Our segment information includes the presentation of consolidated underwriting income or loss and a subtotal of underwriting income or loss before the contribution from the ‘other’ segment. Such measures represent the pre-tax profitability of our underwriting operations and include net premiums earned plus other underwriting income, less losses and loss adjustment expenses, acquisition expenses and other operating expenses. Other operating expenses include those operating expenses that are incremental and/or directly attributable to our individual underwriting operations. Underwriting income or loss does not incorporate items included in our corporate (non-underwriting) segment. While these measures are presented in note 5, “Segment Information,” to our consolidated financial statements in Item 8, they are considered non-GAAP financial measures when presented elsewhere on a consolidated basis. The reconciliations of
We classify our businesses into three underwriting segments - insurance, reinsurance and mortgage - and two other operating segments - corporate (non-underwriting) and ‘other.’ Our insurance, reinsurance and mortgage segments each have managers who are responsible for the overall profitability of their respective segments and who are directly accountable to our chief operating decision makers, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, the President and Chief Operating Officer, and the Chief Financial Officer of Arch Capital. The chief operating decision makers do not assess performance, measure return on equity or make resource allocation decisions on a line of business basis. Management measures segment performance for our three underwriting segments based on underwriting income or loss. We do not manage our assets by underwriting segment, with the exception of goodwill and intangible assets, and, accordingly, investment income is not allocated to each underwriting segment.
At December 31, 2017 and 2016, our Loss Reserves, net of unpaid losses and loss adjustment expenses recoverable, by type and by operating segment were as follows:
The mortgage segment’s insurance in force (“IIF”) and risk in force (“RIF”) were as follows at December 31, 2017 and 2016:
Mortgage guaranty insurance policies are contracts that are generally non-cancelable by the insurer, are renewable at a fixed price, and provide for payment of premiums on a monthly, annual or single basis. Upon renewal, we are not able to re-underwrite or re-price our policies. Consistent with industry accounting practices, premiums written on a monthly basis are earned as coverage is provided. Premiums written on an annual basis are amortized on a monthly pro rata basis over the year of coverage. Primary mortgage insurance premiums written on policies covering more than one year are referred to as single premiums. A portion of the revenue from single premiums is recognized in premiums earned in the current period, and the remaining portion is deferred as unearned premiums and earned over the estimated expiration of risk of the policy. If single premium policies related to insured loans are canceled due to repayment by the borrower and the policy is a non-refundable
The following table provides information on the fair value of our Eurozone investments at December 31, 2017:
Arch Capital, through its subsidiaries, provides financial support to certain of its insurance subsidiaries and affiliates, through certain reinsurance arrangements beneficial to the ratings of such subsidiaries. Our U.S.-based insurance, reinsurance and mortgage insurance subsidiaries have entered into separate reinsurance arrangements with Arch Re Bermuda covering individual lines of business. For the 2017 calendar year, the U.S. groups ceded quota share business to Arch Re Bermuda at an aggregate net cession rate (i.e., net of third party reinsurance) of approximately 45% (compared to 53% for 2016). All of the above factors have resulted in the non-U.S. group providing a higher contribution to our overall pre-tax income in the current period than the percentage of net premiums written would indicate. The reinsurance agreements between our U.S.-based insurance and reinsurance subsidiaries and Arch Re Bermuda were not renewed as of January 1, 2018.
Another method that attempts to measure portfolio risk is Value-at-Risk (“VaR”). VaR attempts to take into account a broad cross-section of risks facing a portfolio by utilizing relevant securities volatility data skewed towards the most recent months and quarters. VaR measures the amount of a portfolio at risk for outcomes 1.65 standard deviations from the mean based on normal market conditions over a one year time horizon and is expressed as a percentage of the portfolio’s initial value. In other words, 95% of the time, should the risks taken into account in the VaR model perform per their historical tendencies, the portfolio’s loss in any one year period is expected to be less than or equal to the calculated VaR, stated as a percentage of the measured portfolio’s initial value. As of December 31, 2017, our portfolio’s VaR was estimated to be 3.10%, compared to an estimated 3.75% at December 31, 2016.
The following table presents total assets of Bellemeade Re I Ltd., Bellemeade Re II Ltd. and Bellemeade 2017-1 Ltd. as well as the Company’s maximum exposure to loss associated with these VIEs:
The mortgage segment’s net favorable development of $95.0 million, or 9.0 points of net earned premium, for 2017, included $89.3 million of favorable development on U.S. primary mortgage business. Such development was primarily driven by lower than expected claim emergence across most origination years and also reflected $33.8 million related to second lien and other portfolios, primarily due to subrogation recoveries.
business, reflecting a decrease in the number of delinquent loans and a lower claim rate on such loans. Such development was primarily from the 2003 to 2008 origination years. The mortgage segment also experienced net favorable development of $1.2 million on U.S. mortgage reinsurance business.
Certain of the Company’s other investments are in investment funds for which the Company has the option to redeem at agreed upon values as described in each investment fund’s subscription agreement. Depending on the terms of the various subscription agreements, investments in investment funds may be redeemed daily, monthly, quarterly or on other terms. Two common redemption restrictions which may impact the Company’s ability to redeem these investment funds are gates and lockups. A gate is a suspension of redemptions which may be implemented by the general partner or investment manager of the fund in order to defer, in whole or in part, the redemption request in the event the aggregate amount of redemption requests exceeds a predetermined percentage of the investment fund's net assets which may otherwise hinder the general partner or investment manager's ability to liquidate holdings in an orderly fashion in order to generate the cash necessary to fund extraordinarily large redemption payouts. A lockup period is the initial amount of time an investor is contractually required to hold the security before having the ability to redeem. If the investment funds are eligible to be redeemed, the time to redeem such fund can take weeks or months following the notification.
Equity securities - the Company utilized information received from asset managers on common stocks, including the business prospects, recent events, industry and market data and other factors. Impairment losses were primarily on equities which were in an unrealized loss position for a significant length of time.
The Company determined that exchange-traded investments would be included in Level 1 as their fair values are based on quoted market prices in active markets. Other investments also include term loan investments for which fair values are estimated by using quoted prices of term loan investments with similar characteristics, pricing models or matrix pricing. Such investments are generally classified within Level 2. A small number of securities are included in Level 3 due to a low level of transparency on the inputs used in the pricing process. The fair values for certain of the Company’s other investments are determined using net asset values as advised by external fund managers, based on the fund manager’s valuation of the underlying holdings in accordance with the fund’s governing documents. Certain investments that are measured at fair value using the net asset value per share (or its equivalent) practical expedient have not been classified in the fair value hierarchy. During 2017, the Company transferred $33.7 million of other investments from Level 2 to Level 3 based on a review of the pricing of such securities, as described above.
included in the table above were not subject to a master netting agreement.
On December 22, 2017, Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118 (“SAB 118”) was issued to address the application of GAAP in situations when a registrant does not have the necessary information available, prepared or analyzed in reasonable detail to complete the accounting for certain income tax effects of the Tax Cuts Act. Pursuant to the guidance within SAB 118, the Company’s remeasurement of its deferred taxes included certain provisional effects associated with enactment of the Tax Cuts Act for which measurement could be reasonably estimated. Provisional amounts may be adjusted in 2018 during the measurement period in accordance with SAB 118 when additional information is obtained. Additional information that may affect the provisional amounts would include, completion of the Company’s U.S. subsidiaries’ 2017 tax return filings, and
The Company recognizes interest and penalties relating to unrecognized tax benefits in the provision for income taxes. As of December 31, 2017, the Company’s total unrecognized tax benefits, including interest and penalties, were $2.0 million. If recognized, the full amount of the unrecognized tax benefit would generally decrease the current year annual effective tax rate. A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits is as follows:
The Company’s repurchases under the share repurchase program were as follows:
The 2012 Long Term Incentive and Share Award Plan (the “2012 Plan”) became effective as of May 9, 2012 (the “Effective Date”) following approval by shareholders of the Company. The 2012 Plan provides for the grant to eligible employees and directors stock options, stock appreciation rights (“SARs”), restricted shares, restricted share units payable in common shares or cash, share awards in lieu of cash awards, dividend equivalents and other share-based awards. The 2012 Plan also provides the Company’s non-employee directors with the opportunity to receive the annual retainer fee for Board service in common shares. The 2012 Plan will terminate as to future awards on February 28, 2022.
A summary of stock option and SAR activity under the Company’s Long Term Incentive and Share Award Plans during 2017 is presented below: