We are a technology and analytics driven financial services holding company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands. Our primary business is generating, underwriting and servicing commercial automobile insurance in the United States, with a niche market orientation and focus on insurance for the “light” commercial automobile sector.
COVID-19 has dramatically reduced the addressable market. At the time of filing, it is difficult to estimate the near and longer-term impact on market size and potential revenue, and the impact of COVID-19 on our customers appears to have resulted in a reduction of trips and vehicles in operation in the range of approximately 52% to as much as 88% as compared to the end of 2019. This directly impacts our revenue and the ability to generate new business.
Atlas’ fixed income portfolio is managed by a Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) registered investment adviser specializing in the management of insurance company portfolios. Management works directly with them to ensure that Atlas benefits from their expertise and also evaluates investments as well as specific positions independently using internal resources. Atlas’ investment adviser has a team of credit analysts for all investment grade fixed income sectors. The investment process begins with an independent analyst review of each security’s credit worthiness using both quantitative tools and qualitative
Atlas employs specific control processes to determine the reasonableness of the fair value of its financial assets. These processes are designed to supplement those performed by our external portfolio manager to help ensure that the values received from them are accurately recorded and that the data inputs and the valuation techniques utilized are appropriate, consistently applied, and that the assumptions are reasonable and consistent with the objective of determining fair value. For example, on a continuing basis, Atlas assesses the reasonableness of individual security values which have stale prices or whose changes exceed certain thresholds as compared to previous values received from our external portfolio manager or to expected prices. The portfolio is reviewed routinely for transaction volumes, new issuances, any changes in spreads, as well as the overall movement of interest rates along the yield curve to determine if sufficient activity and liquidity exists to provide a credible source for market valuations. When fair value determinations are expected to be more variable, they are validated through reviews by members of management or the Board of Directors who have relevant expertise and who are independent of those charged with executing investment transactions.
Commission income relating to the business processed by AGMI decreased by $2.3 million, or 30.3%, from $7.5 million in 2019 to $5.2 million in 2020. The decrease is related to the decrease of written premiums for policies that were part of the ASI Pool Companies that AGMI earned commission income during 2019.
As a result of the deconsolidation of the ASI Pool Companies and the classification of Global Liberty as discontinued operations, all claims liabilities have been reduced to $0.
From time to time the Company may seek to repurchase Company debt through cash repurchases in the open market or otherwise. Such repurchases, if any, will be on terms and prices determined by the Company and will depend upon market conditions, liquidity needs and other factors. The amount of such repurchases may be material.
The provision for unpaid claims represents the estimated liabilities for reported claims reported prior to the close of the accounting period, estimates for unreported claims based on industry data and actuarial estimates, plus related estimated claim adjustment expenses based on the experience of the Company. Unpaid claim adjustment expenses are determined using case-basis evaluations and statistical analyses, including insurance industry claims data, and represent estimates of the ultimate cost of all claims incurred.
Atlas did not declare or pay any dividends to its common shareholders during 2020 or 2019.