Insurers Report AIG, Lehman Losses

Life and health insurers are starting to report losses stemming from the recent turmoil at American International Group Inc. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc., Newark, N.J., says it owns $117 million in bonds from Lehman, New York, and is valuing that at about $39 million. The company expects to write down losses on the bonds when its third quarter ends Sept. 30.

Pru also holds Lehman bonds backing insurance policies that it calculates have declined in fair value by $16 million, to $8 million.

In addition, Pru is evaluating the current market value of around $90 million in investments in derivatives from Lehman subsidiaries.

The company says it also holds bonds from AIG, New York, that it currently values at $195 million, which is between 41% and 44% of their cost.

As of June 30, Pru valued total investments for its financial services businesses at more than $167 billion.

MetLife Inc., New York, says its net direct investments in both Lehman and AIG total about $800 million, including debt, equities and derivatives. It notes that it has an investment portfolio of $350 billion.

MetLife says it is still evaluating how much it can expect to recover from its AIG and Lehman investments.

Conseco Inc., Carmel, Ind., says it has $19 million in Lehman debt holdings and about $50 million in AIG debt holdings.

Humana Inc., Louisville, Ky., says it holds about $26 million in direct Lehman debt securities, about $29 million in Lehman bonds, and an asset related to an interest rate swap agreement with Lehman Brothers Special Financing Inc. for about $7.1 million.