NMI Holdings Inc

Good day and welcome to the NMI Holdings, Inc. first quarter 2021 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are on a listen-only mode. Later, we will conduct a question and answer session and instructions will follow at that time. If anyone should require assistance during the conference, please press star then zero on your touchtone phone. I'd now like to turn the conference over to your host, Mr. John Swenson. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you, Angela. Good afternoon and welcome to our 2021 first quarter conference call for National AMI. I'm John Swenson, Vice President of Investor Relations and Treasury. Joining us on the call today are Brad Schuster, Executive Chairman, Claudia Merkel, CEO, Adam Politzer, our Chief Financial Officer, and Julie Norberg, our Controller. Financial results for the quarter were released after the close today. The press release may be accessed on NMI's website located at nationalmi.com under the Investors tab. During the course of this call, we may make comments about our expectations for the future. Actual results could differ materially from those contained in these forward-looking statements. Additional information about the factors that could cause actual results or trends to differ materially from those discussed on the call can be found on our website or through our regulatory filings with the SEC. If, and to the extent the company makes forward-looking statements, we do not undertake any obligation to update those statements in the future in light of subsequent developments. Further, no one should rely on the fact that the guidance of such statements is current at any time other than the time of this call. Also note that on this call, we refer to certain non-GAAP measures. In today's press release and on our website, we provided a reconciliation of these measures to the most comparable measures under GAAP. Now I'll turn the call over to Brad.

Thank you, John, and good afternoon, everyone. I'm pleased to report that in the first quarter, National MI delivered strong financial performance, record NIW volume, and significant growth in our insured portfolio. As we talk today, I'm greatly encouraged. The stress of the COVID pandemic has begun to recede with the rollout of the nationwide vaccination effort. The economic environment has stabilized with stimulus funding and the broad resumption of personal and business activity spurring job creation and growth. And the housing market has continued to demonstrate remarkable resiliency and foundational strength. Against this backdrop, we achieved a record $26.4 billion of NIW and ended the quarter with $123.8 billion of high-quality insurance in force. We are helping more borrowers than ever before gain access to housing. Credit performance in our in-force portfolio continues to trend in a favorable direction. and we are increasingly optimistic as we look forward, given the quality of our underlying book, sustained resiliency of the housing market, and strengthening macro environment. Mortgage note rates have increased after touching an all-time low in January, and while the move higher has garnered significant attention and shifts the refinancing opportunity for certain homeowners, Current rates are stable at approximately 3% nationally and remain highly constructive for our core purchase borrower. The movement in rates also holds the prospect of slowing the pace of turnover in our existing portfolio, allowing us to retain the high-quality business that we have worked hard to originate for a longer period of time. Shifting to Washington matters. We applaud the continued effort to assist those borrowers who are still impacted by the COVID crisis. The recent extension by the GSEs of their forbearance timeline and the changes proposed by the CFPB to the foreclosure process are important additional steps. The recovery from the pandemic, while broadly accelerating, will not be even. and as the immediacy of the crisis recedes, there will still be many in need of support. We believe policymakers, regulators, and others in Washington are committed to providing additional assistance to help as many borrowers as possible remain in their homes and resume their lives with limited interruption once the pandemic has passed. More broadly, the Biden administration, and new congressional leadership have signaled their focus on the housing market as an early priority. Expanding access to homeownership and all the benefits it provides, a safe environment in which to shelter, an ability to establish a community identity, and an equitable opportunity for long-term wealth creation in a manner that appropriately guards against systemic risk is critically important. And we believe there is continued recognition in Washington of the value that National MI and the broader private mortgage insurance industry bring to this effort. Providing borrowers with down payment support and equal access to mortgage credit while also placing private capital in front of the taxpayer to absorb risk and loss in a downturn. Overall, we had a terrific quarter and are well positioned to continue helping borrowers and delivering on the goals that we set for our business. With that, let me turn it over to Claudia.