted above, the guidance for the liability for future policy benefits was adopted effective January 1, 2023 using the modified retrospective transition method, which includes a cumulative effect adjustment to the balance sheet as of January 1, 2021. Under this method, for balance sheet remeasurement purposes, the liability for future policy benefits is remeasured using discount rates as of January 1, 2021 with the impact recorded as a cumulative effect adjustment to AOCI.	Adoption of the ASU resulted in a significant impact to AOCI as a result of remeasuring in force contract liabilities using current upper-medium grade fixed income instrument yields. This adjustment largely reflects the difference between discount rates locked-in at contract inception versus current discount rates. See Note 1 for additional information regarding the effect on the financial statements. Adoption of the standard also resulted in additional required disclosures. See Note 8 for additional information.

Area of Change	Description	Method of adoption	Effect on the financial statements or other significant matters
Amortization of deferred acquisition costs and other balances	Requires DAC and other balances, such as URR and Deferred Sales Inducements ("DSI"), to be amortized on a constant level basis over the expected term of the related contract, independent of expected profitability.	Effective January 1, 2023 using the modified retrospective transition method, which includes a cumulative effect adjustment to the balance sheet as of January 1, 2021. Under this method, the amendments to contracts in force were applied as of January 1, 2021 on the basis of their existing carrying amounts, adjusted for the removal of any related amounts in AOCI.	Adoption of the ASU did not have a significant impact on DAC and other balances upon transition, other than the impact of the removal of any related amounts in AOCI. See Note 1 for additional information regarding the effect on the financial statements. Adoption of the standard also resulted in additional required disclosures. See Note 6 for additional information.
Market Risk Benefits	Requires an entity to measure all market risk benefits (e.g., living benefit and death benefit guarantees associated with variable annuities) at fair value, and record MRB assets and liabilities separately on the Consolidated Statements of Financial Position. Changes in the fair value of market risk benefits are recorded in net income, except for the portion attributable to changes in an entity’s NPR, which is recognized in OCI. An entity shall maximize the use of relevant observable information and minimize the use of unobservable information in determining the balance of the market risk benefits upon adoption.	Effective January 1, 2023 using the retrospective transition method, which includes a cumulative effect adjustment to the balance sheet as of January 1, 2021.	Adoption of the ASU resulted in an adjustment to retained earnings for the difference between the fair value and carrying value of benefits not measured at fair value prior to the adoption of the ASU (e.g., guaranteed minimum death benefits on variable annuities) and a reclass of the cumulative effect of changes in NPR from retained earnings to AOCI. See Note 1 for additional information regarding the effect on the financial statements. Adoption of the standard also resulted in additional required disclosures. See Note 10 for additional information.

In addition to the significant key accounting changes noted above, ASU 2018-12 also clarified the definition of assessments used to accrue additional insurance reserves and other related balances, primarily for no-lapse guarantee features on certain universal life contracts. Application of the new guidance changed the pattern of reserve recognition for these guarantees and resulted in an increase to the net contract liabilities related to these products at transition. See Note 1 for additional information regarding the effect on the financial statements.

ASU 2022-05, Financial Services – Insurance (Topic 944) Transition for Sold Contracts was issued on December 15, 2022, to amend the transition guidance in ASU 2018-12, Financial Services—Insurance (Topic 944): Targeted Improvements to the Accounting for Long-Duration Contracts. The amendment allows an insurance entity to make an accounting policy election to not apply ASU 2018-12 to contracts or legal entities sold or disposed of before the effective date, and in which the insurance entity has no significant continuing involvement with the derecognized contracts. An insurance entity is permitted to apply the policy election on a transaction by transaction basis to each sale or disposal transaction. An insurance entity is required to disclose whether it has chosen to apply this accounting policy election and provide a qualitative description of the sale or disposal transactions to which the accounting policy election is applied. The Company did not apply this accounting policy election.

(2) Updated Accounting Policies

This section includes the updated accounting policies resulting from the adoption of ASU 2018-12 which are applicable to all of the periods presented in the Unaudited Interim Financial Statements. This section is meant to serve as an update to, and should be read in conjunction with, Note 2 to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in the Company’s restated Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2022 included as Exhibit 99.1 within the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on July 14, 2023.

ASSETS

Deferred policy acquisition costs represents costs directly related to the successful acquisition of new and renewal insurance and annuity business. Such DAC primarily includes commissions, costs of policy issuance and underwriting, and certain other expenses that are directly related to successfully acquired contracts. In each reporting period, previously capitalized DAC is amortized and included in “Amortization of deferred policy acquisition costs”, and the carrying amount of DAC is not subject to recoverability testing upon adoption of ASU 2018-12.

DAC is amortized on a constant-level basis at a grouped contract level over the expected life of the underlying insurance contracts. Contracts are grouped consistent with the groupings used to estimate the liability for future policy benefits (or other related balances) for the corresponding contracts. Since contracts within a grouping may be of different sizes, contracts within a group are weighted to achieve appropriate amortization and to ensure that DAC is derecognized when a policy is no longer in force. The constant-level basis used to weight contracts within a grouping and amortize DAC is generally defined as follows:

•Life insurance contracts – DAC associated with life insurance contracts is generally amortized in proportion to the initial face amount of life insurance in force. This is applicable to traditional and universal life insurance.

•Payout annuity contracts – DAC associated with payout annuity contracts is amortized in proportion to annual benefit payments.

•Deferred annuity contracts – DAC associated with fixed and variable deferred annuity contracts is amortized in proportion to deposits.

For single premium immediate annuities without life contingencies, acquisition expenses are deferred and amortized over the expected life of the contracts using the interest method.

Current period DAC amortization reflects the impact of changes in actual insurance in force during the period and changes in future assumptions effected as of the end of the quarter, where applicable. The Company typically updates actuarial assumptions annually in the second quarter, (see "Annual Assumptions Review" below), unless a material change is observed in an interim period that is indicative of a long-term trend. Generally, the Company does not expect trends to change significantly in the short-term and, to the extent these trends may change, the Company expects such changes to be gradual over the long-term.

Assumptions used for DAC are consistent with those used in estimating the liability for future policy benefits (or any other related balance) for the corresponding contract. Determining the level of aggregation and actuarial assumptions used in projecting in force terminations requires judgment. Internal criteria are developed to determine the level of aggregation by considering both qualitative and quantitative materiality thresholds. The assumptions used in projecting in force terminations are mortality, mortality improvement, and lapse assumptions. These assumptions are generally based on the Company’s experience, industry experience and/or other factors, as applicable. For variable deferred annuity contracts, lapse rates are adjusted at the contract level based on the in-the-moneyness of the living benefits and reflect other factors, such as the applicability of any surrender charges. Lapse rates are reduced when contracts are more in-the-money. Lapse rates are also generally assumed to be lower for the period where surrender charges apply.

For some products, policyholders can elect to modify product benefits, features, rights or coverages by exchanging a contract for a new contract or by amendment, endorsement, or rider to a contract, or by the election of a feature or coverage within a contract. These transactions are known as internal replacements. If policyholders surrender traditional life insurance policies in exchange for life insurance policies that do not have fixed and guaranteed terms, the Company immediately charges to expense the remaining unamortized DAC on the surrendered policies. For other internal replacement transactions, except those that involve the addition of a non-integrated contract feature that does not change the existing base contract, the unamortized DAC is immediately charged to expense if the terms of the new policies are not substantially similar to those of the former policies. If the new terms are substantially similar to those of the earlier policies, the DAC is retained with respect to the new policies and amortized over the expected life of the new policies. See Note 6 for additional information regarding DAC.

Reinsurance recoverables include corresponding receivables associated with reinsurance arrangements with affiliates and third party reinsurers, and are reported on the Consolidated Statements of Financial Position net of the CECL allowance. Reinsurance recoverables also include assumed modified coinsurance arrangements which generally reflect the value of the invested assets retained by the cedant and the associated asset returns. Modified coinsurance recoverables contain an embedded derivative (bifurcated and accounted for separately from the host contract) that is presented together with the derivative embedded in the modified coinsurance payables as one compound derivative. For additional information about these arrangements see Note 11.

The CECL allowance considers the credit quality of the reinsurance counterparty and is generally determined based on the probability of default and loss given default assumptions, after considering any applicable collateral arrangements. The CECL allowance does not apply to reinsurance recoverables with affiliated counterparties under common control. Additions to or releases of the allowance are reported in “Policyholders’ benefits.” Prior to the adoption of this standard, an allowance for credit losses for reinsurance recoverables was established only when it was deemed probable that a reinsurer may fail to make payments to us in a timely manner. Reinsurance premiums, commissions, expense reimbursements, benefits and reserves related to reinsured long-duration contracts under coinsurance arrangements are accounted for over the life of the underlying reinsured contracts using assumptions consistent with those used to account for the underlying contracts. For reinsurance of in force blocks of non-participating traditional and limited-payment contracts, the current value of the direct liability as of inception of the reinsurance agreement is used to calculate the reinsurance recoverable and cost of reinsurance such that there is no immediate other comprehensive income or loss from recognition of the reinsurance recoverable at inception. Consistent with the direct liability, the reinsurance recoverable for non-participating traditional and limited-payment contracts is remeasured each period using current single A rates with the effect on the liability resulting from such updates recorded in "Interest rate remeasurement of future policy benefits" in OCI.

Coinsurance arrangements contrast with the Company’s yearly renewable term arrangements, where only mortality risk is transferred to the reinsurer and premiums are paid to the reinsurer to reinsure that risk. The mortality risk that is reinsured under yearly renewable term arrangements represents the difference between the stated death benefits in the underlying reinsured contracts and the corresponding reserves or account value carried by the Company on those same contracts. The premiums paid to the reinsurer are based upon negotiated amounts, not on the actual premiums paid by the underlying contractholders to the Company. As yearly renewable term arrangements are usually entered into by the Company with the expectation that the contracts will be in force for the lives of the underlying policies, they are considered to be long-duration reinsurance contracts. The cost of reinsurance for universal life products is generally recognized based on the gross assessments of the underlying direct policies. The cost of reinsurance for term insurance products is generally recognized in proportion to direct premiums over the life of the underlying policies.

Market risk benefit assets represents MRBs in an asset position and are presented separately from MRBs in a liability position. See “Market risk benefit liabilities” below. MRB assets also reflect ceded MRBs resulting from reinsurance of the Company's Prudential Defined Income ("PDI") traditional variable annuity contracts. See Note 11 for additional information regarding the reinsurance of PDI.

Other assets consists primarily of deposit assets related to a reinsurance agreement entered into with a third-party reinsurer during 2021 using deposit accounting under U.S. GAAP, see Note 11 for additional information. Included in these deposit assets are amounts representing fair value of embedded derivative instruments associated with the index-linked features of certain annuity products. For additional information regarding the valuation of these embedded derivatives, see Note 5. Also included are premiums due, deferred loss on reinsurance which is amortized over the expected life of the reinsured contracts on a constant-level basis, receivables resulting from sales of securities that had not yet settled at the balance sheet date, prepaid tax expenses, and the Company’s investments in operating joint ventures. Investments in operating joint ventures are generally accounted for under the equity method. The carrying value of these investments is written down, or impaired, to fair value when a decline in value is considered to be other-than-temporary.

Deferred Sales Inducements are amounts that are credited to a policyholders’ account balance primarily as an inducement to purchase fixed and/or variable deferred annuity contracts. The Company defers sales inducements and amortizes them over the expected life of the policy using the same methodology, factors and assumptions used to amortize DAC. The Company records amortization of DSI in “Interest credited to policyholders’ account balances.” Unlike DAC, DSI are considered contractual cash flows and, as a result, are subject to periodic recoverability testing. See Note 6 for additional information regarding DSI.

Separate account assets represents segregated funds that are invested for certain policyholders, and other customers. The assets consist primarily of equity securities, fixed maturities, real estate-related investments, real estate mortgage loans, short-term investments and derivative instruments and are reported at fair value. The assets of each account are legally segregated and are not subject to claims that arise out of any other business of the Company. Investment risks associated with market value changes are borne by the customers, except to the extent of minimum guarantees made by the Company with respect to certain accounts. The investment income and realized investment gains or losses from separate account assets generally accrue to the policyholders and are not included in the Company’s results of operations. Mortality, policy administration and surrender charges assessed against the accounts are included in “Policy charges and fee income”. Asset administration fees charged to the accounts are included in “Asset administration fees”. Seed money that the Company invests in separate accounts is reported in the appropriate general account asset line. Investment income and realized investment gains or losses from seed money invested in separate accounts accrue to the Company and are included in the Company’s results of operations. See Note 7 for additional information regarding separate account arrangements with contractual guarantees. See also “Separate account liabilities” below.

LIABILITIES

Future policy benefits is primarily comprised of the present value of expected future payments to or on behalf of policyholders, where the timing and amount of such payments depend on policyholder mortality or morbidity, less the present value of expected future net premiums (where net premiums are gross premiums multiplied by the Net-To-Gross ("NTG") ratio discussed below). The liability for future policy benefits is accrued over time as premium revenue is recognized. See Note 8 for additional information regarding future policy benefits.

The reserving methodology used for non-participating traditional and limited-payment contracts include the following:

•Cash Flow Assumptions. In measuring the liability for future policy benefits, the net premium valuation methodology is utilized. Under this methodology, a liability for future policy benefits is established using current best estimate insurance assumptions and interest rate assumptions locked-in at contract issuance date. The NTG ratio is calculated as the ratio of the present value of expected policy benefits and non-level claim settlement expenses divided by the present value of expected gross premiums. The NTG ratio is applied to gross premiums, as premium revenue is recognized, to determine net premiums. The liability is then determined as the present value of expected future policy benefits and non-level claim settlement expenses less the present value of expected future net premiums. For purposes of liability measurement, contracts are grouped into cohorts based primarily on issue year and major product line.

The NTG ratio is generally updated quarterly for actual experience and annually for future cash flow assumption updates during the Company’s annual assumptions review process in the second quarter of each year unless a material change is observed in an interim period that is indicative of a long-term trend (see “Annual Assumptions Review” below), with the exception of claim settlement expense assumptions which the Company has made an entity-wide election to lock-in as of contract issuance. The NTG ratio is subject to a retrospective unlocking method whereby the Company updates its best estimate of cash flows expected over the life of the cohort using actual historical experience and updated future cash flow assumptions. These updated cash flows are used to calculate the revised NTG ratio, which is used to derive an updated liability for future policy benefits as of the beginning of the current reporting period, discounted at the original contract issuance discount rate. The updated liability for future policy benefit amount as of the beginning of the quarter is then compared to the carrying amount of the liability as of that same date, before the updates for actual experience or future cash flow assumptions, to determine the current period change in liability estimate. This current period change in the liability is the liability remeasurement gain or loss that is recorded through current period earnings in “Change in estimates of liability for future policy benefits.” In subsequent periods, the revised NTG ratio is used to measure the liability for future policy benefits, subject to future revisions.

If a cohort is in a loss position where the liability for future policy benefits plus the present value of expected future gross premiums are determined to be insufficient to provide for expected future policy benefits and non-level claim settlement expenses, the NTG ratio is capped at 100%. In these instances, all changes in expected benefits resulting from both actual experience deviations and changes in future assumptions are reflected immediately. While the liability for future policy benefits cannot be less than zero (i.e., a contra-liability) at the cohort level and thus the balance is floored at zero (i.e., “flooring”), the NTG ratio may be negative. This would be the case whereby conditions have improved such that the present value of future net premiums plus the existing liability for future policy benefits as of the valuation date exceed the present value of expected future policy benefits and non-level claim settlement expenses. In this case, the negative NTG ratio would be applied going forward to gross premiums received, effectively amortizing the gain into income and reducing the liability over time.

In addition, for limited-payment contracts, the liability for future policy benefits also includes a Deferred Profit Liability representing gross premiums received in excess of net premiums and is generally recognized in revenue in a constant relationship with insurance in force for life contracts or with the amount of expected future benefit payments for annuity contracts. The DPL is subject to a retrospective unlocking adjustment consistent with the liability for future policy benefits discussed above. The DPL cannot be less than zero (i.e., a contra-liability) at the cohort level and thus the balance is floored at zero (i.e., “flooring”).

For contracts issued prior to January 1, 2021, the modified retrospective transition method was used to transition to ASU 2018-12. Under this method, the transition date of January 1, 2021 serves as the new issue date of the contracts in force for purposes of retrospectively unlocking the NTG ratio and DPL as described above.

•Discount Rate Assumption. The locked-in discount rate is generally based on expected investment returns at contract inception for contracts issued prior to January 1, 2021 and the upper medium grade fixed income corporate instrument yield (i.e., global single A) at contract inception for contracts issued after January 1, 2021. The discount rate in effect at contract inception is locked-in for the calculation of the NTG ratio and accretion of interest cost on the liability through net income. However, for balance sheet remeasurement purposes, the discount rate is updated using the current single A rate at each reporting period, with the effect on the liability resulting from such update recorded in “Interest rate remeasurement of future policy benefits" in OCI.

The methodology used in constructing the single A discount rate curve for discounting cash flows used to calculate the liability for future policy benefits is intended to be reflective of the characteristics of the applicable insurance liabilities. The single A discount rate curve is developed by reference to upper medium grade (low credit risk) fixed income instrument yields that reflect the duration characteristics of the applicable insurance liabilities. The single A discount curve for the United States and foreign economies, such as Japan, with observable corporate A spreads, is developed using government bond rates, plus globally equivalent public corporate A spreads in the observable periods. The definition of upper medium grade is based on Moody’s definition which includes the spectrum of A (i.e., A- to A+). The rate used in foreign operations (with the exception of certain emerging markets, as discussed below) is based on the equivalent of a single A rate from a global rating agency for corporate bonds issued in the same currency and country in which the insurance contract is written. Liquidity is considered in defining the observable period and linear extrapolation is performed to the Company's ultimate long-term economic assumptions. See “Annual Assumptions Review” below for further discussion regarding the Company’s long-term economic assumption setting process.

The Company’s liability for future policy benefits also includes net liabilities for guaranteed benefits related to certain long-duration life contracts, such as no-lapse guarantee contract features (AIR liability), for which a liability is established when associated assessments are recognized (which include investment margin on policyholders' account balances in the general account and all policy charges including charges for administration, mortality, expense, surrender, and other charges). This liability is established using current best estimate assumptions and is based on the ratio of the present value of total expected excess payments (i.e., payments in excess of account value) over the life of the contract divided by the present value of total expected assessments (i.e., benefit ratio).

For universal life type contracts and participating contracts, the Company performs premium deficiency tests using best estimate assumptions as of the testing date. If the liabilities determined based on these best estimate assumptions are greater than the net reserves (i.e., GAAP reserves including URR, net of reinsurance and any DSI asset), the existing net reserves are adjusted by first reducing these assets by the amount of the deficiency or to zero through a charge to current period earnings. If the deficiency is more than these asset balances for insurance contracts, the net reserves are increased by the excess through a charge to current period earnings included in "policyholders' benefits". Since investment yields are used as the discount rate, the premium deficiency test is also performed using a discount rate based on the market yield (i.e., assuming what would be the impact if any unrealized gains (losses) were realized as of the testing date). In the event that by using the market yield a deficiency occurs, an adjustment is established for the deficiency and is included in AOCI.

In certain instances, for universal life type contracts and participating contracts, the policyholder liability for a particular line of business may not be deficient in the aggregate to trigger loss recognition, but the pattern of earnings may be such that profits are expected to be recognized in earlier years followed by losses in later years. In these situations, accounting standards require that an additional liability (Profits Followed by Losses or “PFL” liability) be recognized by an amount necessary to sufficiently offset the losses that would be recognized in later years. To date, the Company has not recorded a PFL liability on any such contracts.

The Company’s liability for future policy benefits also includes a liability for unpaid claims and claim adjustment expenses. The Company does not establish claim liabilities until a loss has been incurred. However, unpaid claims and claim adjustment expenses include estimates of claims that the Company believes have been incurred but have not yet been reported as of the balance sheet date.

Policyholders’ account balances liability represents the contract value that has accrued to the benefit of the policyholder as of the balance sheet date. This liability is primarily associated with the accumulated account deposits, plus interest credited, less policyholder withdrawals and other charges assessed against the account balance, as applicable. These policyholders’ account balances also include provision for benefits under non-life contingent payout annuities and certain unearned revenues. The unearned revenue liability represents policy charges for services to be provided in future periods. The charges are deferred as incurred and are generally amortized over the expected life of the contract using the same methodology, factors, and assumption used to amortize DAC. See Note 9 for additional information regarding policyholders’ account balances. Policyholders' account balances also include amounts representing the fair value of embedded derivative instruments associated with the index-linked feature of certain universal life and annuity products. For additional information regarding the valuation of these embedded derivatives, see Note 5.

Market risk benefit liabilities represents contracts or contract features that provide protection to the contractholder and exposes the Company to other than nominal capital market risk, primarily related to deferred annuities with guaranteed minimum benefits associated with annuities products including guaranteed minimum death benefits (“GMDB”), guaranteed minimum income benefits (“GMIB”), guaranteed minimum accumulation benefits (“GMAB”), guaranteed minimum withdrawal benefits (“GMWB”) and guaranteed minimum income and withdrawal benefits (“GMIWB”). The benefits are accounted for using a fair value measurement framework. If a contract contains multiple market risk benefits, the benefits are bundled together and accounted for as a single compound market risk benefit. Market risk benefits in an asset position are presented separately from those in a liability position as there is no legal right of offset between contracts. The fair value of market risk benefits is calculated as the present value of expected future benefit payments to contractholders less the present value of expected future rider fees attributable to the market risk benefit. The fair value of market risk benefits is based on assumptions a market participant would use in valuing market risk benefits. For additional information regarding the valuation of market risk benefits, see Note 5. On a quarterly basis, changes in the fair value of market risk benefits are recorded in net income, net of related hedges, in "Change in value of market risk benefits, net of related hedging gains (losses)", except for the portion of the change attributable to changes in the Company’s NPR which is recorded in OCI. See Note 10 for additional information regarding market risk benefits.

Consistent with direct contracts, reinsurance agreements may also include features that meet the definition of an MRB and, if so, are accounted for at fair value. The fair value of direct or assumed MRBs reflects the Company's NPR, while the fair value of ceded MRBs reflects the counterparty credit risk of the reinsurer. Changes in the fair value of ceded MRBs, including the impact of changes in counterparty credit risk, are recorded in net income in "Change in value of market risk benefits, net of related hedging gain (loss)".

Other liabilities consists primarily of reinsurance payables associated with reinsurance arrangements that correspond to reinsurance receivables included above in “Reinsurance recoverables”. Also included is a funds withheld liability for assets retained under a reinsurance agreement that corresponds to the deposit assets above in "Other assets". For additional information about these arrangements see Note 11. Additionally other liabilities includes accrued expenses, technical overdrafts, payables resulting from purchases of securities that had not yet settled at the balance sheet date and deferred gain on reinsurance. The amortization method for deferred gain on reinsurance is amortized over the expected life of the reinsured contracts on a constant-level basis. Other liabilities may also include derivative instruments for which fair values are determined as described below under "Derivative Financial Instruments".

Separate account liabilities primarily represents the contractholders’ account balance in separate account assets and to a lesser extent borrowings of the separate account, and will be equal and offsetting to total separate account assets. See also “Separate account assets” above.

REVENUES AND BENEFITS AND EXPENSES

Insurance Revenue and Expense Recognition

Premiums from individual life products, other than universal and variable life contracts, are recognized when due. When premiums are due over a significantly shorter period than the period over which benefits are provided, any gross premium in excess of the net premium (i.e., the portion of the gross premium required to provide for all expected future policy benefits and non-level claim settlement expenses) is generally deferred and recognized into revenue in a constant relationship to insurance in force. Benefits are recorded as an expense when they are incurred. A liability for future policy benefits is recorded when premiums are recognized as described in "Future policy benefits" above.

Premiums from single premium immediate annuities with life contingencies are recognized when due. When premiums are due over a significantly shorter period than the period over which benefits are provided, any gross premium in excess of the net premium is generally deferred and recognized into revenue based on expected future benefit payments. Benefits are recorded as an expense when they are incurred. A liability for future policy benefits is recorded when premiums are recognized as described in "Future policy benefits" above.

Certain individual annuity contracts provide the contractholder a guarantee that the benefit received upon death or annuitization will be no less than a minimum prescribed amount. These benefits are generally accounted for as market risk benefits (see “Market risk benefits” above).

Amounts received from policyholders as payment for universal or variable individual life contracts, deferred fixed or variable annuities and other contracts without life contingencies are reported as deposits to “Policyholders’ account balances” and/or “Separate account liabilities.” Revenues from these contracts are reflected in “Policy charges and fee income” consisting primarily of fees assessed during the period against the policyholders’ account balances for mortality and other benefit charges, policy administration charges and surrender charges. In addition to fees, the Company earns investment income from the investment of deposits in the Company’s general account portfolio. Fees assessed that represent compensation to the Company for services to be provided in future periods and certain other fees are generally deferred and amortized into revenue over the life of the related contracts using the same methodology, factors, and assumption used to amortize DAC as described above. Benefits and expenses for these products include claims in excess of related account balances, expenses of contract administration, interest credited to policyholders’ account balances and amortization of DAC and DSI.

Policyholders’ account balances also includes amounts representing the fair value of embedded derivative instruments associated with the index-linked features of certain universal life and annuity products where changes in the value of the embedded derivatives are recorded through "Realized investment gains (losses), net". For additional information regarding the valuation of these embedded derivatives, see Note 5.

Annual Assumptions Review

Annually, the Company performs a comprehensive review of the assumptions set for purposes of estimating future premiums, benefits, and other cash flows. Assumptions include those that are economic and those that are insurance related. Insurance related assumptions are based on the Company’s best estimates of future rates of mortality, morbidity, lapse, surrender, annuitization, expenses and other items. The Company generally looks to relevant Company experience as the primary basis for these assumptions. If relevant Company experience is not available or does not have sufficient credibility, the Company may look to experience of similar blocks of business, either in the Company or the industry. Mortality rate assumptions are generally based on Company experience, sometimes blending Company experience with an industry table where the Company experience alone is not sufficiently credible. The Company sets mortality and morbidity assumptions that vary by major type of business. Within type of business, rates vary by age and gender. The Company applies an adjustment for future mortality improvement, consistent with observed long-term trends of population mortality over time. Lapse and surrender assumptions are based on Company and industry experience, where available. The Company sets rates that vary by product type, taking into account features specific to the product.

As part of this review, the Company may update these assumptions and make refinements to its models based upon emerging experience, future expectations and other data, including any observable market data it feels is indicative of a long-term trend. These assumptions are generally updated annually, unless a material change is observed in an interim period that the Company feels is also indicative of a long-term trend. Generally, the Company does not expect trends to change significantly in the short-term and, to the extent these trends may change, it expects such changes to be gradual over the long-term.

The Company also performs a comprehensive review of the economic assumptions, including long-term interest rate assumptions and equity return assumptions that impact reserve calculations. The Company generally utilizes relevant economic outlook information and industry survey as the primary basis for these assumptions. The Company may use those economic assumptions to project future rates of return on investments.

Other ASUs adopted during the six months ended June 30, 2023

The Company adopted ASU 2022-02, Financial Instruments – Credit Losses (Topic 326): Troubled Debt Restructurings and Vintage Disclosure, effective January 1, 2023, on a prospective basis. This ASU eliminates the accounting guidance for Troubled Debt Restructurings (“TDR”) for creditors and adds enhanced disclosure requirements. Following adoption of the ASU, all loan refinancings and restructurings are subject to the modification guidance in ASC 310-20. Specific to the accounting policy for commercial mortgage and other loans, adoption of the ASU resulted in the elimination of TDRs such that, on a prospective basis, all modifications are evaluated under the existing modification guidance in ASC 310-20 to determine whether a modification results in a new financial instrument or a continuation of the existing financial instrument. Furthermore, for modifications of loans that have a CECL allowance and result in a continuation of the existing loan, the CECL allowance of the loan is remeasured using the modified terms and the post-modification effective yield. Prior to the adoption of the ASU, if a loan modification was a TDR, the CECL allowance of the loan was remeasured using the modified terms and the loan’s original effective yield. Adoption of the ASU did not have a significant impact on the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.