Stewart Information Services Corporation

Please stand by, your program is about to begin. Hello and thank you for joining the Steward Information Services second quarter 2020 earnings call. At this time all participants are in a listen only mode. Later you will have an opportunity to ask questions during the question and answer session. Instructions will be given at that time. Please note this call may be recorded. And lastly, if you require operator assistance, please press star and zero. It is now my pleasure to turn today's conference over to Nat Otis, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Good morning. Thank you for joining us today for Stewart's second quarter 2020 earnings conference call. We will be discussing results that were released yesterday after the close. Joining me today are CEO Fred Eppinger and CFO David Hisey. To listen online, please go to the stewart.com website to access the links for this conference call. I will remind participants that this conference call may contain forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Because such statements are based on an expectation of future financial operating results and are not statements of fact, actual results may differ materially from those projected. The risks and uncertainties with forward-looking statements are subject to include but are not limited to the risks and other factors detailed in our press release published yesterday evening and in the statement regarding forward-looking information, risk factors, and other sections of the company's Form 10-K and other filings with the SEC. Let me now turn the call over to Fred.

Thanks, Dad. And thank you for joining us today and your interest in Stuart. Before discussing this quarter's results in greater detail, I'd like to once again take the opportunity to thank our employees. they have continued to prioritize the health and safety of our customers and peers while tirelessly conducting business under challenging conditions. I would also like to thank our customers who have remained loyal to Stewart. We are gratified to see more agents returning their underwriting business to Stewart as they value the unparalleled service that defines our brand and our company. David will go through this quarter's financials in more detail in a minute, but first I'd like to make a couple of observations on our performance. First, I am pleased with the results and, more importantly, with the progress on our journey. We are continuing to see the emergence of the team's effort to create the new steward, one that is focused on becoming the premier title services company. While it is clear that the residential market has been strong and has helped us, much of our improvement comes from a more focused approach to investment in our businesses and improving operating disciplines. Although future conditions are very much an unknown, I believe Stuart is more prepared than ever to handle any uncertainty and, when possible, take advantage of opportunities that arise, given our financial strength and appeal in improving operational performance. Second, the cornerstone of Stuart's evolution is the belief that the company needs to invest and grow to maximize its operation potential. For too long, Stuart has been a mile wide and an inch deep. We need to invest in a few significant categories. First, attractive businesses and geographies where we can have sustained success and where additional scale can more efficiently and effectively improve profitability. Second, we will further leverage our strengths by increasing investment in areas that are already in a strong competitive position. And lastly, we will continue to look for adjacent businesses and technologies that can help us further leverage our place in the ever evolving real estate closing experience. For example, we closed on our purchase of U.S. appraisals at the end of May, and with just one month of input in our quarter, this acquisition helped to markedly improve our ancillary services results. In the end, U.S. appraisals brought us closer to our customers, added technology that will be critical in driving future business, and added scale and improved profitability. All of this at what we would view as a reasonable price. exactly the type of transaction we are looking for and will continue to look for. We have a strong acquisition pipeline in each of these categories and expect to be opportunistic in our capital deployment while understanding the near-term uncertainty of the market conditions. Let me finish by noting that we are in extraordinary times with uncertainty dominating our daily lives for the foreseeable future. While the possibility exists that a full recovery may not take place until after the vaccine is found, a major part of it will, as always, I believe, be grounded in the health and stability of our real estate market. As I said last quarter, Stuart will continue to put the safety of our employees, our customers, and our communities first. And whether during or after this pandemic, Stuart will be there ready to help lead this industry and support our real estate market. Thank you for the time, and David will now go through the quarter's financials.