06.01.2015 Views

u8Zcc

u8Zcc

u8Zcc

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

Management’s Discussion (Continued)<br />

Equity Price Risk (Continued)<br />

We often hold equity investments for long periods of time so we are not troubled by short-term price volatility with respect<br />

to our investments provided that the underlying business, economic and management characteristics of the investees remain<br />

favorable. We strive to maintain above average levels of shareholder capital to provide a margin of safety against short-term<br />

price volatility.<br />

Market prices for equity securities are subject to fluctuation and consequently the amount realized in the subsequent sale of<br />

an investment may significantly differ from the reported market value. Fluctuation in the market price of a security may result<br />

from perceived changes in the underlying economic characteristics of the investee, the relative price of alternative investments<br />

and general market conditions.<br />

We are also subject to equity price risk with respect to our equity index put option contracts. While our ultimate potential<br />

loss with respect to these contracts is determined from the movement of the underlying stock index between the contract<br />

inception date and expiration date, fair values of these contracts are also affected by changes in other factors such as interest<br />

rates, expected dividend rates and the remaining duration of the contract. These contracts expire between 2018 and 2026 and<br />

may not be unilaterally settled before their respective expiration dates.<br />

The following table summarizes our equity and other investments and derivative contract liabilities with significant equity<br />

price risk as of December 31, 2013 and 2012. The effects of a hypothetical 30% increase and a 30% decrease in market prices as<br />

of those dates are also shown. The selected 30% hypothetical changes do not reflect what could be considered the best or worst<br />

case scenarios. Indeed, results could be far worse due both to the nature of equity markets and the aforementioned<br />

concentrations existing in our equity investment portfolio. Dollar amounts are in millions.<br />

Fair Value<br />

Hypothetical<br />

Price Change<br />

Estimated<br />

Fair Value after<br />

Hypothetical<br />

Change in Prices<br />

Hypothetical<br />

Percentage<br />

Increase (Decrease) in<br />

Shareholders’ Equity<br />

December 31, 2013<br />

Assets:<br />

Equity securities ............................ $117,505 30% increase $152,757 10.3<br />

30% decrease 82,254 (10.3)<br />

Other investments (1) ......................... 13,226 30% increase 17,172 1.2<br />

30% decrease 9,359 (1.1)<br />

Liabilities:<br />

Equity index put option contracts ............... 4,667 30% increase 2,873 0.5<br />

30% decrease 7,987 (1.0)<br />

December 31, 2012<br />

Assets:<br />

Equity securities ............................ $ 88,346 30% increase $116,357 9.7<br />

30% decrease 61,408 (9.3)<br />

Other investments (1) ......................... 10,136 30% increase 12,775 0.9<br />

30% decrease 7,664 (0.9)<br />

Liabilities:<br />

Equity index put option contracts ............... 7,502 30% increase 5,009 0.9<br />

30% decrease 11,482 (1.4)<br />

(1) Includes other investments that possess significant equity price risk.<br />

Foreign Currency Risk<br />

We generally do not use derivative contracts to hedge foreign currency price changes primarily because of the natural<br />

hedging that occurs between assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies in our Consolidated Financial Statements.<br />

In addition, we hold investments in common stocks of major multinational companies such as The Coca-Cola Company that<br />

have significant foreign business and foreign currency risk of their own. Our net assets subject to translation are primarily in our<br />

insurance, utilities and energy businesses, and to a lesser extent in our manufacturing and services businesses. The translation<br />

101

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!