ITEM 1A –Risk Factors
Our business is subject to a number of risks, including those described below, which could have a material effect on our results of operations, financial condition or liquidity and could cause our operating results to vary significantly from period to period.
Business and operational risks
Our historical revenue growth was derived primarily through policy assumptions and acquisitions. We cannot guarantee that future policy assumptions and acquisitions will be available to the extent they have in the past.
A substantial portion of our historical revenue has been generated from policies assumed from Citizens and other insurance companies, our acquisition of policies from several Florida insurance companies and subsequent renewals of these policies. Our ability to grow our premium base may depend upon the availability of future policy assumptions and acquisitions upon acceptable terms. Opportunities to acquire large numbers of policies from Citizens meeting our strict underwriting criteria have diminished in recent years. We cannot provide assurance that such opportunities will arise in the future.
Although we have begun providing insurance services in other states, our insurance business is primarily in Florida. Thus, any catastrophic event or other condition affecting losses in Florida could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
Any catastrophic event, a destructive weather pattern, a general economic trend, regulatory developments or other conditions specifically affecting the state of Florida could have a disproportionately adverse impact on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. While we actively manage our exposure to catastrophic events through our underwriting process and the purchase of reinsurance, the fact that our business is concentrated in the state of Florida subjects it to increased exposure to certain catastrophic events and destructive weather patterns such as hurricanes, tropical storms, and tornadoes. Changes in the prevailing regulatory, legal, economic, political, demographic and competitive environment, and other conditions in the state of Florida could also make it less attractive for us to do business in Florida and would have a more pronounced effect on our business than it would on other insurance companies that are more geographically diversified. Since our business is concentrated in this manner, the occurrence of one or more catastrophic events or other conditions affecting losses in the state of Florida could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and/or results of operations.
Our results may fluctuate based on many factors including cyclical changes in the insurance industry.
The insurance industry historically has been cyclical, characterized by periods of intense price competition due to excessive underwriting capacity, as well as periods when shortages of capacity permitted an increase in pricing and, thus, more favorable underwriting profits. As premium levels increase, there may be new entrants to the market, which could subsequently lead to a decrease
8
in premium levels. Any of these factors could lead to a significant reduction in premium rates in future periods, less favorable policy terms and fewer opportunities to underwrite insurance risks, which could have a material, adverse effect on our results of operations and cash flows. In addition to these considerations, changes in the frequency and severity of losses suffered by insureds and insurers may affect the cycles of the insurance business significantly.
We cannot predict whether market conditions will improve, remain constant or deteriorate. Negative market conditions may impair our ability to write insurance at rates that we consider appropriate relative to the risk assumed. If we cannot write insurance at appropriate rates, our business would be materially and adversely affected.
We rely on highly skilled and experienced personnel and if we are unable to attract, retain or motivate key personnel or hire qualified personnel, our business may be seriously harmed. In addition, the loss of our chief executive officer or other key senior management personnel could harm our business and future prospects.
Our performance largely depends on the talents and efforts of highly-skilled and experienced individuals. Our future success depends on our continuing ability to identify, hire, develop, motivate and retain highly skilled and experienced personnel and, if we are unable to hire and train a sufficient number of qualified employees for any reason, we may not be able to maintain or implement our current initiatives or grow, or our business may contract and we may lose market share. Moreover, certain of our competitors or other insurance or technology businesses may seek to hire our employees. We cannot assure you that we will provide adequate incentives to attract, retain and motivate employees in the future. If we do not succeed in attracting, retaining and motivating highly qualified personnel, our business may be seriously harmed.
Our operations are highly dependent on the efforts of our senior executive officers, particularly our chief executive officer, Paresh Patel, as well as our chief financial officer, Mark Harmsworth, and the President of our Real Estate Division, Anthony Saravanos. The loss of their leadership, industry knowledge and experience could negatively impact our operations. However, we have management succession plans to lessen any such negative impact. We maintain key-man life insurance on Mr. Patel although such policy may be insufficient to cover the damage resulting from the loss of Mr. Patel’s services.
Our information technology systems may fail or be disrupted, which could adversely affect our business.
Our insurance business is highly dependent upon the successful and uninterrupted functioning of our computer and data processing systems. We rely on these systems to perform underwriting and other modeling functions necessary for writing business, as well as to handle our policy administration process (i.e., the printing and mailing of our policies, endorsements, renewal notices, etc.). The failure or disruption of these systems could interrupt our operations and result in a material, adverse effect on our business.
The growth of our insurance business is dependent upon the successful development and implementation of advanced computer and data processing systems as well as the development and deployment of new information technologies to streamline our operations, including policy underwriting, production and administration and claim processing. The failure of these systems to function as planned could slow our growth and adversely affect our future business volume and results of operations.Additionally, our computer and data processing systems could become obsolete or could cease to provide a competitive advantage in policy underwriting, production and administration and claim processing which could negatively affect our future results of operations.
We conduct our business primarily from offices located in Tampa, Florida where tropical storms could damage our facilities or interrupt our power supply. We currently provide a hybrid work from home strategy for a majority of our workforce. This availability is provided through our highly available redundant cloud infrastructure. The loss or significant impairment of functionality in these facilities for any reason could have a material, adverse effect on our business. We believe this hybrid work strategy and redundant cloud infrastructure provides sufficient redundancies to replace our facilities if functionality is impaired. We contract with a third-party vendor to maintain complete daily backups of our systems, which are stored at the vendor’s facility in Atlanta, Georgia. We additionally use industry leading Internet cloud infrastructure providers to host some of our data processing systems. These cloud providers ensure redundancy across geographic regions with additional daily system backups. Access to these databases and hosted environments is strictly controlled and limited to authorized personnel. In the event of a disaster causing a complete loss of functionality at our Tampa locations, we plan to use our alternative office in Ocala, Florida temporarily to continue our operations.
9
Increased competition, competitive pressures, industry developments, and market conditions could affect the growth of our business and adversely impact our financial results.
The property and casualty insurance industry is cyclical and highly competitive. We compete not only with other stock companies but also with mutual companies, the U.S. government, other underwriting organizations and alternative risk-sharing mechanisms. Our principal lines of business are written by numerous other insurance companies. Competition for any one account may come from very large, well-established national companies, smaller regional companies, other specialty insurers in our field, and new entrants to the market. Many of these competitors have greater financial resources, larger agency networks and greater name recognition than our company. Additionally, our competitors may merge or acquire one another and further increase their combined financial resources and agency networks. We compete for business not only on the basis of price, but also on the basis of financial strength, types of coverage offered, availability of coverage desired by customers, commission structure, and quality of service. We may have difficulty continuing to compete successfully on any of these bases in the future. Competitive pressures coupled with market conditions may affect our rate of premium growth and financial results.
HCPCI and TypTap have each obtained a Demotech rating of “A Exceptional,” which is accepted by major mortgage companies operating in the state of Florida and many other states. Mortgage companies may require homeowners to obtain property insurance from an insurance company with an acceptable A.M. Best rating, which we do not currently have. Such a requirement could prevent us from expanding our business unless we obtain such rating, which may in turn limit our ability to compete with large, national insurance companies and certain regional insurance companies. A downgrade or loss of our Demotech rating could result in a substantial loss of business in the event insureds move their business to insurers with a sufficient financial strength rating.
There are inherent limitations and risks related to our projections and our estimates of claims and loss reserves. If our actual losses exceed our loss reserves, our financial results, our ability to expand our business, and our ability to compete in the property and casualty insurance industry may be negatively affected. In addition, industry developments could further increase competition in our industry. These developments could include—
•
an influx of new capital in the marketplace as existing companies attempt to expand their businesses and new companies attempt to enter the insurance business because of better pricing and/or terms;
•
new programs or changes to existing programs in which federally or state-sponsored entities provide property insurance in catastrophe-prone areas or other alternative markets;
•
changes in Florida’s or any other states’ regulatory climate; and
•
the enactment of federal proposals for an optional federal charter that would allow some competing insurers to operate under regulations different or less stringent than those applicable to our insurance subsidiaries.
These developments and others could make the property and casualty insurance marketplace more competitive by increasing the supply of insurance available.
If competition limits our ability to write new business at adequate rates, our future results of operations would be adversely affected.
If our actual losses from claims exceed our loss reserves, our financial results would be adversely affected.
Our objective is to establish loss reserves that are adequate and represent management’s best estimate of the ultimate cost to investigate and settle each specific claim. However, the process of establishing adequate reserves is complex and inherently uncertain, and the ultimate cost of a claim may vary materially from the amounts reserved. We regularly monitor and evaluate loss and loss adjustment expense reserve development to determine reserve adequacy.
Due to these uncertainties, the ultimate losses may vary materially from current loss reserves which could have a material, adverse effect on our future financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
10
Our failure to pay claims accurately could adversely affect our insurance business, financial results and capital requirements.
We rely on our claims personnel to accurately evaluate and pay the claims made under our policies. Many factors could affect our ability to accurately evaluate and pay claims, including the accuracy of our independent adjusters as they make their assessments and submit their estimates of damages; the training, background, and experience of our claims representatives; the ability of our claims personnel to ensure consistent claims processing given the input by our independent adjusters; the ability of our claims department to translate the information provided by our independent adjusters into acceptable claims settlements; and the ability of our claims personnel to maintain and update our claims processing procedures and systems as they evolve over time based on claims and geographical trends in claims reporting. Any failure to pay claims accurately could lead to material litigation, undermine our reputation in the marketplace, impair our corporate image and negatively affect our financial results.
The effects of emerging claim and coverage issues on our business are uncertain.
As industry practices and legal, judicial, social and other environmental conditions change, unexpected and unintended issues related to claims and coverage may emerge. These issues may adversely affect our business by either extending coverage beyond our underwriting intent or by increasing the number or size of claims. In some instances, these changes may not become apparent until sometime after we have issued insurance contracts that are affected by the changes. As a result, the full extent of liability under our insurance contracts may not be known for many years after a contract is issued and renewed, and our financial position and results of operations may be adversely affected as a result of any such unforeseen changes.
Failure to maintain our risk-based capital at the required levels could adversely affect our ability to maintain regulatory authority to conduct our business.
Our insurance subsidiaries are required to have sufficient capital and surplus in order to comply with insurance regulatory requirements, support our business operations and minimize our risk of insolvency. Failure to maintain adequate risk-based capital at the required levels could result in increasingly onerous reporting and examination requirements and could adversely affect our ability to maintain regulatory authority to conduct our business.
If we are unable to expand our business because our capital must be used to pay greater than anticipated claims, our financial results may suffer.
Our future growth will depend on our ability to expand the number of insurance policies we write, to expand the kinds of insurance products we offer, and to expand the geographic markets in which we do business, all balanced by the insurance risks we choose to write and cede. Our existing sources of funds include operations, investment holdings, and a bank credit facility. Unexpected catastrophic events in our market areas, such as hurricanes, may result in greater claims losses than anticipated, which could require us to limit or halt our growth while we redeploy our capital to pay these unanticipated claims unless we can raise additional capital.
Reinsurance coverage may not be available to us in the future at commercially reasonable rates or at all and we risk non-collectability of reinsurance amounts due us from reinsurers with which we have contracted.
Reinsurance is a method of transferring part of an insurance company’s liability under an insurance policy to another insurance company, or reinsurer. We use reinsurance arrangements to limit and manage the amount of risk we retain, to stabilize our underwriting results and to increase our underwriting capacity. The cost of such reinsurance is subject to prevailing market conditions beyond our control, such as the amount of capital in the reinsurance market and the occurrence of natural and man-made catastrophes. We cannot be assured that reinsurance will remain continuously available to us in the amounts we consider sufficient and at prices acceptable to us. As a result, we may determine to increase the amount of risk we retain or look for other alternatives to reinsurance, which could in turn have a material, adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.
With respect to the reinsurance contracts we currently have in effect, our ability to recover amounts due from reinsurers is subject to such reinsurers’ ability and willingness to pay and to meet their obligations to us. We attempt to select financially strong reinsurers with an A.M. Best rating of “A-” or better or we require the reinsurer to fully collateralize its exposure. While we monitor from time to time the financial condition of our reinsurers, we rely principally on A.M. Best, our reinsurance broker, and other rating agencies in determining their ability to meet their obligations to us. Any failure on the part of any one reinsurance company to meet its obligations to us could have a material, adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations.
The failure of the risk mitigation strategies we utilize could have a material, adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations.
We utilize a number of strategies to mitigate risk exposure within our insurance business, which include:
•
engaging in vigorous underwriting;
•
carefully evaluating terms and conditions of our policies;
11
•
focusing on our risk aggregations by geographic zones and other bases; and
•
ceding insurance risk to reinsurance companies.
However, there are inherent limitations in these strategies. We cannot provide assurance that an unanticipated event or series of events will not result in loss levels which could have a material, adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations.
The failure of any of the loss limitation methods we employ could have a material, adverse effect on our financial condition or our results of operations.
Our insurance underwriting process is generally designed to limit our exposure to known and manageable risks. Various provisions of our policies, such as limitations or exclusions from coverage, which have been negotiated to limit our risks, may not be enforceable in the manner we intend.
In addition, the policies we issue contain conditions requiring the prompt reporting of claims to us and our right to decline coverage in the event of a violation of that condition. While our insurance product exclusions and limitations reduce the loss exposure to us and help eliminate known exposures to certain risks, it is possible that a court or regulatory authority could nullify or void an exclusion or legislation could be enacted modifying or barring the use of such endorsements and limitations in a way that would adversely affect our loss experience, which changes could have a material, adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations.
If our customers were to claim that the policies they purchased failed to provide adequate or appropriate coverage, we could face claims that could harm our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Although we aim to provide adequate and appropriate coverage under each of our policies, customers could purchase policies that prove to be inadequate or inappropriate. If such customers were to bring a claim or claims alleging that we failed in our responsibilities to provide them with the type or amount of coverage that they sought to purchase, we could be found liable for amounts significantly in excess of the policy limit, resulting in an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. While we maintain errors and omissions insurance coverage to protect us against such liability, such coverage may be insufficient or inadequate.
Now and in the future, we may rely on independent agents to write our insurance policies, and if we are not able to contract with and retain independent agents, our revenues would be negatively affected.
The success of TypTap’s organic growth so far has been driven by selling our policies through independent agents. An inability to sell our products through independent agents would negatively affect our revenues.
We must compete with other insurers for independent agents’ business. Our competitors may offer a greater variety of insurance products, lower premiums for insurance coverage, or higher commissions to their agents. If our products, pricing and commissions do not remain competitive, we may find it more difficult to attract business from independent agents to sell our products. A material reduction in the amount of our products that independent agents sell could negatively affect our revenues.
Our success depends on our ability to accurately price the risks we underwrite.
The results of our operations and our financial condition depend on our ability to underwrite and set premium rates accurately for a wide variety of risks, including risks associated with flood insurance and other new product offerings. Rate adequacy is necessary to generate sufficient premiums to pay losses, loss adjustment expenses, and underwriting expenses and to earn a profit. To price our products accurately, we must collect and properly analyze a substantial amount of data; develop, test and apply appropriate rating formulas; closely monitor and timely recognize changes in trends; and project both severity and frequency of losses with reasonable accuracy. Our ability to undertake these efforts successfully, and thus, price our products accurately, is subject to several risks and uncertainties, some of which are outside of our control, including—
•
the availability of sufficient reliable data;
•
the uncertainties that inherently characterize estimates and assumptions;
•
our selection and application of appropriate rating and pricing techniques;
•
changes in legal standards, claim settlement practices, and restoration costs; and
•
legislatively imposed consumer initiatives.
12
In addition, we could underprice risks, which would negatively affect our profit margins. We could also overprice risks, which could reduce our retention, sales volume and competitiveness. The foregoing factors could materially and adversely affect our profitability.
Our operations in India expose us to additional risks, which could negatively impact our business, operating results, and financial condition.
Our India operations expose us to additional risks including income tax risks, currency exchange rate fluctuations and risks related to other challenges caused by distance, language, and compliance with Indian labor laws and other complex foreign and U.S. laws and regulations that apply to our India operations. These numerous and sometimes conflicting laws and regulations include anti-corruption laws, such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and other local laws prohibiting corrupt payments to governmental officials, among others. Violations of these laws and regulations could result in fines and penalties, or criminal sanctions against us, our officers, or our employees. Although policies and procedures are designed to ensure compliance with these laws and regulations, there can be no assurance that our employees, contractors, or agents will not violate our policies.
Financial risks
HCI Group, Inc. depends on the ability of its subsidiaries to generate and transfer funds to meet its debt obligations.
HCI Group, Inc. does not have significant revenue-generating operations of its own. Our ability to make scheduled payments on our debt obligations depends on the financial condition and operating performance of our subsidiaries. If the funds we receive from our subsidiaries, some of which are subject to regulatory restrictions on the payment of distributions, are insufficient to meet our debt obligations, we may be required to raise funds through the issuance of additional debt or equity securities, reduce or suspend dividend payments, or sell assets.
We may require additional capital in the future which may not be available or may only be available on unfavorable terms.
Our future capital requirements depend on many factors, including our ability to write new business successfully and to establish premium rates and reserves at levels sufficient to cover losses. To the extent that our present capital is insufficient to meet future operating requirements or to cover losses, we may need to raise additional funds through financings or curtail our growth. Based on our current operating plan, we believe current capital together with our anticipated retained income will support our operations. However, we cannot provide any assurance in that regard, since many factors will affect our capital needs and their amount and timing, including our growth and profitability, and the availability of reinsurance, as well as possible acquisition opportunities, market disruptions and other unforeseeable developments. If we require additional capital, it is possible that equity or debt financing may not be available at all or may be available only on terms unfavorable to us. Equity financings could result in dilution to our shareholders, and in any case such securities may have rights, preferences and privileges that are senior to those of existing shareholders. If we cannot obtain adequate capital on favorable terms or at all, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be materially affected.
Our credit agreement contains restrictions that can limit our flexibility in operating our business.
The agreement governing our revolving credit facility contains various covenants that limit our ability to engage in certain transactions. These covenants limit our and our subsidiaries’ ability to, among other things:
•
incur additional indebtedness;
•
declare or make any restricted payments;
•
create liens on any of our assets now owned or hereafter acquired;
•
consolidate, merge, sell, or otherwise dispose of all or substantially all of our assets now owned or hereafter acquired; and
•
enter into certain transactions with our affiliates.
An increase in interest rates may negatively impact our operating results and financial condition.
Borrowings under our revolving credit facility have a variable rate of interest. An increase in interest rate would have a negative impact on our results of operations attributable to increased interest expense.
Investment risks
There may be limited markets for and restrictions on certain holdings in our investment portfolio.
Certain holdings in our investment portfolio include limited partnership interests and commercial real estate. We may increase our holdings in these types of investments as we pursue further diversification. These investments may be illiquid in the near term as
13
they are privately placed and are subject to certain restrictions or conditions that may limit our ability to immediately dispose of the investments. If it becomes necessary to sell any of these investments at a time when the fair market value is below our carrying value, we may incur significant losses which could have a material adverse effect on our net income and financial position.
Our financial results may be negatively affected by the fact that a portion of our income is generated by the investment of our available cash.
A portion of our income is, and likely will continue to be, generated by the investment of our available cash. The amount of income so generated is a function of our investment policy, available investment opportunities, and the amount of available cash invested. Fluctuating interest rates and other economic factors make it difficult to estimate accurately the amount of investment income that will be realized. In fact, we have realized and may in the future realize losses on sales of our investments as well as credit losses on our investment holdings. Any unfavorable change to the fair value of our equity securities will also impact our financial results.
Our revenue from real estate investments may be affected by the success and economic viability of our anchor retail tenants. Our reliance on a single or significant tenant at certain properties may impact our ability to lease vacated space and adversely affect returns on the specific property.
At certain retail centers, we may have tenants, commonly referred to as anchor tenants, occupying all or a large portion of the gross leasable space. In the event an anchor tenant becomes insolvent, suffers a downturn in business, ceases its operations at the retail center, or otherwise determines not to renew its lease, any reduction or cessation of rental payments to us could adversely affect the returns on our real estate investments. A lease termination or cessation of operations by an anchor tenant could also lead to the loss of other tenants at the specific retail location. We may then incur additional expenses to make improvements and prepare the vacated space to be leased to one or more new tenants.
Similarly, the leases of some anchor tenants may permit the anchor tenant to transfer its lease to another retailer. The transfer to a new anchor tenant could cause customer traffic in the retail center to decrease and thereby reduce the income generated by that retail center. A lease transfer to a new anchor tenant could also allow other tenants to make reduced rental payments or to terminate their leases.
Our retail and other real estate properties may be subject to impairment charges which can adversely affect our financial results.
We periodically evaluate our long-lived assets and related intangible assets to determine if there has been any impairment in their carrying values. If we determine an impairment has occurred, we are required to record an impairment charge equal to the excess of the asset’s carrying value over its estimated fair value. As our real estate operations grow, there is an increased potential that the impairment of an asset could have a material adverse effect on our financial results. In addition, our fair value estimates are based on several assumptions that are subject to economic and market uncertainties including, but not limited to, demand for space, competition for tenants, changes in market rental rates and costs to operate each property. As these factors are difficult to predict and are subject to future events that may alter our assumptions, the future cash flows estimated in our impairment analysis may not be achieved.
Our ongoing investments in real estate and information technology businesses have inherent risks and could burden our financial and human resources.
We have invested and expect to continue to invest in real estate and information technology. Despite our due diligence, these investments may still involve significant risks and uncertainties, including distraction of management and employees from current operations, insufficient revenues to offset liabilities assumed and incurred expenses, inadequate return of capital, and failure to realize the anticipated benefits. There can be no assurance that such investments will be successful and will not adversely affect our financial condition and operating results.
Legal and regulatory risks
Industry trends, such as increased litigation against the insurance industry and individual insurers, the willingness of courts to expand covered causes of loss, rising jury awards, and the escalation of loss severity may contribute to increased costs and to the deterioration of the reserves of our insurance subsidiaries.
Loss severity in the property and casualty insurance industry may increase and may be driven by larger court judgments. In the event legal actions and proceedings are brought on behalf of classes of complainants, this may increase the size of judgments. The propensity of policyholders and third party claimants to litigate and the willingness of courts to expand causes of loss and the size of awards may render our loss reserves inadequate for current and future losses.
14
As an insurance holding company, we are currently subject to state regulation and in the future may become subject to federal regulation.
All states regulate insurance holding company systems. State statutes and administrative rules generally require each insurance company in the holding company group to register with the department of insurance in its state of domicile and to furnish information concerning the operations of the companies within the holding company system that may materially affect the operations, management or financial condition of the insurers within the group. As part of its registration, each insurance company must identify material agreements, relationships and transactions with affiliates, including without limitation, loans, investments, asset transfers, transactions outside of the ordinary course of business, certain management, service, and cost sharing agreements, reinsurance transactions, dividends, and consolidated tax allocation agreements.
Insurance holding company regulations generally provide that transactions between an insurance company and its affiliates must be fair and equitable, allocated between the parties in accordance with customary accounting practices, and fully disclosed in the records of the respective parties. Many types of transactions between an insurance company and its affiliates, such as transfers of assets among such affiliated companies, certain dividend payments from insurance subsidiaries and certain material transactions between companies within the system may be subject to prior approval by, or prior notice to, state regulatory authorities. If we are unable to obtain the requisite prior approval for a specific transaction, we would be precluded from taking the action, which could adversely affect our operations. In addition, state insurance regulations also frequently impose notice or approval requirements for the acquisition of specified levels of ownership in the insurance company or insurance holding company.
Regulations may vary from state to state, and states occasionally may have conflicting regulations. Currently, the federal government’s role in regulating or dictating the policies of insurance companies is limited. However, Congress, from time to time, considers proposals that would increase the role of the federal government in insurance regulation, either in addition to or in lieu of state regulation. The impact of any future federal insurance regulation on our insurance operations is unclear and may adversely impact our business or competitive position.
Our insurance subsidiaries are subject to extensive regulation, which may reduce our profitability or limit our growth. Moreover, if we fail to comply with these regulations, we may be subject to penalties, including fines and suspensions, which may adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
The insurance industry is highly regulated and supervised. Our insurance subsidiaries are subject to the supervision and regulation of the states in which they are domiciled and the states in which they transact insurance business. Such supervision and regulation is primarily designed to protect our policyholders rather than our shareholders. These regulations are generally administered by a department of insurance in each state and relate to, among other things —
•
the content and timing of required notices and other policyholder information;
•
the amount of premiums the insurer may write in relation to its surplus;
•
the amount and nature of reinsurance a company is required to purchase;
•
participation in guaranty funds and other statutorily created markets or organizations;
•
business operations and claims practices;
•
approval of policy forms and premium rates;
•
standards of solvency, including risk-based capital measurements;
•
licensing of insurers and their products;
•
restrictions on the nature, quality and concentration of investments;
•
restrictions on the ability of insurance company subsidiaries to pay dividends to their holding companies;
•
restrictions on transactions between insurance companies and their affiliates;
•
restrictions on the size of risks insurable under a single policy;
•
requiring deposits for the benefit of policyholders;
•
requiring certain methods of accounting;
•
periodic examinations of our operations and finances;
•
the form and content of records of financial condition required to be filed; and
15
•
the level of reserves.
The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation and regulators in other jurisdictions where we may become licensed and offer insurance products conduct periodic examinations of the affairs of insurance companies and require the filing of annual and other reports relating to financial condition, holding company issues and other matters. These regulatory requirements may adversely affect or inhibit our ability to achieve some or all of our business objectives. These regulatory authorities also conduct periodic examinations into insurers’ business practices. These reviews may reveal deficiencies in our insurance operations or non-compliance with regulatory requirements.
In certain states including Florida, insurance companies are subject to assessments levied by the states where they conduct their business. While we can recover these assessments from Florida policyholders through policy surcharges, our payment of the assessments and our recoveries may not offset each other in the same reporting period in our consolidated financial statements and may cause a material, adverse effect on our cash flows and results of operations in a particular reporting period.
In addition, regulatory authorities have relatively broad discretion to deny or revoke licenses for various reasons, including the violation of regulations. In some instances, we follow practices based on our interpretations of regulations or practices that we believe may be generally followed by the industry. These practices may turn out to be different from the interpretations of regulatory authorities. If we do not have the requisite licenses and approvals or do not comply with applicable regulatory requirements, insurance regulatory authorities could preclude or temporarily suspend us from carrying on some or all of our activities or otherwise penalize us. This could adversely affect our ability to operate our business.
Finally, changes in the level of regulation of the insurance industry or changes in laws or regulations themselves or interpretations by regulatory authorities could adversely affect our ability to operate our business, reduce our profitability and limit our growth.
A regulatory environment that requires approval of rate increases and that can dictate underwriting practices and mandate participation in loss sharing arrangements may adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.
From time to time, political events and positions affect the insurance market, including efforts to suppress rates to a level that may not allow us to reach targeted levels of profitability. For example, if our loss ratio compares favorably to that of the industry, state regulatory authorities may impose rate rollbacks, require us to pay premium refunds to policyholders, or challenge or otherwise delay our efforts to raise rates even if the homeowners industry generally is not experiencing regulatory challenges to rate increases. In particular, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, state regulators and legislators are under increased political pressure to provide financial relief to policyholders through premium rebates or requiring insurers to pay claims arising from COVID-19 related losses, regardless of the applicable policy’s exclusions.
In addition, certain states have enacted laws that require an insurer conducting business in that state to participate in assigned risk plans, reinsurance facilities and joint underwriting associations. Certain states also require insurers to offer coverage to all consumers, often restricting an insurer’s ability to charge the price it might otherwise charge. In these markets, we may be compelled to underwrite significant amounts of business at lower-than-desired rates, possibly leading to an unacceptable return on equity. Our results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected by any of these factors.
Our real estate operations are subject to regulation under various federal, state, and local laws concerning the environment.
Our real estate operations own various properties including marina facilities, and commercial buildings. As a result, we are subject to regulation under various federal, state, and local laws concerning the environment, including laws addressing the discharge of pollutants into the air and water and the management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes and the cleanup of contaminated sites. We could incur substantial costs, including remediation costs, fines and civil or criminal sanctions and third-party damage or personal injury claims, if in the future we were to violate or become liable under environmental laws relating to our real estate operations.
Security and fraud risks
An unauthorized disclosure or loss of policyholder or employee information or other sensitive or confidential information, including by cyber-attack or other security breach, could cause a loss of data, give rise to remediation or other expenses, expose us to liability under federal and state laws, and subject us to litigation and investigations, which could have an adverse effect on our business, cash flows, financial condition and results of operations.
As part of our normal operations, we collect, process and retain certain sensitive and confidential information. We are subject to various federal and state privacy laws and rules regarding the use and disclosure of certain sensitive or confidential information. Despite the security measures we have implemented to help ensure data security and compliance with applicable laws and rules, which include firewalls, regular penetration testing and other measures, our facilities and systems, and those of our third-party service providers
16
and vendors, may be vulnerable to cyber-attacks, security breaches, acts of vandalism, computer viruses, theft of data, misplaced or lost data, programming and human errors, physical break-ins, or other disruptions. In addition, we cannot ensure that we will be able to identify, prevent or contain the effects of possible cyber-attacks or other cybersecurity risks in the future that may bypass our security measures or disrupt our information technology systems or business.
Noncompliance with any privacy or security laws and regulations, or any security breach, cyber-attack or cybersecurity breach, and any incident involving the misappropriation, loss or other unauthorized disclosure or use of, or access to, sensitive or confidential member information, could require us to expend significant capital and other resources to continue to modify or enhance our protective measures and to remediate any damage caused by such breaches. In addition, this could result in interruptions to our operations and damage to our reputation, and misappropriation of confidential information could also result in regulatory enforcement actions, material fines and penalties, litigation or other liability or actions which could have a material adverse effect on our business, cash flows, financial condition and results of operations. As the regulatory environment related to information security, data collection and use, and privacy becomes increasingly rigorous, with new and constantly changing requirements applicable to our business, compliance with those requirements could also result in additional costs.
We rely on service providers and vendors to provide certain technology, systems and services that we use in connection with various functions of our business, including PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) compliant credit card processing, and we may entrust them with confidential information. The information systems of our third-party service providers and vendors are also vulnerable to an increasing threat of continually evolving cybersecurity risks. Unauthorized parties may attempt to gain access to these systems or our information through fraud or other means of deceiving our associates, third-party service providers or vendors. Hardware, software or applications we obtain from third parties may contain defects in design or manufacture or other problems that could unexpectedly compromise information security. The methods used to obtain unauthorized access, disable or degrade service or sabotage systems are also constantly changing and evolving and may be difficult to anticipate or detect for long periods of time. Ever-evolving threats mean our third-party service providers and vendors must continually evaluate and adapt their own respective systems and processes, and there is no assurance that they will be adequate to safeguard against all data security breaches or misuses of data. Any future significant compromise or breach of our data security via a third-party service provider or vendor could result in additional significant costs, lost revenues, fines, lawsuits, and damage to our reputation. We have acquired a cybersecurity insurance policy to help mitigate any financial impact that may incur with a breach along with the assistance for legal and/or media requirements during that time.
General risks
Our operations could be materially and adversely affected by measures implemented by federal, state and local governments to cope with public health issues such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in possible material impacts to our financial position and results of operations.
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, there have been many interruptions in business activities on a global scale resulting from the implementation of health and safety measures required by various governments. The effects of COVID-19 continue to cause significant disruption in the United States and international economies and instability of worldwide financial markets. We take necessary precautions to protect the safety and well-being of our employees by conducting certain business activities and operations remotely. As a provider of homeowners insurance, we continually prepare for disasters and catastrophic events, including events that could disrupt business continuity. As a result, we were able to quickly adjust our technologies and infrastructure to support a remote workforce and maintain business continuity. Potential impacts to us include, but are not limited to, the following:
•
Nonrenewal of insurance policies by policyholders with financial difficulties;
•
Increased reinsurance costs;
•
Increased credit loss on reinsurance recoverable;
•
Increased insurance costs;
•
Decrease in value of our real estate investments and financial instruments;
•
Decreased income from our real estate and investment portfolio; and
•
Risk of security vulnerabilities due to remote work environments.
As new variants of COVID-19 emerge, such as the Omicron variant, it is difficult to predict when normal economic and operating conditions can resume. As of the date of issuance of this report, the extent to which the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic may materially affect our financial condition, liquidity, or results of operations in the long-term future remains uncertain and unquantifiable.
17
An overall decline in economic activity could have a material adverse effect on the financial condition and results of operations of our business.
The demand for homeowners insurance generally rises as the overall level of household income increases and generally falls as household income decreases, affecting premiums, commissions and fees generated by our business. Some new polices may be sourced by referral sources tied to home closing transactions, and major slowdowns in the various housing markets we serve could impact our ability to generate new business. The economic activity that impacts homeowners insurance is most closely correlated with employment levels, corporate revenue and asset values.
Changing climate conditions could have an adverse impact on our business, results of operations or financial condition.
There is an emerging scientific consensus on climate change, which may affect the frequency and severity of storms, floods and other weather events, and negatively affect our business, results of operations, and/or financial condition.
We have exposure to unpredictable catastrophes, which can materially and adversely affect our financial results.
We write insurance policies that cover homeowners, condominium owners, and tenants for losses that result from, among other things, catastrophes. We are therefore subject to losses, including claims under policies we have written, arising out of catastrophes that may have a significant effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition. A significant catastrophe could also have an adverse effect on our reinsurers. Catastrophes can be caused by various events, including hurricanes, tropical storms, tornadoes, windstorms, earthquakes, hailstorms, explosions, power outages, fires, winter storms and man-made events. The incidence and severity of catastrophes are inherently unpredictable. The extent of losses from a catastrophe is a function of both the total amount of insured exposure in the area affected by the event and the severity of the event. Our policyholders are currently concentrated in Florida and the northeast region, which are subject to adverse weather conditions such as hurricanes, tropical storms and winter storms. Therefore, although we attempt to manage our exposure to catastrophes through our underwriting process and the purchase of reinsurance protection, an especially severe catastrophe or series of catastrophes could exceed our reinsurance protection and may have a material, adverse impact on our results of operations and financial condition.
The planned initial public offering of common stock of our majority-owned subsidiary, TTIG, is contingent upon the satisfaction of a number of conditions, may not be completed on the contemplated timeline or at all, and if completed may not achieve the intended benefits.
On November 8, 2021, we first announced our intention to list TTIG’s common shares on a major U.S. stock exchange to raise additional capital to fund its growth plan. On January 12, 2022, we announced our postponement of TTIG’s initial public offering due to recent market conditions not favorable to its success and realization of true value. The planned initial public offering is complex in nature and may be affected by unanticipated developments or changes in market conditions. Furthermore, if the initial public offering is completed, there is no guarantee that it will be successful in meeting its objectives or achieving its intended benefits. Any of these factors could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
ITEM 1B –Unresolved Staff Comments
Not applicable.
18
ITEM 2 – Properties
Real Estate Owned and Used in Operations
Tampa, Florida. The real estate consists of a two-story building with gross area of approximately 67,300 square feet and currently serves as HCI Group, Inc.'s corporate headquarters.
Ocala, Florida. The real estate consists of 1.6 acres of land and an office building with gross area of approximately 16,000 square feet. The facility is 100% designated for our insurance operations and in 2022 will be used exclusively by TypTap Management Company.
Investment Real Estate
Treasure Island, Florida. The real estate consists of approximately 10 acres of waterfront property and land improvements, a restaurant and a marina facility. The marina facility is currently owned and operated by us. The restaurant facility is leased to an unrelated party that operates several restaurants in the area.
Tierra Verde, Florida. The real estate consists of 7.1 acres of waterfront property, a dry rack storage building with gross area of 57,500 square feet, and two buildings with retail space having an aggregate gross area of approximately 23,000 square feet. This marina facility is owned and operated by us. Approximately 6% of the available retail space is occupied by us, 57% of the retail space is leased to non-affiliates, and the remaining space is available for lease.
Riverview, Florida. The real estate consists of 2.57 acres of land, 1.27 acres of which is leased to Thorntons, LLC, a gas station and convenience store chain. Our retail structure with 8,400 square feet of net rentable space is situated on the remaining land. 100% of the rentable space is leased to non-affiliates.
Sorrento, Florida. The real estate includes 5.42 acres of outparcel land intended for ground lease or resale and a retail shopping center with 61,400 square feet of net rentable area. Approximately 74% of the rentable space is currently leased to Publix supermarket. Approximately 96% of the rentable space is leased to non-affiliates and the remaining space is available for lease.
Melbourne, Florida. The real estate includes 2.26 acres of outparcel land intended for ground lease, resale or future development and a retail shopping center with 49,995 square feet of rentable area. Approximately 42% of the rentable space is currently leased to Fresh Market supermarket. Approximately 97% of the rentable space is leased to non-affiliates and the remaining space is available for lease.
Tampa, Florida. We own investment properties in two different locations. One real estate consists of 6.69 acres of land and an office building with gross area of 68,867 square feet. The building is 100% leased to Bank of America. Another is approximately 9 acres of undeveloped land that we acquired in February 2019.
Clearwater, Florida. The real estate consists of 6.08 acres of land and a retail building with approximately 55,000 square feet of rentable space. Approximately 59% of the rentable space is currently leased to ALDI supermarket.
Leased Property
Tampa, Florida. We lease 52,693 square feet of office space and use of a four-level parking garage which serve as TTIG's corporate headquarters and several of its subsidiaries’ offices.
Noida, India. We lease 15,000 square feet of office space for our information technology operations. The original lease expired in January 2022 and we entered into a new lease agreement for this lease effective February 2022 with an initial term of nine years.
Miami Lakes, Florida. We lease approximately 5,600 square feet of office space for our claims related administration. The lease is currently on a month-to-month basis.
Expense under all facility leases was $1,945,000, $1,259,000, and $456,000 during the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
19
ITEM 3 –Legal Proceedings
We are a party to claims and legal actions arising routinely in the ordinary course of our business. Although we cannot predict with certainty the ultimate resolution of the claims asserted against us, we do not believe that any currently pending legal proceeding to which we are a party will have a material, adverse effect on our consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.
ITEM 4 –Mine Safety Disclosures
Not applicable.
20
PART II
ITEM 5 –Market for the Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Markets for Common Stock
Our common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “HCI.”
Holders
As of February 25, 2022, the market price for our common stock was $64.17 and there were 190 holders of record of our common stock.
Dividends
The declaration and payment of dividends is at the discretion of our board of directors. Our ability to pay dividends depends on many factors, including the Company’s operating results, financial condition, capital requirements, the availability of cash from our subsidiaries and legal and regulatory constraints and requirements on the payment of dividends and other factors that our board of directors deems relevant. The following table represents the frequency and amount of all cash dividends declared on our common stock for the two most recent fiscal years:
Declaration Date Payment Date Date of Record Per Share Amount
Under Florida law, a domestic insurer may not pay any dividend or distribute cash or other property to its stockholders unless certain requirements, which are discussed in Note 26 -- “Regulatory Requirements and Restrictions” to our consolidated financial statements under Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, are met. Hence, Florida law may limit the availability of cash from our insurance subsidiaries for the payment of dividends to our shareholders.
Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans
The following table summarizes our equity compensation plans as of December 31, 2021. We currently have no equity compensation plans not approved by our stockholders.
Performance Graph
The following graph compares the 5-year cumulative total dollar return to shareholders on our common stock relative to the cumulative total returns of the Russell 2000 Index and the NASDAQ Insurance Index. An investment of $100 (with reinvestment of all dividends) is assumed to have been made in our common stock and in each index on December 31, 2016 and its relative performance is tracked through December 31, 2021. The returns shown are based on historical results and are not intended to suggest future performance.
21
Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities
None.
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
None.
ITEM 6 –Reserved
Not applicable.
22
ITEM 7 –Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
The following discussion should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Forward-Looking Statements
In addition to historical information, this Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements as defined under federal securities laws. Such statements, including statements about our plans, objectives, expectations, assumptions or future events, involve risks and uncertainties. These statements involve estimates, assumptions, known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Typically, forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as “anticipate,” “estimate,” “plan,” “project,” “continuing,” “ongoing,” “expect,” “believe,” “intend,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” and similar expressions. The important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements include but are not limited to the effect of governmental regulation; changes in insurance regulations; the frequency and extent of claims; uncertainties inherent in reserve estimates; catastrophic events; changes in the demand for, pricing of, availability of or collectability of reinsurance; restrictions on our ability to change premium rates; increased rate pressure on premiums; the impact of the novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”) pandemic; and other risks and uncertainties and other factors listed under Item 1A -- “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and in our other Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
OVERVIEW
General
HCI Group, Inc. is a Florida-based company which through its subsidiaries is engaged in a variety of business activities, including property and casualty insurance, reinsurance, real estate and information technology. Its principal business is property and casualty insurance.
We began insurance operations by participating in a “take-out program” which is a legislatively mandated program designed to encourage private companies to assume policies from Citizens, a Florida state-sponsored insurance carrier. Opportunities to acquire large numbers of policies from Citizens meeting our strict underwriting criteria have diminished in recent years. We may, however, selectively pursue additional assumption transactions with Citizens.
Our general operating and growth strategies are to continually optimize our existing book of insurance business, organically expand our insurance business, manage our costs and expenses, diversify our business operations, develop and deploy new technologies to streamline operational processes, and maintain a strong balance sheet so we can quickly pursue accretive opportunities when they arise. Our growth strategies also include assumption of policies from other insurance companies with the intention of renewing and/or replacing them with our policies eventually.
Recent Developments
On January 20, 2022, our Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per common share. The dividends are to be paid March 18, 2022 to stockholders of record on February 18, 2022.
On February 23, 2022, we entered into an agreement with United for United’s primary insurance subsidiary, United Property & Casualty Insurance Company, to cede to us all of its personal lines insurance business in the states of Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Under the reinsurance agreement, HCPCI provides 85% quota share reinsurance on all of United’s personal lines insurance business in those states from December 31, 2021 through May 31, 2022. Similar to the previous agreement, HCPCI paid United a catastrophe allowance of 9% of premium not exceeding $3,800,000 and a provisional ceding commission of 25% of premium. That percentage could increase up to 32% depending on the direct loss ratio results from the reinsured business. Annual premiums from the assumed business approximate $87,000,000. We also entered into a renewal rights agreement with United in connection with the assumed business in the three states. Under the renewal rights agreement, we have the right to renew and/or replace United’s insurance policies at the end of their respective policy periods in the three states. Our ability to replace policies is subject to regulatory approvals in the three states. In connection with the transaction, United will agree to not compete with us for the issuance of personal lines homeowners business in these three states until July 1, 2025. As part of the transaction, United will receive a renewal rights ceding commission of 6%, with a portion of the ceding commission paid up-front.
On March 1, 2022, none of the holders of the 4.25% Convertible Senior Notes exercised the put option, which would have required us to repurchase for cash all or any portion of the notes at par.
23
In March 2022, our share repurchase forward contract with Societe Generale, entered into in conjunction with the 2017 issuance of the 4.25% Convertible Senior Notes, was physically settled with the delivery from Societe Generale of 191,100 shares of HCI’s common stock to us.
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Comparison of the Year Ended December 31, 2021 with the Year Ended December 31, 2020
Our results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2021 reflect net income of approximately $7,242,000, or $0.21 diluted earnings per share, compared with a net income of approximately $27,580,000, or $3.49 diluted earnings per share, for the year ended December 31, 2020. The year-over-year decrease was primarily attributable to a one-time gain on involuntary conversion of approximately $36,969,000 included in our 2020 results, offset by a net increase in income from our investment portfolio (consisting of net investment income and net realized and unrealized gains or losses) of approximately $14,538,000.
Revenue
Gross Premiums Earned for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 were approximately $577,044,000 and $415,918,000, respectively. The $161,126,000 increase in 2021 was primarily attributable to the policies assumed from United Insurance Holdings Corporation and increased policies in force from the growth in TypTap’s business, offset by a normal decrease due to policy attrition. Gross premiums earned in 2021 related to the United policies assumed were $98,498,000. HCPCI's gross premiums earned in 2021 were $401,137,000 compared with $337,082,000 in 2020. TypTap's gross premiums earned in 2021 were $175,907,000 compared with $78,836,000 in 2020.
Premiums Ceded for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 were approximately $199,741,000 and $153,458,000, respectively, representing 34.6% and 36.9%, respectively, of gross premiums earned. Our premiums ceded represent costs of reinsurance to cover losses from catastrophes that exceed the retention levels defined by our catastrophe excess of loss reinsurance contracts or to assume a proportional share of losses defined in a quota share arrangement. The rates we pay for reinsurance are based primarily on policy exposures reflected in gross premiums earned. The $46,283,000 increase was primarily attributable to increased reinsurance costs effective June 1, 2021 and a higher level of reinsurance coverage, offset by a reduction in premiums ceded attributable to retrospective provisions under multi-year reinsurance contracts. See “Economic Impact of Reinsurance Contracts with Retrospective Provisions” under “Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates.”
Net Premiums Written for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 totaled approximately $474,648,000 and $350,696,000, respectively. Net premiums written represent the premiums charged on policies issued during a fiscal period less any applicable reinsurance costs. The $123,952,000 increase in 2021 resulted primarily from an increase in gross premiums written from the growth of TypTap business of approximately $142,624,000 and the assumed business from United of approximately $128,948,000. HCPCI’s and TypTap’s gross premiums written were approximately $426,910,000 and $247,479,000, respectively, for 2021 compared with approximately $399,299,000 and $104,855,000, respectively, for 2020. We had approximately 180,700 policies in force at December 31, 2021 versus approximately 154,000 policies in force at December 31, 2020.
Net Premiums Earned for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 were approximately $377,303,000 and $262,460,000, respectively, and reflect the gross premiums earned less reinsurance costs as described above.
The following is a reconciliation of our Net Premiums Written to Net Premiums Earned for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 (amounts in thousands):
Years Ended December 31,
Net Investment Income for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 was approximately $12,335,000 and $4,564,000, respectively. The year-over-year increase was primarily attributable to an increase in income from limited partnership investments of approximately $6,542,000 and a net gain of $2,790,000 recognized in 2021 for a legal settlement received from The Kroger Co. See Note 5 -- “Investments” under Net Investment Income to our consolidated financial statements under Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Net Realized Investment Gains for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 were approximately $6,472,000 and $1,000,000, respectively. The gains in 2021 resulted primarily from sales of equity securities.
24
Net Unrealized Investment Gains for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 were approximately $1,363,000 and $679,000, respectively. Net unrealized investment gains or losses represent the net change in the fair value of equity securities. The increase in 2021 reflected an overall improvement in the equity market compared with 2020.
Expenses
Our consolidated Losses and Loss Adjustment Expenses amounted to approximately $227,525,000 and $160,036,000 for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. The increase was primarily attributable to losses associated with the assumption of policies from United, the organic growth in TypTap’s homeowners business, and the unfavorable loss development for the 2020 loss year. See “Reserves for Losses and Loss Adjustment Expenses” under “Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates.”
Policy Acquisition and Other Underwriting Expenses for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 were approximately $93,732,000 and $53,859,000, respectively, and primarily reflect the amortization of deferred acquisition costs such as commissions payable to agents for production and renewal of policies, and premium taxes. The increase was primarily attributable to amortization of increased costs associated with the policies assumed from United and the amortization of increased commission costs related to the growth of TypTap's policies in force during 2021.
Debt Conversion Expense for the year ended December 31, 2021 was approximately $1,754,000, representing costs associated with certain of the conversions of our 4.25% convertible senior notes.
General and Administrative Personnel Expenses for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 were approximately $45,428,000 and $33,829,000, respectively. Our general and administrative personnel expenses include salaries, wages, payroll taxes, stock-based compensation expense, and employee benefit costs. Factors such as merit increases, changes in headcount, and periodic restricted stock grants, among others, cause fluctuations in this expense. In addition, our personnel expenses are decreased by the capitalization of payroll costs related to a project to develop software for internal use and the payroll costs associated with the processing and settlement of Hurricane Irma claims which are recoverable from reinsurers under reinsurance contracts. The year-over-year increase of $11,599,000 was primarily attributable to an $8,042,000 increase in salaries and wages expense due to an increase in the headcount of temporary and full-time employees and merit increases for non-executive employees, and a $5,621,000 increase in stock-based compensation expense, offset by a decrease in employee incentive bonus and higher capitalized and recoverable payroll costs.
Interest Expense for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 was approximately $6,400,000 and $11,734,000, respectively. The decrease primarily resulted from conversions of our 4.25% convertible senior notes during the second half of 2021 and the early adoption of ASC 2020-06 “Debt - Debt with Conversion and Other Options and Derivatives and Hedging – Contracts in Entity’s own Equity.” As described in Note 2 -- “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” to our consolidated financial statements under Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, ASU 2020-06 allows the reversal of discounts previously recorded to account for the cash conversion feature of convertible debt instruments. Our 4.25% convertible senior notes contain such a cash conversion feature and accordingly the discount was reversed on January 1, 2021. As a result, interest expense no longer includes amounts representing the amortization of the discount.
Income Tax Expense for the year ended December 31, 2021 was approximately $3,991,000 for federal, state, and foreign income taxes compared with income tax expense of approximately $9,348,000 for the year ended December 31, 2020, resulting in an effective tax rate of 35.5% for 2021 and 25.3% for 2020. The increase in the effective tax rate was primarily due to the non-deductibility of certain executive compensation and the increase in deferred tax expense due to the increased Florida corporate tax rate effective January 1, 2022.
Ratios:
The loss ratio applicable to the year ended December 31, 2021 (losses and loss adjustment expenses incurred related to net premiums earned) was 60.3% compared with 61.0% for the year ended December 31, 2020. The decrease was primarily due to an increase in net premiums earned.
The expense ratio applicable to the year ended December 31, 2021 (defined as total expenses excluding losses and loss adjustment expenses related to net premiums earned) was 44.8% compared with 43.2% for the year ended December 31, 2020. The increase in our expense ratio was primarily attributable to the increase in policy acquisition, underwriting and personnel expenses, offset by the increase in net premiums earned and the decrease in interest expense.
The combined ratio is the measure of overall underwriting profitability before other income. Our combined ratio for the year ended December 31, 2021 was 105.1% compared with 104.2% for the year ended December 31, 2020. The increase was primarily attributable to the increase in losses and loss adjustment expenses combined with the increases in reinsurance costs and policy acquisition and other underwriting expenses.
Due to the impact our reinsurance costs have on net premiums earned from period to period, our management believes the combined ratio measured to gross premiums earned is more relevant in assessing overall performance. The combined ratio to gross premiums earned for the year ended December 31, 2021 was 68.7% compared with 65.8% for the year ended December 31, 2020. The
25
increase in 2021 was primarily attributable to the increase in losses and loss adjustment expenses, offset by the increase in gross premiums earned.
Comparison of the Year Ended December 31, 2020 with the Year Ended December 31, 2019
Our results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2020 reflect net income of $27,580,000, or $3.49 diluted earnings per share, compared with a net income of $26,576,000, or $3.31 diluted earnings per share, for the year ended December 31, 2019. The year-over-year increase was primarily attributable to a gain on involuntary conversion of $36,969,000 and a net increase in net premiums earned of $46,146,000, offset by an increase in losses and loss adjustment expenses of $52,522,000, a net decrease in income from our investment portfolio (consisting of net investment income and net realized and unrealized gains or losses) of $15,095,000, an increase in policy acquisition and other underwriting expenses of $11,362,000 and a $2,717,000 increase in payroll costs and other personnel expenses.
Revenue
Gross Premiums Earned for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 were approximately $415,918,000 and $342,079,000, respectively. The increase in 2020 was primarily attributable to the policies transitioned from Anchor and increased policies in force from the growth in TypTap’s business, offset by a normal decrease due to policy attrition. Gross premiums earned related to the Anchor policies and the growth in TypTap’s business during 2020 were approximately $27,765,000 and $47,900,000, respectively.
Premiums Ceded for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 were approximately $153,458,000 and $125,765,000, respectively, representing 36.9% and 36.8%, respectively, of gross premiums earned. The $27,693,000 increase was primarily attributable to increased reinsurance costs effective June 1, 2020 and a higher level of reinsurance coverage, offset by a reduction in premiums ceded attributable to retrospective provisions under one reinsurance contract. See “Economic Impact of Reinsurance Contracts with Retrospective Provisions” under “Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates.”
Net Premiums Written for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 totaled approximately $350,696,000 and $239,190,000, respectively. The increase in 2020 resulted primarily from an increase in gross premiums written from the growth of TypTap business of approximately $44,600,000, the transition of policies from Anchor of approximately $30,600,000, and the assumed business from United of approximately $44,600,000. HCPCI’s and TypTap’s gross premiums written were approximately $399,299,000 and $104,855,000, respectively, for 2020 compared with approximately $304,683,000 and $60,272,000, respectively, for 2019. We had approximately 154,000 policies in force at December 31, 2020 versus approximately 131,000 policies in force at December 31, 2019.
Net Premiums Earned for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 were approximately $262,460,000 and $216,314,000, respectively, and reflect the gross premiums earned less reinsurance costs as described above.
The following is a reconciliation of our Net Premiums Written to Net Premiums Earned for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 (amounts in thousands):
Years Ended December 31,
Net Investment Income for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 was approximately $4,564,000 and $13,642,000, respectively. The year-over-year decrease was primarily attributable to a decrease in income from limited partnership investments of approximately $2,771,000 and lower interest income from fixed-maturity securities and cash balances by approximately $5,533,000. See Note 5 -- “Investments” under Net Investment Income to our consolidated financial statements under Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Net Realized Investment Gains for the year ended December 31, 2020 were approximately $1,000,000 versus net realized investment losses of approximately $254,000 for the year ended December 31, 2019. The gains in 2020 resulted primarily from sales of fixed-maturity securities.
Net Unrealized Investment Gains for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 were approximately $679,000 and $7,950,000, respectively. Net unrealized investment gains or losses represent the net change in the fair value of equity securities. In addition to an overall improvement in the equity market, we sold securities with unrealized gain positions during the first quarter of 2020. In contrast, securities with unrealized loss positions were sold during 2019.
26
Gain on Involuntary Conversion for the year ended December 31, 2020 was approximately $36,969,000. This one-time gain resulted from the transaction with the FDOT. See Note 9 -- “Property and Equipment, Net” to our consolidated financial statements under Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Expenses
Our Losses and Loss Adjustment Expenses amounted to approximately $160,036,000 and $107,514,000 for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. The $52,522,000 increase was primarily attributable to $14,850,000 of losses from the addition of the Anchor policies, net losses after reinsurance recoverable for Hurricane Sally of $20,264,000 and $10,000,000 of losses specific to Tropical Storm Eta, offset by lower prior year development. See “Reserves for Losses and Loss Adjustment Expenses” under “Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates.”
Policy Acquisition and Other Underwriting Expenses for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 were approximately $53,859,000 and $42,497,000, respectively. The increase was primarily attributable to higher agent commission rates, property inspection costs associated with the organic growth of TypTap business, and $1,411,000 of amortized transition costs related to Anchor policies.
General and Administrative Personnel Expenses for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 were approximately $33,829,000 and $31,112,000, respectively. The year-over-year increase of $2,717,000 was primarily attributable to an increase in the headcount of temporary and full-time employees, merit increases for non-executive employees, higher stock-based compensation expense, and lower capitalized and recoverable payroll costs, offset by a decrease in employee incentive bonus.
Interest Expense for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 was approximately $11,734,000 and $13,055,000, respectively. The decrease primarily resulted from the repayment of our 3.875% convertible senior notes in March 2019.
Income Tax Expense for the year ended December 31, 2020 was approximately $9,348,000 for federal, state, and foreign income taxes compared with income tax expense of approximately $9,517,000 for the year ended December 31, 2019, resulting in an effective tax rate of 25.3% for 2020 and 26.4% for 2019.
Ratios:
The loss ratio applicable to the year ended December 31, 2020 was 61.0% compared with 49.7% for the year ended December 31, 2019. The increase was primarily due to a change in the mix of business and losses related to Hurricane Sally and Tropical Storm Eta.
The expense ratio applicable to the year ended December 31, 2020 was 43.2% compared with 45.7% for the year ended December 31, 2019. The decrease in our expense ratio was primarily attributable to the increase in net premiums earned, offset by the increases in policy acquisition expenses and general and administrative personnel expenses as described earlier.
The combined ratio to net premiums earned for the year ended December 31, 2020 was 104.2% compared with 95.4% for the year ended December 31, 2019. The increase was primarily attributable to the increase in losses and loss adjustment expenses combined with the increases in reinsurance costs and policy acquisition and other underwriting expenses.
The combined ratio to gross premiums earned for the year ended December 31, 2020 was 65.8% compared with 60.3% for the year ended December 31, 2019. The increase in 2020 was primarily attributable to the increase in losses and loss adjustment expenses.
Seasonality of Our Business
Our insurance business is seasonal. Hurricanes and tropical storms affecting Florida, our primary market, and other southeastern states typically occur during the period from June 1st through November 30th of each year. Winter storms in the northeast usually occur during the period between December 1st and March 31st of each year. Also, with our reinsurance treaty year typically effective on June 1st of each year, any variation in the cost of our reinsurance, whether due to changes in reinsurance rates or changes in the total insured value of our policy base, will occur and be reflected in our financial results beginning on June 1st of each year.
27
LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
Throughout our history, our liquidity requirements have been met through issuances of our common and preferred stock, debt offerings and funds from operations. We expect our future liquidity requirements will be met by funds from operations, primarily the cash received by insurance operations from premiums written and investment income. We may consider raising additional capital through debt and/or equity offerings to support our growth and future investment opportunities.
Our insurance operations require liquidity and adequate capital to meet ongoing obligations to policyholders and claimants and to fund operating expenses. In addition, we attempt to maintain adequate levels of liquidity and surplus to manage any differences between the duration of our liabilities and invested assets. In the insurance industry, cash collected for premiums from policies written is invested, interest and dividends are earned thereon, and losses and loss adjustment expenses are paid out over a period of years. This period of time varies by the circumstances surrounding each claim. Substantially all of our losses and loss adjustment expenses, excluding litigated claims, are fully settled and paid within approximately 100 days of the claim receipt date. Additional cash outflow occurs through payments of underwriting costs such as commissions, taxes, payroll, and general overhead expenses.
We believe that we maintain sufficient liquidity to pay claims and expenses, as well as to satisfy commitments in the event of unforeseen events such as reinsurer insolvencies, inadequate premium rates, or reserve deficiencies. We maintain a comprehensive reinsurance program at levels management considers adequate to diversify risk and safeguard our financial position.
In the future, we anticipate our primary use of funds will be to pay claims, reinsurance premiums, interest, and dividends and to fund operating expenses and real estate acquisitions.
Revolving Credit Facility, Convertible Senior Notes, Promissory Notes, and Finance Leases
The following table summarizes the principal and interest payment obligations for our indebtedness at December 31, 2021:
Maturity Date Payment Due Date
4.25% Convertible Senior Notes* March 2037 March 1 and September 1
3.75% Callable Promissory Note Through September 2036 1st day of each month
3.90% Promissory Note Through April 2032 1st day of each month
4.55% Promissory Note Through August 2036 1st day of each month
Finance leases Through October 2024 Various
*At the option of the noteholders, we may be required to repurchase for cash all or any portion of the note on March 1, 2022, March 1, 2027 or March 1, 2032. See “Recent Developments” under Item 7 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
See Note 13 -- “Long-Term Debt” to our consolidated financial statements under Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Limited Partnership Investments
Our limited partnership investments consist of six private equity funds managed by their general partners. Four of these funds have unexpired capital commitments which are callable at the discretion of the fund’s general partner for funding new investments or expenses of the fund. Under certain circumstances, we may be required to provide additional capital for the two remaining funds with expired capital commitments. At December 31, 2021, there was an aggregate unfunded capital balance of $11,073,000. See Limited Partnership Investments under Note 5 -- “Investments” to our consolidated financial statements under Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Real Estate Investment
Real estate has long been a significant component of our overall investment portfolio. It helps offset the volatility of other high-risk assets. Thus, we may consider expanding our real estate investment portfolio should an opportunity arise.
We currently have a 90% equity interest in FMKT Mel JV, LLC, a Florida limited liability company for which we are not the primary beneficiary. FMKT Mel JV’s real estate portfolio consists of an outparcel for ground lease or sale. We have the option to take full ownership of this outparcel by acquiring the remaining 10% interest. Alternatively, we may sell this outparcel and allocate the profits from the sale before liquidating FMKT Mel JV.
Sources and Uses of Cash
Our cash flows from operating, investing and financing activities for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019 are summarized below.
28
Cash Flows for the Year Ended December 31, 2021
Net cash provided by operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2021 was approximately $96,503,000, which consisted primarily of cash received from net premiums written and reinsurance recoveries of approximately $48,921,000 less cash disbursed for operating expenses, losses and loss adjustment expenses and interest payments. Net cash provided by investing activities of $36,852,000 was primarily due to the proceeds from sales of fixed-maturity and equity securities of $135,365,000, the proceeds from calls, repayments and maturities of fixed-maturity securities of $23,430,000, and the distributions of $4,657,000 received from limited partnership investments, offset by the purchases of fixed-maturity and equity securities of $121,104,000, additional investments in limited partnership interests of $3,756,000, and the purchases of property and equipment of $3,318,000. Net cash provided by financing activities totaled $64,301,000, which was primarily due to net proceeds of $93,738,000 from Centerbridge for investment in TTIG, offset by $13,759,000 of net cash dividend payments, net repayment of our revolving credit facility of $8,750,000, cash dividends paid to redeemable noncontrolling interest of $2,542,000, $1,895,000 of debt conversion expense paid and $1,314,000 used in share repurchases.
Cash Flows for the Year Ended December 31, 2020
Net cash provided by operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2020 was approximately $77,311,000, which consisted primarily of cash received from net premiums written and reinsurance recoveries of approximately $56,860,000 less cash disbursed for operating expenses, losses and loss adjustment expenses and interest payments. Net cash provided by investing activities of $143,215,000 was primarily due to the proceeds from sales of fixed-maturity and equity securities of $128,745,000, the proceeds from calls, repayments and maturities of fixed-maturity securities of $84,459,000, $44,000,000 of compensation received for the property relinquished through eminent domain, and the distributions of $2,086,000 received from limited partnership investments, offset by the purchases of fixed-maturity and equity securities of $103,174,000, the purchases of property and equipment of $6,437,000, additional investments in limited partnership interests of $4,241,000, and the purchases of real estate investments of $3,020,000. Net cash used in financing activities totaled $16,705,000, which was primarily due to the repayment of long-term debt of $17,048,000, $6,708,000 used in our share repurchases, $4,459,000 used to repurchase a portion of our 4.25% convertible senior notes, and $12,388,000 of net cash dividend payments, offset by $14,000,000 of net borrowings from our revolving credit facility and the proceeds from issuance of a 3.90% promissory note of $10,000,000.
Cash Flows for the Year Ended December 31, 2019
Net cash provided by operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2019 was approximately $54,047,000, which consisted primarily of cash received from net premiums written and reinsurance recoveries of approximately $105,676,000 less cash disbursed for operating expenses, losses and loss adjustment expenses and interest payments. Net cash provided by investing activities of $50,459,000 was primarily due to the proceeds from sales of fixed-maturity and equity securities of $45,616,000, the proceeds from calls, repayments and maturities of fixed-maturity securities of $59,343,000, the proceeds from sales, redemptions and maturities of short-term and other investments of $67,398,000, and the distributions of $2,121,000 from limited partnership investments, offset by the purchases of fixed-maturity and equity securities of $107,299,000, the purchases of real estate investments of $11,481,000, the purchases of property and equipment of $2,887,000, the purchases of short-term and other investments of $1,178,000, and the investments in limited partnership interests of $1,174,000. Net cash used in financing activities totaled $114,724,000, which was primarily due to the repayment of long-term debt of $91,318,000, $20,054,000 used in our share repurchases, and $12,706,000 of net cash dividend payments, offset by $9,750,000 of borrowings from our revolving credit facility.
Investments
The main objective of our investment policy is to maximize our after-tax investment income with a reasonable level of risk given the current financial market. Our excess cash is invested primarily in money market accounts, certificates of deposit, and fixed-maturity and equity securities.
At December 31, 2021, we had $94,323,000 of fixed-maturity and equity investments, which are carried at fair value. Changes in the general interest rate environment affect the returns available on new fixed-maturity investments. While a rising interest rate environment enhances the returns available on new investments, it reduces the market value of existing fixed-maturity investments and thus the availability of gains on disposition. A decline in interest rates reduces the returns available on new fixed-maturity investments but increases the market value of existing fixed-maturity investments, creating the opportunity for realized investment gains on disposition. To maximize the gains from fixed-maturity investments in a low interest rate environment, we have decreased our holdings in fixed-maturity securities since the beginning of 2020.
In the future, we may alter our investment policy with regard to investments in federal, state and municipal obligations, preferred and common equity securities and real estate mortgages, as permitted by applicable law, including insurance regulations.
29
OFF-BALANCE SHEET ARRANGEMENTS
As of December 31, 2021, we had unexpired capital commitments for limited partnerships in which we hold interests. Such commitments are not recognized in the consolidated financial statements but are required to be disclosed in the notes to the consolidated financial statements. See Note 24 -- “Commitments and Contingencies” to our consolidated financial statements under Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND ESTIMATES
We have prepared our consolidated financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”). The preparation of these consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgments to develop amounts reflected and disclosed in our consolidated financial statements. Material estimates that are particularly susceptible to significant change in the near term are related to our losses and loss adjustment expenses, which include amounts estimated for claims incurred but not yet reported. We base our estimates on various assumptions and actuarial data we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results may differ materially from these estimates.
We believe our accounting policies specific to losses and loss adjustment expenses, reinsurance recoverable, reinsurance with retrospective provisions, deferred income taxes, stock-based compensation expense, limited partnership investments, acquired intangible assets, warrants, and redeemable noncontrolling interest involve our most significant judgments and estimates material to our consolidated financial statements.
Reserves for Losses and Loss Adjustment Expenses. We establish reserves for the estimated total unpaid costs of losses including loss adjustment expenses (LAE). Loss and LAE reserves reflect management’s best estimate of the total cost of (i) claims that have been incurred, but not yet paid in full, and (ii) claims that have been incurred but not yet reported to us (“IBNR”). Reserves established by us represent an estimate of the outcome of future events and, as such, cannot be considered an exact calculation of our liability. Rather, loss and LAE reserves represent management’s best estimate of our company’s liability based on the application of actuarial techniques and other projection methodologies and taking into consideration other facts and circumstances known at the balance sheet date. The process of establishing loss and LAE reserves is complex and inherently imprecise, as it involves the estimation of the outcome of future uncertain events. The impact of both internal and external variables on ultimate losses and LAE costs is difficult to estimate. In determining loss and LAE reserves, we give careful consideration to all available data and actuarial analyses.
Currently, our estimated ultimate liability is calculated using the principles and procedures described in Note 15 -- “Losses and Loss Adjustment Expenses” to our consolidated financial statements under Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, which are applied to the lines of business written. However, because the establishment of loss and LAE reserves is an inherently uncertain process, we cannot be certain that ultimate losses will not exceed the established loss and LAE reserves and have a material, adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. Changes in estimates, or differences between estimates and amounts ultimately paid, are reflected in the operating results of the period during which such adjustments are made.
Our reported results, financial position and liquidity would be affected by likely changes in key assumptions that determine our net loss reserves. Management does not believe that any reasonably likely changes in the frequency of claims would affect our loss and LAE reserves. However, management believes that a reasonably likely increase or decrease in the severity of claims could impact our net loss and LAE reserves. The table below summarizes the effect on net loss and LAE reserves and equity in the event of reasonably likely changes in the severity of claims considered in establishing loss and LAE reserves. The range of reasonably likely changes in the severity of our claims was established based on a review of changes in loss year development and applied to loss and LAE reserves as a whole. The selected range of changes does not indicate what could be the potential best or worst case or likely scenarios:
Change in Reserves Reserves PercentageChange inEquity,Net of Tax
30
Reinsurance Recoverable. Our reinsurance recoverable balance represents an estimate of the amount of paid and unpaid losses and loss adjustment expenses that is recoverable from reinsurers. This estimate is determined in a manner consistent with the terms of the applicable reinsurance contracts and based on the ultimate losses and loss adjustment expenses we expect to incur. Given the uncertainty of the ultimate amounts of losses and loss adjustment expenses, the estimate may vary significantly from the eventual outcome.
Economic Impact of Reinsurance Contracts with Retrospective Provisions. Two of our reinsurance contracts include retrospective provisions that adjust premiums in the event losses are minimal or zero. As described earlier, there is considerable uncertainty regarding the estimation of future losses. In accordance with U.S. GAAP, we will recognize an asset in the period in which the absence of loss experience obligates the reinsurer to pay cash or other consideration under the contract. In the event that a loss arises, we will derecognize such asset in the period in which a loss arises. Such adjustments to the asset, which accrue throughout the contract term, will negatively impact our operating results when a catastrophic loss event occurs during the contract term.
For the year ended December 31, 2021, we accrued benefits of $10,864,000. For the year ended December 31, 2020, we accrued benefits of $15,120,000. For the year ended December 31, 2019, we accrued benefits of $6,344,000 and recognized a reduction in ceded premiums of $434,000. In combination, for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, we recognized decreases in ceded premiums of $10,864,000 and $15,120,000, respectively.
As of December 31, 2021, we had $3,064,000 of accrued benefits, the amount that would be charged to earnings in the event we experience a catastrophic loss that exceeds the coverage limit provided under such agreements. In June 2021, we received a $18,720,000 premium refund under the retrospective reinsurance contract that ended May 31, 2021. As of December 31, 2020, we had $10,920,000 of accrued benefits, the amount that would be charged to earnings in the event we experience a catastrophic loss that exceeds the coverage limit provided under such agreement. In June 2020, we received a $13,680,000 premium refund under the retrospective reinsurance contract that ended May 31, 2020. We believe the credit risk associated with the collectability of these accrued benefits is minimal based on available information about the reinsurer’s financial position and the reinsurer’s demonstrated ability to comply with contract terms.
Income Taxes. We account for income taxes in accordance with U.S. GAAP, resulting in two components of income tax expense: current and deferred. Current income tax expense reflects taxes to be paid or refunded for the current period by applying the provisions of the enacted tax law to the taxable income or excess of deductions over revenues. We determine deferred income taxes using the liability (or balance sheet) method. Under this method, the net deferred tax asset or liability is based on the tax effects of the differences between the book and tax bases of assets and liabilities, and enacted changes in tax rates and laws are recognized in the period in which they occur. Deferred tax assets, representing future reductions in taxable income, are recorded with the assumption that taxable income will be present in the future. Given the uncertainty regarding future taxable income, valuation allowances are provided against assets that are not likely to be realized, if any. We have elected to classify the related interest and penalties, if any, as income tax expense as permitted by current accounting standards.
Stock-Based Compensation. We account for stock-based compensation awards under our stockholder-approved incentive plans in accordance with the fair value recognition provisions of U.S. GAAP, which require the measurement, and recognition of compensation for all stock-based awards made to employees, non-employee directors, and third-party award recipients including stock options, restricted stock and warrant issuances based on estimated fair values. For restricted stock with service-based vesting conditions, fair value is determined by the market price of the stock on the grant date. Compensation expense is then recognized ratably over the requisite or derived service period of the award. Restricted stock awards with market-based vesting conditions require the use of a Monte Carlo simulation model with the assistance of a third-party valuation specialist to estimate the fair value and derived service period of the award. We then recognize the compensation expense ratably over this derived service period. Determining the appropriate fair value model and calculating the fair value of stock-based awards at the grant date requires considerable judgment, including estimating stock price volatility or derived service periods. We develop our estimates based on historical data and market information. We primarily use the Black-Scholes option-pricing model, which requires the following variables for input to calculate the fair value of each stock award on the option grant date: 1) expected volatility of our stock price, 2) the risk-free interest rate, 3) expected term of each award, 4) expected dividends, and 5) an expected forfeiture rate. For stock-based awards granted by non-public subsidiaries, we determine a fair value with the assistance of an independent valuation specialist who may use different valuation methods such as a Monte Carlo simulation model and a binomial distribution model. Inputs such as an estimated stock price of our private subsidiary and expected price volatility used in these valuation methods are derived mathematically from a data analysis of many public peer companies with similar characteristics.
Limited Partnership Investments. The valuation of our limited partnership investments is prepared by the general partner of each fund. We use net asset value (“NAV”) provided by the general partner to estimate our share of the fair value of these investments. However, the timing of the delivery of the fund’s financial statements and NAV information is on a three-month lag which results in a three-month delay in the recognition of our share of the limited partnership’s earnings or losses. But because this is the best information
31
available, we use it as an estimate for the fair value at our reporting dates, unless conditions have changed significantly in the economy or securities markets since the previous quarter due to an event such as the onset of COVID-19. In such case, we will adjust our estimate with the assistance from the general partner.
Acquired Intangible Assets. Acquired intangible assets represent the fair value of consideration we paid and are estimated to pay in exchange for the renewal rights and non-compete intangible assets acquired from the seller. In the renewal rights transaction, we purchased the right, but not the obligation, to offer homeowners insurance coverage to all current policyholders of the seller in certain states on the agreed-upon policy replacement date. The renewal rights agreement also contains a non-compete clause whereby the seller agrees not to offer homeowners insurance policies in these states through a specified date. We record intangible assets based on the fair value of the consideration we paid and are estimated to pay to the seller as provided in the renewal rights agreement with the seller. We engaged a third-party valuation specialist to assist with the allocation of the renewal rights and non-compete intangible assets acquired. Uncertainty is inherent in the estimates of future payments and in the assumptions made in allocating value to separate intangible assets. Intangible assets are amortized over their estimated useful lives. Intangible assets are evaluated periodically to ensure that there is no impairment to carrying value and no change required in the amortization period.
Warrants and Redeemable Noncontrolling Interest. In the capital investment transaction completed by TTIG with a fund associated with Centerbridge Partners, L.P., TTIG issued 10,000,000 total shares of Series A Preferred Stock and HCI issued warrants to purchase 750,000 shares of HCI common stock, in exchange for proceeds of $100,000,000. Both the fair value and expected term of the warrants were estimated with assistance from a third-party valuation specialist using a Monte Carlo simulation model. Total proceeds from the capital investment transaction were allocated using the residual fair value method, first to the warrants issued based on their estimated fair value, with the residual proceeds being allocated to the fair value of Series A Preferred Stock. See Note 20 -- “Redeemable Noncontrolling Interest” to our consolidated financial statements under Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information.
ITEM 7A Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
Our investment portfolios at December 31, 2021 included fixed-maturity and equity securities, the purposes of which are not for speculation. Our main objective is to maximize after-tax investment income and maintain sufficient liquidity to meet our obligations while minimizing market risk, which is the potential economic loss from adverse fluctuations in securities prices. We consider many factors including credit ratings, investment concentrations, regulatory requirements, anticipated fluctuation of interest rates, durations and market conditions in developing investment strategies. Our investment securities are managed primarily by outside investment advisors and are overseen by the investment committee appointed by our board of directors. From time to time, our investment committee may decide to invest in low risk assets such as U.S. government bonds.
Our investment portfolios are exposed to interest rate risk, credit risk and equity price risk. Fiscal and economic uncertainties caused by any government action or inaction may exacerbate these risks and potentially have adverse impacts on the value of our investment portfolios.
We classify our fixed-maturity securities as available-for-sale and report any unrealized gains or losses, net of deferred income taxes, as a component of other comprehensive income within our stockholders’ equity. As such, any material temporary changes in their fair value can adversely impact the carrying value of our stockholders’ equity. In addition, we recognize any unrealized gains and losses related to our equity securities in our statement of income. As a result, our results of operations can be materially affected by the volatility in the equity market.
Interest Rate Risk
Our fixed-maturity securities are sensitive to potential losses resulting from unfavorable changes in interest rates. We manage the risk by analyzing anticipated movement in interest rates and considering our future capital needs.
32
The following table illustrates the impact of hypothetical changes in interest rates to the fair value of our fixed-maturity securities at December 31, 2021 (amounts in thousands):
Credit Risk
Credit risk can expose us to potential losses arising principally from adverse changes in the financial condition of the issuers of our fixed-maturity securities. We mitigate the risk by investing in fixed-maturity securities that are generally investment grade, by diversifying our investment portfolio to avoid concentrations in any single issuer or business sector, and by continually monitoring each individual security for declines in credit quality. While we emphasize credit quality in our investment selection process, significant downturns in the markets or general economy may impact the credit quality of our portfolio.
The following table presents the composition of our fixed-maturity securities, by rating, at December 31, 2021 (amounts in thousands):
Equity Price Risk
Our equity investment portfolio at December 31, 2021 included common stocks, perpetual preferred stocks, mutual funds and exchange-traded funds. We may incur potential losses due to adverse changes in equity security prices. We manage the risk primarily through industry and issuer diversification and asset mix.
33
The following table illustrates the composition of our equity securities at December 31, 2021 (amounts in thousands):
EstimatedFair Value % of TotalEstimatedFair Value
Stocks by sector:
Mutual funds and exchange-traded funds by type:
(1) Represents an aggregate of less than 5% sectors.
Foreign Currency Exchange Risk
At December 31, 2021, we did not have any material exposure to foreign currency related risk.
34
ITEM 8 – Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
Index to Financial Statements
Page
Reports of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm 36-39
Consolidated Statement of Equity for the Year Ended December 31, 2021 44
35
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
Stockholders and the Board of Directors
HCI Group, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Tampa, Florida
Opinion on the Consolidated Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of HCI Group, Inc. and Subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the related consolidated statements of income, comprehensive income, equity, and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2021, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2021, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”), the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission, and our report dated March 10, 2022 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.
Basis for Opinion
These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud.
Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
Critical Audit Matters
The critical audit matters communicated below are matters arising from the current period audit of the financial statements that were communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relate to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matters below, providing separate opinions on the critical audit matters or on the accounts or disclosures to which they relate.
Reserves for Losses and Loss Adjustment Expenses
As described in Note 2 - Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Note 15 - Losses and Loss Adjustment Expenses to the consolidated financial statements, the Company’s reserves for losses and loss adjustment expenses (LAE) reported in the consolidated balance sheet were $237.2 million at December 31, 2021. Reserves for losses and LAE reflect management’s best estimate regarding the Company’s ultimate losses, resulting in a liability for claims that have been incurred, but not yet paid, and claims that have been incurred but not yet reported. The reserves are based on the application of actuarial techniques and other projection methodologies, taking into consideration other facts and circumstances known at the balance sheet date. The methods used by management in determining the reserves for losses and LAE are complex and subjective with various key inputs and assumptions. Judgement is required to determine the inputs and assumptions used and these can significantly impact the reserves recognized. The most significant judgments include the choice of the appropriate standard actuarial reserving methods, the selection of loss development factors that place reliance on actual historical loss experience, current claim trends, and the prevailing social, economic and legal environments, and reserves derived specific to catastrophe events.
36
The principal considerations for our determination of the reserves for losses and LAE as a critical audit matter are the complexity and subjectivity of the judgments, estimates and assumptions that management utilized in determining their ultimate loss estimates. This required a high degree of effort and judgment in selecting the auditor procedures to evaluate management’s estimates and assumptions as it relates to the reserves for losses and LAE, including the use of an auditor's specialist.
The primary procedures we performed to address this critical audit matter included:
•
We obtained an understanding, evaluated the design and tested the operating effectiveness of controls related to management’s determination of the reserves for losses and LAE, including controls over the actuarial methods and assumptions utilized to support the reserve calculations, and controls over the completeness and accuracy of historical loss data utilized in the reserve calculations.
•
We tested the completeness and accuracy of the historical loss data used in the development of the reserves.
•
We performed analytical procedures over the Company’s recorded reserves in relation to the Company’s consulting actuary’s range of reserve estimates.
•
We engaged an actuary as an auditor’s specialist to independently assess the Company’s consulting actuary’s selection of actuarial methods and assumptions and the resulting reserve ranges and point estimates.
Valuation of Limited Partnership Investments
As described in Note 2 - Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Note 5 - Investments to the consolidated financial statements, the Company’s limited partnership investments reported in the consolidated balance sheet were $28.1 million at December 31, 2021. For the investments with ownership interest at five percent or less, the Company uses the net asset value method to estimate the fair value of these investments. Due to a reporting lag, the Company may record an adjustment to the Company’s most recent share of net asset value when the amount can be reasonably estimated and a significant adverse impact on the net asset value is expected as a result of a major economic event. The methods used by management in determining if an adjustment to the Company’s most recent share of net asset value is necessary are complex and subjective based on the judgement that is required to determine the key inputs and assumptions which can significantly impact the adjustments recognized.
The principal considerations for our determination of the valuation of limited partnership investments as a critical audit matter are the subjectivity of the inputs and assumptions that management utilized in determining the adjustment to the Company’s most recent share of net asset value. This required a high degree of effort and judgment in selecting the auditor procedures to evaluate management’s estimates and assumptions as it relates to the valuation of limited partnership investments, including the use of an auditor's specialist.
The primary procedures we performed to address this critical audit matter included:
•
We obtained an understanding, evaluated the design and tested the operating effectiveness of controls related to the valuation of limited partnership investments, including controls over management’s estimate of the adjustment to the Company’s most recent share of net asset value of the limited partnership investments.
•
We tested the completeness and accuracy of the data utilized by management and evaluated the reasonableness of management’s assumptions used to develop an estimate of fair value.
•
We engaged a specialist to develop an independent estimate of fair value of the limited partnership investments and comparison of management’s estimate to the independently developed estimate of fair value.
Valuation of Stock-Based Compensation Denominated in Subsidiary Shares
As described in Note 2 - Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Note 22 - Stock-Based Compensation to the consolidated financial statements, the Company recognized $3.2 million of compensation expense related to stock-based awards denominated in shares of the Company’s subsidiary, TypTap Insurance Group, Inc., for the year ended December 31, 2021. At December 31, 2021, there was $11.2 million of unrecognized compensation expense related to nonvested restricted stock and stock options denominated in subsidiary shares. The Company accounts for stock-based compensation for all stock-based awards made to employees and directors based on estimated fair values. The methods used by management in determining the fair value of stock-based awards by its subsidiary to its employees at the grant date are complex and subjective with various key inputs and assumptions, including the fair value of the
37
subsidiary’s common shares on the grant date, volatility, and expected term. Judgement is required to determine the appropriate fair value model and the inputs and assumptions used in calculating the fair value of stock-based awards.
The principal considerations for our determination of the valuation of stock-based compensation denominated in subsidiary shares as a critical audit matter are the subjectivity of the inputs and assumptions that management utilized in determining the fair value of the stock-based awards. This required a high degree of effort and judgment in selecting the auditor procedures to evaluate management’s estimates and assumptions as it relates to the valuation of stock-based compensation denominated in subsidiary shares, including the use of an auditor’s specialist.
•
We obtained an understanding, evaluated the design and tested the operating effectiveness of controls related to the valuation of stock-based compensation denominated in subsidiary shares, including controls over management’s determination of the fair value of stock-based awards.
•
We tested the completeness and accuracy of the data utilized by management and evaluated the reasonableness of management’s assumptions used to develop an estimate of fair value.
•
We involved an internal specialist to test the Company’s estimated fair value of stock-based compensation denominated in subsidiary shares, including the methods, assumptions and inputs of the valuation model.
/s/ Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2013.
Tampa, Florida
March 10, 2022
38
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm on Internal Control
Stockholders and Board of Directors
HCI Group, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Tampa, Florida
Opinion on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
We have audited HCI Group, Inc. and Subsidiaries (the “Company”)’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. In our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”), the consolidated financial statements of the Company for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2021, and our report dated March 10, 2022, expressed an unqualified opinion on those consolidated financial statements.
Basis for Opinion
The Company’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting, and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the accompanying Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk, and performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
Definition and Limitations of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
/s/ Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP
Tampa, Florida
March 10, 2022
39
HCI GROUP, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Consolidated Balance Sheets
(Dollar amounts in thousands)
December 31,
Assets
Investment in unconsolidated joint venture, at equity 363 705
Accrued interest and dividends receivable 353 588
Reinsurance recoverable, net of allowance for credit losses:
Right-of-use assets - operating leases 2,204 4,002
Funds withheld for assumed business 73,716 —
(continued)
40
HCI GROUP, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Consolidated Balance Sheets – (Continued)
(Dollar amounts in thousands)
December 31,
Liabilities and Equity
Assumed reinsurance balances payable — 87
Reinsurance payable on paid losses and loss adjustment expenses 4,017 —
Ceded reinsurance premiums payable 19,318 9,764
Lease liabilities - operating leases 2,203 4,014
Commitments and contingencies (Note 24)
Redeemable noncontrolling interest (Note 20) 89,955 —
Equity:
Additional paid-in capital 76,077 —
Accumulated other comprehensive income, net of taxes 498 1,544
Noncontrolling interests 1,138 —
See accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
41
HCI GROUP, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Consolidated Statements of Income
(Dollar amounts in thousands, except per share amounts)
Years Ended December 31,
Revenue
Net realized investment gains (losses) 6,472 1,000 (254 )
Net other-than-temporary impairment losses — — (289 )
Credit losses on investments — (611 ) —
Gain on involuntary conversion — 36,969 —
Expenses
Loss on repurchases of convertible senior notes — 150 —
Loss on extinguishment of debt — 98 —
Debt conversion expense 1,754 — —
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interests 2,013 — —
Diluted earnings per share $ 0.21 $ 3.49 $ 3.31
See accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
42
HCI GROUP, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income
(Amounts in thousands)
Years Ended December 31,
Other comprehensive (loss) income:
Change in unrealized (loss) gain on investments:
Net unrealized (losses) gains arising during the period (692 ) 86 4,902
Other-than-temporary impairment losses charged to income — — 289
Credit losses charged to income — 611 —
Call and repayment gains charged to investment income (36 ) (374 ) (141 )
Reclassification adjustment for net realized gains (687 ) (1,163 ) (218 )
Net change in unrealized (losses) gains (1,415 ) (840 ) 4,832
Deferred income taxes on above change 347 206 (1,201 )
Comprehensive loss attributable to noncontrolling interests 2,035 — —
Comprehensive income after noncontrolling interests $ 8,209 $ 26,946 $ 30,207
See accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
43
HCI GROUP, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Consolidated Statement of Equity
For the Year Ended December 31, 2021
(Dollar amounts in thousands, except per share amount)
Shares Amount Capital Income Net of Tax Equity Interests Equity
Issuance of restricted stock 564,426 — — — — — — —
Forfeiture of restricted stock (55,665 ) — — — — — — —
Cancellation of restricted stock (142,760 ) — — — — — — —
Dilution from subsidiary stock-based compensation — — — — — — 3,173 3,173
See accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
44
HCI GROUP, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Equity
For the Year Ended December 31, 2020
(Dollar amounts in thousands, except per share amount)
Shares Amount Capital Income Net of Tax Equity
Total other comprehensive loss, net of income taxes — — — — (634 ) (634 )
Cumulative effect on adoption of credit loss standard — — — (453 ) — (453 )
Exercise of common stock options 10,000 — 63 — — 63
Issuance of restricted stock 192,680 — — — — —
Forfeiture of restricted stock (18,852 ) — — — — —
Repurchase and retirement of common stock (33,633 ) — (1,547 ) — — (1,547 )
Common stock dividends ($1.60 per share) — — — (12,388 ) — (12,388 )
Stock-based compensation — — 8,133 — — 8,133
See accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
45
HCI GROUP, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Equity – (Continued)
For the Year Ended December 31, 2019
(Dollar amounts in thousands, except per share amount)
Shares Amount Capital Income Net of Tax Equity
Total other comprehensive income, net of income taxes — — — — 3,631 3,631
Exercise of common stock options 10,000 — 63 — — 63
Issuance of restricted stock 180,404 — — — — —
Forfeiture of restricted stock (299,776 ) — — — — —
Repurchase and retirement of common stock (28,784 ) — (1,203 ) — — (1,203 )
Common stock dividends ($1.60 per share) — — — (12,706 ) — (12,706 )
Stock-based compensation — — 6,460 — — 6,460
Tax basis adjustment on equity method investment — — 132 — — 132
See accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
46
HCI GROUP, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(Amounts in thousands)
Years Ended December 31,
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests 5,386 — —
Net realized investment (gains) losses (6,472 ) (1,000 ) 254
Net unrealized investment gains (1,363 ) (679 ) (7,950 )
Other-than-temporary impairment losses — — 289
Credit loss expense - investments — 611 —
Credit loss expense - reinsurance recoverable 5 (368 ) —
Net (income) loss from unconsolidated joint venture (417 ) 57 83
Distribution received from unconsolidated joint venture 114 — —
Net (income) loss from limited partnership interests (4,947 ) 1,595 (1,176 )
Distributions received from limited partnership interests 3,604 1,215 4,176
Loss on repurchases of convertible senior notes — 150 —
Loss on extinguishment of debt — 98 —
Debt conversion expense 1,754 — —
Gain on involuntary conversion — (36,969 ) —