More benefit if insurer pays out from buffer of guaranteed bonus

I REFER to the article: "It's not guaranteed" (The Business Times Weekend, Jan 7-8, 2017).

The article shows a graph of the non-guaranteed benefits reserve for 10 life insurers (for their participating funds, which come from whole life and endowment premiums).

It shows that Prudential has the highest buffer of non-guaranteed returns. Since 2010, it has kept its buffer at more than 1/3 of its total assets. (Actually, the chart in the articles shows it is even more and has been over 40 per cent of total assets since 2010.)