NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
The following description of the Allstate 401(k) Savings Plan (the “Plan”), sponsored by The Allstate Corporation (the “Company”), provides only general information. Participants should refer to the plan document for a more complete description of the Plan’s provisions.
General
— Regular full-time and regular part-time employees of subsidiaries of the Company, with the exception of those employed by the Company’s international subsidiaries, Esurance Insurance Services, Inc., Answer Financial, Inc., InfoArmor, Inc., and SquareTrade Inc., are eligible to participate in the Plan. There is no waiting period to enroll in the Plan, provided employees are at least 18 years old.
The Plan is a defined contribution plan consisting of a profit sharing and stock bonus plan containing a cash or deferred arrangement which is intended to meet the requirements of Sections 401(a) and 401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the “Code”). The stock bonus portion of the Plan includes a leveraged and a nonleveraged employee stock ownership plan (“ESOP”) which is intended to meet the requirements of Section 409 and Section 4975(e)(7) of the Code. The Plan is subject to the provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”).
Administration
— The Plan is administered by the Administrative Committee. Investment transactions are authorized by the Plan’s Investment Committee. Members of the Administrative and Investment Committees are appointed by the 401(k) Committee. The 401(k) Committee is comprised of various Allstate Insurance Company officers as described in the Plan.
Trustee of the Plan
— The Northern Trust Company holds Plan assets as trustee under the Allstate 401(k) Savings Plan Trust.
Contributions
— Each year, employees may contribute up to 50% of eligible annual compensation through a combination of pre-tax, Roth 401(k), and after-tax contributions, subject to Internal Revenue Code limitations. All eligible employees hired or rehired are automatically enrolled in the Plan at a 5% pre-tax contribution rate, unless the participant declines enrollment or changes the contribution rate within the first 45 days of eligibility. Participants age 50 or older have the option to make additional pre-tax or Roth 401(k) contributions (“Catch-Up” contributions). Employees may also roll over pre-tax or Roth 401(k) amounts representing distributions from other qualified defined benefit or defined contribution plans. The Company match for a plan year is 80 cents for every pre-tax and/or Roth 401(k) dollar that a participant contributes to the Plan during the plan year, up to 5% of eligible compensation. All employer contributions are invested in the Allstate Stock Fund. However, participants can transfer all or part of their Company contributions to any investment option within the Plan at any time, subject to certain limited trading restrictions.
Participant Accounts
— Individual accounts are maintained for each Plan participant. Each participant’s account is credited with the participant’s contribution, allocations of the Company’s contribution and investment earnings and losses, and is charged with an allocation of administrative expenses. Accounts may increase by rollovers and decrease by rollovers and withdrawals. The benefit to which a participant is entitled is the benefit that can be provided from the participant’s vested account.
Vesting
— Participants hired prior to March 1, 2009 were immediately vested in their contributions and the Company’s contributions plus earnings thereon. Employees hired on or after March 1, 2009 are immediately vested in their contributions and will fully vest in the Company’s contributions after three years of vesting service.
Investment Options
— Upon enrollment in the Plan, a participant may direct employee contributions to any or all of the current investment options as listed below. If a participant does not make an investment election, employee contributions will be invested in the Target Retirement Date Fund that corresponds with the participant’s birth date and assumes a retirement date and account distribution at age 65. Participants may change their investment elections at any time, with limited trading restrictions, but without redemption restrictions. The funds transact at net asset value on a daily basis.
Stable Value Fund (Invesco Advisers, Inc. Stable Value Fund)
— The fund, managed by Invesco Advisers, Inc. (“Invesco”), a registered investment advisor, is an actively managed portfolio that includes a number of investment contracts issued by a diversified group of insurance companies, banks, and other financial institutions, each backed by one or more diversified bond portfolios.
Allstate Stock Fund (The Allstate Corporation common stock)
—
The Allstate Stock Fund is a unitized fund that invests in Company common stock with a portion of the fund invested in short-term securities to provide liquidity to process transactions.
Bond Fund (SSGA U.S. Bond Index Non-Lending Series Fund – Class A)
— The fund, managed by State Street Global Advisors (“SSGA”), a registered investment company, invests in the U.S. Bond Index Non-Lending Series Fund - Class A, which is a collective fund whose objective is to approximate as closely as practicable, before expenses, the performance of the Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Bond Index over the long term. The Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Bond Index is an index representative of well-diversified exposure to the overall U.S. bond market.
Real Asset Fund (SSGA Real Return ex-Natural Resource Equities Non-Lending Fund – Class C)
— The fund, managed by SSGA, invests in the Real Return ex-Natural Resource Equities Non - Lending Class C Series Fund, which is a collective fund whose objective is to provide an investment return that approximates as closely as practicable, before expenses, the performance of its custom index (the “Real Asset Index”) over the long term. The fund is a collection of real asset investments in commodities, real estate and inflation-protected bonds and offers liquid, cost-effective exposure to three asset classes (see table below) via a disciplined, strategic asset allocation approach.
|
|
|
|
Target
|
Fund’s Exposure
|
Real Asset Index
|
20%
|
Commodities Futures Market
|
Bloomberg Roll Select Commodity Index
|
35%
|
Global Development Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITSs)
|
FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed Liquid Index
|
45%
|
U.S. Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS)
|
Barclays U.S. TIPS Index
|
S&P 500 Fund (SSGA S&P 500
®
Index Non-Lending Series Fund – Class A)
— The fund, managed by SSGA, invests in the S&P 500
®
Index Non-Lending Series Fund – Class A, which is a collective fund whose objective is to approximate as closely as practicable, before expenses, the performance of the Standard & Poor’s 500
®
Index over the long term. The Standard & Poor’s 500
®
Index consists of large capitalization (“cap”) stocks across over 24 industry groups and 500 stocks chosen for market size, liquidity and industry group representation.
International Equity Fund (SSGA Global All Cap Equity ex U.S. Index Non-Lending Series Fund) –
The fund, managed by SSGA, invests in Global All Cap Equity ex U.S. Index Non-Lending Series Fund – Class A, which is a collective fund whose objective is to approximate as closely as practicable, before expenses, the performance of the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) All Country World Index (ACWI) ex-U.S. Investable Market Index (IMI) over the long term. The MSCI ACWI ex U.S. IMI are free float-adjusted market capitalization weighted indexes that capture large, mid and small cap equity representation across 22 of 23 developed market countries, excluding the U.S. and 23 emerging market countries.
Russell 2000 Fund (SSGA Russell Small Cap Index Non-Lending Series Fund – Class A)
— The fund, managed by SSGA, invests in the Russell Small Cap Index Non-Lending Series Fund – Class A, which is a collective fund whose objective is to approximate as closely as practicable, before expenses, the performance of the Russell 2000
®
Index over the long term. The Russell 2000
®
Index measures the performance of the small-cap segment of the U.S. equity universe.
Mid-Cap Fund (SSGA S&P Mid-Cap Index Non-Lending Series Fund – Class A)
— The fund, managed by SSGA, invests in the S&P Mid-Cap Index Non-Lending Series Fund – Class A, which is a collective fund whose objective is to approximate as closely as practicable, before expenses, the performance of the S&P Mid-Cap 400
TM
Index over the long term. The S&P Mid-Cap 400
TM
Index is a cap-weighted index that measures the performance of the mid-range sector of the U.S. stock market.
Emerging Markets Fund (Northern Trust Investments, Inc. (“NTI”) Emerging Markets Fund)
— The Emerging Markets Fund invests in the Northern Trust Collective Emerging Markets Index Fund - Non-Lending managed by NTI. The fund’s objective is to approximate the risk and return characteristics of the MSCI® Emerging Markets Equity Index. The MSCI
®
Emerging Markets Equity Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization index that is designed to measure equity market performance in the global emerging markets.
Target Retirement Date Funds (Northern Trust Focus Funds)
— The Target Retirement Date Funds invest in the Northern Trust Focus Funds, a series of target retirement date collective trust funds for qualified plans managed by NTI. There are eleven different Target Retirement Date Funds ranging from 2010 – 2060, in five-year increments, and an Income Fund. Target Retirement Date Funds are dynamic asset allocation investment options. The asset allocation of each Target Retirement Date Fund (except for the Income Fund) gradually changes over time according to a targeted retirement year, assuming a retirement age of 65, until the Target Retirement Date Fund eventually merges with the Income Fund. The funds invest in a broadly diversified portfolio of primarily passive investment funds comprised of U.S. and international stocks, inflation sensitive securities, and U.S. bonds.
Participant Notes Receivable
— Participants may borrow from their vested account balance. The loan amount must be at least $1,000 up to a maximum equal to the lesser of: (i) 50% of their vested account balance, or (ii) $50,000, and will be taken from the participant’s accounts in the following order: pre-tax, Roth 401(k), rollover, and after-tax. Loan transactions are treated as a proportional transfer from/to the investment funds and to/from the loan fund. Loan terms range from 6 to 48 months for a general-purpose loan and 49 to 180 months for a primary residence loan. Loans are secured by the participant’s account balance and bear interest at the prime rate, plus one percent, as published in the Wall Street Journal in effect on the 15
th
day of the month prior to the first day of the quarter in which the loan is requested. Generally, principal and interest are paid by participants ratably through payroll deductions.
Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)
— The Company has a leveraged ESOP. The ESOP loan bears interest at 7.9%. The borrowing is to be repaid through the year 2019 or earlier, if the Company elects to make additional contributions for principal prepayments on the ESOP Loan. As the Plan makes each payment of principal and interest, a proportional percentage of unallocated shares are allocated to eligible participants’ accounts in accordance with applicable regulations under the Code. During the years ended
December 31, 2018
and
December 31, 2017
, the Plan made $419,979 and $3,032,263 in principal prepayments respectively.
ESOP shares not yet allocated to participants are held in a suspense account, and none of these shares serve as collateral. ESOP shares allocated to participants and other Company shares that were acquired with participant contributions are included in the Allstate Stock Fund
and the lender has no rights against these shares.
Payment of Benefits
— Upon termination of service, a participant is entitled to a complete withdrawal of his or her vested account balance, net of any outstanding loans. Partial withdrawals are also permitted under the Plan subject to restrictions. Participants may leave their account balance in the plan after termination, if the balance is greater than $1,000; however, after the age of seventy and a half, required minimum distributions must be withdrawn. If the value of a vested account balance on or after a participant’s termination date does not exceed $1,000, the participant will receive an automatic lump sum distribution of their vested account balance.
Forfeited Accounts
— As of
December 31, 2018
and
2017
, forfeited nonvested accounts totaled $2,722,775 and $2,813,526 respectively, and are reported in other assets. These accounts will be used to reduce future employer contributions
.
During the years ended
December 31, 2018
and
December 31, 2017
, employer contributions were reduced by $2,813,526 and $1,959,360, respectively, due to forfeited nonvested accounts.
|
|
2.
|
SUMMARY OF ACCOUNTING POLICIES
|
Basis of Accounting
— The Plan’s financial statements are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”).
Use of Estimates
— The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and accompanying notes. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
Risks and Uncertainties
— The Plan utilizes various types of investments, including institutional index funds, a stable value fund and common stock. These investments are subject to market risk, the risk that losses will be incurred due to adverse changes in creditworthiness, equity prices and interest rates. It is reasonably possible that changes in the values of investments will occur in the near term and that such changes could materially affect the amounts reported in the financial statements.
Investment Valuation and Income Recognition
— Plan investments are stated at fair value except for fully benefit-responsive investment contracts ("FBRIC") which are reported at contract value. Shares of institutional index funds are valued at prices that represent the net asset value of shares held by the Plan at year-end and the fair value of the underlying investments. Common stock held in the Allstate Stock Fund is valued using market price. The Stable Value Fund is a FBRIC and stated at contract value, which is the amount Plan participants would receive if they were to initiate permitted transactions under the terms of the Plan.
Purchases and sales of securities are recorded on a trade-date plus one basis. Interest income is recorded on the accrual basis. Dividends are recorded on the ex-dividend date.
Administrative Expenses
— Investment management fees, recordkeeping fees, and trustee fees along with other administrative expenses charged to the Plan for investments in each of the Plan’s investment options are deducted from income earned on a daily basis and are not separately reflected. Consequently, fees and expenses are reflected as a reduction of investment return for such investments.
Benefits Paid to Participants and Participant Notes Receivable
— Benefits paid to participants and participant notes receivable are recorded upon distribution. Amounts allocated to accounts of persons who have elected to withdraw from the Plan, but have not yet been paid as of year end are included in other assets on the Statements of Net Assets Available for Benefits. Participant notes receivable are measured at their unpaid principal balance plus any accrued but unpaid interest.
The ESOP Loan agreement provides for the loan to be repaid through the year 2019 at an annual interest rate of 7.9%. The remaining loan balance of $1,835,096 is scheduled to mature in December 2019.
The following table presents additional information, as of
December 31, 2018
and
2017
, for the Plan’s investment in The Allstate Corporation common stock held in the Allstate Stock Fund and the ESOP Company Shares.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
($ in thousands)
|
2018
|
|
2017
|
|
Allstate
Stock
Fund
|
|
ESOP Company Shares
|
|
Allstate
Stock
Fund
|
|
ESOP
Company
Shares
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Number of shares
|
6,770,859
|
|
|
419,439
(1)
|
|
|
7,694,903
|
|
|
774,445
(1)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cost
|
$
|
202,083
|
|
|
$
|
2,989
|
|
|
$
|
228,802
|
|
|
$
|
5,518
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fair value
|
$
|
559,476
|
|
|
$
|
34,658
|
|
|
$
|
805,733
|
|
|
$
|
81,092
|
|
(1)
Includes unallocated shares and shares committed to be released.
The estimated fair value of the ESOP loan as of
December 31, 2018
and
2017
, was $1,878,343 and $2,256,540, respectively, determined using discounted cash flow calculations based on current interest rates for instruments with comparable terms and considering the Plan’s own credit risk.
Although it has not expressed any intent to do so, the Company has the right under the Plan to discontinue its contributions at any time and to terminate the Plan subject to the provisions of ERISA. In the event that the Plan is terminated, participants would be 100% vested in their accounts.
5. TAX STATUS
The Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") has determined and informed the Company by a letter, dated August 17, 2017, that the Plan and related trust were designed in accordance with applicable sections of the Code. The plan document has been amended since receiving the determination letter. The Plan’s management believes that the Plan is currently designed and is being operated in compliance with the applicable requirements of the Code. Therefore, no provision for income taxes has been included in the Plan’s financial statements, and there are no uncertain tax positions taken or expected to be taken that would require recognition of a liability (or asset) or disclosure in the financial statements. The statute of limitation has expired and the Plan is not subject to income tax examinations for years prior to 2015. The IRS is not currently examining the Plan.
6. FULLY BENEFIT-RESPONSIVE INVESTMENT CONTRACTS
The Stable Value Fund holdings include investment contracts called synthetic guaranteed investment contracts comprised of investments in the common collective trusts plus a wrapper contract. The wrapper contract is issued by a financial institution and the contract guarantees to provide a specific interest rate to be credited to the contract plus provide for participant liquidity at contract value in certain situations.
The Stable Value Fund’s wrapper contracts are benefit-responsive and are thus eligible for contract-value reporting. Funds may be withdrawn pro-rata from all the Stable Value Fund’s investment contracts at contract value determined by the respective issuing companies to pay benefits and to make participant-directed transfers to other investment options pursuant to the terms of the Plan after the amounts in the Stable Value Fund’s Short-Term Investment Fund reserve are depleted.
The wrapper contracts wrap underlying assets which are held in the trust and owned by the Stable Value Fund. The underlying assets are comprised of common collective trusts which may include a variety of high quality fixed income investments selected by the fund manager consistent with the Stable Value Fund’s investment guidelines. High quality, as defined by the Stable Value Fund’s investment guidelines, means the average credit quality of all of the investments backing the Stable Value Fund contracts is AA/A1 or better as measured by S&P Global’s or Moody’s credit rating services. The investments in the common collective trusts are used to generate the investment returns that are utilized to provide for interest rates credited through the wrapper contracts.
The wrapper contracts are benefit-responsive in that they provide that participants may execute transactions from the Stable Value Fund according to Plan provisions at contract value. Contract value represents contributions made to the Stable Value Fund, plus earnings, less participant withdrawals. The interest rates in wrapper contracts are reset monthly, based on market rates of other similar investments, the current yield of the underlying investments, the spread between the market value and contract value of the investments held by the contract, and the financial duration of the contract investments. All contracts have a minimum crediting rate of 0%. Certain events, such as plan termination, or a plan merger initiated by the plan sponsor, or changes to Plan provisions not approved by the issuers of the Stable Value Fund’s wrapper contracts, may limit the ability of the Stable Value Fund to transact at contract value or may allow for the termination of the wrapper contracts at less than contract value. Plan Management does not believe that any events that may limit the ability of the Stable Value Fund to transact at contract value are probable.
Changes in market interest rates affect the yield to maturity and the market value of the investments in the common collective trusts, and thus can have a material impact on the interest crediting rate. In addition, participant withdrawals and transfers from the Stable Value Fund are paid at contract value but funded through the market value liquidation of the investments in the common collective trusts, which also may affect future interest crediting rates. If market interest rates rise and fair values of investments in the common collective trusts fall, the fair value may be less than the corresponding contract value. This shortfall in fair value will be reflected in future crediting rates by amortizing the effect into the future through an adjustment to interest crediting rates of the wrapper contracts. Similarly, if market interest rates fall and fair values of investments in the common collective trusts rise, the fair values of investments held by the wrapper contract may be greater than the corresponding contract value. This excess in fair value will also be reflected in future crediting rates through an amortization process similar to that when there is a fair value shortfall.
7. FAIR VALUE OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES
Fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. The hierarchy for inputs used in determining fair value maximizes the use of observable inputs and minimizes the use of unobservable inputs by requiring that observable inputs be used when available. Assets and liabilities recorded on the Statements of Net Assets Available for Benefits at fair value are categorized in the fair value hierarchy based on the observability of inputs to the valuation techniques as follows:
Level 1:
Assets and liabilities whose values are based on unadjusted quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities in an active market that the Plan can access.
Level 2:
Assets and liabilities whose values are based on the following:
|
|
(a)
|
Quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets;
|
|
|
(b)
|
Quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in markets that are not active; or
|
|
|
(c)
|
Valuation models whose inputs are observable, directly or indirectly, for substantially the full term of the asset or liability.
|
Level 3:
Assets and liabilities whose values are based on prices or valuation techniques that require inputs that are both unobservable and significant to the overall fair value measurement. Unobservable inputs reflect the Plan’s estimates of the assumptions that market participants would use in valuing the assets and liabilities.
Category level in the fair value hierarchy for assets or liabilities is determined based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement in its entirety. Valuation techniques used maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs.
The following is a description of the significant valuation techniques used for assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis.
The Allstate Corporation Common Stock:
The Company’s common stock is actively traded on the New York Stock Exchange and is valued based on unadjusted quoted prices.
Collective Short-Term Investment Fund:
The collective short-term investment fund is valued using amortized cost which approximates fair value.
Investments excluded from the fair value hierarchy -
Common and collective trust funds comprise funds that have daily quoted net asset values for identical assets in markets that are not active. The net asset values are primarily derived based on the fair values of the underlying investments in the fund, some of which are not actively traded.
The following table summarizes the Plan’s assets measured at fair value on a recurring basis as of
December 31, 2018
. There were no assets measured at fair value on a non-recurring basis as of
December 31, 2018
. There were no level 3 assets as of
December 31, 2018
.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
($ in thousands)
|
|
Level 1
|
|
Level 2
|
|
Total
|
Assets
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Allstate Corporation Common Stock
|
|
$
|
594,134
|
|
|
$
|
—
|
|
|
$
|
594,134
|
|
Collective short-term investment fund
|
|
—
|
|
|
3,387
|
|
|
3,387
|
|
Total assets in the fair value hierarchy
|
|
$
|
594,134
|
|
|
$
|
3,387
|
|
|
597,521
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Assets measured at net asset value
(1)
|
|
|
|
|
|
3,466,345
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total assets at fair value
|
|
|
|
|
|
$
|
4,063,866
|
|
The following table summarizes the Plan’s assets measured at fair value on a recurring basis as of
December 31, 2017
. There were no assets measured at fair value on a non-recurring basis as of
December 31, 2017
. There were no level 3 assets as of
December 31, 2017
.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
($ in thousands)
|
|
Level 1
|
|
Level 2
|
|
Total
|
Assets
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Allstate Corporation Common Stock
|
|
$
|
886,825
|
|
|
$
|
—
|
|
|
$
|
886,825
|
|
Collective short-term investment fund
|
|
—
|
|
|
3,678
|
|
|
3,678
|
|
Total assets in the fair value hierarchy
|
|
$
|
886,825
|
|
|
$
|
3,678
|
|
|
890,503
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Assets measured at net asset value
(1)
|
|
|
|
|
|
3,876,568
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total assets at fair value
|
|
|
|
|
|
$
|
4,767,071
|
|
|
|
(1)
|
Certain investments that were measured at net asset value per share (or its equivalent) are not required to be classified in the fair value hierarchy. The fair value amounts are intended to permit reconciliation of the fair value hierarchy to the line items in the Statements of Net Assets Available for Benefits.
|
There were no transfers between levels during 2018 or 2017.
|
|
8.
|
RECONCILIATION OF FINANCIAL STATEMENTS TO FORM 5500
|
The following is a reconciliation of net investment income per the financial statements to the Form 5500 for the years ended
December 31, 2018
and
2017
:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
($ in thousands)
|
2018
|
|
2017
|
|
|
|
|
Total net investment income (loss) per the financial statements
|
$
|
(413,077
|
)
|
|
$
|
883,006
|
|
Interest income on participant notes receivable
|
4,237
|
|
|
3,913
|
|
Total net investment income (loss) per the Form 5500
|
$
|
(408,840
|
)
|
|
$
|
886,919
|
|
|
|
9.
|
RELATED-PARTY TRANSACTIONS
|
The Plan invests in The Northern Trust Collective Short Term Investment Fund, the NTI Emerging Markets Fund, and the Northern Trust Focus Funds, which are collective investment funds managed by NTI, the investment advisor division of The Northern Trust Company, the trustee of the Plan. Fees paid by the Plan for investment management services associated with the Collective Short Term Investment Fund, the NTI Emerging Markets Fund, and the Northern Trust Focus Funds were included as a reduction of the return earned on each fund. The Plan also invests in the common stock of The Allstate Corporation, the Plan’s sponsor, as referenced in the Statements of Net Assets Available for Benefits.
******
SUPPLEMENTAL SCHEDULE