Greenlight Reinsurance, Ltd.

Good morning and thank you for joining the green light re-conference call for the first quarter of 2021 earnings. The company reminds you that forward-looking statements that may be made in this call are intended to be covered by safe-hour provisions of the state of the private securities legislation reforms act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are not statements of historical facts but rather reflect the company's current expectations. Estimates and predictions about future results and events are subjected to risk, uncertainties, and assumptions, including those emanated in the company's form 10-K from the year ended December 31, 2020, and other documents filed by the company with the SEC. After the prepared remarks, we will be conducting a question and answer session. For those who would like to ask a question, please press star and one to be added to the question queue. I would now like to turn the conference over to Greenlight Re CEO, Mr. Simon Burton. Please go ahead, sir.

Good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining today's call. I'd like to start with an overview of the main drivers of financial performance for the first quarter, which saw growth in our book value per share of 0.5%. We had hoped for a straightforward start to 2021 after the industry turmoil of the last year, but we have already experienced some unusual events. David will later discuss the investment environment that we saw in January. From an underwriting perspective, in February, winter storm Uri was the latest example of a natural catastrophe that surprised the insurance industry with its reach and intensity. Our exposure to storm Uri resulted in a small underwriting loss for the quarter. We sold our majority stake in Acuris during the quarter, resulting in an after-tax gain of $10.5 million. Acuris is a successful and rapidly growing traditional MGA but is no longer core to our strategic holdings, and we have ample opportunities to deploy this capital in other areas of the business. As we look forward to the rest of 2021 and beyond, we are working hard to grow and reposition our underwriting business to capitalize on the significantly improved market conditions. Overall gross written premium in the first quarter increased by 55% to $170 million compared to the first quarter of 2020. Part of this increase came from rates where we charge more for the same exposure, but much of the increase was from the deployment of risk capacity that we withheld over the past two years as we waited for improved terms in the marketplace. The largest area of growth was reinsurance of various Lloyds syndicates, an institution that has an exceptional track record of performance in periods of market dislocations. Similarly, improved market conditions drove the year-on-year expansion of marine and other specialty classes. The increases in our motor liability and workers' compensation classes, on the other hand, result mainly from the growth in several quota share partners. We intend to reduce motor and workers' compensation exposure as the business renews over the coming year. As we grow the business overall, It's worth noting that the property catastrophe class was relatively disappointing at the January 1st renewals. Rates were up overall, but not enough in our view to adequately compensate for the accumulation and parameter risks of the class relative to other lines of business. Clearly, an inflow of new capital late last year that quickly settled on the CAC class as the path of least resistance was the culprit. As a result, we reduced our risk to the pure catastrophe classes with overall exposure remaining about the same as incidental cat exposure increased in line with growth in the specialty area. Finally, the innovations team announced two investments since January. Nimbler is a trade credit underwriter, and Players Health offers insurance and risk management services to the amateur sports segment. Both companies have exceptional leadership and offer groundbreaking products, and we look forward to supporting their growth. Now I'd like to turn the call over to David.

Thanks, Simon, and good morning, everyone. The Solace Glass Fund returned 1.5% in the first quarter. Longs contributed 11.7%, shorts detracted 6.8%, and macro detracted 2.8%. During the quarter, the S&P 500 index returned 6.2%. Long positions in Bright House Financial, AirCap Holdings, and Danimer Scientific were the biggest winners. Bright House Financial returned 22% in the first quarter as the company benefited from rising interest rates. AirCap shares returned 29% in the first quarter as the aviation industry continued on its path to recovery. In March, AirCap announced its acquisition of GE Capital Aviation Services, continuing management's track record of buying attractive assets at compelling prices. The combined fleet of over 2,000 planes is expected to comprise primarily new technology and narrow-body aircraft and have an average remaining lease term of around seven years, which should continue to support a high degree of earnings visibility for the combined entity. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter. Danover Scientific, which manufactures biodegradable plastic branded as NODACs, soared 61% in its first quarter as a public company. Dannemer's intellectual property is extremely valuable and positions the company as a leader in PHA production. The world has an enormous problem with single-use plastics, and we believe PHA will contribute to the solution for many plastic packaging applications. Already, several blue-chip brands have already signed on as Dannemer's customers, and demand for Nodex will outstrip supply for the foreseeable future. The stock has tumbled after the Wall Street Journal raised questions about Nodax's biodegradability claims. We believe this criticism is unfounded. Dannemer's product has been tested extensively and certified as biodegradable in all environments, according to high international standards. Most recently, Dannemer has been a target of a pair of aggressive short-sell reports from a single entity. We've followed this author's work for a long time. He's extremely smart and capable. However, the reports on Danimer are so full of blatant misuse of data that we have to believe that the purpose is to intentionally spread false and misleading information for the purpose of affecting the short-term stock price. We, of course, support the vigorous debate and discussion about stocks, but there are limits, and these reports, in our view, cross the line and represent the worst elements of the short-selling profession. Although we are satisfied to have generated a positive investment return in the first quarter, January got off to a rough start with a 7.3% loss that we recovered in February and March. Two factors contributed to this dynamic. First, GreenBrick Partners, our largest position, doubled in 2020. This led to an excessive weighting within our portfolio. In January, we sold about 20% of our shares in an underwritten offer, causing the stock to depress temporarily. The other performance drag was our short portfolio. In late January, a handful of our positions got caught up in the market squeeze of highly shorted stocks. Given this dynamic, we have, for the time being, reduced the number and sizing of single name shorts in our portfolio. Year-to-date through April, Solace Glass has returned 3.5%. Net exposure was approximately 24% in the investment portfolio at the end of the first quarter and roughly 35% at the end of April. We're pleased with our overall results in the first quarter. Despite the small underwriting loss relating to Storm Erie, the rest of the reshaped underwriting portfolio is performing as expected. The gains of Solace Glass and our strategic investments allowed us to generate a small increase in book value for the quarter, and we hope this pattern continues. I'd also like to offer a few comments on the results of our annual meeting that we held on Tuesday. The voting rights were clearly disappointing. The official tally gave us an unsuccessful outcome on say on pay, Additionally, after application of voting cutback adjustments required under our organizational documents, Joe Platt, the board's lead director and chair of the nomination and governance committee, was reelected to the company's operating company, but was not reelected to the holding company board. We believe that the voting results were adversely affected by low voter turnout, high broker non-votes, and adverse recommendations by certain proxy advisory firms. That said, we are committed to our shareholders and adhering to and bettering our corporate governance oversight. We're committed to making necessary changes to prevent a repeat performance in future years. Regarding say on pay, some history is in order. Over the years, our compensation committee has structured management pay in a way that we believe is tightly aligned with underwriting performance. However, the reinsurance market generally, and our underwriting results were more specifically have experienced unanticipated volatility, a result of which has been our management team has earned less than originally forecasted and significantly less than management at peer companies. The board has great respect for and confidence in the company's management team and our employees. We want to ensure that they remain motivated, energized, and aligned. In connection with our efforts to balance management interests and those of our shareholders, in September 2020, we retained compensation consultant Mercer to assist the compensation committee in reviewing and revising our compensation incentive plan design. In light of time constraints and logistical issues, Mercer did not play a material role in the company's compensation setting practices in 2020. However, Mercer is working diligently with the compensation committee on compensation setting practices and decisions for the 2021 calendar year. I do think it is worth noting that last year there were some extraordinary circumstances. In addition to unforeseen consequences of COVID-19, the company had been involved in a comprehensive and time-intensive strategic review, which was an all-consuming task for our lean management team and which compounded and added to their already significant workload. As a result, the board carefully considered and unanimously agreed to make certain off-cycle merit-based compensation adjustments and awards. That said, we understand and appreciate that these compensation decisions ran contrary to certain proxy advisor benchmarks, which we will endeavor to be mindful of in the future. Regarding the vote over Joe Platt, we believe that the outcome of his reelection principally emanates from the current absence of diversity on our board. As I mentioned, 2020 was a year of challenges for the company, which is headquartered in the Cayman Islands. Adding to our challenges is the fact that visitors are not allowed to travel to the Caymans. We've identified several diverse board candidates to join our board, but it has been nearly impossible for any new director candidate to meet in person with many of the members of our board and our management team. We intend to add at least one diverse director no later than July. Finally, let me say a few words about Joe Platt. Joe is an incredibly skilled businessman with tremendous ethics and superior judgment. In his role as the board's lead director, he has performed with aplomb, and navigated conflict and built consensus. He's a model director and has fulfilled a vital role, and we thank him. While he will not serve as the director of the parent company, I am pleased that he will continue on as the director of Greenlight Reinsurance, LTD. And now I'd like to turn the call over to Neil to discuss the financial results.