New business tumbled at United Guaranty as the firm’s behemoth parent announced that it will add two new directors to its board.
During the final three months of last year, the mortgage insurance company wrote $10.778 billion in new insurance policies.
That was according to fourth-quarter 2015 earnings data reported by United Guaranty’s parent, American International Group Inc.
Business fell from the third quarter, when $14.760 billion in new insurance was written, and the fourth-quarter 2014, when volume totaled $11.023 billion.
From Jan. 1 through Dec. 31 of last year, $51.715 billion in new insurance was written, more than $42.884 billion in all of 2014.
The fourth-quarter 2015 total included $10.627 billion in first-lien insurance.
United
Guaranty closed out 2015 with 929,298 policies in force, more than the 907,360 count as of the end of September and 867,120 at the end of 2014.
First-lien insurance in force, net of reinsurance and stop loss, was $187.186 billion as of Dec. 31, 2015. The amount grew from $184.031 billion as of three months earlier and $167.180 billion a year earlier.
The rate of primary delinquency was 3.4 percent as of the most-recent date, 10 basis points less than as of Sept. 30, 2015, and 100 BPS better than as of Dec. 31, 2014.
Pre-tax operating income from the mortgage guaranty business totaled $180 million, more than the $162 million earned in the third quarter and $171 million earned in the fourth-quarter 2014.
For all of AIG, pre-tax operating income came to a $2.2 billion loss in the fourth-quarter 2015, swinging from an $0.8 billion profit three months previous and a $1.7 billion profit 12 months previous.
As previously reported, AIG indicated that it plans an initial public offering of up to 19.9 percent of United Guaranty.
Under pressure from investor Carl Icahn, AIG said its board will be nominating Icahn Capital LP Managing Director Samuel Merksamer and Paulson & Co. President John Paulson as directors — expanding the size of the board to 16 directors from 14.
