The Moody's ratings of our insured investments held at December 31, 2015 are essentially the same with or the without the investment guarantees.
Net (Loss) Income. Net loss for the year ended December 31, 2015 was $13,853 compared to net income of $59,354 for the comparable 2014 period.
Net Earned Premiums. Net earned premiums for the year ended December 31, 2014 increased by $35,005, or 5.1%, to $716,875 from $681,870 for the comparable 2013 period. The 2014 increase was primarily due to the factors that increased direct written premiums.
The unrealized losses recorded on the investment portfolio at December 31, 2014 resulted from fluctuations in market interest rates and other temporary market conditions as opposed to fundamental changes in the credit quality of the issuers of such securities. Given our current level of liquidity, the fact that we do not intend to sell these securities, and that it is more likely than not that we will not be required to sell these securities prior to recovery of the cost basis of these securities, these decreases in values are viewed as being temporary.
Net cash used for financing activities was $41,697, $62,469, and $39,072 during the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively. Net cash used for financing activities is primarily comprised of dividend payments to shareholders and the acquisition of treasury stock.
The following tables present information by line of business for our total net reserves and the corresponding retained (i.e. direct less ceded) reserves and assumed reserves as of December 31, 2015 and 2014.
During the twelve months ended December 31, 2015, there were no material changes to the amount of the Company’s unrecognized tax benefits or to any assumptions regarding the amount of its ASC 740 liability.
The Insurance Subsidiaries are subject to various regulatory restrictions that limit the maximum amount of dividends available to be paid to their parent without prior approval of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Commissioner of Insurance (the “Commissioner”). Massachusetts statute limits the dividends an insurer may pay in any twelve month period, without the prior permission of the Commissioner, to the greater of (i) 10% of the insurer’s surplus as of the preceding December 31 or (ii) the insurer’s net income for the twelve- month period ending the preceding December 31, in each case determined in accordance with statutory accounting practices. Our insurance company subsidiaries may not declare an “extraordinary dividend” (defined as any dividend or distribution that, together with other distributions made within the preceding twelve months, exceeds the limits established by Massachusetts statute) until thirty days after the Commissioner has received notice of the intended dividend and has not objected. As historically administered by the Commissioner, this provision requires the Commissioner’s prior approval of an extraordinary dividend. Under Massachusetts law, an insurer may pay cash dividends only from its unassigned funds, also known as earned surplus, and the insurer’s remaining surplus must be both reasonable in relation to its outstanding liabilities and adequate to its financial needs. At December 31, 2015, the statutory surplus of Safety Insurance was $571,038 and its net loss for 2015 was $12,209. As a result, a maximum of $57,104 is available in 2016 for such dividends without prior approval of the Commissioner. During the year ended December 31, 2015, Safety Insurance recorded dividends of $39,440. As result of this Massachusetts statute, the Insurance Subsidiaries had restrict net assets in the amount of $513,934 at December 31, 2015.