Note 9: Investment Securities
Investment securities comprise mainly investment-grade debt securities supporting obligations to annuitants and policyholders in our run-off insurance businesses and holders of guaranteed investment contracts.
| 2007 | 2006 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31 (In millions) | Amortized cost | Gross unrealized gains | Gross unrealized losses | Estimated fair value | Amortized cost | Gross unrealized gains | Gross unrealized losses | Estimated fair value |
|
(a) Substantially collateralized by U.S. mortgages. (b) Included $2,339 million of retained interests at December 31, 2007, accounted for in accordance with SFAS 155, Accounting for Certain Hybrid Financial Instruments. See note 27. (c) Amortized cost and estimated fair value included $25 million of trading securities at December 31, 2007. |
||||||||
| GE | ||||||||
| Debt — U.S. corporate | $ 301 | $ 23 | $ — | $ 324 | $ 307 | $ 24 | $ — | $ 331 |
| Equity — available-for-sale | 21 | 3 | (5) | 19 | 10 | 2 | (1) | 11 |
| 322 | 26 | (5) | 343 | 317 | 26 | (1) | 342 | |
| GECS | ||||||||
| Debt | ||||||||
| U.S. corporate | 21,936 | 725 | (669) | 21,992 | 21,129 | 1,039 | (202) | 21,966 |
| State and municipal | 1,106 | 28 | (8) | 1,126 | 826 | 38 | (4) | 860 |
| Residential mortgage-backed(a) | 5,677 | 22 | (225) | 5,474 | 6,476 | 18 | (21) | 6,473 |
| Commercial mortgage-backed | 2,930 | 15 | (49) | 2,896 | 2,322 | 18 | (25) | 2,315 |
| Asset-backed | 2,307 | 3 | (89) | 2,221 | 2,071 | 5 | (11) | 2,065 |
| Corporate — non-U.S. | 1,489 | 47 | (11) | 1,525 | 1,664 | 92 | (5) | 1,751 |
| Government — non-U.S. | 1,082 | 70 | (10) | 1,142 | 1,296 | 105 | (3) | 1,398 |
| U.S. government and federal agency | 832 | 55 | (37) | 850 | 842 | 47 | (6) | 883 |
| Retained interests(b)(c) | 5,691 | 178 | (57) | 5,812 | 3,794 | 434 | (13) | 4,215 |
| Equity | ||||||||
| Available-for-sale | 1,524 | 265 | (120) | 1,669 | 4,446 | 1,060 | (14) | 5,492 |
| Trading | 386 | — | — | 386 | 54 | — | — | 54 |
| 44,960 | 1,408 | (1,275) | 45,093 | 44,920 | 2,856 | (304) | 47,472 | |
| ELIMINATIONS | (7) | (1) | — | (8) | (7) | (1) | — | (8) |
| Total | $ 45,275 | $ 1,433 | $ (1,280) | $ 45,428 | $ 45,230 | $ 2,881 | $ (305) | $ 47,806 |
The following tables present the gross unrealized losses and estimated fair values of our available-for-sale investment securities.
| In loss position for | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Less than 12 months |
12 months or more | |||
| December 31 (In millions) | Estimated fair value | Gross unrealized losses | Estimated fair value | Gross unrealized losses |
| 2007 | ||||
| Debt | ||||
| U.S. corporate | $ 5,766 | $ (274) | $ 4,341 | $ (395) |
| State and municipal | 198 | (3) | 131 | (5) |
| Residential mortgage-backed | 3,268 | (160) | 1,223 | (65) |
| Commercial mortgage-backed | 1,483 | (33) | 848 | (16) |
| Asset-backed | 1,417 | (62) | 478 | (27) |
| Corporate — non-U.S. | 505 | (8) | 124 | (3) |
| Government — non-U.S. | 29 | (1) | 311 | (9) |
| U.S. government and federal agency | 255 | (37) | — | — |
| Retained interests | 548 | (50) | 10 | (7) |
| Equity | 443 | (105) | 18 | (20) |
| Total | $ 13,912 | $ (733) | $ 7,484 | $ (547) |
| 2006 | ||||
| Debt | ||||
| U.S. corporate | $ 2,483 | $ (52) | $ 4,242 | $ (150) |
| State and municipal | 149 | (2) | 70 | (2) |
| Residential mortgage-backed | 1,149 | (3) | 776 | (18) |
| Commercial mortgage-backed | 442 | (2) | 1,010 | (23) |
| Asset-backed | 260 | (2) | 611 | (9) |
| Corporate — non-U.S. | 112 | (3) | 93 | (2) |
| Government — non-U.S. | 33 | (3) | — | — |
| U.S. government and federal agency | 66 | (1) | 247 | (5) |
| Retained interests | 360 | (12) | 13 | (1) |
| Equity | 40 | (12) | 3,895 | (3) |
| Total | $ 5,094 | $ (92) | $ 10,957 | $ (213) |
At December 31, 2007, we held mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and asset-backed securities (ABS) with estimated fair values of $8,370 million and $2,221 million, respectively. Such amounts included unrealized losses of $274 million and $89 million, respectively. These amounts excluded retained interests in securitization entities. See note 27. Of the MBS amount, $5,474 million and $2,896 million related to residential MBS and commercial MBS, respectively. At December 31, 2007, we had approximately $1,635 million of exposure to subprime credit supporting our guaranteed investment contracts, a majority of which relates to residential MBS receiving credit ratings of Double A or better from the major rating agencies. We presently intend to hold our investment securities that are in an unrealized loss position at December 31, 2007, at least until we can recover their respective amortized cost. We have the ability to hold our debt securities until their maturities. Our subprime investment securities were collateralized primarily by pools of individual, direct mortgage loans, not other structured products such as collateralized debt obligations.
Contractual maturities of GECS investment in Available-For-Sale debt
securities (excluding mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities)
| (In millions) | Amortized cost | Estimated fair value |
|---|---|---|
| Due in | ||
| 2008 | $ 1,830 | $ 1,831 |
| 2009 – 2012 | 4,227 | 4,245 |
| 2013 – 2017 | 3,580 | 3,607 |
| 2018 and later | 16,808 | 16,952 |
We expect actual maturities to differ from contractual maturities because borrowers have the right to call or prepay certain obligations.
Supplemental information about gross realized gains and losses on available-for-sale investment securities follows.
| (In millions) | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
(a) Included gain on sale of Swiss Re common stock of $566 million in 2007. |
|||
| GE | |||
| Gains | $ 5 | $ 125 | $ 6 |
| Losses, including impairments | — | (1) | (5) |
| Net | 5 | 124 | 1 |
| GECS | |||
| Gains(a) | 1,026 | 313 | 509 |
| Losses, including impairments | (141) | (181) | (132) |
| Net | 885 | 132 | 377 |
| Total | $ 890 | $ 256 | $ 378 |
In the ordinary course of managing our investment securities portfolio, we may sell securities prior to their maturities for a variety of reasons, including diversification, credit quality, yield and liquidity requirements and the funding of claims and obligations to policyholders.
Proceeds from investment securities sales amounted to $18,993 million, $12,394 million and $14,047 million in 2007, 2006 and 2005, respectively, principally from the short-term nature of the investments that support the guaranteed investment contracts portfolio and the 2007 sale of Swiss Re common stock.
We recognized pre-tax gains on trading securities of $292 million, $5 million and $3 million in 2007, 2006 and 2005, respectively. Investments in retained interests decreased by $106 million during 2007, reflecting declines in fair value accounted for in accordance with SFAS 155.