Old Republic International Corporation Company Profile

Old Republic International Corporation is a Chicago based holding company engaged in the single business of insurance underwriting and related services. It conducts its operations principally through a number of regulated insurance company subsidiaries organized into three major segments, namely, its General Insurance Group (property and liability insurance), Title Insurance Group, and the Republic Financial Indemnity Group ("RFIG") (mortgage guaranty ("MI") and consumer credit indemnity ("CCI")) Run-off Business. References herein to such groups apply to the Companys subsidiaries engaged in these respective segments of business. The results of a small life and accident insurance business are included within the corporate and other caption of this report. "Old Republic" or "the Company" refers to Old Republic International Corporation and its subsidiaries as the context requires.

The insurance business is distinguished from most others in that the prices (premiums) charged for various insurance products are set without certainty of the ultimate benefit and claim costs that will emerge or be incurred, often many years after issuance and expiration of a policy. This basic fact casts Old Republic as a risk-taking enterprise managed for the long run. Management therefore conducts the business with a primary focus on achieving favorable underwriting results over cycles, and on the maintenance of financial soundness in support of the insurance subsidiaries long-term obligations to insurance beneficiaries. To achieve these objectives, adherence to insurance risk management principles is stressed, and asset diversification and quality are emphasized. The underwriting principles encompass:

Disciplined risk selection, evaluation, and pricing to reduce uncertainty and adverse selection;

Enhancing the predictability of expected outcomes through insurance of the largest number of homogeneous risks as to each type of coverage;

Reducing the insurance portfolio risk profile through:
diversification and spread of insured risks; and
assimilation of uncorrelated asset and liability exposures across economic sectors that tend to offset or counterbalance one another; and

Effective management of gross and net limits of liability through appropriate use of reinsurance.

In addition to income arising from Old Republics basic underwriting and related services functions, significant investment income is earned from invested funds generated by those functions and from shareholders capital. Investment management aims for stability of income from interest and dividends, protection of capital, and for sufficiency of liquidity to meet insurance underwriting and other obligations as they become payable in the future. Securities trading and the realization of capital gains are not objectives. The investment philosophy is therefore best characterized as emphasizing value, credit quality, and relatively long-term holding periods. The Companys ability to hold both fixed maturity and equity securities for long periods of time is in turn enabled by the scheduling of maturities in contemplation of an appropriate matching of assets and liabilities, and by investments in large capitalization equity securities with necessary market liquidity.

In light of the above factors, the Companys affairs are necessarily managed for the long-run and without significant regard to the arbitrary strictures of quarterly or even annual reporting periods that American industry must observe. In Old Republics view, such short reporting time frames do not comport well with the long-term nature of much of its business. Management believes that the Companys operating results and financial condition can best be evaluated by observing underwriting and overall operating performance trends over succeeding five or preferably ten year intervals. A ten year period in particular can likely encompass at least one economic and/or underw

Old Republics General Insurance segment is best characterized as a commercial lines insurance business with a strong focus on liability insurance coverages. Most of these coverages are provided to businesses, government, and other institutions. The Company does not have a meaningful exposure to personal lines insurance such as homeowners and private automobile coverages, nor does it insure significant amounts of commercial or other real property. In continuance of its commercial lines orientation, Old Republic also focuses on specific sectors of the North American economy, most prominently the transportation (trucking and general aviation), commercial construction, healthcare, education, retail and wholesale trade, forest products, energy, general manufacturing, and financial services industries. In managing the insurance risks it undertakes, the Company employs various underwriting and loss mitigation techniques such as utilization of policy deductibles, captive insurance risk-sharing arrangements, and retrospective rating and policyholder dividend plans. These underwriting techniques are intended to better correlate premium charges with the ultimate claims experience of individual or groups of assureds.

Old Republics flagship title insurance company was founded in 1907. The Title Insurance Groups business consists primarily of the issuance of policies to real estate purchasers and investors based upon searches of the public records which contain information concerning interests in real property. The policies insure against losses arising out of defects, liens and encumbrances affecting the insured title and not excluded or excepted from the coverage of the policy.

Old Republics RFIG run-off business consists of its mortgage guaranty and CCI operations.
Private mortgage insurance protects mortgage lenders and investors from default related losses on residential mortgage loans made primarily to homebuyers who make down payments of less than 20% of the homes purchase price. The mortgage guaranty operation insures only first mortgage loans, primarily on residential properties incorporating one-to-four family dwelling units. Old Republics mortgage guaranty business was started in 1973.

The Companys property and liability insurance subsidiaries establish claim reserves which consist of estimates to settle: a) reported claims; b) claims which have been incurred as of each balance sheet date but have not as yet been reported ("IBNR") to the insurance subsidiaries; and c) the direct costs, (fees and costs which are allocable to individual claims) and indirect costs (such as salaries and rent applicable to the overall management of claim departments) to administer known and IBNR claims. Such claim reserves, except as to classification in the Consolidated Balance Sheets as to gross and reinsured portions and purchase accounting adjustments, are reported for financial and regulatory reporting purposes at amounts that are substantially the same.

The establishment of claim reserves by the Companys insurance subsidiaries is a reasonably complex and dynamic process influenced by a large variety of factors. These factors principally include past experience applicable to the anticipated costs of various types of claims, continually evolving and changing legal theories emanating from the judicial system, recurring accounting, statistical, and actuarial studies, the professional experience and expertise of the Companys claim departments personnel or attorneys and independent claim adjusters, ongoing changes in claim frequency or severity patterns such as those caused by natural disasters, illnesses, accidents, work-related injuries, and changes in general and industry-specific economic conditions. Consequently, the reserves established are a reflection of the opinions of a large number of persons, of the application and interpretation of historical precedent and trends, of expectations as to future developments, and of managements judgment in interpreting all such factors. At any point in time, the Company is exposed to the incurrence of possibly higher or lower than anticipated claim costs due to all of these factors, and to the evolution, interpretation, and expansion of tort law, as well as the effects of unexpected jury verdicts.