HCI Group, Inc.

Good morning and welcome to HCI Group's fourth quarter 2021 earnings call. My name is Paul and I will be your conference operator this morning. At this time, all participants will be in a listen-only mode. Before we begin today's call, I would like to remind everyone that this conference call is being recorded and will be available for replay through April 9, 2022, starting later today. The call is also being broadcast live via webcast and available via webcast replay until March 8, 2023 on the investor information section of HCI Group's website at www.hcigroup.com. I would now like to turn the call over to Matt Glover, Gateway Investor Relations. Matt, please proceed.

Thank you and good morning. Welcome to HCI Group's fourth quarter 2021 earnings call. Today's call is Karen Coleman, HCI's Chief Operating Officer, Mark Harmsworth, Chief financial officer, and Parish Patel, chairman and chief executive officer. All in Karen's opening remarks, Mark will review our financial performance for the fourth quarter of 2021, and then Parish will provide an operational outlook. To access today's webcast, please visit the investor information section of our corporate website at www.hcigroup.com. Before we begin, I would like to take this opportunity to remind our listeners that today's presentation and responses to questions may contain forward-looking statements made pursuant to the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as anticipate, estimate, expect, intend, plan, and project, and other similar words and expressions are intended to signify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future results and conditions, but rather are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Some of these risks and uncertainties are identified in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Should any risks or uncertainties develop into actual events, these developments could have material adverse effects on the company's business, financial conditions, and results of operations. HCI Group disclaims all of the obligations to update any forward-looking statements. Now, with that, I'd like to turn the call over to Karen Coleman, Chief Operating Officer. Karen?

Thank you, Matt, and welcome, everyone. Thank you all for joining us this morning. 2021 was a decisive year for HCI Group with meaningful progress on key initiatives across the company. Our insurance divisions posted another strong quarter of growth, ending the year with annualized gross premiums of around $720 million, up 35% from a year ago. Both of our insurance subsidiaries grew while our consolidated gross loss ratio remained stable below 40%. At Homeowner's Choice, we reported gross written premiums of $103 million in the fourth quarter, up from $97 million last year, benefiting from strong retention and rate increases, while producing an attritional loss ratio of just 26%. At TipTap, we reported gross written premiums of $86 million in the fourth quarter, up from $42 million in Q4 last year. While for the year, annualized gross premiums more than doubled to just under $250 million, up from $100 million at the end of 2020. TIP TAP started 2021 in one state and at the end of the year was in 12 states. And we have additional expansion planned for 2022. Our insurance carriers remain well capitalized with a combined surplus of more than $200 million. Looking back over two years, HCI has doubled annualized gross premiums while holding gross loss ratios flat, below 40%. I'd say this is a remarkable accomplishment. These results speak to the effectiveness of our proprietary technology, its ongoing enhancements, and the potential to scale our business at attractive margins as we expand market share. Moving on to Greenleaf, our real estate subsidiary, we closed the year with a strong quarter, earning a profit for the full year. We're very excited about our real estate assets, which include marquee commercial properties in rapidly growing central Florida. At year end, our real estate portfolio had an appraised value of nearly $120 million with only 22 million in associated debt. We expect Greenleaf to sustain its momentum in 2022 as the team continues to capitalize on embedded value in our real estate portfolio. Now, moving to the group level, We've taken targeted actions to strengthen our balance sheet, reducing debt to capital to its lowest level in recent years. In the fourth quarter, we converted an additional $32 million of our convertible senior notes, reducing the outstanding balance to $24 million, down from $139 million at the beginning of the year. Together with the $100 million capital infusion from Centerbridge Partners early last year, We've increased our combined equity and preferred capital by more than $200 million while reducing our debt by nearly 70%. The bottom line is that HGI Group and its subsidiaries enter 2022 on sound footing with strengthened balance sheets and the ability to grow without the need for external capital. In my closing, 2021 was a year in which we produced tangible results for our shareholders. We increased revenue, expanded our footprint, and strengthened our balance sheet while growing book value per share 24% and paying our 45th consecutive quarterly dividend at 40 cents per share. I'll now turn it over to Mark to provide more detail on our financial results. Mark?