FORM 10-Q

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

 

þ Quarterly Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

for the Quarterly Period Ended March 31, 2012.

 

¨ Transition Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

from                             to                            

Commission file number 001-13790

HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc.

 

 

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

Delaware   76-0336636

(State or other jurisdiction of

incorporation or organization)

 

(IRS Employer

Identification No.)

13403 Northwest Freeway, Houston, Texas   77040-6094
(Address of principal executive offices)   (Zip Code)

(713) 690-7300

 

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports) and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

Yes  þ    No  ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).

Yes  þ    No  ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

 

Large accelerated filer þ

   Accelerated filer ¨    Non-accelerated filer ¨    Smaller reporting company ¨
      (Do not check if a smaller reporting company)   

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).

Yes  ¨    No  þ

Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the registrant’s classes of common stock as of the latest practicable date.

On April 27, 2012, there were approximately 101.2 million shares of common stock outstanding.

 

 

 


HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. and Subsidiaries

Table of Contents

 

    

    Page    

 

Part I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION

  

Item 1. Financial Statements

  

Consolidated Balance Sheets — March 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011

     5   

Consolidated Statements of Earnings — Three months ended March 31, 2012 and 2011

     6   

Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income — Three months ended March 31, 2012 and 2011

     7   

Consolidated Statement of Changes in Shareholders’ Equity — Three months ended March  31, 2012

     8   

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows — Three months ended March 31, 2012 and 2011

     9   

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

     10   

Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

     23   

Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

     40   

Item 4. Controls and Procedures

     40   

Part II. OTHER INFORMATION

  

Item 1. Legal Proceedings

     41   

Item 1A. Risk Factors

     41   

Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds

     41   

Item 3. Defaults Upon Senior Securities

     41   

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures

     41   

Item 5. Other Information

     41   

Item 6. Exhibits

     42   

Signatures

     43   

 

2


FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Report on Form 10-Q contains certain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which are intended to be covered by the safe harbors created by those laws. These forward-looking statements reflect our current expectations and projections about future events and include information about possible or assumed future results of our operations. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included or incorporated by reference in this Report that address activities, events or developments that we expect or anticipate may occur in the future, including such things as growth of our business and operations, business strategy, competitive strengths, goals, plans, future capital expenditures and references to future successes may be considered forward-looking statements. Generally, words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “probably” or similar expressions indicate forward-looking statements.

Many risks and uncertainties may have an impact on the matters addressed in these forward-looking statements, which could affect our future financial results and performance, including, among other things:

 

   

the effects of catastrophe losses,

 

   

the cyclical nature of the insurance business,

 

   

inherent uncertainties in the loss estimation process, which can adversely impact the adequacy of loss reserves,

 

   

the impact of past and future potential credit market downturns, including any potential additional ratings downgrade and/or impairment or perceived impairment of the debt securities of sovereign issuers, including the United States of America,

 

   

the effects of emerging claim and coverage issues,

 

   

the effects of extensive governmental regulation of the insurance industry,

 

   

changes to the country’s health care delivery system,

 

   

the effects, if any, of climate change, on the risks we insure,

 

   

potential credit risk with brokers,

 

   

the effects of industry consolidations,

 

   

our assessment of underwriting risk,

 

   

our retention of risk, which could expose us to potential losses,

 

   

the adequacy of reinsurance protection,

 

   

the ability and willingness of reinsurers to pay balances due us,

 

   

the occurrence of terrorist activities,

 

   

our ability to maintain our competitive position,

 

   

fluctuations in securities markets, including defaults, which may reduce the value of our investment assets, reduce investment income or generate realized investment losses,

 

   

changes in our assigned financial strength ratings,

 

   

our ability to raise capital and funds for liquidity in the future,

 

   

attraction and retention of qualified employees,

 

3


   

our ability to successfully expand our business through the acquisition of insurance-related companies,

 

   

impairment of goodwill,

 

   

the ability of our insurance company subsidiaries to pay dividends in needed amounts,

 

   

fluctuations in foreign exchange rates,

 

   

failure of, or loss of security related to, our information technology systems,

 

   

difficulties with outsourcing relationships, and

 

   

change of control.

We describe these risks and uncertainties in greater detail in Item 1A, Risk Factors in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011.

These events or factors could cause our results or performance to differ materially from those we express in our forward-looking statements. Although we believe that the assumptions underlying our forward-looking statements are reasonable, any of these assumptions, and, therefore, the forward-looking statements based on these assumptions, could themselves prove to be inaccurate. In light of the significant uncertainties inherent in the forward-looking statements that are included in this Report, our inclusion of this information is not a representation by us or any other person that our objectives or plans will be achieved.

Our forward-looking statements speak only at the date made, and we will not update these forward-looking statements unless the securities laws require us to do so. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, any forward-looking events discussed in this Report may not occur.

 

4


HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. and Subsidiaries

Consolidated Balance Sheets

(unaudited, in thousands except per share data)

 

     March 31,
2012
     December 31,
2011
 
            (as adjusted)  

ASSETS

     

Investments

     

Fixed income securities – available for sale, at fair value (amortized cost: 2012 – $5,640,630 and 2011 – $5,385,432)

   $     5,992,827       $     5,718,834   

Fixed income securities – held to maturity, at amortized cost (fair value: $163,136)

             161,102   

Short-term investments, at cost (approximates fair value)

     221,087         133,917   

Other investments, at fair value (amortized cost: 2012 and 2011 – $38,230)

     38,571         35,897   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total investments

     6,252,485         6,049,750   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Cash

     90,913         104,550   

Restricted cash

     196,451         229,821   

Premium, claims and other receivables

     601,507         688,732   

Reinsurance recoverables

     1,083,054         1,056,068   

Ceded unearned premium

     231,405         222,300   

Ceded life and annuity benefits

     60,636         61,061   

Deferred policy acquisition costs

     195,558         189,633   

Goodwill

     873,900         872,814   

Other assets

     179,042         122,549   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total assets

   $ 9,764,951       $ 9,597,278   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

LIABILITIES

     

Loss and loss adjustment expense payable

   $ 3,721,974       $ 3,658,317   

Life and annuity policy benefits

     60,636         61,061   

Reinsurance, premium and claims payable

     366,293         366,499   

Unearned premium

     1,042,050         1,031,034   

Deferred ceding commissions

     65,916         62,364   

Notes payable

     563,829         478,790   

Accounts payable and accrued liabilities

     650,296         665,231   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total liabilities

     6,470,994         6,323,296   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY

     

Common stock, $1.00 par value; 250,000 shares authorized (shares issued: 2012 – 123,000
and 2011 – 122,720; outstanding: 2012 – 102,196 and 2011 – 104,101)

     123,000         122,720   

Additional paid-in capital

     1,004,595         1,001,308   

Retained earnings

     2,496,539         2,429,818   

Accumulated other comprehensive income

     244,295         227,659   

Treasury stock, at cost (shares: 2012 – 20,804 and 2011 – 18,619)

     (574,472)         (507,523)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total shareholders’ equity

     3,293,957         3,273,982   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity

   $ 9,764,951       $ 9,597,278   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

 

5


HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. and Subsidiaries

Consolidated Statements of Earnings

(unaudited, in thousands except per share data)

 

     Three months ended March 31,  
     2012      2011  

REVENUE

     

Net earned premium

   $     547,141       $     508,480   

Net investment income

     57,010         51,595   

Other operating income

     5,201         7,321   

Net realized investment gain (loss)

     171         (559)   

Other-than-temporary impairment credit losses

             (3,129)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total revenue

     609,523         563,708   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

EXPENSE

     

Loss and loss adjustment expense, net

     328,928         347,586   

Policy acquisition costs, net

     69,444         69,843   

Other operating expense

     87,282         77,847   

Interest expense

     6,909         5,553   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total expense

     492,563         500,829   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Earnings before income tax expense

     116,960         62,879   

Income tax expense

     34,376         15,889   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net earnings

   $ 82,584       $ 46,990   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Earnings per common share

     

Basic

   $ 0.80       $ 0.41   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Diluted

   $ 0.79       $ 0.41   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

 

6


HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. and Subsidiaries

Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income

(unaudited, in thousands)

 

     Three months ended March 31,  
     2012      2011  

Net earnings

   $     82,584       $     46,990   

Other comprehensive income (loss):

     

Investment gains (losses):

     

Investment gains (losses) during the period

     21,640         (22,457)   

Income tax charge (benefit)

     7,303         (12,323)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Investment gains (losses), net of tax

     14,337         (10,134)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Less reclassification adjustments for:

     

Gains (losses) included in net earnings

     171         (3,692)   

Income tax charge (benefit)

     60         (1,292)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Gains (losses) included in net earnings, net of tax

     111         (2,400)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net unrealized investment gains (losses)

     14,226         (7,734)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Foreign currency translation adjustment

     2,533         6,025   

Income tax charge (benefit)

     123           
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Foreign currency translation adjustment, net of tax

     2,410         6,025   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Other comprehensive income (loss)

     16,636         (1,709)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Comprehensive income

   $ 99,220       $ 45,281   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

 

7


HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. and Subsidiaries

Consolidated Statement of Changes in Shareholders’ Equity

Three months ended March 31, 2012

(unaudited, in thousands except per share data)

 

    Common
stock
     Additional
paid-in capital
     Retained
earnings
     Accumulated
other
comprehensive
income
     Treasury stock     Total
shareholders’
equity
 

Balance at December 31, 2011 (as previously reported)

  $     122,720       $     1,001,308       $     2,447,850       $     227,659       $     (507,523)      $     3,292,014   

Cumulative effect of accounting change (deferred policy acquisition costs)

                    (18,032)                        (18,032)   
 

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

 

Balance at December 31, 2011 (as adjusted)

    122,720         1,001,308         2,429,818         227,659         (507,523)        3,273,982   

Net earnings

                    82,584                        82,584   

Other comprehensive income

                            16,636                16,636   

Issuance of 94 shares for exercise of options, including tax effect

    94         1,184                                1,278   

Purchase of 2,185 common shares

                                    (66,949)        (66,949)   

Stock-based compensation

    186         2,103                                2,289   

Cash dividends declared, $0.155 per share

                    (15,863)                        (15,863)   
 

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

 

Balance at March 31, 2012

  $ 123,000       $ 1,004,595       $ 2,496,539       $ 244,295       $ (574,472)      $ 3,293,957   
 

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

 

See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

 

8


HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. and Subsidiaries

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

(unaudited, in thousands)

 

     Three months ended March 31,  
     2012     2011  

Operating activities

    

Net earnings

   $ 82,584     $ 46,990  

Adjustments to reconcile net earnings to net cash provided by operating activities:

    

Change in premium, claims and other receivables

     16,089       (29,384

Change in reinsurance recoverables

     (19,639     (98,459

Change in ceded unearned premium

     (8,887     35,386  

Change in loss and loss adjustment expense payable

     35,737       159,429  

Change in unearned premium

     10,545       (19,014

Change in reinsurance, premium and claims payable, excluding restricted cash

     17,802       (8,612

Change in accounts payable and accrued liabilities

     (44,098     (5,680

Stock-based compensation expense

     2,373       3,072  

Depreciation and amortization expense

     4,605       4,449  

Other, net

     (22,141     (6,119
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Cash provided by operating activities

     74,970       82,058  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Investing activities

    

Sales of available for sale fixed income securities

     65,103       48,932  

Maturity or call of available for sale fixed income securities

     145,713       186,908  

Maturity or call of held to maturity fixed income securities

     28,636       19,082  

Cost of available for sale fixed income securities acquired

     (230,283     (522,918

Change in short-term investments

     (66,008     228,608  

Payments for purchase of businesses, net of cash received

     (32,143     (1,892

Other, net

     (3,443     (7,500
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Cash used by investing activities

     (92,425     (48,780
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Financing activities

    

Advances on line of credit

     95,000       —     

Payments on line of credit

     (10,000     —     

Sale of common stock

     1,278       20,525  

Purchase of common stock

     (62,358     (35,709

Dividends paid

     (16,139     (16,670

Other, net

     (3,963     (498
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Cash provided (used) by financing activities

     3,818       (32,352
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net increase (decrease) in cash

     (13,637     926  

Cash at beginning of year

     104,550       97,857  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Cash at end of period

   $ 90,913     $ 98,783  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

 

9


HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. and Subsidiaries

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

(unaudited, tables in thousands except per share data)

(1) General Information

HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. (HCC) and its subsidiaries (collectively we, us or our) include domestic and foreign property and casualty and life insurance companies and underwriting agencies with offices in the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain and Ireland. We underwrite a variety of non-correlated specialty insurance products, including property and casualty, accident and health, surety, credit, and aviation product lines, in approximately 180 countries. We market our products through a network of independent agents and brokers, producers, managing general agents and directly to customers.

Basis of Presentation

Our unaudited consolidated financial statements have been prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (GAAP) and include the accounts of HCC and its subsidiaries. We have made all adjustments that, in our opinion, are necessary for a fair statement of results of the interim periods, and all such adjustments are of a normal recurring nature. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. The consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011. The consolidated balance sheet at December 31, 2011 was derived from the audited financial statements but does not include all disclosures required by GAAP.

Management must make estimates and assumptions that affect amounts reported in our consolidated financial statements and in disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities. Ultimate results could differ from those estimates. We have reclassified certain amounts in our 2011 consolidated financial statements to conform to the 2012 presentation. None of our reclassifications had an effect on our consolidated net earnings, shareholders’ equity or cash flows.

Accounting Guidance Adopted in 2012

Deferred Policy Acquisition Costs

A new accounting standard clarifies the definition of acquisition costs incurred by an insurance company and limits capitalization to such costs directly related to renewing or acquiring new insurance contracts. Under the new standard, we expense all costs incurred for unsuccessful marketing or underwriting efforts, along with indirect costs, as incurred. We adopted this guidance on January 1, 2012 through retrospective adjustment of the capitalized deferred policy acquisition costs, deferred income taxes and consolidated shareholders’ equity in our prior years’ consolidated financial statements. We also reclassified expenses in our prior years’ consolidated income statements to reflect the new definition of policy acquisition costs. Application of the new guidance did not impact our reported consolidated net earnings or cash flows in prior years. The following line items in our consolidated financial statements were affected by this change in accounting guidance:

 

$XXXXXXX $XXXXXXX $XXXXXXX
     December 31, 2011  
     As originally
reported
     Change      As adjusted  

Deferred policy acquisition costs

   $ 217,608       $ (27,975)       $ 189,633   

Accounts payable and accrued liabilities (deferred income taxes)

     675,174         (9,943)         665,231   

Retained earnings

     2,447,850         (18,032)         2,429,818   

 

$XXXX,XXX,XX $XXXX,XXX,XX $XXXX,XXX,XX
     Three months ended March 31, 2011  
     As  originally
reported
     Change      As adjusted  

Policy acquistion costs, net

   $ 83,378       $ (13,535)       $ 69,843   

Other operating expense

     64,312         13,535         77,847   

 

10


HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. and Subsidiaries

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

(unaudited, tables in thousands except per share data)

 

Goodwill Impairment

A new accounting standard simplifies how entities test goodwill for impairment. The new standard permits an entity to first assess qualitative factors to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount, as a basis for determining whether it is necessary to perform a two-step goodwill impairment test. Previous guidance required an entity to test goodwill for impairment, at least on an annual basis, by first comparing the fair value of a reporting unit with its carrying amount, including goodwill. If the fair value of a reporting unit was less than its carrying amount, then the second step of the test must be performed to measure the amount of the impairment loss, if any. Under the new rules, an entity is not required to calculate the fair value of a reporting unit unless the entity determines that it is more likely than not that the reporting unit’s fair value is less than its carrying amount. The new rules were effective for us on January 1, 2012. We do not expect application of the new guidance to have a material impact on our consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

(2) Investments

On March 31, 2012, we reclassified our entire portfolio of fixed income securities classified as held to maturity, which consisted of corporate fixed income, U.S. government and foreign government securities, to fixed income securities classified as available for sale. Financial markets recently have been disrupted by several events, including the European debt crisis and the August 2011 downgrade of U.S. government debt by Standard & Poor’s Corporation. Due to these market disruptions and our desire to maintain greater flexibility in managing our entire investment portfolio in an uncertain economy, we changed our prior intent to hold these securities to maturity. On the date of transfer, these securities had a fair value of $139.1 million and an amortized cost of $136.0 million. The securities’ net unrealized appreciation, net of tax, increased our accumulated other comprehensive income and shareholders’ equity by $2.0 million as of March 31, 2012.

The cost or amortized cost, gross unrealized gain or loss, and fair value of our fixed income securities were as follows:

 

$XXXXXX $XXXXXX $XXXXXX $XXXXXX
     Cost or      Gross      Gross         
     amortized      unrealized      unrealized         
     cost      gain      loss      Fair value  

March 31, 2012

           

U.S. government and government agency securities

   $ 263,352       $ 8,894       $ (99)       $ 272,147   

Fixed income securities of states, municipalities and political subdivisions

     992,522         83,508         (175)         1,075,855   

Special purpose revenue bonds of states, municipalities and political subdivisions

     1,801,978         129,297         (514)         1,930,761   

Corporate fixed income securities

     1,022,264         42,835         (1,612)         1,063,487   

Residential mortgage-backed securities

     991,349         58,432         (2,002)         1,047,779   

Commercial mortgage-backed securities

     258,961         19,787         (95)         278,653   

Asset-backed securities

     36,506         233         (1)         36,738   

Foreign government securities

     273,698         13,716         (7)         287,407   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total fixed income securities - available for sale

   $ 5,640,630       $ 356,702       $ (4,505)       $ 5,992,827   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

11


HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. and Subsidiaries

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

(unaudited, tables in thousands except per share data)

 

     Cost or
amortized

cost
     Gross
unrealized
gain
     Gross
unrealized
loss
     Fair value  

December 31, 2011

           

U.S. government and government agency securities

   $ 285,166       $ 10,523       $ (10)       $ 295,679   

Fixed income securities of states, municipalities and political subdivisions

     999,940         85,528         (127)             1,085,341   

Special purpose revenue bonds of states, municipalities and political subdivisions

     1,741,297         122,746         (155)         1,863,888   

Corporate fixed income securities

     817,886         35,221         (6,774)         846,333   

Residential mortgage-backed securities

     1,036,436         65,771         (2,121)         1,100,086   

Commercial mortgage-backed securities

     244,535         15,162         (3,573)         256,124   

Asset-backed securities

     34,655         147         (56)         34,746   

Foreign government securities

     225,517         11,203         (83)         236,637   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total fixed income securities - available for sale

   $     5,385,432       $     346,301       $     (12,899)       $ 5,718,834   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

U.S. government securities

   $ 6,998       $ 69       $      $ 7,067   

Corporate fixed income securities

     110,284         1,814         (455)         111,643   

Foreign government securities

     43,820         746         (140)         44,426   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total fixed income securities - held to maturity

   $ 161,102       $ 2,629       $ (595)       $ 163,136   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Substantially all of our fixed income securities are investment grade and all securities were income producing in 2012. The following table displays the gross unrealized losses and fair value of all available for sale fixed income securities that were in a continuous unrealized loss position for the periods indicated.

 

     Less than 12 months      12 months or more      Total  
     Fair value      Unrealized
losses
     Fair value      Unrealized
losses
     Fair value      Unrealized
losses
 

March 31, 2012

                 

U.S. government and government agency securities

   $ 24,922       $ (99)       $       $       $ 24,922       $ (99)   

Fixed income securities of states, municipalities and political subdivisions

     11,407         (155)         828         (20)         12,235         (175)   

Special purpose revenue bonds of states, municipalities and political subdivisions

     44,650         (494)         1,573         (20)         46,223         (514)   

Corporate fixed income securities

     97,215         (1,601)         1,419         (11)         98,634         (1,612)   

Residential mortgage-backed securities

     35,435         (396)         8,416         (1,606)         43,851         (2,002)   

Commercial mortgage-backed securities

     18,577         (95)                         18,577         (95)   

Asset-backed securities

     2,855         (1)                         2,855         (1)   

Foreign government securities

     4,684         (7)                         4,684         (7)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total

   $     239,745       $     (2,848)       $     12,236       $     (1,657)       $     251,981       $     (4,505)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

12


HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. and Subsidiaries

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

(unaudited, tables in thousands except per share data)

 

     Less than 12 months      12 months or more      Total  
     Fair value      Unrealized
losses
     Fair value      Unrealized
losses
     Fair value      Unrealized
losses
 

December 31, 2011

                 

U.S. government and government agency securities

   $ 13,984       $ (10)       $       $       $ 13,984       $ (10)   

Fixed income securities of states, municipalities and political subdivisions

     10,256         (107)         899         (20)         11,155         (127)   

Special purpose revenue bonds of states, municipalities and political subdivisions

     21,856         (67)         6,796         (88)         28,652         (155)   

Corporate fixed income securities

     154,856         (6,391)         18,005         (383)         172,861         (6,774)   

Residential mortgage-backed securities

     32,430         (1,364)         7,582         (757)         40,012         (2,121)   

Commercial mortgage-backed securities

     39,075         (3,573)                         39,075         (3,573)   

Asset-backed securities

     19,648         (56)                         19,648         (56)   

Foreign government securities

     4,198         (83)                         4,198         (83)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total

   $     296,303       $     (11,651)       $     33,282       $     (1,248)       $     329,585       $     (12,899)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

A security has an impairment loss when its fair value is less than its cost or amortized cost at the balance sheet date. We evaluate our securities for possible other-than-temporary impairment losses at each quarter end. Our reviews cover all impaired securities where the loss exceeds $0.5 million and the loss either exceeds 10% of cost or the security had been in a loss position for longer than twelve consecutive months. We recognized no other-than-temporary impairment losses in the first quarter of 2012 and $3.1 million, all of which were recognized in earnings, in the first quarter of 2011.

We have recognized credit losses on certain impaired fixed income securities, for which each security also had an impairment loss recorded in other comprehensive income. The rollforward of these credit losses was as follows:

 

     Three months ended March 31,  
     2012      2011  

Balance at beginning of year

   $ 5,047       $ 4,273   

Credit losses recognized in earnings

     

Securities previously impaired

             1,247   

Securities not previously impaired

             1,838   

Securities sold

             (673)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Balance at March 31

   $     5,047       $     6,685   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

We had $0.6 million after-tax other-than-temporary impairment losses, related to mortgage-backed securities, included in accumulated other comprehensive income within shareholders’ equity at March 31, 2012. This amount includes the after-tax unrealized gains and losses on these impaired securities resulting from changes in their fair value subsequent to their initial other-than-temporary impairment measurement dates.

We do not consider the $4.5 million of gross unrealized losses on fixed income securities in our portfolio at March 31, 2012 to be other-than-temporary impairments because: 1) as of March 31, 2012, we have received substantially all contractual interest and principal payments on these securities, 2) we do not intend to sell these securities, 3) it is more likely than not that we will not be required to sell the securities before recovery of their amortized cost bases and 4) the unrealized loss relates to non-credit factors, such as interest rate changes and market conditions.

 

13


HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. and Subsidiaries

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

(unaudited, tables in thousands except per share data)

 

The amortized cost and fair value of our fixed income securities at March 31, 2012, by contractual maturity, are shown below. Expected maturities may differ from contractual maturities because borrowers may have the right to call or prepay obligations with or without call or prepayment penalties. The weighted-average life of our mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities was 4.4 years at March 31, 2012.

 

     Cost or
amortized cost
     Fair value  

Due in 1 year or less

   $ 379,129       $ 386,378   

Due after 1 year through 5 years

     1,121,859         1,174,766   

Due after 5 years through 10 years

     1,170,245         1,267,353   

Due after 10 years through 15 years

     794,448         859,376   

Due after 15 years

     888,133         941,784   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Securities with fixed maturities

     4,353,814         4,629,657   

Mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities

     1,286,816         1,363,170   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total fixed income securities

   $     5,640,630       $     5,992,827   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

The sources of net investment income were as follows:

 

      Three months ended March 31,  
     2012      2011  

Fixed income securities

     

Taxable

   $ 31,115       $     27,095   

Exempt from U.S. income taxes

     26,612         24,911   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total fixed income securities

     57,727         52,006   

Short-term investments

     62         156   

Other

     467         642   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total investment income

     58,256         52,804   

Investment expense

     (1,246)         (1,209)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net investment income

   $     57,010       $ 51,595   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

14


HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. and Subsidiaries

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

(unaudited, tables in thousands except per share data)

 

(3) Fair Value Measurements

Our financial instruments include assets and liabilities carried at fair value, as well as assets and liabilities carried at cost or amortized cost but disclosed at fair value in our financial statements. In determining fair value, we generally apply the market approach, which uses prices and other relevant data based on market transactions involving identical or comparable assets and liabilities. We classify our financial instruments into the following three-level hierarchy:

 

 

Level 1 – Inputs are based on quoted prices in active markets for identical instruments.

 

 

Level 2 – Inputs are based on observable market data (other than quoted prices), or are derived from or corroborated by observable market data.

 

 

Level 3 – Inputs are unobservable and not corroborated by market data.

Our Level 1 investments consist of U.S. Treasuries, money market funds, and equity securities traded in an active exchange market. We use unadjusted quoted prices for identical instruments to measure fair value.

Our Level 2 investments include most of our fixed income securities, which consist of U.S. government agency securities, municipal bonds, corporate debt securities, bank loans, and mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities. Level 2 also includes certificates of deposit and other interest-bearing deposits at banks, which we report as short-term investments. We measure fair value for the majority of our Level 2 investments using quoted prices of securities with similar characteristics. The remaining investments are valued using pricing models or matrix pricing. The fair value measurements consider observable assumptions, including benchmark yields, reported trades, broker/dealer quotes, issuer spreads, two-sided markets, benchmark securities, bids, offers, default rates, loss severity and other economic measures.

We use independent pricing services to assist us in determining fair value for approximately 99% of our Level 2 investments. The pricing services provide a single price or quote per security. We use data provided by our third party investment managers to value the remaining Level 2 investments. To validate that these quoted and modeled prices are reasonable estimates of fair value, we perform various quantitative and qualitative procedures, including: 1) evaluation of the underlying methodologies, 2) analysis of recent sales activity, 3) analytical review of our fair values against current market prices and 4) comparison of the pricing services’ fair value to other pricing services’ fair value for the same investment. No markets for our investments were judged to be inactive at period end. Based on these procedures, we did not adjust the prices or quotes provided by our independent pricing services or third party investment managers as of March 31, 2012 or December 31, 2011.

Our Level 2 financial instruments also include our notes payable. We determine the fair value of our 6.30% Senior Notes based on quoted prices, but the market is inactive. The fair value of borrowings under our Revolving Loan Facility approximates the carrying amount because interest is based on 30-day LIBOR plus a margin.

Our Level 3 securities include certain fixed income securities and an insurance contract that we account for as a derivative and classify in other assets. We determine fair value of our Level 3 securities based on internally developed models that use assumptions or other data that are not readily observable from objective sources.

 

15


HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. and Subsidiaries

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

(unaudited, tables in thousands except per share data)

 

The following tables present the fair value of our financial instruments that were carried or disclosed at fair value. Unless indicated, these items were carried at fair value on our consolidated balance sheet.

 

$179,050.00 $179,050.00 $179,050.00 $179,050.00
     Level 1      Level 2      Level 3      Total  

March 31, 2012

           

Fixed income securities - available for sale

           

U.S. government and government agency securities

   $     179,050       $     93,097       $     -        $     272,147   

Fixed income securities of states, municipalities and political subdivisions

            1,075,855                 1,075,855   

Special purpose revenue bonds of states, municipalities and political subdivisions

            1,930,761                 1,930,761   

Corporate fixed income securities

            1,063,330         157         1,063,487   

Residential mortgage-backed securities

            1,047,779                 1,047,779   

Commercial mortgage-backed securities

            278,653                 278,653   

Asset-backed securities

            36,738                 36,738   

Foreign government securities

            287,407                 287,407   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total fixed income securities - available for sale

     179,050         5,813,620         157         5,992,827   

Short-term investments*

     115,023         106,064                 221,087   

Other investments

     38,396                         38,396   

Other assets

                    1,731         1,731   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total assets measured at fair value

   $ 332,469       $ 5,919,684       $ 1,888       $ 6,254,041   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Notes payable* - measured at fair value

   $      $ 599,059       $       $ 599,059   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

December 31, 2011

           

Fixed income securities - available for sale

           

U.S. government and government agency securities

   $ 201,582       $ 94,097       $       $ 295,679   

Fixed income securities of states, municipalities and political subdivisions

            1,085,341                 1,085,341   

Special purpose revenue bonds of states, municipalities and political subdivisions

            1,863,888                 1,863,888   

Corporate fixed income securities

            846,178         155         846,333   

Residential mortgage-backed securities

            1,100,086                 1,100,086   

Commercial mortgage-backed securities

            256,124                 256,124   

Asset-backed securities

             33,731         1,015         34,746   

Foreign government securities

             236,637                 236,637   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total fixed income securities - available for sale

     201,582         5,516,082         1,170         5,718,834   

Fixed income securities - held to maturity*

             163,136                 163,136   

Short-term investments*

     67,288         66,629                 133,917   

Other investments

     35,720                         35,720   

Other assets

                     1,516         1,516   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total assets measured at fair value

   $ 304,590       $ 5,745,847       $ 2,686       $ 6,053,123   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Notes payable* - measured at fair value

   $       $ 505,671       $       $ 505,671   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

*Carried at cost or amortized cost on our consolidated balance sheet.

 

16


HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. and Subsidiaries

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

(unaudited, tables in thousands except per share data)

 

The following tables present the changes in fair value of our Level 3 financial instruments.

 

$ 000,00.00 $ 000,00.00 $ 000,00.00 $ 000,00.00 $ 000,00.00 $ 000,00.00
     2012      2011  
   Fixed
income
securities
     Other
assets
     Total      Fixed
income
securities
     Other
assets
     Total  
                 
                 

Balance at beginning of year

   $     1,170       $     1,516       $     2,686       $     1,438       $     857       $     2,295   

Net gains (losses) – realized

                             (2)                 (2)   

Net gains (losses) – unrealized

            215         217         (11)         263         252  

Sales

                             (144)                 (144)   

Transfers out of Level 3

     (1,015)                 (1,015)                           
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Balance at March 31

   $ 157       $ 1,731       $ 1,888       $ 1,281       $ 1,120       $ 2,401   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Unrealized gains and losses on our Level 3 fixed income securities are reported in other comprehensive income within shareholders’ equity, and unrealized gains and losses on our Level 3 other assets are reported in other operating income. We transferred an investment from Level 3 to Level 2 in the first quarter of 2012 because we were able to determine its fair value using inputs based on observable market data in the period transferred. There were no transfers between Level 1, Level 2 or Level 3 in the first quarter of 2011.

(4) Reinsurance

In the normal course of business, our insurance companies cede a portion of their premium to domestic and foreign reinsurers through treaty and facultative reinsurance agreements. Although reinsurance does not discharge the direct insurer from liability to its policyholder, our insurance companies participate in such agreements in order to limit their loss exposure, protect them against catastrophic losses and diversify their business. The following tables present the effect of such reinsurance transactions on our premium, loss and loss adjustment expense and policy acquisition costs.

 

$ 000,00.00,00 $ 000,00.00,00
     Three months ended March 31,  
     2012      2011  

Direct written premium

   $ 544,770       $ 508,141   

Reinsurance assumed

     137,919         141,067   

Reinsurance ceded

     (124,285)         (110,324)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net written premium

   $ 558,404       $ 538,884   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Direct earned premium

   $ 591,183       $ 574,808   

Reinsurance assumed

     82,338         79,381   

Reinsurance ceded

     (126,380)         (145,709)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net earned premium

   $ 547,141       $ 508,480   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Direct loss and loss adjustment expense

   $ 365,392       $ 442,754   

Reinsurance assumed

     36,709         73,907   

Reinsurance ceded

     (73,173)         (169,075)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net loss and loss adjustment expense

   $ 328,928       $ 347,586   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

17


HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. and Subsidiaries

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

(unaudited, tables in thousands except per share data)

 

$3,721,974 00 $3,721,974 00
     Three months ended March 31,  
     2012      2011  

Policy acquisition costs

   $ 95,735       $ 97,823   

Ceding commissions

     (26,291)         (27,980)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net policy acquisition costs

   $ 69,444       $ 69,843   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

The table below shows the components of our reinsurance recoverables in our consolidated balance sheets.

 

$3,721,974 00 $3,721,974 00
     March 31,
2012
     December 31,
2011
 

Reinsurance recoverable on paid losses

   $ 62,297       $ 83,109   

Reinsurance recoverable on outstanding losses

     524,144         477,760   

Reinsurance recoverable on incurred but not reported losses

     498,113         497,074   

Reserve for uncollectible reinsurance

     (1,500)         (1,875)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total reinsurance recoverables

   $ 1,083,054       $ 1,056,068   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Reinsurers not authorized by the respective states of domicile of our U.S. domiciled insurance companies are required to collateralize reinsurance obligations due to us. The table below shows the amounts of letters of credit and cash available to us as collateral, plus other potential offsets at March 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011.

 

$3,721,974 00 $3,721,974 00
     March 31,
2012
     December 31,
2011
 

Payables to reinsurers

   $ 203,449       $ 195,806   

Letters of credit

     114,311         120,589   

Cash

     118,710         83,731   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total credits

   $ 436,470       $ 400,126   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

The tables below show the calculation of net reserves, net unearned premium and net deferred policy acquisition costs.

 

$3,721,974 00 $3,721,974 00
     March 31,
2012
     December 31,
2011
 

Loss and loss adjustment expense payable

   $ 3,721,974       $ 3,658,317   

Reinsurance recoverable on outstanding losses

     (524,144)         (477,760)   

Reinsurance recoverable on incurred but not reported losses

     (498,113)         (497,074)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net reserves

   $ 2,699,717       $ 2,683,483   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Unearned premium

   $ 1,042,050       $ 1,031,034   

Ceded unearned premium

     (231,405)         (222,300)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net unearned premium

   $ 810,645       $ 808,734   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Deferred policy acquisition costs

   $ 195,558       $ 189,633   

Deferred ceding commissions

     (65,916)         (62,364)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net deferred policy acquisition costs

   $ 129,642       $ 127,269   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

18


HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. and Subsidiaries

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

(unaudited, tables in thousands except per share data)

 

(5) Notes Payable

Notes payable were as follows:

 

$3,721,974 00 $3,721,974 00
     March 31,
2012
     December 31,
2011
 

6.30% Senior Notes

   $ 298,829       $ 298,790   

$600.0 million Revolving Loan Facility

     265,000         180,000   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total notes payable

   $ 563,829       $ 478,790   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

We have a $90.0 million Standby Letter of Credit Facility that is used to guarantee our performance in our Lloyd’s of London Syndicate 4141. There have been no changes to the terms and conditions related to our Senior Notes, the $600.0 million Revolving Loan Facility (the Facility) and the Standby Letter of Credit Facility from those described in Note 7, “Notes Payable” to the Consolidated Financial Statements in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011.

The weighted-average interest rate on borrowings under the Facility at March 31, 2012 was 1.62%. The borrowings and letters of credit issued under the Facility reduced our available borrowing capacity on the Facility to $325.0 million at March 31, 2012.

We were in compliance with debt covenants related to our Senior Notes, the Facility and the Standby Letter of Credit Facility at March 31, 2012.

(6) Earnings Per Share

The following table details the numerator and denominator used in our earnings per share calculations.

 

$3,721,974 00 $3,721,974 00
     Three months ended March 31,  
     2012      2011  

Net earnings

   $ 82,584       $ 46,990   

Less: net earnings attributable to unvested restricted stock

     (1,463)         (598)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net earnings available to common stock

   $ 81,121       $ 46,392   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Weighted-average common shares outstanding

     102,034         113,754   

Dilutive effect of outstanding options (determined using treasury stock method)

     159         352   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Weighted-average common shares and potential common shares outstanding

     102,193         114,106   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Anti-dilutive stock options not included in treasury stock method computation

     2,224         2,397   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

19


HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. and Subsidiaries

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

(unaudited, tables in thousands except per share data)

 

(7) Stock-Based Compensation

In 2012, we granted the following shares of restricted stock awards, restricted stock units and stock options for the purchase of shares of our common stock. For all grants except stock options, we measure fair value based on the closing stock price of our common stock on the grant date. For stock options, we use the Black-Scholes single option pricing model to determine the fair value of an option on its grant date. The fair value of the restricted stock awards, restricted stock units and stock options will be expensed over the vesting period.

 

     Number
of shares
     Weighted-average
grant date
fair value
     Aggregate
fair value
     Vesting
period
 
              
              

Restricted stock awards

     188,758       $     30.60             $       5,775,995         2-4 years   

Restricted stock units

     13,155         30.60               402,543         4 years   

Stock options

     17,500         8.14               142,371         1-5 years   

(8) Segments

We report HCC’s results in six operating segments. Our insurance underwriting segments consist of the following:

 

   

U.S. Property & Casualty

 

   

Professional Liability

 

   

Accident & Health

 

   

U.S. Surety & Credit

 

   

International

The Investing segment includes our consolidated investment portfolio, as well as all investment income, investment related expenses, realized investment gains and losses, and other-than-temporary impairment credit losses on investments. All investment activity is reported as revenue, consistent with our consolidated presentation.

In addition to our segments, we include a Corporate & Other category to reconcile segment results to consolidated totals. The Corporate & Other category includes corporate operating expenses not allocable to the segments, interest expense on long-term debt, foreign currency expense (benefit), and underwriting results of our Exited Lines. Our Exited Lines include product lines that we no longer write and do not expect to write in the future.

 

20


HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. and Subsidiaries

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

(unaudited, tables in thousands except per share data)

 

The following tables present information by business segment.

 

     U.S. Property
& Casualty
     Professional
Liability
     Accident
& Health
     U.S. Surety
& Credit
     International      Investing      Corporate
& Other
     Consolidated  

Three months ended
March 31, 2012

                       

Net earned premium

   $     89,018       $     101,438       $     217,667       $     47,729       $ 91,284       $       $      $ 547,141   

Other revenue

     2,363         133         1,338         215         1,194         57,181         (42)         62,382   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Segment revenue

     91,381         101,571         219,005         47,944         92,478         57,181         (37)         609,523   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Loss and LAE

     49,261         69,155         161,713         11,033         37,767                 (1)         328,928   

Other expense

     29,722         17,531         31,318         28,120         32,153                 24,791         163,635   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Segment expense

     78,983         86,686         193,031         39,153         69,920                 24,790         492,563   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Segment pretax earnings (loss)

   $ 12,398       $ 14,885       $ 25,974       $ 8,791       $ 22,558       $ 57,181       $ (24,827)       $     116,960   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Three months ended
March 31, 2011

   

                    

Net earned premium

   $ 80,254       $ 100,750       $ 198,540       $ 51,364       $ 77,447       $       $ 125       $ 508,480   

Other revenue

     4,879         201         1,016         246         1,008         47,907         (29)         55,228   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Segment revenue

     85,133         100,951         199,556         51,610         78,455         47,907         96         563,708   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Loss and LAE

     47,484         66,263         144,858         15,039         74,172                 (230)         347,586   

Other expense

     28,406         17,104         30,418         28,255         31,665                 17,395        153,243   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Segment expense

     75,890         83,367         175,276         43,294         105,837                 17,165         500,829   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Segment pretax earnings (loss)

   $ 9,243       $ 17,584       $ 24,280       $ 8,316       $     (27,382)       $     47,907       $     (17,069)       $ 62,879   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

21


HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. and Subsidiaries

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

(unaudited, tables in thousands except per share data)

 

(9) Commitments and Contingencies

Catastrophe and Large Loss Exposure

We have exposure to catastrophic losses caused by natural perils (such as hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, tsunamis and tornados), as well as from man-made events (such as terrorist attacks). The incidence, timing and severity of catastrophe losses are unpredictable. We assess our exposures in areas most vulnerable to natural catastrophes and apply procedures to ascertain our probable maximum loss from a single event. We maintain reinsurance protection that we believe is sufficient to limit our exposure to a foreseeable event. In the first quarter of 2012, we recognized $7.6 million of net losses from catastrophic events. In the first quarter of 2011, we recognized gross losses of $105.2 million from catastrophic events in Japan, New Zealand and Australia. After reinsurance and reinstatement premium, our pretax loss was $51.5 million.

Litigation

We are a party to lawsuits, arbitrations and other proceedings that arise in the normal course of our business. Many of such lawsuits, arbitrations and other proceedings involve claims under policies that we underwrite as an insurer or reinsurer, the liabilities for which, we believe, have been adequately included in our loss reserves. Also, from time to time, we are a party to lawsuits, arbitrations and other proceedings that relate to disputes with third parties, or that involve alleged errors and omissions on the part of our subsidiaries. We have provided accruals for these items to the extent we deem the losses probable and reasonably estimable. Although the ultimate outcome of these matters cannot be determined at this time, based on present information, the availability of insurance coverage and advice received from our outside legal counsel, we believe the resolution of any such matters will not, individually or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

Indemnifications

In conjunction with the sales of business assets and subsidiaries, we have provided indemnifications to the buyers. Certain indemnifications cover typical representations and warranties related to our responsibilities to perform under the sales contracts. Under other indemnifications, we agree to reimburse the purchasers for taxes or ERISA-related amounts, if any, assessed after the sale date but related to pre-sale activities. We cannot quantify the maximum potential exposure covered by all of our indemnifications because the indemnifications cover a variety of matters, operations and scenarios. Certain of these indemnifications have no time limit. For those with a time limit, the longest such indemnification expires in 2025. We accrue a loss when a valid claim is made by a purchaser and we believe we have potential exposure. At March 31, 2012, we have an accrued liability of $11.6 million, as well as $6.3 million in escrow and $3.2 million of letters of credit, to cover our obligations or anticipated payments under these indemnifications.

(10) Supplemental Information

Supplemental cash flow information was as follows:

 

$ 000,00.000 $ 000,00.000
     Three months ended March 31,  
                  2012                              2011              

Income taxes paid

   $ 5,784       $     19,106   

Interest paid

     1,071         2,286   

Dividends declared but not paid at end of period

         15,863         16,638   

 

22


Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The following Management’s Discussion and Analysis should be read in conjunction with the Consolidated Financial Statements and the related Notes as of December 31, 2011 and March 31, 2012.

Overview

We are a specialty insurance group with offices in the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain and Ireland, transacting business in approximately 180 countries. Our shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange and closed at $31.87 on April 27, 2012, resulting in market capitalization of $3.2 billion.

We underwrite a variety of relatively non–correlated specialty insurance products, including property and casualty, accident and health, surety and credit product lines. We market our insurance products through a network of independent agents and brokers, managing general agents and directly to consumers. In addition, we assume insurance written by other insurance companies. We manage our businesses through five insurance underwriting segments and our Investing segment. Our insurance underwriting segments are U.S. Property & Casualty, Professional Liability, Accident & Health, U.S. Surety & Credit and International.

Our business philosophy is to maximize underwriting profit while managing risk. We concentrate our insurance writings in selected specialty lines of business in which we believe we can achieve meaningful underwriting profit. We also rely on our experienced underwriting personnel and our access to and expertise in the reinsurance marketplace to limit or reduce risk. Our business plan is shaped by our underlying business philosophy. As a result, our primary objective is to maximize net earnings and grow book value per share, rather than to grow gross written premium or our market share.

Our major domestic and international insurance companies have financial strength ratings of AA (Very Strong) from Standard & Poor’s Corporation, A+ (Superior) from A.M. Best Company, Inc., AA (Very Strong) from Fitch Ratings and A1 (Good Security) from Moody’s Investors Service, Inc.

Key facts about our consolidated group as of and for the quarter ended March 31, 2012 were as follows:

 

   

We had consolidated shareholders’ equity of $3.3 billion, with a book value per share of $32.23.

 

   

We generated net earnings of $82.6 million, or $0.79 per diluted share.

 

   

We produced total revenue of $609.5 million, of which 90% related to net earned premium and 9% related to net investment income.

 

   

We recognized $7.6 million of net catastrophe losses — $4.0 million in our U.S. Property & Casualty segment from storms in the United States and $3.6 million in our International segment from other small catastrophes.

 

   

Our net loss ratio was 60.1% and our combined ratio was 85.2%.

 

   

Our debt to capital ratio was 14.6%.

 

   

We purchased $66.9 million, or 2.2 million shares, of our common stock at an average cost of $30.64 per share.

 

   

We declared dividends of $0.155 per share and paid $16.1 million of dividends.

Comparisons in the following sections refer to the first quarter of 2012 compared to the same period of 2011, unless otherwise noted. Certain 2011 amounts have been adjusted to reflect our adoption of a new accounting standard as of January 1, 2012. See Note 1, “General Information — Accounting Guidance Adopted in 2012” to the Consolidated Financial Statements for a description of this guidance and the impact of our retrospective adoption on prior year results. Amounts in tables are in thousands, except for earnings per share, percentages, ratios and number of employees.

 

23


Results of Operations

Our results and key metrics for the first quarter of 2012 and 2011 were as follows:

 

     Three months ended March 31,  
     2012     2011  

Net earnings

   $     82,584      $     46,990   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Earnings per diluted share

   $ 0.79      $ 0.41   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net loss ratio

     60.1      68.4 

Expense ratio

     25.1        26.3   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Combined ratio

     85.2      94.7 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

In the first quarter of 2012, we recognized $7.6 million of net losses resulting from United States storms, primarily in our public risk line of business within our U.S. Property and Casualty segment and from other small catastrophes in our Property Treaty line of business within our International segment. The 2012 catastrophe losses increased both our net loss ratio and combined ratio by 1.3 percentage points, and decreased net earnings by $0.05 per diluted share. In the first quarter of 2011, we recognized gross losses of $105.2 million from catastrophic events in Japan, New Zealand and Australia. After reinsurance and reinstatement premium, our pretax loss was $51.5 million. The 2011 catastrophe losses increased our net loss ratio by 9.6 percentage points and our combined ratio by 9.9 percentage points, and decreased net earnings by $0.29 per diluted share.

Revenue

Total revenue increased $45.8 million in the first quarter of 2012, compared to the same period in 2011, primarily due to additional net earned premium and higher net investment income.

Gross written premium, net written premium and net earned premium are detailed below by segment.

 

     Three months ended March 31,  
     2012      2011  

U.S. Property & Casualty

   $ 153,147       $ 129,550   

Professional Liability

     101,245         101,120   

Accident & Health

     216,123         196,300   

U.S. Surety & Credit

     54,493         53,771   

International

     157,676         168,348   

Exited Lines

            119   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total gross written premium

   $     682,689       $     649,208   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

U.S. Property & Casualty

   $ 92,328       $ 86,722   

Professional Liability

     70,913         73,791   

Accident & Health

     215,884         196,105   

U.S. Surety & Credit

     44,704         49,707   

International

     134,570         132,440   

Exited Lines

            119   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total net written premium

   $ 558,404       $ 538,884   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

24


     Three months ended March 31,  
     2012      2011  

U.S. Property & Casualty

   $ 89,018       $ 80,254   

Professional Liability

     101,438         100,750   

Accident & Health

     217,667         198,540   

U.S. Surety & Credit

     47,729         51,364   

International

     91,284         77,447   

Exited Lines

            125   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total net earned premium

   $ 547,141       $ 508,480   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Growth in premium occurred in the U.S. Property & Casualty segment from our new business lines added in 2011 and increased title reinsurance premium; the Accident & Health segment from higher writings of our medical stop-loss product; and the International segment from pricing increases in our energy line of business. Related to the 2011 catastrophe losses, we recorded $7.1 million of reinstatement premium for continued reinsurance coverage, which reduced the International segment’s 2011 net written and net earned premium. See the “Segment Operations” section below for further discussion of the relationship and changes in premium revenue within each segment.

Net investment income, which is included in our Investing segment, increased 10% year-over-year primarily due to higher income from fixed income securities, generated from an increased amount of investments. Our fixed income securities portfolio increased 9% from $5.5 billion at March 31, 2011 to $6.0 billion at March 31, 2012. The growth in fixed income securities resulted primarily from cash flow from operations and a $235.8 million increase in net unrealized gain on the portfolio.

The following table details the components of our other operating income. The fee and commission income relates to third party agency and broker commissions.

 

     Three months ended March 31,  
     2012      2011  

Fee and commission income

   $ 4,403       $ 6,609   

Financial instruments

     215         263   

Other

     583         449   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Other operating income

   $ 5,201       $ 7,321   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

25


Loss and Loss Adjustment Expense

The tables below detail, by segment, our net loss and loss adjustment expense and our net loss ratios.

 

XXXXXX XXXXXX
     Three months ended March 31,  
     2012     2011  

U.S. Property & Casualty

   $ 49,261      $ 47,484   

Professional Liability

     69,155        66,263   

Accident & Health

     161,713        144,858   

U.S. Surety & Credit

     11,033        15,039   

International

     37,767        74,172   

Exited Lines

     (1)        (230)   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net loss and loss adjustment expense

   $   328,928      $   347,586   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

U.S. Property & Casualty

     55.3      59.2 

Professional Liability

     68.2         65.8    

Accident & Health

     74.3         73.0    

U.S. Surety & Credit

     23.1         29.3    

International

     41.4         95.8    
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Consolidated net loss ratio

     60.1      68.4 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Consolidated accident year net loss ratio

     60.1      66.6 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 
Loss development represents an increase or decrease in estimates of ultimate losses related to prior accident years. Deficiencies and redundancies in ultimate loss estimates occur as we review our loss exposure with our actuaries, increasing or reducing estimates of our ultimate losses as a result of such reviews and as losses are finally settled or claims exposures change. The excess of total recorded net reserves over the actuarial point estimate approximated 4.8% of our recorded net reserves at March 31, 2012, compared to 4.2% at December 31, 2011. We recognized no development in the first quarter of 2012, compared to adverse development of $9.0 million in the first quarter of 2011, primarily in our Professional Liability segment. Our consolidated accident year net loss ratio was lower in the first quarter of 2012, compared to the same period in 2011, primarily due to higher catastrophe losses in 2011. See the “Segment Operations” section below for additional discussion of the changes in our net loss and loss adjustment expense and net loss ratios for each segment.           
The table below provides a reconciliation of our consolidated reserves for loss and loss adjustment expense payable, net of reinsurance ceded, the amount of our paid claims, and our net paid loss ratio.    
     Three months ended March 31,  
     2012     2011  

Net reserves for loss and loss adjustment expense payable at beginning of period

   $ 2,683,483      $ 2,537,772   

Net reserve additions from acquired businesses

     14,705        645   

Foreign currency adjustment

     17,123        22,216   

Net loss and loss adjustment expense

     328,928        347,586   

Net loss and loss adjustment expense payments

     (344,522)        (297,123)   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net reserves for loss and loss adjustment expense
payable at end of period

   $     2,699,717      $     2,611,096   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net paid loss ratio

     63.0      58.4 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

26


The net paid loss ratio was higher in 2012 primarily due to our payment of $27.5 million to commute a large contract in our Exited Lines. The commutation had no material effect on net earnings but increased our net paid loss ratio by 5.1 percentage points. The amount of claims paid fluctuates period to period due to our mix of business and the timing of claims settlement and catastrophic events.

Policy Acquisition Costs

Our policy acquisition cost percentage was 12.7% and 13.7% in the first quarter of 2012 and 2011, respectively. The lower percentage primarily relates to a change in the mix of business in 2012, where we wrote more premium in lines that have lower commission rates than in our other lines of business. The 2011 policy acquisition cost percentage was increased 0.2 percentage points due to $7.1 million of reinstatement premium (recorded as a reduction of net earned premium).

Other Operating Expense

For the first quarter of 2012, 59% of our other operating expense related to compensation and benefits for our 1,864 employees. Other operating expense increased 12% in 2012, primarily due to higher compensation and benefits costs and technology-related expenses, as well as a change in foreign currency expense. We recognized foreign currency expense of $2.8 million in the first quarter of 2012, compared to a benefit of $1.2 million in the first quarter of 2011, directly related to the strengthening of the British pound sterling in 2012. Other operating expense included stock-based compensation expense of $2.4 million in 2012 and $3.1 million in 2011. At March 31, 2012, there was approximately $28.1 million of total unrecognized compensation expense related to unvested options and restricted stock awards and units that is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 3.0 years.

Interest Expense

Interest expense on debt and short-term borrowings was $6.9 million and $5.6 million in the first quarter of 2012 and 2011, respectively. Our interest expense increased in 2012 due to a higher amount of outstanding borrowings on our $600.0 million Revolving Loan Facility. Our 2012 and 2011 interest expense included $4.8 million for our Senior Notes.

Income Tax Expense

Our effective income tax rate was 29.4% for the first quarter of 2012, compared to 25.3% for the first quarter of 2011. The higher effective rate in 2012 is due to the relationship of pretax income and tax-exempt investment income in the two quarters. Our pretax income was substantially lower in 2011 due to $51.5 million of net catastrophe losses, whereas our tax-exempt investment income was essentially flat during the quarters.

 

27


Segment Operations

Each of our insurance segments bears risk for insurance coverage written within its portfolio of insurance products. Each segment generates income from premium written by our underwriting agencies, through third party agents and brokers, or on a direct basis. The insurance segments also write facultative or individual account reinsurance, as well as treaty reinsurance business. In some cases, we purchase reinsurance to limit the segments’ net losses from both individual policy losses and multiple policy losses from catastrophic risks. Our segments maintain disciplined expense management and a streamlined management structure, which results in favorable expense ratios. The following provides operational information about our five insurance underwriting segments and our Investing segment.

U.S. Property & Casualty Segment

The following tables summarize the operations of the U.S. Property & Casualty segment.

 

     Three months ended March 31,  
     2012     2011  

Net earned premium

   $ 89,018      $ 80,254   

Other revenue

     2,363        4,879   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Segment revenue

     91,381        85,133   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Loss and loss adjustment expense, net

     49,261        47,484   

Other expense

     29,722        28,406   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Segment expense

     78,983        75,890   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Segment pretax earnings

   $     12,398      $ 9,243   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net loss ratio

     55.3      59.2 

Expense ratio

     32.5        33.4   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Combined ratio

     87.8      92.6 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Aviation

   $ 28,823      $     27,282   

E&O

     16,377        19,557   

Public Risk

     15,218        11,252   

Other

     28,600        22,163   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total net earned premium

   $ 89,018      $ 80,254   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Aviation

     46.9      58.5 

E&O

     61.0         59.5    

Public Risk

     93.0         73.7    

Other

     40.5         52.3    
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total net loss ratio

     55.3      59.2 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

28


     Three months ended March 31,  
     2012      2011  

Aviation

   $ 37,090       $ 41,448   

E&O

     16,891         19,693   

Public Risk

     19,784         17,453   

Other

     79,382         50,956   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total gross written premium

   $ 153,147       $ 129,550   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Aviation

   $ 27,507       $ 27,394   

E&O

     16,505         19,566   

Public Risk

     15,594         13,252   

Other

     32,722         26,510   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total net written premium

   $ 92,328       $ 86,722   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Our U.S. Property & Casualty segment pretax earnings increased 34% year-over-year due to higher net earned premium from a change in the mix of products in this segment and a lower net loss ratio. In the first quarter of 2012, our three new underwriting teams for technical property, primary casualty and excess casualty products wrote $5.2 million of net premium. In addition, an increase in title reinsurance premium more than offset lower writings in our E&O line of business.

Segment earnings were impacted by $4.0 million of net catastrophe losses in the first quarter of 2012, primarily in our public risk line of business. The 2011 segment earnings and net loss ratio reflect the impact of $2.0 million of net catastrophe losses related to our event cancellation product line (included in Other), as well as $1.5 million in adverse loss development.

 

29


Professional Liability Segment

The following tables summarize the operations of the Professional Liability segment.

 

     Three months ended March 31,  
     2012     2011  

Net earned premium

   $     101,438      $     100,750   

Other revenue

     133        201   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Segment revenue

     101,571        100,951   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Loss and loss adjustment expense, net

     69,155        66,263   

Other expense

     17,531        17,104   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Segment expense

     86,686        83,367   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Segment pretax earnings

   $ 14,885      $ 17,584   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net loss ratio

     68.2      65.8 

Expense ratio

     17.3        16.9   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Combined ratio

     85.5      82.7 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

U.S. D&O

   $ 86,254       $ 89,975   

International D&O

     15,184         10,775   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total net earned premium

   $ 101,438       $ 100,750   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

U.S. D&O

     71.0      66.4 

International D&O

     51.9         60.6    
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total net loss ratio

     68.2      65.8 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

U.S. D&O

   $ 74,996      $ 77,191   

International D&O

     26,249        23,929   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total gross written premium

   $ 101,245      $ 101,120   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

U.S. D&O

   $ 55,705      $ 59,611   

International D&O

     15,208        14,180   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total net written premium

   $ 70,913      $ 73,791   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Our Professional Liability segment pretax earnings decreased and the net loss ratio increased in the first quarter of 2012, compared to the same period of 2011, primarily due to the results of our diversified financial products (DFP) line of business in U.S. D&O. We increased the 2011 ultimate loss ratio for DFP in the third quarter of 2011 and continued to use that same ultimate loss ratio in 2012. The segment recorded adverse loss development of $6.2 million in the first quarter of 2011 related to the DFP business.

 

30


Accident & Health Segment

The following tables summarize the operations of the Accident & Health segment.

 

     Three months ended March 31,  
     2012     2011  

Net earned premium

   $ 217,667      $ 198,540   

Other revenue

     1,338        1,016   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Segment revenue

     219,005        199,556   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Loss and loss adjustment expense, net

     161,713        144,858   

Other expense

     31,318        30,418   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Segment expense

     193,031        175,276   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Segment pretax earnings

   $ 25,974      $ 24,280   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net loss ratio

     74.3      73.0 

Expense ratio

     14.3        15.2   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Combined ratio

     88.6      88.2 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Medical Stop-loss

   $ 193,087      $ 174,909   

Other

     24,580        23,631   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total net earned premium

   $ 217,667      $ 198,540   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Medical Stop-loss

     75.3      73.9 

Other

     66.5         66.3    
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total net loss ratio

     74.3      73.0 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Medical Stop-loss

   $ 193,233      $ 174,957   

Other

     22,890        21,343   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total gross written premium

   $ 216,123      $ 196,300   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Medical Stop-loss

   $ 193,087      $ 174,909   

Other

     22,797        21,196   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total net written premium

   $ 215,884      $ 196,105   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

The Accident & Health segment pretax earnings increased 7% in the first quarter of 2012, compared to the same period of 2011. This increase is directly related to higher net earned premium in our medical stop-loss product line due to writing new business and rate increases, which were in line with medical loss cost trends, on renewal business.

 

31


U.S. Surety & Credit Segment

The following tables summarize the operations of the U.S. Surety & Credit segment.

 

0000000000 0000000000
     Three months ended March 31,  
     2012     2011  

Net earned premium

   $ 47,729      $ 51,364   

Other revenue

     215        246   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Segment revenue

     47,944        51,610   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Loss and loss adjustment expense, net

     11,033        15,039   

Other expense

     28,120        28,255   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Segment expense

     39,153        43,294   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Segment pretax earnings

   $ 8,791      $ 8,316   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net loss ratio

     23.1      29.3 

Expense ratio

     58.7        54.7   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Combined ratio

     81.8      84.0 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Surety

   $ 39,920      $ 40,661   

Credit

     7,809        10,703   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total net earned premium

   $ 47,729      $ 51,364   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Surety

     24.8      25.4 

Credit

     14.6         44.2    
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total net loss ratio

     23.1      29.3 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Surety

   $ 39,926      $ 41,705   

Credit

     14,567        12,066   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total gross written premium

   $ 54,493      $ 53,771   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Surety

   $ 36,134      $ 39,758   

Credit

     8,570        9,949   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total net written premium

   $ 44,704      $ 49,707   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Our U.S. Surety & Credit segment pretax earnings increased 6% year-over-year. Net earned premium in our surety line of business decreased in 2012 due to lower production of commercial bonds and new quota share reinsurance on certain products. In the first quarter of 2012, we had a large loss in our credit line of business, which, because of its size, had significant reinsurance recoveries. Our losses net of these reinsurance recoveries were limited, resulting in a lower loss ratio than in the first quarter of 2011. The benefit related to the lower loss ratio was offset by a reduction of net written premium and net earned premium due to $4.3 million of reinstatement premium related to this large loss.

 

32


International Segment

The following tables summarize the operations of the International segment.

 

000000000 000000000
     Three months ended March 31,  
     2012     2011  

Net earned premium

   $ 91,284      $ 77,447   

Other revenue

     1,194        1,008   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Segment revenue

     92,478        78,455   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Loss and loss adjustment expense, net

     37,767        74,172   

Other expense

     32,153        31,665   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Segment expense

     69,920        105,837   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Segment pretax income (loss)

   $ 22,558      $ (27,382)   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net loss ratio

     41.4      95.8 

Expense ratio

     34.8        40.4   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Combined ratio

     76.2      136.2 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Energy

   $ 15,094      $ 12,049   

Property Treaty

     22,089        16,004   

Liability

     19,482        19,932   

Surety & Credit

     17,761        17,374   

Other

     16,858        12,088   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total net earned premium

   $ 91,284      $ 77,447   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Energy

     37.1      80.9 

Property Treaty

     12.8         126.7    

Liability

     51.2         51.8    

Surety & Credit

     67.9         40.5    

Other

     43.3         221.7    
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total net loss ratios

     41.4      95.8 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Energy

   $ 20,595      $ 16,303   

Property Treaty

     69,338        71,819   

Liability

     19,260        24,118   

Surety & Credit

     20,958        26,673   

Other

     27,525        29,435   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total gross written premium

   $ 157,676      $ 168,348   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

33


0000000000 0000000000
     Three months ended March 31,  
     2012      2011  

Energy

   $ 12,824       $ 5,052   

Property Treaty

     62,302         61,160   

Liability

     17,892         22,360   

Surety & Credit

     19,027         24,758   

Other

     22,525         19,110   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total net written premium

   $ 134,570       $ 132,440   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Our International segment pretax earnings were impacted by net catastrophe losses of $3.6 million in the first quarter of 2012 and $49.5 million in the first quarter of 2011. The 2012 losses related to small catastrophes in our property treaty business. In 2011, we recognized gross losses of $85.2 million for catastrophes in Japan, New Zealand and Australia. After reinsurance, our 2011 net losses were $42.4 million and we incurred $7.1 million of reinstatement premium for continued reinsurance coverage. The 2011 catastrophic events impacted our energy and property treaty product lines, as well as our property (direct and facultative) and accident and health product lines (both included in Other). These catastrophe losses increased the International segment’s net loss ratio by 3.5 percentage points in 2012 and 58.2 percentage points in 2011.

The segment’s increase in net earned premium in 2012 primarily related to reinstatement premium in 2011 (recorded as a reduction of net earned premium) related to catastrophe losses in our energy and property treaty businesses. The energy, property treaty and Other net loss ratios reflect the catastrophe losses in the first quarter of 2011. The effect of the reinstatement premium in 2011 increased the segment’s 2011 expense ratio by 3.4 percentage points.

 

34


Investing Segment

We invest the majority of our funds in highly-rated fixed income securities, which are designated as available for sale securities. We held $6.0 billion of fixed income securities at March 31, 2012. Substantially all of our fixed income securities were investment grade and 78% were rated AAA or AA. At March 31, 2012, the portfolio’s average long-term tax equivalent yield was 5.0%, the weighted-average life was 7.7 years, and the weighted-average duration was 4.8 years.

The following tables summarize the investment results of our Investing segment.

 

$5,809,313 00 $5,809,313 00
     Three months ended March 31,  
     2012     2011  

Fixed income securities

   $ 57,727      $ 52,006   

Short-term investments

     62        156   

Other investments

     467        642   

Net realized investment gain (loss)

     171        (559)   

Other-than-temporary impairment credit losses

            (3,129)   

Investment expenses

     (1,246)        (1,209)   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Segment pretax earnings

   $ 57,181      $ 47,907   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Average investments, at cost

   $ 5,809,313      $ 5,584,231   

Average long-term yield (1)

     4.1      4.0 

Average long-term tax equivalent yield (1)

     5.0      4.9 

Average combined tax equivalent yield (1), (2)

     4.9      4.6 

Weighted-average life of fixed income securities

     7.7 years        7.2 years   

Weighted-average duration of fixed income securities

     4.8 years        5.4 years   

Weighted-average combined duration (2)

     4.6 years        5.2 years   

Weighted-average rating of fixed income securities

     AA        AA+   

 

 

(1) Excluding realized and unrealized gains and losses.
(2) Including short-term and other investments.

On March 31, 2012, we reclassified our entire portfolio of fixed income securities classified as held to maturity, which consisted of corporate fixed income, U.S. government and foreign government securities, to fixed income securities classified as available for sale. Financial markets have been disrupted recently by several events, including the European debt crisis and the August 2011 downgrade of U.S. government debt by Standard & Poor’s Corporation. Due to these market disruptions and our desire to maintain greater flexibility in managing our entire investment portfolio in an uncertain economy, we changed our prior intent to hold these securities to maturity. On the date of transfer, these securities had a fair value of $139.1 million and an amortized cost of $136.0 million. The transferred securities’ net unrealized appreciation, net of tax, increased our accumulated other comprehensive income and shareholders’ equity by $2.0 million as of March 31, 2012.

 

35


This table summarizes our investments by type, substantially all of which were reported at fair value, at March 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011.

 

1,063,487 000 1,063,487 000 1,063,487 000 1,063,487 000
     March 31, 2012     December 31, 2011  
     Amount      %     Amount      %  

U.S. government and government agency securities

   $ 272,147           $ 302,677        

Fixed income securities of states, municipalities and political subdivisions

     1,075,855         17        1,085,341         18   

Special purpose revenue bonds of states, municipalities and political subdivisions

     1,930,761         31        1,863,888         31   

Corporate fixed income securities

     1,063,487         17        956,617         16   

Residential mortgage-backed securities

     1,047,779         17        1,100,086         18   

Commercial mortgage-backed securities

     278,653               256,124          

Asset-backed securities

     36,738               34,746          

Foreign government securities

     287,407               280,457          

Short-term investments

     221,087               133,917          

Other investments

     38,571               35,897          
  

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total investments

   $ 6,252,485         100    $ 6,049,750         100 
  

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

 

Our total investments increased $202.7 million in 2012, principally from: 1) operating cash flow, 2) consolidation of our Lloyd’s of London Syndicate 4040 upon its merger into Syndicate 4141 as of January 1, 2012 and 3) an $18.8 million increase in the pretax net unrealized gain associated with our available for sale fixed income securities during the first quarter of 2012. During 2011, we substantially reduced our short-term investments and re-invested the funds in long-term fixed income securities in order to maximize our investment return.

The ratings of our individual securities within our available for sale portfolio at March 31, 2012 were as follows:

 

$849,503000 $849,503000
     Amount      %  

AAA

   $ 849,503         14 

AA

     3,847,230         64   

A

     1,043,436         18   

BBB

     204,530          

BB and below

     48,128          
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total fixed income securities

   $ 5,992,827         100 
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

At March 31, 2012, we held $1.9 billion of special purpose revenue bonds, as well as $1.1 billion of general obligation bonds, which are issued by states, municipalities and political subdivisions and collectively referred to, in the investment market, as municipal bonds. The overall rating of our municipal bonds was AA at March 31, 2012. Within our municipal bond portfolio, we held $276.7 million of pre-refunded bonds, which are supported by U.S. government debt obligations. Our special purpose revenue bonds are secured by revenue sources specific to each security. At March 31, 2012, the percentages of our special purpose revenue bond portfolio supported by these major revenue sources were as follows: 1) water and sewer – 24%, 2) education – 21%, 3) transportation – 19%, 4) leasing – 8% and 5) electric – 7%.

Many of our special purpose revenue bonds are insured by mono-line insurance companies or supported by credit enhancement programs of various states and municipalities. We view bond insurance as credit enhancement and not credit substitution. We base our investment decision on the strength of the issuer. A credit review is performed on each issuer and on the sustainability of the revenue source before we acquire a special purpose revenue bond and periodically, on an ongoing basis, thereafter. The underlying average credit rating of our special purpose revenue bond issuers, excluding any bond insurance, was AA at March 31, 2012. Although recent economic conditions in the United States may reduce the source of revenue to support certain of these securities, the majority are supported by revenue from essential sources, as indicated above, which we believe generate a stable source of revenue.

 

36


At March 31, 2012, we held corporate fixed income securities issued by foreign corporations with an aggregate fair value of $434.1 million. In addition, we held securities issued by foreign governments, agencies or supranational entities with an aggregate fair value of $287.4 million. At March 31, 2012, our holdings of foreign debt were relatively unchanged from our holdings of foreign debt at December 31, 2011.

At March 31, 2012, we held a commercial mortgage-backed securities portfolio with a fair value of $278.7 million, an average rating of AA+ and an average loan-to-value ratio of 69%. We owned no collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) or collateralized loan obligations (CLOs), and we are not counterparty to any credit default swap transactions.

The methodologies used to determine the fair value of our investments are described in Note 3, “Fair Value Measurements” to the Consolidated Financial Statements. The accounting polices and procedures that we use to determine our other-than-temporary impairment losses are described in Note 2, “Investments” to the Consolidated Financial Statements and “Critical Accounting Policies – Other-than-temporary Impairments in Investments” in Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011.

Corporate & Other

The following table summarizes activity in the Corporate & Other category.

 

     Three months ended March 31,  
     2012      2011  

Net earned premium

   $      $ 125   

Other revenue

     (42)         (29)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total revenue

     (37)         96   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Loss and loss adjustment expense, net

     (1)         (230)   

Other expense - Exited Lines

     645         1,067   

Other expense - Corporate

     14,579         12,124   

Interest expense

     6,802         5,429   

Foreign currency expense (benefit)

     2,765         (1,225)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total expense

     24,790         17,165   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Pretax loss

   $ (24,827)       $ (17,069)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Our Corporate expenses not allocable to the segments increased $2.5 million in 2012, primarily due to higher employee compensation and benefit costs and information technology expense related to our new technology systems. Our interest expense increased due to a higher amount of outstanding borrowings on our $600.0 million Revolving Loan Facility in 2012.

Foreign currency expense increased quarter-over-quarter due to our increased level of available for sale securities denominated in foreign currencies and strengthening of the British pound sterling relative to the U.S. dollar in 2012. We hold available for sale securities denominated in foreign currencies to economically hedge the currency exchange risk on our foreign-denominated loss reserves. The foreign currency gain or loss related to loss reserves is recorded through the income statement, while the foreign currency gain or loss related to available for sale securities is recorded through other comprehensive income within shareholders’ equity. This mismatch may cause fluctuations in our reported foreign currency benefit or expense in future periods.

 

37


Liquidity and Capital Resources

Credit market disruptions in recent years have resulted in a tightening of available sources of credit and significant liquidity concerns for many companies. We believe we have sufficient sources of liquidity at a reasonable cost at the present time, based on the following:

 

   

We held $312.0 million of cash and liquid short-term investments at March 31, 2012.

 

   

Our available for sale bond portfolio (including our previous held to maturity bonds) had a fair value of $6.0 billion at March 31, 2012, of which $226.4 million of bonds were held directly by the parent company. We generally intend to hold these securities until their maturity, but we would be able to sell securities to generate cash if the need arises.

 

   

We have a four-year $600.0 million Revolving Loan Facility that expires on March 8, 2015. We had $325.0 million of borrowing capacity available at March 31, 2012.

 

   

Our long-term debt consists of $300.0 million principal amount of unsecured 6.30% Senior Notes due November 15, 2019. Our debt to total capital ratio was 14.6% at March 31, 2012 and 12.8% at December 31, 2011, with the increase related to our borrowings under the Revolving Loan Facility.

 

   

We have a $90.0 million Standby Letter of Credit Facility that expires on December 31, 2015, which is used to guarantee our performance in our Lloyd’s of London syndicate.

 

   

Our domestic insurance subsidiaries have the ability to pay $255.1 million in dividends in 2012 to the parent company without obtaining special permission from state regulatory authorities. HCC can utilize these dividends for any purpose, including to pay down debt, pay dividends to shareholders, fund acquisitions, purchase our common stock and pay operating expenses.

 

   

We have a new “Universal Shelf” registration statement, which was filed and became effective in March 2012 and expires in March 2015. The current shelf registration statement provides for the issuance of an aggregate of $1.0 billion of securities. These securities may be debt securities, equity securities, or a combination thereof. The shelf registration statement provides us the means to access the debt and equity markets relatively quickly, if we are satisfied with the current pricing in the financial market.

Capital Management

Notes Payable

There have been no changes to the terms and conditions related to our Senior Notes, the $600.0 million Revolving Loan Facility (the Facility) and the Standby Letter of Credit Facility from those described in Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Liquidity and Capital Resources” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011.

As of March 31, 2012, we had borrowed $265.0 million under the Facility, primarily to fund purchases of our common stock. The weighted-average interest rate on borrowings under the Facility at March 31, 2012 was 1.62%. The borrowings and letters of credit issued under the Facility reduced our available borrowing capacity on the Facility to $325.0 million at March 31, 2012.

We were in compliance with debt covenants related to our Senior Notes, the Facility, and the Standby Letter of Credit Facility at March 31, 2012.

 

38


Share Repurchases

On September 23, 2011, the Board approved the purchase of up to $300.0 million of our common stock (the Plan). Purchases under the Plan may be made in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions from time-to-time in compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations, including Rule 10b-18 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Purchases under the Plan will be made opportunistically from time-to-time, subject to market and business conditions, the level of cash generated from our operations, cash required for acquisitions, our debt covenant compliance, and other relevant factors. The Plan does not obligate us to purchase any particular number of shares, has no expiration date, and may be suspended or discontinued at any time at the Board’s discretion.

In the first quarter of 2012, we purchased $66.9 million, or 2.2 million shares, at an average cost of $30.64 per share. As of April 27, 2012, $128.8 million of repurchase authority remains under the Plan.

Cash Flow

We receive substantial cash from premiums, reinsurance recoverables, surety collateral, outward commutations, proceeds from sales and redemptions of investments, and investment income. Our principal cash outflows are for the payment of claims and loss adjustment expenses, premium payments to reinsurers, return of surety collateral, inward commutations, purchases of investments, debt service, policy acquisition costs, operating expenses, taxes, dividends, and common stock purchases. Cash provided by operating activities can fluctuate due to timing differences in the collection of premium receivables, reinsurance recoverables and surety collateral; the payment of losses, premium payables, return of surety collateral; and the completion of commutations.

The components of our net operating cash flows are summarized in the following table.

 

     Three months ended March 31,  
     2012      2011  

Net earnings

   $ 82,584       $ 46,990   

Change in premium, claims and other receivables, net of reinsurance, premium
and claims payables and excluding restricted cash

     33,891         (37,996)   

Change in unearned premium, net

     1,658         16,372   

Change in loss and loss adjustment expense payable, net of reinsurance recoverables

     16,098         60,970   

Other, net

     (59,261)         (4,278)    
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Cash provided by operating activities

   $ 74,970       $ 82,058   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

In the first quarter of 2012, we generated operating cash flow of $75.0 million, compared to $82.1 million in the same period of 2011. Our 2012 operating cash was reduced by $27.5 million that we paid to commute a large contract in our assumed accident and health reinsurance business reported in Exited Lines. Receipt and repayment of collateral funds related to surety bonds decreased the first quarter operating cash flow by $22.7 million in 2012 and increased it by $1.7 million in 2011. Our operating cash flow in 2012 benefitted from increased premium collections.

 

39


Accounting Guidance Adopted in 2012

See Note 1, “General Information — Accounting Guidance Adopted in 2012” to the Consolidated Financial Statements for a description of recently adopted accounting guidance related to deferred policy acquisition costs and its retrospective impact on our prior year consolidated financial statements.

Critical Accounting Policies

We provided information about our critical accounting policies in Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Critical Accounting Policies”, in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011. We have made no changes in the identification or methods of application of these policies.

Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

There have been no material changes in market risk from the information provided in Item 7A, “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk,” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December  31, 2011.

Item 4. Controls and Procedures

(a) Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

We maintain disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Act)) that are designed to ensure that required information is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the required timeframe, as specified in rules set forth by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Our disclosure controls and procedures are also designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed is accumulated and communicated to management, including our Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Financial Officer (CFO), to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosures.

Our management, with the participation of our CEO and CFO, evaluated the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures as of March 31, 2012. Based on this evaluation, our CEO and CFO concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of March 31, 2012.

(b) Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

During the first quarter of 2012, we identified no changes in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the quarter ended March 31, 2012 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

 

40


Part II — Other Information

Item 1. Legal Proceedings

We are a party to lawsuits, arbitrations and other proceedings that arise in the normal course of our business. Many of such lawsuits, arbitrations and other proceedings involve claims under policies that we underwrite as an insurer or reinsurer, the liabilities for which, we believe, have been adequately included in our loss reserves. Also, from time to time, we are a party to lawsuits, arbitrations and other proceedings that relate to disputes with third parties, or that involve alleged errors and omissions on the part of our subsidiaries. We have provided accruals for these items to the extent we deem the losses probable and reasonably estimable. Although the ultimate outcome of these matters cannot be determined at this time, based on present information, the availability of insurance coverage and advice received from our outside legal counsel, we believe the resolution of any such matters will not, individually or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

Item 1A. Risk Factors

There have been no material changes in the risk factors described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011.

Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds

On September 23, 2011, the Board approved the purchase of up to $300.0 million of our common stock (the Plan). Purchases under the Plan may be made in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions from time-to-time in compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations, including Rule 10b-18 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Purchases under the Plan will be made opportunistically, subject to market and business conditions, the level of cash generated from our operations, cash required for acquisitions, our debt covenant compliance, and other relevant factors. The Plan does not obligate us to purchase any particular number of shares, has no expiration date, and may be suspended or discontinued at any time at the Board’s discretion. During the first quarter of 2012, we purchased our common stock, as follows:

 

Period

   Total number of
    shares purchased    
     Average price
    paid per share    
       Total number of shares    
purchased as part of
publicly announced plans
or programs
     Approximate dollar
value of shares that may
    yet be  purchased under    
the plans or programs

January

     152,265              $27.81      152,265              $222,171,566

February

     318,374              $30.43      318,374              $212,483,856

March

     1,714,484              $30.93      1,714,484              $159,457,013

Item 3. Defaults Upon Senior Securities

None.

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures

None.

Item 5. Other Information

None.

 

41


Item 6.  Exhibits

 

3.1    Restated Certificate of Incorporation and Amendment of Certificate of Incorporation of HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc., filed with Delaware Secretary of State on July 23, 1996 and May 21, 1998, respectively (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 to Registration Statement on Form S-8 (Registration No. 333-61687) filed on August 17, 1998).
3.2    Amended and Restated Bylaws of HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to Current Report on Form 8-K filed on April 3, 2008).
4.1    Indenture, dated August 23, 2001, between HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. and First Union National Bank related to Debt Securities (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 to Current Report on Form 8-K filed on August 24, 2001).
4.2    Form of Fourth Supplemental Indenture, dated November 16, 2009, between HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. and U.S. Bank National Association related to the 6.30% Senior Notes due 2019 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.2 to Current Report on Form 8-K filed on November 13, 2009).
10.1    Employment Agreement, dated March 21, 2012, between HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. and William N. Burke (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to Current Report on Form 8-K filed on March 21, 2012).
10.2    Second Amendment to Employment Agreement, dated March 30, 2012, between HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. and Craig J. Kelbel (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to Current Report on Form 8-K filed on April 4, 2012).
10.3    Renewal Letter, dated March 30, 2012, between HCC Service Company, Inc. and Barry J. Cook (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to Current Report on Form 8-K filed on April 4, 2012).
†12    Statement of Ratios.
†31.1    Certification by Chief Executive Officer.
†31.2    Certification by Chief Financial Officer.
†32.1    Certification with Respect to Quarterly Report.
†101    The following financial statements from our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2012 formatted in XBRL: (i) Consolidated Balance Sheets, (ii) Consolidated Statements of Earnings, (iii) Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income, (iv) Consolidated Statement of Changes in Shareholders’ Equity, (v) Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows and (vi) Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.*

 

 

Filed herewith.

 

* The XBRL related information in Exhibit 101 shall not be deemed “filed” for the purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or otherwise subject to liability of that section and shall not be incorporated by reference into any filing or other document pursuant to the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, except as shall be expressly set forth by specific reference in such filing or document.

 

42


SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

 

      HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc.
      (Registrant)
May 7, 2012       /s/ John N. Molbeck, Jr.

(Date)

      John N. Molbeck, Jr.,
      Chief Executive Officer
May 7, 2012       /s/ Pamela J. Penny

(Date)

      Pamela J. Penny, Executive Vice President
      and Chief Accounting Officer

 

43