Our total gross written premiums declined 4% in 2009 primarily due to several factors:
The total Company range amounts below were determined by aggregating the reasonably likely range amounts for each line of business assuming that the variances in the lines of business are uncorrelated to each other. Such amounts may not be representative of the actual aggregate favorable or unfavorable loss development amounts that may occur over time.
The 2008 other-than-temporary impairments were primarily due to equity impairments where the market value of the security was less than 80% of the book value for six consecutive months resulting from the significant overall market declines in the second half of 2008. In addition, 2008 also included impairments on residential mortgage-backed securities. During 2008, we identified equity securities with fair value of $34.4 million which were considered to be other-than-temporarily impaired. Consequently, the cost of such securities was written down to fair value and we recognized realized losses of $28.4 million. The equity impairments include $8.6 million in write-downs to fair value for various broad based ETFs and mutual funds where the fair value was less than 80% of the book value. During 2008, we identified fixed maturity securities with fair value of $7.4 million which were considered to be other-than-temporarily impaired. Consequently, the cost of such securities was written down to fair value and we recognized realized losses of $8.6 million.
Includes Other operating expenses and Commission income and Other income (expense).
The approximate pre-tax yields of the investment portfolio, excluding net realized gains and losses, were 3.8% for 2009 and 4.1% for 2008 and 4.4% for 2007. The decline in the pre-tax investment yields was due to a decline in yields for our short duration investment holdings.
On April 3, 2009, we entered into a $75 million credit facility agreement entitled “Fourth Amended and Restated Credit Agreement” with a consortium of banks, and is a letter of credit facility that replaced the credit facility that expired on March 31, 2009. The credit facility expires on April 2, 2010. The credit facility is utilized primarily by Navigators Corporate Underwriters Ltd. and Millennium Underwriting Ltd. to fund our participation in Syndicate 1221 through letters of credit. The letters of credit issued under the facility are denominated in British pounds and their aggregate face amount will fluctuate based on exchange rates. The credit facility had previously been amended in February 2007 to increase the letters of credit available under the credit facility from $115 million to $180 million and to increase the line of credit available under the credit facility from $10 million to $20 million. In addition, the expiration of the credit facility was extended from June 30, 2007 to March 31, 2009.
As a result of the April 3, 2009 amendment, the cost of the letter of credit portion of the credit facility increased to 2.00% from 0.75% for the issued letters of credit and to 0.375% from 0.10% for the unutilized portion of the letter of credit facility. As a result of the 2007 amendment, the cost of the letter of credit portion of the credit facility was reduced to 0.75% from 1.00% for the issued letters of credit and to 0.10% from 0.125% for the unutilized portion of the letter of credit facility. The cost of the line of credit portion of the credit facility was also reduced to 0.75% from 1.00% over our choice of LIBOR or prime for the utilized portion and to 0.10% from 0.125% for the unutilized portion.
In November 2009, the Company’s Board of Directors adopted a stock repurchase program for up to $35 million of our common stock through December 31, 2010. Purchases under the program will be made from time to time at prevailing prices in open market or privately negotiated transactions. The timing and amount of purchases under the program to date are dependent on a variety of factors, including the trading price of the stock, market conditions and corporate and regulatory considerations. Through December 31, 2009 we purchased 141,576 shares of our common stock at an aggregate cost of $6.8 million. From January 1, 2010 through February 22, 2010, the Parent Company purchased an additional 300,000 shares of its common stock in the open market at an aggregate cost of $13.0 million.