NMI Holdings Inc

Good day, and welcome to the NMI Holdings, Inc. Fourth Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. All participants will be in a listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press star, then one on a touch-tone phone. To withdraw your question, please press star then two. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to John Swenson of management. Please go ahead.

Thank you, operator. Good afternoon and welcome to the 2024 fourth quarter conference call for National MI. I'm John Swenson, Vice President of Investor Relations and Treasury. Joining us on the call today are Brad Schuster, Executive Chairman, Adam Politzer, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Aurora Swithin Bank, our Chief Financial Officer. 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 Investor Staff. 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 may 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 fourth quarter, National MI again delivered standout operating performance, continued growth in our insured portfolio, and strong financial results, capping a year of tremendous success. We closed 2024 with $46 billion of total NIW volume and a record $210.2 billion of high-quality, high-performing primary insurance and force. We delivered broad success in customer development continued to innovate in the capital and reinsurance markets, and once again achieved industry-leading credit performance. In 2024, we generated record adjusted net income of $365.6 million, up 13% compared to 2023. Record adjusted EPS of $4.50 up 17% compared to 2023, and delivered a 17.6% adjusted return on equity. Looking ahead, I'm excited at the opportunity we have to continue to build on our success. As we plan for 2025, we'll continue to focus on our people. They are talented, innovative, and dedicated, and we'll continue to invest in our culture with a focus on collaboration, performance, and impact. We'll continue to differentiate with our customers. The mortgage market is connected and evolving, and we'll work to continue to stand out with our focus on customer service, value-added engagement, and technology leadership. We'll continue to prioritize discipline and risk responsibility as we grow our insured portfolio, working to write a large volume of high quality, high return business under the protective umbrella of our comprehensive credit risk management framework. And we'll continue to focus on building value for our shareholders, growing earnings, compounding book value, delivering strong mid-teens returns, and prudently distributing excess capital. Before turning it over to Adam, I'd also like to comment on the current policy environment. Our conversations in Washington since the election have been active and constructive. We have long noted that there is bipartisan recognition of the unique and valuable role that the private mortgage insurance industry plays, working to consistently expand access to home ownership and all the benefits it provides, while also placing private capital in front of the taxpayer to ensure the safety and soundness of the conventional mortgage market. National MI and the broader private MI industry have never been stronger or better positioned to provide support than we are today. and we're looking forward to working with the new administration to advance their important housing goals. With that, let me turn it over to Adam.