Founded in 2009, we are an established and growing specialty insurance company. We focus exclusively on the E&S market in the U.S., where we use our underwriting expertise to write coverages for hard-to-place small business risks and personal lines risks. We market and sell these insurance products in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands primarily through a network of independent insurance brokers. We have an experienced and cohesive management team, that has an average of over 25 years of relevant experience. Many of our employees and members of our management team have also worked together for decades at other E&S insurance companies.
Net realized gains (losses) on investments are a function of the difference between the amount received by us on the sale of a security and the security's amortized cost, as well as any allowances for credit losses recognized in earnings, if any.
•Commercial property, which represented approximately 9.4% of our gross written premiums in 2020, increased by $22.7 million, or 77.9%, for the year ended December 31, 2020 over the prior year;
Kinsale Insurance has a financial strength rating of "A" (Excellent) from A.M. Best. A.M. Best assigns ratings to insurance companies, which currently range from "A++" (Superior) to "F" (In Liquidation). "A" (Excellent) is the third highest rating issued by A.M. Best. The "A" (Excellent) rating is assigned to insurers that have, in A.M. Best's opinion, an excellent ability to meet their ongoing obligations to policyholders. This rating is intended to provide an independent opinion of an insurer's ability to meet its obligation to policyholders and is not an evaluation directed at investors. See also "Risk Factors - Risks Related to Our Business and Our Industry - A decline in our financial strength rating may adversely affect the amount of business we write."
Underwriting income is a non-GAAP financial measure that we believe is useful in evaluating our underwriting performance without regard to investment income. Underwriting income is defined as net income excluding net investment income, the net change in the fair value of equity securities, net realized gains and losses on investments, other income, other expenses and income tax expense. We use underwriting income as an internal performance measure in the management of our operations because we believe it gives us and users of our financial information useful insight into our results of operations and our underlying business performance. Underwriting income should not be viewed as a substitute for net income calculated in accordance with GAAP, and other companies may define underwriting income differently.
The table below quantifies the impact of potential reserve deviations from our carried reserve at December 31, 2020. We applied sensitivity factors to incurred losses for the three most recent accident years and to the carried reserve for all prior accident years combined. We believe that potential changes such as these would not have a material impact on our liquidity.
on unresolved claims. We reflect favorable or unfavorable development of loss reserves in the results of operations in the period the estimates are changed.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020, based on criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission, and our report dated February 25, 2021 expressed an unqualified opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.
•comparing the actuarial methodology the Company used to determine the reserves to generally accepted actuarial standards and practices
Equity securities are reported at fair value. Changes in unrealized gains and losses in fair value of these investments are recognized in net income.
Liabilities for loss contingencies, arising from noninsurance policy claims, assessments, litigation, fines, and penalties and other sources, are recorded when it is probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount of the assessment and/or remediation can be reasonably estimated. Legal costs incurred in connection with loss contingencies are expensed as incurred.
Stock-based compensation is expensed based upon the estimated fair value of employee stock awards. Compensation cost for awards of equity instruments to employees is measured based on the grant-date fair value of those awards and compensation expense is recognized over the service period that the awards vest. Forfeitures of stock-based compensation awards are recognized as they occur. See Note 9 for further discussion and related disclosures regarding stock-based compensation.
Loans under the Credit Facility may be subject to varying rates of interest depending on whether the loan is a Eurodollar loan or an alternate base rate (ABR) loan, at the Company's election. Eurodollar loans bear an interest rate per annum equal to adjusted LIBOR for the applicable interest period plus a margin of 1.75%. ABR loans bear an interest rate per annum equal to the higher of the prime rate, the New York Federal Reserve Board Rate or the one-month adjusted LIBOR, plus the applicable margin of
The Company does business with three unaffiliated insurance brokers that generated $72.1 million, $63.8 million and $56.5 million of gross written premiums for the year ended December 31, 2020, representing 13.0%, 11.5% and 10.2% of gross written premiums, respectively. No other broker generated 10.0% or more of the gross written premiums for the year ended December 31, 2020.
Kinsale Insurance is subject to risk-based capital ("RBC") requirements. RBC is a method developed by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners ("NAIC") to determine the minimum amount of statutory capital appropriate for an insurance company to support its overall business operations in consideration of its size and risk profile. The formula for determining the amount of RBC is calculated using various factors, weighted based on the perceived degree of risk, which are applied to certain financial balances and financial activity. The adequacy of a company’s actual capital is evaluated by a comparison to the RBC results, as determined by the formula. Companies that do not maintain statutory capital and surplus at a level in excess of the company action level RBC are required to take specified actions. At December 31, 2020 and 2019, actual statutory capital and surplus for Kinsale Insurance substantially exceeded the regulatory requirements.