XML 47 R8.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v2.4.0.6
Nature of Business
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2012
Nature of Business [Abstract]  
Nature of Business
1.  
Nature of Business
 
MGIC Investment Corporation is a holding company which, through Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation ("MGIC"), MGIC Indemnity Corporation ("MIC") and several other subsidiaries, is principally engaged in the mortgage insurance business. We provide mortgage insurance to lenders throughout the United States and to government sponsored entities ("GSEs") to protect against loss from defaults on low down payment residential mortgage loans. Our principal product is primary mortgage insurance. Primary mortgage insurance may be written through the flow channel, in which loans are insured in individual, loan-by-loan transactions. Primary mortgage insurance may also be written through the bulk channel, in which portfolios of loans are individually insured in single, bulk transactions. Prior to 2008, we wrote significant volume through the bulk channel, substantially all of which was Wall Street bulk business, which we discontinued writing in 2007. We have not written any business through the bulk channel since 2008. Prior to 2009, we also wrote pool mortgage insurance. Pool insurance generally covers the excess of the loss on a defaulted mortgage loan which exceeds the claim payment under the primary coverage, if primary insurance is required on that mortgage loan, as well as the total loss on a defaulted mortgage loan which did not require primary insurance. Pool insurance may have a stated aggregate loss limit for a pool of loans and may also have a deductible under which no losses are paid by the insurer until losses on the pool of loans exceed the deductible. Through certain other non-insurance subsidiaries, we also provide various services for the mortgage finance industry, such as contract underwriting and portfolio analysis and retention. We began our international operations in Australia, where we started to write business in June 2007. Since 2008, we are no longer writing new business in Australia. Our Australian operations are included in our consolidated financial statements; however they are not material to our consolidated results.
 
At December 31, 2012, our direct domestic primary insurance in force was $162.1 billion, which represents the principal balance in our records of all mortgage loans that we insure, and our direct domestic primary risk in force was $41.7 billion, which represents the insurance in force multiplied by the insurance coverage percentage. Our direct pool risk in force at December 31, 2012 was approximately $1.3 billion ($0.4 billion on pool policies with aggregate loss limits and $0.9 billion on pool policies without aggregate loss limits). Our risk in force in Australia at December 31, 2012 was approximately $680 million which represents the risk associated with 100% coverage on the insurance in force. The mortgage insurance we provided in Australia only covers the unpaid loan balance after the sale of the underlying property.
 
Capital
 
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 "Capital Requirements." New insurance written in the jurisdictions that have Capital Requirements represented approximately 50% of new insurance written in 2011 and 2012. While formulations of minimum capital vary among jurisdictions, the most common formulation allows for a maximum risk-to-capital ratio of 25 to 1. A risk-to-capital ratio will increase if the percentage decrease in capital exceeds the percentage decrease in insured risk. Therefore, as capital decreases, the same dollar decrease in capital will cause a greater percentage decrease in capital and a greater increase in the risk-to-capital ratio. 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, 2012, MGIC's risk-to-capital ratio was 44.7 to 1, exceeding the maximum allowed by many jurisdictions, and its policyholder position was $640 million below the required MPP of $1.2 billion. We expect MGIC's risk-to-capital ratio to increase above its December 31, 2012 level. At December 31, 2012, the risk-to-capital ratio of our combined insurance operations (which includes reinsurance affiliates) was 47.8 to 1. A higher risk-to-capital ratio on a combined basis may indicate that, in order for MGIC or MIC to continue to utilize reinsurance arrangements with its subsidiaries or subsidiaries of our holding company, additional capital contributions to the reinsurance affiliates could be needed. These reinsurance arrangements permit MGIC and MIC to write insurance with a higher coverage percentage than they could on their own under certain state-specific requirements.
 
Statement of Statutory Accounting Principles No. 101 ("SSAP No. 101"), became effective January 1, 2012 and prescribed new standards for determining the amount of deferred tax assets that can be recognized as admitted assets for determining statutory capital. Under a permitted practice effective September 30, 2012 and until further notice, the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance of the State of Wisconsin ("OCI") has approved MGIC to report its net deferred tax asset as an admitted asset in an amount not to exceed 10% of surplus as regards policyholders, notwithstanding any contrary provisions of SSAP No. 101. At December 31, 2012, had MGIC calculated its net deferred tax assets based on the provisions of SSAP No. 101, no deferred tax assets would have been admitted. Pursuant to the permitted practice, deferred tax assets of approximately $63 million were included in statutory capital.
 
Although MGIC does not meet the Capital Requirements of Wisconsin, the OCI has waived them until December 31, 2013. In place of the Capital Requirements, the OCI Order containing the waiver of Capital Requirements (the "OCI Order") provides that MGIC can write new business as long as it maintains regulatory capital that the OCI determines is reasonably in excess of a level that would constitute a financially hazardous condition. The OCI Order requires MGIC Investment Corporation, through the earlier of December 31, 2013 and the termination of the OCI Order (the "Covered Period"), to make cash equity contributions to MGIC as may be necessary so that its "Liquid Assets" are at least $1 billion (this portion of the OCI Order is referred to as the "Keepwell Provision"). "Liquid Assets," which include those of MGIC as well as those held in certain of our subsidiaries, including our Australian subsidiaries, but excluding MIC and its reinsurance affiliates, are the sum of (i) the aggregate cash and cash equivalents, (ii) fair market value of investments and (iii) assets held in trusts supporting the obligations of captive mortgage reinsurers to MGIC. As of December 31, 2012, "Liquid Assets" were approximately $4.8 billion. Although we do not expect that MGIC's Liquid Assets will fall below $1 billion during the Covered Period, we do expect the amount of Liquid Assets to continue to decline materially after December 31, 2012 and through the end of the Covered Period as MGIC's claim payments and other uses of cash continue to exceed cash generated from operations. Factors that could negatively impact MGIC's Liquid Assets are discussed throughout the financial statement footnotes.
 
The OCI, in its sole discretion, may modify, terminate or extend its waiver of Capital Requirements, although any modification or extension of the Keepwell Provision requires our written consent. If the OCI modifies or terminates its waiver, or if it fails to renew its waiver upon expiration, depending on the circumstances, MGIC could be prevented from writing new business in all jurisdictions if MGIC does not comply with the Capital Requirements. We cannot assure you that MGIC could obtain the additional capital necessary to comply with the Capital Requirements. At present, the amount of additional capital we would need to comply with the Capital Requirements would be substantial. If MGIC were prevented from writing new business in all jurisdictions, our insurance operations in MGIC would be in run-off (meaning no new loans would be insured but loans previously insured would continue to be covered, with premiums continuing to be received and losses continuing to be paid on those loans) until MGIC either met the Capital Requirements or obtained a necessary waiver to allow it to once again write new business. Furthermore, if the OCI revokes or fails to renew MGIC's waiver, MIC's ability to write new business would be severely limited because the GSEs' approval of MIC (discussed below) is conditioned upon the continued effectiveness of the OCI Order.
 
MGIC applied for waivers in the other jurisdictions with Capital Requirements and, at this time, has active waivers from seven of them. MIC is writing new business in the jurisdictions where MGIC does not have active waivers. As a result, MGIC and MIC are collectively writing business on a nationwide basis.
 
Insurance departments, in their sole discretion, may modify, terminate or extend their waivers of Capital Requirements. If an insurance department other than the OCI modifies or terminates its waiver, or if it fails to grant a waiver or renew its waiver after expiration, depending on the circumstances, MGIC could be prevented from writing new business in that particular jurisdiction. Also, depending on the level of losses that MGIC experiences in the future, it is possible that regulatory action by one or more jurisdictions, including those that do not have specific Capital Requirements, may prevent MGIC from continuing to write new insurance in that jurisdiction. As discussed below, under certain conditions, this business would be written in MIC. Factors that could negatively impact MGIC's statutory capital and compliance with Capital Requirements are discussed throughout the financial statement footnotes.
 
MGIC's failure to meet the Capital Requirements to insure new business does not necessarily mean that MGIC does not have sufficient resources to pay claims on its insurance liabilities. While we believe that MGIC has sufficient claims paying resources to meet its claim obligations on its insurance in force on a timely basis, we cannot assure you that the events that led to MGIC failing to meet Capital Requirements would not also result in it not having sufficient claims paying resources. Furthermore, our estimates of MGIC's claims paying resources and claim obligations are based on various assumptions. These assumptions include the timing of the receipt of claims on loans in our delinquency inventory and future claims that we anticipate will ultimately be received, our anticipated rescission activity, premiums, housing values and unemployment rates. These assumptions are subject to inherent uncertainty and require judgment by management. Current conditions in the domestic economy make the assumptions about when anticipated claims will be received, housing values, and unemployment rates highly volatile in the sense that there is a wide range of reasonably possible outcomes. Our anticipated rescission activity is also subject to inherent uncertainty due to the difficulty of predicting the amount of claims that will be rescinded and the outcome of any legal proceedings or settlement discussions related to rescissions. Factors that could negatively affect MGIC's claims paying resources are discussed throughout the financial statement footnotes.
 
As part of our longstanding plan to write new business in MIC, a direct subsidiary of MGIC, MGIC has made capital contributions to MIC. As of December 31, 2012, MIC had statutory capital of $448 million. In the third quarter of 2012, we began writing new mortgage insurance in MIC on the same policy terms as MGIC, in those jurisdictions where we did not have active waivers of Capital Requirements for MGIC. In the second half of 2012, MIC's new insurance written was $2.4 billion, which includes business from certain jurisdictions for which new insurance is again being written in MGIC after it received the necessary waivers. We project MIC can write 100% of our new insurance for at least five years if MGIC is unable to write new business. This projection is based on the 18:1 risk-to-capital limitation prescribed by Freddie Mac's approval of MIC (discussed below) and assumes the mix and level of new insurance written in the future would be the same as we wrote in 2012. It also assumes MIC's eligibility would extend throughout this period. We are currently writing new mortgage insurance in MIC in Florida, Idaho, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Puerto Rico. Approximately 19% of new insurance written in 2011 and 2012 was from jurisdictions in which MIC is currently writing business. If we had to write substantially more of our business in MIC and our levels of new insurance written were to increase materially, MIC may require additional capital to stay below Freddie Mac's prescribed risk-to-capital limit or a waiver of Freddie Mac's risk-to-capital limitation may be required. MIC is licensed to write business in all jurisdictions and, subject to the conditions and restrictions discussed below, has received the necessary approvals from the GSEs and the OCI to write business in all of the jurisdictions that have not waived their Capital Requirements for MGIC.
 
Under an agreement in place with Fannie Mae, as amended November 30, 2012, MIC will be eligible to write mortgage insurance through December 31, 2013, in those jurisdictions (other than Wisconsin) in which MGIC cannot write new insurance due to MGIC's failure to meet Capital Requirements and to obtain a waiver of them. MIC is also approved to write mortgage insurance for 60 days in jurisdictions that do not have Capital Requirements if a jurisdiction notifies MGIC that, due to its financial condition, it may no longer write new business. The agreement provides that Fannie Mae may, in its discretion, extend such approval to no later than December 31, 2013. The agreement with Fannie Mae contains certain conditions and restrictions to its continued effectiveness including the continued effectiveness of the OCI Order and the continued applicability of the Keepwell Provision of the OCI Order.
 
Under a letter from Freddie Mac that was amended and restated as of November 30, 2012, Freddie Mac approved MIC to write business only in those jurisdictions (other than Wisconsin) where either (a) MGIC is unable to write business because it does not meet the Capital Requirements and does not obtain waivers of them, or (b) MGIC received notice that it may not write business because of that jurisdiction's view of MGIC's financial condition. This approval of MIC, which may be withdrawn at any time, expires December 31, 2013, or earlier if a financial examination by the OCI determines that there is a reasonable probability that MGIC will be unable to honor claim obligations at any time in the five years after the examination, or if MGIC fails to honor claim payments. The approval from Freddie Mac, contains certain conditions and restrictions to its continued effectiveness, including requirements that MIC not exceed a risk-to-capital ratio of 18:1 (at December 31, 2012, MIC's risk-to-capital ratio was 1.2 to 1); MGIC and MIC comply with all terms and conditions of the OCI Order; the OCI Order remain effective; we contribute $100 million to MGIC on or before December 3, 2012 (which we did); MGIC enter into and comply with the payment terms of the settlement agreement with Freddie Mac and the FHFA dated December 1, 2012 (for more information about the settlement agreement, see Note 20 – "Litigation and Contingencies"); the OCI issue the order described in the next paragraph (which it did); and MIC provide MGIC access to the capital of MIC in an amount necessary for MGIC to maintain sufficient liquidity to satisfy its obligations under insurance policies issued by MGIC.
 
On November 29, 2012, the OCI issued an order, effective until December 31, 2013, establishing a procedure for MIC to pay a dividend to MGIC if either of the following two events occurs: (1) an OCI examination determines that there is a reasonable probability that MGIC will be unable to honor its policy obligations at any time during the five years after the examination, or (2) MGIC fails to honor its policy obligations that it in good faith believes are valid. If one of these events occurs, the OCI is to conduct a review (to be completed within 60 days after the triggering event) to determine the maximum single dividend MIC could prudently pay to MGIC for the benefit of MGIC's policyholders, taking account of the interests of MIC's policyholders and the general public and certain standards for dividends imposed by Wisconsin law. Upon the completion of the review, the OCI will authorize, and MIC will pay, such a dividend within 30 days.
 
We cannot assure you that the GSEs will approve or continue to approve MIC to write business in all jurisdictions in which MGIC is unable to do so. If one GSE does not approve MIC in all jurisdictions in which MGIC is unable to write new business, MIC may be able to write insurance on loans that will be sold to the other GSE or retained by private investors. However, because lenders may not know which GSE will purchase their loans until mortgage insurance has been procured, lenders may be unwilling to procure mortgage insurance from MIC. Furthermore, if we are unable to write business on a nationwide basis utilizing a combination of MGIC and MIC, lenders may be unwilling to procure insurance from us anywhere. In addition, new insurance written can be influenced by a lender's assessment of the financial strength of our insurance operations.
 
See additional disclosure regarding statutory capital in Note 17 – "Statutory Capital."