1. Significant Accounting Policies
Lincoln Variable Insurance Products Trust (“LVIP” or the “Trust”)–LVIP JPMorgan High Yield Fund (the “Fund”) is an investment company in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”). Therefore, the Fund follows the accounting and reporting guidelines for investment companies. The following accounting policies are in accordance with U.S. GAAP and are consistently followed by the Fund.
Security Valuation–Equity securities, except those traded on The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”), are valued at the last quoted sales price as of the time of the regular close of the New York Stock Exchange on the valuation date. Equity securities traded on Nasdaq are valued in accordance with the Nasdaq Official Closing Price, which may not be the last sale price. If on a particular day an equity security does not trade, then the mean between the bid and ask prices is used, which approximates fair value. Open-end investment companies are valued at their published net asset value (“NAV”). Investments in government money market funds have a stable NAV. Valuations for fixed income securities, including short-term debt securities, utilize matrix systems, which reflect such factors as security prices, yields, maturities, and ratings, and are supplemented by dealer and exchange quotations. Restricted securities are valued at fair value by the Fund's Fair Valuation Committee, using methods approved by the Board, taking into account a review of information, assumptions and sub-adviser recommendations, as applicable.
Other debt securities are valued based upon valuations provided by an independent pricing service or broker and reviewed by management. To the extent current market prices are not available, the pricing service may take into account developments related to the specific security, as well as transactions in comparable securities.
Unfunded Loan Commitments–Investments in loans may include unfunded loan commitments, which are contractual obligations for funding. Unfunded loan commitments may include revolving credit facilities, which may obligate the Fund to supply additional cash to the borrower on demand. Unfunded loan commitments represent a future obligation in full, even though a percentage of the committed amount may not be utilized by the borrower. When investing in a loan participation, the Fund has the right to receive payments of principal, interest and any fees to which it is entitled only from the agent selling the loan agreement and only upon receipt of payments by the agent from the borrower. The Fund may receive a commitment fee based on the undrawn portion of the underlying line of credit portion of a loan. In certain circumstances, the Fund may receive a penalty fee upon the prepayment of a loan by a borrower. Fees earned or paid are recorded as a component of interest income or interest expense, respectively, on the Statement of Operations. Unfunded loan commitments are reflected as a liability on the Schedule of Investments.
2. Investments
U.S. GAAP defines fair value as the price that the Fund would receive to sell an asset or pay to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date under current market conditions. A three level hierarchy for fair value measurements has been established based upon the transparency of inputs to the valuation of an asset or liability. Inputs may be observable or unobservable and refer broadly to the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability. Observable inputs reflect the assumptions market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability based on market data obtained from sources independent of the reporting entity. Unobservable inputs reflect the reporting entity’s own assumptions about the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability developed based on the best information available under the circumstances. Each investment in its entirety is assigned a level based upon the observability of the inputs which are significant to the overall valuation. The three level hierarchy of inputs is summarized below.
Level 1– | inputs are quoted prices in active markets for identical investments (e.g., equity securities, open-end investment companies, futures contracts, options contracts) |
Level 2– | other observable inputs (including, but not limited to: quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in markets that are active, quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in markets that are not active, inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for the assets or liabilities (such as interest rates, yield curves, volatilities, prepayment speeds, loss severities, credit risks and default rates) or other market-corroborated inputs) (e.g., debt securities, government securities, swap contracts, foreign currency exchange contracts, foreign securities utilizing international fair value pricing) |
Level 3– | inputs are significant unobservable inputs (including the Fund's own assumptions used to determine the fair value of investments) (e.g., indicative quotes from brokers, fair valued securities) |
Level 3 investments are valued using significant unobservable inputs, including related or comparable assets or liabilities, recent transactions, market multiples, book values, and other relevant information for the investment to determine the fair value of the investment. The Fund may also use an income-based valuation approach in which the anticipated future cash flows of the investment are discounted to calculate fair value. Discounts may also be applied due to the nature or duration of any restrictions on the disposition of the investments. Valuations may also be based upon current market prices of securities that are comparable in coupon, rating, maturity and industry. The derived value of a Level 3 investment may not represent the value which is received upon disposition and this could impact the results of operations.