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Basis of Presentation
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2016
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Basis of Presentation
Note 1 - Basis of Presentation
The Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements included herein have been prepared pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC and include the accounts of Kemper Corporation (“Kemper”) and its subsidiaries (individually and collectively referred to herein as the “Company”) and are unaudited. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated.
On April 30, 2015, Kemper acquired 100% of the outstanding common stock of Alliance United Group and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Alliance United Insurance Company and Alliance United Insurance Services (individually and collectively referred to herein as “Alliance United”) in a cash transaction. The results of Alliance United are included in the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements from the date of acquisition and are reported in the Company’s Property & Casualty Insurance segment.
Effective January 1, 2016, the Company changed its method for estimating the interest and service cost components of expense recognized for its pension and other postretirement employee benefit plans. As a result, the Company elected to use a full yield curve approach to estimate these components of benefit cost by applying the specific spot rates along the yield curve used in the determination of the benefit obligation to the relevant projected cash flows. Prior to 2016, the interest and service cost components were estimated using a single weighted-average discount rate derived from the yield curve used to measure the projected benefit obligation or accumulated postretirement benefit obligation, as relevant, at the beginning of the period. The change provides a more precise measurement of interest and service costs by improving the correlation between projected benefit cash flows to the corresponding spot yield curve rates. The Company has accounted for this change as a change in accounting estimate that is inseparable from a change in accounting principle and, accordingly, recognized the effect prospectively in 2016. The change in method for estimating the interest and service cost components decreased pension expense for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 by approximately $2.7 million, but had no impact on the measurement of benefit obligations.
Insurance Reserves for life insurance products are comprised of reserves for future policy benefits plus an estimate of the Company’s liability for unpaid life insurance claims and claims adjustment expenses, which includes an estimate for incurred but not reported (“IBNR”) life insurance claims. Prior to the third quarter of 2016, except when required by applicable law, the Company did not utilize the database of reported deaths maintained by the Social Security Administration or any other comparable database (a “Death Master File” or “DMF”) in its operations, including to determine its IBNR liability for life insurance products. Instead of using such a database, the Company calculated its IBNR liability for life insurance products using Company-specific historical information, which included analyzing average paid claims and the average lag between date of death and the date reported to the Company for claims for which due proof of death had been provided. In the third quarter of 2016, the Company initiated a voluntary enhancement of its claims handling procedures for its life insurance policies. The Company is now utilizing a DMF to identify potential situations where the Company has yet to be notified of an insured’s death and, as appropriate, initiating an outreach process to identify and contact beneficiaries and settle claims. Policyholders’ Benefits and Incurred Losses and Loss Adjustment Expenses for both the nine and three months ended September 30, 2016 include a pre-tax charge of $77.8 million to recognize the impact of using a DMF in the Company’s operations, including to determine its IBNR liability for unpaid claims and claims adjustment expenses for life insurance products.
Certain financial information that is normally included in annual financial statements, including certain financial statement footnote disclosures, prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) is not required by the rules and regulations of the SEC for interim financial reporting and has been condensed or omitted. In the opinion of the Company’s management, the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements include all adjustments necessary for a fair presentation. The preparation of interim financial statements relies heavily on estimates. This factor and other factors, such as the seasonal nature of some portions of the insurance business, as well as market conditions, call for caution in drawing specific conclusions from interim results. The accompanying Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements and related notes included in the 2015 Annual Report.
Adoption of New Accounting Guidance
In February 2015, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standard Update (“ASU”) 2015-02, Consolidation (Topic 810): Amendments to the Consolidation Analysis. The amendments in ASU 2015-02 affect reporting entities that are required to evaluate whether they should consolidate certain legal entities. All legal entities are subject to reevaluation under the revised consolidation model. Specifically, the amendments modify the evaluation of whether limited partnerships and similar legal entities are variable interest entities (“VIEs”) or voting interest entities while also eliminating the
Note 1 - Basis of Presentation (continued)
presumption that a general partner should consolidate a limited partnership. ASU 2015-02 may also affect the consolidation analysis of reporting entities that are involved with VIEs, particularly those that have fee arrangements and related party relationships. The Company's adoption and initial application as of January 1, 2016 resulted in no changes to the legal entities that the Company consolidates.
In May 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-07 Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820), Disclosures for Investments in Certain Entities That Calculate Net Asset Value per Share (or Its Equivalent). ASU 2015-07 removes the requirement to categorize within the fair value hierarchy all investments for which fair value is measured using the net asset value per share practical expedient. The amendments also remove the requirement to make certain disclosures for all investments that are eligible to be measured at fair value using the net asset value per share practical expedient. Rather, those disclosures are limited to investments for which the entity has elected to measure the fair value using that practical expedient. The Company adopted ASU 2015-07 in the first quarter of 2016 and applied its provisions on a retrospective basis. Except for the change in disclosure requirements, adoption of ASU 2015-07 did not impact the Company’s financial statements. The presentation of certain prior year amounts and disclosures have been reclassified to conform to the presentation for the current year.
In May 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-09, Financial Services—Insurance (Topic 944): Disclosures about Short-Duration Contracts. ASU 2015-09 requires insurers to provide additional disclosures about short-duration insurance contracts, focusing particularly on the liability for unpaid claims and claim adjustment expenses. Insurers will be required to disclose tables showing incurred and paid claims development information by accident year for the number of years that claims typically remain outstanding, although not to exceed ten years, as well as a reconciliation of this information to the balance sheet. Additional disclosures will also be required on the total of IBNR liabilities plus expected development on reported claims, reserving methodologies, quantitative information about claim frequency, qualitative description of the methodologies used for determining claim frequency and average annual percentage payout of incurred claims by age. ASU 2015-09 is effective for annual periods beginning after December 31, 2015 and interim periods within annual periods beginning after December 15, 2016. Except for the additional disclosure requirements, adoption of ASU 2015-09 will not impact the Company’s financial statements.
In January 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-01, Financial Instruments—Overall (Subtopic 825-10): Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities. ASU 2016-01 addresses certain aspects of recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure of financial instruments. Most significantly, ASU 2016-01 requires companies to measure equity investments (except those accounted for under the equity method of accounting or those that result in consolidation of the investee) at fair value with changes in fair value recognized in net income. However, an entity may choose to measure equity investments that do not have readily-determinable fair values at cost minus impairment, if any, plus or minus
changes resulting from observable price changes in orderly transactions for the identical or a similar investment of the same issuer. ASU 2016-01 also simplifies the impairment assessment of equity investments without readily-determinable fair values by requiring a qualitative assessment to identify impairment. When a qualitative assessment indicates that impairment exists, an entity is required to measure the investment at fair value.
ASU 2016-01 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The Company currently records its Investments in Equity Securities at fair value with net unrealized appreciation or depreciation reported in Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (“AOCI”) in Shareholders’ Equity. The Company’s Investments in Equity Securities include securities with readily-determinable fair values and securities without readily-determinable fair values. Until the Company adopts ASU 2016-01 and makes its elections for Investments in Equity Securities that do not have readily-determinable fair values, it cannot determine the impact of the adoption on its consolidated balance sheet. Subsequent to adoption, ASU 2016-01 is expected to cause increased volatility in the Company’s Consolidated Statements of Operations.
In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), by amending the Accounting Standards
Codification and creating a new topic on accounting for leases. ASU 2016-02 introduces a lessee model that requires most leases to be reported on the balance sheet of a lessee. ASU 2016-02 also aligns many of the underlying principles of the new lessor model with those in ASC 606, the FASB’s new revenue recognition standard (e.g., those related to evaluating when profit can be recognized). Furthermore, ASU 2016-02 addresses other concerns related to the current leases model. For example, ASU 2016-02 eliminates the requirement in current GAAP for an entity to use bright-line tests in determining lease classification. ASU 2016-02 also requires lessors to increase the transparency of their exposure to changes in value of their residual assets and how they manage that exposure. ASU 2016-02 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018 and interim
Note 1 - Basis of Presentation (continued)
periods within those years with early adoption permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of this guidance on its financial statements.
In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-09, Compensation—Stock Compensation (Topic 718), which simplifies several aspects of the accounting for share-based payment transactions, including the accounting for income taxes, forfeitures and statutory tax withholding requirements, as well as classification in the statement of cash flows. ASU 2016-09 is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2016, and interim periods within those annual periods with early adoption permitted. The Company does not anticipate adoption to have a material impact on its financial statements.
In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments—Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments. ASU 2016-13 replaces the incurred loss impairment methodology in current GAAP with a methodology that utilizes expected credit losses to provide for an allowance for credit losses for financial instruments and requires consideration of a broader range of reasonable and supportable information to inform credit loss estimates. The amendments in this ASU require a financial asset (or a group of financial assets) measured at amortized cost basis to be presented at the net amount expected to be collected. The allowance for credit losses is a valuation account that is deducted from the amortized cost basis of the financial asset(s) to present the net carrying value at the amount expected to be collected on the financial asset. The income statement includes the measurement of credit losses for newly recognized financial assets, as well as the expected increases or decreases of expected credit losses that have taken place during the period. Credit losses on available-for-sale debt securities are measured in a manner similar to current GAAP, although the ASU requires that they be presented as an allowance rather than as a write-down. In situations where the estimate of credit loss on an available-for-sale debt security declines, entities will be able to record the reversal to income in the current period, which GAAP currently prohibits. ASU 2016-13 is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2019, and interim periods within those annual periods with early adoption permitted for fiscal years beginning after December 31, 2018 and interim periods within such year. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of this guidance on its financial statements.
The Company has adopted all other recently issued accounting pronouncements with effective dates prior to October 1, 2016. There were no adoptions of such accounting pronouncements in 2015 or during the nine months ended September 30, 2016 that had a material impact on the Company’s Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements. With the possible exceptions of ASU 2015-09, Financial Services—Insurance (Topic 944): Disclosures about Short-Duration Contracts, ASU 2016-01, Financial Instruments—Overall (Subtopic 825-10): Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities, ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842) and ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments—Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments, the Company does not expect the adoption of all other recently issued accounting pronouncements with effective dates after September 30, 2016 to have a material impact on the Company’s financial statements and/or disclosures.