Item 1A: Risk Factors
An investment in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. In deciding whether to invest, you should carefully consider the following risk factors, as well as the financial and other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including our consolidated financial statements and related notes. Any of the following risks could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or prospects and cause the value of our stock to decline, which could cause you to lose all or part of your investment. Additional risks and uncertainties of which we are unaware, or that we currently deem immaterial also may become important factors that affect us.
Item 1A. Risk Factors
Summary Risk Factors
Our business is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, these risks include, but are not limited to, the following:
● There is intense competition for business in our industry;
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Risks Related to Our Business and Industry
Claims arising from unpredictable and severe catastrophe events, including those caused by global climate change, could reduce our earnings and stockholders’ equity and limit our ability to underwrite new insurance policies.
Our insurance operations expose us to claims arising from unpredictable catastrophe events, such as earthquakes, hurricanes, windstorms, floods and other severe events. Furthermore, the actual occurrence, frequency and magnitude of such events are uncertain. While there can be no certainty surrounding the timing and magnitude of earthquakes, some observers believe that significant shifts in the tectonic plates, including the San Andreas Fault, may occur in the future. Over the past several years, changing weather patterns and climatic conditions, such as global warming, have added to the unpredictability and frequency of natural disasters in certain parts of the world, including the markets in which we operate. Climate change may increase the frequency and severity of extreme weather events. This effect has led to conditions in the ocean and atmosphere, including warmer-than-average sea-surface temperatures and low wind shear that increase hurricane activity. Hurricane activity typically increases between June and November of each year, though the actual occurrence and magnitude of such events is uncertain. The occurrence of a natural disaster or other catastrophe loss could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Additionally, any increased frequency and severity of such weather events, including hurricanes, could have a material adverse effect on our ability to predict, quantify, reinsure and manage catastrophe risk and may materially increase our losses resulting from such catastrophe events.
The extent of losses from catastrophes is a function of both the frequency and severity of the insured events and the total amount of insured exposure in the areas affected. The frequency and severity of catastrophes are inherently unpredictable and the occurrence of one catastrophe does not make the occurrence of another catastrophe more or less likely. Increases in the replacement cost and concentrations of insured property, the effects of inflation, and changes in cyclical weather patterns may increase the severity of claims from catastrophe events in the future. Claims from catastrophe events could reduce our earnings and cause substantial volatility in our results of operations for any fiscal quarter or year, which could materially adversely affect our financial condition, possibly to the extent of eliminating our total stockholders’ equity. For example, Hurricane Harvey in August 2017 caused our gross losses and loss adjustment expenses to increase significantly from the prior year and catastrophe losses from multiple storms during the third and fourth quarters of 2020 also caused our gross loss and loss adjustment expenses to increase significantly from the prior year. Our ability to underwrite new insurance policies could also be materially adversely impacted as a result of corresponding reductions in our capital. In addition, a natural disaster could materially impact the financial condition of our policyholders, resulting in loss of premiums.
Our catastrophe event retention is currently $10 million for all perils and we retain $1 million as a vertical co-participation in selected layers of our reinsurance program. Effective June 1, 2020, our reinsurance coverage exhausts at $1.4 billion for earthquake events and $600 million for hurricane events, with coverage in excess of our estimated peak zone 1 in 250 year PML event and in excess of our A.M. Best requirement. While we only select reinsurers whom we
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believe to have acceptable credit, if our reinsurers are unable to pay the claims for which they are responsible, we ultimately retain primary liability. Furthermore, our earthquake policies do not provide coverage for fire damage arising from an earthquake. While we believe this risk transfer program reduces volatility in our earnings, one or more severe catastrophe events could result in claims that substantially exceed the limits of our reinsurance coverage.
We and our customers could be negatively and adversely impacted by the Pandemic, which may result in a decline in demand for our products, a decrease in underwriting income and a decrease in the value of our investment portfolio.
The ongoing Pandemic and response thereto have significantly impacted financial markets, businesses, households, and communities and have caused a contraction in business activity and volatility in financial markets. Continuation of the Pandemic could cause additional reduction in business activity and financial market instability. The extent of the impact of the Pandemic on our operational and financial performance will depend on several factors, including the duration of the Pandemic, actions taken and restrictions imposed by the government and health officials in response, the ability for our customers to continue to pay premiums, contraction of the insurance and reinsurance markets, and the ability for reinsurers to satisfy claims, all of which are uncertain and cannot be predicted. In addition, the global macroeconomic effects of the Pandemic may persist for an indefinite period, even after the Pandemic has subsided.
Disruptions to the economy from the Pandemic could cause our customers to have less need for insurance coverage, cancel or cease payment on existing insurance policies, modify their coverage, or not renew the policies they hold with us. Policyholders may exaggerate or even falsify claims to obtain higher claims payments. Any of these outcomes would reduce our underwriting income.
We underwrite a significant amount of our commercial insurance policies for businesses such as hotels, motels, retail stores, and professional services. These businesses largely require patrons to generate profits and their ability to serve patrons has been significantly impacted by the Pandemic and restrictions placed on them in response. Prolonged restrictions or ongoing changes in patron behavior as a result of the Pandemic would have a negative adverse impact on these insureds and their revenue streams, which consequently will impact their ability to meet their financial obligations, including purchasing or renewing insurance policies.
In addition, our results of operations depend, in part, on the performance of our investment portfolio. The Pandemic’s impact on the economy and financial markets could reduce our net investment income and result in realized investment losses in future periods.
Our reinsurers may not pay claims on a timely basis, or at all, which may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Our ability to grow our business is dependent in part in our ability to secure reinsurance for a substantial portion of the risk associated with our policies. Although reinsurance makes the reinsurer liable to us to the extent the risk is transferred or ceded to the reinsurer, it does not relieve us (the ceding insurer) of our primary liability to our policyholders. Our current reinsurance program is designed to limit our risk retention to $10 million of risk per earthquake or wind event, along with a $1 million vertical co-participation in selected layers, and provide coverage up to $1.4 billion for earthquake events and $600 million for hurricane events, subject to customary exclusions. However, particularly in the event of a major catastrophe, our reinsurers may not pay claims made by us on a timely basis, or they may not pay some or all these claims. For example, the Pandemic has put financial pressure on the insurance market due to several factors, including the inability of customers to pay premiums and increased claims for business interruption. Increased claim demands for business interruption has put substantial financial pressure on the insurance and reinsurance market which may lead to court action and impact the ability of insurers and reinsurers to satisfy the liability under their policies.
In addition, reinsurers may default in their financial obligations to us as the result of insolvency, lack of liquidity, operational failure, fraud, asserted defenses based on agreement wordings or the principle of utmost good faith, asserted deficiencies in the documentation of agreements or other reasons. Any disputes with reinsurers regarding coverage under reinsurance contracts could be time consuming, costly, and uncertain of success. If a catastrophic event were to occur and our reinsurers were unable to satisfy their commitments to us, we may be unable to satisfy the liability
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to our policyholders. We evaluate each reinsurance claim based on the facts of the case, historical experience with the reinsurer on similar claims and existing case law and consider including any amounts deemed uncollectible from the reinsurer in a reserve for uncollectible reinsurance. As of December 31, 2020, we had $104.7 million of aggregate reinsurance recoverables. These risks could cause us to incur increased net losses, and, therefore, adversely affect our financial condition.
We may be unable to purchase third-party reinsurance or otherwise expand our catastrophe coverage in amounts we desire on commercially acceptable terms or on terms that adequately protect us, and this inability may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We purchase a significant amount of reinsurance from third parties that we believe enhances our business by reducing our exposure to potential catastrophe losses and reducing volatility in our underwriting performance, providing us with greater visibility into our future earnings. Reinsurance involves transferring, or ceding, a portion of our risk exposure on policies that we write to another insurer, the reinsurer, in exchange for a premium. We primarily use treaty reinsurance, consisting of catastrophe excess of loss (“XOL”) coverage, and, on a limited basis, facultative reinsurance coverage. Treaty coverage refers to a reinsurance contract that is applied to a group or class of business where all the risks written meet the criteria for that class. Facultative coverage refers to a reinsurance contract on individual risks as opposed to a group or class of business. Our catastrophe XOL treaties are divided into multiple layers.
From time to time, market conditions have limited, and in some cases prevented, insurers from obtaining the types and amounts of reinsurance they consider adequate for their business needs. As a result, we may not be able to purchase reinsurance in the areas and for the amounts we desire or on terms we deem acceptable or at all. In addition to reinsurance purchased from traditional reinsurers, we have historically incorporated collateralized protection from the insurance linked securities market (i.e. catastrophe bonds). In May 2017, we closed a $166 million 144A catastrophe bond offering completed through Torrey Pines Re Ltd., a special purpose insurer in Bermuda, that provided fully collateralized protection over a three-year risk period, ending in May 2020. Although we do not currently have any catastrophe bonds outstanding, we may seek to expand our catastrophe XOL coverage through similar bond offerings in the future. There can be no assurances that we will be able to complete such offerings on acceptable terms, if at all. If we are unable to renew our expiring contracts, enter into new reinsurance arrangements on acceptable terms or expand our catastrophe coverage through future bond offerings or otherwise, our loss exposure could increase, which would increase our potential losses related to catastrophe events. If we are unwilling to bear an increase in loss exposure, we could have to reduce the level of our underwriting commitments, both of which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Many reinsurance companies have begun to exclude certain coverages from, or alter terms in, our reinsurance contracts with them. As a result, we, like other insurance companies, write insurance policies which to some extent do not have the benefit of reinsurance protection. These gaps in reinsurance protection expose us to greater risk and greater potential losses.
We utilize several risk management and loss limitation methods, including relying on estimates and models. If these methods fail to adequately manage our exposure to losses from catastrophe events, our losses could be materially higher than our expectations, and our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.
Our approach to risk management relies on subjective variables that entail significant uncertainties. We manage our exposure to catastrophe losses by analyzing the probability and severity of the occurrence of catastrophe events and the impact of such events on our overall underwriting and investment portfolio. We monitor and mitigate our exposure through a number of methods designed to minimize risk, including underwriting specialization, modeling and data systems, data quality control, strategic use of policy deductibles and regular review of aggregate exposure and probable maximum loss reports, which report the maximum amount of losses that one would expect based on computer or actuarial modeling techniques. These estimates, models, data and scenarios may not produce accurate predictions; consequently, we could incur losses both in the risks we underwrite and to the value of our investment portfolio due to the overall impact on financial markets from the occurrence of catastrophe events.
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In addition, output from our risk modeling software is based on third-party data that we believe to be reliable. The estimates and assumptions we use are dependent on many variables, such as loss adjustment expenses, insurance-to-value, storm or earthquake intensity, building code compliance and demand surge, which is the temporary inflation of costs for building materials and labor resulting from increased demand for rebuilding services in the aftermath of a catastrophe. Accordingly, if the estimates and assumptions used in our risk models are incorrect or if our risk models prove to be an inaccurate forecasting tool, the losses we might incur from an actual catastrophe could be materially higher than our expectation of losses generated from modeled catastrophe scenarios, and our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially adversely affected. In addition, our third-party data providers may change the estimates or assumptions that we use in our risk models and/or their data may be inaccurate. Changes in these estimates or assumptions or the use of inaccurate third-party data could cause our actual losses to be materially higher than our current expectation of losses generated by modeled catastrophe scenarios, which in turn could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
We run many model simulations to understand the impact of these assumptions on a catastrophe’s loss potential. Furthermore, there are risks associated with catastrophe events, which are either poorly represented or not represented at all by catastrophe models. Each modeling assumption or un-modeled risk introduces uncertainty into probable maximum loss estimates that management must consider. These uncertainties can include, but are not limited to, the following:
• The models may not accurately reflect the true frequency of events;
As a result of these factors and contingencies, our reliance on assumptions and data used to evaluate our entire risk portfolio and specifically to estimate a probable maximum loss is subject to a high degree of uncertainty that could result in actual losses that are materially different from our probable maximum loss estimates and our financial results could be adversely affected.
A decline in our financial strength rating may adversely affect the amount of business we write.
Participants in the insurance industry use ratings from independent ratings agencies, such as A.M. Best, as an important means of assessing the financial strength and quality of insurers. In setting its ratings, A.M. Best performs quantitative and qualitative analysis of a company’s balance sheet strength, operating performance and business profile. A.M. Best financial strength ratings range from “A++” (Superior) to “F” for insurance companies that have been publicly placed in liquidation. As of December 31, 2020, A.M. Best has assigned a financial strength rating of “A−” (Excellent) (Outlook Stable) to us. A.M. Best assigns ratings that are intended to provide an independent opinion of an insurance company’s ability to meet its obligations to policyholders and such ratings are not evaluations directed to investors and are not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold our common stock or any other securities we may issue. A.M. Best’s analysis includes comparisons to peers and industry standards as well as assessments of operating plans, philosophy and management. A.M. Best periodically reviews our financial strength rating and may revise it downward or revoke it at A.M. Best’s discretion based primarily on its analyses of our balance sheet strength (including
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capital adequacy and loss adjustment expense reserve adequacy), operating performance and business profile. Factors that could affect such analyses include, but are not limited to:
• If our losses exceed our loss reserves;
• If we have unresolved issues with government regulators;
• If we are unable to retain our senior management or other key personnel;
• If our investment portfolio incurs significant losses; or
These and other factors could result in a downgrade of our financial strength rating. A downgrade or withdrawal of our rating could result in any of the following consequences, among others:
• Increasing the cost or reducing the availability of reinsurance to us; or
In addition, in view of the earnings and capital pressures experienced by many financial institutions, including insurance companies, it is possible that rating organizations will heighten the level of scrutiny that they apply to such institutions, will increase the frequency and scope of their credit reviews, will request additional information from the companies that they rate or will increase the capital and other requirements employed in the rating organizations’ models for maintenance of certain ratings levels. If our credit rating were to be downgraded, or general market conditions were to ascribe higher risk to our rating levels, due to the Pandemic, our access to capital markets and the cost of any equity or debt financing will be negatively impacted. We can offer no assurance that our rating will remain at its current level. It is possible that such reviews of us may result in adverse ratings consequences, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
Our business is concentrated in California and Texas and, as a result, we are exposed more significantly to California and Texas loss activity and regulatory environments.
Our policyholders and insurance risks are currently concentrated in California and Texas, which generated 49% and 19% of our gross written premiums, respectively, for the year ended December 31, 2020. We are exposed to business, economic, political, judicial and regulatory risks due to this concentration that are greater than the risks faced by insurance companies that conduct business over a more extensive geographic area. Any single, major catastrophe event, series of events or other condition causing significant losses in California or Texas could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, unfavorable business, economic or regulatory conditions in these states may result in a significant reduction of our premiums or increase our loss exposure.
Changes in California or Texas political climates could result in new or changed legislation affecting the property and casualty insurance industry in general which could have a negative impact on our business.
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We could be adversely affected by the loss of one or more key executives or by an inability to attract and retain qualified personnel.
We depend on our ability to attract and retain experienced personnel and seasoned key executives who are knowledgeable about our business. The pool of talent from which we actively recruit is limited and may fluctuate based on market dynamics specific to our industry and independent of overall economic conditions. As such, higher demand for employees having the desired skills and expertise could lead to increased compensation expectations for existing and prospective personnel, making it difficult for us to retain and recruit key personnel and maintain labor costs at desired levels. In particular, our future success is substantially dependent on the continued service of our Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Mac Armstrong, and our Chief Financial Officer, Christopher Uchida. Should any of our key executives terminate their employment with us, or if we are unable to retain and attract talented personnel, we may be unable to maintain our current competitive position in the specialized markets in which we operate, which could adversely affect our results of operations.
We rely on a select group of brokers and program administrators, and such relationships may not continue.
The distribution networks of our products are multi-faceted and distinct to each line of business. Our relationship with our brokers or program administrators may be discontinued at any time. Even if the relationships do continue, they may not be on terms that are profitable for us. We distribute a significant portion of our Residential Earthquake, Commercial Earthquake, Specialty Homeowners and Hawaii Hurricane products through longstanding relationships with two program administrators. Each of the four products managed by the program administrators operates as a separate program that is governed by an independent, separately negotiated agreement with unique terms and conditions, including geographic scope, key person provisions, economics and exclusivity. These programs also feature separate managerial oversight and leadership, policy administration systems and retail agents originating policies. In total, these four products accounted for $191.3 or 54% of our gross written premiums for the year ended December 31, 2020. This amount includes our Value Select Residential Earthquake program, which represents the majority of our Residential Earthquake premium and is administered through a mutually exclusive program administrator agreement with Arrowhead for the states of California, Oregon and Washington. The termination of a relationship with one or more significant brokers or program administrators could result in lower gross written premiums and could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations or business prospects.
Competition for business in our industry is intense.
We face competition from other specialty insurance companies, standard insurance companies and underwriting agencies that are larger than we are and that have greater financial, marketing, and other resources than we do. Some of these competitors also have longer operating history and more market recognition than we do in certain lines of business. In addition, we compete against state or other publicly managed enterprises including the California Earthquake Authority (“CEA”), the National Flood Insurance Program and the Texas Wind Insurance Association. If the CEA decided to provide coverage to non-CEA member carriers or lessened the capital requirements for membership, we would face additional competition in our markets, and our operating results could be adversely affected. Furthermore, it may be difficult or prohibitively expensive for us to implement technology systems and processes that are competitive with the systems and processes of these larger companies.
In particular, competition in the insurance industry is based on many factors, including price of coverage, the general reputation and perceived financial strength of the company, relationships with brokers, terms and conditions of products offered, ratings assigned by independent rating agencies, speed of claims payment and reputation, and the experience and reputation of the members of our underwriting team in the particular lines of insurance and reinsurance we seek to underwrite. In recent years, the insurance industry has undergone increasing consolidation, which may further increase competition.
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Certain new, proposed or potential industry or legislative developments could further increase competition in our industry. These developments include:
We may not be able to continue to compete successfully in the insurance markets. Increased competition in these markets could result in a change in the supply and demand for insurance, affect our ability to price our products at risk-adequate rates and retain existing business, or underwrite new business on favorable terms. If this increased competition so limits our ability to transact business, our operating results could be adversely affected.
Because we provide our program administrators with specific quoting and binding authority, if any of them fail to comply with pre-established guidelines, our results of operations could be adversely affected.
We market and distribute certain of our insurance products through program administrators that have limited quoting and binding authority and that in turn sell our insurance products to insureds through retail agents and wholesale brokers. These program administrators can bind certain risks without our expressed approval. If any of these program administrators fail to comply with our underwriting guidelines and the terms of their appointments, we could be bound on a particular risk or number of risks that were not anticipated when we developed the insurance products or estimated losses and loss adjustment expenses. Such actions could adversely affect our results of operations.
Because our business depends on insurance brokers and program administrators, we are exposed to certain risks arising out of our reliance on these distribution channels that could adversely affect our results.
Certain premiums from policyholders, where the business is produced by brokers, are collected directly by the brokers and forwarded to our insurance subsidiaries. In certain jurisdictions, when the insured pays its policy premium to its broker for payment to us, the premium might be considered to have been paid under applicable insurance laws and regulations. Accordingly, the insured would no longer be liable to us for those amounts, whether or not we have actually received the premium from the broker. Consequently, we assume a degree of credit risk associated with the brokers with which we work. We review the financial condition of potential new brokers before we agree to transact business with them. Although the failure by any of our brokers to remit premiums to us has not been material to date, there may be instances where our brokers collect premiums but do not remit them to us and we may be required under applicable law to provide the coverage set forth in the policy despite the related premiums not being paid to us. Additionally, the loss or disruption of business of a number of our agents and brokers or the failure or inability of these agents and brokers to successfully market our insurance products, including impacts related to the Pandemic, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Because the possibility of these events occurring depends in large part upon the financial condition and internal operations of our brokers, we monitor broker behavior and review financial information on an as-needed basis. If we are unable to collect premiums from our brokers in the future, our underwriting profits may decline and our financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.
Our failure to accurately and timely evaluate and pay claims could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
We must accurately and timely evaluate and pay claims that are made under our policies. Many factors affect our ability to pay claims accurately and timely, including the training and experience of our claims representatives, including our third party claims administrators (“TPAs”), the effectiveness of our management, and our ability to develop or select and implement appropriate procedures and systems to support our claims functions and other factors. Our failure to pay claims accurately and timely could lead to regulatory and administrative actions or material litigation,
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undermine our reputation in the marketplace and materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
In addition, if we do not manage our TPAs effectively, or if our TPAs are unable to effectively handle our volume of claims, our ability to handle an increasing workload could be adversely affected. In addition to potentially requiring that growth be slowed in the affected markets, our business could suffer from decreased quality of claims work which, in turn, could adversely affect our operating margins.
We may act based on inaccurate or incomplete information regarding the accounts we underwrite.
We rely on information provided by insureds or their representatives when underwriting insurance policies. While we may make inquiries to validate or supplement the information provided, we may make underwriting decisions based on incorrect or incomplete information. It is possible that we will misunderstand the nature or extent of the activities or facilities and the corresponding extent of the risks that we insure because of our reliance on inadequate or inaccurate information.
Our employees could take excessive risks, which could negatively affect our financial condition and business.
As an insurance enterprise, we are in the business of binding certain risks. The employees who conduct our business, including executive officers and other members of management, underwriters, product managers and other employees, do so in part by making decisions and choices that involve exposing us to risk. These include decisions such as setting underwriting guidelines and standards, product design and pricing, determining which business opportunities to pursue, and other decisions. We endeavor, in the design and implementation of our compensation programs and practices, to avoid giving our employees incentives to take excessive risks. Employees may, however, take such risks regardless of the structure of our compensation programs and practices. Similarly, although we employ controls and procedures designed to monitor employees’ business decisions and prevent them from taking excessive risks, these controls and procedures may not be effective. If our employees take excessive risks, the impact of those risks could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and business operations.
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. Many factors will affect the amount and timing of our capital needs, including our growth rate and profitability, our claims experience, and the availability of reinsurance, market disruptions, and other unforeseeable developments. If we need to raise additional capital, equity or debt financing may not be available at all or may be available only on terms that are not favorable to us. In the case of equity financings, dilution to our stockholders could result. In the case of debt financings, we may be subject to covenants that restrict our ability to freely operate our business. In any case, such securities may have rights, preferences and privileges that are senior to those of the shares of common stock offered hereby. If we cannot obtain adequate capital on favorable terms or at all, we may not have sufficient funds to implement our operating plans and our business, financial condition or results of operations could be materially adversely affected.
We may not be able to manage our growth effectively.
We intend to grow our business in the future, which could require additional capital, systems development and skilled personnel. However, we must be able to meet our capital needs, expand our systems and our internal controls effectively, allocate our human resources optimally, identify and hire qualified employees and effectively incorporate the components of any businesses we may acquire in our effort to achieve growth. The failure to manage our growth effectively could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
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If actual renewals of our existing contracts do not meet expectations, our written premium in future years and our future results of operations could be materially adversely affected.
Most of our contracts are written for a one-year term. In our financial forecasting process, we make assumptions about the rates of renewal of our prior year’s contracts. The insurance and reinsurance industries have historically been cyclical businesses with intense competition, often based on price. If actual renewals do not meet expectations or if we choose not to write a renewal because of pricing conditions, our written premium in future years and our future operations would be materially adversely affected.
In addition, during the fourth quarter of 2020, we purchased the renewal rights of certain Hawaii Hurricane policies from another insurance company. There is no guarantee that current policyholders will renew their Hurricane policies with the us and the ultimate impact of this purchase on our written premiums is uncertain and may be below our expectations.
If we are unable to successfully scale our new excess and surplus insurance company, our business and future prospects may be harmed.
We recently launched our excess and surplus lines (E&S) insurance product offerings via our recently formed surplus lines subsidiary, PESIC. The E&S market is highly competitive and many of our competitors are better capitalized and have a longer history in the market. While we believe that the underwriting acumen and market expertise we have established through our admitted insurance company, PSIC, can be applied to the surplus lines market as well, there can be no assurances that we will be successful in accurately analyzing risks and scaling a profitable operation in the E&S market. If we are unable to underwrite profitably in the E&S market, our business and future prospects may be adversely impacted.
We may change our underwriting guidelines or our strategy without stockholder approval.
Our management has the authority to change our underwriting guidelines or our strategy without notice to our stockholders and without stockholder approval. As a result, we may make fundamental changes to our operations without stockholder approval, which could result in our pursuing a strategy or implementing underwriting guidelines that may be materially different from the strategy or underwriting guidelines described in our public filings.
Our operating results have in the past varied from quarter to quarter and may not be indicative of our long-term prospects.
Our operating results are subject to fluctuation and have historically varied from quarter to quarter. We expect our quarterly results to continue to fluctuate in the future due to a number of factors, including the general economic conditions in the markets where we operate, the frequency of occurrence or severity of catastrophe or other insured events, fluctuating interest rates, claims exceeding our loss reserves, competition in our industry, deviations from expected premium retention rates of our existing policies and contracts, adverse investment performance, and the cost of reinsurance coverage. Additionally, the rapid development and fluidity of the Pandemic precludes any prediction as to the ultimate impact of COVID-19 on our business. The full extent of the impact and effects of COVID-19 on our business, operations, liquidity, financial condition and results of operations remain uncertain at this time.
We seek to underwrite products and make investments to achieve favorable returns on tangible stockholders’ equity over the long term. Our opportunistic nature and focus on long-term growth in tangible equity may result in fluctuations in gross written premiums from period to period as we concentrate on underwriting contracts that we believe will generate better long-term, rather than short-term, results. Accordingly, our short-term results of operations may not be indicative of our long-term prospects.
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Risks related to the Economic Environment
The effects of the Pandemic have significantly affected the global and U.S. economies and financial markets, and may further disrupt our operations and the operations of our insureds, agents, and third parties upon which we rely.
The current Pandemic has caused significant disruption in the global and U.S. economies and financial markets. The spread of COVID-19 has caused illness, quarantines, cancellation of events and travel, business and school closures, reduction in business activity, increased unemployment, supply chain interruptions, and overall economic and financial market instability. There continue to be significant reported cases of infected individuals throughout the United States and globally. Impacts to our business could be widespread and material impacts may result, including but not limited to, the following:
● employees contracting COVID-19;
● reductions in our operating effectiveness as our employees work from home;
● unavailability of key personnel necessary to conduct our business activities;
● increases in frequency and/or severity of compensable claims;
● increased credit risk;
We are taking precautions to protect the safety and well-being of our employees while providing uninterrupted service to our policyholders and claimants. However, no assurance can be given that these actions will be sufficient, nor can we predict the level of disruption that will occur to our employees' ability to continue to provide customer support and service as they work from home. Furthermore, the macroeconomic effects of the Pandemic may persist for an indefinite period, even after the pandemic has subsided, which could negatively impact demand for our insurance products in the future and result in a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
Adverse economic factors, including recession, inflation, periods of high unemployment or lower economic activity could result in the sale of fewer policies than expected or an increase in the frequency of claims and premium defaults, and even the falsification of claims, or a combination of these effects, which, in turn, could affect our growth and profitability.
Factors, such as business revenue, economic conditions, the volatility and strength of the capital markets, and inflation can affect the business and economic environment. These same factors affect our ability to generate revenue and profits. In an economic downturn that is characterized by higher unemployment, declining spending, and reduced corporate revenue, the demand for insurance products is generally adversely affected, which directly affects our premium levels and profitability. Negative economic factors may also affect our ability to receive the appropriate rate for the risk we insure with our policyholders and may adversely affect the number of policies we can write, and our opportunities to underwrite profitable business. In an economic downturn, our customers may have less need for insurance coverage, cancel or cease payment on existing insurance policies, modify their coverage, or not renew the policies they hold with us. Existing policyholders may exaggerate or even falsify claims to obtain higher claims payments. These outcomes would reduce our underwriting profit to the extent these factors are not reflected in the rates we charge.
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We underwrite a significant portion of our insurance in California and Texas. Any economic downturn in either state could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
Performance of our investment portfolio is subject to a variety of investment risks that may adversely affect our financial results.
Our results of operations depend, in part, on the performance of our investment portfolio. We seek to hold a diversified portfolio of investments that is managed by a professional investment advisory management firm in accordance with our investment policy and routinely reviewed by our Board of Directors. Our investments are subject to general economic conditions and market risks as well as risks inherent to particular securities.
Our primary market risk exposures relate to changes in interest rates and credit quality considerations. Future increases in interest rates could cause the values of our fixed maturity securities portfolios to decline, with the magnitude of the decline depending on the duration of securities included in our portfolio and the amount by which interest rates increase. Some fixed maturity securities have call or prepayment options, which create possible reinvestment risk in declining rate environments. Other fixed maturity securities, such as mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities, carry prepayment risk or, in a rising interest rate environment, may not prepay as quickly as expected.
The value of our investment portfolio is subject to the risk that certain investments may default or become impaired due to deterioration in the financial condition of one or more issuers of the securities we hold, or due to deterioration in the financial condition of an insurer that guarantees an issuer’s payments on such investments. Downgrades in the credit ratings of fixed maturities also have a significant negative effect on the market valuation of such securities.
Such factors could reduce our net investment income and result in realized investment losses. Our investment portfolio is subject to increased valuation uncertainties when investment markets are illiquid. The valuation of investments is more subjective when markets are illiquid, thereby increasing the risk that the estimated fair value (i.e., the carrying amount) of the securities we hold in our portfolio does not reflect prices at which actual transactions would occur.
We also invest in marketable equity securities, generally through mutual funds and exchange-traded funds that provide exposure to the U.S. investment-grade bond market. These securities are carried on the balance sheet at fair market value and are subject to potential losses and declines in market value. Our equity invested assets totaled $24.3 million as of December 31, 2020.
Risks for all types of securities are managed through the application of our investment policy, which establishes investment parameters that include but are not limited to, maximum percentages of investment in certain types of securities and minimum levels of credit quality, which we believe are within applicable guidelines established by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (“NAIC”), the Oregon Division of Financial Regulation and the California and Arizona Departments of Insurance.
Although we seek to preserve our capital, we cannot be certain that our investment objectives will be achieved, and results may vary substantially over time. In addition, although we seek to employ investment strategies that are not correlated with our insurance and reinsurance exposures, losses in our investment portfolio may occur at the same time as underwriting losses and, therefore, exacerbate the adverse effect of the losses on us.
Our investment portfolio could also be adversely impacted by ratings downgrades, increased bankruptcies and credit spread widenings caused by economic downturns from pandemics or other events. Severe economic downturns could cause impairments in our fixed income portfolio. In addition, declines in fixed income yields would result in decreases in net investment income from future investment activity, including re-investments.
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We could be forced to sell investments to meet our liquidity requirements.
We invest the premiums we receive from our insureds until they are needed to pay policyholder claims. Consequently, we seek to manage the duration of our investment portfolio based on the duration of our losses and loss adjustment expense reserves to provide sufficient liquidity and avoid having to liquidate investments to fund claims. Risks such as inadequate losses and loss adjustment reserves or unfavorable trends in litigation could potentially result in the need to sell investments to fund these liabilities. We may not be able to sell our investments at favorable prices or at all. Sales could result in significant realized losses depending on the conditions of the general market, interest rates, and credit issues with individual securities.
Risks related to Technology
We employ third-party licensed software for use in our business, and the inability to maintain these licenses or problems with the software we license could result in increased costs and reduced operational efficiency and service levels, which would adversely affect our business.
Multiple areas of our business rely on certain third-party software obtained under licenses from other companies. We anticipate that we will continue to rely on such third-party software in the future. Unforeseen issues may arise in third-party software platforms which may have an adverse impact on our operations. Integration of new third-party software or modifications to our existing third-party software may require substantial investment of our time and resources. The inability to integrate or operate third-party software successfully or the inadequacy of third-party software may have a material adverse impact on our operations. Our use of additional or alternative third-party software would require us to enter into license agreements with third parties, which may not be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all. Many of the risks associated with the use of third-party software cannot be eliminated, and these risks could negatively affect our business.
Additionally, the software powering our technology systems incorporates software covered by open source licenses. The terms of many open source licenses have not been interpreted by U.S. courts, and there is a risk that the licenses could be construed in a manner that imposes unanticipated conditions or restrictions on our ability to operate our systems. In the event that portions of our proprietary software are determined to be subject to an open source license, we could be required to publicly release the affected portions of our source code or re-engineer all or a portion of our technology systems, each of which could reduce or eliminate the value of our technology systems. Such risk could be difficult or impossible to eliminate and could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
The failure of our information technology and telecommunications systems could adversely affect our business.
Our business is highly dependent upon our information technology and telecommunications systems, including our underwriting system. We rely on these systems to interact with brokers and insureds, to underwrite business, to prepare policies and process premiums, to perform actuarial and other modeling functions, to process claims and make claims payments, and to prepare internal and external financial statements and information. Some of these systems may include or rely on third-party systems not located on our premises or under our control. Events such as natural catastrophes, pandemics (including the COVID-19 Pandemic), terrorist attacks, industrial accidents or computer viruses may cause our systems to fail or be inaccessible for extended periods of time. While we have implemented business contingency plans and other reasonable plans to protect our systems, sustained or repeated system failures or service denials could severely limit our ability to write and process new and renewal business, provide customer service, pay claims in a timely manner or otherwise operate in the ordinary course of business.
Our operations depend on the reliable and secure processing, storage, and transmission of confidential and other data and information in our computer systems and networks. Computer viruses, hackers, employee misconduct, and other external hazards could expose our systems to security breaches, cyber-attacks or other disruptions. In addition, we routinely transmit and receive personal, confidential and proprietary data and information by electronic means and are subject to numerous data privacy laws and regulations enacted in the jurisdictions in which we do business, including recent laws in California whose impact on our business are difficult to predict.
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While we have implemented security measures designed to protect against breaches of security and other interference with our systems and networks, our systems and networks may be, and at times are, subject to breaches or interference. Any such event may result in operational disruptions as well as unauthorized access to or the disclosure or loss of our proprietary information or our customers’ data and information, which in turn may result in legal claims, regulatory scrutiny and liability, reputational damage, the incurrence of costs to eliminate or mitigate further exposure, the loss of customers or affiliated advisors, reputational harm or other damage to our business. In addition, the trend toward general public notification of such incidents could exacerbate the harm to our business, financial condition and results of operations. Even if we successfully protect our technology infrastructure and the confidentiality of sensitive data, we could suffer harm to our business and reputation if attempted security breaches are publicized. We cannot be certain that advances in criminal capabilities, discovery of new vulnerabilities, attempts to exploit vulnerabilities in our systems, data thefts, physical system or network break-ins or inappropriate access, or other developments will not compromise or breach the technology or other security measures protecting the networks and systems used in connection with our business.
Recently, the majority of our employees have been working outside of our primary offices as a result of the Pandemic. We believe this additional remote work increases the need for our information technology and telecommunications systems to work properly and creates additional operational risk and difficulty should these systems fail.
Risks Related to Laws and Regulations
We are subject to extensive regulation, which may adversely affect our ability to achieve our business objectives. In addition, 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.
Palomar Specialty Insurance Company (“PSIC”) is subject to extensive regulation in Oregon, its state of domicile, California, where it is commercially domiciled, and to a lesser degree, the other states in which it operates. Palomar Excess and Surplus Insurance Company (‘‘PESIC’’) is subject to extensive regulation in Arizona, its state of domicile, and to a lesser degree, the other states in which it writes business. Our Bermuda based reinsurance subsidiary, Palomar Specialty Reinsurance Company Bermuda Ltd. (“PSRE”), is subject to regulation in Bermuda.
Most insurance regulations are designed to protect the interests of insurance policyholders, as opposed to the interests of investors or stockholders. These regulations generally are administered by a department of insurance in each state and relate to, among other things, capital and surplus requirements, investment and underwriting limitations, affiliate transactions, dividend limitations, changes in control, solvency and a variety of other financial and non-financial aspects of our business. Significant changes in these laws and regulations could further limit our discretion or make it more expensive to conduct our business. State insurance regulators and the Bermuda Monetary Authority (“the BMA”), also conduct periodic examinations of the affairs of insurance and reinsurance companies and require the filing of annual and other reports relating to financial condition, holding company issues and other matters. These regulatory requirements may impose timing and expense constraints that could adversely affect our ability to achieve some or all of our business objectives.
Our U.S. insurance subsidiaries are part of an “insurance holding company system” within the meaning of applicable California, Oregon and Arizona statutes and regulations. As a result of such status, certain transactions between our U.S. insurance subsidiaries and one or more of their affiliates, such as a tax sharing agreement or cost sharing arrangement, may not be effected unless the insurer has provided notice of that transaction to the California Department of Insurance, the Oregon Division of Financial Regulation, or the Arizona Department of Insurance, as applicable, at least 30 days prior to engaging in the transaction and the California Department of Insurance, the Oregon Division of Financial Regulation, or the Arizona Department of Insurance, as applicable, has not disapproved such transaction within the 30-day time period. These prior notification requirements may result in business delays and additional business expenses. If any of our U.S. insurance subsidiaries fail to file a required notification or fail to comply with other applicable insurance regulations in California, Oregon or Arizona, as applicable, we may be subject to significant fines and penalties and our working relationship with the California Department of Insurance, the Oregon Division of Financial Regulation, or the Arizona Department of Insurance, as applicable, may be impaired.
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In addition, state insurance regulators have broad discretion to deny, suspend, or revoke licenses for various reasons, including the violation of regulations. In some instances, where there is uncertainty as to applicability, we follow practices based on our interpretations of regulations or practices that we believe generally to be 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, state insurance regulators could preclude or temporarily suspend us from carrying on some or all of our activities or could otherwise penalize us. This could adversely affect our ability to operate our business. Further, changes in the level of regulation of the insurance industry or changes in laws or regulations themselves or interpretations by regulatory authorities could interfere with our operations and require us to bear additional costs of compliance, which could adversely affect our ability to operate our business.
Our U.S. insurance subsidiaries are subject to risk-based capital requirements, based upon the “risk based capital model” adopted by the NAIC, and other minimum capital and surplus restrictions imposed under Arizona, Oregon and California law. These requirements establish the minimum amount of risk-based capital necessary for a company to support its overall business operations. It identifies property and casualty insurers that may be inadequately capitalized by looking at certain inherent risks of each insurer’s assets and liabilities and its mix of net written premium. Insurers falling below a calculated threshold may be subject to varying degrees of regulatory action, including supervision, rehabilitation or liquidation. Failure by any of our U.S. subsidiaries to maintain risk-based capital at the required levels could adversely affect their ability to maintain regulatory authority to conduct business.
PSRE is subject to regulation from the European Union. The European Union adopted the Economic Substance Act 2018 and the Economic Substance Regulations 2018 (together, the “ES Requirements”). As an insurance company, our Bermuda subsidiary conducts a relevant activity and will be subject to the ES Requirements. As a result, our Bermuda subsidiary may be required to change or increase our business operations in Bermuda to meet the new requirements. Compliance with the ES Requirements is required with effect from July 1, 2019.
Unexpected changes in the interpretation of our coverage or provisions, including loss limitations and exclusions, in our policies could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
There can be no assurances that specifically negotiated loss limitations or exclusions in our policies will be enforceable in the manner we intend. As industry practices and legal, judicial, social, and other conditions change, unexpected and unintended issues related to claims and coverage may emerge. For example, many of our policies limit the period during which a policyholder may bring a claim, which may be shorter than the statutory period under which such claims can be brought against our policyholders. While these limitations and exclusions help us assess and mitigate our loss exposure, it is possible that a court or regulatory authority or an executive action could nullify or void a limitation or exclusion, such as limitations on business interruption claims caused by pandemics or other crises, or legislation could be enacted modifying or barring the use of such limitations or exclusions. These types of governmental actions could result in higher than anticipated losses and loss adjustment expenses, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations. In addition, court decisions, such as the 1995 Montrose decision in California could read policy exclusions narrowly so as to expand coverage, thereby requiring insurers to create and write new exclusions.
These issues may adversely affect our business by either broadening coverage beyond our underwriting intent or by increasing the frequency or severity 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.
We may become subject to additional government or market regulation, which may have a material adverse impact on our business.
Our business could be adversely affected by changes in state laws, including those relating to asset and reserve valuation requirements, surplus requirements, limitations on investments and dividends, enterprise risk and risk-based capital requirements, and, at the federal level, by laws and regulations that may affect certain aspects of the insurance industry, including proposals for preemptive federal regulation. The U.S. federal government generally has not directly
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regulated the insurance industry except for certain areas of the market, such as insurance for flood, nuclear and terrorism risks. However, the federal government has undertaken initiatives or considered legislation in several areas that may affect the insurance industry, including tort reform, corporate governance and the taxation of reinsurance companies. In addition, the Bermuda reinsurance regulatory framework has become subject to increased scrutiny in many jurisdictions. As a result, the BMA has implemented and imposed additional requirements on the companies it regulates, which requirements could adversely impact the operations of PSRE.
Any government mandates and/or legislative changes related to the ongoing Pandemic, including mandated premium refunds or credits and extended premium grace periods, could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. Premium grace periods could significantly increase our expenses while decreasing our short-term revenues which would adversely impact our liquidity.
Changes in tax laws as a result of the enactment of tax legislation could impact our operations and profitability.
Legislation commonly known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“the Tax Act”) was signed into law on December 22, 2017. The Tax Act made significant changes to the U.S. federal income tax rules for taxation of individuals and corporations, generally effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017. In the case of individuals, the tax brackets have been adjusted, the top federal income rate has been reduced to 37%, special rules have reduced taxation of certain income earned through pass-through entities and various deductions have been eliminated or limited, including limiting the deduction for state and local taxes to $10,000 per year, decreasing the mortgage interest deduction on new homes to $750,000 and eliminating the home equity line of credit interest deduction for loans that are not considered home acquisition debt.
Changes in these deductions may affect taxpayers in states with high residential home prices and high state and local taxes, such as California, and may also negatively impact the housing market. This in turn may negatively impact our growth in these markets if there is lower demand in the housing market as a consequence of the Tax Act.
If states increase the assessments that we are required to pay, our business, financial condition and results of operations would suffer.
Certain jurisdictions in which PSIC is admitted to transact business require property and casualty insurers doing business within that jurisdiction to participate in insurance guaranty associations. These organizations pay contractual benefits owed pursuant to insurance policies issued by impaired, insolvent or failed insurers. They levy assessments, up to prescribed limits, on all member insurers in a particular state on the basis of the proportionate share of the premiums written by member insurers in the lines of business in which the impaired, insolvent or failed insurer is engaged. States may also assess admitted companies in order to fund their respective department of insurance operations. Some states permit member insurers to recover assessments paid through full or partial premium tax offset or in limited circumstances by surcharging policyholders.
PSIC is licensed to conduct insurance operations on an admitted basis in 32 states. As PSIC grows, its share of any assessments in each state in which it underwrites business on an admitted basis may increase. PSIC paid assessments of $1.1 million in 2018, $14,750 in 2019 and $0.4 million in 2020. The increase in assessments paid during 2018 was primarily amounts assessed by the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association and Texas Fair Plan Association relating to Hurricane Harvey, with such amounts recovered from our reinsurers. We cannot predict with certainty the amount of future assessments, because they depend on factors outside our control, such as insolvencies of other insurance companies as well as the occurrence of significant catastrophes similar to Hurricane Harvey. Generally speaking, assessments are covered by our catastrophe XOL treaties and, to the extent we have experienced a net loss from an event in excess of our net retention, assessments would be recovered from our reinsurers with no additional expense to us. However, although reinsurance makes the reinsurer liable to us to the extent the risk is transferred or ceded to the reinsurer, it does not relieve us (the ceding insurer) of our primary liability to our policyholders. Significant assessments could result in higher than expected operating expenses and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. In addition, while some states permit member insurers to recover assessments paid through full or partial premium tax offset or, in limited circumstances, by surcharging policyholders, there is no certainty that offsets or surcharges will be permitted in connection with any future assessments.
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Because we are a holding company and substantially all of our operations are conducted by our insurance subsidiaries, our ability to pay dividends depends on our ability to obtain cash dividends or other permitted payments from our insurance subsidiaries.
The continued operation and growth of our business will require substantial capital. We do not intend to declare and pay cash dividends on shares of our common stock in the foreseeable future. Because we are a holding company with no business operations of our own, our ability to pay dividends to stockholders largely depends on dividends and other distributions from our insurance subsidiaries, PSIC, PESIC and PSRE. State insurance laws, including the laws of Oregon, California, Arizona, and the laws of Bermuda restrict the ability of our subsidiaries to declare stockholder dividends. State insurance regulators require insurance companies to maintain specified levels of statutory capital and surplus. The maximum dividend distribution absent the approval or non-disapproval of the insurance regulatory authority in Oregon, California and Arizona is limited by Oregon law at ORS 732.576, California law at Cal. Ins. Code 1215.5(g) and Arizona Revised Statute 20-481. Under Oregon statute, dividend payments from PSIC are further limited to that part of available policyholder surplus that is derived from net profits on our business. State insurance regulators have broad powers to prevent the reduction of statutory surplus to inadequate levels, and there is no assurance that dividends up to the maximum amounts calculated under any applicable formula would be permitted. Moreover, state insurance regulators that have jurisdiction over the payment of dividends by PSIC and PESIC may in the future adopt statutory provisions more restrictive than those currently in effect.
PSRE is highly regulated and is required to comply with various conditions before it is able to pay dividends or make distributions to us. Bermuda law, including the Insurance Act 1978, as amended (“Insurance Act”) and the Companies Act 1981, as amended (“Companies Act”) impose restrictions on PSRE’s ability to pay dividends to us based on solvency margins and surplus and capital requirements. These restrictions, and any other future restrictions adopted by the BMA, could have the effect, under certain circumstances, of significantly reducing dividends or other amounts payable to us by PSRE without affirmative approval of the BMA.
Any determination to pay dividends in the future will be at the discretion of our Board of Directors and will depend upon results of operations, financial condition, restrictions imposed by applicable law and other factors our Board of Directors deems relevant. Consequently, investors may need to sell all or part of their holdings of our common stock after price appreciation, which may never occur, as the only way to realize any future gains on their investment. Investors seeking immediate cash dividends should not purchase our common stock.
The effects of litigation on our business are uncertain and could have an adverse effect on our business.
As is typical in our industry, we continually face risks associated with litigation of various types, including disputes relating to insurance claims under our policies as well as other general commercial and corporate litigation. Although we are not currently involved in any material litigation with our customers, other members of the insurance industry are the target of class action lawsuits and other types of litigation, some of which involve claims for substantial or indeterminate amounts, and the outcomes of which are unpredictable. This litigation is based on a variety of issues, including insurance and claim settlement practices. We cannot predict with any certainty whether we will be involved in such litigation in the future or what impact such litigation would have on our business.
We rely on the use of credit scoring in pricing and underwriting certain of our insurance policies and any legal or regulatory requirements that restrict our ability to access credit score information could decrease the accuracy of our pricing and underwriting process and thus decrease our ability to be profitable.
We use credit scoring as a factor in pricing and underwriting decisions where allowed by state law. Consumer groups and regulators have questioned whether the use of credit scoring unfairly discriminates against some groups of people and are calling for laws and regulations to prohibit or restrict the use of credit scoring in underwriting and pricing. Laws or regulations that significantly curtail or regulate the use of credit scoring, if enacted in a large number of states in which we operate, could impact the integrity of our pricing and underwriting processes, which could, in turn, materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects, and make it harder for us to be profitable over time.
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Any failure to protect our intellectual property rights could impair our ability to protect our intellectual property, proprietary technology platform and brand, or we may be sued by third parties for alleged infringement of their proprietary rights.
Our success and ability to compete depend in part on our intellectual property, which includes our rights in our proprietary technology platform and our brand. We primarily rely on copyright, trade secret and trademark laws, and confidentiality agreements with our employees, customers, service providers, partners and others to protect our intellectual property rights. However, the steps we take to protect our intellectual property may be inadequate. Litigation brought to protect and enforce our intellectual property rights could be costly, time-consuming and distracting to management and could result in the impairment or loss of portions of our intellectual property. Additionally, our efforts to enforce our intellectual property rights may be met with defenses, counterclaims and countersuits attacking the validity and enforceability and scope of our intellectual property rights. Our failure to secure, protect and enforce our intellectual property rights could adversely affect our brand and adversely impact our business.
Our success also depends in part on us not infringing on the intellectual property rights of others. Our competitors, as well as a number of other entities and individuals, may own or claim to own intellectual property relating to our industry. In the future, third parties may claim that we are infringing on their intellectual property rights, and we may be found to be infringing on such rights. Any claims or litigation could cause us to incur significant expenses and, if successfully asserted against us, could require that we pay substantial damages or ongoing royalty payments, prevent us from offering our services, or require that we comply with other unfavorable terms. Even if we were to prevail in such a dispute, any litigation could be costly and time-consuming and divert the attention of our management and key personnel from our business operations.
Changes in accounting practices and future pronouncements may materially affect our reported financial results.
Developments in accounting practices may require us to incur considerable additional expenses to comply, particularly if we are required to prepare information relating to prior periods for comparative purposes or to apply the new requirements retroactively. Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”). The impact of changes in GAAP cannot be predicted but may affect the calculation of net income, stockholders’ equity and other relevant financial statement line items.
In addition to compliance with GAAP on a consolidated basis, PSIC, PESIC, and PSRE are required to comply with statutory accounting principles (“SAP”). SAP and various components of SAP are subject to constant review by the NAIC and its task forces and committees, as well as state insurance departments, in an effort to address emerging issues and otherwise improve financial reporting. Various proposals are pending before committees and task forces of the NAIC, some of which, if enacted, could have negative effects on insurance industry participants. The NAIC continuously examines existing laws and regulations. We cannot predict whether or in what form such reforms will be enacted and, if so, whether the enacted reforms will positively or negatively affect us.
We incur significant costs as a public company, and our management is required to devote substantial time to complying with public company regulations.
As a public company, we incur certain legal, accounting and other expenses that we would not incur as a private company. We are subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, which require, among other things, that we file with the SEC annual, quarterly and current reports with respect to our business and financial condition and therefore we need to have the ability to prepare financial statements that comply with all SEC reporting requirements on a timely basis. In addition, we are subject to other reporting and corporate governance requirements, including certain requirements of and certain provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder, which impose significant compliance obligations upon us. In particular, we must perform system and process evaluation and testing of our internal control over financial reporting to allow management and our independent registered public accounting firm to report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, as required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Our compliance with Section 404 requires that we incur substantial accounting expense and expend significant management efforts. We must maintain accounting and financial staff and consultants with
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appropriate public company reporting, technical accounting, and internal control knowledge to satisfy the ongoing requirements of Section 404 and provide internal audit services.
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the Dodd-Frank Act, as well as new rules subsequently implemented by the SEC and Nasdaq, have increased regulation of, and imposed enhanced disclosure and corporate governance requirements on, public companies. Our efforts to comply with these evolving laws, regulations and standards increases our operating costs and divert management’s time and attention from revenue-generating activities.
These requirements also place significant additional demands on our finance and accounting staff and on our financial accounting and information systems. We must retain accounting and financial staff with appropriate public company reporting experience and technical accounting knowledge. Other expenses associated with being a public company include increased auditing, accounting and legal fees and expenses, investor relations expenses, increased directors’ fees and director and officer liability insurance costs, registrar and transfer agent fees and listing fees, as well as other expenses. As a public company, we are required, among other things, to:
• institute comprehensive compliance and investor relations functions; and
We may not be successful in complying with these requirements, and compliance with them could materially adversely affect our business. These requirements increase our costs and may cause us to reduce costs in other areas of our business or increase the prices of our products or services. For example, these rules and regulations to make it more difficult and more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance. We cannot predict or estimate the amount or timing of additional costs we may incur to respond to these requirements. The impact of these requirements could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on our Board of Directors, our Board committees or as executive officers.
In addition, if we fail to implement and maintain the required controls with respect to our internal accounting and audit functions, our ability to report our results of operations on a timely and accurate basis could be impaired. If we do not implement the required controls in a timely manner or with adequate compliance, we may be subject to sanctions or investigation by regulatory authorities, such as the SEC or Nasdaq. Any such action could harm our reputation and the confidence of our investors and customers and could negatively affect our business and cause the price of our shares of common stock to decline.
We are required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to evaluate the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. If we are unable to achieve and maintain effective internal controls, our operating results and financial condition could be harmed and the market price of our common stock may be negatively affected.
As a public company with SEC reporting obligations, we are required to document and test our internal control procedures to satisfy the requirements of Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which requires annual assessments by management of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting beginning with this Annual Report on form 10-K. We must implement and maintain substantial internal control systems and procedures to satisfy the reporting requirements under the Exchange Act.
During our assessments, we may identify deficiencies that we are unable to remediate in a timely manner. Testing and maintaining our internal control over financial reporting may also divert management’s attention from other matters that are important to the operation of our business. We may not be able to conclude on an ongoing basis that we have effective internal control over financial reporting in accordance with Section 404(b) of Sarbanes-Oxley. If we conclude that our internal control over financial reporting is not effective, the cost and scope of remediation actions and their effect on our operations may be significant. Moreover, any material weaknesses or other deficiencies in our internal
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control over financial reporting may impede our ability to file timely and accurate reports with the SEC. Any of the above could cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information or our common stock listing on Nasdaq to be suspended or terminated, which could have a negative effect on the trading price of our common stock.
Applicable insurance laws may make it difficult to effect a change of control.
Under applicable Oregon, California and Arizona insurance laws and regulations, no person may acquire control of a domestic insurer until written approval is obtained from the state insurance commissioner following a public hearing on the proposed acquisition. Such approval would be contingent upon the state insurance commissioner’s consideration of a number of factors including, among others, the financial strength of the proposed acquiror, the acquiror’s plans for the future operations of the domestic insurer and any anti-competitive results that may arise from the consummation of the acquisition of control. Oregon, California and Arizona insurance laws and regulations pertaining to changes of control apply to both the direct and indirect acquisition of ten percent or more of the voting stock of an insurer domiciled in that state. Accordingly, the acquisition of ten percent or more of our common stock would be considered an indirect change of control of Palomar Holdings, Inc. and would trigger the applicable change of control filing requirements under Oregon, California and Arizona insurance laws and regulations, absent a disclaimer of control filing and its acceptance by the Oregon, California and Arizona Insurance Departments. These requirements may discourage potential acquisition proposals and may delay, deter or prevent a change of control of Palomar Holdings, Inc., including through transactions that some or all of the stockholders of Palomar Holdings, Inc. might consider to be desirable.
Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock
Future transactions where we raise capital may negatively affect our stock price.
We are currently a “Well-Known Seasoned Issuer” and may file automatic shelf registration statements at any time with the SEC. Sales of substantial amounts of shares of our common stock or other securities under our current or future shelf registration statements could lower the market price of our common stock and impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of equity securities.
Our operating results and stock price may be volatile, or may decline regardless of our operating performance, and holders of our common stock could lose all or part of their investment.
Our quarterly operating results are likely to fluctuate in the future as a publicly traded company. In addition, securities markets worldwide have experienced, and are likely to continue to experience, significant price and volume fluctuations. This market volatility, as well as general economic, market or political conditions, could subject the market price of our shares to wide price fluctuations regardless of our operating performance. Although we believe we have adequate sources of liquidity over the short- and long-term, the success of our operations, the global economic outlook, and the pace of sustainable growth in our markets, in each case, in light of the market volatility and uncertainty as a result of the Pandemic, among other factors, could impact our business and liquidity. You should consider an investment in our common stock to be risky, and you should invest in our common stock only if you can withstand a significant loss and wide fluctuation in the market value of your investment. The market price of our common stock is likely to continue to be subject to significant fluctuations in response to the factors described in this “Risk Factors” section and other factors, many of which are beyond our control. Among the factors that could affect our stock price are:
• market conditions in the broader stock market;
• introduction of new products or services by us or our competitors;
• issuance of new or changed securities analysts’ reports or recommendations;
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• short sales, hedging and other derivative transactions in our common stock;
• strategic actions by us or our competitors;
• announcement by us, our competitors or our acquisition targets;
• regulatory, legal or political developments;
• litigation and governmental investigations;
• changing economic conditions, including those caused by the Pandemic;
• changes in accounting principles;
• any indebtedness we may incur or securities we may issue in the future;
• default under agreements governing our indebtedness;
• changes in our credit ratings;
• exchange rate fluctuations; and
The securities markets have from time to time experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that often have been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of particular companies. As a result of these factors, investors in our common stock may not be able to resell their shares at or above the price at which they purchased their shares. These broad market fluctuations, as well as general market, economic and political conditions, such as recessions, loss of investor confidence or interest rate changes, may negatively affect the market price of our common stock.
In addition, the stock markets, including Nasdaq, have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have affected and continue to affect the market prices of equity securities of many companies. If any of the foregoing occurs, it could cause our stock price to fall and may expose us to securities class action litigation that, even if unsuccessful, could be costly to defend, divert management’s attention and resources or harm our business.
Anti-takeover provisions in our organizational documents could delay a change in management and limit our share price.
Provisions of our certificate of incorporation and bylaws could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire control of us even if such a change in control would increase the value of our common stock and prevent attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current Board of Directors or management.
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Our charter documents contain anti-takeover provisions that will hinder takeover attempts and could reduce the market value of our common stock or prevent sale at a premium. Our anti-takeover provisions:
• prohibit stockholder action by other than unanimous written consent;
• prohibit cumulative voting in the election of directors; and
In addition, as a Delaware corporation, we are subject to Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. These provisions may prohibit large stockholders, in particular those owning 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock, from merging or combining with us for a period of time.
Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws provide that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the exclusive forum for substantially all disputes between us and our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers or employees.
Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws provide that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the exclusive forum for the following civil actions:
• any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf;
• any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine.
However, this provision would not apply to suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Exchange Act. Furthermore, this provision applies to Securities Act claims and Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. Accordingly, there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce such provision, and our stockholders will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. This choice of forum provision, if enforced, may limit a stockholder’s ability to
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bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers or other employees, which may discourage such lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and other employees, although our stockholders will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.
If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our stock price and trading volume could decline.
The trading market for our common stock depends, in part, on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business and our industry. If one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrades our common stock or publishes inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our stock price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts ceases coverage of us or fails to publish reports on us regularly, demand for our common stock could decrease, which could cause our stock price and trading volume to decline.
SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, which statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events or our future financial or operating performance. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as “may”, “will”, “should”, “expects”, “plans”, “anticipates”, “could”, “intends”, “target”, “projects”, “contemplates”, “believes”, “estimates”, “predicts”, “would”, “potential” or “continue” or the negative of these words or other similar terms or expressions that concern our expectations, strategy, plans or intentions. These forward-looking statements include, among others, statements relating to our future financial performance, our business prospects and strategy, anticipated financial position, liquidity and capital needs and other similar matters. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations and assumptions about future events, which are inherently subject to uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict.
Our actual results may differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, the forward-looking statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K as a result of various factors, including, among others:
● reinsurance counterparty credit risk;
● the concentration of our business in California and Texas;
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● our reliance on a select group of brokers;
● unexpected changes in the interpretation of our coverage or provisions;
● being forced to sell investments to meet our liquidity requirements;
● we may become subject to additional government or market regulation;
● fluctuation and variance in our operating results;
● our employees, underwriters and other associates taking excessive risks;
● the failure of our information technology and telecommunications systems;
● our inability to protect our trademarks or other intellectual property rights;
● the inability to manage our growth effectively;
● the intense competition for business in our industry;
● the effects of litigation having an adverse effect on our business;
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● changes in accounting practices;
● our failure to accurately and timely pay claims;
● increased costs as a result of being a public company; and
We have based the forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K primarily on our current expectations and projections about future events and trends that we believe may affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, prospects, business strategy and financial needs. The outcome of the events described in these forward-looking statements is subject to risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors described in the section captioned “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. These risks are not exhaustive. Other sections of this Annual Report on Form 10-K include additional factors that could adversely impact our business and financial performance. Furthermore, new risks and uncertainties emerge from time to time and it is not possible for us to predict all risks and uncertainties that could have an impact on the forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We cannot assure you that the results, events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements will be achieved or occur, and actual results, events or circumstances could differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements.
In addition, statements that “we believe” and similar statements reflect our beliefs and opinions on the relevant subject. These statements are based upon information available to us as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, and while we believe such information forms a reasonable basis for such statements, such information may be limited or incomplete, and our statements should not be read to indicate that we have conducted an exhaustive inquiry into, or review of, all potentially available relevant information. These statements are inherently uncertain and investors are cautioned not to unduly rely upon these statements.
You should read this Annual Report on Form 10-K and the documents that we reference in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and have filed as exhibits to this Annual Report on Form 10-K with the understanding that our actual future results, levels of activity, performance and achievements may be materially different from what we expect. We qualify all of our forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements.
The forward-looking statements made in this Annual Report on Form 10-K relate only to events as of the date on which such statements are made. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements after the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K or to conform such statements to actual results or revised expectations, except as required by law.
Item 1B: Unresolved Staff Comments
None.
Item 2. Properties
Our primary executive offices and insurance operations are located in La Jolla, California, which occupy approximately 14,700 square feet of office space for annual rent and rent-related operating payments of approximately $0.7 million. The lease for this space expires in 2024. We also lease office space in various locations throughout the United States which we use for operations and administration.
We do not own any real property. We believe that our facilities are adequate for our current needs.
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Item 3. Legal Proceedings
We are subject to routine legal proceedings in the normal course of operating our insurance business. We are not involved in any legal proceedings which reasonably could be expected to have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures
Not applicable.
PART II
Item 5. Market for the Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Our common shares began trading on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “PLMR” on April 17, 2019. Prior to that time, there was no public market for our common shares. As of March 3, 2021, there were approximately 11 holders of record of our common stock. Because most of our shares of common stock are held by brokers and other institutions on behalf of our stockholders, this number is not representative our total stockholders.
The continued operation and growth of our business will require substantial capital. We do not intend to declare and pay cash dividends on shares of our common stock in the foreseeable future. Because we are a holding company with no business operations of our own, our ability to pay dividends to stockholders largely depends on dividends and other distributions from our U.S. subsidiaries, PESIC and PSIC, and our Bermuda subsidiary, PSRE. State insurance laws, including the laws of Arizona, Oregon and California, and the laws of Bermuda restrict the ability these subsidiaries to declare stockholder dividends. State insurance regulators require insurance companies to maintain specified levels of statutory capital and surplus and restrict dividend payments. Dividend payments are further limited to that part of available policyholder surplus that is derived from net profits on our business. State insurance regulators have broad powers to prevent the reduction of statutory surplus to inadequate levels, and there is no assurance that dividends up to the maximum amounts calculated under any applicable formula would be permitted. Moreover, state insurance regulators may in the future adopt statutory provisions more restrictive than those currently in effect.
Our Bermuda reinsurance subsidiary is highly regulated and is required to comply with various conditions before it is able to pay dividends or make distributions to us. Bermuda law, including the Insurance Act 1978, as amended (“Insurance Act”) and the Companies Act 1981, as amended (“Companies Act”) impose restrictions on our Bermuda reinsurance subsidiary’s ability to pay dividends to us based on solvency margins and surplus and capital requirements. These restrictions, and any other future restrictions adopted by the BMA, could have the effect, under certain circumstances, of significantly reducing dividends or other amounts payable to us by our Bermuda reinsurance subsidiary without affirmative approval of the BMA.
Any determination to pay dividends in the future will be at the discretion of our Board of Directors and will depend upon results of operations, financial condition, restrictions imposed by applicable law and other factors our Board of Directors deems relevant. Consequently, investors may need to sell all or part of their holdings of our common stock after price appreciation, which may never occur, as the only way to realize any future gains on their investment. Investors seeking immediate cash dividends should not purchase our common stock.
Performance Graph
The following performance graph compares the cumulative total shareholder return of an investment in (1) our common stock, (2) the cumulative total returns to the Nasdaq Composite Index and (3) the cumulative total returns to the Nasdaq Insurance Index, for the period from April 17, 2019 (the date our common stock began trading on Nasdaq) through December 31, 2020.
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The graph assumes an initial investment of $100. Such returns are based on historical results and are not indicative of future performance.
Item 6. Selected Consolidated Financial and Other Data
The following tables present selected consolidated financial and other data as of and for the periods indicated below. This selected data has been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements.
Our historical results are not necessarily indicative of the results that should be expected in any future period. You should read this data together with our audited consolidated financial statements and related notes which are included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, as well as “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” also included elsewhere this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
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Year Ended December 31,
(in thousands except shares and per share data)
Results of Operations:
Per Share Data:
Key Financial and Operating Metrics:
Catastrophe loss ratio (1) 32.9 % — % 7.2 % 11.7 % — %
NM-Not Meaningful
December 31,
(in thousands)
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Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
The following discussion of our historical results of operations and our liquidity and capital resources should be read together with the consolidated financial statements and related notes that appear elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. In addition to historical financial information, this Annual Report on Form 10-K contains “forward-looking statements.” You should review the “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” and “Risk Factors” sections of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for factors and uncertainties that may cause our actual future results to be materially different from those in our forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are based on information available to us as of the date hereof, and we assume no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements.
Overview
We are a rapidly growing and innovative insurer focused on providing specialty insurance to residential and commercial customers. Our underwriting and analytical expertise allow us to concentrate on certain markets that we believe are underserved by other insurance companies, such as the markets for earthquake, hurricane and flood insurance. We use proprietary data analytics and a modern technology platform to offer our customers flexible products with customized and granular pricing for both the admitted and excess and surplus lines (“E&S”) markets.
We provide admitted insurance products through our Oregon domiciled insurance company, Palomar Specialty Insurance Company (“PSIC”), and non-admitted insurance products through our Arizona domiciled surplus lines insurance company, Palomar Excess and Surplus Insurance Company (“PESIC”). We distribute our products through multiple channels, including retail agents, program administrators, wholesale brokers, and partnerships with other insurance companies. Our business strategy is supported by a comprehensive risk transfer program with reinsurance coverage that we believe reduces earnings volatility and provides appropriate levels of protection from catastrophic events. Our management team combines decades of insurance industry experience across specialty underwriting, reinsurance, program administration, distribution, and analytics.
Founded in 2014, we have significantly grown our business and have generated attractive returns. We have organically increased gross written premiums from $16.6 million in our first year of operations to $354.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, which reflects a compound annual growth rate of approximately 66%. For the year ended December 31, 2020, we experienced average monthly premium retention rates above 93% for our Residential Earthquake and Hawaii Hurricane lines and approximately 87% overall across all lines of business, providing strong visibility into future revenue.
In February 2014, PSIC was awarded an “A−” rating from A.M. Best Company (“A.M. Best”), a leading rating agency for the insurance industry. An “A−” rating is categorized by A.M. Best as an excellent rating and indicates a stable outlook. In April 2020, A.M. Best affirmed the “A−” rating for PSIC and affirmed our “A−” group rating for Palomar Holdings, Inc. (“PHI”). In July 2020, PESIC was also awarded an “A−” rating by A.M. Best. These ratings reflect A.M. Best’s opinion of our financial strength, operating performance, and ability to meet obligations to policyholders and are not an evaluation directed towards the protection of investors.
We received regulatory approval for PESIC during the second quarter of 2020 and capitalized PESIC with approximately $100 million in initial surplus. PESIC is domiciled in the State of Arizona and licensed in Arizona to transact across all our existing lines of business. We believe that the underwriting acumen and market expertise we have established in the admitted insurance market is also applicable to the non-admitted market (also known as the “surplus lines” or “E&S” market), and that PESIC enables us to serve certain risks that our admitted products cannot currently satisfy. We began writing E&S business on a national basis during the third quarter of 2020.
We believe that our market opportunity, distinctive products, and differentiated business model position us to grow our business profitably.
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COVID-19 Update
The COVID-19 Pandemic ("the Pandemic") continues to impact businesses, households, communities, and financial markets.
In response to the Pandemic, we have been taking several actions to protect the health of the public and our employees while serving our policyholders and ensuring business continuity. Since March 2020, the majority of our employees have been working from home and we have put all business travel on hold indefinitely. We have implemented safeguards for employees in critical roles to ensure operational reliability and established safety protocols for employees who interact directly with the public. We also provide employees a reimbursement to help manage incremental costs associated with remote work. In addition, we are taking extra physical security and cybersecurity measures to safeguard our systems to serve the operational needs of our remote workforce and ensure uninterrupted service to our brokers and policyholders. We will continue to operate in this manner for the foreseeable future.
The mandated closures of certain business due to the Pandemic have caused a slowdown in certain sectors of the economy and a corresponding increase in unemployment. We have experienced an increase in the number of business interruption claims related to the Pandemic. Our All Risk and Commercial Earthquake (Difference in Conditions or “DIC”) policies offer business interruption coverage for insureds for a loss in business income caused by physical damage to the structure. Each of our All Risk policies has a virus and/or communicable disease exclusion. Our DIC policies require physical damage to the structure caused by the covered perils, whether it be an earthquake or flood. We are acknowledging, investigating, assessing and adjudicating each claim received and providing the policyholder requisite consideration.
Our results of operations depend, in part, on the performance of our investment portfolio. During 2020 we experienced volatility in the fair value of our investment portfolio due to unrealized losses and gains on our fixed income securities. The economic impacts of the Pandemic could reduce our net investment income and result in realized investment losses in future periods.
We have not seen a significant change in the growth rate of our gross written premiums since the beginning of the Pandemic. However, adverse events such as health-related concerns about working in our offices, the inability to travel, potential impact on our business partners and customers, and other matters affecting the general work and business environment could harm our business and impact the implementation of our business strategy. The macroeconomic effects of the Pandemic may persist for an indefinite period, even after the Pandemic has subsided and we cannot anticipate all the ways in which the Pandemic could adversely impact our business in the future.
Components of our results of operations
Gross Written Premiums
Gross written premiums are the amounts received or to be received for insurance policies written or assumed by us during a specific period of time without reduction for policy acquisition costs, reinsurance costs or other deductions. The volume of our gross written premiums in any given period is generally influenced by:
● Volume of new business submissions in existing products or partnerships;
● Renewal rates of existing policies; and
● Average size and premium rate of bound policies.
Our gross written premiums are also impacted when we assume unearned in-force premiums due to new partnerships or other business reasons. In periods where we assume a large volume of unearned premiums, our gross
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written premiums may increase significantly compared to prior periods and the increase may not be indicative of future trends.
Ceded Written Premiums
Ceded written premiums are the amount of gross written premiums ceded to reinsurers. We enter into reinsurance contracts to limit our exposure to potential losses and to provide additional capacity for growth. We cede premiums primarily through excess of loss (“XOL”) agreements and quota share agreements. Ceded written premiums are earned pro-rata over the period of risk covered. The volume of our ceded written premiums is impacted by the amount of our gross written premiums and our decisions to increase or decrease limits or retention levels in our XOL agreements and co-participation levels in our quota share agreements.
Our ceded written premiums can be impacted significantly in certain periods due to changes in quota share agreements. In periods where we modify a quota share agreement, ceded written premiums may increase or decrease significantly compared to prior periods and these fluctuations may not be indicative of future trends. In addition, our XOL costs as a percentage of gross earned premiums vary over the life of XOL contracts due to changes of premium in force during the contract period.
Net Earned Premiums
Net earned premiums represent the earned portion of our gross written premiums, less the earned portion that is ceded to third-party reinsurers under our reinsurance agreements. Our insurance policies generally have a term of one year and premiums are earned pro rata over the term of the policy.
Commission and Other Income
Commission and other income consist of commissions earned on policies written on behalf of third-party insurance companies and where we have no exposure to the insured risk and certain fees earned in conjunction with underwriting policies. Commission and other income are earned on the effective date of the underlying policy.
Losses and Loss Adjustment Expenses
Losses and loss adjustment expenses represent the costs incurred for losses, net of any losses ceded to reinsurers. These expenses are a function of the size and term of the insurance policies we write and the loss experience associated with the underlying coverage. Certain policies we write subject us to attritional losses such as building fires. In addition, most of the policies we write subject us to catastrophe losses. Catastrophe losses are certain losses resulting from events involving multiple claims and policyholders, including earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, convective storms, terrorist acts or other aggregating events. Our losses and loss adjustment expenses are generally affected by:
• The occurrence, frequency and severity of catastrophe events in the areas where we underwrite polices relating to these perils;
• The occurrence, frequency and severity of non-catastrophe attritional losses;
• The mix of business written by us;
• The reinsurance agreements we have in place at the time of a loss;
• The geographic location and characteristics of the policies we underwrite;
• Changes in the legal or regulatory environment related to the business we write;
• Trends in legal defense costs; and
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• Inflation in housing and construction costs.
Losses and loss adjustment expenses are based on an actuarial analysis of the estimated losses, including losses incurred during the period and changes in estimates from prior periods. Losses and loss adjustment expenses may be paid out over multiple years.
Acquisition Expenses
Acquisition expenses are principally comprised of the commissions we pay retail agents, program administrators and wholesale brokers, net of ceding commissions we receive on business ceded under certain reinsurance contracts. In addition, acquisition expenses include premium-related taxes and other fees. Acquisition expenses related to each policy we write are deferred and expensed pro-rata over the term of the policy.
Other Underwriting Expenses
Other underwriting expenses represent the general and administrative expenses of our insurance operations including employee salaries and benefits, software and technology costs, office rent, stock-based compensation, licenses and fees, and professional services fees such as legal, accounting, and actuarial services.
Interest Expense
Interest expense consists primarily of interest expense on our surplus notes through September 2018 and our Floating Rate Notes after September 2018. In addition, we incurred interest expense related to prepayment penalties on the payoff of our surplus notes in September 2018 and related to the redemption premium paid on our Floating Rate Notes in May 2019.
Net Investment Income
We earn investment income on our portfolio of invested assets. Our invested assets are primarily comprised of fixed maturity securities, and may also include cash and cash equivalents, and equity securities. The principal factors that influence net investment income are the size of our investment portfolio, the yield on that portfolio and investment management expenses. As measured by amortized cost, which excludes changes in fair value caused by changes in interest rates, the size of our investment portfolio is mainly a function of our invested equity capital along with premium we receive from our insureds, less payments on policyholder claims and other operating expenses.
Net Realized and Unrealized Gains and Losses on Investments
Net realized and unrealized gains and losses on investments are a function of the difference between the amount received by us on the sale of a security and the security’s cost-basis, mark-to-market adjustments, and credit losses recognized in earnings.
Income Tax Expense
Currently our income tax expense consists mainly of federal income taxes imposed on our operations. Our effective tax rates are dependent upon the components of pretax earnings and the related tax effects.
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Key Financial and Operating Metrics
We discuss certain key financial and operating metrics, described below, which provide useful information about our business and the operational factors underlying our financial performance.
Underwriting revenue is a non-GAAP financial measure defined as total revenue, excluding net investment income and net realized and unrealized gains and losses on investments. See “Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures” for a reconciliation of total revenue calculated in accordance with GAAP to underwriting revenue.
Underwriting income is a non-GAAP financial measure defined as income before income taxes excluding net investment income, net realized and unrealized gains and losses on investments and interest expense. See “Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures” for a reconciliation of income before income taxes calculated in accordance with GAAP to underwriting income.
Adjusted net income is a non-GAAP financial measure defined as net income excluding the impact of certain items that may not be indicative of underlying business trends, operating results, or future outlook, net of tax impact. We calculate the tax impact only on adjustments which would be included in calculating our income tax expense using the estimated tax rate at which the company received a deduction for these adjustments. See “Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures” for a reconciliation of net income calculated in accordance with GAAP to adjusted net income.
Return on equity is net income expressed on an annualized basis as a percentage of average beginning and ending stockholders’ equity during the period.
Adjusted return on equity is a non-GAAP financial measure defined as adjusted net income expressed on an annualized basis as a percentage of average beginning and ending stockholders’ equity during the period. See “Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures” for a reconciliation of return on equity calculated using unadjusted GAAP numbers to adjusted return on equity.
Loss ratio, expressed as a percentage, is the ratio of losses and loss adjustment expenses, to net earned premiums.
Expense ratio, expressed as a percentage, is the ratio of acquisition and other underwriting expenses, net of commission and other income to net earned premiums.
Combined ratio is defined as the sum of the loss ratio and the expense ratio. A combined ratio under 100% generally indicates an underwriting profit. A combined ratio over 100% generally indicates an underwriting loss.
Adjusted combined ratio is a non-GAAP financial measure defined as the sum of the loss ratio and the expense ratio calculated excluding the impact of certain items that may not be indicative of underlying business trends, operating results, or future outlook. See “Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures” for a reconciliation of combined ratio calculated using unadjusted GAAP numbers to adjusted combined ratio.
Diluted adjusted earnings per share is a non-GAAP financial measure defined as adjusted net income divided by the weighted-average common shares outstanding for the period, reflecting the dilution which could occur if equity-based awards are converted into common share equivalents as calculated using the treasury stock method. See “Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures” for a reconciliation of diluted earnings per share calculated in accordance with GAAP to diluted adjusted earnings per share.
Catastrophe loss ratio is a non-GAAP financial measure defined as the ratio of catastrophe losses to net earned premiums. See “Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures” for a reconciliation of loss ratio calculated using unadjusted GAAP numbers to catastrophe loss ratio.
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Adjusted combined ratio excluding catastrophe losses is a non-GAAP financial measure defined as adjusted combined ratio excluding the impact of catastrophe losses. See “Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures” for a reconciliation of combined ratio calculated using unadjusted GAAP numbers to adjusted combined ratio excluding catastrophe losses.
Tangible stockholders’ equity is a non-GAAP financial measure defined as stockholders’ equity less intangible assets. See “Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures” for a reconciliation of stockholders’ equity calculated in accordance with GAAP to tangible stockholders’ equity.
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Results of operations
Year ended December 31, 2020 compared to year ended December 31, 2019
The following table summarizes our results for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019:
Year Ended December 31, Percent
($ in thousands, except per share data)
Adjustments:
Stock-based compensation expense 2,167 24,103 (21,936) NM
Expenses associated with retirement of debt — 1,297 (1,297) NM
Expenses associated with catastrophe bond 399 — 399 NM
Key Financial and Operating Metrics
Annualized return on equity 2.1 % 6.7 %
Annualized adjusted return on equity (1) 3.0 % 24.1 %
Loss ratio 41.3 % 5.6 %
Expense ratio 61.2 % 85.7 %
Combined ratio 102.5 % 91.3 %
Adjusted combined ratio (1) 100.4 % 63.3 %
Diluted earnings per share $ 0.24 $ 0.49
Diluted adjusted earnings per share (1) $ 0.35 $ 1.73
Catastrophe losses $ 50,986 $ —
Catastrophe loss ratio (1) 32.9 % — %
NM-Not Meaningful
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Gross Written Premiums
Gross written premiums were $354.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 compared to $252.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, an increase of $102.4 million, or 40.6%. Premium growth was primarily due to an increased volume of policies written across our lines of business which was driven by new business generated with existing partners, strong premium retention rates for existing business, expansion of our products’ geographic and distribution footprint, and new partnerships. For commercial products, substantial rate increases also contributed to premium growth.
The following table summarizes our gross written premiums by line of business and shows each line’s percentage of total gross written premiums for each period:
Year Ended December 31,
($ in thousands)
% of % of
Amount GWP Amount GWP Change % Change
Product
During the twelve months ended December 31, 2019, we entered two new Residential Earthquake partnerships in which we assumed a total of $7.8 million of unearned premiums. Excluding the impact of these unearned premium assumptions, our Residential Earthquake gross written premiums increased by $18.3 million, or 14.9%.
During the fourth quarter of 2020, we ceased offering Commercial All Risk products on an admitted basis and will only offer them on an E&S basis going forward. This transition will impact the growth rate of our Commercial All Risk line in future periods. In addition, during the fourth quarter of 2020, we purchased the renewal rights of certain Hawaii Hurricane policies from another insurance company. We expect our Hawaii Hurricane written premiums to increase related to this purchase. However, there is no guarantee that policyholders will renew their policies with us and the ultimate impact to our future written premiums is uncertain.
Ceded Written Premiums
Ceded written premiums increased $46.8 million, or 43.2 %, to $155.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 from $108.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2019. The increase was primarily due to increased excess of loss reinsurance (“XOL”) expense commensurate with growth in exposure. In addition, catastrophe losses occurring in the third and fourth quarters of 2020 caused us to fully utilize portions of our XOL coverage. As a result, we incurred charges of $7.0 million during the fourth quarter of 2020 related to the acceleration of XOL expenses and the purchase and utilization of a backup XOL layer.
Premiums ceded under quota share arrangements also increased due to the growth in written premium lines subject to quota share arrangements. Ceded written premiums as a percentage of gross written premiums slightly increased to 43.8% for the year ended December 31, 2020 from 43.0% for the year ended December 31, 2019. This increase was primarily due to increased XOL expense offset by changes in our quota share agreements in our Specialty
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Homeowners and Commercial All Risk lines as we entered into new ceding arrangements on these lines which increased the percentage of premiums we retained.
Net Written Premiums
Net written premiums increased $55.6 million, or 38.7%, to $199.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 from $143.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2019. The increase was primarily due to higher gross written premiums, primarily in our Commercial Earthquake, Commercial All Risk, and Specialty Homeowners lines, offset by increased ceded written premiums.
Net Earned Premiums
Net earned premiums increased $54.9 million, or 54.7%, to $155.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 from $100.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2019 due primarily to the earned portion of the higher gross written premiums offset by the earned portion of the higher ceded written premiums. The table below shows the amount of premiums we earned on a gross and net basis for each period presented:
Year Ended
December 31,
($ in thousands)
Net earned premium ratio 51.4% 50.0%
Commission and Other Income
Commission and other income increased $0.6 million, or 23.4%, to $3.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 from $2.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2019 due primarily to an increase in policy related fees associated with an increased volume of premiums written.
Losses and Loss Adjustment Expenses
Losses and loss adjustment expenses increased $58.5 million, or 1,046.3%, to $64.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 from $5.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2019. During the year ended December 31, 2020, losses were primarily attributable to catastrophe events occurring during the third and fourth quarters in our Specialty Homeowners and Commercial All Risk lines of business. During the year ended December 31, 2019, losses were primarily attributable to attritional losses in our Commercial All Risk and Specialty Homeowners lines of business and windstorm exposure in Japan through our assumed reinsurance portfolio.
Losses and loss adjustment expenses consisted of the following elements during the respective periods:
Year Ended
December 31,
($ in thousands)
Catastrophe losses $ 50,986 $ — $ 50,986 NM
Total losses and loss adjustment expenses $ 64,115 $ 5,593 $ 58,522 NM
NM- not meaningful
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Our catastrophe loss ratio was 32.9% during the year ended December 31, 2020. Catastrophe losses primarily included losses from Hurricanes Sally, Laura, Hanna and Zeta. We did not experience any catastrophe losses during the year ended December 31, 2019.
Our non-catastrophe loss ratio was 8.5% for the year ended December 31, 2020 compared to 5.6% during the year ended December 31, 2019. Non-catastrophe losses increased due mainly to a higher percentage of business in lines subject to attritional losses such as Commercial All Risk, Specialty Homeowners, and Inland Marine.
Acquisition Expenses
Acquisition expenses increased $26.8 million, or 71.9%, to $64.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 from $37.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2019. The primary reason for the increase was increased commissions and premium-related taxes due to higher earned premiums. Acquisition expenses as a percentage of gross earned premiums were 21.2% for the year ended December 31, 2020 compared to 18.6% for the year ended December 31, 2019. Acquisition expenses as a percentage of gross earned premiums increased due primarily to lower earned ceding commissions. Earned ceding commissions decreased due to changes in our Specialty Homeowners and All Risk ceding arrangements where we retained a higher percentage of premiums and received less ceding commission as a result. Acquisition expenses as a percentage of gross earned premiums fluctuates based on mix of business produced and quota share arrangements in place.
Other Underwriting Expenses
Other underwriting expenses decreased $17.2 million, or 33.6%, to $34.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 from $51.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2019. This decrease was primarily due to a decrease in expenses relating to unique items. During the prior year, the company incurred significant charges associated with an IPO, tax restructuring, secondary offerings, retirement of debt, and one-time incentive cash bonuses. The company also incurred a stock compensation charge of $23.0 million upon modification of its management incentive plan in the prior year.
Other underwriting expenses as a percentage of gross earned premiums were 11.3% for the year ended December 31, 2020 compared to 25.6% for the year ended December 31, 2019. Excluding the impact of expenses relating to our IPO, tax restructuring, secondary offerings, one-time incentive cash bonuses, stock-based compensation, retirement of debt, and catastrophe bonds, other underwriting expenses as a percentage of gross earned premiums were 10.2% for the year ended December 31, 2020 compared to 11.6% for the year ended December 31, 2019. This percentage decreased due to higher gross earned premiums without a proportional increase to expenses.
Interest Expense
Interest expense decreased to zero for the year ended December 31, 2020 from $1.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2019. We redeemed our Floating Rate Notes in May 2019 and did not have any long-term debt during the year ended December 31, 2020 whereas we had outstanding Floating Rate Notes during a portion of the year ended December 31, 2019.
Net Investment Income and Net Realized and Unrealized Gains (Losses) on Investments
Net investment income increased $2.6 million, or 44.1%, to $8.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 from $6.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2019. The increase was primarily due to a higher average balance of investments during the year ended December 31, 2020 due primarily to proceeds from our January and June 2020 stock offerings. The increase from a higher average investment balance was partially offset by lower yields on investments due to a lower interest rate environment in 2020 versus 2019.
Net realized and unrealized gains on investments decreased $3.0 million, to a $1.5 million gain for the year ended December 31, 2020 from a $4.4 million gain for the year ended December 31, 2019. We had a higher balance of
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equity securities during the prior year period and experienced appreciation on those equity securities during that period. We mainly invest in investment grade fixed maturity securities, including U.S. government issues, state government issues, mortgage and asset-backed obligations, and corporate bonds with the remainder of investments in equity securities. Our equity securities are comprised of mutual funds that provide exposure to the U.S. investment-grade bond market. The following table summarizes the components of our investment income for each period presented:
Year Ended
December 31,
($ in thousands)
Investment management fees and expenses (431) (343) (88) 25.7 %
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)
The company had an immaterial income tax benefit for the year ended December 31, 2020 compared to a $7.5 million expense for the year ended December 31, 2019 primarily because of lower pre-tax income during the year ended December 31, 2020. During the year ended December 31, 2020, our income tax rate differed from the statutory rate of 21% due primarily to the tax impact of the permanent component of employee stock option exercises. For the year ended December 31, 2019, our income tax expense was significantly impacted by the reversal of our U.S. federal deferred tax valuation allowance in March 2019, offset by an addback related to a nondeductible stock compensation charge incurred upon the modification of our management incentive plan in March 2019.
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Year ended December 31, 2019 compared to year ended December 31, 2018
The following table summarizes our results for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018:
Year Ended December 31, Percent
($ in thousands except per share data)
Income tax expense (benefit) 7,456 (6) 7,462 NM %
Adjustments:
Stock-based compensation expense 24,103 — 24,103 NM
Expenses associated with retirement of debt 1,297 495 802 NM
Tax impact (1,149) — (1,149) NM
Key Financial and Operating Metrics
Annualized return on equity 6.7 % 20.9 %
Annualized adjusted return on equity (1) 24.1 % 22.7 %
Loss ratio 5.6 % 9.0 %
Expense ratio 85.7 % 62.6 %
Combined ratio 91.3 % 71.6 %
Adjusted combined ratio (1) 63.3 % 69.5 %
Diluted earnings per share $ 0.49 $ 1.07
Diluted adjusted earnings per share (1) $ 1.73 $ 1.17
Catastrophe losses $ — $ 5,000
Catastrophe loss ratio (1) — % 7.2 %
NM- Not Meaningful
Gross Written Premiums
Gross written premiums were $252.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2019 compared to $154.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2018, an increase of $97.1 million, or 62.7%. Premium growth was primarily
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due to an increased volume of policies written across our lines of business which was driven by new business generated with existing partners, strong premium retention rates for existing business, expansion of our products’ distribution footprint, and new partnerships. The following table summarizes our gross written premiums by line of business and shows each line’s percentage of total gross written premiums for each period:
Year Ended December 31,
($ in thousands)
% of % of
Amount GWP Amount GWP Change % Change
Product
Inland Marine 2,465 1.0 % — — % 2,465 NM %
NM- not meaningful
Approximately $19.4 million of the increase to Residential Earthquake premiums was due to a new partnership with a homeowners carrier in which we assumed $6.6 million of unearned premiums and wrote an additional $12.8 million in premiums.
Ceded Written Premiums
Ceded written premiums increased $25.4 million, or 30.6%, to $108.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2019 from $82.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2018. The increase was primarily due to increased cessions to new quota share reinsurance partners in our Commercial All Risk line. We also incurred increased excess of loss reinsurance expense commensurate with growth in exposure. Ceded written premiums as a percentage of gross written premiums decreased to 43.0% for the year ended December 31, 2019 from 53.6% for the year ended December 31, 2018. The cession percentage was higher in the prior year due to an $11.8 million transfer of unearned premiums in June 2018 related to our entering into a fronting arrangement in our Specialty Homeowners line in the state of Texas. This fronting arrangement terminated in June 2019 in conjunction with the inception of our Specialty Homeowners Facility (“SHF”).
Net Written Premiums
Net written premiums increased $71.7 million, or 99.6%, to $143.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2019 from $71.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2018. The increase was primarily due to higher gross written premiums, primarily in our Residential Earthquake, Commercial Earthquake and Commercial All Risk lines, offset by increased ceded written premiums.
Net Earned Premiums
Net earned premiums increased $30.3 million, or 43.4%, to $100.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2019 from $69.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2018 due primarily to the earned portion of the higher gross written premiums offset by the earned portion of the higher ceded written premiums under reinsurance agreements.
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The table below shows the amount of premiums we earned on a gross and net basis for each period presented:
Year Ended
December 31,
($ in thousands)
Net earned premium ratio 50.0% 50.7%
Commission and Other Income
Commission and other income increased $0.3 million, or 11.1%, to $2.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2019 from $2.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2018 due primarily to an increase in policy related fees associated with an increased volume of premiums written.
Losses and Loss Adjustment Expenses
Losses and loss adjustment expenses decreased $0.7 million, or 10.9%, to $5.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2019 from $6.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2018.
Losses and loss adjustment expenses consisted of the following elements during the respective periods:
Year Ended
December 31,
($ in thousands)
Catastrophe losses $ — $ 5,000 $ (5,000) NM
Total losses and loss adjustment expenses $ 5,593 $ 6,274 $ (681) (10.9) %
NM- not meaningful
During the year ended December 31, 2019, losses were primarily attributable to attritional losses in our Commercial All Risk and Specialty Homeowners lines of business and windstorm exposure in Japan through our assumed reinsurance portfolio. During the year ended December 31, 2018, losses were primarily attributable a $5 million catastrophe loss from Hurricane Florence and attritional losses in our Commercial All Risk and Specialty Homeowners lines of business. Losses decreased during the year ended December 31, 2019 due to a reduction in the severity of weather-related losses.
Our non-catastrophe loss ratio was 5.6% for the year ended December 31, 2019 compared to 1.8% during the year ended December 31, 2018. Non-catastrophe losses increased due mainly to a higher percentage of business in lines subject to attritional losses such as Commercial All Risk, Specialty Homeowners, and Inland Marine and due to losses on our assumed reinsurance portfolio.