Capital Requirements

Capital - GSEs

Substantially all of our insurance written since 2008 has been for loans purchased by the GSEs. The GSEs each revised its PMIERs effective December 31, 2015. The financial requirements of the PMIERs require a mortgage insurer’s “Available Assets” (generally only the most liquid assets of an insurer) to equal or exceed its “Minimum Required Assets” (which are based on an insurer’s book and are calculated from tables of factors with several risk dimensions and are subject to a floor amount).

Based on our interpretation of the PMIERs, as of December 31, 2015, MGIC’s Available Assets are in excess of its Minimum Required Assets; and MGIC is in compliance with the financial requirements of the PMIERs and eligible to insure loans purchased by the GSEs.

Statutory Accounting Principles

The statutory financial statements of our insurance companies are presented on the basis of accounting practices prescribed or permitted by the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance of the State of Wisconsin, which has adopted the NAIC statutory accounting practices as the basis of its statutory accounting practices ("SSAP"). For the years 2014 and 2013 we utilized a permitted practice approved by the OCI to recognize a portion of our net deferred tax assets as admitted assets, discussed further below. In converting from statutory to GAAP, typical adjustments include deferral of policy acquisition costs, the inclusion of net unrealized holding gains or losses in shareholders' equity relating to fixed maturities and the inclusion of statutory non-admitted assets.

Under a permitted practice effective September 30, 2012, the OCI had approved MGIC to report its net deferred tax asset as an admitted asset in an amount not to exceed 10% of adjusted surplus as regards policyholders, notwithstanding any contrary provisions of SSAP No. 101. Deferred tax assets of $138 million were included in MGIC’s statutory capital at December 31, 2014. Due to the deferred tax asset valuation allowance reversal as of September 30, 2015, MGIC no longer relies on the permitted practice and the deferred tax asset is admitted according to the stated provisions of SSAP No. 101. Under the stated provisions of SSAP No. 101, the admitted net deferred tax asset is 15% of adjusted surplus as regards policyholders. Net deferred tax assets of $205 million were included in MGIC's statutory capital as of December 31, 2015.

In addition to the typical adjustments from statutory to GAAP, mortgage insurance companies are required to maintain contingency loss reserves equal to 50% of premiums earned under SSAP and practices prescribed by the OCI, Such amounts cannot be withdrawn for a period of ten years except as permitted by insurance regulations. With regulatory approval a mortgage guaranty insurance company may make early withdrawals from the contingency reserve when incurred losses exceed 35% of net premiums earned in a calendar year. For the year ended 2015, MGIC's losses incurred were 37% of net premiums earned. Changes in contingency loss reserves impact the statutory statement of operations. Contingency loss reserves are not reflected as liabilities under GAAP and changes in contingency loss reserves do not impact the GAAP statements of operations. A premium deficiency reserve that may be recorded on a GAAP basis when the present value of expected future losses and expenses exceeds the present value of expected future premiums and already established loss reserves, may not be recorded on a statutory basis if the present value of expected future premiums and already established loss reserves and statutory contingency reserves, exceeds the present value of expected future losses and expenses. On a GAAP basis, when calculating a premium deficiency reserve policies are grouped based on how they are acquired, serviced and measured. On a statutory basis, a premium deficiency reserve is calculated on all policies in force.

The statutory net (loss) income, surplus and contingency reserve liability of the insurance subsidiaries of our holding company, as well as the surplus contributions made to MGIC and other insurance subsidiaries and dividends paid by MGIC and other insurance subsidiaries to us, are shown in the tables below. The statutory net loss in 2015 was driven by the dissolution of an MGIC non-insurance subsidiary. The surplus amounts included below are the combined surplus of our insurance operations as utilized in our risk-to-capital calculations.



(In thousands)	Net (loss) income				Surplus			Contingency Reserve
Years Ended December 31,
2015	$	(72,767	)	(1)	$	1,608,214	(1)	$	826,706
2014	13,203				1,585,164			318,247
2013	(8,046		)		1,584,121			18,558


(1)	The dissolution of an MGIC non-insurance subsidiary in 2015 had no impact on statutory surplus as the equity value of the investment was fully reflected in surplus as an unrealized loss prior to 2015.



(In thousands)	Additions to the surplus of MGIC from parent company funds		Additions to the surplus of other insurance subsidiaries from parent company funds		Dividends paid by MGIC to the parent company		Dividends paid by other insurance subsidiaries to the parent company
Years Ended December 31,
2015	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	38,500
2014	—		—		—		—
2013	800,000		—		—		—

Statutory Capital Requirements

The insurance laws of 16 jurisdictions, including Wisconsin, our domiciliary state, require a mortgage insurer to maintain a minimum amount of statutory capital relative to the risk in force (or a similar measure) in order for the mortgage insurer to continue to write new business. We refer to these requirements as the “State Capital Requirements” and, together with the GSE Financial Requirements, the “Financial Requirements.” While they vary among jurisdictions, the most common State Capital Requirements allow for a maximum risk-to-capital ratio of 25 to 1. A risk-to-capital ratio will increase if (i) the percentage decrease in capital exceeds the percentage decrease in insured risk, or (ii) the percentage increase in capital is less than the percentage increase in insured risk. Wisconsin does not regulate capital by using a risk-to-capital measure but instead requires a minimum policyholder position (“MPP”). The “policyholder position” of a mortgage insurer is its net worth or surplus, contingency reserve and a portion of the reserves for unearned premiums.

At December 31, 2015, MGIC’s risk-to-capital ratio was 12.1 to 1, below the maximum allowed by the jurisdictions with State Capital Requirements and its policyholder position was $1.2 billion above the required MPP of $1.1 billion. In calculating our risk-to-capital ratio and MPP, we are allowed full credit for the risk ceded under our reinsurance transaction with a group of unaffiliated reinsurers. It is possible that under the revised State Capital Requirements discussed below, MGIC will not be allowed full credit for the risk ceded to the reinsurers. If MGIC is not allowed an agreed level of credit under either the State Capital Requirements or the PMIERs, MGIC may terminate the reinsurance agreement, without penalty. At this time, we expect MGIC to continue to comply with the current State Capital Requirements; however, you should read the rest of these financial statement footnotes for information about matters that could negatively affect such compliance.

At December 31, 2015, the risk-to-capital ratio of our combined insurance operations (which includes reinsurance affiliates) was 13.6 to 1. Reinsurance agreements with affiliates permit MGIC to write insurance with a higher coverage percentage than it could on its own under certain state-specific requirements. A higher risk-to-capital ratio on a combined basis may indicate that, in order for MGIC to continue to utilize reinsurance agreements with its affiliates, additional capital contributions to the reinsurance affiliates could be needed.

The NAIC previously announced that it plans to revise the minimum capital and surplus requirements for mortgage insurers that are provided for in its Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Model Act. A working group of state regulators is drafting the revisions, although no date has been established by which the NAIC must propose revisions to such requirements. Depending on the scope of revisions made by the NAIC, MGIC may be prevented from writing new business in the jurisdictions adopting such revisions.

If MGIC fails to meet the State Capital Requirements of Wisconsin and is unable to obtain a waiver of them from the OCI, MGIC could be prevented from writing new business in all jurisdictions. If MGIC fails to meet the State Capital Requirements of a jurisdiction other than Wisconsin and is unable to obtain a waiver of them, MGIC could be prevented from writing new business in that particular jurisdiction. It is possible that regulatory action by one or more jurisdictions, including those that do not have specific State Capital Requirements, may prevent MGIC from continuing to write new insurance in such jurisdictions. If we are unable to write business in all jurisdictions, lenders may be unwilling to procure insurance from us anywhere. In addition, a lender’s assessment of the future ability of our insurance operations to meet the State Capital Requirements or the PMIERs may affect its willingness to procure insurance from us. A possible future failure by MGIC to meet the State Capital Requirements or the PMIERs will not necessarily mean that MGIC lacks sufficient resources to pay claims on its insurance liabilities. While we believe MGIC has sufficient claims paying resources to meet its claim obligations on its insurance in force on a timely basis, you should read the rest of these financial statement footnotes for information about matters that could negatively affect MGIC’s claims paying resources.