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Deferred Policy Acquisition Costs
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2015
Deferred Policy Acquisition Costs Disclosures [Abstract]  
Deferred Policy Acquisition Costs
DEFERRED POLICY ACQUISITION COSTS
The following reflects the amounts of policy acquisition costs deferred and amortized (dollars in thousands):
 
Years ended December 31,
 
2015
 
2014
 
2013
Balance, beginning of year
 
$
3,342,575

 
$
3,517,796

 
$
3,619,274

Capitalization
 
352,260

 
877,609

 
854,163

Amortization (including interest)
 
(288,630
)
 
(867,621
)
 
(814,662
)
Change in value of embedded derivatives
 
58,754

 
(111,744
)
 
(98,141
)
Attributed to unrealized investment gains (losses)
 
17,510

 
(4,480
)
 
16,181

Foreign currency translation
 
(90,032
)
 
(68,985
)
 
(59,019
)
Balance, end of year
 
$
3,392,437

 
$
3,342,575

 
$
3,517,796


Some reinsurance agreements involve reimbursing the ceding company for allowances and commissions in excess of first-year premiums. These amounts represent acquisition costs and are capitalized to the extent deemed recoverable from the future premiums and amortized against future profits of the business. This type of agreement presents a risk to the extent that the business lapses faster than originally anticipated, resulting in future profits being insufficient to recover the Company’s investment. Prior to 2015, certain renewal commissions that were capitalized and amortized in the same period were reflected in the table above. During 2015, the Company enhanced its process to track certain DAC roll forward component items in a more refined manner, in particular, capitalization and amortization of certain renewal commissions have been excluded from the table above. Had the previous methodology been used in 2015, the amounts capitalized and amortized would have increased by $464.3 million.