UNIVERSAL INSURANCE HOLDINGS INC

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the UVE third quarter 2021 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question during the session, you will need to press star 1 on your telephone. As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Rob Luther, Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Investor Relations.

Thank you and good morning, everyone. Welcome to our discussion on our third quarter 2021 earnings results, which were reported yesterday. On the call with me today is Steve Dunahee, Chief Executive Officer, and Frank Wilcox, Chief Financial Officer. Before we begin, please note today's discussion may contain forward-looking statements and non-GAAP financial measures. Forward-looking statements involve assumptions, risks, and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those statements. For more information, please see the press release and UVE's SEC filings, all of which are available on the investor section of our website at universalinsuranceholdings.com and on the SEC's website. A reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to comparable GAAP measures is included in the quarterly press release. With that, Steve, I'll turn it over to you.

Thanks, Rob. Good morning, everyone. Our third quarter results reported yesterday demonstrate continued execution of our multi-year strategic priorities, including discipline growth and operational improvements. Our direct premiums earned growth of 15% in the third quarter was primarily driven by primary rate increases in Florida earning through the book. We have now filed for more than 34% in primary rate increases in Florida over the past 18 months, while simultaneously continuing to shape our underwriting risk with total policies in force relatively flat year over year. Our business expenses were lower from continued expense management controls, including lower agency commissions and employee productivity gains, in addition to lower executive compensation accruals. These results were highlighted by a 16.4% annualized return on average equity in the quarter. I'd like to now turn it over to Frank to walk through our financial results. Frank.