Newport Beach-based life insurer Pacific Life Insurance Co. has released details of its investments, which include mortgage bonds and credit default swaps.
The mortgage and credit default swap investments, which have brought trouble for other insurers and investors, are a small part of Pacific Life’s $42 billion portfolio, according to the company.
Credit default swaps are insurance-like contracts that promise to cover losses in the event of a bond default.
Pacific Life took the rare move of providing details on its investments to reassure policyholders and others that it’s well capitalized.
The insurer has capital “well above” regulatory requirements to support its commitments to policyholders, Chief Executive Jim Morris said.
Pacific Life has seen write-downs of about $183 million for the year through September on its bonds and stocks it owns.
The write-downs equal less than half a percent of its total investments.
Most of its write-downs were from stock and bond investments it had in banks, which led to a $67 million loss on its books.
Pacific Life’s investment include American International Group Inc., Merrill Lynch & Co., Wachovia Corp. and Lehman Brothers Holding Inc.
Of the $183 million in write-downs, $38 million was in mortgages, or less than 2% of its investments.
Pacific Life says about 1.2% of its investments are tied to subprime borrowers with less than perfect credit.
Another 2.4% were investments ties to Alt-A borrowers, who had credit better than subprime but less than prime.
It also has $143 million in credit default swaps, and $240 million in packaged bonds, or collateralized debt obligations.
