Sentiment Analysis of the earnings transcript to help figure out if there are any bullish or bearish sentiments that could be gathered from it. We're doing ML and AI based analysis on the earnings call to get some more insights.
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| Statement |
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| Higher yields on invested assets also contributed to the improved fourth quarter results |
| In addition, our connected living business continued to grow, supported by our strong US partnerships with mobile carriers and cable operators, and our ability to innovate and execute for our clients |
| 2023 was an extraordinary year for Assurant, our seventh consecutive year of profitable growth |
| We drove shareholder value by delivering financial outperformance, maintaining a strong capital position and generating significant momentum throughout our businesses |
| Adjusted EBITDA grew 21% to nearly $1.4 billion and adjusted EPS increased by 26%, both excluding reportable catastrophes |
| Our results were driven by the strength of our homeowners business within Global Housing, which delivered adjusted EBITDA growth of nearly 65% excluding cats |
| But I think in terms of the expense efficiencies for housing, we had a really, really strong year |
| And so, in our business, it's not easy to win big clients, but when you can be an existing partner already, and then be able to grow that relationship from there, I think that puts us in a very good position and why we have a lot of optimism for the future of Japan |
| So, obviously, being able to deliver strong growth on top of those two factors, we feel really good about, along with the investments that I mentioned earlier |
| 2023 was a testament to the power and attractive financial profile of our unique and differentiated lifestyle and housing businesses |
| As we celebrate our 20th year as a public company, I am proud of the world class culture we've created, exemplified by the many recognitions Assurant has received throughout 2023 |
| We drove growth from the actions taken over the past few years to ensure rate adequacy and drive expense leverage, while benefiting from the streamlining that we undertook to simplify our portfolio |
| We're super proud of the team in Australia |
| Connected living's net earned premiums, fees and other income increased 12%, benefiting from contributions from new trade-in programs, higher prices on used mobile devices and modest growth in North American mobile subscribers |
| We begin 2024 in a position of strength and with great momentum |
| But I would say we feel really well positioned and certainly see improvement in 2024, and that should continuing to flow through in 2025 and beyond |
| By investing in businesses where we have leadership positions, we believe we're well positioned for future success |
| The relationships are incredibly strong |
| For the full-year 2024, we expect Global Housing adjusted EBITDA excluding reportable cats to grow, driven by continued top line momentum in homeowners |
| But, overall, we felt really good about the trade-in performance in the quarter |
| We've made significant rate adjustments over the last 18 months or so, with all five of these clients and feel really good about how we're positioned |
| Given the exit of our international property business and the better market pricing as we leverage our strong reinsurer relationships, we expect modest overall cost savings in 2024 |
| So really proud of the work that our teams have done there to not just lower the cost, but also create advantages in the market |
| Our approach has driven success within our financial results, and is evident in our track record of winning new business and renewing client partnerships |
| This expansion of our client base is an integral part of our strategy, and creates important tailwinds as we look toward the future |
| In connected living, 2023 represented another year of growth for the business with a 3% increase in earnings |
| Within our US business, we drove high single-digit EBITDA growth as we continue to innovate and execute for our growing carrier and cable operator clients through our device protection programs |
| And I think that's what's enabling us to – if you think, into 2024, we should be able to take a lot more expense leverage with the growth we had in housing, but not increasing our expenses in a corresponding way |
| We have compelling and unique aspects of our business model that we believe create advantages |
| So we feel good about that |
| Statement |
|---|
| And I think what I would say is, there's a handful of clients and deal structures where we're feeling the pressure on the underwriting results, which we've talked about |
| When you look at the overall guide for the year, we're overcoming $54 million of PYD in housing |
| When we talk about mid-single-digit growth for lifestyle, you could probably think about the investment, putting pressure on that by a few points |
| Internationally, we continue to be impacted by subscriber declines in Japan, but have stabilized performance in a challenging macroeconomic backdrop |
| It does appear we did lose Grace |
| So it'll be, I would say, probably modestly EBITDA negative this year in terms of the investment to get that wrapped up |
| Claims were also elevated from the expected normalization of auto ancillary products and from international clients |
| When fully onboarded, we expect the placement rate of the book to be below Assurant's current portfolio average of 1.8%, which may impact overall placement rate trends |
| Assurant would not have been able to achieve this level of success without our talented people, including our newly refreshed management committee, further strengthening our leadership team |
| Then that's also tempered a little bit by some of the promotional activity |
| The fourth quarter adjusted EBITDA loss was $30 million, a $3 million year-over-year increase, mainly due to higher employee-related expenses |
| When you look at our expense ratio year-over-year, we're down 6 points from 46 to about 40 |
| Is that kind of ending in 2024? There's still pressures there and you expect some growth? And then, also on that, kind of maybe you can tell us what your kind of baseline macro assumption is in your kind of outlook for 2024? Keith Meier Starting with Japan, we mentioned the four-year customer contracts that were running off, and then the new contracts were evergreen, that's still going to be a bit of a pressure for us, not as much as 2023, but they'll still be a pressure for us in 2024 |
| Excluding favorable prior-year development, our 2023 combined ratio was 83%, including $111 million of reportable cats, which was below our assumed annual cat load of $140 million |
| Turning to auto, year-over-year declines were driven by inflationary impacts on claims costs |
| And then, we don't have material tailwinds on investment income |
| For renters and other, earnings were flat as growth in our property management channel was offset by softer affinity channel volumes |
| First one, I'm just curious |
| Keith Demmings No problem |
| In addition, our robust catastrophe program substantially limits retained risk due to the low per occurrence retention level and high limit at the top end of the tower |
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