Stewart Information Services Corporation

Hello, and thank you for joining the Stewart Information Services First Quarter 2021 Earnings Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later, you will have an opportunity to ask a question during the question and answer session. Instructions will be given at that time. Please note, this call may be recorded. Lastly, if you should require operator assistance, please press star zero. It is now my pleasure to turn today's conference over to Nat Otis, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Brittany. Good morning. Thank you for joining us today for Stuart's first quarter 2021 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 Stuart.com website to access the link 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 that 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 then the statement regarding forward-looking information risks and uncertainties and other sections of the company's foreign 10K and other filings with the SEC. Let me now turn the call over to Fred.

Good morning, everybody, and thank you for joining us today for Stuart's first quarter of 2021 earnings call and for your interest in Stuart. Before I turn it over to David to go through the details of the quarter's results, I wanted to touch on a few topics as we move into 2021. I am very, very pleased with the progress this quarter. We clearly capitalized on the historic market strength, but we also continue to improve our underlying financial strength and the resiliency of the company. We grew share in a number of critical markets. We added some service capabilities and leveraged our improved technology platform. As we look ahead, we envision a steward that not only takes advantage of the high points of the cycle, but can also thrive through the entire business cycle. The foundation of this future lies in a more strategic and disciplined operational approach to investments and a company culture that is focused on moving quickly to adapt and to capitalize on opportunities to improve and grow the company. While our journey is not finished, the work our employees accomplished last year and throughout the first quarter, addressing the challenges of the pandemic conditions, driving structural changes, integrating more valuable talent and asset additions, have all fundamentally changed our company. The results to date are encouraging and illustrate that we are on the right path. Given what we've accomplished today and our view of the market outlook, we are very bullish on the company's opportunities for the next two or three years. As we look at 21 and 22 and beyond, there's a level of uncertainty over the endurance of the cycle even as we continue to experience strong market demand. We know the refinancing will begin to flow at some point even though the overall residential market is healthy and is expected to remain that way for some time as resale transactions driven by pent-up demand and favorable homeowner demographics will continue to show strength. In this kind of market, there will be winners and losers, and we are positioning ourselves to be one of the winners. At our core, we are a 125-year-old customer-centric brand that delivers superior service and underwriting for its customers and partners. But I also like to think of us as a 125-year-old startup. Our footprint, our delivery, our decision-making are all improving every day. We also understand that technology is changing our industry and our company, and we continue to focus intensely on improving the customer experience through innovation and connectivity. By creating a fully integrated platform, we are delivering a safer, more effective, and efficient closing process for our customers and our partners. Whether through our upfront transaction management app and platform StewardNow or our automated underwriting tool, Stewart Accelerate, or virtual real estate closings with our notary can and signature closer companies, or securing transfer of funds through our partnership with Certified, we are meeting our customers' technology needs without sacrificing our core fiduciary commitment to appropriately underwrite the transaction. Our journey to be the premier title service company continues. Clearly, we have more to do, but in this quarter, we made significant progress toward a more resilient Growing Enterprise, one position to succeed and grow, share in a variety of environments. David will now update everyone on the results of the quarter.