SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This Annual Report on Form 10-K of Hamilton Insurance Group, Inc. for the year ended December 31, 2023 (“Annual Report”) includes “forward looking statements” pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of terms such as “believes,” “expects,” “may,” “will,” “target,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “seeks,” “intends,” “plans,” “contemplates,” “estimates,” or “anticipates,” or similar expressions which concern our strategy, plans, projections or intentions. These forward-looking statements appear in a number of places throughout this Annual Report and relate to matters such as our industry, growth strategy, goals and expectations concerning our market position, future operations, margins, profitability, capital expenditures, liquidity and capital resources and other financial and operating information. By their nature, forward-looking statements: speak only as of the date they are made; are not statements of historical fact or guarantees of future performance; and are subject to risks, uncertainties, assumptions, or changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict or quantify. Our expectations, beliefs, and projections are expressed in good faith and we believe there is a reasonable basis for them. However, there can be no assurance that management’s expectations, beliefs and projections will be achieved and actual results may vary materially from what is expressed in or indicated by the forward-looking statements.
There are a number of risks, uncertainties, and other important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report. Such risks, uncertainties, and other important factors include, among others, the risks, uncertainties and factors set forth in “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in this Annual Report and the following:
•our results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected by unpredictable catastrophic events, global climate change or emerging claim and coverage issues;
•our business could be materially adversely affected if we do not accurately assess our underwriting risk, our reserves are inadequate to cover our actual losses, our models or assessments and pricing of risks are incorrect or we lose important broker relationships;
•the insurance and reinsurance business is historically cyclical and the pricing and terms for our products may decline, which would affect our profitability and ability to maintain or grow premiums;
•we have significant foreign operations that expose us to certain additional risks, including foreign currency risks and political risk;
•we do not control the allocations to and/or the performance of the Two Sigma Hamilton Fund, LLC ("TS Hamilton Fund")’s investment portfolio, and its performance depends on the ability of its investment manager, Two Sigma, to select and manage appropriate investments and we have a limited ability to withdraw our capital accounts;
•Two Sigma Principals, LLC, Two Sigma and their respective affiliates have potential conflicts of interest that could adversely affect us;
•the historical performance of Two Sigma Investments, LP ("Two Sigma") is not necessarily indicative of the future results of the TS Hamilton Fund’s investment portfolio or of our future results;
•our ability to manage risks associated with macroeconomic conditions resulting from geopolitical and global economic events, including public health crises, current or anticipated military conflicts, terrorism, sanctions, rising energy prices, inflation and interest rates and other global events;
•our ability to compete successfully with more established competitors and risks relating to consolidation in the reinsurance and insurance industries;
•downgrades, potential downgrades or other negative actions by rating agencies;
•our dependence on key executives, including the potential loss of Bermudian personnel as a result of Bermuda employment restrictions, and the inability to attract qualified personnel, particularly in very competitive hiring conditions;
•our dependence on letter of credit facilities that may not be available on commercially acceptable terms;
•our potential need for additional capital in the future and the potential unavailability of such capital to us on favorable terms or at all;
•the suspension or revocation of our subsidiaries’ insurance licenses;
•risks associated with our investment strategy, including such risks being greater than those faced by competitors;
•changes in the regulatory environment and the potential for greater regulatory scrutiny of the Company going forward;
•a cyclical downturn of the reinsurance industry;
•operational failures, failure of information systems or failure to protect the confidentiality of customer information, including by service providers, or losses due to defaults, errors or omissions by third parties or our affiliates;
•we are a holding company with no direct operations, and our insurance and reinsurance subsidiaries’ ability to pay dividends and other distributions to us is restricted by law;
•risks relating to our ability to identify and execute opportunities for growth or our ability to complete transactions as planned or realize the anticipated benefits of our acquisitions or other investments;
•our potentially becoming subject to U.S. federal income taxation, Bermuda taxation or other taxes as a result of a change of tax laws or otherwise;
•the potential characterization of us and/or any of our subsidiaries as a passive foreign investment company, or PFIC;
•our potentially becoming subject to U.S. withholding and information reporting requirements under the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA, provisions;
•our costs will increase as a result of operating as a public company, and our management will be required to devote substantial time to complying with public company regulations;
•if we were to identify a material weakness and were unable to remediate such material weakness, or fail to achieve and maintain effective internal controls, our operating results and financial condition could be impacted and the market price of our Class B common shares may be negatively affected;
•the lack of a prior public market for our Class B common shares means our share price may be volatile and anti-takeover provisions contained in our organizational documents could delay management changes;
•the potential that the market price of our Class B common shares could decline due to future sales of shares by our existing shareholders;
•applicable insurance laws, which could make it difficult to effect a change of control of our company; and
•investors may have difficulties in serving process or enforcing judgments against us in the United States.
There may be other factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements, including factors disclosed under the sections entitled “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in this Annual Report. You should evaluate all forward-looking statements made in this Annual Report in the context of these risks and uncertainties.
You should read this Annual Report completely and with the understanding that actual future results may be materially different from expectations. We caution you that the risks, uncertainties, and other factors referenced above may not contain all of the risks, uncertainties and other factors that are important to you. In addition, we cannot assure you that we will realize the results, benefits, or developments that we expect or anticipate or, even if substantially realized, that they will result in the consequences or affect us or our business in the way expected. All forward-looking statements in this Annual Report apply only as of the date of this Annual Report and are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.
BUSINESS
In this Form 10-K, references to “Hamilton,” “Hamilton Group,” the “Company,” “we,” “us” and “our” refer to Hamilton Insurance Group, Ltd., together with its consolidated subsidiaries, unless the context requires otherwise. Defined terms used through this Form 10-K are included in the “Glossary of Defined Terms” in this Form 10-K. Amounts in this Form 10-K are presented in U.S. dollars, unless otherwise noted. Certain amounts presented in tables are subject to rounding adjustments and, as a result, the totals in such tables may not sum.
Our Company
Overview of Our Business
We are a global specialty insurance and reinsurance company founded in Bermuda in 2013. We harness multiple drivers to create shareholder value. These include diverse underwriting operations supported by proprietary technology and a team of over 500 full-time employees, a strong balance sheet, and a unique investment management relationship with Two Sigma. We operate globally, with underwriting operations in Lloyd’s, Ireland, Bermuda, and the United States. We are led by an entrepreneurial and experienced management team that has grown premiums written from $571 million for the year ended November 30, 2018 to $2.0 billion for the year ended December 31, 2023, while also reducing our combined ratio significantly. The combined effects of organic premium growth, strategic acquisition, new market developments and continuous platform cost optimization leave us well positioned to capitalize on the favorable market conditions across the lines of business written by our established and scaled underwriting platforms.
We operate three principal underwriting platforms (Hamilton Global Specialty, Hamilton Select and Hamilton Re) that are categorized into two reporting business segments (International and Bermuda):
•
International:
Accounting for 57% of gross premiums written for the year ended December 31, 2023, our International segment consists of business written out of our Lloyd’s syndicate and subsidiaries based in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the United States, and includes the Hamilton Global Specialty and Hamilton Select platforms.
•Hamilton Global Specialty focuses predominantly on commercial specialty and casualty insurance for medium-to large-sized accounts and specialty reinsurance products written by Lloyd’s Syndicate 4000 and Hamilton Insurance DAC ("HIDAC"). Syndicate 4000, a leading Lloyd’s syndicate, generates a significant portion of premium from the U.S. Excess & Surplus (“U.S. E&S”) market and has ranked among the most profitable and least volatile syndicates at Lloyd’s over the last 10 years.
•Hamilton Select, our recently launched U.S. domestic E&S carrier, writes casualty insurance for small-to-mid-sized clients in the hard-to-place niche of the U.S. E&S market. We believe it presents meaningful and profitable growth opportunities in the near-to-long term, further expanding our footprint in the U.S. E&S market.
•Our International segment had gross premiums written of $277 million, $662 million, $892 million, $933 million and $1,106 million for the years ended November 30, 2019 through November 30, 2021 and December 31, 2022 and 2023, respectively, with a corresponding combined ratio of 153%, 111%, 108%, 97% and 95% for the same periods.