The Dodd-Frank Act requires a securitizer to retain at least 5% of the risk associated with mortgage loans that are securitized, and in some cases the retained risk may be allocated between the securitizer and the lender that originated the loan. This risk retention requirement does not apply to mortgage loans that are Qualified Residential Mortgages (“QRMs”) or that are insured by the FHA or another federal agency. In 2011, federal regulators released a proposed risk retention rule that included a definition of QRM. In response to public comments regarding the proposed rule, federal regulators issued a revised proposed rule in August 2013. The revised proposed rule generally defines QRM as a mortgage meeting the requirements of a QM. The regulators also proposed an alternative QRM definition (“QM-plus”) which utilizes certain QM criteria but also includes a maximum loan-to-value ratio (“LTV”) of 70%. Neither of the revised definitions of QRM considers the use of mortgage insurance. While substantially all of our new risk written in 2013 was on loans that met the QM definition (and, therefore, the proposed general QRM definition), none of our new insurance written met the QM-plus definition. The public comment period for the revised proposed rule expired in October 2013. The final timing of the adoption of any risk retention regulation and the definition of QRM remains uncertain. Because of the capital support provided by the U.S. Government, the GSEs satisfy the Dodd-Frank risk-retention requirements while they are in conservatorship. Therefore, lenders that originate loans that are sold to the GSEs while they are in conservatorship would not be required to retain risk associated with those loans.
Other revenue for 2012 decreased, when compared to 2011, due primarily to a decrease in gains recognized on debt repurchases, slightly offset by an increase in contract underwriting fees. We recognized $27.7 million in gains on the repurchase of $129.0 million in par value of our 5.375% Senior Notes in 2011.
See Note 9 - “Loss Reserves” to our consolidated financial statements in Item 8 and “Critical Accounting Policies” below for a discussion of our losses incurred and claims paying practices.
*Excludes claim payments associated with the implementation of the settlement agreement with Countrywide as discussed in Note 20 - "Litigation and Contingencies" to our consolidated financial statements in Item 8.
The loss ratio is the ratio, expressed as a percentage, of the sum of incurred losses and loss adjustment expenses to net premiums earned. The loss ratio does not reflect any effects due to premium deficiency. The decrease in the loss ratio in 2013 compared to 2012, was due to a decrease in losses incurred, somewhat offset by a decrease in premiums earned. The underwriting expense ratio is the ratio, expressed as a percentage, of the underwriting expenses of our combined insurance operations (which excludes the cost of non-insurance operations) to net premiums written. The increase in the underwriting expense ratio in 2013 compared to 2012, was due to a decrease in premiums written as well as an increase in underwriting and other expenses of our combined insurance operations. The combined ratio is the sum of the loss ratio and the underwriting expense ratio.
Approximately 2% of our investment portfolio, excluding cash and cash equivalents, is guaranteed by financial guarantors. We evaluate the credit risk of securities through analysis of the underlying fundamentals. The extent of our analysis depends on a variety of factors, including the issuer’s sector, scale, profitability, debt cover, ratings and the tenor of the investment. At December 31, 2013, less than 1% of our fixed income securities were relying on financial guaranty insurance to elevate their rating.
The incurred but not reported, or IBNR, reserves referred to above result from defaults occurring prior to the close of an accounting period, but which have not been reported to us. Consistent with reserves for reported defaults, IBNR reserves are established using estimated claim rates and claim amounts for the estimated number of defaults not reported. As of December 31, 2013 and 2012, we had IBNR reserves of approximately $128 million and $180 million, respectively.
§ Nominal credit risk as substantially all of the underlying collateral of these securities is ultimately guaranteed by the United States Department of Education;
(1) There were no other-than-temporary impairment losses recorded in other comprehensive income at December 31, 2013 and 2012.
As described in Note 3 - “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - Loss Reserves,” we establish reserves to recognize the estimated liability for losses and loss adjustment expenses related to defaults on insured mortgage loans. Loss reserves are established by estimating the number of loans in our inventory of delinquent loans that will result in a claim payment, which is referred to as the claim rate, and further estimating the amount of the claim payment, which is referred to as claim severity.
(1) Our claims received inventory includes suspended rescissions, as we have voluntarily suspended rescissions of coverage related to loans that we believed would be included in a potential resolution. As of December 31, 2013, rescissions of coverage on approximately 1,500 loans had been voluntarily suspended.
The calculation of premium deficiency reserves requires the use of significant judgments and estimates to determine the present value of future premium and present value of expected losses and expenses on our business. The calculation of future premium depends on, among other things, assumptions about persistency and repayment patterns on underlying loans. The calculation of expected losses and expenses depends on assumptions relating to severity of claims and claim rates on current defaults, and expected defaults in future periods. These assumptions also include an estimate of expected rescission activity. Similar to our loss reserve estimates, our estimates for premium deficiency reserves could be adversely affected by several factors, including a deterioration of regional or economic conditions leading to a reduction in borrowers’ income and thus their ability to make mortgage payments, and a drop in housing values that could expose us to greater losses. Assumptions used in calculating the deficiency reserves can also be affected by volatility in the current housing and mortgage lending industries. To the extent premium patterns and actual loss experience differ from the assumptions used in calculating the premium deficiency reserves, the differences between the actual results and our estimates will affect future period earnings and could be material.
The effect of all risk sharing arrangements on premiums earned and losses incurred is as follows:
(3) Tax effect does not approximate 35% due to amounts of tax benefits not provided in various periods due to our tax valuation allowance.
The increase in the valuation allowance that was included in other comprehensive income was $17.3 million, $28.1 million and zero for the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012 and 2011, respectively. The total valuation allowance as of December 31, 2013, December 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011 was $1,004.2 million, $966.0 million and $608.8 million, respectively.
In March 2013 we completed the public offering and sale of 135 million shares of our common stock at a price of $5.15 per share. We received net proceeds of approximately $663.3 million, after deducting underwriting discount and offering expenses. The shares of common stock sold were newly issued shares.
At December 31, 2013, the risk-to-capital ratio of our combined insurance operations (which includes reinsurance affiliates) was 18.4 to 1. A higher risk-to-capital ratio on a combined basis may indicate that, in order for MGIC to continue to utilize reinsurance arrangements with its subsidiaries or subsidiaries of our holding company, unless a waiver of the State Capital Requirements is obtained from the appropriate regulators, additional capital contributions to the reinsurance affiliates could be needed. These reinsurance arrangements permit MGIC to write insurance with a higher coverage percentage than it could on its own under certain state-specific requirements. The OCI waived, through 2015, the State Capital Requirements for our reinsurance affiliate that did not meet them. Although we do not believe it is likely, the OCI may modify or revoke the waiver at any time. If the waiver were revoked, we could make a capital contribution to the reinsurance affiliate so that it would comply with the State Capital Requirements.
As of December 31, 2013, there was $8.3 million of total unrecognized compensation cost related to nonvested share-based compensation agreements granted under the plans. Of this total, $6.9 million of unrecognized compensation costs relate to performance shares and $1.4 million relates to time vested shares. The unrecognized costs associated with the performance shares may or may not be recognized in future periods, depending upon whether or not the performance conditions are met. The cost associated with the time vested shares is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 1.6 years.
During 2011, we granted 449,350 shares that will be settled as cash payments over the vesting period under the 2002 stock incentive plan. The grant date fair value of these restricted share units was $8.94 in 2011. As of December 31, 2013, there was $0.1 million of total unrecognized compensation cost related to the nonvested shares under this grant. The unrecognized compensation cost associated with this grant is expected to be recognized over a period of 0.1 years. A summary of activity related to these restricted share units for the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012 and 2011 is as follows:
Before paying a claim, we review the loan and servicing files to determine the appropriateness of the claim amount. All of our insurance policies provide that we can reduce or deny a claim if the servicer did not comply with its obligations under our insurance policy, including the requirement to mitigate our loss by performing reasonable loss mitigation efforts or, for example, diligently pursuing a foreclosure or bankruptcy relief in a timely manner. We call such reduction of claims submitted to us “curtailments.” In 2011, 2012 and 2013, curtailments reduced our average claim paid by approximately 3.0%, 4.1% and 5.8%, respectively. In addition, the claims submitted to us sometimes include costs and expenses not covered by our insurance policies, such as hazard insurance premiums for periods after the claim date and losses resulting from property damage that has not been repaired. These other adjustments reduced claim amounts by less than the amount of curtailments. After we pay a claim, servicers and insureds sometimes object to our curtailments and other adjustments. We review these objections if they are sent to us within 90 days after the claim was paid. Historically, we have not had material disputes regarding our curtailments or other adjustments.