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Note 8 - Reinsurance
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2019
Reinsurance Disclosures [Abstract]  
Reinsurance [Text Block] Reinsurance
In our mortgage insurance and title insurance businesses, we use reinsurance as part of our risk distribution strategy, including to manage our capital position and risk profile. The reinsurance arrangements for our mortgage insurance business include premiums ceded under the QSR Program, the Single Premium QSR Program, and the Excess-of-Loss Program. The Company’s related PMIERs credit under these programs are subject to GSE approval.
The effect of all of our reinsurance programs on our net income is as follows:
 
Year Ended December 31,
(In thousands)
2019
 
2018
 
2017
Net premiums written—insurance:
 
 
 
 
 
Direct
$
1,132,338

 
$
1,089,720

 
$
1,032,735

Assumed
10,379

(1)
6,901

(1)
25

Ceded (2) 
(56,132
)
 
(98,314
)
 
(214,343
)
Net premiums written—insurance
$
1,086,585

 
$
998,307

 
$
818,417

Net premiums earned—insurance:
 
 
 
 
 
Direct
$
1,244,870

 
$
1,074,298


$
990,016

Assumed
10,382

(1)
6,904

(1)
28

Ceded (2) 
(109,903
)
 
(67,195
)
 
(57,271
)
Net premiums earned—insurance
$
1,145,349

 
$
1,014,007

 
$
932,773

 
 
 
 
 
 
Ceding commissions earned (3) 
$
48,659

 
$
33,446

 
$
26,896

Ceded losses
5,859

 
5,086

 
3,261


______________________
(1)
Includes premiums earned from our participation in certain credit risk transfer programs.
(2)
Net of profit commission.
(3)
Deferred ceding commissions of $74.8 million and $91.4 million are included in other liabilities on our consolidated balance sheets at December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.
QSR Program
In 2012, Radian Guaranty entered into the QSR Program with a third-party reinsurance provider. Radian Guaranty has ceded the maximum amount permitted under the QSR Program and is no longer ceding NIW under this program. RIF ceded under the QSR Program was $0.6 billion, $0.9 billion and $1.2 billion as of December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively.
Single Premium QSR Program
2016 Single Premium QSR Agreement. In 2016, Radian Guaranty entered into the 2016 Single Premium QSR Agreement with a panel of third-party reinsurers. Under the 2016 Single Premium QSR Agreement, effective January 1, 2016, Radian Guaranty began ceding the following Single Premium IIF and NIW, subject to certain conditions:
20% of its existing performing Single Premium Policies written between January 1, 2012 and March 31, 2013;
35% of its existing performing Single Premium Policies written between April 1, 2013 and December 31, 2015; and
35% of its Single Premium NIW from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2017.
Radian Guaranty received a 25% ceding commission for ceded premiums written pursuant to this transaction. Radian Guaranty also receives a profit commission, provided that the loss ratio on the loans covered under the agreement generally remains below 55%. Losses on the ceded risk above this level reduce Radian Guaranty’s profit commission on a dollar-for-dollar basis.
The agreement is scheduled to terminate on December 31, 2027. Radian Guaranty has the option, based on certain conditions and subject to a termination fee, to terminate the agreement at the end of any calendar quarter on or after January 1, 2020. If Radian Guaranty exercises this option in the future, it would result in Radian Guaranty reassuming the related RIF in exchange for a net payment to the reinsurer calculated in accordance with the terms of the agreement. Radian Guaranty also may terminate this agreement prior to the scheduled termination date under certain circumstances/conditions, including if one or both of the GSEs no longer grant full PMIERs credit for the reinsurance.
Effective December 31, 2017, we amended the 2016 Single Premium QSR Agreement to increase the amount of ceded risk on performing loans under the agreement from 35% to 65% for the 2015 through 2017 vintages. As of the effective date, the result of this amendment increased the amount of risk ceded on Single Premium Policies, including for the purposes of calculating any future ceding commissions and profit commissions that Radian Guaranty will earn. It also increased the future
amounts of our ceded premiums and ceded losses. RIF ceded under the 2016 Single Premium QSR Agreement was $5.4 billion as of December 31, 2019, compared to $6.3 billion and $6.9 billion as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. As of January 1, 2018, Radian Guaranty is no longer ceding NIW under this arrangement.
2018 Single Premium QSR Agreement. In October 2017, we entered into the 2018 Single Premium QSR Agreement with a panel of third-party reinsurers. Under the 2018 Single Premium QSR Agreement, we ceded 65% of our Single Premium NIW beginning with the business written in January 2018, subject to certain conditions.
Radian Guaranty received a 25% ceding commission for ceded premiums written pursuant to this transaction. Radian Guaranty also receives an annual profit commission based on the performance of the loans subject to the agreement, provided that the loss ratio on the subject loans is below 56% for that calendar year.
The agreement is scheduled to terminate on December 31, 2029. Radian Guaranty has the option, based on certain conditions and subject to a termination fee, to terminate the agreement as of January 1, 2022, or at the end of any calendar quarter thereafter, which would result in Radian Guaranty reassuming the related RIF in exchange for a net payment to the reinsurer calculated in accordance with the terms of the agreement. Radian Guaranty also may terminate this agreement prior to the scheduled termination date under certain circumstances/conditions, including if one or both of the GSEs no longer grant full PMIERs credit for the reinsurance. RIF ceded under the 2018 Single Premium QSR Agreement was $3.2 billion as of December 31, 2019, compared to $1.9 billion as of December 31, 2018. As of January 1, 2020, Radian Guaranty is no longer ceding NIW under this arrangement.
2020 Single Premium QSR Agreement. In January 2020, we entered into the 2020 Single Premium QSR Agreement with a panel of third-party reinsurers. Under the 2020 Single Premium QSR Agreement, beginning with the business written in January 2020, we expect to cede 65% of our Single Premium NIW, subject to certain conditions and a limitation on ceded premiums written equal to $250 million for policies issued between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2021. The parties may mutually agree to increase the amount of ceded risk above this level.
Radian Guaranty will receive a 25% ceding commission for ceded premiums written pursuant to this transaction. Radian Guaranty will also receive an annual profit commission based on the performance of the loans subject to the agreement, provided that the loss ratio on the subject loans is below 56% for that calendar year. Radian Guaranty may discontinue ceding new policies under the agreement at the end of any calendar quarter.
The agreement is scheduled to terminate on December 31, 2031. Radian Guaranty has the option, based on certain conditions and subject to a termination fee, to terminate the agreement as of January 1, 2024, or at the end of any calendar quarter thereafter, which would result in Radian Guaranty reassuming the related RIF in exchange for a net payment to the reinsurer calculated in accordance with the terms of the agreement. Radian Guaranty also may terminate this agreement prior to the scheduled termination date under certain circumstances/conditions, including if one or both of the GSEs no longer grant full PMIERs credit for the reinsurance.
Excess-of-Loss Program
Through December 31, 2019, Radian Guaranty entered into two fully collateralized reinsurance arrangements with the Eagle Re Issuers. For the respective coverage periods, Radian Guaranty will retain the first-loss layer of aggregate losses, as well as any losses in excess of the outstanding reinsurance coverage amounts. The Eagle Re Issuers will provide the second layer coverage up to the outstanding coverage amounts. The aggregate excess-of-loss reinsurance coverage for these transactions decreases over a ten-year period as the principal balances of the underlying covered mortgages decrease and as any claims are paid by the applicable Eagle Re Issuer or the mortgage insurance is canceled. The outstanding reinsurance coverage amount will begin amortizing after an initial period in which a target level of credit enhancement is obtained and will stop amortizing if certain thresholds are reached, such as if the reinsured mortgages were to experience an elevated level of delinquencies or certain credit enhancement tests were not maintained. Radian Guaranty has rights to terminate the reinsurance agreements upon the occurrence of certain events. The Eagle Re Issuers financed their coverage by issuing mortgage insurance-linked notes to eligible third-party capital markets investors in an unregistered private offering.
 
Eagle Re 2019-1 (Issued April 2019)
(In millions)

 
 
 
 
 
 
As of December 31, 2019
Policy In-force Dates
Initial RIF
 
Initial Coverage
 
First Layer Retention
 
RIF
 
Remaining Coverage
 
First Layer Retention
Jan 1, 2018-Dec 31, 2018
$
10,705

 
$
562

 
$
268

 
$
8,409

 
$
487

 
$
267

 
Eagle Re 2018-1 (Issued November 2018)
(In millions)

 
 
 
 
 
 
As of December 31, 2019
Policy In-force Dates
Initial RIF
 
Initial Coverage (1) 
 
First Layer Retention
 
RIF
 
Remaining Coverage (1) 
 
First Layer Retention
Jan 1, 2017-Dec 31, 2017
$
9,109

 
$
434

 
$
205

 
$
7,026

 
$
343

 
$
204

______________________
(1)
Excludes a separate excess-of-loss reinsurance agreement entered into by Radian Guaranty that initially provided up to $21.4 million of coverage.
The Eagle Re Issuers are not subsidiaries or affiliates of Radian Guaranty. Based on the accounting guidance that addresses VIEs, we have not consolidated any of the Eagle Re Issuers in our consolidated financial statements, because Radian does not have: (i) the power to direct the activities that most significantly affect the Eagle Re Issuers’ economic performances or (ii) the obligation to absorb losses or the right to receive benefits from the Eagle Re Issuers that potentially could be significant to the Eagle Re Issuers.
The reinsurance premium due to the Eagle Re Issuers is calculated by multiplying the outstanding reinsurance coverage amount at the beginning of a period by a coupon rate, which is the sum of one-month LIBOR plus a contractual risk margin, and then subtracting actual investment income collected on the assets in the reinsurance trust during the preceding month. As a result, the premiums we pay will vary based on: (i) the spread between LIBOR and the rates on the investments held by the reinsurance trust and (ii) the outstanding amount of reinsurance coverage. As the reinsurance premium will vary based on changes in these rates, we concluded that the reinsurance agreements contain embedded derivatives, which we have accounted for separately as freestanding derivatives and recorded in other assets on our consolidated balance sheets. See Note 2 for more information on our accounting treatment of VIEs.
As of December 31, 2019 and 2018, our maximum exposure to loss associated with our Eagle Re Issuers was $0.4 million and $1.1 million, respectively, which represents the fair value of the embedded derivatives. In the event the VIE is unable to meet its future obligations to us, if any, our insurance subsidiaries would be liable to make claims payments to our policyholders. In the event that all of the assets in the reinsurance trust (consisting of U.S. government money market funds, cash or U.S. Treasury securities) have become worthless and the VIE is unable to make its payments to us, our maximum potential loss would be the amount of mortgage insurance claim payments for losses on the insured policies, net of the aggregate reinsurance payments already received, up to the full aggregate excess-of-loss reinsurance coverage amount. In the same scenario, the related embedded derivative would no longer have value.
The Eagle Re Issuers represent our only VIEs as of December 31, 2019. The following table presents the total assets of the Eagle Re Issuers as of the dates indicated.
 
Total VIE Assets and Liabilities (1)
 
Year Ended December 31,
(In thousands)
2019
 
2018
Eagle Re 2018-1
$
357,005

 
$
434,034

Eagle Re 2019-1
508,449

 

Total
$
865,454

 
$
434,034

______________________
(1)
Assets held by the Eagle Re Issuers are required to be invested in U.S. government money market funds, cash or U.S. Treasury securities. Liabilities of Eagle Re Issuers consist of their mortgage insurance-linked notes, as described above.
In February 2020, Radian Guaranty entered into a fully collateralized reinsurance agreement with Eagle Re 2020-1. Eagle Re 2020-1 is a VIE and is not a subsidiary or affiliate of Radian Guaranty. This reinsurance agreement provides for up to $488.4 million of aggregate excess-of-loss reinsurance coverage for the mortgage insurance losses on new defaults on an existing portfolio of eligible Recurring Premium Policies with RIF of $9.9 billion that were issued between January 1, 2019 and September 30, 2019. Eagle Re 2020-1 financed its coverage by issuing mortgage insurance-linked notes in an aggregate amount of $488.4 million to eligible third-party capital markets investors in an unregistered private offering.
Other Collateral
Although we use reinsurance as one of our risk management tools, reinsurance does not relieve us of our obligations to our policyholders. In the event the reinsurers are unable to meet their obligations to us, our insurance subsidiaries would be liable for any defaulted amounts. However, consistent with the PMIERs reinsurer counterparty collateral requirements, Radian Guaranty’s reinsurers have established trusts to help secure our potential cash recoveries. In addition to the total VIE assets of the Eagle Re Issuers discussed above, the amount held in reinsurance trusts was $203.2 million as of December 31, 2019, compared to $212.2 million as of December 31, 2018. In addition, for the Single Premium QSR Program, Radian Guaranty holds amounts received from ceded premiums written to collateralize the reinsurers’ obligations, which is reported in reinsurance funds withheld on our consolidated balance sheets. Any loss recoveries and profit commissions paid to Radian Guaranty related to the Single Premium QSR Program are expected to be realized from this account.