Business description of ESSENT-GROUP-LTD from last 10-k form

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 SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

        This Annual Report on Form 10-K, or Annual Report, includes forward-looking statements pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements relate to expectations, beliefs, projections, future plans and strategies, anticipated events or trends and similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts or present facts or conditions, such as statements regarding our future financial condition or results of operations, our prospects and strategies for future growth, the introduction of new merchandise, and the implementation of our marketing and branding strategies. In many cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as "may," "will," "should," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," "potential" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology.

        The forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report reflect our views as of the date of this Annual Report about future events and are subject to risks, uncertainties, assumptions and changes in circumstances that may cause events or our actual activities or results to differ significantly from those expressed in any forward-looking statement. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future events, results, actions, levels of activity, performance or achievements. A number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, those factors described below, in Part I, Item 1A "Risk Factors," and in Part II, Item 7 "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations." These factors include, without limitation, the following:

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    changes in or to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which we refer to collectively as the GSEs, whether through Federal legislation, restructurings or a shift in business practices;

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    failure to continue to meet the mortgage insurer eligibility requirements of the GSEs;

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    competition for our customers;

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    decline in new insurance written, or NIW, and franchise value due to loss of a significant customer;

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    lenders or investors seeking alternatives to private mortgage insurance;

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    increase in the number of loans insured through Federal government mortgage insurance programs, including those offered by the Federal Housing Administration;

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    decline in the volume of low down payment mortgage originations;

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    uncertainty of loss reserve estimates;

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    decrease in the length of time our insurance policies are in force;

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    deteriorating economic conditions;

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    the definition of "Qualified Mortgage" reducing the size of the mortgage origination market or creating incentives to use government mortgage insurance programs;

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    the definition of "Qualified Residential Mortgage" reducing the number of low down payment loans or lenders and investors seeking alternatives to private mortgage insurance;

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    the implementation of the Basel III Capital Accord, which may discourage the use of private mortgage insurance;

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    management of risk in our investment portfolio;

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    fluctuations in interest rates;

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    inadequacy of the premiums we charge to compensate for our losses incurred;

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    dependence on management team and qualified personnel;

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    disturbance to our information technology systems;

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    change in our customers' capital requirements discouraging the use of mortgage insurance;

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    declines in the value of borrowers' homes;

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    limited availability of capital;

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    unanticipated claims arise under and risks associated with our contract underwriting program;

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    industry practice that loss reserves are established only upon a loan default;

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    disruption in mortgage loan servicing;

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    risk of future legal proceedings;

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    customers' technological demands;

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    our non-U.S. operations becoming subject to U.S. Federal income taxation;

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    becoming considered a passive foreign investment company for U.S. Federal income tax purposes;

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    scope of recently enacted legislation is uncertain; and

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    potential inability of our insurance subsidiaries to pay dividends.

        Readers are urged to consider these factors carefully in evaluating the forward-looking statements and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. All of the forward-looking statements we have included in this Annual Report are based on information available to us on the date of this Annual Report. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as otherwise required by law.

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        Unless the context otherwise indicates or requires, the terms "we," "our," "us," "Essent," and the "Company," as used in this Annual Report, refer to Essent Group Ltd. and its directly and indirectly owned subsidiaries, including our primary operating subsidiaries, Essent Guaranty, Inc. and Essent Reinsurance Ltd., as a combined entity, except where otherwise stated or where it is clear that the terms mean only Essent Group Ltd. exclusive of its subsidiaries. Except as otherwise indicated, "Market Share" as used in this Annual Report means our market share as measured by our share of total new insurance written ("NIW") on a flow basis (in which loans are insured in individual, loan-by-loan transactions) in the private mortgage insurance industry, and excludes NIW under the Home Affordable Refinance Program ("HARP" and such NIW, the "HARP NIW") and bulk insurance that we write (in which each loan in a portfolio of loans is insured in a single transaction).


 PART I

ITEM 1.    BUSINESS

Overview

        We are an established and growing private mortgage insurance company. We were formed to serve the U.S. housing finance industry at a time when the demands of the financial crisis and a rapidly changing business environment created the need for a new, privately funded mortgage insurance company. Since writing our first policy in May 2010, we have grown to an estimated 13.7% Market Share for the year ended December 31, 2014, up from 12.1% and 8.6% for the years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012, respectively. We believe that our success has been driven by the unique opportunity we offer lenders to partner with a well-capitalized mortgage insurer, unencumbered by business originated prior to the financial crisis, that provides fair and transparent claims payment practices, and consistency and speed of service.

        Private mortgage insurance plays a critical role in the U.S. housing finance system. Essent and other private mortgage insurers provide credit protection to lenders and mortgage investors by covering a portion of the unpaid principal balance of a mortgage and certain related expenses in the event of a default. In doing so, we provide private capital to mitigate mortgage credit risk, allowing lenders to make additional mortgage financing available to prospective homeowners.

        Private mortgage insurance helps extend affordable home ownership by facilitating the sale of low down payment loans into the secondary market. Two U.S. Federal government-sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which we refer to collectively as the GSEs, purchase residential mortgages from banks and other lenders and guaranty mortgage-backed securities that are offered to investors in the secondary mortgage market. The GSEs are restricted by their charters from purchasing or guaranteeing low down payment loans, defined as loans with less than a 20% down payment, that are not covered by certain credit protections. Private mortgage insurance satisfies the GSEs' credit protection requirements for low down payment loans, supporting a robust secondary mortgage market in the United States.

        Our wholly-owned primary U.S. mortgage insurance subsidiary, Essent Guaranty, Inc., received its certificate of authority from the Pennsylvania Insurance Department in July 2009. In December 2009, we acquired our mortgage insurance platform from a former private mortgage insurance industry participant. In 2010, Essent became the first private mortgage insurer to be approved by the GSEs since 1995, and we are licensed to write mortgage guaranty coverage in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

        We had master policy relationships with approximately 1,175 customers as of December 31, 2014. Our top ten customers represented approximately 42.6%, 49.6% and 60.4% of our NIW on a flow basis for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012, respectively. We have a highly experienced, talented team of 332 employees as of December 31, 2014. Our holding company is domiciled in

Bermuda and our U.S. insurance business is headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania. We operate additional underwriting and service centers in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and Irvine, California.

        For the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012, we generated NIW of approximately $24.8 billion (including approximately $1.8 billion in NIW written on a bulk basis), $21.2 billion and $11.2 billion, respectively, and as of December 31, 2014, we had approximately $50.8 billion of insurance in force. The insurer financial strength rating of Essent Guaranty, Inc. is Baa2 with a stable outlook by Moody's Investors Service and BBB+ with a stable outlook by Standard & Poor's Rating Services.