Riversource Life Insurance 10K 2018 Annual report

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

x ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2018

o TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the Transition Period from __________ to __________

Commission File No. 033-28976

RIVERSOURCE LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)



Minnesota		41-0823832
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)		(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)
1099 Ameriprise Financial Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota		55474
(Address of principal executive offices)		(Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (612) 671-3131

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: None

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes o No x

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes o No x

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes x No o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes x No o

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. [Not Applicable]

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.



	Large Accelerated Filer o	Accelerated Filer o
Non-Accelerated Filer x		Smaller reporting company o
Non-Accelerated Filer x		Emerging growth company o
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes o No x

Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the registrant’s classes of common stock, as of the latest practicable date.



Class		Outstanding at February 26, 2019
Common Stock (par value $30 per share)		100,000 Shares

All outstanding shares of the registrant are directly owned by Ameriprise Financial, Inc.

THE REGISTRANT MEETS THE CONDITIONS SET FORTH IN GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS I(1) (a) AND (b) OF FORM 10-K AND IS THEREFORE FILING THIS FORM WITH THE REDUCED DISCLOSURE FORMAT.

RIVERSOURCE LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY

FORM 10-K

INDEX



PART I
	Item 1. Business	1
	Item1A. Risk Factors	6
	Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments	19
	Item 2. Properties	19
	Item 3. Legal Proceedings	19
	Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures	19
PART II
	Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities	19
	Item 6. Selected Financial Data	19
	Item 7. Management’s Narrative Analysis	20
	Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosure About Market Risk	36
	Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data	37
	Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure	86
	Item 9A. Controls and Procedures	86
	Item 9B. Other Information	87
PART III
	Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance	87
	Item 11. Executive Compensation	87
	Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management Related Stockholder Matters	87
	Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence	87
	Item 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services	87
PART IV
	Item 15. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules	88
	Item 16. Form 10-K Summary	89
	Signatures	90

PART I

Item 1. Business

Introduction

RiverSource Life Insurance Company is a stock life insurance company with one wholly owned stock life insurance company subsidiary, RiverSource Life Insurance Co. of New York (“RiverSource Life of NY”). RiverSource Life Insurance Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (“Ameriprise Financial”).


•	RiverSource Life Insurance Company is domiciled in Minnesota and holds Certificates of Authority in American Samoa, the District of Columbia and all states except New York. RiverSource Life Insurance Company issues insurance and annuity products.


•	RiverSource Life of NY is domiciled and holds a Certificate of Authority in New York. RiverSource Life of NY issues insurance and annuity products.

RiverSource Life Insurance Company also wholly owns RiverSource Tax Advantaged Investments, Inc. (“RTA”). RTA is a stock company domiciled in Delaware and is a limited partner in affordable housing partnership investments.

RiverSource Life Insurance Company and RiverSource Life of NY are referred to collectively in this Item 1 and Item 1A of Form 10-K as “RiverSource Life.”

Nearly all of RiverSource Life’s business is sold through the retail channel of Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. (“AFSI”), a subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. RiverSource Distributors, Inc., a subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial, serves as the principal underwriter and distributor of variable annuity and life insurance products issued by RiverSource Life.

Annuities: Product Features and Risks

RiverSource Life offers both variable and fixed annuities to a broad range of consumers through AFSI. In 2018, sales for annuities sold through AFSI were $4.9 billion, of which $4.5 billion were for variable annuity sales and $400 million were for fixed annuity sales. In 2018, RiverSource Life had total sales for fixed annuities through third-party distributors of $6 million.

Deferred variable and fixed annuities are products where assets accumulate until the contract is surrendered, the contractholder (or in some contracts, the annuitant) dies, or the contractholder or annuitant begins receiving benefits under an annuity payout option. Immediate annuities are products that begin annuity payments within one year of issue and continue for life or for a fixed period of time. The relative proportion between fixed and variable annuity sales is generally driven by the relative performance of the equity and fixed income markets. Fixed sales are generally stronger when yields available in the fixed income markets are relatively high than when yields are relatively low. Variable sales are generally stronger in times of superior performance in equity markets than in times of weak performance in equity markets. The relative proportion between fixed and variable annuity sales is also influenced by product design and other factors.

Variable Annuities

A variable annuity provides a contractholder with investment returns linked to underlying investment accounts of the contractholder’s choice. The underlying investment account options may include funds offered under affiliated trust funds, as well as variable portfolio funds offered through unaffiliated companies. Some variable annuity products in force offer a fixed account investment option with guaranteed minimum interest crediting rates ranging up to 4% as of December 31, 2018.

Contract purchasers can choose to add optional benefits to their contracts for an additional fee, including but not limited to, certain guaranteed minimum death benefits (individually, “GMDB”), a guaranteed minimum withdrawal benefit (“GMWB”) and a guaranteed minimum accumulation benefit (“GMAB”). Approximately 99% of RiverSource Life’s overall variable annuity assets include a GMDB and approximately 63% of RiverSource Life’s overall variable annuity assets include a GMWB or GMAB. In general, these features can help protect contractholders and beneficiaries from a shortfall in death benefits, accumulation value or lifetime income due to a decline in the value of their underlying investment accounts.

The general account assets of RiverSource Life support the contractual obligations under the guaranteed benefits RiverSource Life offers (see “General and Separate Account Assets - General Account” below). As a result, RiverSource Life bears the risk that protracted under-performance of the financial markets could result in guaranteed benefit payments being higher than what current account values would support. RiverSource Life’s exposure to risk from guaranteed benefits generally will increase when equity markets decline. Similarly, RiverSource Life’s guaranteed benefit reserves will generally increase when interest rates decline.

Fixed Annuities

RiverSource Life’s fixed deferred annuity products provide a contractholder with contract value that increases by a fixed or indexed interest rate. RiverSource Life periodically resets rates at its discretion subject to certain contract terms establishing guaranteed minimum interest crediting rates. Revenues for RiverSource Life’s fixed deferred annuity products are primarily earned as net investment income on assets supporting fixed account balances with profitability significantly impacted by the spread between net investment income earned and interest credited on the fixed account balances. The fixed annuity contracts in force provide guaranteed minimum interest crediting rates ranging from 1% to 5% as of December 31, 2018. New contracts issued provide guaranteed minimum interest rates in compliance with state laws. Immediate annuity products provide a contractholder a guaranteed fixed income payment for life or the term of the contract.

Insurance: Product Features and Risks

RiverSource Life issues universal life insurance, indexed universal life (“IUL”) insurance, variable universal life insurance, traditional life insurance and disability income (“DI”) insurance. Universal life insurance is a form of permanent life insurance characterized by flexible premiums, flexible death benefits and unbundled pricing factors (i.e., mortality, interest and expenses). Variable universal life insurance combines the premium and death benefit flexibility of universal life with underlying fund investment flexibility and the risks associated therewith. Traditional life insurance refers to whole and term life insurance policies. Traditional life insurance typically pays a specified sum to a beneficiary upon death of the insured for a fixed premium. RiverSource Life also offers various riders and alternatives, such as an accelerated benefit rider for chronic illness on its new permanent insurance products and a universal life insurance product with long term care benefits.

RiverSource Life’s sales of individual life insurance in 2018, as measured by scheduled annual premiums, lump sum and excess premiums and single premiums, consisted of 79% universal life, 19% variable universal life and 2% traditional life. RiverSource Life issues only non-participating life insurance policies that do not pay dividends to policyholders. One of the major risks inherent in life insurance is the risk that mortality will be greater than anticipated. Reinsurance is utilized by RiverSource Life to mitigate this risk.

Variable Universal Life Insurance

Variable universal life insurance provides life insurance coverage along with investment returns linked to underlying investment accounts of the policyholder’s choice. Investment options may include funds offered under affiliated trust funds, an index-linked option, as well as variable portfolio funds offered through unaffiliated companies. Most variable universal life insurance products in force offer a fixed account investment option with guaranteed minimum interest crediting rates ranging from 2% to 4.5% as of December 31, 2018. RiverSource Life’s major source of revenue from variable universal life insurance is cost of insurance charges.

Universal Life Insurance and Traditional Whole Life Insurance

Universal life and traditional whole life insurance policies do not subject the policyholder to the investment risks associated with variable universal life insurance.

RiverSource Life’s universal life insurance products provide life insurance coverage and cash value that increases by a fixed interest rate. The rate is periodically reset at the discretion of RiverSource Life subject to certain policy terms relative to minimum interest crediting rates. Universal life insurance policies in force provide guaranteed minimum interest crediting rates ranging from 2% to 5% as of December 31, 2018. Approximately 15% of the face amount of RiverSource Life’s in force life insurance is universal life, which includes IUL, as described below. Certain universal life policies offered by RiverSource Life provide secondary guarantee benefits. The secondary guarantee ensures that, subject to specified conditions, the policy will not terminate and will continue to provide a death benefit even if there is insufficient policy value to cover the monthly deductions and charges. Approximately 25% of in force universal life contains a secondary guarantee that generates an additional liability.

RiverSource Life’s IUL insurance products provide lifetime insurance protection and asset growth through index-linked interest crediting. IUL is similar to universal life insurance in that it provides life insurance coverage and cash value that increases as a result of credited interest as well as a minimum guaranteed credited rate of interest.

RiverSource Life previously discontinued new sales of traditional whole life insurance; however, RiverSource Life continues to service existing policies. RiverSource Life’s in force traditional whole life insurance policies combine a death benefit with a cash value that generally increases gradually over a period of years.

Term Life Insurance

Term life insurance provides a death benefit but it does not build up cash value. The policyholder chooses the term of coverage with guaranteed premiums at the time of issue. During the chosen term, RiverSource Life cannot raise premium rates (even if claims experience deteriorates and it would then make sense to raise premium rates as a result). At the end of the chosen term, coverage may continue with higher premiums until the maximum age is attained, or the policy expires with no value.

Disability Income Insurance

DI insurance provides monthly benefits to individuals who are unable to earn income either at their occupation at time of disability (“own occupation”) or at any suitable occupation (“any occupation”) for premium payments that are guaranteed not to change. Depending upon occupational and medical underwriting criteria, applicants for DI insurance can choose “own occupation” and “any occupation” coverage for varying benefit periods. In some states, applicants may also choose various benefit provisions to help them integrate individual DI insurance benefits with Social Security or similar benefit plans and to help them protect their DI insurance benefits from the risk of inflation.

Closed Block Long Term Care Insurance

Prior to December 31, 2002, RiverSource Life underwrote stand-alone long term care (“LTC”) insurance. RiverSource Life discontinued offering LTC insurance as of December 31, 2002. A large majority of the closed block LTC is comprised of nursing home indemnity LTC or comprehensive reimbursement LTC. Generally, RiverSource Life’s insureds are eligible for LTC benefits when they are cognitively impaired or unable to perform certain activities of daily living.

Nursing home indemnity LTC policies provide a predefined daily benefit when the insured is confined to a nursing home, subject to various maximum benefit periods, regardless of actual expenses of the policyholder. RiverSource Life’s older generation nursing home indemnity LTC policies were written between 1989 and 1999 and represent half of its policies.

Comprehensive reimbursement LTC policies provide a predefined maximum daily benefit when the insured is confined to a nursing home covering a variety of LTC expenses including assisted living, home and community care, adult day care and similar placement programs, subject to various maximum total benefit payment pools, on a cost-reimbursement basis. RiverSource Life’s second generation comprehensive reimbursement LTC policies were written from 1997 until 2002.

RiverSource Life’s closed block LTC was sold on a guaranteed renewable basis which allows it to re-price in force policies, subject to regulatory approval. Premium rates for LTC policies vary by age, benefit period, elimination period, home care coverage, and benefit increase option and are based on assumptions concerning morbidity, mortality, persistency, administrative expenses, investment income, and profit. RiverSource Life develops its assumptions based on its own claims and persistency experience. In line with the market, RiverSource Life has pursued nationwide premium rate increases for many years and expects to continue to pursue rate increases over the next several years. In general, since very little of RiverSource Life’s LTC business is subject to rate stability regulation, RiverSource Life has followed a policy of pursuing smaller, more frequent increases rather than single large increases in order to align policyholder and shareholder objectives. RiverSource Life also provides policyholders with options to reduce their coverage to lessen or eliminate the additional financial outlay that would otherwise result.

For existing LTC policies, RiverSource Life has continued ceding 50% of the risk on a coinsurance basis to subsidiaries of Genworth Financial, Inc. (“Genworth”) and retains the remaining risk. For RiverSource Life of NY, this reinsurance arrangement applies for 1996 and later issues only. Under these agreements, RiverSource Life has the right, but never the obligation, to recapture some, or all, of the risk ceded to Genworth.

For more information regarding LTC, see Part II, Item 7 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K under the heading “Management’s Narrative Analysis - Liquidity and Capital Resources.”

General and Separate Account Assets

Depending on the life insurance and annuity product purchased, the assets of RiverSource Life’s policyholders and contractholders may be placed in the general account of RiverSource Life (the “general account”) for fixed products and for the fixed account options under certain variable products or, in the case of variable life insurance and variable annuity products, in separate accounts that invest in underlying investment options (the “separate accounts”).

General Account

Assets in the general account support all obligations of RiverSource Life other than those supported by the separate accounts. RiverSource Life bears the investment risk of the general account assets.

In the general account, RiverSource Life, through its investment manager, Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (“CMIA”), primarily invests in fixed maturity securities over a broad range of maturities for the purpose of providing a targeted rate of return on its investments while controlling risk. The majority of these fixed maturity securities are interest-bearing investments such as government obligations, mortgage backed obligations and various corporate debt instruments. RiverSource Life does not invest in securities to generate trading profits.

RiverSource Life has the discretion to set the rate of interest credited to policyholders’ and contractholders’ accounts subject to each contract’s guaranteed minimum interest crediting rate. To the extent the yield on RiverSource Life’s invested general account asset portfolio declines below its target spread plus the minimum guarantee, RiverSource Life’s profitability would be negatively affected.

The interest rates credited to policyholders’ and contractholders’ fixed accounts generally reset towards new business rates, although the majority are currently being credited the guaranteed minimum interest rate. Margins may be positively impacted by increases in the general level of interest rates. Conversely, in a low interest rate environment, margins may be negatively impacted as the interest rates available on RiverSource Life’s invested assets are near or below guaranteed minimum interest rates on the insurance policies or annuity contracts in force. This negative impact may be compounded by the fact that many of these interest-bearing investments are callable or pre-payable by the issuer and calls and prepayments are more likely to occur in a low interest rate environment.

Separate Accounts

Variable annuity and life insurance products offer separate account investment options. In addition, many of these products offer fixed account options. Under the separate account option, contractholders and policyholders bear the investment risk. The separate accounts are registered as unit investment trusts under the Investment Company Act of 1940. State insurance law prescribes that separate accounts constitute a distinct operation from the general account and as such, assets in the separate accounts are only available to fund the liabilities of the separate accounts.

Generally, the separate accounts consist of a number of subaccounts, each of which invests in shares of a particular registered mutual fund called an underlying fund. Contractholders and policyholders can allocate their payments among these various subaccounts. The underlying funds which the subaccounts invest in are managed both by affiliated and unaffiliated third-party money managers. These funds invest in portfolios containing a variety of securities including common stocks, bonds, managed assets and/or short-term

securities. The value of each subaccount fluctuates with the investment return of the underlying fund in which it invests. Under the subaccounts of each separate account, RiverSource Life credits or charges income, capital gains and losses only to that subaccount.

RiverSource Life earns fee-based revenue in the form of mortality and expense risk fees, administrative fees, fees charged for optional features elected by the contractholder and any surrender or withdrawal charges.

RiverSource Life receives payments from its affiliates, CMIA and Columbia Wanger Asset Management, LLC, for providing an opportunity to educate the financial advisors of its affiliate, AFSI, that sell RiverSource Life’s products as well as product and marketing personnel to support the offer, sale and servicing of funds within RiverSource Life’s variable annuity and life products. RiverSource Life also receives payments from its affiliate, Columbia Management Investment Services Corp., for providing customer support, contract servicing and administrative services for affiliated mutual funds. In addition, RiverSource Life receives payments from its affiliate, Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc., to reimburse it for costs incurred in providing distribution-related services to mutual funds that are available as underlying investments in its variable annuity and variable life insurance products.

In addition to the revenues described above, RiverSource Life receives payments for unaffiliated companies’ mutual funds included as investment options under its variable annuity and variable life insurance products.

The payments from affiliates and unaffiliated mutual funds are generally based on a fixed rate applied, as a percentage, to the market value of assets invested.

Competition

RiverSource Life competes with other insurers and product manufacturers including insurance companies, as well as certain banks, securities brokerage firms, independent financial advisors and other financial intermediaries that market insurance, annuities, mutual funds, retirement accounts and other financial products.

Competitive factors affecting the sale of RiverSource Life’s annuity and/or insurance products include:


•	financial strength ratings from agencies such as A.M. Best;


•	the breadth, quality, design and pricing of products and services offered;


•	guaranteed benefit features and hedging capability;


•	the quality of underwriting;


•	the effectiveness of advertising and promotion campaigns;


•	reputation and recognition in the marketplace;


•	distribution capabilities and compensation; and


•	the quality of customer service.

Regulation

The Minnesota Department of Commerce is the domiciliary regulator of RiverSource Life Insurance Company and the New York State Department of Financial Services is the domiciliary regulator of RiverSource Life of NY.

In addition to being regulated by the Minnesota Department of Commerce, RiverSource Life Insurance Company is regulated by each of the insurance regulators in the states where it is authorized to transact business. The primary purpose of this regulation and supervision is to protect the interests of contractholders and policyholders. In general, state insurance laws and regulations govern standards of solvency, capital requirements, the licensing of insurers and their agents, premium rates, policy forms, the nature of and limitations on investments, periodic reporting requirements and other matters. In addition, state regulators conduct periodic examinations into insurer market conduct and compliance with insurance and securities laws. Financial regulation of RiverSource Life is extensive and its financial and intercompany transactions (such as intercompany dividends or distributions and investment activities) may be subject to pre-approval and/or continuing evaluation by the regulators.

All states require participation in insurance guaranty associations which assess fees to insurance companies in order to fund claims of policyholders and contractholders of insolvent insurance companies subject to statutory limits. These assessments are generally based on a member insurer’s proportionate share of all premiums written by member insurers in the state during a specified period prior to an insurer’s insolvency. See Note 21 to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information regarding guaranty association assessments.

Because RiverSource Life issues variable annuity and life insurance products required to be registered under federal and state securities laws, many aspects of its business are subject to extensive regulation and examination by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, commonly referred to as FINRA, and other federal and state regulatory bodies.

Insurance companies have been the subject of increasing regulatory, legislative and judicial scrutiny. Numerous state and federal regulatory agencies have commenced investigations regarding sales and marketing practices (including sales to older consumers), claims handling, and unclaimed property and escheatment practices and procedures. In addition, federal securities regulators have recently increased their focus on the adequacy of disclosure regarding complex investment products, including variable annuities and

life insurance products, and have announced that they will continue to review actions by life insurers to improve profitability and reduce risks under in force annuity and insurance products with guaranteed benefits. In reviewing such actions, regulators examine, among other factors, potential conflicts between an insurer’s financial interests and the interests of the contract owners, as well as perceived inconsistencies between an insurer’s actions and the expectations of investors at the time a product was sold.

The 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank Act”) created the Federal Insurance Office (“FIO”) within the Department of Treasury. The FIO does not have substantive regulatory responsibilities, though it is tasked with monitoring the insurance industry and the effectiveness of its regulatory framework and providing periodic reports to the President and Congress. RiverSource Life monitors the FIO’s activity to identify and assess emerging regulatory priorities with potential application to its business.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (“NAIC”) has established risk-based capital (“RBC”) requirements that all state insurance departments have adopted. The RBC requirements are used by the NAIC and state insurance regulators to identify companies that merit regulatory actions designed to protect policyholders. The NAIC RBC report is completed as of December 31 and filed annually, along with the statutory financial statements.

RiverSource Life Insurance Company would be subject to various levels of regulatory intervention should its total adjusted statutory capital fall below defined RBC action levels. At the “company action level,” defined as total adjusted capital level between 100% and 75% of the RBC requirement, an insurer must submit a plan for corrective action with its primary state regulator. The level of regulatory intervention is greater at lower levels of total adjusted capital relative to the RBC requirement. RiverSource Life Insurance Company and RiverSource Life of NY maintain capital levels well in excess of the company action level required by state insurance regulators as noted below as of December 31, 2018:



Entity	Company Action Level RBC		Total Adjusted Capital		% of Company Action Level RBC
	(in millions, except percentages)
RiverSource Life	$	675	$	3,382	501	%
RiverSource Life of NY	40		266		661

As part of its Solvency Modernization Initiative in 2010, the NAIC adopted revisions to its Insurance Holding Company System Regulatory Act (“Holding Company Act”) to enhance insurer group supervision and create a new Risk Management and Own Risk and Solvency Assessment (“ORSA”) Model Act. The Holding Company Act revisions focus on the overall insurance holding company system, establish a framework of regulator supervisory colleges, enhancements to corporate governance and require the annual filing of an Enterprise Risk Management Report. The ORSA Model Act requires that an insurer create and file, annually, its Own Risk Solvency Assessment, which is a complete self-assessment of its risk management functions and capital adequacy. These laws have now been enacted by the domiciliary states of RiverSource Life: Minnesota and New York. The reports have been completed and filed as required by the laws and regulations of those states.

While the DOL’s fiduciary regulation has been vacated, the SEC has proposed its own best interest standard that would apply to recommendations made by financial advisors who work on a commission basis. Furthermore, New York and several other states have either issued their own fiduciary rules or are considering doing so and those rules may extend to certain types of products (e.g. insurance and annuities, financial planning, etc.) or may broadly cover all recommendations made by financial advisors. The Certified Financial Planner Board has updated its professional standards of conduct to include a fiduciary standard that applies to financial advisors who hold a Certified Financial Planner designation. In light of the various fiduciary rules and regulations that have been proposed or finalized, RiverSource Life continues to exert significant efforts to evaluate and prepare to comply with each rule. Depending on the span and substance of any final regulations and timing of their applicability, the scope of any implementation could also require various changes in the financial services industry, any of which could negatively impact RiverSource Life’s results of operations.

Certain aspects of RiverSource Life’s business are subject to comprehensive legal requirements by different functional regulators concerning the use and protection of personal information, including client information. This includes rules adopted pursuant to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”), the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (“HITECH”) Act, and an ever increasing number of state laws and regulations such as the New York State Department of Financial Services’ Cybersecurity Requirements for Financial Services Companies and the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018. RiverSource Life continues its efforts to safeguard the data

entrusted to it in accordance with applicable laws and internal data protection policies, including taking steps to reduce the potential for identity theft or other improper use or disclosure of personal information, while seeking to collect only the data that is necessary to properly achieve its business objectives and to best serve its clients.

In addition, upon conversion of RiverSource Life’s affiliate Ameriprise National Trust Bank into a federal savings bank (“Ameriprise Bank”), Ameriprise Financial will be subject to ongoing supervision by the Board of Governors for the Federal Reserve System (“FRB”), including supervision and prudential standards, such as capital, liquidity and operational risk monitoring by management. In order to maintain Ameriprise Financial’s permission under applicable bank holding company laws and regulations to engage in insurance and business activities other than banking or activities closely related to banking, each of Ameriprise Financial and Ameriprise Bank, as Ameriprise’s sole insured depository institution subsidiary, will need to remain “well-capitalized” and “well-managed” under applicable federal banking regulations, and Ameriprise Bank must receive at least a “satisfactory” rating in its most recent examination under the Community Reinvestment Act (“CRA”). Failure to meet one or more of certain requirements and regulations would mean, depending on the requirements not met and any accord then reached with the FRB, that until cured Ameriprise Financial (and therefore RiverSource Life) could not undertake new activities, continue certain activities, or make certain acquisitions.

Financial Strength Ratings

RiverSource Life Insurance Company and RiverSource Life of NY receive ratings from independent rating organizations. Ratings are important to maintain public confidence in RiverSource Life. Lowering of RiverSource Life’s ratings could have a material adverse effect on its ability to market its products and could lead to increased surrenders of its products. Rating organizations continually evaluate the financial soundness and claims-paying ability of insurance companies, and base their ratings on a number of different factors, including market position in core products and market segments, risk-adjusted capitalization and the quality of investment portfolios.

More specifically, the ratings assigned are developed from an evaluation of a company’s balance sheet strength, operating performance and business profile. Balance sheet strength reflects a company’s ability to meet its current and ongoing obligations to its contractholders and policyholders and includes analysis of a company’s capital adequacy. The evaluation of operating performance centers on the stability and sustainability of a company’s source of earnings. The business profile component of the rating considers a company’s mix of business, market position and depth and experience of management.

The financial strength ratings for RiverSource Life can be found at ir.ameriprise.com. For the most current ratings information, please see the individual rating agency’s website.

Reinsurance

RiverSource Life reinsures a portion of the insurance risks associated with its life, DI and LTC insurance products through reinsurance agreements with unaffiliated reinsurance companies. RiverSource Life uses reinsurance to limit losses, reduce exposure to large risks and provide additional capacity for future growth. To manage exposure to losses from reinsurer insolvencies, RiverSource Life evaluates the financial condition of its reinsurers prior to entering into new reinsurance treaties and on a periodic basis during the terms of the treaties. RiverSource Life remains primarily liable as the direct insurer on all risks reinsured.

See Note 9 to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information on reinsurance.

Item1A. Risk Factors

RiverSource Life’s operations and financial results are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including those described below, that could have a material adverse effect on RiverSource Life’s business, financial condition or results of operations. Based on the information currently known, RiverSource Life believes that the following information identifies the material factors affecting RiverSource Life. However, the risks and uncertainties RiverSource Life faces are not limited to those described below. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to RiverSource Life or which are currently believed to be immaterial may also adversely affect RiverSource Life’s business.

Risks Relating to RiverSource Life’s Business and Operations

RiverSource Life’s financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected by market fluctuations and by economic, political and other factors.

RiverSource Life’s financial condition and results of operations may be materially affected by market fluctuations and by economic and other factors. Such factors, which can be global, national, regional or local in nature, include: (i) political, social, economic and market conditions; (ii) the availability and cost of capital; (iii) the level and volatility of equity prices, commodity prices and interest rates, currency values and other market indices; (iv) technological changes and events; (v) U.S. and foreign government fiscal and tax policies; (vi) U.S. and foreign government ability, real or perceived, to avoid defaulting on government securities; (vii) the availability and cost of credit; (viii) inflation; (ix) investor sentiment and confidence in the financial markets; (x) terrorism and armed conflicts; and (xi) natural disasters such as weather catastrophes and widespread health emergencies. In addition, during periods of unfavorable market or economic conditions, the level of consumer investing and insuring activity may also decrease, which may negatively impact the results of RiverSource Life’s business. Moreover, fluctuations in economic and market activity could impact the way then-existing

customers allocate their available resources, which could affect RiverSource Life’s persistency, surrender and product cash value loan experience and could negatively impact its business.

Declines and volatility in U.S. and global market conditions have impacted RiverSource Life’s business in the past and may do so again. RiverSource Life’s business has been, and in the future may be, adversely affected by U.S. and global capital market and credit crises, the repricing of credit risk, equity market volatility and decline, and stress or recession in the U.S. and global economies generally.

Downturns and volatility in equity markets may have, and have in the past had, an adverse effect on RiverSource Life’s financial condition and results of operations. In addition, market downturns and volatility (as well as general regulatory or economic uncertainty) may cause, and have caused, potential new purchasers of RiverSource Life’s products to limit purchases of or to refrain from purchasing RiverSource Life’s variable annuities and variable universal life insurance products that have returns linked to the performance of the equity markets. Downturns and uncertainty may also cause contractholders in annuity products and policyholders in insurance products to withdraw cash values from those products. Downturns and volatility may also have an adverse effect on the performance of RiverSource Life’s investment portfolio. In addition, market downturns and volatility in equity markets may cause, and have caused, RiverSource Life to accelerate amortization of deferred acquisition costs (“DAC”), which increases its expenses and reduces its net income.

Additionally, downturns and volatility in equity markets can have, and have had, an adverse effect on RiverSource Life’s asset-based revenues because the value of equity-based separate account assets will be reduced.

The GMAB and the non-life contingent benefits associated with GMWB provisions offered with certain RiverSource Life variable annuities create obligations which are carried at fair value separately from the underlying host variable annuity contract. Changes in the fair value of these GMAB and GMWB obligations are recorded through earnings with fair value calculated by estimating the present value of future benefits, less applicable fees, using actuarial models, which simulate various economic scenarios. Changes in interest rates, equity prices and/or equity market volatility may impact the fair value of the GMAB and GMWB liabilities. Although RiverSource Life typically hedges against such changes, a significant change in either equity price levels or equity market volatility may result in a net adverse impact to current period financial statements. Further, RiverSource Life’s cost of hedging these guarantees has increased as a result of low interest rates and volatility in the equity markets and broad-based market and regulatory-driven changes in the collateral requirements of hedge trading counterparties. In addition, heightened volatility creates greater uncertainty for future hedging effectiveness.

A significant market decline in equity price levels could also result in guaranteed minimum benefits under GMDB and guaranteed minimum income benefit (“GMIB”) provisions being higher than current account values would support, which could have an adverse effect on RiverSource Life’s financial condition and results of operations. RiverSource Life does not currently hedge, reinsure or sell GMIB provisions.

Changes in interest rates and prolonged periods of low interest rates may adversely affect RiverSource Life’s financial condition and results of operations.

RiverSource Life’s insurance and annuity products are sensitive to interest rate fluctuations, and future impacts associated with such variations may differ from historical costs. In addition, interest rate fluctuations could result in fluctuations in the valuation of certain minimum guaranteed benefits contained in some of its variable annuity products. Although RiverSource Life typically hedges to mitigate some of the effect of such fluctuations, significant changes in interest rates could have a material adverse impact on RiverSource Life’s results of operations.

During periods of increasing market interest rates, RiverSource Life offers higher crediting rates on interest-sensitive products, such as universal life insurance and fixed annuities and RiverSource Life increases crediting rates on in force products to keep these products competitive. Because yields on invested assets may not increase as quickly as current interest rates, RiverSource Life may have to accept a lower “spread,” or the difference between the returns it earns on the investments that support its obligations under these products and the amounts that it must pay policyholders and contractholders, and thus lower profitability or face a decline in sales and greater loss of existing contracts and related assets. In addition, increases in market interest rates may cause increased policy surrenders, withdrawals from life insurance policies and annuity contracts and requests for policy loans, as policyholders and contractholders seek to shift assets to products with perceived higher returns. This process may lead to an earlier than expected outflow of cash from the business. These withdrawals and surrenders may require investment assets to be sold at a time when the prices of those assets are lower because of the increase in market interest rates, which may result in realized investment losses. Also, increases in market interest rates may result in extension of the maturity of some of RiverSource Life’s investment assets. Increases in crediting rates, as well as surrenders and withdrawals, could have an adverse effect on RiverSource Life’s financial condition and results of operations. An increase in policy surrenders and withdrawals also may require RiverSource Life to accelerate amortization of DAC, which would increase its expenses and reduce its net income.

During periods of falling interest rates or stagnancy of low interest rates, RiverSource Life’s spread may be reduced or could become negative, primarily because some of these products have guaranteed minimum crediting rates. Due to the long-term nature of the liabilities associated with RiverSource Life’s LTC and universal life with secondary guarantees, as well as fixed annuities and guaranteed benefits on variable annuities, sustained declines in or stagnancy of low long-term interest rates may subject RiverSource Life to reinvestment risks and increased hedging costs. In addition, reduced or negative spreads may require RiverSource Life to

accelerate amortization of DAC, which would increase its expenses and reduce its net income.

Interest rate fluctuations also could have an adverse effect on the results of RiverSource Life’s investment portfolio. During periods of declining market interest rates or stagnancy of low interest rates, the interest RiverSource Life receives on variable interest rate investments decreases. In addition, during those periods, RiverSource Life is forced to reinvest the cash it receives as interest or return of principal on its investments in lower-yielding high-grade instruments or in lower-credit instruments to maintain comparable returns. Issuers of certain callable fixed income securities also may decide to prepay their obligations in order to borrow at lower market rates, which increases the risk that RiverSource Life may have to reinvest the cash proceeds of these securities in lower-yielding or lower-credit instruments.

Adverse capital and credit market conditions may significantly affect RiverSource Life’s ability to meet liquidity needs, access to capital and cost of capital.

The capital and credit markets may experience, and have experienced, varying degrees of volatility and disruption. In some cases, the markets have exerted downward pressure on availability of liquidity and credit capacity for certain issuers. RiverSource Life needs liquidity to pay contractholder and policyholder claims and benefits as well as operating expenses. Without sufficient liquidity, RiverSource Life could be required to curtail its operations, and its business would suffer.

RiverSource Life’s liquidity needs are satisfied primarily through its reserves and the cash generated by its operations. RiverSource Life believes the level of cash and securities it maintains, combined with expected cash inflows from investments and operations, is adequate to meet anticipated short-term and long-term payment obligations. In the event current resources are insufficient to satisfy RiverSource Life’s needs, it may access financing sources from its parent holding company, its other affiliates or third parties. The availability of additional financing would depend on a variety of factors such as market conditions, the availability of liquidity from RiverSource Life’s parent or other affiliates, the general availability of credit, the overall availability of credit to the financial services industry, RiverSource Life’s credit ratings and credit capacity, as well as the possibility that customers or potential third-party lenders could develop a negative perception of RiverSource Life’s long- or short-term financial prospects if it incurs large investment losses or if the level of its business activity decreases due to a market downturn. Similarly, RiverSource Life’s access to funds may be rendered more costly or impaired if regulatory authorities or rating organizations take actions against it. Also, transfers of cash or other assets from RiverSource Life’s parent or other affiliates must comply with the applicable revolving credit agreements and may be subject to the prior approval of (or notice to) state insurance regulators.

Disruptions, uncertainty or volatility in the capital and credit markets may also limit RiverSource Life’s or its parent’s access to capital required to operate its business. Such market conditions may limit RiverSource Life’s ability to satisfy statutory capital requirements, generate fee income and market-related revenue to meet liquidity needs and access the capital necessary to grow its business. As such, RiverSource Life may be forced to use different types of capital than it would otherwise, less effectively deploy such capital or bear an unattractive cost of capital which could decrease RiverSource Life’s profitability and significantly reduce its financial flexibility.

A downgrade or a potential downgrade in RiverSource Life’s financial strength ratings could result in a loss of business and adversely affect its financial condition and results of operations.

Financial strength ratings, which various rating organizations publish as a measure of an insurance company’s ability to meet contractholder and policyholder obligations, are important to maintain public confidence in RiverSource Life’s products, the ability to market its products and its competitive position. A downgrade in RiverSource Life’s financial strength ratings, or the announced potential for a downgrade, could have a significant adverse effect on its financial condition and results of operations in many ways, including:


•	reducing new sales of insurance and annuity products;


•	adversely affecting RiverSource Life’s relationships with distributors of its products;


•	materially increasing the number or amount of policy surrenders and withdrawals by contractholders and policyholders;


•	requiring RiverSource Life to reduce prices for many of its products to remain competitive; and


•	adversely affecting RiverSource Life’s ability to obtain reinsurance or obtain reasonable pricing on reinsurance.

In view of the difficulties experienced in recent years by certain companies in the insurance industry, the rating organizations have heightened the level of scrutiny that they apply and have requested additional information from the companies that they rate. They may increase the frequency and scope of their reviews or adjust upward the capital and other requirements employed in the rating organizations’ models for maintenance of ratings levels. Rating organizations may also become subject to tighter laws, regulations or scrutiny governing ratings, which may in turn impact ratings assigned to insurance companies.

RiverSource Life cannot predict what actions rating organizations may take, or what actions RiverSource Life may take in response to the actions of rating organizations, which could adversely affect its business. As with other companies in the insurance industry, RiverSource Life’s ratings could be changed at any time and without any notice by the rating organizations.

Intense competition and the economics of changes in RiverSource Life’s product revenue mix and distribution channels could negatively impact RiverSource Life’s ability to maintain or increase its market share and profitability.

RiverSource Life operates in an intensely competitive industry. RiverSource Life competes based on a number of factors including name recognition, service, investment performance, product offerings and features, price, perceived financial strength, and claims-paying ability ratings. RiverSource Life’s competitors include insurers, asset managers and other financial institutions. RiverSource

Life may face competitors that have greater market share, offer a broader range of products, have greater financial resources or have higher claims-paying ability ratings than RiverSource Life does. Some of RiverSource Life’s competitors may possess or acquire intellectual property rights that could provide a competitive advantage to them in certain markets or for certain products, which could make it difficult for RiverSource Life to introduce new products and services. Some of RiverSource Life’s competitors’ proprietary products or technology could be similar to its own, and this could result in disputes that could impact RiverSource Life’s financial condition or results of operations. In addition, over time, certain sectors of the financial services industry have become considerably more concentrated, as financial institutions involved in a broad range of financial services have been acquired by or merged into other firms or distribution firms are seeking to limit the breadth of product offerings in order to simplify their regulatory and risk management. This convergence could result in RiverSource Life’s competitors gaining greater resources and RiverSource Life may experience downward pressures on its pricing and market share as a result of these factors and as some of RiverSource Life’s competitors seek to increase market share by reducing prices.

The offerings available to Ameriprise Financial’s advisor network include not only annuity and insurance products issued by RiverSource Life, but also annuities issued by a limited number of unaffiliated insurance companies. As a result of this and further openings of Ameriprise Financial’s advisor network to annuity and insurance products of other companies, RiverSource Life could experience lower sales of its products, higher surrenders or other developments, which could adversely affect its financial condition and results of operations.

RiverSource Life and its affiliates face intense competition in attracting and retaining key talent.

RiverSource Life’s continued success depends to a substantial degree on its and its affiliates’ ability to attract and retain qualified people. The market for qualified talent is extremely competitive. If RiverSource Life is unable to attract and retain qualified individuals or its recruiting and retention costs increase significantly, its financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely impacted.

The impairment or negative performance of other financial institutions could adversely affect RiverSource Life.

RiverSource Life has exposure to many different industries and counterparties, and routinely executes transactions with counterparties in the financial services industry, including broker-dealers, commercial banks, investment banks, hedge funds, insurers, reinsurers, investment funds and other institutions. The operations of U.S. and global financial services institutions are interconnected and a decline in the financial condition of one or more financial services institutions may expose RiverSource Life to credit losses or defaults, limit access to liquidity or otherwise disrupt the operations of RiverSource Life’s business. While RiverSource Life regularly assesses its exposure to different industries and counterparties, the performance and financial strength of specific institutions are subject to rapid change, the timing and extent of which cannot be known.

Many transactions with, and investments in, the products and securities of other financial institutions expose RiverSource Life to credit risk in the event of default of its counterparty. With respect to secured transactions, RiverSource Life’s credit risk may be exacerbated when the collateral held by it cannot be realized upon or is liquidated at prices insufficient to recover the full amount of the loan or derivative exposure due to it. RiverSource Life also has exposure to financial institutions in the form of unsecured debt instruments, derivative transactions, (including with respect to derivatives hedging its exposure on variable annuity contracts with guaranteed benefits), reinsurance, repurchase and underwriting arrangements and equity investments. There can be no assurance that any such losses or impairments to the carrying value of these assets would not materially and adversely impact RiverSource Life’s business and results of operations.

Downgrades in the credit or financial strength ratings assigned to the counterparties with whom RiverSource Life transacts business or other adverse reputational impacts to such counterparties could create the perception that its financial condition will be adversely impacted as a result of potential future defaults by such counterparties. Additionally, RiverSource Life could be adversely affected by a general, negative perception of financial institutions caused by the downgrade or other adverse impact to the reputation of other financial institutions.

Poor investment performance in RiverSource Life’s variable products could adversely affect its financial condition and results of operations.

RiverSource Life believes that investment performance is an important factor in the growth of its variable annuity and variable life insurance business. Poor investment performance could impair revenues and earnings, as well as RiverSource Life’s prospects for growth, because RiverSource Life’s ability to attract funds from existing and new clients might diminish and existing clients might withdraw assets from RiverSource Life’s variable products in favor of better performing products of other companies, which would result in lower revenues. Poor investment performance could also result in additional benefits paid under certain annuity products (such as variable annuity living benefits and death benefits).

AFSI may be unable to attract and retain financial advisors.

RiverSource Life is dependent on the financial advisors of AFSI for nearly all of the sales of its annuity and insurance products. A significant number of the financial advisors operate as independent contractors under a franchise agreement with AFSI. There can be no assurance that AFSI will be successful in its efforts to maintain its current network of financial advisors or to recruit and retain new advisors to its network. From time to time, there are regulatory-driven or other trends and developments within the industry, such as the current uncertainty around the Protocol for Broker Recruiting, that could potentially impact the current competitive dynamics between RiverSource Life and RiverSource Life’s competitors and impact the number of advisors affiliated with AFSI. If AFSI is

unable to attract and retain quality financial advisors, fewer advisors would be available to sell RiverSource Life’s annuity and insurance products and RiverSource Life’s financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.

Third-party defaults, bankruptcy filings, legal actions and other events may limit the value of or restrict RiverSource Life’s access to cash and investments.

Capital and credit market volatility can exacerbate, and has exacerbated, the risk of third-party defaults, bankruptcy filings, foreclosures, legal actions and other events that may limit the value of or restrict RiverSource Life’s access to cash and investments.

Defaults in RiverSource Life’s fixed maturity securities portfolio could adversely affect its earnings.

Issuers of the fixed maturity securities that RiverSource Life owns may default on principal and interest payments. As of December 31, 2018, 4% of RiverSource Life’s fixed maturity securities had ratings below investment-grade. Moreover, economic downturns and corporate malfeasance can increase the number of companies, including those with investment-grade ratings, which default on their debt obligations. Default-related declines in the value of RiverSource Life’s fixed maturity securities portfolio could cause its net earnings to decline and could weaken its capital position.

RiverSource Life’s valuation of fixed maturity and equity securities may include methodologies, estimations and assumptions which are subject to differing interpretations and could result in changes to investment valuations that may materially adversely impact its financial condition or results of operations.

Fixed maturity, equity and short-term investments which are reported at fair value on the Consolidated Balance Sheets, represent the majority of RiverSource Life’s total cash and invested assets. The determination of fair values by management in the absence of quoted market prices is based on: (i) valuation methodologies; (ii) securities RiverSource Life deems to be comparable; and (iii) assumptions deemed appropriate given the circumstances. The fair value estimates are made at a specific point in time, based on available market information and judgments about financial instruments, including estimates of the timing and amounts of expected future cash flows and the credit standing of the issuer or counterparty. Factors considered in estimating fair value include: coupon rate, maturity, estimated duration, call provisions, sinking fund requirements, credit rating, industry sector of the issuer, interest rates, credit spreads and quoted market prices of comparable securities. The use of different methodologies and assumptions may have a material effect on the estimated fair value amounts.

During periods of market disruption, including periods of significantly rising or high interest rates and rapidly widening credit spreads or illiquidity, it may be difficult to value certain of RiverSource Life’s securities. There may be certain asset classes that were in active markets with significant observable data that become illiquid due to the financial environment. In such cases, the valuation of certain securities may require additional subjectivity and management judgment. As such, valuations may include inputs and assumptions that are less observable and may require greater estimation as well as valuation methods that are more sophisticated, which may result in values less than the value at which the investments may be ultimately sold. Further, rapidly changing and unexpected credit and equity market conditions could materially impact the valuation of securities as reported within RiverSource Life’s Consolidated Financial Statements and the period-to-period changes in value could vary significantly. Decreases in value may have a material adverse effect on RiverSource Life’s financial condition or results of operations.

The elimination of London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) may adversely affect the interest rates on and value of certain derivatives and floating rate securities RiverSource Life holds, the activities RiverSource Life conducts, and any other assets or liabilities whose value is tied to LIBOR.

On July 27, 2017, the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority announced that it intends to stop persuading or compelling banks to submit LIBOR rates after 2021. However, it remains unclear if, how and in what form, LIBOR will continue to exist. Actions by regulators have resulted in the establishment of alternative reference rates to LIBOR in most major currencies. The U.S. Federal Reserve, based on the recommendations of the New York Federal Reserve’s Alternative Reference Rate Committee (constituted of major derivative market participants and their regulators), has begun publishing a Secured Overnight Funding Rate (“SOFR”) which is intended to replace U.S. dollar LIBOR, and SOFR-based investment products have been issued in the U.S. Proposals for alternative reference rates for other currencies have also been announced or have already begun publication. Markets are slowly developing in response to these new rates and questions around liquidity in these rates and how to appropriately adjust these rates to eliminate any economic value transfer at the time of transition remain a significant concern for RiverSource Life and others in the marketplace. The effect of any changes or reforms to LIBOR or discontinuation of LIBOR on new or existing financial instruments to which RiverSource Life has exposure or the activities in its business will vary depending on: (i) existing fallback provisions in individual contracts; and (ii) whether, how, and when industry participants develop and widely adopt new reference rates and fallbacks for both legacy and new products or instruments. Accordingly, it is difficult to predict the full impact of the transition away from LIBOR on certain derivatives and floating rate securities RiverSource Life holds, the activities RiverSource Life conducts in its business, and any other assets or liabilities (as well as contractual rights and obligations) whose value is tied to LIBOR. The value or profitability of these products and instruments, and RiverSource Life’s costs of operations, may be adversely affected until new reference rates and fallbacks for both legacy and new products, instruments and contracts are commercially accepted.

The determination of the amount of allowances and impairments taken on certain investments is subject to management’s evaluation and judgment and could materially impact RiverSource Life’s financial position or results of operations.

The determination of the amount of allowances and impairments vary by investment type and is based upon RiverSource Life’s periodic evaluation and assessment of inherent and known risks associated with the respective asset class. Such evaluations and

assessments are revised as conditions change and new information becomes available. Management updates its evaluations regularly and reflects changes in allowances and impairments in operations as such evaluations are revised. Historical trends may not be indicative of future impairments or allowances.

The assessment of whether impairments have occurred is based on management’s case-by-case evaluation of the underlying reasons for the decline in fair value that considers a wide range of factors about the security issuer or borrower, and management uses its best judgment in evaluating the cause of the decline in the estimated fair value of the security or loan and in assessing the prospects for recovery. Inherent in management’s evaluation of the security or loan are assumptions and estimates about the operations of the issuer and its future earnings potential.

Some of RiverSource Life’s investments are relatively illiquid.

RiverSource Life invests a portion of its general account assets in certain privately placed fixed income securities, mortgage loans, policy loans and limited partnership interests, all of which are relatively illiquid. These asset classes represented 18% of the carrying value of RiverSource Life’s investment portfolio as of December 31, 2018. If RiverSource Life requires significant amounts of cash on short notice in excess of its normal cash requirements, it may have difficulty selling these investments in a timely manner or be forced to sell them for an amount less than it would otherwise have been able to realize, or both, which could have an adverse effect on RiverSource Life’s financial condition and results of operations.

The failure of other insurers could require RiverSource Life to pay higher assessments to state insurance guaranty funds.

RiverSource Life Insurance Company and RiverSource Life of NY are required by law to be a member of the guaranty fund association in every state where they are licensed to do business. In the event of insolvency of one or more unaffiliated insurance companies, RiverSource Life could be adversely affected by the requirement to pay assessments to the guaranty fund associations. Uncertainty and volatility in the U.S. economy and financial markets in recent years, plus the repercussions of a heightened regulatory environment, have weakened or may weaken the financial condition of numerous insurers, including insurers currently in receiverships, increasing the risk of triggering guaranty fund assessments. For more information regarding assessments from guaranty fund associations, see Note 21 to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

If the counterparties to RiverSource Life’s reinsurance arrangements or to the derivative instruments it uses to hedge its business risks default or otherwise fail to fulfill their obligations, RiverSource Life may be exposed to risks it had sought to mitigate, which could adversely affect its financial condition and results of operations.

RiverSource Life uses reinsurance to mitigate its risks in various circumstances as described in Item 1 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K - “Business - Reinsurance.” Reinsurance does not relieve RiverSource Life of its direct liability to its policyholders and contractholders, even when the reinsurer is liable to RiverSource Life. Accordingly, RiverSource Life bears credit and performance risk with respect to its reinsurers, including Genworth Life Insurance Company with whom RiverSource Life finalized various confidential enhancements in July 2016 that have been shared, in the normal course of regular reviews, with RiverSource Life’s domiciliary regulator and rating agencies. A reinsurer’s insolvency or its inability or unwillingness to make payments under the terms of its reinsurance agreement could have a material adverse effect on RiverSource Life’s financial condition and results of operations. See Note 2 and Note 9 to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information regarding reinsurance.

In addition, RiverSource Life uses a variety of derivative instruments (including options, swaps and futures) with a number of counterparties to hedge business risks. The amount and breadth of exposure to derivative counterparties, as well as the cost of derivative instruments, have increased significantly in connection with RiverSource Life’s strategies to hedge guaranteed benefit obligations under its variable annuity products. If RiverSource Life’s counterparties fail to honor their obligations under the derivative instruments in a timely manner, RiverSource Life’s hedges of the related risk will be ineffective. That failure could have a material adverse effect on RiverSource Life’s financial condition and results of operations. This risk of failure of RiverSource Life’s hedge transactions from counterparty default may be increased by capital market volatility.

RiverSource Life provides investment securities as collateral to its derivative counterparties which they may sell, pledge, or rehypothecate. RiverSource Life has exposure, under the relevant arrangement, if the collateral is not returned to RiverSource Life to the extent that the fair value of the collateral exceeds RiverSource Life’s liability. Additionally, RiverSource Life may also accept investment securities as collateral from its derivative counterparties, which RiverSource Life may sell, pledge, or rehypothecate. If the counterparties that RiverSource Life pledges the collateral to are not able to return these investment securities under the terms of the relevant arrangements, RiverSource Life would be required to deliver alternative investments or cash to its derivative counterparty, which could impact RiverSource Life’s liquidity and could adversely impact its financial condition or results of operations.

If RiverSource Life’s reserves for future policy benefits and claims are inadequate, it may be required to increase its reserve liabilities, which would adversely affect its financial condition and results of operations.

RiverSource Life establishes reserves as estimates of its liabilities to provide for future obligations under its insurance policies and annuities contracts. Reserves do not represent an exact calculation of the liability, but rather are estimates of contract benefits and related expenses RiverSource Life expects to incur over time. The assumptions and estimates RiverSource Life makes in establishing reserves require certain judgments about future experience and, therefore, are inherently uncertain. RiverSource Life cannot determine with precision the actual amounts that it will pay for contract benefits, the timing of payments, or whether the assets supporting its

stated reserves will increase to the levels it estimates before payment of benefits or claims. RiverSource Life monitors its reserve levels continually. If RiverSource Life were to conclude that its reserves are insufficient to cover actual or expected contract benefits, it would be required to increase its reserves and incur income statement charges for the period in which it makes the determination, which would adversely affect its financial condition and results of operations. For more information on how RiverSource Life sets its reserves, see Note 2 to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Morbidity rates or mortality rates that differ significantly from RiverSource Life’s pricing expectations would negatively affect profitability.

RiverSource Life has historically set, and continues to set, prices for its life and DI insurance (and historically LTC insurance) as well as some annuity products based upon expected claim payment patterns, derived from assumptions RiverSource Life makes about its policyholders and contractholders, including morbidity and mortality rates. The long-term profitability of these products depends upon how RiverSource Life’s actual experience compares with its pricing assumptions. For example, if morbidity rates are higher or mortality rates are lower than its pricing assumptions, RiverSource Life could be required to make greater payments under DI insurance policies, chronic care riders and immediate annuity contracts than it had projected. The same holds true for LTC policies RiverSource Life previously underwrote to the extent of the risks that RiverSource Life retained. If mortality rates are higher than its pricing assumptions, RiverSource Life could be required to make greater payments under its life insurance policies and annuity contracts with GMDBs than it has projected.

The risk that RiverSource Life’s claims experience may differ significantly from its pricing assumptions is particularly significant for its LTC insurance products, notwithstanding RiverSource Life’s ability to implement future price increases with regulatory approvals. As with life insurance, LTC insurance policies provide for long-duration coverage and, therefore, its actual claims experience will emerge over many years. However, as a relatively new product in the market, LTC insurance does not have the extensive claims experience history of life insurance, and, as a result, RiverSource Life’s ability to forecast future claim rates for LTC insurance is more limited than for life insurance. RiverSource Life has sought to moderate these uncertainties to some extent by partially reinsuring LTC policies at the time the policies were underwritten and limiting its present stand-alone LTC insurance offerings to policies underwritten fully by unaffiliated third-party insurers and also RiverSource Life has implemented rate increases on certain in force policies. Certain estimates and assumptions used in setting RiverSource Life’s LTC reserves (which is an inherently uncertain and complex process) are described in Item 1 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K - “Business - Insurance: Product Features and Risks - Long Term Care Insurance.” RiverSource Life may be required to implement additional rate increases in the future and may or may not receive regulatory approval for the full extent and timing of any rate increases that RiverSource Life may seek.

RiverSource Life may face losses if there are significant deviations from its assumptions regarding the future persistency of its insurance policies and annuity contracts.

The prices and expected future profitability of RiverSource Life’s insurance and deferred annuity products are based in part upon assumptions related to persistency, which is the probability that a policy or contract will remain in force from one period to the next. Economic and market dislocations may occur and future consumer persistency behaviors could vary materially from the past. The effect of persistency on profitability varies for different products. For most of its life insurance and deferred annuity products, actual persistency that is lower than its persistency assumptions could have an adverse impact on profitability, especially in the early years of a policy or contract, primarily because RiverSource Life would be required to accelerate the amortization of expenses it deferred in connection with the acquisition of the policy or contract.

For RiverSource Life’s LTC insurance and universal life insurance policies with secondary guarantees, as well as variable annuities with GMWB, actual persistency that is higher than its persistency assumptions could have a negative impact on profitability. If these policies remain in force longer than RiverSource Life assumed, RiverSource Life could be required to make greater benefit payments than it had anticipated when it priced or partially reinsured these products. Some of its LTC insurance policies have experienced higher persistency and poorer morbidity experience than RiverSource Life had assumed, which led it to increase premium rates on certain policies.

Because RiverSource Life’s assumptions regarding persistency experience are inherently uncertain, reserves for future policy benefits and claims may prove to be inadequate if actual persistency experience is different from those assumptions. Although some of its products permit RiverSource Life to increase premiums during the life of the policy or contract, RiverSource Life cannot guarantee that these increases would be sufficient to maintain profitability. Additionally, some of these pricing changes require regulatory approval, which may not be forthcoming. Moreover, many of RiverSource Life’s products do not permit RiverSource Life to increase premiums or limit those increases during the life of the policy or contract while premiums on certain other products (primarily LTC insurance) may not be increased without prior regulatory approval. Significant deviations in experience from pricing expectations regarding persistency could have an adverse effect on the profitability of RiverSource Life’s products.

RiverSource Life may be required to accelerate the amortization of DAC, which would increase its expenses.

DAC represent the portion of costs which are incremental and direct to the acquisition of new or renewal business, principally direct sales commissions and other distribution and underwriting costs that have been deferred on the sale of annuity, life and DI products. For annuity and universal life products, DAC are amortized based on projections of estimated gross profits over amortization periods equal to the approximate life of the business. For other insurance products, DAC are generally amortized as a percentage of premiums over amortization periods equal to the premium-paying period.

RiverSource Life’s projections underlying the amortization of DAC require the use of certain assumptions, including interest margins, mortality rates, persistency rates, maintenance expense levels and customer asset value growth rates for variable products. RiverSource Life periodically reviews and, where appropriate, adjusts its assumptions. When RiverSource Life changes its assumptions, it may be required to accelerate the amortization of DAC or to record a charge to increase benefit reserves.

For more information regarding DAC, see Part II, Item 7 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K under the heading - “Management’s Narrative Analysis - Critical Accounting Estimates - Deferred Acquisition Costs.”

Misconduct by RiverSource Life’s employees and agents and its affiliates’ employees, financial advisors and agents is difficult to detect and deter and could harm RiverSource Life’s business, financial condition or results of operations.

Misconduct by RiverSource Life’s employees and agents and its affiliates’ employees, financial advisors and agents could result in violations of law, regulatory sanctions and/or serious reputational or financial harm. Misconduct can occur in each of RiverSource Life’s businesses and could include:


•	binding RiverSource Life to transactions that exceed authorized limits;


•	hiding unauthorized or unsuccessful activities resulting in unknown and unmanaged risks or losses;


•	improperly using, disclosing, or otherwise compromising confidential information, including client confidential information;


•	recommending transactions that are not suitable;


•	engaging in fraudulent or otherwise improper activity, including the misappropriation of funds;


•	engaging in unauthorized or excessive trading to the detriment of customers; or


•	otherwise not complying with laws, regulations or RiverSource Life’s control procedures.

RiverSource Life cannot always deter misconduct by employees and agents and its affiliates’ employees, financial advisors and agents and the precautions RiverSource Life takes to prevent and detect this activity may not be effective in all cases. RiverSource Life cannot also assure that misconduct by employees and agents and its affiliates’ employees, financial advisors and agents will not lead to a material adverse effect on its business, financial condition or results of operations.

Damage to the reputation of RiverSource Life or its affiliates could adversely affect the business of RiverSource Life.

The ability of RiverSource Life to market and sell its products is highly dependent upon external perceptions of its business practices and financial condition, as well as the business practices and financial condition of its affiliates. Damage to the reputation of RiverSource Life or its affiliates could cause significant harm to the business and prospects. Reputational damage may arise from numerous sources, including litigation or regulatory actions, failing to deliver minimum standards of service and quality, compliance failures, any perceived or actual weakness in RiverSource Life’s financial strength or liquidity, technological, cybersecurity, or other security breaches (including attempted breaches) resulting in improper disclosure of client or employee personal information, unethical or improper behavior and the misconduct of employees, AFSI’s advisors and counterparties. Negative perceptions or publicity regarding these matters could damage RiverSource Life’s reputation among existing and potential clients, employees and distributors. Reputations may take decades to build, and any negative incidents can quickly erode trust and confidence, particularly if they result in adverse mainstream and social media publicity, governmental investigations or litigation. Adverse developments with respect to the financial industry may also, by association, negatively impact RiverSource Life’s reputation or result in greater regulatory or legislative scrutiny or litigation.

RiverSource Life’s reputation is also dependent on its continued identification of, and mitigation against, conflicts of interest, including those relating to the activities of its affiliated entities. For example, conflicts may arise between RiverSource Life’s position as a manufacturer of insurance and annuity products and the position of AFSI, the distributor of these products. RiverSource Life and its affiliated entities have procedures and controls that are designed to identify, address and appropriately disclose perceived conflicts of interest. However, identifying and appropriately addressing conflicts of interest is complex and RiverSource Life’s reputation could be damaged if it fails, or appears to fail, to address conflicts of interest appropriately. In addition, the SEC and other federal and state regulators have increased their scrutiny of potential conflicts of interest. It is possible that potential or perceived conflicts could give rise to litigation or enforcement actions. Also, it is possible that the regulatory scrutiny of, and litigation in connection with, conflicts of interest will make RiverSource Life’s clients less willing to enter into transactions in which such a conflict may occur, which would adversely affect RiverSource Life’s business.

RiverSource Life’s operational systems and networks have been, and will continue to be, subject to evolving cybersecurity or other technological risks, which could result in the disclosure of confidential client or employee information, loss of proprietary information, damage to its reputation, additional costs, regulatory penalties and other adverse impacts.

The business of RiverSource Life and its affiliates is reliant upon internal and third-party technology systems and networks to process, transmit and store information including sensitive client and proprietary information, and to conduct business activities and transactions with clients, distributors, vendors and other third parties. Maintaining the security and integrity of this information and these systems and networks, appropriately responding to any cybersecurity and privacy incidents (including attempts), is critical to the success of RiverSource Life’s business operations, including RiverSource Life’s reputation, the retention of clients, and to the protection of RiverSource Life’s proprietary information and RiverSource Life’s clients’ personal information. To date, RiverSource Life or its affiliates have not experienced any material breaches of or interference with these centrally controlled systems and networks; however, RiverSource Life and its affiliates routinely face and address such threats. For example, in past years, RiverSource

Life and its affiliates and other financial institutions experienced distributed denial of service attacks intended to disrupt the centrally controlled systems that provide RiverSource Life’s clients’ online systems and information. While RiverSource Life has been able to detect and respond to these incidents to date without loss of client assets or information, RiverSource Life enhanced its security capabilities and cybersecurity incident response manual and will continue to assess its ability to monitor for, detect, prevent, mitigate, respond to and recover from such threats. In addition to the foregoing, RiverSource Life’s experiences with cybersecurity and technology threats have included phishing and spear phishing scams, social engineering attacks, account takeovers, introductions of malware, attempts at electronic break-ins and the submission of fraudulent payment requests. The number of attempted phishing attacks increased substantially in 2018 and RiverSource Life does not expect a reduction in the future as they are low-cost scams for their purveyors. Any successful breaches or interference (as well as attempted breaches or interference) by third parties or by RiverSource Life’s employees that may occur in the future could have a material adverse impact on RiverSource Life’s business, reputation, financial condition or results of operations.

RiverSource Life and its affiliates are subject to international, federal and state regulations, and, in some cases contractual obligations, that require it to establish and maintain corporate policies and procedures designed to protect sensitive client, employee, contractor and vendor information and respond to cybersecurity incidents. RiverSource Life and its affiliates have implemented and maintain security measures designed to protect against breaches of corporate security and other interference with systems and networks resulting from attacks by third parties, including hackers, and from employee or service provider error or malfeasance. RiverSource Life’s affiliates have implemented policies that require AFSI’s independent franchisee advisors who locally control their own technology operations to do the same. RiverSource Life and its affiliates also contractually require third-party vendors who, in the provision of services to RiverSource Life and its affiliates, are provided with access to RiverSource Life’s systems and information pertaining to RiverSource Life’s business or its clients, to meet certain physical and information security standards. RiverSource Life’s affiliates recommend through policies that AFSI’s independent franchisee advisors do the same with their facilities, systems and third-party vendors. Changes in RiverSource Life’s client base or technology platform changes, such as an evolution to accommodate mobile computing, virtual interface and multi-device functionality, may also require corresponding changes in its systems, networks and data security and response measures. While accessing RiverSource Life’s products and services, RiverSource Life’s customers may use computers and other devices that sit outside of its security control. RiverSource Life’s affiliates through AFSI’s independent franchisee advisors provide tips for clients regarding safe online practices but cannot be sure clients will adopt some or all such advice. In addition, the ever-increasing reliance on technology systems and networks and the occurrence and potential adverse impact of attacks on such systems and networks, both generally and in the financial services industry, have enhanced government and regulatory scrutiny of the measures taken by companies to protect against cybersecurity threats. As these threats, and government and regulatory oversight of associated risks, continue to evolve, RiverSource Life may be required to expend additional resources to enhance or expand upon the security and response measures RiverSource Life and its affiliates (as well as certain parties RiverSource Life does not control) currently maintain.

Despite the measures RiverSource Life and its affiliates have taken and may in the future take to address and mitigate cybersecurity, privacy and technology risks, RiverSource Life cannot assure that the systems and networks of RiverSource Life and its affiliates will not be subject to successful attacks, breaches or interference. Nor can RiverSource Life assure that parties its affiliates do not control will comply with RiverSource Life and its affiliates’ policies and procedures in this regard, or that clients will engage in safe online practices. Any such event may result in operational disruptions as well as unauthorized access to or the disclosure or loss of RiverSource Life’s proprietary information or RiverSource Life’s client or employee personal information, which in turn may result in legal claims, regulatory scrutiny and liability, reputational damage, the incurrence of costs to eliminate or mitigate further exposure, the loss of clients or other damage to its business. While RiverSource Life maintains cyber liability insurance that provides both third-party liability and first-party liability coverages, this insurance may not be sufficient to protect it against all cybersecurity-related losses. Furthermore, RiverSource Life may be subject to indemnification costs and liability to third parties if RiverSource Life breaches any confidentiality obligations regarding vendor data or for losses related to the data. In addition, the trend toward broad consumer and general public notification of such incidents could exacerbate the harm to RiverSource Life’s business, reputation, financial condition, or results of operations. Even if RiverSource Life successfully protected its technology infrastructure and the confidentiality of sensitive data and conduct appropriate incident response, RiverSource Life may incur significant expenses in connection with its responses to any such attacks as well as the adoption, implementation and maintenance of appropriate security measures. RiverSource Life could also suffer harm to its business and reputation if attempted security breaches are publicized regardless of whether or not harm was actually done to any client or client information or employee or employee information. RiverSource Life cannot be certain that advances in criminal capabilities, discovery of new vulnerabilities, attempts to exploit vulnerabilities in its systems or third-party systems RiverSource Life uses, data thefts, physical system or network break-ins or inappropriate access, or other developments will not compromise or breach the technology or other security measures protecting the networks and systems used in connection with its products and services.

Protection from system interruptions and operating errors is important to RiverSource Life’s business. If RiverSource Life experienced a sustained interruption to its telecommunications or data processing systems or other failure in operational execution, it could harm its business.

Operating errors and system or network interruptions could delay and disrupt RiverSource Life’s ability to develop, deliver or maintain its products and services, or to operate compliance or risk management functions, causing harm to its business and reputation and resulting in loss of customers or revenue. Interruptions could be caused by operational failures arising from service provider or employee error or malfeasance, interference by third parties, including hackers, RiverSource Life’s implementation of new technology,

as well as from maintenance of existing technology. RiverSource Life’s financial, accounting, data processing or other operating systems and facilities may fail to operate or report data properly, experience connectivity disruptions or otherwise become disabled as a result of events that are wholly or partially beyond its control, adversely affecting its ability to process transactions or provide products and services to customers. These interruptions can include fires, floods, earthquakes and other natural disasters, power losses, equipment failures, attacks by third parties, failures of internal or vendor personnel, software equipment or systems and other events beyond its control. Although RiverSource Life has developed and maintains a comprehensive business continuity plan and cybersecurity incident response manual that covers potential disruptions to centrally controlled systems and platforms and requires key technology vendors and service providers to do the same, there are inherent limitations in such plans and they might not, despite testing and monitoring, operate as designed in the event of an actual event or crisis. Further, RiverSource Life cannot control the execution of any business continuity or incident response plans implemented by its service providers.

RiverSource Life relies on third-party service providers and vendors for certain communications, technology and business functions and other services, and faces the risk of operational failure (including, without limitation, failure caused by an inaccuracy, untimeliness or other deficiency in data reporting), technical or security failures, termination or capacity constraints of any of the clearing agents, exchanges, clearing houses or other third-party service providers that RiverSource Life uses to facilitate or are component providers to its securities transactions and other product manufacturing and distribution activities. For example, most of RiverSource Life’s applications run on a technology infrastructure managed on an outsourced basis by IBM since 2002. Under this arrangement, IBM is responsible for all mainframe, mid-range, computing network and storage operations, which includes a portion of RiverSource Life’s web hosting operations, and RiverSource Life is subject to the risks of any operational failure, termination or other restraints in this arrangement. These risks are heightened by RiverSource Life’s deployment in response to both client interest and evolution in the financial markets of increasingly sophisticated products, such as those which incorporate automatic asset re-allocation, multiple portfolios or funds, and business-driven hedging, compliance and other risk management or investment or financial management strategies. Any such failure, termination or constraint or flawed response could adversely impact its ability to effect transactions, service its clients, manage its exposure to risk or otherwise achieve desired outcomes.

RiverSource Life’s risk management policies and procedures may not be fully effective in identifying or mitigating its risk exposure in all market environments or against all types of risk, including employee and financial advisor misconduct.

RiverSource Life has devoted significant resources to develop its risk management policies and procedures and will continue to do so. Nonetheless, RiverSource Life’s policies and procedures to identify, monitor and manage risks may not be fully effective in mitigating its risk exposure in all market environments or against all types of risk. Many of its methods of managing risk and the associated exposures are based upon its use of observed historical market behavior or statistics based on historical models. During periods of market volatility or due to unforeseen events, the historically-derived correlations upon which these methods are based may not be valid. As a result, these methods may not predict future exposures accurately, which could be significantly greater than what its models indicate. This could cause RiverSource Life to incur investment losses or cause its hedging and other risk management strategies to be ineffective. Other risk management methods depend upon the evaluation of information regarding markets, clients, catastrophe occurrence or other matters that are publicly available or otherwise accessible to RiverSource Life, which may not always be accurate, complete, up-to-date or properly evaluated.

Moreover, RiverSource Life is subject to the risks of errors and misconduct by its employees and AFSI’s advisors, such as fraud, non-compliance with policies, recommending transactions that are not suitable, and improperly using or disclosing confidential information. These risks are difficult to detect in advance and deter, and could harm RiverSource Life’s business, financial condition or results of operations. RiverSource Life is further subject to the risk of nonperformance or inadequate performance of contractual obligations by third-party vendors of products and services that are used in its businesses. Management of operational, legal and regulatory risks requires, among other things, policies and procedures to record properly and verify a large number of transactions and events, and these policies and procedures may not be fully effective in mitigating RiverSource Life’s risk exposure in all market environments or against all types of risk. Insurance and other traditional risk-shifting tools may be held by or available to RiverSource Life in order to manage certain exposures, but they are subject to terms such as deductibles, coinsurance, limits and policy exclusions, as well as risk of counterparty denial of coverage, default or insolvency.

The occurrence of natural or man-made disasters and catastrophes could adversely affect the financial condition and results of operations of RiverSource Life.

The occurrence of natural disasters and catastrophes, including earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, fires, blackouts, severe winter weather, explosions, pandemic disease and man-made disasters, including acts of terrorism, insurrections and military actions, could adversely affect the financial condition or results of operations of RiverSource Life. Such disasters and catastrophes may damage its facilities, preventing its employees from performing their roles or otherwise disturbing its ordinary business operations, and by impacting claims, as described below. These impacts could be particularly severe to the extent they affect RiverSource Life’s computer-based data processing, transmission, storage and retrieval systems and destroy or release valuable data. Such disasters and catastrophes may also impact RiverSource Life indirectly by changing the condition and behaviors of its customers, business counterparties and regulators, as well as by causing declines or volatility in the economic and financial markets.

The potential effects of natural and man-made disasters and catastrophes on the business of RiverSource Life include but are not limited to the following: (i) a catastrophic loss of life may materially increase the amount of or accelerate the timing in which benefits are paid under its insurance policies; (ii) an increase in claims and any resulting increase in claims reserves caused by a disaster may

harm the financial condition of its reinsurers, thereby impacting the cost and availability of reinsurance and the probability of default on reinsurance recoveries; and (iii) declines and volatility in the financial markets could harm its financial condition.

RiverSource Life cannot predict the timing and frequency with which natural and man-made disasters and catastrophes may occur, nor can RiverSource Life predict the impact that changing climate conditions may have on the frequency and severity of natural disasters or on overall economic stability and sustainability. As such, RiverSource Life cannot be sure that its actions to identify and mitigate the risks associated with such disasters and catastrophes, including predictive modeling, establishing liabilities for expected claims, acquiring insurance and reinsurance and developing business continuity plans, will be effective.

Legal, Regulatory and Tax Risks

Legal and regulatory actions are inherent in RiverSource Life’s business and could result in financial losses or harm its business.

RiverSource Life is, and in the future may be, subject to legal and regulatory actions in the ordinary course of its operations. Actions brought against RiverSource Life may result in awards, settlements, penalties, injunctions or other adverse results, including reputational damage. In addition, RiverSource Life may incur significant expenses in connection with its defense against such actions regardless of their outcome. Various regulatory and governmental bodies have the authority to review RiverSource Life’s products and business practices and those of its employees and agents and its affiliates’ employees and agents and to bring regulatory or other legal actions against RiverSource Life if, in their view, RiverSource Life’s practices, or those of its employees and agents and its affiliates’ employees and agents, are improper. Pending legal and regulatory actions include proceedings relating to aspects of RiverSource Life’s business and operations that are specific to it and proceedings that are typical of the industries in which it operates. In or as a result of turbulent times, the volume of claims and amount of damages sought in litigation and regulatory proceedings generally increase.

RiverSource Life’s business is regulated heavily, and changes to the laws and regulations may have an adverse effect on RiverSource Life’s operations, reputation and financial condition.

RiverSource Life is subject to various federal and state laws and regulations, and is required to obtain and maintain licenses for its business in addition to being subject to regulatory oversight. For a discussion of the regulatory framework in which RiverSource Life operates, see Item 1 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K - “Regulation.” Compliance with these applicable laws and regulations is time-consuming and personnel-intensive, and RiverSource Life has invested and will continue to invest substantial resources to ensure compliance by its parent company and its subsidiaries, directors, officers, employees and affiliated employees and agents. Any enforcement actions, investigations or other proceedings brought against RiverSource Life or its subsidiaries, directors, employees and affiliated employees and agents by its regulators may result in fines, injunctions or other disciplinary actions that could harm RiverSource Life’s reputation or impact its results of operations. Further, any changes to the laws and regulations applicable to RiverSource Life’s business, as well as changes to the interpretation and enforcement of such laws and regulations, may affect its financial condition and operations. Such changes may impact the operations and profitability of RiverSource Life, including with respect to the scope of products and services provided and the incurrence of additional costs of doing business. Ongoing changes to regulation and oversight of the insurance industry may produce results, the full impact of which cannot be immediately ascertained. In addition, RiverSource Life continues to see enhanced legislative and regulatory interest regarding retirement investing, and RiverSource Life will continue to closely review and monitor any legislative or regulatory proposals and changes. Any incremental requirements, costs and risks imposed on RiverSource Life in connection with such current or future legislative or regulatory changes, may constrain its ability to market its products to potential customers, and could negatively impact its profitability and make it more difficult for RiverSource Life to pursue its growth strategy.

Some of the changes resulting from rules and regulations called for under the Dodd-Frank Act could present operational challenges and increase costs. For example, in the area of derivatives, higher margin and capital requirements, coupled with more restrictive collateral rules, could impact RiverSource Life’s ability to effectively manage and hedge risk. Ultimately, these complexities and increased costs could have an impact on RiverSource Life’s ability to offer cost-effective and innovative insurance products to its clients.

A significant portion of RiverSource Life’s annuity product sales derive from annuities funding qualified accounts, specifically IRAs. As a provider of products and services to tax-qualified retirement accounts, certain aspects of RiverSource Life’s business fall within the compliance oversight of the Departments of Labor and Treasury, particularly regarding the enforcement of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”), and the tax reporting requirements applicable to such accounts. The DOL published regulations in April 2016 that expanded the scope of who is considered an ERISA fiduciary when providing investment advice to tax qualified accounts. However, on March 15, 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a decision vacating the DOL’s regulations in its entirety. The Fifth Circuit’s decision became effective when it issued its mandate on June 21, 2018. While the DOL’s fiduciary regulation has been vacated, the SEC has proposed its own best interest standard that would apply to recommendations made by financial advisors who work on a commission basis. Furthermore, New York and several other states have either issued their own fiduciary rules, or are considering doing so, and those rules may extend to certain types of products (e.g. insurance and annuities, financial planning, etc.) or may broadly cover all recommendations made by financial advisors. The Certified Financial Planner Board has updated its professional standards of conduct to include a fiduciary standard that applies to financial advisors who hold a Certified Financial Planner designation. In light of the various fiduciary rules and regulations that have been proposed or finalized, RiverSource Life continues to exert significant efforts to evaluate and prepare to comply with each rule. Depending on the span and substance of any final regulations and timing of their applicability, the scope of any

implementation could also require various changes in the financial services industry, any of which could negatively impact RiverSource Life’s results of operations.

RiverSource Life is subject to state regulation and must comply with statutory reserve and capital requirements, including preparing financial statements in accordance with statutory accounting principles. State regulators, as well as the NAIC, continually review and update these requirements and other requirements relating to the business operations of insurance companies, including their underwriting and sales practices. Changes in these requirements that are made for the benefit of the consumer sometimes lead to additional expense for the insurer and, thus, could have a material adverse effect on RiverSource Life’s financial condition and results of operations. In December 2012, the NAIC adopted a new reserve valuation manual that applies principles-based reserve standards to life insurance products. The valuation manual has been adopted by the required number of states and the percentage of U.S. insurance premium threshold has been reached, therefore, the valuation manual was effective for companies domiciled in adopted states on January 1, 2017. Minnesota adopted the valuation manual in 2016 and New York adopted the valuation manual in December 2018 to be effective January 2020. RiverSource Life Insurance Company and RiverSource Life of NY have developed an implementation plan and expect to report principles-based reserves for the majority of new business issued in 2019. The requirement for principles-based life insurance reserves may result in statutory reserves being more sensitive to changes in interest rates, policyholder behavior and other market factors. It is not possible at this time to estimate the potential impact of future changes in statutory reserve and capital requirements. Further, RiverSource Life cannot predict the effect that proposed federal legislation may have on RiverSource Life or its competitors, such as the option of federally chartered insurers, a mandated federal systemic risk regulator, future initiatives of the FIO within the Department of the Treasury, or by any of the domiciliary regulators or the International Association of Insurance Supervisors with respect to insurance holding company supervision, capital standards or systemic risk regulation. For additional discussion on the role and activities of the FIO, see Item 1 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K — “Regulation.”

State-level laws continue to evolve. Most recently, California passed its California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, which is set to be effective on January 1, 2020. However, it has been amended multiple times since is passage, and the rulemaking process has only just started. Only when the final rules are published will RiverSource Life have a concrete idea about how they will get enforced, and RiverSource Life may not have a lot of time to implement changes prior to the effective date. Other states may follow suit and promulgate their own privacy legislation.

RiverSource Life’s profit margins and earnings are dependent in part on its ability to maintain current fee levels for the products and services that it offers. Competition within the financial services industry could lead RiverSource Life to reduce the fees that it charges its clients for products and services. See the risk factor entitled “Intense competition and the economics of changes in RiverSource Life’s product revenue mix and distribution channels could negatively impact RiverSource Life’s ability to maintain or increase its market share and profitability.” In addition, RiverSource Life may be required to reduce its fee levels, or restructure the fees it charges, as a result of regulatory initiatives or proceedings that are either industry-wide or specifically targeted at RiverSource Life. Reductions or other changes in the fees that RiverSource Life charges for its products and services could reduce its revenues and earnings.

In addition, upon conversion of RiverSource Life’s affiliate Ameriprise National Trust Bank into a federal savings bank (“Ameriprise Bank”), Ameriprise Financial will be subject to ongoing supervision by the FRB, including supervision and prudential standards, such as capital, liquidity and operational risk monitoring by management. In order to maintain Ameriprise Financial’s permission under applicable bank holding company laws and regulations to engage in insurance and business activities other than banking or activities closely related to banking, each of Ameriprise Financial and Ameriprise Bank will need to remain “well-capitalized” and “well-managed” under applicable federal banking regulations, and Ameriprise Bank must receive at least a “satisfactory” rating in its most recent examination under the CRA. Failure to meet one or more of these requirements would mean, depending on the requirements not met and any accord then reached with the FRB, that until cured Ameriprise Financial (and therefore RiverSource Life) could not undertake new activities, continue certain activities, or make certain acquisitions.

Changes in the supervision and regulation of the financial industry could materially impact RiverSource Life’s business.

The Dodd-Frank Act, enacted into law in 2010, called for sweeping changes in the supervision and regulation of the financial services industry designed to provide for greater oversight of financial industry participants, reduce risk in banking practices and in securities and derivatives trading, enhance public company corporate governance practices and executive compensation disclosures, and provide greater protections to individual consumers and investors. Accordingly, while certain elements of these reforms could be changed under the Trump administration (such as through the May 2018 legislation that loosened aspects of the Dodd-Frank Act), the full impact of the Dodd-Frank Act or other new regulation on RiverSource Life, the financial industry and the economy cannot be known until such rules and regulations have been finalized, and, in some cases, implemented over time.

Insurance companies and the business of insurance are exempted from several major provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act. However, because the Dodd-Frank Act significantly changes the regulation of the financial services industry and financial markets generally, and because the Dodd-Frank Act will apply directly to certain key affiliates of RiverSource Life, implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act could nevertheless materially impact RiverSource Life’s business. For example, to the extent that RiverSource Life invests in debt securities issued by a financial company that becomes subject to the orderly liquidation authority under the Dodd-Frank Act, RiverSource Life’s rights as a creditor could be adversely affected. RiverSource Life could also be subject to assessments to repay federal funding advanced to liquidated financial companies. Further, RiverSource Life may be impacted by the creation of the FIO within the Department of the Treasury, which is required to monitor the insurance industry and gather relevant information, including issues or gaps in the current state-based solvency regulation system.

In recent years, other national and international authorities have also proposed measures intended to increase the intensity of regulation of financial institutions, requiring greater coordination among regulators and efforts to harmonize regulatory regimes. These measures have included enhanced RBC requirements, leverage limits, liquidity and transparency requirements, single counterparty exposure limits, governance requirements for risk management, stress-test requirements, debt-to-equity limits for certain companies, early remediation procedures, resolution and recovery planning and guidance for maintaining appropriate risk culture.

Changes in corporate tax laws and regulations (including recent U.S. federal tax reform) and changes in the interpretation of such laws and regulations, as well as adverse determinations regarding the application of such laws and regulations, could adversely affect RiverSource Life’s earnings and could make certain products less attractive to clients.

RiverSource Life is subject to the income tax laws of the U.S., its states and municipalities. These tax laws are complex and may be subject to different interpretations. RiverSource Life must make judgments and interpretations about the application of these inherently complex tax laws when determining the provision for income taxes and must also make estimates about when in the future certain items affect taxable income in the various tax jurisdictions. Disputes over interpretations of the tax laws may be settled with the taxing authority upon examination or audit. In addition, changes to the Internal Revenue Code, administrative rulings or court decisions could increase RiverSource Life’s provision for income taxes and reduce its earnings.

On December 22, 2017, the legislation commonly referred to as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“Tax Act”) was enacted. The Tax Act is complex and materially changes U.S. corporate income tax rates, imposes significant additional limitations on the deductibility of interest and net operating losses, and allows for the expensing of certain capital expenditures.

RiverSource Life continues to examine the impact the Tax Act may have on its business. Despite the beneficial impact in the corporate income tax rate, the full impact is uncertain and RiverSource Life’s business and financial condition could be adversely affected. For example, it is unclear what impact the Tax Act will have on RiverSource Life’s clients and competitors and therefore it is unclear how RiverSource Life may be advantaged or disadvantaged (such as client demand for lower pricing or competitors that are better situated to respond or adjust to the evolving marketplace and investor sentiment). Furthermore, many of the products RiverSource Life issues or on which RiverSource Life’s businesses are based receive favorable treatment under current U.S. federal income or estate tax law. Changes in U.S. federal income or estate tax law could reduce or eliminate the tax advantages of certain RiverSource Life products and thus make such products less attractive to clients and the Tax Act will cause a change in client demand and activity.

RiverSource Life may not be able to protect its intellectual property and may be subject to infringement claims.

RiverSource Life relies on a combination of contractual rights and copyright, trademark, patent and trade secret laws to establish and protect its intellectual property. Although RiverSource Life uses a broad range of measures to protect its intellectual property rights, third parties may infringe or misappropriate its intellectual property. RiverSource Life may have to litigate to enforce and protect its copyrights, trademarks, patents, trade secrets and know-how or to determine their scope, validity or enforceability, which represents a diversion of resources that may be significant in amount and may not prove successful. The loss of intellectual property protection or the inability to secure or enforce the protection of RiverSource Life’s intellectual property assets could have a material adverse effect on its business and its ability to compete.

RiverSource Life also may be subject to costly litigation in the event that another party alleges its operations or activities infringe upon or constitute misappropriation of such other party’s intellectual property rights. Third parties may have, or may eventually be issued, patents or other protections that could be infringed by RiverSource Life’s products, methods, processes or services or could otherwise limit its ability to offer certain product features. Any party that holds such a patent could make a claim of infringement against RiverSource Life. RiverSource Life may also be subject to claims by third parties for breach of copyright, trademark, license usage rights, or misappropriation of trade secret rights. Any such claims and any resulting litigation could result in significant liability for damages. If RiverSource Life were found to have infringed or misappropriated a third-party patent or other intellectual property rights, it could incur substantial liability, and in some circumstances, could be enjoined from providing certain products or services to its customers or utilizing and benefiting from certain methods, processes, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets or licenses, or alternatively could be required to enter into costly licensing arrangements with third parties, all of which could have a material adverse effect on RiverSource Life’s business, financial condition and results of operations.

Changes in and the adoption of accounting standards or inaccurate estimates or assumptions in applying accounting policies could have a material impact on RiverSource Life’s financial statements and change in the regulation of independent registered public accounting firms are present with increasing frequency in connection with broader market reforms.

RiverSource Life’s accounting policies and methods are fundamental to how it records and reports its financial condition and results of operations. Some of these policies require use of estimates and assumptions that may affect the reported value of RiverSource Life’s assets or liabilities and results of operations and are critical because they require management to make difficult, subjective, and complex judgments about matters that are inherently uncertain. If those assumptions, estimates or judgments were incorrectly made, RiverSource Life could be required to correct and restate prior period financial statements.

RiverSource Life prepares financial statements in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. The Financial Accounting Standards Board, the SEC, and other regulators often change the financial accounting and reporting standards governing the preparation of RiverSource Life’s financial statements. In addition, the conduct of RiverSource Life’s independent registered public accounting firm is overseen by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (“PCAOB”). These and other regulators may make additional inquiries regarding, or change their application of, existing laws and regulations regarding RiverSource Life’s

independent auditor, financial statements or other financial reports and the possibility of such additional inquiries or changes is increasing in frequency in connection with broader market reforms. These changes are difficult to predict, and could impose additional governance, internal control and disclosure demands. In some cases, RiverSource Life could be required to apply a new or revised standard retroactively, resulting in RiverSource Life restating prior period financial statements. It is possible that the changes could have a material adverse effect on RiverSource Life’s financial condition and results of operations. For example, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (“PwC”) informed RiverSource Life that it has identified a potential issue related to its independence under Rule 2-01(c)(1)(ii)(A) of Regulation S-X (referred to as the “Loan Rule”). The Loan Rule prohibits accounting firms, such as PwC, from being deemed independent if they have certain financial relationships with their audit clients or certain affiliates of those clients. Pursuant to the SEC’s application of the Loan Rule, PwC has advised RiverSource Life that certain relationships between PwC and its lenders who also are record owners of various funds in the Columbia Threadneedle family of funds (collectively, the “Columbia Threadneedle Funds”) or certain other entities within the Ameriprise Financial investment company complex, may implicate the Loan Rule. On June 20, 2016, the Staff of the SEC issued a “no-action” letter confirming that it would not recommend that the SEC commence enforcement action against an unrelated fund that relied on audit services performed by an audit firm that was not in compliance with the Loan Rule in certain specified circumstances. The SEC Staff stated that the relief under the letter was temporary and would expire 18 months after the issuance of the letter and on September 22, 2017, the SEC subsequently issued a letter extending the no-action relief until the SEC amends the Loan Rule to address concerns expressed in the no-action letter. On May 2, 2018, the SEC proposed amendments to the Loan Rule, which, if adopted as proposed, would refocus the analysis that must be conducted to determine whether an audit firm is independent when the audit firm has a lending relationship with certain shareholders of an audit firm client at any time during an audit or professional engagement period. However, these amendments have not yet been finalized. If it was determined that PwC was not independent, or RiverSource Life does not receive some form of exemptive relief, among other things, the financial statements audited by PwC and the interim financial statements reviewed by PwC may have to be audited and reviewed, respectively, by another independent registered public accounting firm. PwC has advised RiverSource Life that, based on its knowledge and analyses of RiverSource Life’s facts and circumstances, it is not aware of any facts that would preclude reliance by RiverSource Life, its affiliates and other entities within the Ameriprise Financial investment company complex on the no-action letter. PwC has also affirmed to RiverSource Life that they are able to exercise objective and impartial judgment in their audits of RiverSource Life, its affiliates and the Columbia Threadneedle Funds, are independent accountants within the meaning of PCAOB Rule 3520 Auditor Independence and in their view can continue to serve as RiverSource Life’s independent registered public accounting firm. RiverSource Life has considered disclosures made to it by PwC of lending relationships described by PwC, PwC’s representation that it is independent within the meaning of the PCAOB Rule 3520, and representations made to Ameriprise Financial’s Audit Committee (which is also RiverSource Life’s Audit Committee) by PwC that PwC believes that a reasonable investor possessing all the facts regarding the lending relationships and audit relationships would conclude that PwC is able to exhibit the requisite objectivity and impartiality to report on River Source Life’s financial statements as the independent registered public accounting firm. Based on the foregoing, RiverSource Life does not believe that PwC is incapable of exercising objective and impartial judgment with respect to audit services provided to RiverSource Life.

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments

None.

Item 2. Properties

RiverSource Life Insurance Company owns and leases office space in Minneapolis, Minnesota. RiverSource Life of NY rents office space in Albany, New York. RiverSource Life believes that the facilities it occupies are suitable and adequate.

Item 3. Legal Proceedings

For a discussion of any material legal proceedings, see Note 21 to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, which are incorporated herein by reference.

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures

Not applicable.

PART II

Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

All of RiverSource Life Insurance Company’s outstanding common stock is owned by Ameriprise Financial, Inc. There is no established public trading market for RiverSource Life Insurance Company’s common stock.

For discussion regarding RiverSource Life Insurance Company’s payment of dividends or distributions and restrictions on those payments, see Item 7 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K - “Management’s Narrative Analysis - Capital Activity” and Note 16 to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Item 6. Selected Financial Data

Item omitted pursuant to General Instructions I(2)(a) of Form 10-K.

Item 7. Management’s Narrative Analysis

Overview

RiverSource Life Insurance Company and its subsidiaries are referred to collectively in this Form 10-K as the “Company.” The following discussion and management’s narrative analysis of the financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the “Forward-Looking Statements,” “Item 1A - Risk Factors” and the Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes.

The Consolidated Financial Statements are prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). Management’s narrative analysis is presented pursuant to General Instructions I(2) (a) of Form 10-K in lieu of Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

See “Item 1 - Business” and Note 1 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for a description of the business.

Critical Accounting Estimates

The accounting and reporting policies that the Company uses affect its Consolidated Financial Statements. Certain of the Company’s accounting and reporting policies are critical to an understanding of the Company’s financial condition and results of operations. In some cases, the application of these policies can be significantly affected by the estimates, judgments and assumptions made by management during the preparation of the Consolidated Financial Statements. The accounting and reporting policies and estimates the Company has identified as fundamental to a full understanding of its financial condition and results of operations are described below. See Note 2 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for further information about the Company’s accounting policies.

Valuation of Investments

The most significant component of the Company’s investments is its Available-for-Sale securities, which the Company carries at fair value within its Consolidated Balance Sheets. See Note 14 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for discussion of the fair value of Available-for-Sale securities.

Financial markets are subject to significant movements in valuation and liquidity, which can impact the Company’s ability to liquidate and the selling price that can be realized for its securities and increases the use of judgment in determining the estimated fair value of certain investments. The Company evaluates its Available-for-Sale securities and certain other investments for impairment on a quarterly basis. The methodology and factors considered to determine impairments is discussed further in Note 2 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

Deferred Acquisition Costs

See Note 2 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for discussion of the Company’s deferred acquisition costs (“DAC”) accounting policy.

Non-Traditional Long-Duration Products

For the Company’s non-traditional long-duration products (including variable and fixed deferred annuity contracts, universal life (“UL”) and variable universal life (“VUL”) insurance products), the DAC balance at any reporting date is based on projections that show management expects there to be estimated gross profits (“EGPs”) after that date to amortize the remaining balance. These projections are inherently uncertain because they require management to make assumptions about financial markets, mortality levels and contractholder and policyholder behavior over periods extending well into the future. Projection periods used for the Company’s annuity products are typically 30 to 50 years and for UL insurance products 50 years or longer.

EGPs vary based on persistency rates (assumptions at which contractholders and policyholders are expected to surrender, make withdrawals from and make deposits to their contracts), mortality levels, client asset value growth rates (based on equity and bond market performance), variable annuity benefit utilization and interest margins (the spread between earned rates on invested assets and rates credited to contractholder and policyholder accounts). Changes in these assumptions can be offsetting and the Company is unable to predict their movement or offsetting impact over time. When assumptions are changed, the percentage of EGPs used to amortize DAC might also change. A change in the required amortization percentage is applied retrospectively; an increase in amortization percentage will result in a decrease in the DAC balance and an increase in DAC amortization expense, while a decrease in amortization percentage will result in an increase in the DAC balance and a decrease in DAC amortization expense. The effect on the DAC balance that would result from the realization of unrealized gains (losses) on securities is recognized with an offset to accumulated other comprehensive income on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

The client asset value growth rates are the rates at which variable annuity and VUL insurance contract values invested in separate accounts are assumed to appreciate in the future. The rates used vary by equity and fixed income investments. The long-term client asset value growth rates are based on assumed gross annual returns of 9% for equity funds and 6.9% for fixed income funds. The Company typically uses a five-year mean reversion process as a guideline in setting near-term equity fund growth rates based on a long-term view of financial market performance as well as recent actual performance. The suggested near-term equity fund growth rate is reviewed quarterly to ensure consistency with management’s assessment of anticipated equity market performance.

A decrease of 100 basis points in separate account fund growth rate assumptions is likely to result in an increase in DAC amortization and an increase in benefits and claims expense for variable annuity and VUL insurance contracts. The following table presents the estimated impact to current period pretax income:



	Estimated Impact to Pretax Income⁽¹⁾
	DAC Amortization			Benefits and Claims Expense			Total
	(in millions)
Decrease in future near- and long-term fixed income fund growth returns by 100 basis points	$	(26	)	$	(70	)	$	(96	)

Decrease in future near-term equity fund growth returns by 100 basis points	$	(24	)	$	(43	)	$	(67	)
Decrease in future long-term equity fund growth returns by 100 basis points	(18		)	(33		)	(51		)
Decrease in future near- and long-term equity fund growth returns by 100 basis points	$	(42	)	$	(76	)	$	(118	)

⁽¹⁾ An increase in the above assumptions by 100 basis points would result in an increase to pretax income for approximately the same amount.

An assessment of sensitivity associated with changes in any single assumption would not necessarily be an indicator of future results.

Traditional Long-Duration Products

For traditional long-duration products (including traditional life and disability income (“DI”) insurance products), the DAC balance at any reporting date is based on projections that show management expects there to be adequate premiums after the date to amortize the remaining balance. These projections are inherently uncertain because they require management to make assumptions over periods extending well into the future. These assumptions include interest rates, persistency rates and mortality and morbidity rates and are not modified (unlocked) unless recoverability testing is inadequate. Projection periods used for the Company’s traditional life insurance are up to 30 years. Projection periods for DI products are up to 45 years. The Company may experience accelerated amortization of DAC if policies terminate earlier than projected or a slower rate of amortization of DAC if policies persist longer than projected.

For traditional life and DI insurance products, the assumptions provide for adverse deviations in experience and are revised only if management concludes experience will be so adverse that DAC are not recoverable. If management concludes that DAC are not recoverable, DAC are reduced to the amount that is recoverable based on best estimate assumptions.

Future Policy Benefits and Claims

The Company establishes reserves to cover the risks associated with non-traditional and traditional long-duration products. Reserves for non-traditional long-duration products include the liabilities related to guaranteed benefit provisions added to variable annuity contracts, a portion of UL and VUL policies and the embedded derivatives related to variable annuity contracts, indexed annuities and indexed universal life (“IUL”) insurance. Reserves for traditional long-duration products are established to provide adequately for future benefits and expenses for term life, whole life, DI and long term care (“LTC”) insurance products.

The establishment of reserves is an estimation process using a variety of methods, assumptions and data elements. If actual experience is better than or equal to the results of the estimation process, then reserves should be adequate to provide for future benefits and expenses. If actual experience is worse than the results of the estimation process, additional reserves may be required.

Non-Traditional Long-Duration Products, including Embedded Derivatives

UL and VUL

A portion of the Company’s UL and VUL policies have product features that result in profits followed by losses from the insurance component of the contract. These profits followed by losses can be generated by the cost structure of the product or secondary guarantees in the contract. The secondary guarantee ensures that, subject to specified conditions, the policy will not terminate and will continue to provide a death benefit even if there is insufficient policy value to cover the monthly deductions and charges. The liability for these future losses is determined using actuarial models to estimate the death benefits in excess of account value and the expected assessments (e.g. cost of insurance charges, contractual administrative charges, similar fees and investment margin). Significant assumptions made in projecting future benefits and assessments relate to customer asset value growth rates, mortality, persistency and investment margins and are consistent with those used for DAC valuation for the same contracts. See Note 11 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for information regarding the liability for contracts with secondary guarantees.

Variable Annuities

The Company has approximately $72 billion of variable annuity account value that has been issued over a period of more than 50 years. The diversified variable annuity block consists of $27 billion of account value with no living benefit guarantees and $45 billion of account value with living benefit guarantees, primarily guaranteed minimum withdrawal benefit (“GMWB”) provisions. The business is predominately issued through the Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. (“AFSI”) financial advisor network. The majority of the variable annuity contracts offered by the Company contain guaranteed minimum death benefit (“GMDB”) provisions. The Company also offers variable annuities with death benefit provisions that gross up the amount payable by a certain percentage of contract earnings which are referred to as gain gross-up (“GGU”) benefits. In addition, the Company offers contracts with GMWB and

guaranteed minimum accumulation benefit (“GMAB”) provisions and, until May 2007, the Company offered contracts containing guaranteed minimum income benefit (“GMIB”) provisions. See Note 11 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for further discussion of variable annuity contracts.

In determining the liabilities for GMDB, GGU, GMIB and the life contingent benefits associated with GMWB, the Company projects these benefits and contract assessments using actuarial models to simulate various equity market scenarios. Significant assumptions made in projecting future benefits and assessments relate to customer asset value growth rates, mortality, persistency, benefit utilization and investment margins and are consistent with those used for DAC valuation for the same contracts. As with DAC, management reviews, and where appropriate, adjusts its assumptions each quarter. Unless management identifies a material deviation over the course of quarterly monitoring, management reviews and updates these assumptions annually in the third quarter of each year.

Regarding the exposure to variable annuity living benefit guarantees, the source of behavioral risk is driven by changes in policyholder surrenders and utilization of guaranteed withdrawal benefits. The Company has extensive experience studies and analysis to monitor changes and trends in policyholder behavior. A significant volume of company-specific policyholder experience data is available and provides management with the ability to regularly analyze policyholder behavior. On a monthly basis, actual surrender and benefit utilization experience is compared to expectations. Experience data includes detailed policy information providing the opportunity to review impacts of multiple variables. The ability to analyze differences in experience, such as presence of a living benefit rider, existence of surrender charges, and tax qualifications provides the Company an effective approach in quickly detecting changes in policyholder behavior.

At least annually, the Company performs a thorough policyholder behavior analysis to validate the assumptions included in its benefit reserve, embedded derivative and DAC balances. The variable annuity assumptions and resulting reserve computations reflect multiple policyholder variables. Differentiation in assumptions by policyholder age, existence of surrender charges, guaranteed withdrawal utilization, and tax qualification are examples of factors recognized in establishing management’s assumptions used in reserve calculations. The extensive data derived from the Company’s variable annuity block informs management in confirming previous assumptions and revising the variable annuity behavior assumptions. Changes in assumptions are governed by a review and approval process to ensure an appropriate measurement of all impacted financial statement balances.

See the table in the previous discussion of “Deferred Acquisition Costs” for the estimated impact to benefits and claims expense related to variable annuity and VUL insurance contracts resulting from a decrease of 100 basis points in separate account fund growth rate assumptions.

Embedded Derivatives

The fair value of embedded derivatives related to GMAB and the non-life contingent benefits associated with GMWB provisions, indexed annuities and IUL fluctuate based on equity, interest rate and credit markets which can cause these embedded derivatives to be either an asset or a liability. In addition, embedded derivatives are impacted by an estimate of the Company’s nonperformance risk adjustment. This estimate results in a spread over the LIBOR swap curve as of the balance sheet date. As the Company’s estimate of this spread over LIBOR widens or tightens, the liability will decrease or increase.

Additionally, the Company’s Corporate Actuarial Department calculates the fair value of the embedded derivatives on a monthly basis. During this process, control checks are performed to validate the completeness of the data. Actuarial management approves various components of the valuation along with the final results. The change in the fair value of the embedded derivatives is reviewed monthly with senior management.

See Note 14 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for information regarding the fair value measurement of embedded derivatives.

Traditional Long-Duration Products

Liabilities for unpaid amounts on reported DI and LTC claims include any periodic or other benefit amounts due and accrued, along with estimates of the present value of obligations for continuing benefit payments. These unpaid amounts are calculated using anticipated claim continuance rates based on established industry tables, adjusted as appropriate for the Company’s experience. The discount rates used to calculate present values are based on average interest rates earned on assets supporting the liability for unpaid amounts.

Liabilities for estimates of benefits that will become payable on future claims on term life, whole life and DI policies are based on the net level premium and LTC policies are based on a gross premium valuation reflecting management’s current best estimate assumptions. Both include anticipated premium payments, mortality and morbidity rates, policy persistency and interest rates earned on assets supporting the liability. Anticipated mortality and morbidity rates are based on established industry mortality and morbidity tables, with modifications based on the Company’s experience. Anticipated premium payments and persistency rates vary by policy form, issue age, policy duration and certain other pricing factors.

Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities

The Company uses derivative instruments to manage its exposure to various market risks. All derivatives are recorded at fair value. The fair value of the Company’s derivative instruments is determined using either market quotes or valuation models that are based upon the net present value of estimated future cash flows and incorporate current market observable inputs to the extent available.

For further details on the types of derivatives the Company uses and how it accounts for them, see Note 2, Note 14 and Note 18 to the Consolidated Financial Statements. For discussion of the Company’s market risk exposures and hedging program and related sensitivity testing, see Item 7A - “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.”

Income Tax Accounting

Inherent in the provision for income taxes are estimates and judgments regarding the tax treatment of certain items. Estimates and judgments are re-evaluated on a continual basis as regulatory and business factors change. In the event that the ultimate tax treatment of items differs from the Company’s estimates, it may be required to significantly change the provision for income taxes recorded in its Consolidated Financial Statements.

The Company is required to establish a valuation allowance for any portion of its deferred tax assets that management believes will not be realized. Significant judgment is required in determining if a valuation allowance should be established, and the amount of such allowance if required. Factors used in making this determination include estimates relating to the performance of the business. Consideration is given to, among other things in making this determination: (i) future taxable income exclusive of reversing temporary differences and carryforwards; (ii) future reversals of existing taxable temporary differences; (iii) taxable income in prior carryback years, and (iv) tax planning strategies. Management may need to identify and implement appropriate planning strategies to ensure the Company’s ability to realize its deferred tax assets and reduce the likelihood of the establishment of a valuation allowance with respect to such assets.

See Note 20 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on income taxes and the Company’s valuation allowance.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

For information regarding recent accounting pronouncements and their expected impact on the Company’s future consolidated financial condition or results of operations, see Note 3 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

Sources of Revenues and Expenses

Premiums

Premiums include premiums on traditional life, DI and LTC insurance products and immediate annuities with a life contingent feature and are net of reinsurance premiums.

Net Investment Income

Net investment income primarily includes interest income on fixed maturity securities classified as Available-for-Sale, commercial mortgage loans, policy loans, other investments and cash and cash equivalents; the changes in fair value of certain derivatives; and the pro-rata share of net income or loss on equity method investments.

Policy and Contract Charges

Policy and contract charges include mortality and expense risk fees and certain other charges assessed on annuities and UL and VUL insurance, which consist of cost of insurance charges (net of reinsurance premiums and cost of reinsurance for UL insurance products), administrative and surrender charges and distribution fees from affiliated funds underlying the Company’s variable annuity and VUL products.

Net Realized Investment Gains (Losses)

Net realized investment gains (losses) primarily include realized gains and losses on the sale of investments and charges for the other-than-temporary impairments of investments related to credit losses.

Other Revenues

Other revenues primarily include fees received under marketing support arrangements which are calculated as a percentage of the Company’s separate account assets.

For discussion of the Company’s accounting policies on revenue recognition, see Note 2 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

Benefits, Claims, Losses and Settlement Expenses

Benefits, claims, losses and settlement expenses consist of amounts paid and changes in liabilities held for anticipated future benefit payments under insurance policies and annuity contracts, along with costs to process and pay such amounts. Amounts are net of benefit payments recovered or expected to be recovered under reinsurance contracts. Benefits under variable annuity guarantees include the changes in fair value of GMWB and GMAB embedded derivatives and the derivatives hedging these benefits, as well as the changes in fair value of derivatives hedging GMDB provisions. Benefits, claims, losses and settlement expenses also include amortization of deferred sales inducement costs (“DSIC”).

Interest Credited to Fixed Accounts

Interest credited to fixed accounts represents amounts earned by contractholders and policyholders on fixed account values associated with UL and VUL insurance and annuity contracts. The changes in fair value of indexed annuities and IUL embedded derivatives and the derivatives hedging these products are included within interest credited to fixed accounts.

Amortization of DAC

Direct sales commissions and other costs capitalized as DAC are amortized over time. For annuity and UL/VUL contracts, DAC are amortized based on projections of EGPs over amortization periods equal to the approximate life of the business. For other insurance products, DAC are generally amortized as a percentage of premiums over amortization periods equal to the premium-paying period.

Other Insurance and Operating Expenses

Other insurance and operating expenses include expenses allocated to the Company from its parent, Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (“Ameriprise Financial”), for the Company’s share of compensation, professional and consultant fees and expenses associated with information technology and communications, facilities and equipment, advertising and promotion and legal and regulatory costs. Also included are commissions, sales and marketing expenses and other operating expenses. These expenses are presented net of acquisition cost deferrals.

Consolidated Results of Operations

Year Ended December 31, 2018 Compared to Year Ended December 31, 2017

The following table presents the Company’s consolidated results of operations:



	Years Ended December 31,				Change
	2018		2017		Change
	(in millions)
Revenues
Premiums	$	396	$	410	$	(14	)	(3	)%
Net investment income	1,023		1,011		12			1
Policy and contract charges	2,081		1,943		138			7
Other revenues	411		400		11			3
Net realized investment gains	10		40		(30		)	(75	)
Total revenues	3,921		3,804		117			3

Benefits and expenses
Benefits, claims, losses and settlement expenses	1,373		1,239		134			11
Interest credited to fixed accounts	674		656		18			3
Amortization of deferred acquisition costs	255		207		48			23
Other insurance and operating expenses	679		701		(22		)	(3	)
Total benefits and expenses	2,981		2,803		178			6
Pretax income	940		1,001		(61		)	(6	)
Income tax provision	35		260		(225		)	(87	)
Net income	$	905	$	741	$	164		22	%

Overall

Net income increased $164 million or 22% to $905 million for the year ended December 31, 2018 compared to $741 million for the prior year. Pretax income decreased $61 million or 6% to $940 million for the year ended December 31, 2018 compared to $1.0 billion for the prior year primarily due to the impact of unlocking.

The Company’s variable annuity account balances declined 10% to $72.0 billion as of December 31, 2018 compared to the prior year due to equity market depreciation and net outflows of $3.3 billion.

The Company’s fixed deferred annuity account balances declined 7% to $8.7 billion as of December 31, 2018 compared to the prior year as older policies continue to lapse and new sales are limited due to low interest rates. Given the current interest rate environment, the Company’s current fixed deferred annuity book is expected to gradually run off and earnings on its fixed deferred annuity business will trend down.

In the third quarter of the year, management updated its market-related inputs and implemented model changes related to the living benefit valuation. In addition, management conducted its annual review of insurance and annuity valuation assumptions relative to current experience and management expectations including modeling changes. These aforementioned changes are collectively referred to as unlocking. Management also reviewed its active life future policy benefit reserve adequacy for its LTC business in the third quarter.

The following table presents the total pretax impacts on the Company’s revenues and expenses attributable to unlocking and LTC loss recognition for the years ended December 31:



Pretax Increase (Decrease)	2018			2017
	(in millions)
Policy and contract charges	$	78		$	(47	)
Total revenues	78			(47		)

Benefits, claims, losses and settlement expenses:
LTC loss recognition	51			57
Unlocking impact	113			(139		)
Total benefits, claims, losses and settlement expenses	164			(82		)
Amortization of DAC	(33		)	(12		)
Total benefits and expenses	131			(94		)
Total	$	(53	)	$	47

The following table presents the impact from the enactment of the legislation commonly referred to as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“Tax Act”) for the year ended December 31, 2017:



Increase (Decrease)	(in millions)
Net investment income ⁽¹⁾	$	(51	)
Pretax income	(51		)

Income tax provision
Remeasurement of deferred tax assets and liabilities	136
Remeasurement of tax contingencies	4
Total prior to tax effect of affordable housing partnership impairment	140
Tax effect of affordable housing partnership impairment	(17		)
Total income tax provision	123

Net income	$	(174	)

⁽¹⁾Includes the impairment of the Company’s investment in affordable housing partnerships due to the Tax Act’s change in statutory tax rate to 21%.

Revenues

Total revenues increased $117 million or 3% to $3.9 billion for the year ended December 31, 2018 compared to $3.8 billion for the prior year.

Policy and contract charges increased $138 million or 7% to $2.1 billion for the year ended December 31, 2018 compared to $1.9 billion for the prior year primarily due to the impact from unlocking and an increase in variable annuity guaranteed benefit rider charges driven by higher average fee rates on variable annuity guarantee sales and sales in the prior year where the fees start on the first anniversary date, partially offset by a $7 million expense related to a modification of costs within a reinsurance contract. Policy and contract charges for the year ended December 31, 2018 included a $78 million favorable impact from unlocking compared to $47 million unfavorable impact in the prior year. The primary driver of the unlocking impact to policy and contract charges for the year ended December 31, 2018 was higher projected gains on reinsurance contracts resulting from unfavorable mortality experience on UL and VUL insurance products. The primary driver of the unlocking impact to policy and contract charges for the prior year was lower projected gains on reinsurance contracts resulting from favorable mortality experience on UL and VUL insurance products.

Net realized investment gains were $10 million for the year ended December 31, 2018 compared to $40 million for the prior year. For the year ended December 31, 2018, net realized gains were $9 million on Available-for-Sale securities due to sales, calls and tenders. For the year ended December 31, 2017, net realized gains of $44 million on Available-for-Sale securities due to sales, calls and tenders were partially offset by a net realized loss of $4 million from the sale of the remaining residential mortgage loans.

Benefits and Expenses

Total benefits and expenses increased $178 million or 6% to $3.0 billion for the year ended December 31, 2018 compared to $2.8 billion for the prior year primarily due to the impact of unlocking.

Benefits, claims, losses and settlement expenses increased $134 million, or 11% to $1.4 billion for the year ended December 31, 2018 compared to $1.2 billion for the prior year primarily reflecting the following items:

•

The impact of unlocking was an expense of $113 million for the year ended December 31, 2018 compared to a benefit of $139 million for the prior year. The unlocking impact for the year ended December 31, 2018 primarily reflected unfavorable mortality experience on UL and VUL insurance products and lower surrender rate assumptions on variable annuities, partially offset by a favorable impact from updates to assumptions on utilization of guaranteed withdrawal benefits. The unlocking impact for the prior year primarily reflected a benefit from updates to market-related inputs to the living benefit valuation.


•	The impact on DSIC and reserves for insurance features in non-traditional long-duration contracts from actual versus expected market performance was an expense of $12 million for the year ended December 31, 2018 compared to a benefit of $47 million for the prior year.


•	A $25 million increase in expense related to higher reserve funding driven by the impact of higher variable annuity guaranteed benefit rider charges.


•	The annual review of LTC active life future policy benefit reserve adequacy in the third quarter resulted in loss recognition of $51 million for the year ended December 31, 2018 compared to $57 million in the prior year. The loss recognition in both periods was primarily due to unfavorable morbidity experience, partially offset by approved, pending and future expected premium increases.

•

A $356 million decrease in expense from the unhedged nonperformance credit spread risk adjustment on variable annuity guaranteed benefits. The favorable impact of the nonperformance credit spread was $250 million for the year ended December 31, 2018 compared to an unfavorable impact of $106 million for the prior year. As the estimate of the nonperformance credit spread over the LIBOR swap curve tightens or widens, the embedded derivative liability will increase or decrease. As the embedded derivative liability on which the nonperformance credit spread is applied increases (decreases), the impact of the nonperformance credit spread is favorable (unfavorable) to expense.

•

A $177 million increase in expense from other market impacts on variable annuity guaranteed benefits, net of hedges in place to offset those risks and the related DSIC amortization. This increase was the result of an unfavorable $1.2 billion change in the market impact on variable annuity guaranteed living benefits reserves, a favorable $1.0 billion change in the market impact on derivatives hedging the variable annuity guaranteed benefits and an unfavorable $4 million change in the DSIC offset. The main market drivers contributing to these changes are summarized below:


▪	Equity market impact on the variable annuity guaranteed living benefits liability net of the impact on the corresponding hedge assets resulted in an expense for the year ended December 31, 2018 compared to a benefit for the prior year.


▪	Interest rate impact on the variable annuity guaranteed living benefits liability net of the impact on the corresponding hedge assets resulted in a lower expense for the year ended December 31, 2018 compared to the prior year.


▪	Volatility impact on the variable annuity guaranteed living benefits liability net of the impact on the corresponding hedge assets resulted in a lower expense for the year ended December 31, 2018 compared to the prior year.


▪	Other unhedged items, including the difference between the assumed and actual underlying separate account investment performance, fixed income credit exposures, transaction costs and various behavioral items, were a net unfavorable impact compared to the prior year.

Amortization of DAC increased $48 million or 23% to $255 million for the year ended December 31, 2018 compared to $207 million for the prior year primarily reflecting the following items:


•	The impact on DAC from actual versus expected market performance was an expense of $21 million for the year ended December 31, 2018 compared to a benefit of $36 million for the prior year.


•	The DAC offset to the market impact on variable annuity guaranteed benefits was an expense of $21 million for the year ended December 31, 2018 compared to a benefit of $19 million for the prior year.

•

The impact of unlocking was a benefit of $33 million for the year ended December 31, 2018 compared to a benefit of $12 million for the prior year. The impact of unlocking for the year ended December 31, 2018 primarily reflected updated mortality assumptions on UL and VUL insurance products and lower surrender rate assumptions on variable annuities, partially offset by an unfavorable impact from updates to assumptions on utilization of guaranteed withdrawal benefits. The impact of unlocking for the prior year primarily reflected improved persistency and mortality on UL and VUL insurance products and a $10 million benefit from a correction related to a variable annuity model assumption, partially offset by updates to market-related inputs to the living benefit valuation.


•	The DAC offset to the market impact on IUL benefits was a benefit of $4 million for the year ended December 31, 2018 compared to nil for the prior year.


•	The positive impact on DAC from lower than expected lapses on variable annuities was $10 million.

Income Taxes

The Company’s effective tax rate was 3.7% for the year ended December 31, 2018 compared to 26.0% for the prior year. The decrease in the effective tax rate for the year ended December 31, 2018 compared to the prior year is primarily the result of the decrease in the federal statutory tax rate and a $140 million expense in 2017 due to provisions in the Tax Act and an increase in low income housing credits, partially offset by lower levels of the dividends received deduction.

Fair Value Measurements

The Company reports certain assets and liabilities at fair value; specifically, separate account assets, derivatives, embedded derivatives, most investments and cash equivalents. Fair value assumes the exchange of assets or liabilities occurs in orderly transactions and is not the result of a forced liquidation or distressed sale. The Company includes actual market prices, or observable inputs, in its fair value measurements to the extent available. Broker quotes are obtained when quotes from pricing services are not available. The Company validates prices obtained from third parties through a variety of means such as: price variance analysis, subsequent sales testing, stale price review, price comparison across pricing vendors and due diligence reviews of vendors. See Note 14 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on the Company’s fair value measurements.

Fair Value of Liabilities and Nonperformance Risk

Companies are required to measure the fair value of liabilities at the price that would be received to transfer the liability to a market participant (an exit price). Since there is not a market for the Company’s obligations of its variable annuity riders, indexed annuities and IUL insurance, the Company considers the assumptions participants in a hypothetical market would make to reflect an exit price. As a result, the Company adjusts the valuation of variable annuity riders, indexed annuities and IUL insurance by updating certain contractholder assumptions, adding explicit margins to provide for profit, risk and expenses, and adjusting the rates used to discount expected cash flows to reflect a current market estimate of the Company’s nonperformance risk. The nonperformance risk adjustment is based on observable market data adjusted to estimate the risk of the Company not fulfilling these liabilities. Consistent with general market conditions, this estimate resulted in a spread over the LIBOR swap curve as of December 31, 2018. As the Company’s estimate of this spread widens or tightens, the liability will decrease or increase. If this nonperformance credit spread moves to a zero spread over the LIBOR swap curve, the reduction to future net income would be approximately $490 million, net of DAC, DSIC, unearned revenue amortization, the reinsurance accrual and income taxes (calculated at the statutory tax rate of 21%), based on December 31, 2018 credit spreads.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Liquidity Strategy

The liquidity requirements of the Company are generally met by funds provided by investment income, maturities and periodic repayments of investments, premiums and proceeds from sales of investments, fixed annuity and fixed insurance deposits as well as capital contributions from its parent, Ameriprise Financial. Other liquidity sources the Company has established are short-term borrowings and available lines of credit with Ameriprise Financial, aggregating $996 million. See Note 12 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on the lines of credit.

The Company enters into short-term borrowings, which may include repurchase agreements and Federal Home Loan Bank (“FHLB”) advances, to reduce reinvestment risk. Short-term borrowings allow the Company to receive cash to reinvest in longer-duration assets, while paying back the short-term debt with cash flows generated by the fixed income portfolio. The balance of repurchase agreements as of both December 31, 2018 and 2017 was $50 million which is collateralized with agency residential mortgage backed securities and commercial mortgage backed securities from the Company’s investment portfolio. RiverSource Life Insurance Company is a member of the FHLB of Des Moines, which provides RiverSource Life Insurance Company access to collateralized borrowings. As of both December 31, 2018 and 2017, the Company had estimated maximum borrowing capacity of $5.9 billion under the FHLB facility, of which $151 million and $150 million was outstanding as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively, and is collateralized with commercial mortgage backed securities.

The primary uses of funds are policy benefits, commissions, other product-related acquisition and sales inducement costs, operating expenses, policy loans, dividends or distributions to Ameriprise Financial and investment purchases. The Company routinely reviews its sources and uses of funds in order to meet its ongoing obligations.

In 2009, the Company established an agreement to protect its exposure to Genworth Life Insurance Company (“GLIC”) for its reinsured LTC. In 2016, substantial enhancements to this reinsurance protection agreement were finalized. The terms of these confidential provisions within the agreement have been shared, in the normal course of regular reviews, with the Company’s domiciliary regulator and rating agencies. Management believes that this agreement and offsetting non-LTC legacy arrangements with Genworth Financial, Inc. will enable the Company to recover on all net exposure in the event of an insolvency of GLIC.

As of December 31, 2018, the Company’s nursing home indemnity LTC block had approximately $88 million in gross in force annual premium and future policyholder benefits and claim reserves of approximately $1.3 billion, net of reinsurance, which was 55% of GAAP reserves. This block has been shrinking over the last few years given the average attained age is 81 and the average attained age of policyholders on claim is 87. Fifty-five percent of daily benefits in force in this block come from policies that have a lifetime benefit period.

As of December 31, 2018, the Company’s comprehensive reimbursement LTC block had approximately $116 million in gross in force annual premium and future policyholder benefits and claim reserves of approximately $1.0 billion, net of reinsurance. This block has higher premiums per policy than the nursing home indemnity LTC policies. The average attained age is 76 and the average attained age of policyholders on claim is 84. Thirty-eight percent of daily benefits in force in this block come from policies that have a lifetime benefit period.

The Company utilizes three primary levers to manage its LTC business. First, the Company has taken an active approach of steadily increasing rates since 2005, with cumulative rate increases of 140% on its nursing home indemnity LTC block and 66% on its comprehensive reimbursement LTC block as of December 31, 2018. Second, the Company has a reserving process that reflects the policy features and risk characteristics of its blocks. As of December 31, 2017, the Company had 29,000 policies that were closed with claim activity, as well as 8,000 open claims. The Company applies this experience to its in force policies, which were 108,000 as of December 31, 2018, at a very granular level by issue year, attained age and benefit features. The Company’s statutory reserves are approximately $403 million higher than its GAAP reserves and include margins for key assumptions like morbidity and mortality, as well as $210 million in asset adequacy reserves as of December 31, 2018. Lastly, the Company has prudently managed its investment portfolio by maintaining a liquid, investment grade portfolio that is currently in a net unrealized gain position.

The Company undertakes an extensive review of active life future policy benefit reserve adequacy annually during the third quarter of each year, or more frequently if appropriate, using current best estimate assumptions as of the date of the review. The annual review process includes an analysis of its key reserve assumptions, including, at this time, those for morbidity, terminations (mortality and lapses), premium rate increases, and investment yields. Because the Company has a rigorous annual review of all key reserve assumptions, the Company believes it is materially less exposed to large one-time reserve adjustments.

Capital Activity

Cash dividends or distributions paid and received by RiverSource Life Insurance Company were as follows:



	Years Ended December 31,
	2018		2017		2016
	(in millions)
Paid to Ameriprise Financial	$	750	$	700	$	1,000
Received from RiverSource Life Insurance Co. of New York (“RiverSource Life of NY”)	48		50		50
Received from RiverSource Tax Advantaged Investments, Inc.	45		20		15
Received from RiverSource REO 1, LLC ⁽¹⁾	2		—		31

⁽¹⁾ RiverSource REO 1, LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of RiverSource Life Insurance Company which holds foreclosed mortgage loans and real estate.

For dividends or distributions from the life insurance companies, notifications to state insurance regulators were made in advance of payments in excess of statutorily defined thresholds. See Note 16 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.

Regulatory Capital

RiverSource Life Insurance Company and RiverSource Life of NY are subject to regulatory capital requirements. Actual capital, determined on a statutory basis, and regulatory capital requirements as of December 31 for each of the life insurance entities are as follows:



	Actual Capital ⁽¹⁾				Regulatory Capital Requirement ⁽²⁾
	December 31, 2018		December 31, 2017		December 31, 2018		December 31, 2017
	(in millions)
RiverSource Life Insurance Company	$	3,382	$	2,451	$	675	$	562
RiverSource Life of NY	266		269		40		36

⁽¹⁾ Actual capital, as defined by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners for purposes of meeting regulatory capital requirements, includes statutory capital and surplus, plus certain statutory valuation reserves.

⁽²⁾ Regulatory capital requirement is based on the statutory risk-based capital filing.

Contractual Commitments

The contractual obligations identified in the table below include balance sheet transactions that represent material expected or contractually committed future obligations. Estimated cash payments due by period as of December 31, 2018 were as follows:



	Total		2019		2020-2021		2022-2023		2024 and Thereafter
	(in millions)
Insurance and annuities⁽¹⁾	$	50,685	$	2,552	$	4,921	$	4,368	$	38,844
Deferred premium options⁽²⁾	1,340		274		364		333		369
Affordable housing and other real estate partnerships⁽³⁾	59		47		6		4		2
Total	$	52,084	$	2,873	$	5,291	$	4,705	$	39,215

⁽¹⁾

These scheduled payments are represented by reserves of approximately $29.4 billion as of December 31, 2018 and are based on interest credited, mortality, morbidity, lapse, surrender and premium payment assumptions. The estimated payments are presented gross before reinsurance. The scheduled payments are undiscounted and exceed the corresponding liability as of December 31, 2018. Actual payment obligations may differ if experience varies from these assumptions. As of December 31, 2018, the projected period for which cash payments will be made is 40 years. Separate account liabilities have been excluded as associated contractual obligations would be met by separate account assets.


⁽²⁾	The fair value of these commitments included on the Consolidated Balance Sheets was $1.2 billion as of December 31, 2018. See Note 18 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for more information about deferred premium options.

⁽³⁾

Call dates for the obligations presented are either date or event specific. For date specific obligations, the Company is required to fund a specific amount on a stated date provided there are no defaults under the agreement. For event specific obligations, the Company is required to fund a specific amount of its capital commitment when properties in a fund become fully stabilized. For event specific obligations, the estimated call date of these commitments is used in the table above.

Total loan funding commitments, which are not included in the table above due to uncertainty with respect to timing of future cash flows, were $50 million as of December 31, 2018. For additional information relating to these contractual commitments, see Note 21 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

Risk Management

In accordance with regulatory investment guidelines, RiverSource Life Insurance Company and RiverSource Life of NY, through their respective boards of directors or board of directors’ investment committees or staff functions, review models projecting different interest rate scenarios, risk/return measures, and their effect on profitability in order to guide the management of the general account assets. They also review the distribution of assets in the portfolio by type and credit risk sector. The objective is to structure the investment securities portfolio in the general account to meet contractual obligations under the insurance and annuity products and achieve targeted levels of profitability within defined risk parameters.

The Company has developed an asset/liability management approach with separate investment objectives to support specific product liabilities, such as insurance and annuities. As part of this approach, the Company develops specific investment guidelines that are designed to optimize trade-offs between risk and return and help ensure the Company is able to support future benefit payments under its insurance and annuity obligations. These same objectives must be consistent with management’s overall investment objectives for the general account investment portfolio.

The Company’s owned investment securities are primarily invested in long-term and intermediate-term fixed maturity securities to earn a competitive rate of return on investments while managing risk. Investments in fixed maturity securities are designed to provide the Company with a targeted margin between the yield earned on investments and the interest rate credited to clients’ accounts. The Company does not trade in securities to generate short-term profits for its own account.

As part of the Company’s investment process, management, with the assistance of its investment advisors, conducts a quarterly review of investment performance. The review process involves the review of certain invested assets which the committee evaluates to determine whether or not any investments are other-than-temporarily impaired and/or which specific interest earning investments should be put on an interest non-accrual basis.

The Company has interest rate risk and equity market risk. Interest rate risk can result from investing in assets that do not exactly match the cash flow profile of the liabilities they support. The Company manages interest rate risk through the use of a variety of tools that include managing the duration of investments supporting its fixed annuities and insurance products. Additionally, the Company enters into derivative instruments, such as structured derivatives, options, futures and swaps, which change the interest rate characteristics of client liabilities or investment assets. Because certain of its investment activities are impacted by the value of its managed equity-based portfolios, from time to time the Company enters into risk management strategies that may include the use of equity derivative instruments, such as equity options, to mitigate its exposure to volatility in the equity markets.

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

The Company’s primary market risk exposures are interest rate, equity price and credit risk. Equity price and interest rate fluctuations can have a significant impact on the Company’s results of operations, primarily due to the effects on asset-based fees and expenses, the “spread” income generated on its fixed deferred annuities, fixed insurance and the fixed portion of its variable annuities and variable insurance contracts, the value of DAC and DSIC assets, the value of liabilities for guaranteed benefits associated with its variable annuities and the value of derivatives held to hedge these benefits.

The guaranteed benefits associated with the Company’s variable annuities are GMWB, GMAB, GMDB and GMIB. Each of these benefits guarantees payouts to the annuity holder under certain specific conditions regardless of the performance of the underlying invested assets.

The variable annuity guarantees continue to be managed by utilizing a hedging program which attempts to match the sensitivity of the assets with the sensitivity of the liabilities. This approach works with the premise that matched sensitivities will produce a highly effective hedging result. The Company’s comprehensive hedging program focuses mainly on first order sensitivities of assets and liabilities: Equity Market Level (Delta), Interest Rate Level (Rho) and Volatility (Vega). Additionally, various second order sensitivities are managed. The Company uses various options (equity index, interest rate swaptions, etc.), swaps (interest rate, total return, etc.) and futures to manage risk exposures. The exposures are measured and monitored daily and adjustments to the hedge portfolio are made as necessary.

The Company has a macro hedge program to provide protection against the statutory tail scenario risk arising from variable annuity reserves on its statutory surplus and to cover some of the residual risks not covered by other hedging activities. The Company assesses this residual risk under a range of scenarios in creating and executing the macro hedge program. As a means of economically hedging these risks, the Company may use a combination of futures, options, swaps and swaptions. Certain of the macro hedge derivatives used contain settlement provisions linked to both equity returns and interest rates; the remaining are interest rate contracts or equity contracts. The macro hedge program could result in additional earnings volatility as changes in the value of the macro hedge derivatives, which are designed to reduce statutory capital volatility, may not be closely aligned to changes in the variable annuity guarantee embedded derivatives.

To evaluate interest rate and equity price risk, the Company performs sensitivity testing which measures the impact on pretax income from the sources listed below for a 12-month period following a hypothetical 100 basis point increase in interest rates or a hypothetical 10% decline in equity prices. The interest rate risk test assumes a sudden 100 basis point parallel shift in the yield curve, with rates then staying at those levels for the next 12 months. The equity price risk test assumes a sudden 10% drop in equity prices, with equity prices then staying at those levels for the next 12 months. In estimating the values of variable annuity riders, indexed annuities, IUL insurance and the associated hedge assets, the Company assumed no change in implied market volatility despite the 10% drop in equity prices.

The following tables present the Company’s estimate of the impact on pretax income from the above defined hypothetical market movements as of December 31, 2018:



Equity Price Decline 10%	Equity Price Exposure to Pretax Income
	Before Hedge Impact			Hedge Impact			Net Impact
	(in millions)
Asset-based fees and expenses	$	(72	)	$	—		$	(72	)
DAC and DSIC amortization⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾	(34		)	—			(34		)
Variable annuity riders:
GMDB and GMIB⁽²⁾	(21		)	—			(21		)
GMWB⁽²⁾	(407		)	440			33
GMAB	(24		)	26			2
DAC and DSIC amortization⁽³⁾	N/A			N/A			(7		)
Total variable annuity riders	(452		)	466			7
Macro hedge program⁽⁴⁾	—			29			29
Indexed annuities	1			(1		)	—
IUL insurance	18			(20		)	(2		)
Total	$	(539	)	$	474		$	(72	)



Interest Rate Increase 100 Basis Points	Interest Rate Exposure to Pretax Income
	Before Hedge Impact			Hedge Impact			Net Impact
	(in millions)
Asset-based fees and expenses	$	(32	)	$	—		$	(32	)
Variable annuity riders:
GMDB and GMIB	—			—			—
GMWB	912			(596		)	316
GMAB	21			(9		)	12
DAC and DSIC amortization⁽³⁾	N/A			N/A			(40		)
Total variable annuity riders	933			(605		)	288
Macro hedge program⁽⁴⁾	—			(1		)	(1		)
Fixed annuities, fixed insurance and fixed portion of variable annuities and variable insurance products	57			—			57
IUL insurance	114			2			116
Total	$	1,072		$	(604	)	$	428

N/A Not Applicable.

⁽¹⁾ Market impact on DAC and DSIC amortization resulting from lower projected profits.

⁽²⁾ For the fourth quarter of 2018, in estimating the impact to pretax income on DAC and DSIC amortization and additional insurance benefit reserves, the Company has adjusted its assumed equity asset growth rates to reflect what management would follow in its mean reversion guidelines.

⁽³⁾ Market impact on DAC and DSIC amortization related to variable annuity riders is modeled net of hedge impact.

⁽⁴⁾ The market impact of the macro hedge program is modeled net of any related impact to DAC and DSIC amortization.

The above results compare to an estimated negative net impact to pretax income of $399 million related to a 10% equity price decline and an estimated positive net impact to pretax income of $97 million related to a 100 basis point increase in interest rates as of December 31, 2017. The change in interest rate exposure was driven by variable annuity riders primarily due to changes in market rates.

Net impacts shown in the above table from GMWB riders result largely from differences between the liability valuation basis and the hedging basis. Liabilities are valued using fair value accounting principles, with risk margins incorporated in contractholder behavior assumptions and with discount rates increased to reflect a current market estimate of the Company’s risk of nonperformance specific to these liabilities. The Company’s hedging is based on its determination of economic risk, which excludes certain items in the liability valuation including the nonperformance spread risk.

Actual results could differ materially from those illustrated above as they are based on a number of estimates and assumptions. These include assuming that implied market volatility does not change when equity prices fall by 10% and that the 100 basis point increase in interest rates is a parallel shift of the yield curve. Furthermore, the Company has not tried to anticipate changes in client preferences for different types of assets or other changes in client behavior, nor has the Company tried to anticipate actions management might take to increase revenues or reduce expenses in these scenarios.

The selection of a 100 basis point interest rate increase as well as a 10% equity price decline should not be construed as a prediction of future market events. Impacts of larger or smaller changes in interest rates or equity prices may not be proportional to those shown for a 100 basis point increase in interest rates or a 10% decline in equity prices.

Asset-Based Fees and Expenses

The Company earns asset-based management fees on its owned separate account assets partially offset by certain expenses. As of December 31, 2018, the value of these assets was $73.4 billion. This source of revenue is subject to both interest rate and equity price risk since the value of these assets and the fees they earn fluctuate inversely with interest rates and directly with equity prices. The Company does not currently hedge the interest rate or equity price risk of this exposure.

DAC and DSIC Amortization

For annuity and UL/VUL products, DAC and DSIC are amortized on the basis of EGPs. EGPs are a proxy for pretax income prior to the recognition of DAC and DSIC amortization expense. When events occur that reduce or increase current period EGPs, DAC and DSIC amortization expense is typically reduced or increased as well, somewhat mitigating the impact of the event on pretax income.

Variable Annuity Riders

The total contract value of all variable annuities as of December 31, 2018 was $72.0 billion. These contract values include GMWB and GMAB contracts which were $43.0 billion and $2.5 billion, respectively, as of December 31, 2018. As of December 31, 2018, reserves for GMWB were net liabilities of $875 million and reserves for GMAB were net assets of $19 million. The GMWB and GMAB reserves include the fair value of embedded derivatives, which fluctuates based on equity, interest rate and credit markets which can cause these embedded derivatives to be either an asset or a liability. As of December 31, 2018, the reserve for GMDB and GMIB was a net liability of $27 million.

Equity Price Risk

The variable annuity guaranteed benefits guarantee payouts to the annuity holder under certain specific conditions regardless of the performance of the investment assets. For this reason, when equity prices decline, the returns from the separate account assets coupled with guaranteed benefit fees from annuity holders may not be sufficient to fund expected payouts. In that case, reserves must be increased with a negative impact to the Company’s earnings.

The core derivative instruments with which the Company hedges the equity price risk of its GMWB and GMAB provisions are longer dated put and call options; these core instruments are supplemented with equity futures and total return swaps. See Note 18 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for further information on the Company’s derivative instruments.

Interest Rate Risk

The GMAB and the non-life contingent benefits associated with the GMWB provisions create embedded derivatives which are carried at fair value separately from the underlying host variable annuity contract. Changes in the fair value of the GMWB and GMAB liabilities are recorded through earnings with fair value calculated based on projected, discounted cash flows over the life of the contract, including projected, discounted benefits and fees. Increases in interest rates reduce the fair value of the GMWB and GMAB liabilities. The GMWB and GMAB interest rate exposure is hedged with a portfolio of longer dated put and call options, interest rate swaps and swaptions. The Company entered into interest rate swaps according to risk exposures along maturities, thus creating both fixed rate payor and variable rate payor terms. If interest rates were to increase, the Company would have to pay more to the swap counterparty and the fair value of its equity puts would decrease, resulting in a negative impact to the Company’s pretax income.

Fixed Annuities, Fixed Insurance and Fixed Portion of Variable Annuities and Variable Insurance Contracts

The Company’s earnings from fixed deferred annuities, fixed insurance, and the fixed portion of variable annuities and variable insurance contracts are based upon the spread between rates earned on assets held and the rates at which interest is credited to accounts. The Company primarily invests in fixed rate securities to fund the rate credited to clients. The Company guarantees an interest rate to the holders of these products. Investment assets and client liabilities generally differ as it relates to basis, repricing or maturity characteristics. Rates credited to clients’ accounts generally reset at shorter intervals than the yield on the underlying investments. Therefore, in an increasing interest rate environment, higher interest rates may be reflected in crediting rates to clients sooner than in rates earned on invested assets, which could result in a reduced spread between the two rates, reduced earned income and a negative impact on pretax income. However, the current low interest rate environment is resulting in interest rates below the level of some of the Company’s liability guaranteed minimum interest rates (“GMIRs”). Hence, a modest rise in interest rates would not necessarily result in changes to all the liability credited rates while projected asset purchases would capture the full increase in interest rates. This dynamic would result in widening spreads under a modestly rising rate scenario given the current relationship between the current level of interest rates and the underlying GMIRs on the business. Of the $29.4 billion in policyholder account balances, future policy benefits and claims on the Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2018, $20.6 billion is related to liabilities created by these products. The Company does not hedge this exposure.

As a result of the low interest rate environment, the Company’s current reinvestment yields are generally lower than the current portfolio yield. The Company expects its portfolio income yields to continue to decline in future periods if interest rates remain low. The carrying value and weighted average yield of non-structured fixed maturity securities and commercial mortgage loans that may generate proceeds to reinvest through 2020 due to prepayment, maturity or call activity at the option of the issuer, excluding securities with a make-whole provision, were $2.3 billion and 5.1%, respectively, as of December 31, 2018. In addition, residential mortgage backed securities, which are subject to prepayment risk as a result of the low interest rate environment, totaled $2.9 billion and had a weighted average yield of 3.4% as of December 31, 2018. While these amounts represent investments that could be subject to reinvestment risk, it is also possible that these investments will be used to fund liabilities or may not be prepaid and will remain invested at their current yields. In addition to the interest rate environment, the mix of benefit payments versus product sales as well as the timing and volumes associated with such mix may impact the Company’s investment yield. Furthermore, reinvestment activities and the associated investment yield may also be impacted by corporate strategies implemented at management’s discretion. The average yield for investment purchases during the year ended December 31, 2018 was approximately 4.1%.

The reinvestment of proceeds from maturities, calls and prepayments at rates below the current portfolio yield, which may be below the level of some liability GMIRs, will have a negative impact to future operating results. To mitigate the unfavorable impact that the low interest rate environment has on the Company’s spread income, it assesses reinvestment risk in its investment portfolio and monitors this risk in accordance with its asset/liability management framework. In addition, the Company may reduce the crediting rates on its fixed products when warranted, subject to guaranteed minimums.

The following table presents the account values of fixed deferred annuities, fixed insurance, and the fixed portion of variable annuities and variable insurance contracts by range of GMIRs and the range of the difference between rates credited to policyholders and contractholders as of December 31, 2018 and the respective guaranteed minimums, as well as the percentage of account values subject to rate reset in the time period indicated. Rates are reset at the Company’s discretion, subject to guaranteed minimums.



	Account Values with Crediting Rates
	At Guaranteed Minimum			1-49 bps above Guaranteed Minimum			50-99 bps above Guaranteed Minimum			100-150 bps above Guaranteed Minimum			Total
	(in billions, except percentages)
Range of Guaranteed Minimum Crediting Rates
1% - 1.99%	$	1.2		$	0.4		$	0.4		$	0.1		$	2.1
2% - 2.99%	0.5			—			—			—			0.5
3% - 3.99%	8.4			—			—			—			8.4
4% - 5.00%	5.5			—			—			—			5.5
Total	$	15.6		$	0.4		$	0.4		$	0.1		$	16.5

Percentage of Account Values That Reset In:
Next 12 months⁽¹⁾	98		%	90		%	40		%	40		%	96		%
> 12 months to 24 months⁽²⁾	2			2			23			2			2
> 24 months⁽²⁾	—			8			37			58			2
Total	100		%	100		%	100		%	100		%	100		%

⁽¹⁾ Includes contracts with annual discretionary crediting rate resets and contracts with 12 or less months until the crediting rate becomes discretionary on an annual basis.

⁽²⁾ Includes contracts with more than 12 months remaining until the crediting rate becomes an annual discretionary rate.

Equity Indexed Annuities

The Company’s equity indexed annuity (“EIA”) product is a single premium annuity issued with an initial term of seven years. The annuity guarantees the contractholder a minimum return of 3% on 90% of the initial premium or end of prior term accumulation value upon renewal plus a return that is linked to the performance of the S&P 500^®Index. The equity-linked return is based on a participation rate initially set at between 50% and 90% of the S&P 500^®Index which is guaranteed for the initial seven-year term when the contract is held to full term. As of December 31, 2018, the Company had $20 million in liabilities related to EIAs. The Company discontinued new sales of EIAs in 2007.

Equity Price Risk

The equity-linked return to investors creates equity price risk as the amount credited depends on changes in equity prices. To hedge this exposure, the Company purchases futures which generate returns to replicate what the Company must credit to client accounts.

Interest Rate Risk

Most of the proceeds received from EIAs are invested in fixed income securities with the return on those investments intended to fund the 3% guarantee. The Company earns income from the difference between the return earned on invested assets and the 3% guarantee rate credited to customer accounts. The spread between return earned and amount credited is affected by changes in interest rates. This risk is not currently hedged and was immaterial as of December 31, 2018.

Fixed Index Annuities

The Company’s fixed index annuity product is a fixed annuity that includes an indexed account. The rate of interest credited above the minimum guarantee for funds allocated to the indexed account is linked to the performance of the specific index for the indexed account (subject to a cap). The Company offers S&P 500^®Index and MSCI^® EAFE Index account options. Both options offer two crediting durations, one-year and two-year. The contractholder may allocate all or a portion of the policy value to a fixed or indexed account. The contractholder can choose to add a GMWB for life rider for an additional fee. As of December 31, 2018, the Company had $102 million in liabilities related to fixed index annuities.

Equity Price Risk

The equity-linked return to investors creates equity price risk as the amount credited depends on changes in equity prices. Most of the proceeds received from fixed index annuities are invested in fixed income securities. To hedge the equity exposure, a portion of the investment earnings received from the fixed income securities is used to purchase call spreads and futures which generate returns to replicate what the Company must credit to client accounts.

Interest Rate Risk

As mentioned above, most of the proceeds received from fixed index annuities are invested in fixed income securities with the return on those investments intended to fund the purchase of call spreads. There are two risks relating to interest rates. First, the Company has the risk that investment returns are such that it does not have enough investment income to purchase the needed call spreads. Second, in the event the policy is surrendered, the Company pays out a book value surrender amount and there is a risk that it will incur a loss upon having to sell the fixed income securities backing the liability (if interest rates have risen). This risk is not currently hedged.

Indexed Universal Life

IUL insurance is similar to UL in many regards, although the rate of credited interest above the minimum guarantee for funds allocated to an indexed account is linked to the performance of the specified index for the indexed account (subject to a cap and floor). The Company offers an S&P 500^® Index account option and a blended multi-index account option comprised of the S&P 500 Index, the MSCI^® EAFE Index and the MSCI EM Index. Both options offer two crediting durations, one-year and two-year. The policyholder may allocate all or a portion of the policy value to a fixed or any available indexed account. As of December 31, 2018, the Company had $1.5 billion in liabilities related to the indexed accounts of IUL, with the vast majority in the S&P 500^® Index account option.

Equity Price Risk

The equity-linked return to investors creates equity price risk as the amount credited depends on changes in equity prices. Most of the proceeds received from IUL insurance are invested in fixed income securities. To hedge the equity exposure, a portion of the investment earnings received from the fixed income securities is used to purchase call spreads which generate returns to replicate what the Company must credit to client accounts.

Interest Rate Risk

As mentioned above, most of the proceeds received from IUL insurance are invested in fixed income securities with the return on those investments intended to fund the purchase of call spreads. There are two risks relating to interest rates. First, the Company has the risk that investment returns are such that it does not have enough investment income to purchase the needed call spreads. Second, in the event the policy is surrendered, the Company pays out a book value surrender amount and there is a risk that it will incur a loss upon having to sell the fixed income securities backing the liability (if interest rates have risen). This risk is not currently hedged.

Credit Risk

The Company is exposed to credit risk within its investment portfolio, including its loan portfolio, and through its derivative and reinsurance activities. Credit risk relates to the uncertainty of an obligor’s continued ability to make timely payments in accordance with the contractual terms of the financial instrument or contract. The Company considers its total potential credit exposure to each counterparty and its affiliates to ensure compliance with pre-established credit guidelines at the time it enters into a transaction which would potentially increase the Company’s credit risk. These guidelines and oversight of credit risk are managed through a comprehensive enterprise risk management program that includes members of senior management.

The Company manages the risk of credit-related losses in the event of nonperformance by counterparties by applying disciplined fundamental credit analysis and underwriting standards, prudently limiting exposures to lower-quality, higher-yielding investments, and diversifying exposures by issuer, industry, region and underlying investment type. The Company remains exposed to occasional adverse cyclical economic downturns during which default rates may be significantly higher than the long-term historical average used in pricing.

The Company manages its credit risk related to over-the-counter derivatives by entering into transactions with creditworthy counterparties, maintaining collateral arrangements and through the use of master netting arrangements that provide for a single net payment to be made by one counterparty to another at each due date and upon termination. Generally, the Company’s current credit exposure on over-the-counter derivative contracts is limited to a derivative counterparty’s net positive fair value of derivative contracts after taking into consideration the existence of netting arrangements and any collateral received. This exposure is monitored and managed to an acceptable threshold level.

The counterparty risk for centrally cleared over-the-counter derivatives is transferred to a central clearing party through contract novation. Because the central clearing party monitors open positions and adjusts collateral requirements daily, the Company has minimal credit exposure from such derivative instruments.

Exchange-traded derivatives are effected through regulated exchanges that require contract standardization and initial margin to transact through the exchange. Because exchange-traded futures are marked to market and generally cash settled on a daily basis, the Company has minimal exposure to credit-related losses in the event of nonperformance by counterparties to such derivative instruments. Other exchange-traded derivatives would be exposed to nonperformance by counterparties for amounts in excess of initial margin requirements only if the exchange is unable to fulfill the contract.

The Company manages its credit risk related to reinsurance treaties by evaluating the financial condition of reinsurance counterparties prior to entering into new reinsurance treaties. In addition, the Company regularly evaluates their financial strength during the terms of the treaties. As of December 31, 2018, the Company’s largest reinsurance credit risk is related to a LTC coinsurance treaty with life insurance subsidiaries of Genworth Financial, Inc. See Note 9 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on reinsurance.

Forward-Looking Statements

This report contains forward-looking statements that reflect the Company’s plans, estimates and beliefs. The Company’s actual results could differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements. Examples of such forward-looking statements include:


•	statements of the Company’s plans, intentions, expectations, objectives, or goals, including those related to the introduction, cessation, terms or pricing of new or existing products and services and the consolidated tax rate;


•	other statements about future economic performance, the performance of equity markets and interest rate variations and the economic performance of the United States and of global markets; and


•	statements of assumptions underlying such statements.

The words “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “optimistic,” “intend,” “plan,” “aim,” “will,” “may,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “likely,” “forecast,” “on pace,” “project” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements but are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements.

Such factors include, but are not limited to:


•	conditions in the interest rate, credit default, equity market and foreign exchange environments, including changes in valuations, liquidity and volatility;

•

changes in and the adoption of relevant accounting standards and securities rating agency standards and processes, as well as changes in the litigation and regulatory environment, including ongoing legal proceedings and regulatory actions, the frequency and extent of legal claims threatened or initiated by clients, other persons and regulators, and developments in regulation and legislation, including the rules and regulations implemented or that may be implemented or modified in connection with the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act or in light of the U.S. Department of Labor’s fiduciary regulations (as well as state and other fiduciary rules, the Securities and Exchange Commission best interest standards, or similar standards such as the Certified Financial Planner Board standards) pertaining to the fiduciary status of investment advice providers to 401(k) plans, plan sponsors, plan participants and the holders of individual retirement or health savings accounts and related issues;


•	the Company’s investment management performance and consumer acceptance of the Company’s products;


•	effects of competition in the financial services industry, including pricing pressure, the introduction of new products and services and changes in product distribution mix and distribution channels;


•	changes to the Company’s reputation that may arise from employee or AFSI advisor misconduct, legal or regulatory actions, cybersecurity incidents, improper management of conflicts of interest or otherwise;


•	the Company’s capital structure as a subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial, including the ability of its parent to support its financial strength and ratings, as well as the opinions of rating agencies and other analysts or the Company’s regulators, distributors or policyholders and contractholders in response to any change or prospect of change in any such opinion;

•

risks of default, capacity constraint or repricing by issuers or guarantors of investments the Company owns or by counterparties to hedge derivative, insurance or reinsurance arrangements, experience deviations from the Company’s assumptions regarding such risks, the evaluations or the prospect of changes in evaluations of any such third parties published by rating agencies or other analysts and the reactions of other market participants or the Company’s regulators, distribution partners or customers in response to any such evaluation or prospect of changes in evaluation;

•

experience deviations from the Company’s assumptions regarding morbidity, mortality, persistency and premium rate increases in certain annuity and insurance products (including, but not limited to, variable annuities and long term care policies), or from assumptions regarding market returns assumed in valuing or unlocking DAC and DSIC or market volatility underlying the Company’s valuation and hedging of guaranteed benefit annuity riders, or from assumptions regarding interest rates or asset yield assumed in the Company’s loss recognition testing of its LTC business;


•	successfully cross-selling insurance and annuity products and services to Ameriprise Financial’s customer base;


•	the Company’s ability to effectively hedge risks relating to guaranteed benefit riders and certain other products;


•	the impact of intercompany allocations to the Company from Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates;


•	Ameriprise Financial’s ability to attract, recruit and retain qualified advisors and employees and its ability to distribute the Company’s products through current and future distribution channels;


•	changes in capital requirements that may be indicated, required or advised by regulators or rating agencies;


•	the impacts of Ameriprise Financial’s efforts to improve distribution economics and realize benefits from re-engineering and tax planning;

•

interruptions or other failures in the Company’s communications, technology and other operating systems, including errors or failures caused by third-party service providers, interference or failures caused by third-party attacks on the Company’s systems (or other cybersecurity incidents), or the failure to safeguard the privacy or confidentiality of sensitive information and data on such systems; and

•

general economic and political factors, including consumer confidence in the economy, the ability and inclination of consumers generally to invest, as well as their ability and inclination to invest in financial instruments and products other than cash and cash equivalents, the costs of products and services the Company consumes in the conduct of its business, and applicable legislation and regulation and changes therein (such as the uncertain regulatory environment in the U.S. since the 2016 U.S. election), including tax laws, tax treaties, fiscal and central government treasury policy, and policies regarding the financial services industry and regulatory rulings and pronouncements.

The Company cautions the reader that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. There may also be other risks that the Company is unable to predict at this time that may cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they are made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements.

The foregoing list of factors should be read in conjunction with the “Risk Factors” discussion in Part I, Item 1A in the Company’s 2018 10-K.

Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosure About Market Risk

Items required under this section are included in Item 7 in this Annual Report on Form 10-K - “Management’s Narrative Analysis - Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk.”

RiverSource Life Insurance Company

Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data



Consolidated Financial Statements:
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm		38
Consolidated Balance Sheets — December 31, 2018 and 2017		39
Consolidated Statements of Income — Years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016		40
Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income — Years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016		40
Consolidated Statements of Shareholder’s Equity — Years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016		41
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows — Years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016		42
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements		44
1.	Nature of Business and Basis of Presentation	44
2.	Summary of Significant Accounting Policies	44
3.	Recent Accounting Pronouncements	52
4.	Revenue from Contracts with Customers	55
5.	Variable Interest Entities	56
6.	Investments	56
7.	Financing Receivables	60
8.	Deferred Acquisition Costs and Deferred Sales Inducement Costs	61
9.	Reinsurance	62
10.	Policyholder Account Balances, Future Policy Benefits and Claims and Separate Account Liabilities	63
11.	Variable Annuity and Insurance Guarantees	65
12.	Lines of Credit	67
13.	Short-term Borrowings	68
14.	Fair Values of Assets and Liabilities	68
15.	Related Party Transactions	77
16.	Regulatory Requirements	77
17.	Offsetting Assets and Liabilities	78
18.	Derivatives and Hedging Activities	79
19.	Shareholder’s Equity	82
20.	Income Taxes	83
21.	Commitments, Guarantees and Contingencies	85

Schedules:

All information on schedules to the Consolidated Financial Statements required by Rule 7-05 in Article 7 of Regulation S-X is included in the Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes thereto or is not required. Therefore, all schedules have been omitted.

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Board of Directors and Shareholder of RiverSource Life Insurance Company:

Opinion on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of RiverSource Life Insurance Company and its subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, and the related consolidated statements of income, comprehensive income, shareholder’s equity and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2018, including the related notes (collectively referred to as the “consolidated financial statements”). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2018 in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

Basis for Opinion

These consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s consolidated financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits of these consolidated financial statements in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audits we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company's internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.

Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

Minneapolis, Minnesota

February 26, 2019

We have served as the Company's auditor since 2010.

RiverSource Life Insurance Company

Consolidated Balance Sheets



	December 31,
	2018		2017
	(in millions, except share amounts)
Assets
Investments:
Available-for-Sale: Fixed maturities, at fair value (amortized cost: 2018, $21,099; 2017, $20,764)	$	21,528	$	22,155
Mortgage loans, at amortized cost (less allowance for loan losses: 2018 and 2017, $16)	2,547		2,619
Policy loans	861		845
Other investments	838		900
Total investments	25,774		26,519
Cash and cash equivalents	1,085		1,062
Reinsurance recoverables	3,113		2,876
Other receivables	209		207
Accrued investment income	203		219
Deferred acquisition costs	2,742		2,639
Other assets	3,554		4,358
Separate account assets	73,393		82,560
Total assets	$	110,073	$	120,440

Liabilities and Shareholder’s Equity
Liabilities:
Policyholder account balances, future policy benefits and claims	$	29,407	$	29,178
Short-term borrowings	201		200
Other liabilities	3,500		4,674
Separate account liabilities	73,393		82,560
Total liabilities	106,501		116,612

Shareholder’s equity:
Common stock, $30 par value; 100,000 shares authorized, issued and outstanding	3		3
Additional paid-in capital	2,466		2,466
Retained earnings	1,058		903
Accumulated other comprehensive income, net of tax	45		456
Total shareholder’s equity	3,572		3,828
Total liabilities and shareholder’s equity	$	110,073	$	120,440

See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

RiverSource Life Insurance Company

Consolidated Statements of Income



	Years Ended December 31,
	2018		2017 ⁽¹⁾		2016 ⁽¹⁾
	(in millions)
Revenues
Premiums	$	396	$	410	$	417
Net investment income	1,023		1,011		1,128
Policy and contract charges	2,081		1,943		2,000
Other revenues	411		400		390
Net realized investment gains (losses)	10		40		26
Total revenues	3,921		3,804		3,961
Benefits and expenses
Benefits, claims, losses and settlement expenses	1,373		1,239		1,611
Interest credited to fixed accounts	674		656		623
Amortization of deferred acquisition costs	255		207		334
Other insurance and operating expenses	679		701		683
Total benefits and expenses	2,981		2,803		3,251
Pretax income (loss)	940		1,001		710
Income tax provision (benefit)	35		260		24
Net income	$	905	$	741	$	686

Supplemental Disclosures:
Total other-than-temporary impairment losses on securities	$	—	$	—	$	—
Portion of loss recognized in other comprehensive income (before taxes)	—		—		—
Net impairment losses recognized in net realized investment gains (losses)	$	—	$	—	$	—

⁽¹⁾Certain prior period amounts have been restated. See Note 1 for more information.

See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income



	Years Ended December 31,
	2018			2017			2016
	(in millions)
Net income	$	905		$	741		$	686
Other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax:
Net unrealized gains (losses) on securities	(412		)	(3		)	58
Net unrealized gains (losses) on derivatives	1			3			4
Other	—			(1		)	—
Total other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax	(411		)	(1		)	62
Total comprehensive income	$	494		$	740		$	748

See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

RiverSource Life Insurance Company

Consolidated Statements of Shareholder’s Equity



	Common Shares		Additional Paid-In Capital		Retained Earnings			Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)			Total
	(in millions)
Balances at January 1, 2016	$	3	$	2,465	$	1,176		$	395		$	4,039
Comprehensive income:
Net income	—		—		686			—			686
Other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax	—		—		—			62			62
Total comprehensive income											748
Tax adjustment on share-based incentive compensation plan	—		1		—			—			1
Cash dividends to Ameriprise Financial, Inc.	—		—		(1,000		)	—			(1,000		)
Balances at December 31, 2016	3		2,466		862			457			3,788
Comprehensive income:
Net income	—		—		741			—			741
Other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax	—		—		—			(1		)	(1		)
Total comprehensive income											740
Cash dividends to Ameriprise Financial, Inc.	—		—		(700		)	—			(700		)
Balances at December 31, 2017	3		2,466		903			456			3,828
Comprehensive income:
Net income	—		—		905			—			905
Other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax	—		—		—			(411		)	(411		)
Total comprehensive income											494
Cash dividends to Ameriprise Financial, Inc.	—		—		(750		)	—			(750		)
Balances at December 31, 2018	$	3	$	2,466	$	1,058		$	45		$	3,572

See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

RiverSource Life Insurance Company

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows



	Years Ended December 31,
	2018			2017			2016
	(in millions)
Cash Flows from Operating Activities
Net income	$	905		$	741		$	686
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by (used in) operating activities:
Depreciation, amortization and accretion, net	37			48			40
Deferred income tax (benefit) expense	(3		)	101			5
Contractholder and policyholder charges, non-cash	(368		)	(359		)	(348		)
Loss from equity method investments	64			108			53
Net realized investment (gains) losses	(10		)	(40		)	(30		)
Other-than-temporary impairments and provision for loan losses recognized in net realized investment gains (losses)	—			—			4
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Deferred acquisition costs	1			(35		)	55
Policyholder account balances, future policy benefits and claims, net	906			(121		)	338
Derivatives, net of collateral	(170		)	504			93
Reinsurance recoverables	(212		)	(266		)	(212		)
Other receivables	14			42			(12		)
Accrued investment income	16			18			7
Other, net	(1		)	(33		)	188
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	1,179			708			867

Cash Flows from Investing Activities
Available-for-Sale securities:
Proceeds from sales	56			234			297
Maturities, sinking fund payments and calls	2,635			2,491			2,318
Purchases	(3,049		)	(2,034		)	(3,174		)
Proceeds from sales, maturities and repayments of mortgage loans	280			690			783
Funding of mortgage loans	(208		)	(439		)	(433		)
Proceeds from sales and collections of other investments	137			156			156
Purchase of other investments	(217		)	(201		)	(164		)
Purchase of equipment and software	(8		)	(9		)	(9		)
Change in policy loans, net	(16		)	(15		)	(7		)
Advance on line of credit to Ameriprise Financial, Inc.	(273		)	(15		)	—
Repayment from Ameriprise Financial, Inc. on line of credit	273			15			—
Cash paid for written options with deferred premiums	(131		)	(82		)	(8		)
Cash received from written options with deferred premiums	130			75			76
Other, net	(15		)	3			15
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities	(406		)	869			(150		)
See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

RiverSource Life Insurance Company

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (Continued)

	Years Ended December 31,
	2018			2017			2016
	(in millions)
Cash Flows from Financing Activities
Policyholder account balances:
Deposits and other additions	$	1,933		$	2,059		$	2,086
Net transfers from (to) separate accounts	(75		)	(157		)	127
Surrenders and other benefits	(1,904		)	(1,893		)	(1,932		)
Change in short-term borrowings, net	—			—			(1		)
Proceeds from line of credit with Ameriprise Financial, Inc.	10			20			22
Repayments to Ameriprise Financial, Inc. on line of credit	(10		)	(20		)	(22		)
Cash received for purchased options with deferred premiums	254			116			276
Cash paid for purchased options with deferred premiums	(208		)	(263		)	(320		)
Cash dividends to Ameriprise Financial, Inc.	(750		)	(700		)	(1,000		)
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities	(750		)	(838		)	(764		)
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	23			739			(47		)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	1,062			323			370
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	$	1,085		$	1,062		$	323

Supplemental Disclosures:
Income taxes paid (received), net	$	158		$	250		$	(120	)
Interest paid on borrowings	4			2			1
Non-cash investing activity:
Partnership commitments not yet remitted	1			9			108
See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

RiverSource Life Insurance Company

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

1. Nature of Business and Basis of Presentation


•	RiverSource Life Insurance Company is domiciled in Minnesota and holds Certificates of Authority in American Samoa, the District of Columbia and all states except New York. RiverSource Life Insurance Company issues insurance and annuity products.


•	RiverSource Life of NY is domiciled and holds a Certificate of Authority in New York. RiverSource Life of NY issues insurance and annuity products.

The accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of RiverSource Life Insurance Company and companies in which it directly or indirectly has a controlling financial interest (collectively, the “Company”). All intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated in consolidation.

On January 1, 2018, the Company retrospectively adopted the new accounting standard for revenue recognition. See Note 3 and Note 4 for further information on the new accounting standard and the Company’s revenue from contracts with customers. The impact to the Consolidated Statements of Income for both the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016 was an increase of $16 million to policy and contract charges and a decrease of $16 million to other revenues.

In 2017, the Company recorded the following out-of-period corrections:


•	a $12 million out-of-period correction related to a variable annuity model assumption that decreased amortization of deferred acquisition costs (“DAC”) by $8 million and decreased benefits, claims, losses and settlement expenses by $4 million.


•	a $20 million decrease to income tax provision for a reversal of a tax reserve.

In 2016, the Company recorded an out-of-period correction for a $29 million increase to benefits, claims, losses and settlement expenses related to the claim utilization factor on long term care (“LTC”) reserves.

The impact of these out-of-period corrections was not material to current or prior period financial statements.

The accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements are prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) which vary in certain respects from reporting practices prescribed or permitted by state insurance regulatory authorities as described in Note 16. Certain reclassifications of prior period amounts have been made to conform to the current presentation.

The Company evaluated events or transactions that may have occurred after the balance sheet date for potential recognition or disclosure through the date the financial statements were issued. No subsequent events or transactions were identified.

The Company’s principal products are variable deferred annuities, universal life (“UL”) insurance, including indexed universal life (“IUL”) and variable universal life (“VUL”) insurance, which are issued primarily to individuals. Waiver of premium and accidental death benefit riders are generally available with UL products, in addition to other benefit riders. Variable annuity contract purchasers can choose to add optional benefit riders to their contracts, such as guaranteed minimum death benefit (“GMDB”), guaranteed minimum withdrawal benefit (“GMWB”) and guaranteed minimum accumulation benefit (“GMAB”) riders.

The Company also offers immediate annuities, fixed deferred annuities, and traditional life and disability income (“DI”) insurance. The Company issues only non-participating life insurance policies which do not pay dividends to policyholders and contractholders.

Nearly all of the Company’s business is sold through the retail channel of Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. (“AFSI”), a subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial. RiverSource Distributors, Inc., a subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial, serves as the principal underwriter and distributor of variable annuity and life insurance products issued by the Company.

2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Principles of Consolidation

A variable interest entity (“VIE”) is an entity that either has equity investors that lack certain essential characteristics of a controlling financial interest (including substantive voting rights, the obligation to absorb the entity’s losses, or the rights to receive the entity’s returns) or has equity investors that do not provide sufficient financial resources for the entity to support its activities.

Voting interest entities (“VOEs”) are those entities that do not qualify as a VIE. The Company consolidates VOEs in which it holds a greater than 50% voting interest. The Company generally accounts for entities using the equity method when it holds a greater than 20% but less than 50% voting interest or when the Company exercises significant influence over the entity. All other investments that are not reported at fair value as trading or Available-for-Sale securities are accounted for under the cost method when the Company owns less than a 20% voting interest and does not exercise significant influence.

A VIE is consolidated by the reporting entity that determines it has both:


•	the power to direct the activities of the VIE that most significantly impact the VIE’s economic performance; and


•	the obligation to absorb potentially significant losses or the right to receive potentially significant benefits to the VIE.

All VIEs are assessed for consolidation under this framework. When evaluating entities for consolidation, the Company considers its contractual rights in determining whether it has the power to direct the activities of the VIE that most significantly impact the VIEs economic performance. In determining whether the Company has this power, it considers whether it is acting in a role that enables it to direct the activities that most significantly impact the economic performance of an entity or if it is acting in an agent role.

In determining whether the Company has the obligation to absorb losses of the VIE or the right to receive benefits from the VIE that could potentially be significant to the VIE, the Company considers an analysis of its rights to receive benefits such as investment returns and its obligation to absorb losses associated with any investment in the VIE in conjunction with other qualitative factors. Management and incentive fees that are at market and commensurate with the level of services provided, and where the Company does not hold other interests in the VIE that would absorb more than an insignificant amount of the VIE’s expected losses or receive more than an insignificant amount of the VIE’s expected residual returns, are not considered a variable interest and are excluded from the analysis.

The consolidation guidance has a scope exception for reporting entities with interests in registered money market funds which do not have an explicit support agreement.

Amounts Based on Estimates and Assumptions

Accounting estimates are an integral part of the Consolidated Financial Statements. In part, they are based upon assumptions concerning future events. Among the more significant are those that relate to investment securities valuation and recognition of other-than-temporary impairments, DAC and the corresponding recognition of DAC amortization, valuation of derivative instruments and hedging activities, litigation reserves, future policy benefits and claims reserves and income taxes and the recognition of deferred tax assets and liabilities. These accounting estimates reflect the best judgment of management and actual results could differ.

Investments

Available-for-Sale Securities

Available-for-Sale securities are carried at fair value with unrealized gains (losses) recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income (“AOCI”), net of impacts to DAC, deferred sales inducement costs (“DSIC”), unearned revenue, benefit reserves, reinsurance recoverables and income taxes. Gains and losses are recognized on a trade date basis in the Consolidated Statements of Income upon disposition of the securities.

When the fair value of an investment is less than its amortized cost, the Company assesses whether or not: (i) it has the intent to sell the security (made a decision to sell) or (ii) it is more likely than not that the Company will be required to sell the security before its anticipated recovery. If either of these conditions exist, an other-than-temporary impairment is considered to have occurred and the Company recognizes an other-than-temporary impairment for the difference between the investment’s amortized cost and its fair value through earnings. For securities that do not meet the above criteria and the Company does not expect to recover a security’s amortized cost, the security is also considered other-than-temporarily impaired. For these securities, the Company separates the total impairment into the credit loss component and the amount of the loss related to other factors. The amount of the total other-than-temporary impairment related to credit loss is recognized in earnings.

The amount of the total other-than-temporary impairment related to other factors is recognized in other comprehensive income (“OCI”), net of impacts to DAC, DSIC, unearned revenue, benefit reserves, reinsurance recoverables and income taxes. For Available-for-Sale securities that have recognized an other-than-temporary impairment through earnings, the difference between the amortized cost and the cash flows expected to be collected is accreted as interest income if through subsequent evaluation there is a sustained increase in the cash flow expected. Subsequent increases and decreases in the fair value of Available-for-Sale securities are included in OCI.

The Company provides a supplemental disclosure on the face of its Consolidated Statements of Income that presents: (i) total other-than-temporary impairment losses recognized during the period and (ii) the portion of other-than-temporary impairment losses recognized in OCI. The sum of these amounts represents the credit-related portion of other-than-temporary impairments that were recognized in earnings during the period. The portion of other-than-temporary losses recognized in OCI includes: (i) the portion of other-than-temporary impairment losses related to factors other than credit recognized during the period and (ii) reclassifications of other-than-temporary impairment losses previously determined to be related to factors other than credit that are determined to be credit-related in the current period. The amount presented on the Consolidated Statements of Income as the portion of other-than-temporary losses recognized in OCI excludes subsequent increases and decreases in the fair value of these securities.

For all securities that are considered temporarily impaired, the Company does not intend to sell these securities (has not made a decision to sell) and it is not more likely than not that the Company will be required to sell the security before recovery of its amortized cost basis. The Company believes that it will collect all principal and interest due on all investments that have amortized cost in excess of fair value that are considered only temporarily impaired.

Factors the Company considers in determining whether declines in the fair value of fixed maturity securities are other-than-temporary include: (i) the extent to which the market value is below amortized cost; (ii) the duration of time in which there has been a significant decline in value; (iii) fundamental analysis of the liquidity, business prospects and overall financial condition of the issuer; and (iv) market events that could impact credit ratings, economic and business climate, litigation and government actions, and similar external business factors. In order to determine the amount of the credit loss component for corporate debt securities considered other-than-temporarily impaired, a best estimate of the present value of cash flows expected to be collected discounted at the security’s effective interest rate is compared to the amortized cost basis of the security. The significant inputs to cash flow projections consider potential debt restructuring terms, projected cash flows available to pay creditors and the Company’s position in the debtor’s overall capital structure.

For structured investments (e.g., residential mortgage backed securities, commercial mortgage backed securities and asset backed securities), the Company also considers factors such as overall deal structure and its position within the structure, quality of underlying collateral, delinquencies and defaults, loss severities, recoveries, prepayments and cumulative loss projections in assessing potential other-than-temporary impairments of these investments. Based upon these factors, securities that have indicators of potential other-than-temporary impairment are subject to detailed review by management. Securities for which declines are considered temporary continue to be monitored by management until management determines there is no current risk of an other-than-temporary impairment.

Other Investments

Other investments primarily reflect the Company’s interests in affordable housing partnerships and syndicated loans. As of January 1, 2018, marketable equity securities were reclassified from Available-for-Sale securities to other investments due to the adoption of a new accounting standard on the recognition and measurement of financial instruments. Subsequent to the adoption, marketable equity securities are recorded at fair value with changes in fair value reflected in net investment income. Prior to the adoption, changes in fair value were reflected in AOCI. Affordable housing partnerships are accounted for under the equity method.

Financing Receivables

Mortgage Loans and Syndicated Loans

Mortgage loans, net reflect the Company’s interest in commercial mortgage loans less the related allowance for loan losses. Syndicated loans represent the Company’s investment in below investment grade loan syndications. Mortgage loans and syndicated loans are stated at amortized cost, net of allowances for loan losses. Interest income is accrued on the unpaid principal balances of the loans as earned.

Policy Loans

Policy loans include life insurance policy and annuity loans and are reported at the unpaid principal balance, plus accrued interest.

When originated, policy loan balances do not exceed the cash surrender value of the underlying products. As there is minimal risk of loss related to these loans, the Company does not record an allowance for loan losses for policy loans.

Nonaccrual Loans

Generally, loans are evaluated for or placed on nonaccrual status when either the collection of interest or principal has become 90 days past due or is otherwise considered doubtful of collection. When a loan is placed on nonaccrual status, unpaid accrued interest is reversed. Interest payments received on loans on nonaccrual status are generally applied to principal unless the remaining principal balance has been determined to be fully collectible.

Commercial mortgage loans are evaluated for impairment when the loan is considered for nonaccrual status, restructured or foreclosure proceedings are initiated on the property. If it is determined that the fair value is less than the current loan balance, it is written down to fair value less estimated selling costs. Foreclosed property is recorded as real estate owned in other investments.

Allowance for Loan Losses

Management determines the adequacy of the allowance for loan losses based on the overall loan portfolio composition, recent and historical loss experience, and other pertinent factors, including when applicable, internal risk ratings, loan-to-value (“LTV”) ratios, FICO scores of the borrower, debt service coverage and occupancy rates, along with economic and market conditions. This evaluation is inherently subjective as it requires estimates, which may be susceptible to significant change.

The Company determines the amount of the allowance based on management’s assessment of relative risk characteristics of the loan portfolio. The allowance is recorded for homogeneous loan categories on a pool basis, based on an analysis of product mix and risk characteristics of the portfolio, including geographic concentration, bankruptcy experiences, and historical losses, adjusted for current trends and market conditions.

While the Company attributes portions of the allowance to specific loan pools as part of the allowance estimation process, the entire allowance is available to absorb losses inherent in the total loan portfolio. The allowance is increased through provisions charged to net realized investment gains (losses) and reduced/increased by net charge-offs/recoveries.

Impaired Loans

The Company considers a loan to be impaired when, based on current information and events, it is probable the Company will not be

able to collect all amounts due (both interest and principal) according to the contractual terms of the loan agreement. Impaired loans may also include loans that have been modified in troubled debt restructurings as a concession to borrowers experiencing financial difficulties. Management evaluates for impairment all restructured loans and loans with higher impairment risk factors. Factors used by the Company to determine whether all amounts due on commercial mortgage loans will be collected, include but are not limited to, the financial condition of the borrower, performance of the underlying properties, collateral and/or guarantees on the loan, and the borrower’s estimated future ability to pay based on property type and geographic location. The impairment recognized is measured as the excess of the loan’s recorded investment over: (i) the present value of its expected principal and interest payments discounted at the loan’s effective interest rate, (ii) the fair value of collateral or (iii) the loan’s observable market price.

Restructured Loans

A loan is classified as a restructured loan when the Company makes certain concessionary modifications to contractual terms for borrowers experiencing financial difficulties. When the interest rate, minimum payments, and/or due dates have been modified in an attempt to make the loan more affordable to a borrower experiencing financial difficulties, the modification is considered a troubled debt restructuring. Generally, performance prior to the restructuring or significant events that coincide with the restructuring are considered in assessing whether the borrower can meet the new terms which may result in the loan being returned to accrual status at the time of the restructuring or after a performance period. If the borrower’s ability to meet the revised payment schedule is not reasonably assured, the loan remains on nonaccrual status.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

Cash equivalents include highly liquid investments with original or remaining maturities at the time of purchase of 90 days or less.

Reinsurance

The Company cedes insurance risk to other insurers under reinsurance agreements. The Company evaluates the financial condition of its reinsurers prior to entering into new reinsurance contracts and on a periodic basis during the contract term.

Reinsurance premiums paid and benefits received are accounted for consistently with the basis used in accounting for the policies from which risk is reinsured and consistently with the terms of the reinsurance contracts. Reinsurance premiums for traditional life, LTC and DI, net of the change in any prepaid reinsurance asset, are reported as a reduction of premiums. UL and VUL reinsurance premiums are reported as a reduction of policy and contract charges. In addition, for UL and VUL insurance policies, the net cost of reinsurance ceded, which represents the discounted amount of the expected cash flows between the reinsurer and the Company, is classified as an asset or contra asset and amortized over the estimated life of the policies in proportion to the estimated gross profits (“EGPs”) and is subject to retrospective adjustment in a manner similar to retrospective adjustment of DAC. The assumptions used to project the expected cash flows are consistent with those used for DAC valuation for the same contracts. Changes in the net cost of reinsurance are reflected as a component of policy and contract charges. Reinsurance recoveries are reported as components of benefits, claims, losses and settlement expenses.

Insurance liabilities are reported before the effects of reinsurance. Policyholder account balances, future policy benefits and claims recoverable under reinsurance contracts are recorded as reinsurance recoverables.

The Company also assumes life insurance and fixed annuity risk from other insurers in limited circumstances. Reinsurance premiums received and benefits paid are accounted for consistently with the basis used in accounting for the policies from which risk is reinsured and consistently with the terms of the reinsurance contracts. Liabilities for assumed business are recorded within policyholder account balances, future policy benefits and claims.

See Note 9 for additional information on reinsurance.

Land, Buildings, Equipment and Software

Land, buildings, equipment and internally developed or purchased software are carried at cost less accumulated depreciation or amortization and are reflected within other assets. The Company uses the straight-line method of depreciation and amortization over periods ranging from three to 39 years.

As of December 31, 2018 and 2017, land, buildings, equipment and software were $135 million and $142 million, respectively, net of accumulated depreciation of $174 million and $159 million, respectively. Depreciation and amortization expense for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016 was $15 million, $15 million and $14 million, respectively.

Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities

Freestanding derivative instruments are recorded at fair value and are reflected in other assets or other liabilities. The Company’s policy is to not offset fair value amounts recognized for derivatives and collateral arrangements executed with the same counterparty under the same master netting arrangement. The accounting for changes in the fair value of a derivative instrument depends on its intended use and the resulting hedge designation, if any. The Company primarily uses derivatives as economic hedges that are not designated as accounting hedges or do not qualify for hedge accounting treatment. The Company occasionally designates derivatives as (i) hedges of changes in the fair value of assets, liabilities, or firm commitments (“fair value hedges”) or (ii) hedges of a forecasted transaction or of the variability of cash flows to be received or paid related to a recognized asset or liability (“cash flow hedges”).

Derivative instruments that are entered into for hedging purposes are designated as such at the time the Company enters into the contract. For all derivative instruments that are designated for hedging activities, the Company documents all of the hedging relationships between the hedge instruments and the hedged items at the inception of the relationships. Management also documents its risk management objectives and strategies for entering into the hedge transactions. The Company assesses, at inception and on a quarterly basis, whether derivatives designated as hedges are highly effective in offsetting the fair value or cash flows of hedged items. If it is determined that a derivative is no longer highly effective as a hedge, the Company will discontinue the application of hedge accounting.

For derivative instruments that do not qualify for hedge accounting or are not designated as accounting hedges, changes in fair value are recognized in current period earnings. Changes in fair value of derivatives are presented in the Consolidated Statements of Income based on the nature and use of the instrument. Changes in fair value of derivatives used as economic hedges are presented in the Consolidated Statements of Income with the corresponding change in the hedged asset or liability.

For derivative instruments that qualify as fair value hedges, changes in the fair value of the derivatives, as well as changes in the fair value of the hedged assets, liabilities or firm commitments, are recognized on a net basis in current period earnings. The carrying value of the hedged item is adjusted for the change in fair value from the designated hedged risk. If a fair value hedge designation is removed or the hedge is terminated prior to maturity, previous adjustments to the carrying value of the hedged item are recognized into earnings over the remaining life of the hedged item.

For derivative instruments that qualify as cash flow hedges, the effective portion of the gain or loss on the derivative instruments is reported in AOCI and reclassified into earnings when the hedged item or transaction impacts earnings. The amount that is reclassified into earnings is presented in the Consolidated Statements of Income with the hedged instrument or transaction impact. Any ineffective portion of the gain or loss is reported in current period earnings as a component of net investment income. If a hedge designation is removed or a hedge is terminated prior to maturity, the amount previously recorded in AOCI is reclassified to earnings over the period that the hedged item impacts earnings. For hedge relationships that are discontinued because the forecasted transaction is not expected to occur according to the original strategy, any related amounts previously recorded in AOCI are recognized in earnings immediately.

The equity component of indexed annuities and IUL obligations are considered embedded derivatives. Additionally, certain annuities contain GMAB and GMWB provisions. The GMAB and the non-life contingent benefits associated with GMWB provisions are also considered embedded derivatives.

See Note 14 for information regarding the Company’s fair value measurement of derivative instruments and Note 18 for the impact of derivatives on the Consolidated Statements of Income.

Deferred Acquisition Costs

The Company incurs costs in connection with acquiring new and renewal insurance and annuity businesses. The portion of these costs which are incremental and direct to the acquisition of a new or renewal insurance policy or annuity contract are deferred. Significant costs capitalized include sales based compensation related to the acquisition of new and renewal insurance policies and annuity contracts, medical inspection costs for successful sales, and a portion of employee compensation and benefit costs based upon the amount of time spent on successful sales. Sales based compensation paid to AFSI advisors and employees and third-party distributors is capitalized. Employee compensation and benefits costs which are capitalized relate primarily to sales efforts, underwriting and processing. All other costs which are not incremental direct costs of acquiring an insurance policy or annuity contract are expensed as incurred. The DAC associated with insurance policies or annuity contracts that are significantly modified or internally replaced with another contract are accounted for as contract terminations. These transactions are anticipated in establishing amortization periods and other valuation assumptions.

The Company monitors other DAC amortization assumptions, such as persistency, mortality, morbidity, interest margin, variable annuity benefit utilization and maintenance expense levels each quarter and, when assessed independently, each could impact the Company’s DAC balances.

The analysis of DAC balances and the corresponding amortization is a dynamic process that considers all relevant factors and assumptions described previously. Unless the Company’s management identifies a significant deviation over the course of the quarterly monitoring, management reviews and updates these DAC amortization assumptions annually in the third quarter of each year.

Non-Traditional Long-Duration Products

For non-traditional long-duration products (including variable and fixed deferred annuity contracts, UL and VUL insurance products), DAC are amortized based on projections of EGPs over amortization periods equal to the approximate life of the business.

EGPs vary based on persistency rates (assumptions at which contractholders and policyholders are expected to surrender, make withdrawals from and make deposits to their contracts), mortality levels, client asset value growth rates (based on equity and bond market performance), variable annuity benefit utilization and interest margins (the spread between earned rates on invested assets and rates credited to contractholder and policyholder accounts) and are management’s best estimates. Management regularly monitors financial market conditions and actual contractholder and policyholder behavior experience and compares them to its assumptions. These assumptions are updated whenever it appears that earlier estimates should be revised. When assumptions are changed, the percentage of EGPs used to amortize DAC might also change. A change in the required amortization percentage is applied

retrospectively; an increase in amortization percentage will result in a decrease in the DAC balance and an increase in DAC amortization expense, while a decrease in amortization percentage will result in an increase in the DAC balance and a decrease in DAC amortization expense. The impact on results of operations of changing assumptions can be either positive or negative in any particular period and is reflected in the period in which such changes are made. At each balance sheet date, the DAC balance is adjusted for the effect that would result from the realization of unrealized gains (losses) on securities impacting EGPs, with the related change recognized through AOCI.

The client asset value growth rates are the rates at which variable annuity and VUL insurance contract values invested in separate accounts are assumed to appreciate in the future. The rates used vary by equity and fixed income investments. Management reviews and, where appropriate, adjusts its assumptions with respect to client asset value growth rates on a regular basis. The Company typically uses a five-year mean reversion process as a guideline in setting near-term equity fund growth rates based on a long-term view of financial market performance as well as recent actual performance. The suggested near-term equity fund growth rate is reviewed quarterly to ensure consistency with management’s assessment of anticipated equity market performance. DAC amortization expense recorded in a period when client asset value growth rates exceed management’s near-term estimate will typically be less than in a period when growth rates fall short of management’s near-term estimate.

Traditional Long-Duration Products

For traditional long-duration products (including traditional life and DI insurance products), DAC are generally amortized as a percentage of premiums over amortization periods equal to the premium paying period. The assumptions made in calculating the DAC balance and DAC amortization expense are consistent with those used in determining the liabilities.

Deferred Sales Inducement Costs

Sales inducement costs consist of bonus interest credits and premium credits added to certain annuity contract and insurance policy values. These benefits are capitalized to the extent they are incremental to amounts that would be credited on similar contracts without the applicable feature. The amounts capitalized are amortized using the same methodology and assumptions used to amortize DAC. DSIC is recorded in other assets and amortization of DSIC is recorded in benefits, claims, losses and settlement expenses.

Separate Account Assets and Liabilities

Separate account assets and liabilities are primarily funds held for the benefit of variable annuity contractholders and variable life insurance policyholders, who have a contractual right to receive the benefits of their contract or policy and bear the related investment risk. Gains and losses on separate account assets accrue directly to the contractholder or policyholder and are not reported in the Company’s Consolidated Statements of Income. Separate account assets are recorded at fair value. Changes in the fair value of separate account assets are offset by changes in the related separate account liabilities.

Policyholder Account Balances, Future Policy Benefits and Claims

The Company establishes reserves to cover the risks associated with non-traditional and traditional long-duration products. Reserves for non-traditional long-duration products include the liabilities related to guaranteed benefit provisions added to variable annuity contracts, variable and fixed annuity contracts and UL and VUL policies and the embedded derivatives related to variable annuity contracts, indexed annuities and IUL insurance. Reserves for traditional long-duration products are established to provide adequately for future benefits and expenses for term life, whole life, DI and LTC insurance products.

Changes in future policy benefits and claims are reflected in earnings in the period adjustments are made. Where applicable, benefit amounts expected to be recoverable from reinsurance companies who share in the risk are separately recorded as reinsurance recoverables.

Non-Traditional Long-Duration Products

The liabilities for non-traditional long-duration products include fixed account values on variable and fixed annuities and UL and VUL policies, liabilities for guaranteed benefits associated with variable annuities and embedded derivatives for variable annuities, indexed annuities and IUL products.

Liabilities for fixed account values on variable and fixed deferred annuities and UL and VUL policies are equal to accumulation values, which are the cumulative gross deposits and credited interest less withdrawals and various charges.

A portion of the Company’s UL and VUL policies have product features that result in profits followed by losses from the insurance component of the contract. These profits followed by losses can be generated by the cost structure of the product or secondary guarantees in the contract. The secondary guarantee ensures that, subject to specified conditions, the policy will not terminate and will continue to provide a death benefit even if there is insufficient policy value to cover the monthly deductions and charges. The liability for these future losses is determined by estimating the death benefits in excess of account value and recognizing the excess over the estimated life based on expected assessments (e.g. cost of insurance charges, contractual administrative charges, similar fees and investment margin). See Note 11 for information regarding the liability for contracts with secondary guarantees.

Liabilities for indexed annuity products and indexed accounts of IUL products are equal to the accumulation of host contract values covering guaranteed benefits and the fair value of embedded equity options.

The GMDB and gain gross-up (“GGU”) liability is determined by estimating the expected value of death benefits in excess of the projected contract accumulation value and recognizing the excess over the estimated life based on expected assessments (e.g., mortality and expense fees, contractual administrative charges and similar fees).

If elected by the contract owner and after a stipulated waiting period from contract issuance, a guaranteed minimum income benefit (“GMIB”) guarantees a minimum lifetime annuity based on a specified rate of contract accumulation value growth and predetermined annuity purchase rates. The GMIB liability is determined each period by estimating the expected value of annuitization benefits in excess of the projected contract accumulation value at the date of annuitization and recognizing the excess over the estimated life based on expected assessments.

The liability for the life contingent benefits associated with GMWB provisions is determined by estimating the expected value of benefits that are contingent upon survival after the account value is equal to zero and recognizing the benefits over the estimated life based on expected assessments (e.g., mortality and expense fees, contractual administrative charges and similar fees).

In determining the liabilities for GMDB, GGU, GMIB and the life contingent benefits associated with GMWB, the Company projects these benefits and contract assessments using actuarial models to simulate various equity market scenarios. Significant assumptions made in projecting future benefits and assessments relate to customer asset value growth rates, mortality, persistency, benefit utilization and investment margins and are consistent with those used for DAC valuation for the same contracts. As with DAC, unless the Company’s management identifies a significant deviation over the course of quarterly monitoring, management reviews and updates these assumptions annually in the third quarter of each year.

See Note 11 for information regarding variable annuity guarantees.

Liabilities for fixed annuities in a benefit or payout status are based on future estimated payments using established industry mortality tables and interest rates.

Embedded Derivatives

The fair value of embedded derivatives related to GMAB and the non-life contingent benefits associated with GMWB provisions, indexed annuities and IUL fluctuate based on equity, interest rate and credit markets and the estimate of the Company’s nonperformance risk, which can cause these embedded derivatives to be either an asset or a liability. See Note 14 for information regarding the fair value measurement of embedded derivatives.

Traditional Long-Duration Products

The liabilities for traditional long-duration products include liabilities for unpaid amounts on reported claims, estimates of benefits payable on claims incurred but not yet reported and estimates of benefits that will become payable on term life, whole life, DI and LTC policies as claims are incurred in the future.

Liabilities for unpaid amounts on reported life insurance claims are equal to the death benefits payable under the policies.

Liabilities for estimated benefits payable on claims that have been incurred but not yet reported are based on periodic analysis of the actual time lag between when a claim occurs and when it is reported.

Liabilities for estimates of benefits that will become payable on future claims on term life, whole life and DI insurance policies are based on the net level premium and LTC policies are based on a gross premium valuation reflecting management’s current best estimate assumptions. Both include anticipated premium payments, mortality and morbidity rates, policy persistency and interest rates earned on assets supporting the liability. Anticipated mortality and morbidity rates are based on established industry mortality and morbidity tables, with modifications based on the Company’s experience. Anticipated premium payments and persistency rates vary by policy form, issue age, policy duration and certain other pricing factors.

For term life, whole life, DI and LTC policies, the Company utilizes best estimate assumptions as of the date the policy is issued with provisions for the risk of adverse deviation, as appropriate. After the liabilities are initially established, management performs premium deficiency tests using best estimate assumptions without provisions for adverse deviation annually in the third quarter of each year unless management identifies a material deviation over the course of quarterly monitoring. If the liabilities determined based on these best estimate assumptions are greater than the net reserves (i.e., GAAP reserves net of any DAC balance), the existing net reserves are adjusted by first reducing the DAC balance by the amount of the deficiency or to zero through a charge to current period earnings. If the deficiency is more than the DAC balance, then the net reserves are increased by the excess through a charge to current period earnings. If a premium deficiency is recognized, the assumptions as of the date of the loss recognition are locked in and used in

subsequent periods. The assumptions for LTC insurance products are management’s best estimate as of the date of loss recognition and thus no longer provide for adverse deviations in experience.

See Note 10 for information regarding the liabilities for traditional long-duration products.

Unearned Revenue Liability

The Company’s UL and VUL policies require payment of fees or other policyholder assessments in advance for services to be provided in future periods. These charges are deferred as unearned revenue and amortized using EGPs, similar to DAC. The unearned revenue liability is recorded in other liabilities and the amortization is recorded in policy and contract charges.

Income Taxes

The Company qualifies as a life insurance company for federal income tax purposes. As such, the Company is subject to the Internal Revenue Code provisions applicable to life insurance companies.

The Company’s taxable income is included in the consolidated federal income tax return of Ameriprise Financial. The Company provides for income taxes on a separate return basis, except that, under an agreement between Ameriprise Financial and the Company, tax benefits are recognized for losses to the extent they can be used in the consolidated return. It is the policy of Ameriprise Financial that it will reimburse its subsidiaries for any tax benefits recorded.

The Company’s provision for income taxes represents the net amount of income taxes that the Company expects to pay or to receive from various taxing jurisdictions in connection with its operations. The Company provides for income taxes based on amounts that the Company believes it will ultimately owe taking into account the recognition and measurement for uncertain tax positions. Inherent in the provision for income taxes are estimates and judgments regarding the tax treatment of certain items.

In connection with the provision for income taxes, the Consolidated Financial Statements reflect certain amounts related to deferred tax assets and liabilities, which result from temporary differences between the assets and liabilities measured for financial statement purposes versus the assets and liabilities measured for tax return purposes.

The Company is required to establish a valuation allowance for any portion of its deferred tax assets that management believes will not be realized. Significant judgment is required in determining if a valuation allowance should be established and the amount of such allowance if required. Factors used in making this determination include estimates relating to the performance of the business. Consideration is given to, among other things in making this determination: (i) future taxable income exclusive of reversing temporary differences and carryforwards; (ii) future reversals of existing taxable temporary differences; (iii) taxable income in prior carryback years; and (iv) tax planning strategies. Management may need to identify and implement appropriate planning strategies to ensure its ability to realize deferred tax assets and reduce the likelihood of the establishment of a valuation allowance with respect to such assets. See Note 20 for additional information on the Company’s valuation allowance.

Changes in tax rates and tax law are accounted for in the period of enactment. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are adjusted for the effect of a change in tax laws or rates and the effect is included in net income. See Note 20 for further discussion on the enactment of the legislation commonly referred to as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“Tax Act”) and the impact to the Company’s provision for income taxes for the year ended December 31, 2017.

Revenue Recognition

Premiums on traditional life, DI and LTC insurance products and immediate annuities with a life contingent feature are net of reinsurance ceded and are recognized as revenue when due.

Interest income is accrued as earned using the effective interest method, which makes an adjustment of the yield for security premiums and discounts on all performing fixed maturity securities classified as Available-for-Sale so that the related security or loan recognizes a constant rate of return on the outstanding balance throughout its term. When actual prepayments differ significantly from originally anticipated prepayments, the retrospective effective yield is recalculated to reflect actual payments to date and updated future payment assumptions and a catch-up adjustment is recorded in the current period. In addition, the new effective yield, which reflects anticipated future payments, is used prospectively.

Mortality and expense risk fees are based on a percentage of the fair value of assets held in the Company’s separate accounts and recognized when assessed. Variable annuity guaranteed benefit rider charges, cost of insurance charges on UL and VUL insurance and contract charges (net of reinsurance premiums and cost of reinsurance for UL insurance products) and surrender charges on annuities and UL and VUL insurance are recognized as revenue when assessed.

Realized gains and losses on the sale of securities, other than equity method investments, are recognized using the specific identification method, on a trade date basis.

Fees received under marketing support and distribution services arrangements are recognized as revenue when earned.

See Note 4 for further discussion of accounting policies on revenue from contracts with customers.

3. Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Adoption of New Accounting Standards

Revenue from Contracts with Customers

In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) updated the accounting standards for revenue from contracts with customers. The update provides a five step revenue recognition model for all revenue arising from contracts with customers and affects all entities that enter into contracts to provide goods or services to their customers (unless the contracts are in the scope of other standards). The standard also updates the accounting for certain costs associated with obtaining and fulfilling a customer contract and requires disclosure of quantitative and qualitative information that enables users of financial statements to understand the nature, amount, timing, and uncertainty of revenues and cash flows arising from contracts with customers. The standard was effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017. The standard was permitted to be applied retrospectively for all periods presented or retrospectively with a cumulative-effect adjustment at the date of adoption. The Company adopted the revenue recognition guidance on a retrospective basis on January 1, 2018. The update does not apply to revenue associated with the manufacturing of insurance and annuity products or financial instruments as these revenues are in the scope of other standards. Therefore, the update did not have an impact on these revenues. The Company’s implementation efforts included the identification of revenue within the guidance and the review of the customer contracts to determine the Company’s performance obligation and the associated timing of each performance obligation. The adoption of the standard resulted in the reclassification of certain revenues within total revenues. See Note 4 for new disclosures on revenue from contracts with customers.

Financial Instruments – Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities

In January 2016, the FASB updated the accounting standards on the recognition and measurement of financial instruments. The update requires entities to carry marketable equity securities, excluding investments in securities that qualify for the equity method of accounting, at fair value with changes in fair value reflected in net income each reporting period. The update affects other aspects of accounting for equity instruments, as well as the accounting for financial liabilities utilizing the fair value option. The update eliminates the requirement to disclose the methods and assumptions used to estimate the fair value of financial assets or liabilities held at cost on the balance sheet and requires entities to use the exit price notion when measuring the fair value of these financial instruments. The standard was effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017. The Company adopted the standard on January 1, 2018 using a modified retrospective approach. The adoption of the standard did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial condition or results of operations.

Fair Value Measurement – Disclosure Framework – Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Fair Value Measurement

In August 2018, the FASB updated the accounting standards related to disclosures for fair value measurements. The update eliminates the following disclosures: 1) the amount of and reasons for transfers between Level 1 and Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy, 2) the policy of timing of transfers between levels of the fair value hierarchy, and 3) the valuation processes for Level 3 fair value measurements. The new disclosures include changes in unrealized gains and losses for the period included in OCI for recurring Level 3 fair value measurements of instruments held at the end of the reporting period and the range and weighted average used to develop significant unobservable inputs and how the weighted average was calculated. The new disclosures are required on a prospective basis; all other provisions should be applied retrospectively. The update is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2019. Early adoption is permitted for the entire standard or only the provisions to eliminate or modify disclosure requirements. The Company early adopted the provisions of the standard to eliminate or modify disclosure requirements in the fourth quarter of 2018. The update does not have an impact on the Company’s consolidated financial condition or results of operations.

Income Taxes - Intra-Entity Transfers of Assets Other Than Inventory

In October 2016, the FASB updated the accounting standards related to the recognition of income tax impacts on intra-entity transfers. The update requires entities to recognize the income tax consequences of intra-entity transfers, other than inventory, upon the transfer of the asset. The update requires the selling entity to recognize a current tax expense or benefit and the purchasing entity to recognize a deferred tax asset or liability when the transfer occurs. The standard was effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017. The Company adopted the standard on January 1, 2018. The adoption of the standard did not have an impact on the Company’s consolidated financial condition or results of operations.

Statement of Cash Flows – Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments

In August 2016, the FASB updated the accounting standards related to classification of certain cash receipts and cash payments on the statement of cash flows. The update includes amendments to address diversity in practice for the classification of eight specific cash flow activities. The specific amendments the Company evaluated include the classification of debt prepayment and extinguishment costs, contingent consideration payments, proceeds from insurance settlements and corporate owned life insurance settlements, distributions from equity method investees and the application of the predominance principle to separately identifiable cash flows. The standard was effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017. The Company early adopted the standard for the interim period ended March 31, 2017 on a retrospective basis. The adoption of the standard did not have a material impact on the Company’s operating, investing or financing cash flows.

Future Adoption of New Accounting Standards

Leases - Recognition of Lease Assets and Liabilities on Balance Sheet

In February 2016, the FASB updated the accounting standards for leases. The update was issued to increase transparency and comparability for the accounting of lease transactions. The standard will require most lease transactions for lessees to be recorded on the balance sheet as lease assets and lease liabilities and both quantitative and qualitative disclosures about leasing arrangements. The standard is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2018 with early adoption permitted. Entities may elect to adopt the standard using a modified retrospective approach at either the beginning of the earliest period presented or as of the date of adoption. The Company adopted the standard using a modified retrospective approach as of January 1, 2019. The Company also elected the package of practical expedients permitted under the transition guidance within the accounting standard that allows entities to carryforward their historical lease classification and to not reassess contracts for embedded leases among other things. The adoption did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial condition or results of operations.

Income Statement – Reporting Comprehensive Income – Reclassification of Certain Tax Effects from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income

In February 2018, the FASB updated the accounting standards related to the presentation of tax effects stranded in AOCI. The update allows a reclassification from AOCI to retained earnings for tax effects stranded in AOCI resulting from the Tax Act. The update is optional and entities may elect not to reclassify the stranded tax effects. The update is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018. Entities may elect to record the impacts either in the period of adoption or retrospectively to each period (or periods) in which the effect of the change in the U.S. federal corporate income tax rate in the Tax Act is recognized. Early adoption is permitted in any period. The Company adopted the standard on January 1, 2019 and elected not to reclassify the stranded tax effects in AOCI. The stranded effects are released from AOCI when an entire portfolio of the type of item related to the stranded effect is liquidated, sold or extinguished (i.e., portfolio approach). As such, the update did not have an impact on the Company’s consolidated financial condition and results of operations.

Derivatives and Hedging – Targeted Improvements to Accounting for Hedging Activities

In August 2017, the FASB updated the accounting standards to amend the hedge accounting recognition and presentation requirements. The objectives of the update are to better align the financial reporting of hedging relationships to the economic results of an entity’s risk management activities and simplify the application of the hedge accounting guidance. The update also adds new disclosures and amends existing disclosure requirements. The standard is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2018, and should be applied on a modified retrospective basis. The Company adopted the standard on January 1, 2019. The adoption did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial condition or results of operations.

Receivables - Nonrefundable Fees and Other Costs - Premium Amortization on Purchased Callable Debt Securities

In March 2017, the FASB updated the accounting standards to shorten the amortization period for certain purchased callable debt securities held at a premium. Under current guidance, premiums are generally amortized over the contractual life of the security. The amendments require the premium to be amortized to the earliest call date. The update applies to securities with explicit, non-contingent call features that are callable at fixed prices and on preset dates. The standard is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2018, and should be applied on a modified retrospective basis through a cumulative-effect adjustment directly to retained earnings as of the beginning of the period of adoption. The Company adopted the standard on January 1, 2019. The adoption did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial condition or results of operations.

Financial Services – Insurance – Targeted Improvements to the Accounting for Long-Duration Contracts

In August 2018, the FASB updated the accounting standard related to long-duration insurance contracts. The guidance revises key elements of the measurement models and disclosure requirements for long-duration insurance contracts issued by insurers and reinsurers.

The guidance establishes a significant new category of benefit features called market risk benefits that protect the contract holder from other-than-nominal capital market risk and expose the insurer to that risk. Insurers will have to measure market risk benefits at fair value. Market risk benefits include variable annuity guaranteed benefits (i.e. guaranteed minimum death, withdrawal, withdrawal for life, accumulation and income benefits). The portion of the change in fair value attributable to a change in the instrument-specific credit risk of market risk benefits in a liability position will be recorded in OCI.

Significant changes also relate to the measurement of the liability for future policy benefits for nonparticipating traditional long-duration insurance contracts and immediate annuities with a life contingent feature include the following:

•

Insurers will be required to review and update the cash flow assumptions used to measure the liability for future policy benefits rather than using assumptions locked in at contract inception. The review of assumptions to measure the liability for all future policy benefits will be required annually at the same time each year, or more frequently if suggested by experience. The effect of updating assumptions will be measured on a retrospective catch-up basis and presented separate from the ongoing policyholder benefit expense in the statement of operations in the period the update is made. This new unlocking process will be required for the Company’s term and whole life insurance, DI and LTC insurance and immediate annuities with a life contingent feature.


•	The discount rate used to measure the liability for future policy benefits will be standardized. The current requirement to use a discount rate reflecting expected investment yields will change to an upper-medium grade (low credit risk) fixed income

corporate instrument yield (generally interpreted as an “A” rating) reflecting the duration characteristics of the liability. Entities will be required to update the discount rate at each reporting date with the effect of discount rate changes reflected in OCI.

•

The current premium deficiency test is being replaced with a net premium ratio cap of 100%. If the net premium ratio (i.e. the ratio of the present value of total expected benefits and related expenses to the present value of total expected premiums) exceeds 100%, insurers are required to recognize a loss in the statement of operations in the period. Contracts from different issue years will no longer be permitted to be grouped to determine contracts in a loss position.

In addition, the update requires DAC and DSIC relating to all long-duration contracts and most investment contracts to be amortized on a straight-line basis over the expected life of the contract independent of profit emergence. Under the new guidance, interest will not accrue to the deferred balance and DAC and DSIC will not be subject to an impairment test.

The update requires significant additional disclosures, including disaggregated rollforwards of the liability for future policy benefits, policyholder account balances, market risk benefits, DAC and DSIC, as well as qualitative and quantitative information about expected cash flows, estimates and assumptions. The update is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2020. The standard should be applied to the liability for future policy benefits and DAC and DSIC on a modified retrospective basis and applied to market risk benefits on a retrospective basis with the option to apply full retrospective transition if certain criteria are met. Early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of the standard on its consolidated financial condition, results of operations and disclosures.

Intangibles – Goodwill and Other – Internal-Use Software – Customer’s Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement That Is a Service Contract

In August 2018, the FASB updated the accounting standards related to customer’s accounting for implementation costs incurred in a cloud computing arrangement (“CCA”) that is a service contract. The update requires implementation costs for a CCA to be evaluated for capitalization using the same approach as implementation costs associated with internal-use software. The update also addresses presentation, measurement and impairment of capitalized implementation costs in a CCA that is a service contract. The update requires new disclosures on the nature of hosting arrangements that are service contracts, significant judgements made when applying the guidance and quantitative disclosures, including amounts capitalized, amortized and impaired. The update is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2019, and can be applied either prospectively or retrospectively. Early adoption is permitted. The update is not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial condition or results of operations.

Financial Instruments – Credit Losses – Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments

In June 2016, the FASB updated the accounting standards related to accounting for credit losses on certain types of financial instruments. The update replaces the current incurred loss model for estimating credit losses with a new model that requires an entity to estimate the credit losses expected over the life of the asset. Generally, the initial estimate of the expected credit losses and subsequent changes in the estimate will be reported in current period earnings and recorded through an allowance for credit losses on the balance sheet. The current credit loss model for Available-for-Sale debt securities does not change; however, the credit loss calculation and subsequent recoveries are required to be recorded through an allowance. The standard is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2019. Early adoption will be permitted for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2018. A modified retrospective cumulative adjustment to retained earnings should be recorded as of the first reporting period in which the guidance is effective for loans, receivables, and other financial instruments subject to the new expected credit loss model. Prospective adoption is required for establishing an allowance related to Available-for-Sale debt securities, certain beneficial interests, and financial assets purchased with a more-than-insignificant amount of credit deterioration since origination. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of the standard on its consolidated financial condition and results of operations.

4. Revenue from Contracts with Customers

On January 1, 2018, the Company adopted the new accounting standard for revenue from contracts with customers on a retrospective basis.

The following table presents disaggregated revenue from contracts with customers and a reconciliation to total revenues reported on the Consolidated Statements of Income. Revenues related to manufacturing of insurance and annuity products or financial instruments are not in the scope of this standard and are included in the table below under the heading Revenue from other sources. See Note 3 for additional information on the adoption of the new accounting standard.



	Years Ended December 31,
	2018		2017		2016
	(in millions)
Policy and contract charges
Affiliated (from Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc.)	$	170	$	167	$	158
Unaffiliated	16		16		16
Total	186		183		174

Other revenues
Administrative fees
Affiliated (from Columbia Management Investment Services, Corp.)	44		42		40
Unaffiliated	22		23		24
	66		65		64
Other fees
Affiliated (from Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (“CMIA”) and Columbia Wanger Asset Management, LLC)	336		325		316
Unaffiliated	3		4		3
	339		329		319
Total	405		394		383
Total revenue from contracts with customers	591		577		557
Revenue from other sources ⁽¹⁾	3,330		3,227		3,404
Total revenues	$	3,921	$	3,804	$	3,961

⁽¹⁾ Revenues not included in the scope of the revenue from contracts with customers standard.

The following discussion describes the nature, timing, and uncertainty of revenues and cash flows arising from the Company’s contracts with customers.

Policy and contract charges

The Company earns revenue for providing distribution-related services to mutual funds that are available as underlying investments in its variable annuity and variable life insurance products. The performance obligation is satisfied at the time the mutual fund is distributed. Revenue is recognized over the time the mutual fund is held in the variable product and is generally earned based on a fixed rate applied, as a percentage, to the net asset value of the fund. The revenue is not recognized at the time of sale because it is variably constrained due to factors outside the Company’s control, including market volatility and how long the fund(s) remain in the insurance policy or annuity contract. The revenue will not be recognized until it is probable that a significant reversal will not occur. These fees are accrued and collected on a monthly basis.

Other revenues

Administrative fees

The Company earns revenue for providing customer support, contract servicing and administrative services for affiliated and unaffiliated mutual funds. The transfer agent and administration revenue is earned daily based on a fixed rate applied, as a percentage, to assets under management. These performance obligations are considered a series of distinct services that are substantially the same and are satisfied each day over the contract term. These fees are accrued and collected on a monthly basis.

Other fees

The Company earns revenue for providing affiliated and unaffiliated partners an opportunity to educate the financial advisors of its affiliate, AFSI, that sell the Company's products as well as product and marketing personnel to support the offer, sale and servicing of funds within the Company's variable annuity and variable life insurance products. These payments allow the parties to train and support the advisors, explain the features of their products, and distribute marketing and educational materials. The affiliated revenue

is earned based on a rate, updated at least annually, which is applied, as a percentage, to the market value of assets invested. The unaffiliated revenue is earned based on a fixed rate applied, as a percentage, to the market value of assets invested. These performance obligations are considered a series of distinct services that are substantially the same and are satisfied each day over the contract term. These fees are accrued and collected on a monthly basis.

Receivables

Receivables for revenue from contracts with customers are recognized when the performance obligation is satisfied and the Company has an unconditional right to the revenue. Receivables related to revenues from contracts with customers were $49 million and $54 million as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

5. Variable Interest Entities

The Company is a limited partner in affordable housing partnerships that qualify for government-sponsored low income housing tax credit programs and partnerships that invest in multi-family residential properties that were originally developed with an affordable housing component. The Company has determined it is not the primary beneficiary and therefore does not consolidate these partnerships. A majority of the limited partnerships are VIEs. The Company’s maximum exposure to loss as a result of its investment in the VIEs is limited to the carrying value. The carrying value is reflected in other investments and was $352 million and $408 million as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. The Company had a $43 million and $97 million liability recorded as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively, related to original purchase commitments not yet remitted to the VIEs. The Company has not provided any additional support and is not contractually obligated to provide additional support to the VIEs beyond the above mentioned funding commitments.

The Company invests in structured investments which are considered VIEs for which it is not generally the sponsor. These structured investments typically invest in fixed income instruments and are primarily managed by third parties and include asset backed securities, commercial and residential mortgage backed securities. The Company classifies these investments as Available-for-Sale securities. The Company has determined that it is not the primary beneficiary of these structures due to the lack of power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the economic performance, size of the Company’s investment in the entities and position in the capital structure of these entities. The Company’s maximum exposure to loss as a result of its investment in these structured investments is limited to its amortized cost. The Company has no obligation to provide financial or other support to the structured investments beyond its investment nor has the Company provided any support to the structured investments. See Note 6 for additional information on these structured investments. See Note 15 for information regarding investments in a VIE with an affiliate of the Company.

6. Investments

Available-for-Sale securities distributed by type were as follows:



Description of Securities	December 31, 2018
	Amortized Cost		Gross Unrealized Gains		Gross Unrealized Losses			Fair Value		Noncredit OTTI⁽¹⁾
	(in millions)
Fixed maturities:
Corporate debt securities	$	12,044	$	554	$	(207	)	$	12,391	$	—
Residential mortgage backed securities	2,890		25		(44		)	2,871		—
Commercial mortgage backed securities	3,737		17		(102		)	3,652		—
State and municipal obligations	1,129		162		(8		)	1,283		—
Asset backed securities	1,013		35		(3		)	1,045		—
Foreign government bonds and obligations	285		9		(9		)	285		—
U.S. government and agency obligations	1		—		—			1		—
Total	$	21,099	$	802	$	(373	)	$	21,528	$	—



Description of Securities	December 31, 2017
	Amortized Cost		Gross Unrealized Gains		Gross Unrealized Losses			Fair Value		Noncredit OTTI⁽¹⁾
	(in millions)
Fixed maturities:
Corporate debt securities	$	12,133	$	1,125	$	(25	)	$	13,233	$	—
Residential mortgage backed securities	2,979		54		(22		)	3,011		—
Commercial mortgage backed securities	3,554		47		(32		)	3,569		—
State and municipal obligations	1,114		209		(9		)	1,314		—
Asset backed securities	700		30		(2		)	728		—
Foreign government bonds and obligations	283		20		(4		)	299		—
U.S. government and agency obligations	1		—		—			1		—
Total fixed maturities	20,764		1,485		(94		)	22,155		—
Common stocks	1		—		(1		)	—		—
Total	$	20,765	$	1,485	$	(95	)	$	22,155	$	—

⁽¹⁾Represents the amount of other-than-temporary impairment (“OTTI”) losses in AOCI. Amount includes unrealized gains and losses on impaired securities subsequent to the initial impairment measurement date. These amounts are included in gross unrealized gains and losses as of the end of the period.

As of December 31, 2018 and 2017, investment securities with a fair value of $1.4 billion and $1.6 billion, respectively, were pledged to meet contractual obligations under derivative contracts and short-term borrowings, of which $405 million and $711 million, respectively, may be sold, pledged or rehypothecated by the counterparty.

As of both December 31, 2018 and 2017, fixed maturity securities comprised approximately 84% of the Company’s total investments. Rating agency designations are based on the availability of ratings from Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations (“NRSROs”), including Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”), Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (“S&P”) and Fitch Ratings Ltd. (“Fitch”). The Company uses the median of available ratings from Moody’s, S&P and Fitch, or if fewer than three ratings are available, the lower rating is used. When ratings from Moody’s, S&P and Fitch are unavailable, the Company may utilize ratings from other NRSROs or rate the securities internally. As of December 31, 2018 and 2017, approximately $706 million and $906 million, respectively, of securities were internally rated by CMIA, an affiliate of the Company, using criteria similar to those used by NRSROs.

A summary of fixed maturity securities by rating was as follows:



Ratings	December 31, 2018						December 31, 2017
Ratings	Amortized Cost		Fair Value		Percent of Total Fair Value		Amortized Cost		Fair Value		Percent of Total Fair Value
	(in millions, except percentages)
AAA	$	6,602	$	6,499	30	%	$	6,259	$	6,303	28	%
AA	1,310		1,455		7		1,090		1,285		6
A	2,550		2,776		13		3,443		3,902		18
BBB	9,745		9,945		46		8,796		9,465		43
Below investment grade	892		853		4		1,176		1,200		5
Total fixed maturities	$	21,099	$	21,528	100	%	$	20,764	$	22,155	100	%

As of December 31, 2018 and 2017, approximately 34% and 35%, respectively, of the securities rated AAA were GNMA, FNMA and FHLMC mortgage backed securities. The Company had holdings of $382 million in AT&T, Inc., and holdings of $374 million in Ameriprise Advisor Financing, LLC (“AAF”), an affiliate of the Company, both which were greater than 10% of total equity as of December 31, 2018. There were no other holdings of any other issuer greater than 10% of total equity as of both December 31, 2018 and 2017.

The following tables provide information about Available-for-Sale securities with gross unrealized losses and the length of time that individual securities have been in a continuous unrealized loss position:



Description of Securities	December 31, 2018
	Less than 12 months						12 months or more						Total
	Number of Securities	Fair Value		Unrealized Losses			Number of Securities	Fair Value		Unrealized Losses			Number of Securities	Fair Value		Unrealized Losses
	(in millions, except number of securities)
Corporate debt securities	286	$	4,792	$	(141	)	93	$	972	$	(66	)	379	$	5,764	$	(207	)
Residential mortgage backed securities	54	826		(9		)	57	897		(35		)	111	1,723		(44		)
Commercial mortgage backed securities	69	1,146		(25		)	88	1,565		(77		)	157	2,711		(102		)
State and municipal obligations	6	88		(2		)	24	129		(6		)	30	217		(8		)
Asset backed securities	11	149		(1		)	17	124		(2		)	28	273		(3		)
Foreign government bonds and obligations	17	86		(4		)	14	17		(5		)	31	103		(9		)
Total	443	$	7,087	$	(182	)	293	$	3,704	$	(191	)	736	$	10,791	$	(373	)



Description of Securities	December 31, 2017
	Less than 12 months						12 months or more						Total
	Number of Securities	Fair Value		Unrealized Losses			Number of Securities	Fair Value		Unrealized Losses			Number of Securities	Fair Value		Unrealized Losses
	(in millions, except number of securities)
Corporate debt securities	82	$	834	$	(5	)	39	$	360	$	(20	)	121	$	1,194	$	(25	)
Residential mortgage backed securities	36	546		(4		)	41	657		(18		)	77	1,203		(22		)
Commercial mortgage backed securities	56	994		(10		)	42	663		(22		)	98	1,657		(32		)
State and municipal obligations	19	35		—			8	138		(9		)	27	173		(9		)
Asset backed securities	15	116		—			12	76		(2		)	27	192		(2		)
Foreign government bonds and obligations	3	6		—			15	23		(4		)	18	29		(4		)
Common stocks	—	—		—			3	1		(1		)	3	1		(1		)
Total	211	$	2,531	$	(19	)	160	$	1,918	$	(76	)	371	$	4,449	$	(95	)

As part of the Company’s ongoing monitoring process, management determined that the change in gross unrealized losses on its Available-for-Sale securities is primarily attributable to a rise in interest rates as well as wider credit spreads.

The following table presents a rollforward of the cumulative amounts recognized in the Consolidated Statements of Income for other-than-temporary impairments related to credit losses on Available-for-Sale securities for which a portion of the securities’ total other-than-temporary impairments was recognized in OCI:



	December 31,
	2018		2017			2016
	(in millions)
Beginning balance	$	—	$	21		$	33
Reductions for securities sold during the period (realized)	—		(21		)	(12		)
Ending balance	$	—	$	—		$	21

Net realized gains and losses on Available-for-Sale securities, determined using the specific identification method, recognized in net realized investment gains (losses) were as follows:



	Years Ended December 31,
	2018			2017			2016
	(in millions)
Gross realized investment gains	$	16		$	48		$	29
Gross realized investment losses	(7		)	(4		)	(12		)
Total	$	9		$	44		$	17

See Note 19 for a rollforward of net unrealized investment gains (losses) included in AOCI.

Available-for-Sale securities by contractual maturity as of December 31, 2018 were as follows:



	Amortized Cost		Fair Value
	(in millions)
Due within one year	$	1,157	$	1,166
Due after one year through five years	4,887		4,889
Due after five years through 10 years	3,419		3,388
Due after 10 years	3,996		4,517
	13,459		13,960
Residential mortgage backed securities	2,890		2,871
Commercial mortgage backed securities	3,737		3,652
Asset backed securities	1,013		1,045
Total	$	21,099	$	21,528

Actual maturities may differ from contractual maturities because issuers may have the right to call or prepay obligations. Residential mortgage backed securities, commercial mortgage backed securities and asset backed securities are not due at a single maturity date. As such, these securities were not included in the maturities distribution.

The following is a summary of net investment income:



	Years Ended December 31,
	2018		2017			2016
	(in millions)
Fixed maturities	$	919	$	947		$	997
Mortgage loans	117		137			149
Other investments	11		(48		)	8
	1,047		1,036			1,154
Less: investment expenses	24		25			26
Total	$	1,023	$	1,011		$	1,128

Net realized investment gains (losses) are summarized as follows:



	Years Ended December 31,
	2018		2017			2016
	(in millions)
Fixed maturities	$	9	$	44		$	17
Mortgage loans	1		(4		)	10
Other investments	—		—			(1		)
Total	$	10	$	40		$	26

7. Financing Receivables

The Company’s financing receivables include commercial mortgage loans, syndicated loans and policy loans. Syndicated loans are reflected in other investments.

Allowance for Loan Losses

Policy loans do not exceed the cash surrender value of the policy at origination. As there is minimal risk of loss related to policy loans, the Company does not record an allowance for loan losses for policy loans.

The following table presents a rollforward of the allowance for loan losses for the years ended and the ending balance of the allowance for loan losses by impairment method:



	December 31,
	2018			2017			2016
	(in millions)
Beginning balance	$	22		$	25		$	25
Charge-offs	(2		)	(3		)	(3		)
Provisions	—			—			3
Ending balance	$	20		$	22		$	25

Individually evaluated for impairment	$	—		$	—		$	2
Collectively evaluated for impairment	20			22			23

The recorded investment in financing receivables by impairment method was as follows:



	December 31,
	2018		2017
	(in millions)
Individually evaluated for impairment	$	19	$	17
Collectively evaluated for impairment	2,943		3,015
Total	$	2,962	$	3,032

As of December 31, 2018 and 2017, the Company’s recorded investment in financing receivables individually evaluated for impairment for which there was no related allowance for loan losses was $20 million and $17 million, respectively.

During the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, the Company purchased $137 million, $156 million and $73 million, respectively, and sold $44 million, $259 million and $250 million, respectively, of loans. The loans purchased consisted of syndicated loans. The loans sold during 2018 consisted of syndicated loans. The loans sold during 2017 and 2016 primarily consisted of residential mortgage loans. See below for additional discussion on the sales of these loans.

Credit Quality Information

Nonperforming loans, which are generally loans 90 days or more past due, were nil and $5 million as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. All other loans were considered to be performing.

Commercial Mortgage Loans

The Company reviews the credit worthiness of the borrower and the performance of the underlying properties in order to determine the risk of loss on commercial mortgage loans. Based on this review, the commercial mortgage loans are assigned an internal risk rating, which management updates as necessary. Commercial mortgage loans which management has assigned its highest risk rating were nil of total commercial mortgage loans as of both December 31, 2018 and 2017. Loans with the highest risk rating represent distressed loans which the Company has identified as impaired or expects to become delinquent or enter into foreclosure within the next six months. In addition, the Company reviews the concentrations of credit risk by region and property type.

Concentrations of credit risk of commercial mortgage loans by U.S. region were as follows:



	Loans				Percentage
	December 31, 2018		December 31, 2017		December 31, 2018		December 31, 2017
	(in millions)
South Atlantic	$	699	$	735	27	%	28	%
Pacific	766		771		30		29
Mountain	224		242		9		9
West North Central	203		223		8		8
East North Central	208		209		8		8
Middle Atlantic	171		179		7		7
West South Central	139		125		5		5
New England	54		67		2		3
East South Central	99		84		4		3
	2,563		2,635		100	%	100	%
Less: allowance for loan losses	16		16
Total	$	2,547	$	2,619

Concentrations of credit risk of commercial mortgage loans by property type were as follows:



	Loans				Percentage
	December 31, 2018		December 31, 2017		December 31, 2018		December 31, 2017
	(in millions)
Retail	$	854	$	893	33	%	34	%
Office	408		470		16		18
Apartments	583		536		23		20
Industrial	423		451		16		17
Mixed use	45		38		2		1
Hotel	43		39		2		2
Other	207		208		8		8
	2,563		2,635		100	%	100	%
Less: allowance for loan losses	16		16
Total	$	2,547	$	2,619

Residential Mortgage Loans

During the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, the Company sold $249 million and $250 million, respectively, of residential mortgage loans and recorded a loss of $4 million and a gain of $10 million, respectively.

Syndicated Loans

The recorded investment in syndicated loans as of December 31, 2018 and 2017 was $399 million and $397 million, respectively. The Company’s syndicated loan portfolio is diversified across industries and issuers. The primary credit indicator for syndicated loans is whether the loans are performing in accordance with the contractual terms of the syndication. Total nonperforming syndicated loans as of December 31, 2018 and 2017 were nil and $5 million, respectively.

Troubled Debt Restructurings

The recorded investment in restructured loans was not material as of both December 31, 2018 and 2017. Troubled debt restructurings did not have a material impact to the Company’s allowance for loan losses or income recognized for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016. There are no commitments to lend additional funds to borrowers whose loans have been restructured.

8. Deferred Acquisition Costs and Deferred Sales Inducement Costs

In the third quarter of the year, management updated market-related inputs and implemented model changes related to the living benefit valuation. In addition, management conducted its annual review of life insurance and annuity valuation assumptions relative to current experience and management expectations including modeling changes. These aforementioned changes are collectively referred to as unlocking. The impact of unlocking to DAC for the year ended December 31, 2018 primarily reflected updated mortality assumptions on UL and VUL insurance products and lower surrender rate assumptions on variable annuities, partially offset by an

unfavorable impact from updates to assumptions on utilization of guaranteed withdrawal benefits. The impact of unlocking to DAC for the year ended December 31, 2017 primarily reflected improved persistency and mortality on UL and VUL insurance products and a correction related to a variable annuity model assumption partially offset by updates to market-related inputs to the living benefit valuation. The impact of unlocking to DAC for the year ended December 31, 2016 primarily reflected low interest rates that more than offset benefits from persistency on annuity contracts without living benefits. In addition, the Company’s review of its closed LTC business in 2016 resulted in the write-off of DAC, which was included in the impact of unlocking.

The balances of and changes in DAC were as follows:



	2018			2017			2016
	(in millions)
Balance at January 1	$	2,639		$	2,611		$	2,693
Capitalization of acquisition costs	254			242			279			⁽¹⁾
Amortization, excluding the impact of valuation assumptions review	(288		)	(219		)	(253		)
Amortization, impact of valuation assumptions review	33			12			(81		)	⁽²⁾
Impact of change in net unrealized (gains) losses on securities	104			(7		)	(27		)
Balance at December 31	$	2,742		$	2,639		$	2,611

⁽¹⁾Includes a $27 million benefit related to the write-off of the deferred reinsurance liability in connection with the loss recognition on LTC business. The benefit was reported in other insurance and operating expenses on the Consolidated Statements of Income.

⁽²⁾Includes a $58 million expense related to the loss recognition on LTC business.

The balances of and changes in DSIC, which is included in other assets, were as follows:



	2018			2017			2016
	(in millions)
Balance at January 1	$	273		$	301		$	334
Capitalization of sales inducement costs	2			4			5
Amortization, excluding the impact of valuation assumptions review	(42		)	(37		)	(42		)
Amortization, impact of valuation assumptions review	—			(1		)	4
Impact of change in net unrealized (gains) losses on securities	16			6			—
Balance at December 31	$	249		$	273		$	301

9. Reinsurance

The Company reinsures a portion of the insurance risks associated with its traditional life, DI and LTC insurance products through reinsurance agreements with unaffiliated reinsurance companies. Reinsurance contracts do not relieve the Company from its primary obligation to policyholders.

The Company generally reinsures 90% of the death benefit liability for new term life insurance policies beginning in 2001 (RiverSource Life of NY began in 2002) and new individual UL and VUL insurance policies beginning in 2002 (2003 for RiverSource Life of NY). Policies issued prior to these dates are not subject to these same reinsurance levels.

However, for IUL policies issued after September 1, 2013 and VUL policies issued after January 1, 2014, the Company generally reinsures 50% of the death benefit liability. Similarly, the Company reinsures 50% of the death benefit and morbidity liabilities related to its universal life product with LTC benefits.

The maximum amount of life insurance risk the Company will retain is $10 million on a single life and $10 million on any flexible premium survivorship life policy; however, reinsurance agreements are in place such that retaining more than $1.5 million of insurance risk on a single life or a flexible premium survivorship life policy is very unusual. Risk on UL and VUL policies is reinsured on a yearly renewable term basis. Risk on most term life policies starting in 2001 (2002 for RiverSource Life of NY) is reinsured on a coinsurance basis, a type of reinsurance in which the reinsurer participates proportionally in all material risks and premiums associated with a policy.

The Company also has life insurance and fixed annuity risk previously assumed under reinsurance arrangements with unaffiliated insurance companies.

For existing LTC policies, the Company has continued ceding 50% of the risk on a coinsurance basis to subsidiaries of Genworth Financial, Inc. (“Genworth”) and retains the remaining risk. For RiverSource Life of NY, this reinsurance arrangement applies for 1996 and later issues only. Under these agreements, the Company has the right, but never the obligation, to recapture some, or all, of the risk ceded to Genworth.

Generally, the Company retains at most $5,000 per month of risk per life on DI policies sold on policy forms introduced in most states starting in 2007 (2010 for RiverSource Life of NY) and reinsures the remainder of the risk on a coinsurance basis with unaffiliated reinsurance companies. The Company retains all risk for new claims on DI contracts sold on other policy forms introduced prior to

2007 (2010 for RiverSource Life of NY). The Company also retains all risk on accidental death benefit claims and substantially all risk associated with waiver of premium provisions.

As of December 31, 2018 and 2017, traditional life and UL insurance policies in force were $195.1 billion and $195.9 billion, respectively, of which $142.4 billion as of both December 31, 2018 and 2017 were reinsured at the respective year ends.

The effect of reinsurance on premiums for traditional long-duration products was as follows:



	Years Ended December 31,
	2018			2017			2016
	(in millions)
Direct premiums	$	621		$	637		$	642
Reinsurance ceded	(225		)	(227		)	(225		)
Net premiums	$	396		$	410		$	417

Policy and contract charges are presented on the Consolidated Statements of Income net of $126 million, $114 million and $110 million of reinsurance ceded for non-traditional long-duration products for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

The amount of claims recovered through reinsurance on all contracts was $331 million, $298 million and $318 million for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

Reinsurance recoverables include approximately $2.5 billion and $2.3 billion related to LTC risk ceded to Genworth as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

Policyholder account balances, future policy benefits and claims include $484 million and $509 million related to previously assumed reinsurance arrangements as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

10. Policyholder Account Balances, Future Policy Benefits and Claims and Separate Account Liabilities

Policyholder account balances, future policy benefits and claims consisted of the following:



	December 31,
	2018			2017
	(in millions)
Policyholder account balances
Fixed annuities ⁽¹⁾	$	9,338		$	9,934
Variable annuity fixed sub-accounts	5,129			5,166
UL/VUL insurance	3,063			3,047
IUL insurance	1,728			1,384
Other life insurance	683			720
Total policyholder account balances	19,941			20,251

Future policy benefits
Variable annuity GMWB	875			463
Variable annuity GMAB ⁽²⁾	(19		)	(80		)
Other annuity liabilities	26			78
Fixed annuity life contingent liabilities	1,459			1,484
Life and DI insurance	1,221			1,221
LTC insurance	4,981			4,896
UL/VUL and other life insurance additional liabilities	749			688
Total future policy benefits	9,292			8,750
Policy claims and other policyholders’ funds	174			177
Total policyholder account balances, future policy benefits and claims	$	29,407		$	29,178


⁽¹⁾	Includes fixed deferred annuities, non-life contingent fixed payout annuities and indexed annuity host contracts.

⁽²⁾Includes the fair value of GMAB embedded derivatives that was a net asset as of both December 31, 2018 and 2017 reported as a contra liability.

Fixed Annuities

Fixed annuities include deferred, payout and indexed annuity contracts.

Deferred contracts offer a guaranteed minimum rate of interest and security of the principal invested. Payout contracts guarantee a fixed income payment for life or the term of the contract. Liabilities for fixed annuities in a benefit or payout status are based on future estimated payments using established industry mortality tables and interest rates, ranging from 2.71% to 9.38% as of December 31, 2018, depending on year of issue, with an average rate of approximately 3.94%. The Company generally invests the proceeds from the annuity contracts in fixed rate securities.

The Company’s equity indexed annuity (“EIA”) product is a single premium fixed deferred annuity. The Company discontinued new sales of EIAs in 2007. The contract was issued with an initial term of seven years and interest earnings are linked to the performance of the S&P 500^® Index. This annuity has a minimum interest rate guarantee of 3% on 90% of the initial premium, adjusted for any surrenders. The Company generally invests the proceeds from the annuity contracts in fixed rate securities and hedges the equity risk with derivative instruments.

The Company’s fixed index annuity product is a fixed annuity that includes an indexed account. The rate of interest credited above the minimum guarantee for funds allocated to the indexed account is linked to the performance of the specific index for the indexed account (subject to a cap). The Company offers S&P 500^®Index and MSCI^® EAFE Index account options. Both options offer two crediting durations, one-year and two-year. The contractholder may allocate all or a portion of the policy value to a fixed or indexed account. The portion of the policy allocated to the indexed account is accounted for as an embedded derivative. The Company hedges the interest credited rate including equity and interest rate risk related to the indexed account with derivative instruments. The contractholder can choose to add a GMWB for life rider for an additional fee.

See Note 18 for additional information regarding the Company’s derivative instruments used to hedge the risk related to indexed annuities.

Variable Annuities

Purchasers of variable annuities can select from a variety of investment options and can elect to allocate a portion to a fixed account. A vast majority of the premiums received for variable annuity contracts are held in separate accounts where the assets are held for the exclusive benefit of those contractholders.

Most of the variable annuity contracts currently issued by the Company contain one or more guaranteed benefits, including GMWB, GMAB, GMDB and GGU provisions. The Company previously offered contracts with GMIB provisions. See Note 2 and Note 11 for additional information regarding the Company’s variable annuity guarantees. The Company does not currently hedge its risk under the GGU and GMIB provisions. See Note 14 and Note 18 for additional information regarding the Company’s derivative instruments used to hedge risks related to GMWB, GMAB and GMDB provisions.

Insurance Liabilities

UL/VUL is the largest group of insurance policies written by the Company. Purchasers of UL accumulate cash value that increases by a fixed interest rate. Purchasers of VUL can select from a variety of investment options and can elect to allocate a portion to a fixed account or a separate account. A vast majority of the premiums received for VUL policies are held in separate accounts where the assets are held for the exclusive benefit of those policyholders.

IUL is a universal life policy that includes an indexed account. The rate of credited interest above the minimum guarantee for funds allocated to the indexed account is linked to the performance of the specific index for the indexed account (subject to a cap and floor). The Company offers an S&P 500^® Index account option and a blended multi-index account option comprised of the S&P 500 Index, the MSCI^® EAFE Index and the MSCI EM Index. Both options offer two crediting durations, one-year and two-year. The policyholder may allocate all or a portion of the policy value to a fixed or any available indexed account. The portion of the policy allocated to the indexed account is accounted for as an embedded derivative at fair value. The Company hedges the interest credited rate including equity and interest rate risk related to the indexed account with derivative instruments. See Note 18 for additional information regarding the Company’s derivative instruments used to hedge the risk related to IUL.

The Company also offers term life insurance as well as DI products. The Company no longer offers standalone LTC products and whole life insurance but has in force policies from prior years.

Insurance liabilities include accumulation values, incurred but not reported claims, obligations for anticipated future claims and unpaid reported claims.

The liability for estimates of benefits that will become payable on future claims on term life, whole life and DI policies is based on the net level premium and LTC policies is based on a gross premium valuation reflecting management’s current best estimate assumptions. Both include the anticipated interest rates earned on assets supporting the liability. Anticipated interest rates for term and whole life ranged from 3% to 10% as of December 31, 2018. Anticipated interest rates for DI policies ranged from 4% to 7.5% as of December 31, 2018 and for LTC policies ranged from 5.9% to 6.8% as of December 31, 2018.

The liability for unpaid reported claims on DI and LTC policies includes an estimate of the present value of obligations for continuing benefit payments. The discount rates used to calculate present values are based on average interest rates earned on assets supporting the liability for unpaid amounts and were 4.5% and 6.2% for DI and LTC claims, respectively, as of December 31, 2018.

Portions of the Company’s UL and VUL policies have product features that result in profits followed by losses from the insurance component of the policy. These profits followed by losses can be generated by the cost structure of the product or secondary guarantees in the policy. The secondary guarantee ensures that, subject to specified conditions, the policy will not terminate and will continue to provide a death benefit even if there is insufficient policy value to cover the monthly deductions and charges.

Separate Account Liabilities

Separate account liabilities consisted of the following:



	December 31,
	2018		2017
	(in millions)
Variable annuity	$	66,913	$	75,174
VUL insurance	6,451		7,352
Other insurance	29		34
Total	$	73,393	$	82,560

11. Variable Annuity and Insurance Guarantees

The majority of the variable annuity contracts offered by the Company contain GMDB provisions. The Company also offers variable annuities with GGU, GMWB and GMAB provisions. The Company previously offered contracts containing GMIB provisions. See Note 2 and Note 10 for additional information regarding the Company’s variable annuity guarantees.

The GMDB and GGU provisions provide a specified minimum return upon death of the contractholder. The death benefit payable is the greater of (i) the contract value less any purchase payment credits subject to recapture less a pro-rata portion of any rider fees, or (ii) the GMDB provisions specified in the contract. The Company has the following primary GMDB provisions:


•	Return of premium – provides purchase payments minus adjusted partial surrenders.


•	Reset – provides that the value resets to the account value every sixth contract anniversary minus adjusted partial surrenders. This provision was often provided in combination with the return of premium provision and is no longer offered.


•	Ratchet – provides that the value ratchets up to the maximum account value at specified anniversary intervals, plus subsequent purchase payments less adjusted partial surrenders.

The variable annuity contracts with GMWB riders typically have account values that are based on an underlying portfolio of mutual funds, the values of which fluctuate based on fund performance. At issue, the guaranteed amount is equal to the amount deposited but the guarantee may be increased annually to the account value (a “step-up”) in the case of favorable market performance or by a benefit credit if the contract includes this provision.

The Company has GMWB riders in force, which contain one or more of the following provisions:


•	Withdrawals at a specified rate per year until the amount withdrawn is equal to the guaranteed amount.


•	Withdrawals at a specified rate per year for the life of the contractholder (“GMWB for life”).


•	Withdrawals at a specified rate per year for joint contractholders while either is alive.


•	Withdrawals based on performance of the contract.


•	Withdrawals based on the age withdrawals begin.


•	Credits are applied annually for a specified number of years to increase the guaranteed amount as long as withdrawals have not been taken.

Variable annuity contractholders age 79 or younger at contract issue can also obtain a principal-back guarantee by purchasing the optional GMAB rider for an additional charge. The GMAB rider guarantees that, regardless of market performance at the end of the 10-year waiting period, the contract value will be no less than the original investment or a specified percentage of the highest anniversary value, adjusted for withdrawals. If the contract value is less than the guarantee at the end of the 10-year period, a lump sum will be added to the contract value to make the contract value equal to the guarantee value.

Certain UL policies offered by the Company provide secondary guarantee benefits. The secondary guarantee ensures that, subject to specified conditions, the policy will not terminate and will continue to provide a death benefit even if there is insufficient policy value to cover the monthly deductions and charges.

The following table provides information related to variable annuity guarantees for which the Company has established additional liabilities:



Variable Annuity Guarantees by Benefit Type (1)	December 31, 2018							December 31, 2017
	Total Contract Value		Contract Value in Separate Accounts		Net Amount at Risk		Weighted Average Attained Age	Total Contract Value		Contract Value in Separate Accounts		Net Amount at Risk		Weighted Average Attained Age
	(in millions, except age)
GMDB:
Return of premium	$	55,810	$	53,872	$	417	67	$	61,418	$	59,461	$	9	66
Five/six-year reset	7,670		4,941		112		67	8,870		6,149		12		66
One-year ratchet	5,560		5,210		417		70	6,548		6,187		11		69
Five-year ratchet	1,307		1,251		23		66	1,563		1,506		1		65
Other	1,033		1,014		148		72	1,099		1,075		50		72
Total — GMDB	$	71,380	$	66,288	$	1,117	67	$	79,498	$	74,378	$	83	66

GGU death benefit	$	992	$	940	$	112	70	$	1,118	$	1,067	$	133	70

GMIB	$	180	$	164	$	12	69	$	233	$	216	$	7	69

GMWB:
GMWB	$	1,990	$	1,984	$	3	72	$	2,508	$	2,500	$	1	71
GMWB for life	40,966		40,876		742		68	44,375		44,259		129		67
Total — GMWB	$	42,956	$	42,860	$	745	68	$	46,883	$	46,759	$	130	67

GMAB	$	2,456	$	2,450	$	24	59	$	3,086	$	3,083	$	—	59

⁽¹⁾ Individual variable annuity contracts may have more than one guarantee and therefore may be included in more than one benefit type. Variable annuity contracts for which the death benefit equals the account value are not shown in this table.

The net amount at risk for GMDB, GGU and GMAB is defined as the current guaranteed benefit amount in excess of the current contract value. The net amount at risk for GMIB is defined as the greater of the present value of the minimum guaranteed annuity payments less the current contract value or zero. The net amount at risk for GMWB is defined as the greater of the present value of the minimum guaranteed withdrawal payments less the current contract value or zero.

The following table provides information related to insurance guarantees for which the Company has established additional liabilities:



	December 31, 2018			December 31, 2017
	Net Amount at Risk		Weighted Average Attained Age	Net Amount at Risk		Weighted Average Attained Age
	(in millions, except age)
UL secondary guarantees	$	6,513	66	$	6,460	65

The net amount at risk for UL secondary guarantees is defined as the current guaranteed death benefit amount in excess of the current policyholder account balance.

Changes in additional liabilities (contra liabilities) for variable annuity and insurance guarantees were as follows:



	GMDB & GGU			GMIB			GMWB⁽¹⁾			GMAB⁽¹⁾			UL
	(in millions)
Balance at January 1, 2016	$	14		$	8		$	1,057		$	—		$	332
Incurred claims	11			1			(40		)	(23		)	127
Paid claims	(9		)	(1		)	—			(1		)	(25		)
Balance at December 31, 2016	16			8			1,017			(24		)	434
Incurred claims	5			—			(554		)	(56		)	84
Paid claims	(4		)	(2		)	—			—			(29		)
Balance at December 31, 2017	17			6			463			(80		)	489
Incurred claims	8			2			412			61			201
Paid claims	(6		)	—			—			—			(31		)
Balance at December 31, 2018	$	19		$	8		$	875		$	(19	)	$	659

⁽¹⁾ The incurred claims for GMWB and GMAB include the change in the fair value of the liabilities (contra liabilities) less paid claims.

The liabilities for guaranteed benefits are supported by general account assets.

The following table summarizes the distribution of separate account balances by asset type for variable annuity contracts providing guaranteed benefits:



	December 31,
	2018		2017
	(in millions)
Mutual funds:
Equity	$	39,764	$	46,038
Bond	21,190		23,529
Other	5,568		5,109
Total mutual funds	$	66,522	$	74,676

No gains or losses were recognized on assets transferred to separate accounts for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016.

12. Lines of Credit

RiverSource Life Insurance Company, as the borrower, has a revolving credit agreement with Ameriprise Financial as the lender. The aggregate amount outstanding under the line of credit may not exceed 3% of RiverSource Life Insurance Company’s statutory admitted assets (excluding separate accounts) as of the prior year end. The interest rate for any borrowing under the agreement is established by reference to LIBOR for U.S. dollar deposits with maturities comparable to the relevant interest period, plus an applicable margin subject to adjustment based on debt ratings of the senior unsecured debt of Ameriprise Financial. Amounts borrowed may be repaid at any time with no prepayment penalty. There were no amounts outstanding on this line of credit as of both December 31, 2018 and 2017.

RiverSource Life of NY, as the borrower, has a revolving credit agreement with Ameriprise Financial as the lender. The aggregate amount outstanding under the line of credit may not exceed the lesser of $25 million or 3% of RiverSource Life of NY’s statutory admitted assets (excluding separate accounts) as of the prior year end. The interest rate for any borrowing is established by reference to LIBOR for U.S. dollar deposits with maturities comparable to the relevant interest period. Amounts borrowed may be repaid at any time with no prepayment penalty. There were no amounts outstanding on this line of credit as of both December 31, 2018 and 2017.

RTA has a revolving credit agreement with Ameriprise Financial as the lender not to exceed $100 million. The interest rate for any borrowing is established by reference to LIBOR for U.S. dollar deposits with maturities comparable to the relevant interest period, plus an applicable margin subject to adjustment based on debt ratings of the senior unsecured debt of Ameriprise Financial. This line of credit is automatically renewed annually with Ameriprise Financial. There were no amounts outstanding on this revolving credit agreement as of both December 31, 2018 and 2017.

RiverSource Life Insurance Company, as the lender, has a revolving credit agreement with Ameriprise Financial as the borrower. This line of credit is not to exceed 3% of RiverSource Life Insurance Company’s statutory admitted assets as of the prior year end. The interest rate for any borrowing is established by reference to LIBOR for U.S. dollar deposits with maturities comparable to the relevant interest period, plus an applicable margin subject to adjustment based on debt ratings of the senior unsecured debt of Ameriprise Financial. In the event of default, an additional 1% interest will accrue during such period of default. There were no amounts outstanding on this revolving credit agreement as of both December 31, 2018 and 2017.

13. Short-term Borrowings

The Company enters into repurchase agreements in exchange for cash which it accounts for as secured borrowings and has pledged Available-for-Sale securities to collateralize its obligations under the repurchase agreements. As of December 31, 2018 and 2017, the Company has pledged $52 million and $43 million, respectively, of agency residential mortgage backed securities and nil and $8 million, respectively, of commercial mortgage backed securities. The amount of the Company’s liability including accrued interest as of both December 31, 2018 and 2017 was $50 million. The remaining maturity of outstanding repurchase agreements was less than three months as of December 31, 2018 and less than one month as of December 31, 2017. The weighted average annualized interest rate on repurchase agreements held as of December 31, 2018 and 2017 was 2.6% and 1.4%, respectively.

RiverSource Life Insurance Company is a member of the Federal Home Loan Bank (“FHLB”) of Des Moines which provides access to collateralized borrowings. The Company has pledged Available-for-Sale securities consisting of commercial mortgage backed securities to collateralize its obligation under these borrowings. The fair value of the securities pledged is recorded in investments and was $780 million and $750 million as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. The amount of the Company’s liability including accrued interest was $151 million and $150 million as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. The remaining maturity of outstanding FHLB advances was less than three months as of December 31, 2018 and less than four months as of December 31, 2017. The weighted average annualized interest rate on the FHLB advances held as of December 31, 2018 and 2017 was 2.6% and 1.5%, respectively.

14. Fair Values of Assets and Liabilities

GAAP defines fair value 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; that is, an exit price. The exit price assumes the asset or liability is not exchanged subject to a forced liquidation or distressed sale.

Valuation Hierarchy

The Company categorizes its fair value measurements according to a three-level hierarchy. The hierarchy prioritizes the inputs used by the Company’s valuation techniques. A level is assigned to each fair value measurement based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement in its entirety. The three levels of the fair value hierarchy are defined as follows:


Level 1	Unadjusted quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities in active markets that are accessible at the measurement date.


Level 2	Prices or valuations based on observable inputs other than quoted prices in active markets for identical assets and liabilities.


Level 3	Prices or valuations that require inputs that are both significant to the fair value measurement and unobservable.

The following tables present the balances of assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis:



	December 31, 2018
	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
	(in millions)
Assets
Available-for-Sale securities: Fixed maturities:
Corporate debt securities	$	—	$	11,520	$	871	$	12,391
Residential mortgage backed securities	—		2,807		64		2,871
Commercial mortgage backed securities	—		3,652		—		3,652
State and municipal obligations	—		1,283		—		1,283
Asset backed securities	—		671		374		1,045
Foreign government bonds and obligations	—		285		—		285
U.S. government and agency obligations	1		—		—		1
Total Available-for-Sale securities: Fixed maturities	1		20,218		1,309		21,528
Cash equivalents	—		1,000		—		1,000
Other assets:
Interest rate derivative contracts	—		789		—		789
Equity derivative contracts	189		1,515		—		1,704
Foreign exchange derivative contracts	—		54		—		54
Total other assets	189		2,358		—		2,547
Separate account assets at net asset value (“NAV”)							73,393		⁽¹⁾
Total assets at fair value	$	190	$	23,576	$	1,309	$	98,468

Liabilities
Policyholder account balances, future policy benefits and claims:
Indexed annuity embedded derivatives	$	—	$	3	$	14	$	17
IUL embedded derivatives	—		—		628		628
GMWB and GMAB embedded derivatives	—		—		328		328		⁽²⁾
Total policyholder account balances, future policy benefits and claims	—		3		970		973		⁽³⁾
Other liabilities:
Interest rate derivative contracts	—		422		—		422
Equity derivative contracts	77		1,901		—		1,978
Foreign exchange derivative contracts	2		32		—		34
Credit derivative contracts	—		18		—		18
Total other liabilities	79		2,373		—		2,452
Total liabilities at fair value	$	79	$	2,376	$	970	$	3,425



	December 31, 2017
	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3			Total
	(in millions)
Assets
Available-for-Sale securities: Fixed maturities:
Corporate debt securities	$	—	$	12,161	$	1,072		$	13,233
Residential mortgage backed securities	—		2,924		87			3,011
Commercial mortgage backed securities	—		3,569		—			3,569
State and municipal obligations	—		1,314		—			1,314
Asset backed securities	—		728		—			728
Foreign government bonds and obligations	—		299		—			299
U.S. government and agency obligations	1		—		—			1
Total Available-for-Sale securities: Fixed maturities	1		20,995		1,159			22,155
Cash equivalents	—		1,030		—			1,030
Other assets:
Interest rate derivative contracts	—		1,081		—			1,081
Equity derivative contracts	62		2,305		—			2,367
Foreign exchange derivative contracts	1		34		—			35
Total other assets	63		3,420		—			3,483
Separate account assets at NAV								82,560			⁽¹⁾
Total assets at fair value	$	64	$	25,445	$	1,159		$	109,228

Liabilities
Policyholder account balances, future policy benefits and claims:
Indexed annuity embedded derivatives	$	—	$	5	$	—		$	5
IUL embedded derivatives	—		—		601			601
GMWB and GMAB embedded derivatives	—		—		(49		)	(49		)	⁽⁴⁾
Total policyholder account balances, future policy benefits and claims	—		5		552			557			⁽⁵⁾
Other liabilities:
Interest rate derivative contracts	1		414		—			415
Equity derivative contracts	5		2,666		—			2,671
Foreign exchange derivative contracts	—		23		—			23
Credit derivative contracts	—		2		—			2
Total other liabilities	6		3,105		—			3,111
Total liabilities at fair value	$	6	$	3,110	$	552		$	3,668

⁽¹⁾ Amounts are comprised of certain financial instruments that are measured at fair value using the NAV per share (or its equivalent) as a practical expedient and have not been classified in the fair value hierarchy.

⁽²⁾The fair value of the GMWB and GMAB embedded derivatives included $646 million of individual contracts in a liability position and $318 million of individual contracts in an asset position as of December 31, 2018.

⁽³⁾ The Company’s adjustment for nonperformance risk resulted in a $(726) million cumulative increase (decrease) to the embedded derivatives as of December 31, 2018.

⁽⁴⁾The fair value of the GMWB and GMAB embedded derivatives included $443 million of individual contracts in a liability position and $492 million of individual contracts in an asset position as of December 31, 2017.

⁽⁵⁾ The Company’s adjustment for nonperformance risk resulted in a $(399) million cumulative increase (decrease) to the embedded derivatives as of December 31, 2017.

The following tables provide a summary of changes in Level 3 assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis:



	Available-for-Sale Securities: Fixed Maturities																Other Derivative Contracts
	Corporate Debt Securities			Residential Mortgage Backed Securities			Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities			Asset Backed Securities			Total				Other Derivative Contracts
	(in millions)
Balance, January 1, 2018	$	1,072		$	87		$	—		$	—		$	1,159			$	—
Total gains (losses) included in:
Net income	(1		)	—			—			—			(1		)	⁽¹⁾	(3		)	⁽²⁾
Other comprehensive income (loss)	(26		)	1			—			3			(22		)		—
Purchases	15			—			12			381			408				3
Settlements	(189		)	(6		)	—			—			(195		)		—
Transfers out of Level 3	—			(18		)	(12		)	(10		)	(40		)		—
Balance, December 31, 2018	$	871		$	64		$	—		$	374		$	1,309			$	—

Changes in unrealized gains (losses) relating to assets held at December 31, 2018	$	(1	)	$	—		$	—		$	—		$	(1	)	⁽¹⁾	$	—



	Policyholder Account Balances, Future Policy Benefits and Claims
	Indexed Annuity Embedded Derivatives				IUL Embedded Derivatives				GMWB and GMAB Embedded Derivatives				Total
	(in millions)
Balance, January 1, 2018	$	—			$	601			$	(49	)		$	552
Total (gains) losses included in:
Net income	(3		)	⁽³⁾	(9		)	⁽³⁾	49			⁽²⁾	37
Issues	17				90				350				457
Settlements	—				(54		)		(22		)		(76		)
Balance, December 31, 2018	$	14			$	628			$	328			$	970

Changes in unrealized (gains) losses relating to liabilities held at December 31, 2018	$	—			$	(9	)	⁽³⁾	$	47		⁽²⁾	$	38



	Available-for-Sale Securities: Fixed Maturities																Common Stocks
	Corporate Debt Securities			Residential Mortgage Backed Securities			Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities			Asset Backed Securities			Total				Common Stocks
	(in millions)
Balance, January 1, 2017	$	1,157		$	115		$	—		$	13		$	1,285			$	—
Total gains (losses) included in:
Net income	1			—			—			—			1			⁽¹⁾	—
Other comprehensive income (loss)	(8		)	1			—			—			(7		)		—
Purchases	124			67			36			49			276				—
Settlements	(202		)	(7		)	—			(13		)	(222		)		—
Transfers into Level 3	—			—			—			11			11				4
Transfers out of Level 3	—			(89		)	(36		)	(60		)	(185		)		(4		)
Balance, December 31, 2017	$	1,072		$	87		$	—		$	—		$	1,159			$	—

Changes in unrealized gains (losses) relating to assets held at December 31, 2017	$	1		$	—		$	—		$	—		$	1		⁽¹⁾	$	—



	Policyholder Account Balances, Future Policy Benefits and Claims
	IUL Embedded Derivatives				GMWB and GMAB Embedded Derivatives				Total
	(in millions)
Balance, January 1, 2017	$	464			$	614			$	1,078
Total (gains) losses included in:
Net income	87			⁽³⁾	(977		)	⁽²⁾	(890		)
Issues	92				326				418
Settlements	(42		)		(12		)		(54		)
Balance, December 31, 2017	$	601			$	(49	)		$	552

Changes in unrealized (gains) losses relating to liabilities held at December 31, 2017	$	87		⁽³⁾	$	(946	)	⁽²⁾	$	(859	)



	Available-for-Sale Securities: Fixed Maturities																Other Derivative Contracts
	Corporate Debt Securities			Residential Mortgage Backed Securities			Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities			Asset Backed Securities			Total				Other Derivative Contracts
	(in millions)
Balance, January 1, 2016	$	1,235		$	21		$	3		$	133		$	1,392			$	—
Total gains (losses) included in:
Net income	1			—			—			1			2			⁽¹⁾	(2		)	⁽²⁾
Other comprehensive income (loss)	(1		)	(1		)	—			—			(2		)		—
Purchases	47			134			42			—			223				2
Settlements	(126		)	(9		)	(3		)	(1		)	(139		)		—
Transfers into Level 3	1			—			—			12			13				—
Transfers out of Level 3	—			(30		)	(42		)	(132		)	(204		)		—
Balance, December 31, 2016	$	1,157		$	115		$	—		$	13		$	1,285			$	—

Changes in unrealized gains (losses) relating to assets held at December 31, 2016	$	1		$	—		$	—		$	—		$	1		⁽¹⁾	$	(2	)	⁽²⁾



	Policyholder Account Balances, Future Policy Benefits and Claims
	IUL Embedded Derivatives				GMWB and GMAB Embedded Derivatives				Total
	(in millions)
Balance, January 1, 2016	$	364			$	851			$	1,215
Total (gains) losses included in:
Net income	13			⁽³⁾	(511		)	⁽²⁾	(498		)
Issues	115				295				410
Settlements	(28		)		(21		)		(49		)
Balance, December 31, 2016	$	464			$	614			$	1,078

Changes in unrealized (gains) losses relating to liabilities held at December 31, 2016	$	13		⁽³⁾	$	(448	)	⁽²⁾	$	(435	)

⁽¹⁾ Included in net investment income in the Consolidated Statements of Income.

⁽²⁾ Included in benefits, claims, losses and settlement expenses in the Consolidated Statements of Income.

⁽³⁾ Included in interest credited to fixed accounts in the Consolidated Statements of Income.

The increase (decrease) to pretax income of the Company’s adjustment for nonperformance risk on the fair value of its embedded derivatives was $281 million, $(71) million and $98 million, net of DAC, DSIC, unearned revenue amortization and the reinsurance accrual, for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

Securities transferred from Level 3 primarily represent securities with fair values that are now obtained from a third-party pricing service with observable inputs. Securities transferred to Level 3 represent securities with fair values that are now based on a single non-binding broker quote.

The following tables provide a summary of the significant unobservable inputs used in the fair value measurements developed by the Company or reasonably available to the Company of Level 3 assets and liabilities:



	December 31, 2018
	Fair Value		Valuation Technique	Unobservable Input	Range				Weighted Average
	(in millions)
Corporate debt securities (private placements)	$	871	Discounted cash flow	Yield/spread to U.S. Treasuries	1.0%		-	3.6%	1.5	%
Asset backed securities	$	374	Discounted cash flow	Annual default rate	2.5%
				Loss severity	25.0%
				Yield/spread to swap rates	85	bps	-	115 bps	87 bps
IUL embedded derivatives	$	628	Discounted cash flow	Nonperformance risk⁽¹⁾	119 bps
Indexed annuity embedded derivatives	$	14	Discounted cash flow	Surrender rate	0.0%		-	50.0%
				Nonperformance risk⁽¹⁾	119 bps
GMWB and GMAB embedded derivatives	$	328	Discounted cash flow	Utilization of guaranteed withdrawals⁽²⁾	0.0%		-	36.0%
				Surrender rate	0.1%		-	73.4%
				Market volatility⁽³⁾	4.0%		-	16.1%
				Nonperformance risk⁽¹⁾	119 bps



	December 31, 2017
	Fair Value			Valuation Technique	Unobservable Input	Range				Weighted Average
	(in millions)
Corporate debt securities (private placements)	$	1,070		Discounted cash flow	Yield/spread to U.S. Treasuries	0.7	%	-	2.3%	1.1	%
IUL embedded derivatives	$	601		Discounted cash flow	Nonperformance risk⁽¹⁾	71 bps
GMWB and GMAB embedded derivatives	$	(49	)	Discounted cash flow	Utilization of guaranteed withdrawals⁽²⁾	0.0	%	-	42.0%
					Surrender rate	0.1	%	-	74.7%
					Market volatility⁽³⁾	3.7	%	-	16.1%
					Nonperformance risk⁽¹⁾	71 bps

⁽¹⁾The nonperformance risk is the spread added to the observable interest rates used in the valuation of the embedded derivatives.

⁽²⁾ The utilization of guaranteed withdrawals represents the percentage of contractholders that will begin withdrawing in any given year.

⁽³⁾ Market volatility is implied volatility of fund of funds and managed volatility funds.

Level 3 measurements not included in the table above are obtained from non-binding broker quotes where unobservable inputs utilized in the fair value calculation are not reasonably available to the Company.

Uncertainty of Fair Value Measurements

Significant increases (decreases) in the yield/spread to U.S. Treasuries used in the fair value measurement of Level 3 corporate debt securities in isolation would have resulted in a significantly lower (higher) fair value measurement.

Significant increases (decreases) in the annual default rate used in the fair value measurement of Level 3 asset backed securities in isolation, generally, would have resulted in a significantly lower (higher) fair value measurement and significant increases (decreases) in loss severity in isolation would have resulted in a significantly higher (lower) fair value measurement. Significant increases (decreases) in the yield/spread to swap rates in isolation would have resulted in a significantly lower (higher) fair value measurement.

Significant increases (decreases) in nonperformance risk used in the fair value measurement of the IUL embedded derivatives in isolation would have resulted in a significantly lower (higher) fair value measurement.

Significant increases (decreases) in nonperformance risk and surrender rate used in the fair value measurement of the indexed annuity embedded derivatives in isolation would have resulted in a significantly lower (higher) liability value.

Significant increases (decreases) in utilization and volatility used in the fair value measurement of the GMWB and GMAB embedded derivatives in isolation would have resulted in a significantly higher (lower) liability value. Significant increases (decreases) in nonperformance risk and surrender rate used in the fair value measurement of the GMWB and GMAB embedded derivatives in isolation would have resulted in a significantly lower (higher) liability value. Utilization of guaranteed withdrawals and surrender rates vary with the type of rider, the duration of the policy, the age of the contractholder, the distribution channel and whether the value of the guaranteed benefit exceeds the contract accumulation value.

Determination of Fair Value

The Company uses valuation techniques consistent with the market and income approaches to measure the fair value of its assets and liabilities. The Company’s market approach uses prices and other relevant information generated by market transactions involving identical or comparable assets or liabilities. The Company’s income approach uses valuation techniques to convert future projected cash flows to a single discounted present value amount. When applying either approach, the Company maximizes the use of observable inputs and minimizes the use of unobservable inputs.

The following is a description of the valuation techniques used to measure fair value and the general classification of these instruments pursuant to the fair value hierarchy.

Assets

Cash Equivalents

Cash equivalents include highly liquid investments with original or remaining maturities at the time of purchase of 90 days or less. The Company’s cash equivalents are classified as Level 2 and measured at amortized cost, which is a reasonable estimate of fair value because of the short time between the purchase of the instrument and its expected realization.

Available-for-Sale Securities

When available, the fair value of securities is based on quoted prices in active markets. If quoted prices are not available, fair values are obtained from third-party pricing services, non-binding broker quotes, or other model-based valuation techniques. Level 1 securities primarily include U.S. Treasuries.

Level 2 securities primarily include corporate bonds, residential mortgage backed securities, commercial mortgage backed securities, state and municipal obligations, asset backed securities and foreign government securities. The fair value of these Level 2 securities is based on a market approach with prices obtained from third-party pricing services. Observable inputs used to value these securities can include, but are not limited to, reported trades, benchmark yields, issuer spreads and non-binding broker quotes.

Level 3 securities primarily include certain corporate bonds, non-agency residential mortgage backed securities and affiliated and unaffiliated asset backed securities. The fair value of corporate bonds, non-agency residential mortgage backed securities and unaffiliated asset backed securities classified as Level 3 is typically based on a single non-binding broker quote. The underlying inputs used for some of the non-binding broker quotes are not readily available to the Company. The Company’s privately placed corporate bonds are typically based on a single non-binding broker quote. The fair value of affiliated asset backed securities is determined using a discounted cash flow model. Inputs used to determine the expected cash flows include assumptions about discount rates and default, prepayment and recovery rates of the underlying assets. Given the significance of the unobservable inputs to this fair value measurement, the fair value of the investment in the affiliated asset backed securities is classified as Level 3.

In consideration of the above, management is responsible for the fair values recorded on the financial statements. Prices received from third-party pricing services are subjected to exception reporting that identifies investments with significant daily price movements as well as no movements. The Company reviews the exception reporting and resolves the exceptions through reaffirmation of the price or recording an appropriate fair value estimate. The Company also performs subsequent transaction testing. The Company performs annual due diligence of third-party pricing services. The Company’s due diligence procedures include assessing the vendor’s valuation qualifications, control environment, analysis of asset-class specific valuation methodologies, and understanding of sources of market observable assumptions and unobservable assumptions, if any, employed in the valuation methodology. The Company also considers the results of its exception reporting controls and any resulting price challenges that arise.

Separate Account Assets

The fair value of assets held by separate accounts is determined by the NAV of the funds in which those separate accounts are invested. The NAV is used as a practical expedient for fair value and represents the exit price for the separate account. Separate account assets are excluded from classification in the fair value hierarchy.

Other Assets

traded in less active over-the-counter (“OTC”) markets is generally measured using pricing models with market observable inputs such as interest rates and equity index levels. These measurements are classified as Level 2 within the fair value hierarchy and include swaps and the majority of options. The fair value of certain derivatives measured using pricing models which include significant unobservable inputs are classified as Level 3 within the fair value hierarchy. Other derivative contracts consist of the Company’s macro hedge derivatives that contain settlement provisions linked to both equity returns and interest rates. See Note 18 for further information on the macro hedge program. The counterparties’ nonperformance risk associated with uncollateralized derivative assets was immaterial as of December 31, 2018 and 2017. See Note 17 and Note 18 for further information on the credit risk of derivative instruments and related collateral.

Liabilities

Policyholder Account Balances, Future Policy Benefits and Claims

The Company values the embedded derivatives attributable to the provisions of certain variable annuity riders using internal valuation models. These models calculate fair value by discounting expected cash flows from benefits plus margins for profit, risk and expenses less embedded derivative fees. The projected cash flows used by these models include observable capital market assumptions and incorporate significant unobservable inputs related to contractholder behavior assumptions, implied volatility, and margins for risk, profit and expenses that the Company believes an exit market participant would expect. The fair value also reflects a current estimate of the Company’s nonperformance risk specific to these embedded derivatives. Given the significant unobservable inputs to this valuation, these measurements are classified as Level 3. The embedded derivatives attributable to these provisions are recorded in policyholder account balances, future policy benefits and claims.

The Company uses various Black-Scholes calculations to determine the fair value of the embedded derivatives associated with the provisions of its indexed annuity and IUL products. Significant inputs to the EIA calculation include observable interest rates, volatilities and equity index levels and, therefore, are classified as Level 2. The fair value of fixed index annuity and IUL embedded derivatives includes significant observable interest rates, volatilities and equity index levels and the significant unobservable estimate of the Company’s nonperformance risk. Given the significance of the nonperformance risk assumption to the fair value, the fixed index annuity and IUL embedded derivatives are classified as Level 3. The embedded derivatives attributable to these provisions are recorded in policyholder account balances, future policy benefits and claims.

Other Liabilities

Derivatives that are measured using quoted prices in active markets, such as derivatives that are exchange-traded, are classified as Level 1 measurements. The variation margin on futures contracts is also classified as Level 1. The fair value of derivatives that are traded in less active OTC markets is generally measured using pricing models with market observable inputs such as interest rates and equity index levels. These measurements are classified as Level 2 within the fair value hierarchy and include swaps and the majority of options. The Company’s nonperformance risk associated with uncollateralized derivative liabilities was immaterial as of December 31, 2018 and 2017. See Note 17 and Note 18 for further information on the credit risk of derivative instruments and related collateral.

Fair Value on a Nonrecurring Basis

The Company assesses its investment in affordable housing partnerships for other-than-temporary impairment. The investments that are determined to be other-than-temporarily impaired are written down to their fair value. The Company uses a discounted cash flow model to measure the fair value of these investments. Inputs to the discounted cash flow model are estimates of future net operating losses and tax credits available to the Company and discount rates based on market condition and the financial strength of the syndicator (general partner). The balance of affordable housing partnerships measured at fair value on a nonrecurring basis was $112 million and $166 million as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively, and is classified as Level 3 in the fair value hierarchy.

Asset and Liabilities Not Reported at Fair Value

The following tables provide the carrying value and the estimated fair value of financial instruments that are not reported at fair value.



	December 31, 2018
	Carrying Value		Fair Value
	Carrying Value		Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
	(in millions)
Financial Assets
Mortgage loans, net	$	2,547	$	—	$	—	$	2,514	$	2,514
Policy loans	861		—		—		810		810
Other investments	411		—		355		41		396

Financial Liabilities
Policyholder account balances, future policy benefits and claims	$	9,609	$	—	$	—	$	9,672	$	9,672
Short-term borrowings	201		—		201		—		201
Other liabilities	59		—		—		57		57
Separate account liabilities at NAV	312								312		⁽¹⁾



	December 31, 2017
	Carrying Value		Fair Value
	Carrying Value		Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
	(in millions)
Financial Assets
Mortgage loans, net	$	2,619	$	—	$	—	$	2,616	$	2,616
Policy loans	845		—		—		801		801
Other investments	408		—		373		36		409

Financial Liabilities
Policyholder account balances, future policy benefits and claims	$	10,246	$	—	$	—	$	10,755	$	10,755
Short-term borrowings	200		—		200		—		200
Other liabilities	123		—		—		119		119
Separate account liabilities at NAV	369								369		⁽¹⁾


⁽¹⁾	Amounts are comprised of certain financial instruments that are measured at fair value using the NAV per share (or its equivalent) as a practical expedient and have not been classified in the fair value hierarchy.

See Note 7 for additional information on mortgage loans and policy loans. Other investments include syndicated loans and the Company’s membership in the FHLB. See Note 7 for additional information on syndicated loans.

Policyholder account balances, future policy benefit and claims includes fixed annuities in deferral status, non-life contingent fixed annuities in payout status, indexed annuity host contracts and the fixed portion of a small number of variable annuity contracts classified as investment contracts. See Note 10 for additional information on these liabilities. Short-term borrowings include include repurchase agreement and FHLB borrowings. See Note 13 for further information on short-term borrowings. Other liabilities include future funding commitments to affordable housing partnerships and other real estate partnerships. Separate account liabilities relate to investment contracts.

15. Related Party Transactions

See Note 4 for information about revenues from contracts with customers earned by the Company from related party transactions with affiliates.

Charges by Ameriprise Financial and affiliated companies to the Company for use of joint facilities, technology support, marketing services and other services aggregated $365 million, $390 million and $400 million for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively. Certain of these costs are included in DAC. Expenses allocated to the Company may not be reflective of expenses that would have been incurred by the Company on a stand-alone basis.

Cash dividends or distributions paid and received by RiverSource Life Insurance Company were as follows:



	Years Ended December 31,
	2018		2017		2016
	(in millions)
Paid to Ameriprise Financial	$	750	$	700	$	1,000
Received from RiverSource Life of NY	48		50		50
Received from RTA	45		20		15
Received from RiverSource REO 1, LLC ⁽¹⁾	2		—		31

⁽¹⁾ RiverSource REO 1, LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of RiverSource Life Insurance Company which holds foreclosed mortgage loans and real estate.

For dividends and other distributions from the life insurance companies, advance notification was provided to state insurance regulators prior to payments. See Note 16 for additional information.

The Company’s taxable income is included in the consolidated federal income tax return of Ameriprise Financial. The net amount due from (to) Ameriprise Financial for federal income taxes was $60 million and $(105) million as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively, which is reflected in Other, net within operating activities on the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows.

In December 2018, the Company invested in AA and A rated asset backed securities issued by AAF, an affiliate of the Company. The asset backed securities are collateralized by a portfolio of loans issued to advisors affiliated with AFSI, an affiliated broker dealer. As of December 31, 2018, the fair value of these asset backed securities was $374 million and is reported in Investments: Available-for-Sale Fixed Maturities on the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets.

16. Regulatory Requirements

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (“NAIC”) defines Risk-Based Capital (“RBC”) requirements for insurance companies. The RBC requirements are used by the NAIC and state insurance regulators to identify companies that merit regulatory actions designed to protect policyholders. These requirements apply to the Company. The Company has met its minimum RBC requirements.

Insurance companies are required to prepare statutory financial statements in accordance with the accounting practices prescribed or permitted by the insurance departments of their respective states of domicile, which vary materially from GAAP. Prescribed statutory accounting practices include publications of the NAIC, as well as state laws, regulations and general administrative rules. The more significant differences from GAAP include charging policy acquisition costs to expense as incurred, establishing annuity and insurance reserves using different actuarial methods and assumptions, valuing investments on a different basis and excluding certain assets from the balance sheet by charging them directly to surplus, such as a portion of the net deferred income tax assets.

RiverSource Life Insurance Company received approval from the Minnesota Department of Commerce to apply a permitted statutory accounting practice, effective July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2019, for certain derivative instruments used to economically hedge the interest rate exposure of certain variable annuity products that do not qualify for statutory hedge accounting. The permitted practice is intended to mitigate the impact to statutory surplus from the misalignment between variable annuity statutory reserves, which are not carried at fair value, and the fair value of derivatives used to economically hedge the interest rate exposure of non-life contingent living benefit guarantees. The permitted practice allows RiverSource Life Insurance Company to defer a portion of the change in fair value, net investment income and realized gains or losses generated from designated derivatives to the extent the amounts do not offset the current period interest-rate related change in the variable annuity statutory reserve liability. The deferred amount is amortized over ten years using the straight-line method with the ability to accelerate amortization at management’s discretion. As of December 31, 2018 and 2017, application of this permitted practice resulted in an increase (decrease) to RiverSource Life Insurance Company’s statutory surplus of approximately $92 million and $(3) million, respectively.

State insurance statutes contain limitations as to the amount of dividends and other distributions that insurers may make without providing prior notification to state regulators. For RiverSource Life Insurance Company, payments in excess of unassigned surplus, as determined in accordance with accounting practices prescribed by the State of Minnesota, require advance notice to the Minnesota Department of Commerce, RiverSource Life Insurance Company’s primary regulator, and are subject to potential disapproval. RiverSource Life Insurance Company’s statutory unassigned surplus (deficit) aggregated $642 million and $(306) million as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

In addition, dividends or distributions whose fair market value, together with that of other dividends or distributions made within the preceding 12 months, exceed the greater of the previous year’s statutory net gain from operations or 10% of the previous year-end statutory capital and surplus are referred to as “extraordinary dividends.” Extraordinary dividends also require advance notice to the Minnesota Department of Commerce, and are subject to potential disapproval. Statutory capital and surplus was $3.3 billion and $2.4 billion as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

Statutory net gain from operations and net income (loss) for RiverSource Life Insurance Company are summarized as follows:



	Years Ended December 31,
	2018		2017		2016
	(in millions)
Statutory net gain from operations	$	1,686	$	958	$	834
Statutory net income (loss)	1,628		222		322

Government debt securities of $4 million as of both December 31, 2018 and 2017 were on deposit with various states as required by law.

17. Offsetting Assets and Liabilities

Certain financial instruments and derivative instruments are eligible for offset in the Consolidated Balance Sheets. The Company’s derivative instruments and repurchase agreements are subject to master netting and collateral arrangements and qualify for offset. A master netting arrangement with a counterparty creates a right of offset for amounts due to and from that same counterparty that is enforceable in the event of a default or bankruptcy. The Company’s policy is to recognize amounts subject to master netting arrangements on a gross basis in the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

The following tables present the gross and net information about the Company’s assets subject to master netting arrangements:



	December 31, 2018
	Gross Amounts of Recognized Assets		Gross Amounts Offset in the Consolidated Balance Sheets		Amounts of Assets Presented in the Consolidated Balance Sheets		Gross Amounts Not Offset in the Consolidated Balance Sheets									Net Amount
							Financial Instruments⁽¹⁾			Cash Collateral			Securities Collateral
							Financial Instruments⁽¹⁾			Cash Collateral			Securities Collateral
	(in millions)
Derivatives:
OTC	$	2,499	$	—	$	2,499	$	(2,066	)	$	(390	)	$	(26	)	$	17
OTC cleared	34		—		34		(23		)	—			—			11
Exchange-traded	14		—		14		(1		)	—			—			13
Total derivatives	$	2,547	$	—	$	2,547	$	(2,090	)	$	(390	)	$	(26	)	$	41



	December 31, 2017
	Gross Amounts of Recognized Assets		Gross Amounts Offset in the Consolidated Balance Sheets		Amounts of Assets Presented in the Consolidated Balance Sheets		Gross Amounts Not Offset in the Consolidated Balance Sheets									Net Amount
							Financial Instruments⁽¹⁾			Cash Collateral			Securities Collateral
							Financial Instruments⁽¹⁾			Cash Collateral			Securities Collateral
	(in millions)
Derivatives:
OTC	$	3,440	$	—	$	3,440	$	(2,599	)	$	(736	)	$	(88	)	$	17
OTC cleared	21		—		21		(15		)	—			—			6
Exchange-traded	22		—		22		(1		)	—			—			21
Total derivatives	$	3,483	$	—	$	3,483	$	(2,615	)	$	(736	)	$	(88	)	$	44


⁽¹⁾	Represents the amount of assets that could be offset by liabilities with the same counterparty under master netting or similar arrangements that management elects not to offset on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

The following tables present the gross and net information about the Company’s liabilities subject to master netting arrangements:



	December 31, 2018
	Gross Amounts of Recognized Liabilities		Gross Amounts Offset in the Consolidated Balance Sheets		Amounts of Liabilities Presented in the Consolidated Balance Sheets		Gross Amounts Not Offset in the Consolidated Balance Sheets									Net Amount
	Gross Amounts of Recognized Liabilities		Gross Amounts Offset in the Consolidated Balance Sheets				Financial Instruments⁽¹⁾			Cash Collateral			Securities Collateral			Net Amount
	(in millions)
Derivatives:
OTC	$	2,419	$	—	$	2,419	$	(2,066	)	$	(24	)	$	(328	)	$	1
OTC cleared	23		—		23		(23		)	—			—			—
Exchange-traded	10		—		10		(1		)	—			—			9
Total derivatives	2,452		—		2,452		(2,090		)	(24		)	(328		)	10
Repurchase agreements	50		—		50		—			—			(50		)	—
Total	$	2,502	$	—	$	2,502	$	(2,090	)	$	(24	)	$	(378	)	$	10



	December 31, 2017
	Gross Amounts of Recognized Liabilities		Gross Amounts Offset in the Consolidated Balance Sheets		Amounts of Liabilities Presented in the Consolidated Balance Sheets		Gross Amounts Not Offset in the Consolidated Balance Sheets									Net Amount
	Gross Amounts of Recognized Liabilities		Gross Amounts Offset in the Consolidated Balance Sheets				Financial Instruments⁽¹⁾			Cash Collateral			Securities Collateral			Net Amount
	(in millions)
Derivatives:
OTC	$	3,095	$	—	$	3,095	$	(2,599	)	$	(1	)	$	(492	)	$	3
OTC cleared	15		—		15		(15		)	—			—			—
Exchange-traded	1		—		1		(1		)	—			—			—
Total derivatives	3,111		—		3,111		(2,615		)	(1		)	(492		)	3
Repurchase agreements	50		—		50		—			—			(50		)	—
Total	$	3,161	$	—	$	3,161	$	(2,615	)	$	(1	)	$	(542	)	$	3

⁽¹⁾ Represents the amount of liabilities that could be offset by assets with the same counterparty under master netting or similar arrangement

s that management elects not to offset on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

In the tables above, the amount of assets or liabilities presented are offset first by financial instruments that have the right of offset under master netting or similar arrangements, then any remaining amount is reduced by the amount of cash and securities collateral. The actual collateral may be greater than amounts presented in the tables.

When the fair value of collateral accepted by the Company is less than the amount due to the Company, there is a risk of loss if the counterparty fails to perform or provide additional collateral. To mitigate this risk, the Company monitors collateral values regularly and requires additional collateral when necessary. When the value of collateral pledged by the Company declines, it may be required to post additional collateral.

Freestanding derivative instruments are reflected in other assets and other liabilities. Cash collateral pledged by the Company is reflected in other assets and cash collateral accepted by the Company is reflected in other liabilities. Repurchase agreements are reflected in short-term borrowings. See Note 18 for additional disclosures related to the Company’s derivative instruments and Note 13 for additional disclosures related to the Company’s repurchase agreements.

18. Derivatives and Hedging Activities

Derivative instruments enable the Company to manage its exposure to various market risks. The value of such instruments is derived from an underlying variable or multiple variables, including equity and interest rate indices or prices. The Company primarily enters into derivative agreements for risk management purposes related to the Company’s products and operations.

The Company’s freestanding derivative instruments are all subject to master netting arrangements. The Company’s policy on the recognition of derivatives on the Consolidated Balance Sheets is to not offset fair value amounts recognized for derivatives and collateral arrangements executed with the same counterparty under the same master netting arrangement. See Note 17 for additional information regarding the estimated fair value of the Company’s freestanding derivatives after considering the effect of master netting arrangements and collateral.

The Company uses derivatives as economic hedges and accounting hedges. The following table presents the notional value and gross fair value of derivative instruments, including embedded derivatives:



	December 31, 2018						December 31, 2017
	Notional		Gross Fair Value				Notional		Gross Fair Value
			Assets⁽¹⁾		Liabilities⁽²⁾				Assets⁽¹⁾		Liabilities⁽²⁾
	(in millions)
Derivatives not designated as hedging instruments
Interest rate contracts	$	57,185	$	789	$	422	$	64,790	$	1,081	$	415
Equity contracts	51,463		1,704		1,978		56,649		2,367		2,671
Credit contracts	1,206		—		18		715		—		2
Foreign exchange contracts	4,747		54		34		3,996		35		23
Other contracts	—		—		—		450		—		—
Total non-designated hedges	114,601		2,547		2,452		126,600		3,483		3,111

Embedded derivatives
GMWB and GMAB ⁽³⁾	N/A		—		328		N/A		—		(49		)
IUL	N/A		—		628		N/A		—		601
Indexed annuities	N/A		—		17		N/A		—		5
Total embedded derivatives	N/A		—		973		N/A		—		557
Total derivatives	$	114,601	$	2,547	$	3,425	$	126,600	$	3,483	$	3,668

N/A Not applicable.

⁽¹⁾The fair value of freestanding derivative assets is included in Other assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

⁽²⁾The fair value of freestanding derivative liabilities is included in Other liabilities on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. The fair value of GMWB and GMAB, IUL, and indexed annuity embedded derivatives is included in Policyholder account balances, future policy benefits and claims on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

⁽³⁾The fair value of the GMWB and GMAB embedded derivatives as of December 31, 2018 included $646 million of individual contracts in a liability position and $318 million of individual contracts in an asset position. The fair value of the GMWB and GMAB embedded derivatives as of December 31, 2017 included $443 million of individual contracts in a liability position and $492 million of individual contracts in an asset position.

See Note 14 for additional information regarding the Company’s fair value measurement of derivative instruments.

As of December 31, 2018 and 2017, investment securities with a fair value of $28 million and $89 million, respectively, were received as collateral to meet contractual obligations under derivative contracts, of which $28 million and $89 million, respectively, may be sold, pledged or rehypothecated by the Company. As of both December 31, 2018 and 2017, the Company had sold, pledged, or rehypothecated nil of these securities. In addition, as of both December 31, 2018 and 2017, non-cash collateral accepted was held in separate custodial accounts and was not included in the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets.

The following table presents a summary of the impact of derivatives not designated as hedging instruments, including embedded derivatives, on the Consolidated Statements of Income:



	Interest Credited to Fixed Accounts			Benefits, Claims, Losses and Settlement Expenses
	(in millions)
Year Ended December 31, 2018
Interest rate contracts	$	—		$	(312	)
Equity contracts	(49		)	306
Credit contracts	—			7
Foreign exchange contracts	—			1
Other contracts	—			(4		)
GMWB and GMAB embedded derivatives	—			(377		)
IUL embedded derivatives	63			—
Indexed annuities embedded derivatives	3			—
Total gain (loss)	$	17		$	(379	)

Year Ended December 31, 2017
Interest rate contracts	$	—		$	3
Equity contracts	75			(1,006		)
Credit contracts	—			(22		)
Foreign exchange contracts	—			(23		)
Other contracts	—			(2		)
GMWB and GMAB embedded derivatives	—			663
IUL embedded derivatives	(45		)	—
Total gain (loss)	$	30		$	(387	)

Year Ended December 31, 2016
Interest rate contracts	$	—		$	38
Equity contracts	20			(857		)
Credit contracts	—			2
Other contracts	—			(2		)
GMWB and GMAB embedded derivatives	—			237
IUL embedded derivatives	15			—
Total gain (loss)	$	35		$	(582	)

The Company holds derivative instruments that either do not qualify or are not designated for hedge accounting treatment. These derivative instruments are used as economic hedges of equity, interest rate, credit and foreign currency exchange rate risk related to various products and transactions of the Company.

Certain annuity contracts contain GMWB or GMAB provisions, which guarantee the right to make limited partial withdrawals each contract year regardless of the volatility inherent in the underlying investments or guarantee a minimum accumulation value of consideration received at the beginning of the contract period, after a specified holding period, respectively. The GMAB and non-life contingent GMWB provisions are considered embedded derivatives, which are bifurcated from their host contracts for valuation purposes and reported on the Consolidated Balance Sheets at fair value with changes in fair value reported in earnings. The Company economically hedges the exposure related to GMAB and non-life contingent GMWB provisions using options (equity index, interest rate swaptions, etc.), swaps (interest rate, total return, etc.) and futures.

The deferred premium associated with certain of the above options and swaptions is paid or received semi-annually over the life of the contract or at maturity. The following is a summary of the payments the Company is scheduled to make and receive for these options and swaptions as of December 31, 2018:



	Premiums Payable		Premiums Receivable
	(in millions)
2019	$	274	$	168
2020	196		130
2021	168		118
2022	207		198
2023	126		43
2024-2028	369		17
Total	$	1,340	$	674

Actual timing and payment amounts may differ due to future settlements, modifications or exercises of the contracts prior to the full premium being paid or received.

The Company has a macro hedge program to provide protection against the statutory tail scenario risk arising from variable annuity reserves on its statutory surplus and to cover some of the residual risks not covered by other hedging activities. As a means of economically hedging these risks, the Company may use a combination of futures, options, swaps and swaptions. Certain of the macro hedge derivatives contain settlement provisions linked to both equity returns and interest rates. The Company’s macro hedge derivatives that contain settlement provisions linked to both equity returns and interest rates are shown in Other contracts in the tables above.

Indexed annuity and IUL products have returns tied to the performance of equity markets. As a result of fluctuations in equity markets, the obligation incurred by the Company related to indexed annuity and IUL products will positively or negatively impact earnings over the life of these products. The equity component of indexed annuity and IUL product obligations are considered embedded derivatives, which are bifurcated from their host contracts for valuation purposes and reported on the Consolidated Balance Sheets at fair value with changes in fair value reported in earnings. As a means of economically hedging its obligations under the provisions of these products, the Company enters into index options and futures contracts.

Cash Flow Hedges

During the year ended December 31, 2018, the Company held no derivatives that were designated as cash flow hedges. During the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, no hedge relationships were discontinued due to forecasted transactions no longer being expected to occur according to the original hedge strategy. For the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, amounts recognized in earnings on derivative transactions that were ineffective were not material. See Note 19 for a summary of net unrealized gains (losses) included in AOCI related to previously designated cash flow hedges.

Credit Risk

Credit risk associated with the Company’s derivatives is the risk that a derivative counterparty will not perform in accordance with the terms of the applicable derivative contract. To mitigate such risk, the Company has established guidelines and oversight of credit risk through a comprehensive enterprise risk management program that includes members of senior management. Key components of this program are to require preapproval of counterparties and the use of master netting and collateral arrangements whenever practical. See Note 17 for additional information on the Company’s credit exposure related to derivative assets.

Certain of the Company’s derivative contracts contain provisions that adjust the level of collateral the Company is required to post based on the Company’s financial strength rating (or based on the debt rating of the Company’s parent, Ameriprise Financial). Additionally, certain of the Company’s derivative contracts contain provisions that allow the counterparty to terminate the contract if the Company does not maintain a specific financial strength rating or Ameriprise Financial’s debt does not maintain a specific credit rating (generally an investment grade rating). If these termination provisions were to be triggered, the Company’s counterparty could require immediate settlement of any net liability position. As of December 31, 2018 and 2017, the aggregate fair value of derivative contracts in a net liability position containing such credit contingent provisions was $91 million and $299 million, respectively. The aggregate fair value of assets posted as collateral for such instruments as of December 31, 2018 and 2017 was $90 million and $296 million, respectively. If the credit contingent provisions of derivative contracts in a net liability position as of December 31, 2018 and 2017 were triggered, the aggregate fair value of additional assets that would be required to be posted as collateral or needed to settle the instruments immediately would have been $1 million and $3 million, respectively.

19. Shareholder’s Equity

The following tables provide the amounts related to each component of OCI:



	Years Ended December 31, 2018
	Pretax			Income Tax Benefit (Expense)			Net of Tax
	(in millions)
Net unrealized gains (losses) on securities:
Net unrealized gains (losses) on securities arising during the period ⁽¹⁾	$	(952	)	$	203		$	(749	)
Reclassification of net (gains) losses on securities included in net income ⁽²⁾	(9		)	2			(7		)
Impact of DAC, DSIC, unearned revenue, benefit reserves and reinsurance recoverables	435			(91		)	344
Net unrealized gains (losses) on securities	(526		)	114			(412		)
Net unrealized gains (losses) on derivatives:
Reclassification of net (gains) losses on derivatives included in net income ⁽³⁾	1			—			1
Net unrealized gains (losses) on derivatives	1			—			1
Total other comprehensive income (loss)	$	(525	)	$	114		$	(411	)



	Years Ended December 31, 2017
	Pretax			Income Tax Benefit (Expense)			Net of Tax
	(in millions)
Net unrealized gains (losses) on securities:
Net unrealized gains (losses) on securities arising during the period ⁽¹⁾	$	210		$	(61	)	$	149
Reclassification of net (gains) losses on securities included in net income⁽²⁾	(44		)	15			(29		)
Impact of DAC, DSIC, unearned revenue, benefit reserves and reinsurance recoverables	(180		)	57			(123		)
Net unrealized gains (losses) on securities	(14		)	11			(3		)
Net unrealized gains (losses) on derivatives:
Reclassification of net (gains) losses on derivatives included in net income⁽³⁾	5			(2		)	3
Net unrealized gains (losses) on derivatives	5			(2		)	3
Other	(1		)	—			(1		)
Total other comprehensive income (loss)	$	(10	)	$	9		$	(1	)



	Years Ended December 31, 2016
	Pretax			Income Tax Benefit (Expense)			Net of Tax
	(in millions)
Net unrealized gains (losses) on securities:
Net unrealized gains (losses) on securities arising during the period ⁽¹⁾	$	350		$	(124	)	$	226
Reclassification of net (gains) losses on securities included in net income ⁽²⁾	(17		)	6			(11		)
Impact of DAC, DSIC, unearned revenue, benefit reserves and reinsurance recoverables	(242		)	85			(157		)
Net unrealized gains (losses) on securities	91			(33		)	58
Net unrealized gains (losses) on derivatives:
Reclassification of net (gains) losses on derivatives included in net income⁽³⁾	6			(2		)	4
Net unrealized gains (losses) on derivatives	6			(2		)	4
Total other comprehensive income (loss)	$	97		$	(35	)	$	62

⁽¹⁾ Includes other-than-temporary impairment losses on Available-for-Sale securities related to factors other than credit that were recognized in other comprehensive income (loss) during the period.

⁽²⁾ Reclassification amounts are recorded in net realized investment gains (losses).

⁽³⁾ Reclassification amounts are recorded in net investment income.

Other comprehensive income (loss) related to net unrealized securities gains (losses) includes three components: (i) unrealized gains (losses) that arose from changes in the market value of securities that were held during the period; (ii) (gains) losses that were previously unrealized, but have been recognized in current period net income due to sales of Available-for-Sale securities and due to the reclassification of noncredit other-than-temporary impairment losses to credit losses; and (iii) other adjustments primarily consisting of changes in insurance and annuity asset and liability balances, such as DAC, DSIC, unearned revenue, benefit reserves and reinsurance recoverables, to reflect the expected impact on their carrying values had the unrealized gains (losses) been realized as of the respective balance sheet dates.

The following table presents the changes in the balances of each component of AOCI, net of tax:



	Net Unrealized Gains (Losses) on Securities				Net Unrealized Gains (Losses) on Derivatives			Other			Total
	(in millions)
Balance, January 1, 2016	$	403			$	(8	)	$	—		$	395
OCI before reclassifications	69				—			—			69
Amounts reclassified from AOCI	(11		)		4			—			(7		)
Total OCI	58				4			—			62
Balance, December 31, 2016	461			⁽¹⁾	(4		)	—			457
OCI before reclassifications	26				—			(1		)	25
Amounts reclassified from AOCI	(29		)		3			—			(26		)
Total OCI	(3		)		3			(1		)	(1		)
Balance, December 31, 2017	458			⁽¹⁾	(1		)	(1		)	456
OCI before reclassifications	(405		)		—			—			(405		)
Amounts reclassified from AOCI	(7		)		1			—			(6		)
Total OCI	(412		)		1			—			(411		)
Balance, December 31, 2018	$	46		⁽¹⁾	$	—		$	(1	)	$	45

⁽¹⁾ Includes nil, nil and nil of noncredit related impairments on securities and net unrealized gains (losses) on previously impaired securities as of December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

20. Income Taxes

The components of income tax provision were as follows:



	Years Ended December 31,
	2018			2017			2016
	(in millions)
Current income tax
Federal	$	35		$	158		$	18
State	3			1			1
Total current income tax	38			159			19
Deferred income tax
Federal	(1		)	103			6
State	(2		)	(2		)	(1		)
Total deferred income tax	(3		)	101			5
Total income tax provision	$	35		$	260		$	24

On December 22, 2017, the Tax Act was signed into law. The provision for income taxes for the year ended December 31, 2017 included an expense of $140 million due to the enactment of the Tax Act. The $140 million expense included a $136 million expense for the remeasurement of deferred tax assets and liabilities to the Tax Act’s statutory rate of 21% and a $4 million expense for the remeasurement of tax contingencies, specifically state tax contingencies and interest accrued for tax contingencies. In 2018, the Company finalized its accounting related to the Tax Act and determined no adjustments were necessary.

The principal reasons that the aggregate income tax provision is different from that computed by using the U.S. statutory rates of 21% for 2018 and 35% for 2017 and 2016 were as follows:



	Years Ended December 31,
	2018		2017		2016
Tax at U.S. statutory rate	21.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
Changes in taxes resulting from:
Low income housing tax credits	(8.5	)	(7.4	)	(9.4	)
Dividend received deduction	(4.2	)	(12.9	)	(17.1	)
Foreign tax credit, net of addback	(2.8	)	(2.7	)	(3.8	)
Impact of Tax Act	(1.1	)	14.0		—
Taxes applicable to prior years	(1.1	)	—		(2.0	)
Other, net	0.4		—		0.7
Income tax provision	3.7	%	26.0	%	3.4	%

The decrease in the Company’s effective tax rate for the year ended December 31, 2018 compared to 2017 is primarily the result of the decrease in the federal statutory rate and a $140 million expense in 2017 due to provisions of the Tax Act and an increase in low income housing credits, partially offset by lower levels of the dividends received deduction. The increase in the Company’s effective tax rate for the year ended December 31, 2017 compared to 2016 was primarily due to a $140 million expense in 2017 due to provisions of the Tax Act, including remeasurement of net deferred tax assets and remeasurement of tax contingencies.

Deferred income tax assets and liabilities result from temporary differences between the assets and liabilities measured for GAAP reporting versus income tax return purposes. Deferred income tax assets and liabilities are measured at the statutory rate of 21% as of both December 31, 2018 and 2017. The significant components of the Company’s deferred income tax assets and liabilities, which are included net within other assets or other liabilities on the Consolidated Balance Sheets, were as follows:



	December 31,
	2018		2017
	(in millions)
Deferred income tax assets
Liabilities for policyholder account balances, future policy benefits and claims	$	705	$	599
Investment related	144		251
Other	14		29
Gross deferred income tax assets	863		879
Less: valuation allowance	11		11
Total deferred income tax assets	852		868

Deferred income tax liabilities
Deferred acquisition costs	423		431
Deferred sales inducement costs	53		62
Net unrealized gains on Available-for-Sale securities	37		150
Depreciation	—		13
Other	12		1
Gross deferred income tax liabilities	525		657
Net deferred income tax assets	$	327	$	211

Included in the Company’s deferred income tax assets are tax benefits primarily related to state net operating losses of $10 million, net of federal benefit, which will expire beginning December 31, 2019. Based on analysis of the Company’s tax position, management believes it is more likely than not that the Company will not realize certain state net operating losses and state deferred tax assets; therefore, a valuation allowance of $11 million has been established.

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of gross unrecognized tax benefits was as follows:



	2018			2017			2016
	(in millions)
Balance at January 1	$	14		$	59		$	95
Additions based on tax positions related to the current year	5			5			6
Additions for tax positions of prior years	1			—			31
Reductions for tax positions of prior years	(1		)	(50		)	(68		)
Audit settlements	—			—			(5		)
Balance at December 31	$	19		$	14		$	59

If recognized, approximately $8 million, $5 million and $6 million, net of federal tax benefits, of unrecognized tax benefits as of December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively, would affect the effective tax rate.

It is reasonably possible that the total amounts of unrecognized tax benefits will change in the next 12 months. The Company estimates that the total amount of gross unrecognized tax benefits may decrease by approximately $10 million in the next 12 months primarily due to Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) settlements and state exams.

The Company recognizes interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as a component of the income tax provision. The Company recognized a net decrease of nil, $1 million, and $39 million in interest and penalties for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively. As of both December 31, 2018 and 2017, the Company had a payable of $1 million related to accrued interest and penalties.

The Company files income tax returns as part of its inclusion in the consolidated federal income tax returns of Ameriprise Financial in the U.S. federal jurisdiction and various state jurisdictions. In the first quarter of 2018, the Company received cash settlements for final resolution of the 2008 through 2010 IRS audits. In the third quarter of 2018, Ameriprise Financial reached an agreement with IRS appeals to resolve the 2012 and 2013 audits. Accordingly, Ameriprise Financial’s IRS audits are effectively settled through 2013. The IRS is currently auditing Ameriprise Financial’s U.S. income tax returns for 2014 and 2015. Ameriprise Financial’s or the Company’s state income tax returns are currently under examination by various jurisdictions for years ranging from 2009 through 2017.

21. Commitments, Guarantees and Contingencies

Commitments

The following table presents the Company’s funding commitments as of December 31:



	2018		2017
	(in millions)
Commercial mortgage loans	$	50	$	31
Affordable housing and other real estate partnerships	59		123
Total funding commitments	$	109	$	154

Guarantees

The Company’s annuity and life products all have minimum interest rate guarantees in their fixed accounts. As of December 31, 2018, these guarantees range from 1% to 5%.

Contingencies

Insurance companies have been the subject of increasing regulatory, legislative and judicial scrutiny. Numerous state and federal regulatory agencies have commenced examinations and other inquiries of insurance companies regarding sales and marketing practices (including sales to older consumers and disclosure practices), claims handling, and unclaimed property and escheatment practices and procedures. The Company has cooperated and will continue to cooperate with the applicable regulators.

The Company is involved in the normal course of business in a number of other legal and arbitration proceedings concerning matters arising in connection with the conduct of its business activities. The Company believes that it is not a party to, nor are any of its properties the subject of, any pending legal, arbitration or regulatory investigation, examination or proceeding that is likely to have a material adverse effect on its consolidated financial condition, results of operations or liquidity. Notwithstanding the foregoing, it is possible that the outcome of any current or future legal, arbitration or regulatory proceeding could have a material impact on results of operations in any particular reporting period as the proceedings are resolved.

Uncertain economic conditions, heightened and sustained volatility in the financial markets and significant financial reform legislation may increase the likelihood that clients and other persons or regulators may present or threaten legal claims or that regulators increase the scope or frequency of examinations of the Company or the insurance industry generally.

The Company projects its cost of future guaranty fund assessments based on estimates of insurance company insolvencies provided by the National Organization of Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Associations (“NOLHGA”) and the amount of its premiums written relative to the industry-wide premium in each state. The Company accrues the estimated cost of future guaranty fund assessments when it is considered probable that an assessment will be imposed, the event obligating the Company to pay the assessment has occurred and the amount of the assessment can be reasonably estimated.

The Company has a liability for estimated guaranty fund assessments and a related premium tax asset. As of December 31, 2018 and 2017, the estimated liability was $12 million and $14 million, respectively, and the related premium tax asset was $11 million and $12 million, respectively. The expected period over which guaranty fund assessments will be made and the related tax credits recovered is not known.

Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure

None.

Item 9A. Controls and Procedures

Disclosure Controls and Procedures

The Company maintains disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)) designed to provide reasonable assurance that the information required to be reported in the Exchange Act filings is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in and pursuant to Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) regulations, including controls and procedures designed to ensure that this information is accumulated and communicated to the Company’s management, including its principal executive officer and chief financial officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding the required disclosure. It should be noted that, because of inherent limitations, the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures, however well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable, and not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the disclosure controls and procedures are met.

The Company’s management, under the supervision and with the participation of the Company’s principal executive officer and chief financial officer, evaluated the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the period covered by this report. Based upon that evaluation, the Company’s principal executive officer and chief financial officer have concluded that the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures were effective at a reasonable level of assurance as of December 31, 2018.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

There have not been any changes in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting (as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act) during the fourth fiscal quarter of the year to which this report relates that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.

Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

The management of the Company is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting.

The Company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed by or under the supervision of, the Company’s principal executive and principal financial officers and effected by the Company’s Board of Directors, management and other personnel to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America, and includes those policies and procedures that:


•	Pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the Company;


•	Provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the Company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the Company; and


•	Provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of the Company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

The Company’s management, with the participation of its principal executive officer and chief financial officer, assessed the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2018. In making this assessment, the Company’s management used the criteria set forth in Internal Control — Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission.

Based on management’s assessment and those criteria, management believes that, as of December 31, 2018, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting is effective.

This annual report does not include an attestation report of the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm regarding internal control over financial reporting. Management’s report was not subject to attestation by the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm pursuant to rules of the SEC that permit the Company to provide only management’s report in this annual report.

Item 9B. Other Information

None.

PART III

Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance

Item omitted pursuant to General Instructions I(2)(c) of Form 10-K.

Item 11. Executive Compensation

Item omitted pursuant to General Instructions I(2)(c) of Form 10-K.

Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management Related Stockholder Matters

Item omitted pursuant to General Instructions I(2)(c) of Form 10-K.

Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence

Item omitted pursuant to General Instructions I(2)(c) of Form 10-K.

Item 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services

The Audit Committee of the Board of Directors of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (“Ameriprise Financial”) has appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (“PwC”) as independent registered public accounting firm to audit the Consolidated Financial Statements of the Company for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017.

Fees Paid to the Registrant’s Independent Auditor

The following table presents fees for professional services rendered by PwC for the audit of the Company’s financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017 and other fees billed for other services rendered by PwC during those periods.



	2018		2017
	(in thousands)
Audit fees ⁽¹⁾	$	2,367	$	2,394
Audit-related fees ⁽²⁾	17		17
Tax fees⁽³⁾	—		—
All other fees	—		—
Total	$	2,384	$	2,411

⁽¹⁾Audit fees include audit work performed in the review of the financial statements, as well as services that generally only the independent auditor can be expected to provide, such as comfort letters, statutory audits, attest services, consents and assistance with and review of documents filed with the SEC.

⁽²⁾Audit-related fees include services provided by the independent auditor that are reasonably related to the performance or review of the audit.

⁽³⁾Tax fees include services provided by the independent auditor related to tax items.

Policy on Pre-Approval of Services Provided by Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

Pursuant to the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the terms of the engagement of PwC are subject to the specific pre-approval of the Audit Committee of Ameriprise Financial. All audit and permitted non-audit services to be performed by PwC for the Company require pre-approval by the Audit Committee of Ameriprise Financial in accordance with pre-approval procedures established by the Audit Committee of Ameriprise Financial. The procedures require all proposed engagements of PwC for services to the Company of any kind to be directed to the General Auditor of Ameriprise Financial, and then submitted for approval to the Audit Committee of Ameriprise Financial prior to the beginning of any services. In 2018 and 2017, 100% of the services provided by PwC for the Company were pre-approved by the Audit Committee of Ameriprise Financial.

PART IV

Item 15. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules



(a) (1) and (2)	Consolidated Financial Statements and Financial Statement Schedules The information required herein has been provided in Item 8.
(3)	Exhibit Index The following exhibits are filed as part of this Annual Report or, where indicated, were already filed and are hereby incorporated by reference.



	Exhibit	Description

	3.1	Certificate of Incorporation of IDS Life Insurance Company filed as Exhibit 3.1 to Post-Effective Amendment No. 5 to Registration Statement No. 33-28976 is incorporated by reference.
	3.1.1	Certificate of Amendment of Certificate of Incorporation of IDS Life Insurance Company dated June 22, 2006, filed as Exhibit 3.1 to Form 8-K filed on Jan. 5, 2007 is incorporated by reference.
	3.2	Amended and Restated By-Laws of RiverSource Life Insurance Company dated June 22, 2006, filed as Exhibit 27(f)(2) to Post-Effective Amendment No. 28 to Registration Statement No. 333-69777, is incorporated by reference.
	4.1	Instruments defining the rights of security holders are incorporated by reference to Registration Statement No. 333-92297.
	4.2	Instruments defining the rights of security holders are incorporated by reference to Registration Statement No. 333-139763.
	4.3	Instruments defining the rights of security holders are incorporated by reference to Registration Statement No. 333-73958.
	4.4	Instruments defining the rights of security holders are incorporated by reference to Registration Statement No. 333-139759.
	4.5	Instruments defining the rights of security holders are incorporated by reference to Registration Statement No. 333-74865.
	4.6	Instruments defining the rights of security holders are incorporated by reference to Registration Statement No. 333-139760.
	4.7	Instruments defining the rights of security holders are incorporated by reference to Registration Statement No. 333-82149.
	4.8	Instruments defining the rights of security holders are incorporated by reference to Registration Statement No. 333-139761.
	4.9	Instruments defining the rights of security holders are incorporated by reference to Registration Statement No. 333-85567.
	4.10	Instruments defining the rights of security holders are incorporated by reference to Registration Statement No. 333-139762.
	4.11	Instruments defining the rights of security holders are incorporated by reference to Registration Statement No. 33-47302.
	4.12	Instruments defining the rights of security holders are incorporated by reference to Registration Statement No. 333-79311.
	4.13	Instruments defining the rights of security holders are incorporated by reference to Registration Statement No. 333-114888.
	10.1	Principal Underwriter Agreement for Variable Annuities and Variable Life Insurance between RiverSource Life Insurance Company and RiverSource Distributors, Inc. effective January 1, 2007, filed as Exhibit 10.1 to Form 10-K filed on February 28, 2007, is incorporated by reference.
	10.2	Selling Agreement by and among RiverSource Life Insurance Company, RiverSource Distributors, Inc. and Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. effective January 1, 2007, filed as Exhibit 10.2 to Form 10-K filed on February 28, 2007, is incorporated by reference.
	10.3	Marketing Support Services Agreement between Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. and RiverSource Life Insurance Company effective January 1, 2007, filed as Exhibit 10.3 to Form 10-K filed on February 28, 2007, is incorporated by reference.
	10.4	Investment Management and Services Agreement between RiverSource Investments, LLC (n/k/a Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC) and RiverSource Life Insurance Company effective January 1, 2007, filed as Exhibit 10.4 to Form 10-K filed on February 28, 2007, is incorporated by reference.



	Exhibit	Description

	10.5	Federal Income Tax Sharing Agreement between or among Ameriprise Financial, Inc. and certain subsidiaries, including RiverSource Life Insurance Company and RiverSource Life Insurance Co. of New York effective December 1, 2010, filed as Exhibit 10.5 to Form 10-K filed on February 23, 2011, is incorporated by reference.
	10.6	Intercompany Services Agreement by and among RiverSource Life Insurance Company and Ameriprise India Private Limited effective January 1, 2016, filed as Exhibit 10.6 to Form 10-K on February 23, 2017, is incorporated by reference.
	10.7	Amendment No. 1 to the Intercompany Services Agreement by and among RiverSource Life Insurance Company and Ameriprise India Private Limited effective October 15, 2017, filed as Exhibit 10.7 to Form 10-K filed on February 22, 2018, is incorporated by reference.
	10.8	Amended and Restated Management, Service & Marketing Support Agreement by and between Columbia Management Investments Advisers, LLC, Columbia Management Investment Services Corp. and RiverSource Life Insurance Company effective January 1, 2011, filed as Exhibit 10.7 to Form 10-K filed on February 23, 2011, is incorporated by reference.
	10.9	Services Agreement by and between Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. and RiverSource Life Insurance Company effective September 1, 2012, filed as Exhibit 10.1 to Form 10-Q filed on November 2, 2015, is incorporated by reference.
	10.10	Amendment No. 1 to the Amended and Restated Management, Service & Marketing Support Agreement by and between Columbia Management Investments Advisers, LLC, Columbia Management Investment Services Corp. and RiverSource Life Insurance Company effective October 1, 2014, filed as Exhibit 10.1 to Form 10-Q filed on November 3, 2014, is incorporated by reference.
	10.11	Intercompany Service Agreement by and between Ameriprise Financial, Inc. and RiverSource Life Insurance Company effective January 1, 2007, filed as Exhibit 10.1 to Form 10-Q filed on August 3, 2015, is incorporated by reference.
	10.12	Wholesaling Service Agreement by and between RiverSource Distributors, Inc. and RiverSource Life Insurance Company effective January 1, 2007, filed as Exhibit 10.2 to Form 10-Q filed on August 3, 2015, is incorporated by reference.
	10.13	Fund Accounting Service Agreement by and between Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC and RiverSource Life Insurance Company effective February 1, 2011, filed as Exhibit 10.3 to Form 10-Q filed on August 3, 2015, is incorporated by reference.
	10.14	Amendment No. 2 to the Amended and Restated Management, Service & Marketing Support Agreement by and between Columbia Management Investments Advisers, LLC, Columbia Management Investment Services Corp. and RiverSource Life Insurance Company effective January 1, 2017, filed as Exhibit 10.1 to Form 10-Q filed on May 3, 2017, is incorporated by reference.
	24	Powers of attorney (included on Signature Page)
	31.1*	Certification of John R. Woerner, Chairman and President, pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
	31.2*	Certification of Brian J. McGrane, Chief Financial Officer, pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
	32*	Certification of John R. Woerner, Chairman and President, and Brian J. McGrane, Chief Financial Officer, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
	101	The following materials from RiverSource Life Insurance Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, formatted in iXBRL (Inline eXtensible Business Reporting Language): (i) Consolidated Balance Sheets at December 31, 2018 and 2017; (ii) Consolidated Statements of Income for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016; (iii) Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016; (iv) Consolidated Statements of Shareholder’s Equity for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016; (v) Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016; and (vi) Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
	* Filed electronically herewith.

Item 16. Form 10-K Summary

None

Signatures

Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

RIVERSOURCE LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY

Registrant



Date:	February 26, 2019	By	/s/ John R. Woerner
Date:		By	John R. Woerner Chairman and President

POWER OF ATTORNEY

KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that each of the undersigned directors and officers of RiverSource Life Insurance Company, a Minnesota corporation, does hereby make, constitute and appoint John R. Woerner, Brian J. McGrane and David H. Weiser, and each of them, the undersigned’s true and lawful attorneys-in-fact, with power of substitution, for the undersigned and in the undersigned’s name, place and stead, to sign and affix the undersigned’s name as such director and/or officer of said corporation to an Annual Report on Form 10-K or other applicable form, and all amendments thereto, to be filed by such corporation with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Washington, D.C., under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, with all exhibits thereto and other supporting documents, with said Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact, and any of them, full power and authority to do and perform any and all acts necessary or incidental to the performance and execution of the powers herein expressly granted.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been duly signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.



Date:	February 26, 2019	By	/s/ John R. Woerner
Date:		By	John R. Woerner, Director, Chairman and President (Principal Executive Officer)



Date:	February 26, 2019	By	/s/ Brian J. McGrane
Date:		By	Brian J. McGrane, Director, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial Officer)



Date:	February 26, 2019	By	/s/ Gumer C. Alvero
Date:		By	Gumer C. Alvero Director



Date:	February 26, 2019	By	/s/ David K. Stewart
Date:		By	David K. Stewart, Senior Vice President and Controller (Principal Accounting Officer)



Date:	February 26, 2019	By	/s/ Stephen P. Blaske
Date:		By	Stephen P. Blaske Director



Date:	February 26, 2019	By	/s/ Jeninne C. McGee
Date:		By	Jeninne C. McGee Director



Date:	February 26, 2019	By	/s/ Colin J. Lundgren
Date:		By	Colin J. Lundgren Director

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Riversource Life Insurance 10-K2018 FY Annual report

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