Everest Re Group Ltd Stock

Everest Re Group, Ltd. (Everest) is a leading financial services institution focuses on diversifying its portfolio and geographic presence. Through its direct and indirect subsidiaries operating in the U.S. and internationally, the company serves a diverse group of clients worldwide.

Operations

The company’s principal business, conducted through its Reinsurance and Insurance operating segments, is the underwriting of reinsurance and insurance in the U.S., Bermuda and other international markets. The company’s global network of operations spans more than 100 countries across six continents. The company underwrites reinsurance both through brokers and directly with ceding companies, giving it the flexibility to pursue business based on the ceding company’s preferred reinsurance purchasing method. The company underwrites insurance principally through brokers, including for surplus lines, and general agent relationships.

Following is a summary of the company’s principal operating subsidiaries:

Bermuda Re, a Bermuda insurance company and a direct subsidiary of Group, is registered in Bermuda as a Class 4 insurer and long-term insurer and is authorized to write both reinsurance and insurance property and casualty. Bermuda Re’s UK branch writes property and casualty reinsurance to the United Kingdom, China and European markets.

Everest International Reinsurance, Ltd. (Everest International), a Bermuda insurance company and a direct subsidiary of Group, is registered in Bermuda as a Class 4 insurer and is authorized to write property and casualty business. Everest International’s Singapore branch writes property and casualty reinsurance to the Singapore market. A majority of Everest International’s business is assumed reinsurance from its affiliates: Everest Re, Bermuda Re, Ireland Re and Ireland Insurance.

Ireland Re, an Ireland reinsurance company and an indirect subsidiary of Group, is licensed to write non-life reinsurance, both directly and through brokers, for the London and European markets through its Ireland office as well as through its Zurich branch.

Ireland Insurance, an Ireland insurance company and an indirect subsidiary of Group, is licensed to write insurance for the European markets through its Ireland office, as well as through its branches in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Spain, France and Germany. In addition, Ireland Insurance is considered an approved/eligible alien surplus lines insurer in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Lloyd's of London (Lloyd's) Syndicate 2786, a wholly-owned Everest syndicate supported by funds at Lloyd’s provided by Everest Corporate Member Limited, was established as a platform to facilitate the further expansion of Everest's international insurance operations. The syndicate is managed by a third-party managing agency.

Everest Compañia de Seguros Generales Chile S.A., a Chile based insurance company, is licensed to write insurance and reinsurance within Chile.

Everest Insurance Company of Canada (Everest Canada), a Canadian insurance company and direct subsidiary of Holdings Ireland, is licensed to write property and casualty insurance in all Canadian provinces.

Everest Reinsurance Company, a Delaware reinsurance company and a direct subsidiary of Holdings, is a licensed property and casualty insurer and/or reinsurer in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam and is authorized to conduct reinsurance business in Canada, Singapore and Brazil. Everest Reinsurance Company underwrites property and casualty reinsurance for insurance and reinsurance companies in the U.S. and international markets, through its U.S. offices, as well as through its branches in Canada and Singapore.

Everest National Insurance Company (Everest National), a Delaware insurance company and a direct subsidiary of Everest Reinsurance Company, is licensed in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico and is authorized to write property and casualty insurance on an admitted basis in the jurisdictions in which it is licensed. The majority of Everest National’s business is reinsured by its parent, Everest Reinsurance Company.

Everest Indemnity Insurance Company (Everest Indemnity), a Delaware insurance company and a direct subsidiary of Everest Reinsurance Company, writes excess and surplus lines insurance business in the U.S. on a non-admitted basis. Excess and surplus lines insurance is specialty property and liability coverage that an insurer not licensed to write insurance in a particular jurisdiction is permitted to provide to insureds when the specific specialty coverage is unavailable from admitted insurers. Everest Indemnity is a Delaware domestic surplus lines insurer and is eligible to write business on a non-admitted basis in all other U.S. states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The majority of Everest Indemnity’s business is reinsured by its parent, Everest Reinsurance Company.

Everest Security Insurance Company (Everest Security), a Delaware insurance company and a direct subsidiary of Everest Reinsurance Company, is licensed to write property and casualty insurance on an admitted basis in Delaware, Georgia and Alabama. The majority of Everest Security’s business is reinsured by its parent, Everest Reinsurance Company.

Everest Premier Insurance Company (Everest Premier), a Delaware insurance company and a direct subsidiary of Everest Reinsurance Company, is licensed to write property and casualty insurance in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The majority of Everest Premier’s business is reinsured by its parent, Everest Reinsurance Company.

Everest Denali Insurance Company (Everest Denali), a Delaware insurance company and a direct subsidiary of Everest Reinsurance Company, is licensed to write property and casualty insurance in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The majority of Everest Denali’s business is reinsured by its parent, Everest Reinsurance Company.

Everest International Assurance, Ltd. (Everest Assurance), a Bermuda company and a direct subsidiary of Holdings is registered in Bermuda as a Class 3A general business insurer and as a Class C long-term insurer. Everest Assurance has made a one-time election under section 953(d) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code to be a U.S. income tax paying Controlled Foreign Corporation. By making this election, Everest Assurance is authorized to write life reinsurance and casualty reinsurance in both Bermuda and the U.S. In addition, Everest Assurance is considered an approved/eligible alien surplus lines insurer in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Business and Underwriting Strategy.

In 2023, the company changed its name to Everest Group, Ltd. and started trading under a new ticker symbol (NYSE: EG). Everest’s new name and stock ticker reflect the evolution of the company’s value proposition, built on five decades of reinsurance leadership and an expanding presence in the global primary insurance market.

The company writes business on a worldwide basis for many different customers and lines of business, thereby obtaining a broad spread of risk.

The company’s insurance business mainly writes commercial property and casualty on an admitted and non-admitted basis. The business is written through wholesale and retail brokers, surplus lines brokers and through program administrators. In 2023, no program administrator accounted for more than 10.0% of the Insurance segment’s gross written premium in total.

The company’s business strategy is to sustain its leadership position within targeted reinsurance and insurance markets and provide effective management throughout the property and casualty underwriting cycle, thereby achieving an attractive return for its shareholders. The company’s underwriting strategies seek to capitalize on what are its financial strength and capacity, global franchise, stable and experienced management team, diversified product and distribution offerings, underwriting expertise and disciplined approach, efficient and operating structure and effective enterprise risk management practices.

The company’s underwriting strategies emphasize disciplined underwriting, prioritizing underwriting profitability over premium volume, and flexibility to adjust and respond to changing market conditions. Key elements of these strategies, as applicable to the Reinsurance segment, include careful risk selection, appropriate pricing through strict underwriting discipline and adjustments to the company’s business mix as market conditions change. The company focuses on (re)insuring companies that effectively manage their own underwriting cycle through proper analysis and appropriate pricing of underlying risks and whose underwriting guidelines and performance are compatible with their and the company’s objectives. Key elements of the company’s underwriting strategies, as applicable to the Insurance segment, include broad underwriting expertise, global presence, strong financial ratings and substantial capital, and facilitating adjustments to its mix of business by geographic region, line of business and type of coverage. The company’s insurance and reinsurance operations allow it to execute its strategies by providing access to the global business markets. The company carefully monitors its mix of business across all operations to seek to avoid unacceptable geographic or other risk concentrations.

Segments

The company operates through two operating segments, Reinsurance and Insurance, which are managed as autonomous units, and key strategic decisions are based on the aggregate operating results and projections for the two business segments. During the fourth quarter of 2023, the Company revised the classification and presentation of certain products related to its accident and health business within the segment groupings. These products have been realigned from within the Reinsurance segment to the Insurance segment to appropriately reflect how the business segments are managed due to changes in management beginning in the fourth quarter of 2023. These changes have been reflected retrospectively.

The Reinsurance segment writes worldwide property and casualty reinsurance and specialty lines of business, on both a treaty and facultative basis, through reinsurance brokers, as well as directly with ceding companies. Business is written in the United States, Bermuda, and Ireland offices, as well as through branches in Canada, Singapore, the United Kingdom (U.K.) and Switzerland. The Insurance segment writes property and casualty insurance directly and through brokers, including for surplus lines, and general agents within the United States, Bermuda, Canada, Europe, Singapore and South America through its offices in the United States, Canada, Chile, Singapore, the U.K., Ireland and branches in the U.K., the Netherlands, France, Germany and Spain.

Reinsurance segment

Reinsurance is an arrangement in which an (re)insurance company, the reinsurer, agrees to indemnify another insurance or reinsurance company, the ceding company, against all or a portion of the risks underwritten by the ceding company under one or more insurance and/or reinsurance contracts. Reinsurance can provide a ceding company with several benefits, including a reduction in its net liability on individual risks or classes of risks, catastrophe protection from large and/or multiple losses and/or a reduction in operating leverage as measured by the ratio of net premiums and reserves to capital. Reinsurance also provides a ceding company with additional underwriting capacity by permitting it to accept larger risks and write more business than would be acceptable relative to the ceding company’s financial resources. Reinsurance does not discharge the ceding company from its liability to policyholders; rather, it reimburses the ceding company for covered losses.

There are two basic types of reinsurance arrangements: treaty and facultative. Treaty reinsurance obligates the ceding company to cede and the reinsurer to assume a specified portion of a type or category of risks insured by the ceding company. Treaty reinsurers do not separately evaluate each of the individual risks assumed under their treaties; instead, the reinsurer evaluates portfolio level exposure based on information provided by the ceding company. In facultative reinsurance, the ceding company cedes, and the reinsurer assumes, all or part of the risk under a single insurance contract. Facultative reinsurance is negotiated separately for each insurance contract that is reinsured. Facultative reinsurance, when purchased by ceding companies, usually is intended to cover individual risks not covered by their reinsurance treaties because of the dollar limits involved or because the risk is unusual.

Both treaty and facultative reinsurance can be written on either a pro rata basis or an excess of loss basis. Under pro rata reinsurance, the ceding company and the reinsurer share the premiums as well as the losses and expenses in an agreed proportion. Under excess of loss reinsurance, the reinsurer indemnifies the ceding company against all or a specified portion of losses and expenses in excess of a specified dollar amount, known as the ceding company's retention or reinsurer's attachment point, generally subject to a negotiated reinsurance contract limit.

Reinsurers may purchase reinsurance to cover their own risk exposure. Reinsurance of a reinsurer's business is called a retrocession. Reinsurance companies cede risks under retrocessional agreements to other reinsurers, known as retrocessionaires, for reasons similar to those that cause insurers to purchase reinsurance: to reduce net liability on individual or classes of risks, protect against catastrophic losses, stabilize financial ratios and obtain additional underwriting capacity. All the company’s reinsurance and retrocessional agreements transfer significant reinsurance risk and therefore, are accounted for as reinsurance in accordance with US GAAP guidance.

Reinsurance can be written through intermediaries, generally professional reinsurance brokers, or directly with ceding companies. From a ceding company's perspective, the broker and the direct distribution channels have advantages and disadvantages. A ceding company's decision to select one distribution channel over the other will be influenced by its perception of such advantages and disadvantages relative to the reinsurance coverage being placed.

The company’s Reinsurance segment consists of property and casualty reinsurance and specialty lines of business on both a treaty, facultative and large corporate risk basis, including:

Property Pro Rata business, which accounted for 29.9% of reinsurance gross written premiums, consists predominantly of contracts providing coverage to cedents for property damage and related losses, which may include business interruption and other non-property losses, resulting from natural or man-made perils arising from their underlying portfolio of policies at an agreed upon percentage for both premium and loss.

Property Non-Catastrophe Excess of Loss (XOL) business, which accounted for 6.3% of reinsurance gross written premiums, consists predominantly of contracts providing coverage to cedents for a portion of property damage and related losses, which may include business interruption and other non-property losses, resulting from natural or man-made perils in excess of an agreed upon deductible up to a stated limit.

Property Catastrophe XOL business, which accounted for 14.7% of reinsurance gross written premiums, consists predominantly of contracts providing coverage to cedents for a portion of property damage and related losses, which may include business interruption and other non-property losses, resulting from catastrophic losses, in excess of an agreed upon deductible up to a stated limit. The main perils covered include hurricane, earthquake, flood, convective storm and fire.

Casualty Pro Rata business, which accounted for 26.9% of reinsurance gross written premiums, consists predominantly of contracts providing coverage to cedents for losses primarily arising from general liability, professional indemnity, product liability, workers' compensation, employer’s liability, aviation and auto liability from their underlying portfolio of policies at an agreed upon percentage for both premium and loss.

Casualty XOL business, which accounted for 13.8% of reinsurance gross written premiums, consists predominantly of contracts providing coverage to cedents for losses primarily arising from general liability, professional indemnity, product liability, workers' compensation, aviation and auto liability from their underlying portfolio of policies in excess of an agreed upon deductible up to a stated limit.

Financial Lines business, which accounted for 8.3% of reinsurance gross written premiums, consists predominantly of contracts providing coverage to cedents for losses arising from political risk, credit, surety, mortgage and alternative risk lines of business on both a pro rata and excess of loss basis.

Products

The company’s reinsurance divisions provide treaty and facultative reinsurance on either a pro rata basis or an excess of loss basis to insurance companies across the globe. The company provides products for the following lines of business:

Property provides protection for property damage and other related losses covered in the underlying insurance policies. Losses might arise from property loss or property damage, as well as other related risks, such as business interruption and other non-property losses that arise from the covered peril. Perils covered by such policies may be natural or man-made and include hurricane, tornado, hail, windstorm, earthquake, freezes, floods, explosions and fires.

Catastrophe is a specific line of property reinsurance that provides protection against catastrophic losses from natural perils such as hurricane, windstorm, earthquake, floods, tornadoes, fires.

Casualty provides protection for losses covered in liability or casualty insurance policies. Typical lines covered by the underlying insurers can be general liability, workers compensation, automobile liability, umbrella and excess casualty.

Marine provides protection for property damages, physical loss or liability affecting the marine business, which includes losses relating to cargo ships, hull, recreational craft, inland marine and offshore energy. Perils can be natural or man-made and include storms, sinking/stranding, pollution, fire, explosion and accidents.

Aviation provides protection cover for aircrafts, airline, aerospace, and other general aviation risks.

Engineering provides protection for construction and machinery risks, including testing, setting up of machinery, operational failures, incidents affecting plant and equipment, business interruption and other mechanical failures. This class also covers property and liability exposures related to construction sites.

Professional Lines provides protection for losses arising from employment, practices, and coverage of risks, such as director’s and officer’s liability, employment litigation liability, medical malpractice, professional indemnity, environmental liability, omission of insurance, and cyber liability.

Credit and Surety provides protection for losses arising from insurance products, offering payments in the event of default from a borrower. Losses may arise from surety bonds issued by insurers as required by regulators or guarantors. For example, mortgage insurance provides coverage for losses related to credit risk.

Motor provides protection to insurance companies offering motor liability and property damage. Losses may affect the underlying insured party or other claimants.

Agriculture/Crop provides protection for risks associated with agriculture and production of food. Underlying insurance contracts might offer contracts covering against natural or man-perils, such as hail, storms and floods, and might cover crop yields or price deviation from set amounts.

Political Violence provides protection against damages resulting from various perils, such as terrorism, sabotage, strikes, riots, insurrection, revolution, coup, and war. Losses might occur due to property damage resulting from such perils, business interruption, cyber/malicious attack, event cancellation or construction delays.

Insurance segment

Everest’s Insurance segment markets and distributes a wide range of insurance products and services through various forms of brokers and agents on a worldwide basis. The company serves multinational corporations and mid-size commercial clients across various industries globally.

The company’s Insurance segment operates through both North America and international markets. These operations are managed to conform with corporate guidelines with respect to pricing, risk management, control of aggregate catastrophe exposures, capital, and investments.

The Insurance segment lines of business write a broad suite of tailored products and services, including:

Accident and Health business, which accounted for 10.6% of Insurance gross written premiums, consists predominantly of policies covering Participant Accident, Short-Term Medical, and Medical Stop-Loss protection for employers with self-funded medical plans.

Specialty Casualty business, which accounted for 33.4% of Insurance gross written premiums, consists predominantly of policies covering General Liability (Premises/Operations and Products), Auto Liability, and Umbrella/Excess Liability.

Other Specialty business, which accounted for 8.2% of Insurance gross written premiums, consists predominantly of policies covering specialty areas including but not limited to Surety, Trade Credit & Political Risk, Transactional Liability, Energy & Construction, and Aviation.

Professional Liability business, which accounted for 16.1% of Insurance gross written premiums, consists predominantly of policies covering Directors & Officers Liability, Errors & Omissions, Cyber Liability, and other ancillary financial lines products.

Property/Short-Tail business, which accounted for 22.3% of Insurance gross written premiums, consists predominantly of policies covering Property, Inland Marine, and other short-tail lines.

Workers’ Compensation business, which accounted for 9.3% of Insurance gross written premiums, consists predominantly of policies covering Workers Compensation, including both guaranteed cost and loss sensitive product offerings.

Products

The Insurance division writes property, casualty, and specialty insurance products, which are aligned with the lines of business described within the Insurance Segment Overview. These products are written directly, as well as through brokers, including for surplus lines, and general agents within the U.S., Bermuda, Canada, Europe, Singapore, and South America through offices in the U.S., Bermuda, Canada, Chile, Singapore, the U.K., Ireland, and branches located in the U.K., the Netherlands, France, Germany, and Spain.

Claims

Insurance claims are managed by the company’s professional claims staff (the Claims staff), many of whom have insurance and legal professional qualifications. Their responsibilities include reviewing initial loss reports, analyzing coverage issues, evaluating and reserving claims, and paying settlements. When appropriate, the Claims staff engage external professional advisors such as legal counsel, loss adjusters and engineers to support the effective management of claims. Claims are allocated to the Claims staff according to their expertise and experience and most specialize in particular product segments and geographies. Some insurance claims are handled by third party claims service providers who have limited authority and are subject to oversight by the Claims staff. The Claims staff work closely with senior management in Insurance, as well as underwriting, finance and actuarial.

Reinsurance claims are also managed by the company’s Claims staff whose responsibilities include reviewing initial loss reports and coverage issues, monitoring claims handling activities of ceding companies, establishing and adjusting proper case reserves and approving payment of claims. In addition to claims assessment, processing and payment, the Claims staff selectively conducts comprehensive claim audits of both specific claims and overall claim procedures at the offices of selected ceding companies. Some reinsurance claims are handled by third party claims service providers who have limited authority and are subject to oversight by the company’s Claims staff. The Claims staff works closely with senior management in Reinsurance, as well as underwriting, finance and actuarial.

The company intensively manages its asbestos and environmental (A&E) exposures through a dedicated, centrally managed Claims staff with experienced claim and legal professionals who specialize in the handling of such exposures. They actively manage each individual insured and reinsured account, responding to claim developments with evaluations of the involved exposures and adjustment of reserves as appropriate. Specific or general claim developments that may have material implications for the company are regularly communicated to senior management, actuarial, legal and financial areas. Senior management and claim management personnel meet at least quarterly to review the company’s overall reserve positions and make changes, if appropriate. The company continually reviews its internal processing, communications and analytics, seeking to enhance the management of its A&E exposures, in particular with respect to changes in asbestos claims and litigation.

Other Countries

The company does business in the following locations where it is subject to the taxation by the local authorities: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Columbia, France, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Spain, and Switzerland.

Regulatory Matters

In Bermuda, Bermuda Re, Everest International, Everest Assurance and Mt. Logan Re are regulated by the Insurance Act 1978 (as amended) and related regulations (the ‘Act’). The Act establishes solvency and liquidity standards and auditing and reporting requirements and subjects Bermuda Re, Everest International and Everest Assurance to the supervision, investigation and intervention powers of the Bermuda Monetary Authority. Under the Act, each of Bermuda Re and Everest International, as a Class 4 insurer, is required to maintain a principal office in Bermuda, maintain a minimum of $100 million in statutory capital and surplus, have an independent auditor approved by the Bermuda Monetary Authority conduct an annual audit and report on their respective statutory and U.S. GAAP financial statements and filings, and have an appointed loss reserve specialist (also approved by the Bermuda Monetary Authority) review and report on their respective loss reserves annually. Under the Act, Everest Assurance is licensed as a Class 3A insurer for general business and as a Class C insurer for long-term business.

Bermuda Re is also registered under the Act as long term insurer and is thereby authorized to write life and annuity business. Bermuda Re’s operations in the United Kingdom and worldwide are subject to regulation by the Prudential Regulation Authority (the ‘PRA’) and the Financial Conduct Authority (the ‘FCA’).

Everest Indemnity, Everest National, Everest Security, Everest Denali and Everest Premier are subject to regulations similar to the U.S. regulations applicable to Everest Re. In addition, these companies must comply with substantial regulatory requirements in each state where they conduct business.

Everest Re is a licensed property and casualty insurer and/or reinsurer in all states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam.

Everest Re is licensed as a property and casualty reinsurer in Canada. It is also authorized to conduct reinsurance business in Singapore and Brazil. Everest Re can also write reinsurance in other foreign countries. Because some jurisdictions require a reinsurer to register in order to be an acceptable market for local insurers, Everest Re is registered as a foreign insurer and/or reinsurer in the following countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, the Philippines, Singapore and Venezuela.

Everest National is licensed in 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Everest Indemnity is a Delaware Domestic Surplus Lines Insurer and is eligible to write insurance on a surplus lines basis in the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Everest Security recently converted from a Georgia corporation to a Delaware corporation effective August 1, 2023, and is licensed to write property and casualty insurance as an admitted insurance carrier in Delaware and Georgia, effective October 24, 2023 and in Alabama, effective December 19, 2023. Everest Denali is licensed in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Everest Premier is licensed in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Bermuda Re and Everest International are registered as Class 4 insurers in Bermuda, and Bermuda Re is also registered as a long-term insurer in Bermuda. Bermuda Re is also registered as a certified reinsurer in New York and Delaware and is registered as a reciprocal reinsurer in: Delaware, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Texas. Bermuda Re is also an authorized reinsurer in the UK, registered as a reinsurer in China, and also an authorized insurer in Singapore.

Everest Assurance is registered as a Class 3A general business insurer in Bermuda and a Class C long-term insurer in Bermuda. By virtue of its one-time election under section 953(d) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code to be a U.S. income tax paying ‘Controlled Foreign Corporation’, Everest Assurance may operate in both the U.S. and Bermuda.

Everest Assurance is also considered an approved/eligible alien surplus lines insurer in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. In addition, Everest Assurance can also write reinsurance in other foreign countries. Because some jurisdictions require a reinsurer to register in order to be an acceptable market for local insurers, Everest Assurance is registered as a foreign insurer and/or reinsurer in the following countries: Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico and Paraguay.

Ireland Re is licensed to write non-life reinsurance for the European Union, European Economic Area and Swiss markets. Ireland Insurance is licensed to write insurance for the European Union, European Economic Area and UK markets. Ireland Insurance is also considered an approved/eligible alien surplus lines insurer in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. In addition, Ireland Insurance is registered as a foreign insurer in the following countries: Panama, Columbia, Chile, and India. Everest Canada is licensed to write property and casualty insurance in Canada. Everest Compañia de Seguros Generales Chile S.A. is an insurance corporation authorized by the general laws of Chile.

History

Everest Re Group, Ltd. was founded in 1973.