MERCURY GENERAL CORPMCY
MERCURY GENERAL CORP Fair Value Disclosure
Financial Instruments
Financial instruments recorded in the consolidated balance sheets include investments, notes receivable, other receivables, options sold, accounts payable, and notes payable. Due to their short-term maturity, the carrying values of other receivables and accounts payable approximate their fair values. All investments are carried at fair value in the consolidated balance sheets.
The following table presents the fair values of financial instruments:
| December 31, | |||||||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | ||||||||||
| (Amounts in thousands) | |||||||||||
| Assets | |||||||||||
| Investments | $ | 6,580,030 | $ | 6,076,370 | |||||||
| Notes receivable | 9,993 | 31,231 | |||||||||
| Liabilities | |||||||||||
| Options sold | 254 | 213 | |||||||||
| Notes payable | 573,740 | 566,812 | |||||||||
Investments
The Company applies the fair value option to all fixed maturity and equity securities and short-term investments at the time an eligible item is first recognized. The cost of investments sold is determined on a first-in and first-out method, and realized and unrealized gains and losses are included in net realized investment gains in the Company's consolidated statements of operations. See Note 3. Investments for additional information.
Notes Receivable
In September 2024, the Company completed the sale of an office building located in Brea, California for a total sale price of $31.5 million. $21.4 million of the total sale price was received in the form of a promissory note. The note receivable was secured by the property sold, and bore interest at an annual rate of 7.0%. The term of the note receivable was four years and interest was paid in quarterly installments. The Company received the full principal payment of the note receivable and accrued interest in September 2025.
In March 2023, the Company completed the sale of an office building located in Clearwater, Florida, for a total sale price of approximately $19.6 million. $9.8 million of the total sale price was received in the form of a promissory note. The note receivable is secured by the property sold, and bears interest at an annual rate of 7.0%. The term of the note receivable is four years and interest is paid in monthly installments.
Interest earned on the notes receivable is recognized in other revenues in the Company's consolidated statements of operations. The Company elected to apply the fair value option to the notes receivable at the time they were first recognized. The fair values of the notes receivable are included in other assets in the Company's consolidated balance sheets, while the changes in fair value of the notes receivable are included in net realized investment gains or losses in the Company's consolidated statements of operations.
Options Sold
The Company writes covered call options through listed and over-the-counter exchanges. When the Company writes an option, an amount equal to the premium received by the Company is recorded as a liability and is subsequently adjusted to the current fair value of the option written. Premiums received from writing options that expire unexercised are treated by the Company as realized gains from investments on the expiration date. If a call option is exercised, the premium is added to the proceeds from the sale of the underlying security in determining whether the Company has realized a gain or loss. The
Company, as writer of an option, bears the market risk of an unfavorable change in the price of the security underlying the written option. Liabilities for covered call options are included in other liabilities in the Company's consolidated balance sheets.
Notes Payable
The fair values of the Company’s publicly traded $375 million unsecured notes at December 31, 2025 and 2024 and its $200 million drawn under the unsecured credit facility at December 31, 2025 and 2024 were obtained from third party pricing services.
For additional disclosures regarding methods and assumptions used in estimating fair values, see Note 4. Fair Value Measurements.
Historical Timeline
| Fiscal Year | Filed | |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Feb 17, 2026 | Showing above |
| 2024 | Feb 11, 2025 | |
| 2023 | Feb 13, 2024 | |
| 2022 | Feb 14, 2023 | |
| 2021 | Feb 15, 2022 | |
| 2020 | Feb 16, 2021 | |
| 2019 | Feb 12, 2020 | |
| 2018 | Feb 13, 2019 | |
| 2017 | Feb 8, 2018 | |
| 2016 | Feb 9, 2017 | |
| 2015 | Feb 9, 2016 | |
About Fair Value Disclosures
Fair value disclosures classify all assets and liabilities measured at fair value into a three-level hierarchy: Level 1 (quoted market prices), Level 2 (observable inputs like yield curves), and Level 3 (unobservable inputs requiring management estimates). The proportion of Level 3 assets directly reflects how much of the balance sheet depends on internal models rather than market evidence.
Key signals: a growing Level 3 balance relative to total fair-value assets increases valuation uncertainty and earnings volatility risk. Watch for transfers between levels — assets moving from Level 2 to Level 3 often signal deteriorating market liquidity. Unrealized gains and losses on Level 3 positions flow through earnings or other comprehensive income, so large swings deserve scrutiny. For financial institutions, examine the sensitivity disclosures that show how Level 3 valuations change under alternative assumptions. Compare the fair value of debt against its carrying amount to gauge hidden leverage.