Allstate (ALL)

Employers' Disclosures about Postretirement Benefit Plan Assets

       In January 2009, the FASB issued new accounting guidance relating to an employer's disclosures about plan assets of a defined benefit pension or other postretirement plan. Since plan assets measured at fair value are reported net of benefit obligations in an employer's statements of financial position, the disclosures are intended to increase transparency surrounding the types of assets and associated risks in the employer approved benefit plans. Companies are required to disclose information about how investment allocation decisions are made in the plans, the fair value of each major category of plan assets at each annual reporting date for each individual plan, information that would enable users to assess the assumptions and valuation techniques used in the development of the fair value measurements at the reporting date, and information that provides an understanding of significant concentrations of risk in plan assets. The disclosures are not required for earlier periods that are presented for comparative purposes. The new guidance affects disclosures only and therefore the adoption as of December 31, 2009 had no impact on the Company's results of operations or financial position.