These statements are made in reliance on the safe harbor provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
With respect to our renewal book, our policy retention rate remained very strong at 94% for the quarter.
And overall, our renewal premium was down 11% on a year-over-year basis.
Due to declines in both frequency and severity for lost time claims, we've lowered our current accident year loss and LAE ratio on voluntary business to 63.6% 63.9%, down from 65.5% a year ago and 64.3% at year-end.
We underwent a reduction in force, which impacted approximately 7% of our workforce.
As a result, our first quarter underwriting and general and administrative expenses of $46.6 million will be the high watermark for 2021, and you will see immediate and significant expense reductions for the remainder of the year.
During the quarter, we delivered a 4.8% annualized return on adjusted equity and a combined ratio of 93.9% within our largest operating segment employers.
Our net premiums earned were $134 million, a decrease of 20% year-over-year.
Our losses and loss adjustment expenses were $70 million, a decrease of 33%.
The company recognized $13 million of favorable prior year loss reserve development on its voluntary business during the quarter, which related primarily to accident years 2017 and prior versus $3 million of favorable prior year loss reserve development a year ago.
Commission expenses were $17 million, a decrease of 21%.
Underwriting and general and administrative expenses were $47 million, largely unchanged from a year ago.
During the first quarter, we recognized a onetime $2.3 million acceleration in share-based compensation in connection with the retirement of our former CEO, Doug Dirks, Also, as Kathy mentioned previously, future quarters will reflect an immediate reduction in expenses from actions taken and completed during the first quarter.
Our other expenses were $2.9 million, representing employee severance costs associated with our first quarter 2021 reduction in force.
From a reporting segment perspective, our Employers segment had underwriting income of $8 million for the quarter versus $1 million a year ago, and its combined ratios were 93.9% and 99.5%, respectively.
Our Cerity segment had an underwriting loss of $4 million for the quarter, consistent with its underwriting loss a year ago.
Our net investment income was $18 million for the quarter, down 8%.
At quarter end, our fixed maturities had a duration of 3.8 and an average credit quality of A+, and our equity securities and other investments represented 10% of our total investment portfolio.
Our net income this quarter was favorably impacted by $8 million of after-tax unrealized gains from equity securities and other investments, which are reflected on our income statement.
Conversely, our shareholders' equity and book value per share this quarter were each unfavorably impacted by $36 million of after-tax unrealized losses from fixed maturity securities, which are reflected on our balance sheet.
And finally, during the quarter, we repurchased $10 million of our common stock at an average price of $32.21 per share, and our remaining share repurchase authority currently stands at just under $19 million.
As Mike mentioned, our Cerity operating segment, which offers digital workers' compensation insurance solutions directly to consumers, is gaining traction and has written $0.5 million in premium thus far in 2021.

Summary:
Our net premiums earned were $134 million, a decrease of 20% year-over-year.