-----BEGIN PRIVACY-ENHANCED MESSAGE----- Proc-Type: 2001,MIC-CLEAR Originator-Name: webmaster@www.sec.gov Originator-Key-Asymmetric: MFgwCgYEVQgBAQICAf8DSgAwRwJAW2sNKK9AVtBzYZmr6aGjlWyK3XmZv3dTINen TWSM7vrzLADbmYQaionwg5sDW3P6oaM5D3tdezXMm7z1T+B+twIDAQAB MIC-Info: RSA-MD5,RSA, KaMuAvynQjBJPT/paFmFVQaF7Py4vPH4IVAlt5s4PQfO+FUNcCOL7rtzyLvDQqM9 S4ri+mHlghRULenqNWVi/w== 0000950123-09-008563.txt : 20090511 0000950123-09-008563.hdr.sgml : 20090511 20090511172601 ACCESSION NUMBER: 0000950123-09-008563 CONFORMED SUBMISSION TYPE: 10-Q PUBLIC DOCUMENT COUNT: 5 CONFORMED PERIOD OF REPORT: 20090331 FILED AS OF DATE: 20090511 DATE AS OF CHANGE: 20090511 FILER: COMPANY DATA: COMPANY CONFORMED NAME: Tower Group, Inc. CENTRAL INDEX KEY: 0001289592 STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION: FIRE, MARINE & CASUALTY INSURANCE [6331] IRS NUMBER: 133894120 STATE OF INCORPORATION: DE FISCAL YEAR END: 1231 FILING VALUES: FORM TYPE: 10-Q SEC ACT: 1934 Act SEC FILE NUMBER: 000-50990 FILM NUMBER: 09816365 BUSINESS ADDRESS: STREET 1: 120 BROADWAY STREET 2: 31ST FLOOR CITY: NEW YORK STATE: NY ZIP: 10271 BUSINESS PHONE: (212) 655-2000 MAIL ADDRESS: STREET 1: 120 BROADWAY STREET 2: 31ST FLOOR CITY: NEW YORK STATE: NY ZIP: 10271 10-Q 1 y75944e10vq.htm FORM 10-Q 10-Q
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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-Q
     
þ   Quarterly Report Pursuant To Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act Of 1934
For the quarterly period ended March 31, 2009
     
o   Transition Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
For the transition period from                      to                     
Commission file no. 000-50990
Tower Group, Inc.
 
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
     
Delaware   13-3894120
     
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation
or organization)
  (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)
     
120 Broadway, 31st Floor
New York, NY
  10271
     
(Address of principal executive offices)   (Zip Code)
(212) 655-2000
 
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. þ Yes     o No
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).  Yes o No o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, non-accelerated filer or a smaller reporting company. See definitions of “large accelerated filer”, “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):
Large accelerated filer o Accelerated filer þ  Non-accelerated filer o
(Do not check if a smaller reporting company)
Smaller reporting company o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). o Yes     þ No
Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the issuer’s classes of common stock, as of the latest practicable date: 40,440,214 shares of common stock, par value $0.01 per share, as of May 1, 2009.
 
 

 


 

INDEX
             
        Page
PART I   FINANCIAL INFORMATION    
  Financial statements        
 
  Consolidated Balance Sheets — March 31, 2009 (unaudited) and December 31, 2008     2  
 
  Consolidated Statements of Income and Comprehensive Net Income Three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008 (unaudited)     3  
 
  Consolidated Statements of Changes in Stockholders’ Equity Three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008 (unaudited)     4  
 
  Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows Three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008 (unaudited)     5  
 
  Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements     6  
  Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations     31  
  Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk     49  
  Controls and Procedures     50  
PART II   OTHER INFORMATION     52  
  Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds     52  
  Exhibits     52  
SIGNATURES     53  
 EX-10.1: EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT
 EX-31.1: CERTIFICATION
 EX-31.2: CERTIFICATION
 EX-32: CERTIFICATION

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Part I — FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Item 1. Financial Statements
Tower Group, Inc.
Consolidated Balance Sheets
                 
    (Unaudited)    
    March 31,   December 31,
($ in thousands, except par value and share amounts)   2009   2008
 
Assets
               
Fixed-maturity securities, available-for-sale, at fair value (amortized cost of $1,213,629 and $581,470)
  $ 1,163,048     $ 530,159  
Equity securities, available-for-sale, at fair value (cost of $14,897 and $12,726)
    11,658       10,814  
 
Total investments
    1,174,706       540,973  
Cash and cash equivalents
    304,650       136,253  
Receivable for securities
    51,708       3,542  
Investment income receivable
    12,599       6,972  
Premiums receivable
    181,466       186,806  
Reinsurance recoverable
    128,301       272,606  
Prepaid reinsurance premiums
    59,274       153,650  
Deferred acquisition costs, net of deferred ceding commission revenue
    139,944       53,080  
Deferred income taxes
    71,118       36,207  
Intangible assets
    39,824       20,464  
Goodwill
    234,728       18,962  
Fixed assets, net of accumulated depreciation
    43,651       39,038  
Investment in unconsolidated affiliate
          29,293  
Other assets
    39,399       35,167  
 
Total assets
  $ 2,481,368     $ 1,533,013  
 
Liabilities
               
Loss and loss adjustment expenses
  $ 823,232     $ 534,991  
Unearned premium
    511,936       328,847  
Reinsurance balances payable
    27,510       134,598  
Payable to issuing carriers
    335       47,301  
Funds held under reinsurance agreements
    19,028       20,474  
Accounts payable, accrued liabilities and other liabilities
    77,339       30,562  
Subordinated debentures
    235,058       101,036  
 
Total liabilities
    1,694,438       1,197,809  
Stockholders’ Equity
               
Common stock ($0.01 par value; 100,000,000 shares authorized, 40,512,786 and 23,408,145 shares issued, and 40,439,935 and 23,339,470 shares outstanding)
    405       234  
Treasury stock (72,851 and 68,675 shares)
    (1,320 )     (1,026 )
Paid-in-capital
    639,848       208,094  
Accumulated other comprehensive net loss
    (34,983 )     (37,498 )
Retained earnings
    182,980       165,400  
 
Total stockholders’ equity
    786,930       335,204  
 
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity
  $ 2,481,368     $ 1,533,013  
 
See accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements.

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Tower Group, Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Income and Comprehensive Income
(Unaudited)
                 
    Three Months Ended
($ in thousands, except   March 31,
per share and share amounts)   2009   2008
 
Revenues
               
Net premiums earned
  $ 168,090     $ 68,430  
Ceding commission revenue
    13,574       20,654  
Insurance services revenue
    4,276       9,660  
Policy billing fees
    521       578  
Net investment income
    14,533       9,796  
Net realized gains on investments
    2,554       3,810  
Other-than-temporary impairment losses
    (8,732 )     (2,436 )
Portion of loss recognized in other accumulated comprehensive net loss
    5,506        
 
Net impairment losses recognized in earnings
    (3,226 )     (2,436 )
 
Total revenues
    200,322       110,492  
Expenses
               
Loss and loss adjustment expenses
    90,256       37,297  
Direct and ceding commission expense
    56,409       26,608  
Other operating expenses
    17,743       21,666  
Interest expense
    3,783       2,322  
 
Total expenses
    168,191       87,893  
Other income (expense)
               
Equity income (loss) in unconsolidated affiliate
    (777 )     760  
Acquisition-related transaction costs
    (11,348 )      
Gain on investment in acquired unconsolidated affiliate
    7,388        
 
Income before income taxes
    27,394       23,359  
Income tax expense
    9,418       8,506  
 
Net income
  $ 17,976     $ 14,853  
 
Gross unrealized investment holding gains (losses) arising during period
    2,570       (12,524 )
Equity in net unrealized (losses) gains in investment in unconsolidated affiliate’s investment portfolio
    3,124       (784 )
Less: reclassification adjustment for (gains) included in net income
    672       (1,374 )
Income tax (expense) benefit related to items of other comprehensive income
    (2,228 )     5,139  
 
Comprehensive net income
  $ 22,114     $ 5,310  
 
Basic and diluted earnings per share
               
Basic
               
Common stock:
               
Distributed
  $ 0.05     $ 0.05  
Undistributed
    0.48       0.59  
 
Total
    0.53       0.64  
 
Diluted
  $ 0.53     $ 0.64  
 
Weighted average common shares outstanding
               
Basic
    33,766,141       23,214,655  
 
Diluted
    33,918,069       23,406,916  
 
Dividends declared and paid per common share
               
Common stock
  $ 0.05     $ 0.05  
 
See accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements.

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Tower Group, Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Changes in Stockholders’ Equity
(Unaudited)
                                                         
                                    Accumulated            
                                    Other           Total
    Common Stock   Treasury   Paid-in   Comprehensive   Retained   Stockholders’
($ in thousands)   Shares   Amount   Stock   Capital   Income   Earnings   Equity
 
Balance at December 31, 2007
    23,225     $ 232     $ (493 )   $ 205,435     $ (8,322 )   $ 112,535     $ 309,387  
Dividends declared
                                    (4,608 )     (4,608 )
Stock based compensation
    183       2       (592 )     2,634                   2,044  
Warrant exercise
                59       25                   84  
Net income
                                  57,473       57,473  
Net unrealized depreciation on securities available for sale, net of income tax
                            (29,176 )           (29,176 )
 
Balance at December 31, 2008
    23,408       234       (1,026 )     208,094       (37,498 )     165,400       335,204  
 
Cumulative effect of adjustment resulting from adoption of FSP FAS 115-2
                                    (1,623 )     1,623        
 
Adjusted balance at December 31, 2008
    23,408       234       (1,026 )     208,094       (39,121 )     167,023       335,204  
Dividends declared
                                    (2,019 )     (2,019 )
Stock based compensation
    226       2       (355 )     1,223                   870  
Issuance of common stock
    16,878       169             421,454                   421,623  
Issuance of stock options
                            9,138                       9,138  
Warrant exercise
                61       (61 )                  
Net income
                                  17,976       17,976  
Net unrealized depreciation on securities available for sale, net of income tax
                            4,138             4,138  
 
Balance at March 31, 2009
    40,513     $ 405     $ (1,320 )   $ 639,848     $ (34,983 )   $ 182,980     $ 786,930  
 

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Tower Group, Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

(Unaudited)
                 
    Three Months Ended  
    March 31,  
($ in thousands)   2009     2008  
 
Cash flows provided by (used in) operating activities:
               
Net income
  $ 17,976     $ 14,853  
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by (used in) operations:
               
(Gain) loss on sale of investments
    (2,557 )     (1,374 )
(Gain) on sale of Castle Point
    (7,388 )      
Other-than-temporary-impairment loss on investments
    3,229        
Depreciation and amortization
    5,239       2,605  
Amortization of bond premium or discount
    (2,998 )      
Amortization of restricted stock
    1,193       491  
Deferred income taxes
    7,693       2,482  
Excess tax benefits from share-based payment arrangements
    14       (51 )
(Increase) decrease in assets:
               
Investment income receivable
    (764 )      
Premiums receivable
    224,693       7,895  
Reinsurance recoverable
    159,864       (11,823 )
Prepaid reinsurance premiums
    123,185       (5,207 )
Deferred acquisition costs, net
    (8,476 )     (5,612 )
Federal and state income taxes recoverable/payable
    (276 )     140  
Intangible assets and goodwill
    (3,768 )      
Other assets
    4,082       (939 )
Increase (decrease) in liabilities:
               
Loss and loss adjustment expenses
    (150,110 )     4,522  
Unearned premium
    (102,817 )     2,615  
Reinsurance balances payable
    (165,144 )     15,779  
Payable to issuing carriers
    (46,966 )     4,446  
Accounts payable and accrued expenses
    159       (10,970
Funds held under reinsurance agreement
    (1,796 )     (4,652 )
Other
          (756 )
 
Net cash flows provided by operations
    54,268       14,445  
 
Cash flows provided by (used in) investing activities:
               
Acquisition of CastlePoint
    (65,294 )      
Acquisition of Hermitage
    (130,115 )      
Purchase of fixed assets
    (4,421 )     (4,426 )
Purchase — fixed-maturity securities
    (148,153 )     (115,565 )
Sale or maturity — fixed-maturity securities
    40,051       122,363  
Sale — equity securities
    28,631        
 
Net cash flows provided by (used in) investing activities
    (279,301 )     2,372  
 
Cash flows provided by (used in) financing activities:
               
Exercise of stock options & warrants
    19       231  
Excess tax benefits from share-based payment arrangements
    (14 )     51  
Treasury stock acquired-net employee share-based compensation
    (354 )     (180 )
Dividends paid
    (2,019 )     (1,159 )
 
Net cash flows (used in) provided by financing activities
    (2,369 )     (1,057 )
 
Increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents
    (227,402 )     15,760  
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period (1)
    532,052       77,679  
 
Cash and cash equivalents, end of period
  $ 304,650     $ 93,439  
 
 
(1)   2009 amount includes $395,664 of cash acquired with the acquisitions of CastlePoint and Hermitage
                 
Supplemental disclosures of cash flow information:
               
Cash paid for income taxes
  $ 12,080     $ 5,139  
Cash paid for interest
    3,783       2,116  
Schedule of non-cash investing and financing activities:
               
Issuance of common stock in acquisition of CastlePoint
  $ 421,623     $  
Value of CastlePoint stock options at date of acquisition
    9,138        
 
See accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements.

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Tower Group, Inc.
Notes to Unaudited Interim Consolidated Financial Statements
Note 1—Nature of Business
Tower Group, Inc. (the “Company”), through its subsidiaries, offers property and casualty insurance products and diversified insurance services and products. The Company’s common stock is publicly traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “TWGP.”
The Company has changed the presentation of its business results, beginning January 1, 2009, by allocating its previously reported insurance segment into brokerage insurance and specialty business, based on the way management organizes the segments for making operating decisions and assessing profitability. This will result in the reporting of three operating segments. The prior period segment disclosures have been restated to conform to the current presentation.
The Brokerage Insurance (“Brokerage”) Segment offers a broad range of commercial lines and personal lines property and casualty insurance products to small to mid-sized businesses and individuals distributed through a network of retail and wholesale agents on both an admitted and non-admitted basis;
The Specialty Business (“Specialty”) Segment provides specialty classes of business through program underwriting agents. This segment also includes reinsurance solutions provided primarily to small insurance companies; and
The Insurance Services (“Services”) Segment provides underwriting, claims and reinsurance brokerage services to insurance companies.
On February 5, 2009, the Company completed the acquisition of 100% of the issued and outstanding common stock of CastlePoint Holdings, Ltd. (“CastlePoint”), a Bermuda exempted corporation, pursuant to the stock purchase agreement (“the Agreement”), dated as of August 4, 2008, by and among the Company, and CastlePoint. CastlePoint was a Bermuda holding company organized to provide property and casualty insurance and reinsurance business solutions, products and services primarily to small insurance companies and program underwriting agents in the United States.
On February 27, 2009, the Company and its subsidiary, CastlePoint, completed the acquisition of HIG, Inc. (“Hermitage”), a property and casualty insurance holding company, from a subsidiary of Brookfield Asset Management Inc. for $130.1 million. This transaction was previously announced on August 27, 2008. Hermitage offers both admitted and excess and surplus lines (“E&S”) lines products and wrote over $100 million of premiums in 2008. This transaction further expands the Company’s wholesale distribution system nationally and establishes a network of retail agents in the Southeast.
Note 2—Accounting Policies and Basis of Presentation
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements included in this report have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States for interim financial information and with the instructions to Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) Form 10-Q and Article 10 of SEC Regulation S-X. The principles for condensed interim financial information do not require the inclusion of all the information and footnotes required by generally accepted accounting principles for complete financial statements. Therefore, these financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2008 and notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on March 13, 2009. The accompanying consolidated financial statements have not been audited by an independent registered public accounting firm in accordance with standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), but in the opinion of management such financial statements include all adjustments, consisting only of normal recurring adjustments, necessary for a fair statement of the Company’s financial position and results of operations.

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The results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2009 may not be indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2009. The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”). All significant inter-company transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. Business segment results are presented net of all material inter-segment transactions.
Consolidation
The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Tower Group, Inc. (“Tower”) and its insurance subsidiaries, Tower Insurance Company of New York (“TICNY”), Tower National Insurance Company (“TNIC”), Preserver Insurance Company (“PIC”), North East Insurance Company (“NEIC”), Mountain Valley Indemnity Company (“MVIC”), CastlePoint Reinsurance Company, Ltd. (“CPRe”), CastlePoint Insurance Company (“CPIC”), CastlePoint Florida Insurance Company (“CPFL”), Hermitage Insurance Company (“HIC”), Kodiak Insurance Company (“KIC”), (collectively the “Insurance Subsidiaries”), and its managing general agencies, Tower Risk Management Corp. (“TRM”); and CastlePoint Management Corp. (“CPM”). The Company has four intermediate holding companies, Preserver Group, Inc. (“PGI”), Ocean I Corp., CastlePoint Bermuda Holdings, Ltd. (“CPBH”), and HIG, Inc. (“Hermitage”).
Loss and Loss Adjustment Expenses (“LAE”)
The liability for loss and LAE represents management’s best estimate of the ultimate cost of all reported and unreported losses that are unpaid as of the balance sheet date and the fair value adjustment related to the acquisitions of CastlePoint and Hermitage. The liability for loss and LAE is estimated on an undiscounted basis, using individual case-basis valuations, statistical analyses and various actuarial procedures. The projection of future claim payment and reporting is based on an analysis of the Company’s historical experience, supplemented by analyses of industry loss data. Management believes that the reserves for loss and LAE are adequate to cover the ultimate cost of losses and claims to date; however, because of the uncertainty from various sources, including changes in reporting patterns, claims settlement patterns, judicial decisions, legislation, and economic conditions, actual loss experience may not conform to the assumptions used in determining the estimated amounts for such liability at the balance sheet date. As adjustments to these estimates become necessary, such adjustments are reflected in expense for the period in which the estimates are changed. Because of the nature of the business historically written, the Company’s management believes that the Company has limited exposure to environmental claim liabilities.
The Company estimates LAE reserves separately for claims that are defended by in-house attorneys, claims that are handled by other attorneys that are not employees, and miscellaneous LAE costs such as witness fees and court costs.
For LAE stemming from defense by in-house attorney’s the Company determines a fixed fee per in-house litigated claim, and allocates to each of these litigated claims 50% of this fixed fee when litigation on a particular claim begins and 50% of the fee when the litigation is closed. The fee is determined actuarially based upon the projected number of litigated claims and expected closing patterns at the beginning of each year as well as the projected budget for the Company’s in-house attorneys, and these amounts are subject to adjustment each quarter based upon actual experience.
Deferred Acquisition Costs / Commission Revenue
Acquisition costs represent the costs of writing business that vary with, and are primarily related to, the production of insurance business (principally commissions, premium taxes and certain underwriting salaries). Policy acquisition costs are deferred and recognized as expense as related premiums are earned. Deferred acquisition costs (“DAC”) presented in the balance sheet are net of deferred ceding commission revenue. The value of business acquired (“VOBA”) is an intangible asset relating to the estimated fair value of the unexpired insurance policies acquired in a business combination. VOBA is determined at the time of acquisition and is reported on the consolidated balance sheet with DAC and amortized in proportion to the timing of the estimated underwriting profit associated with the in force policies acquired. The cash flow or interest component of the VOBA asset is amortized in proportion to the expected pattern of the future cash flows. The Company considers anticipated investment income in determining the recoverability of these costs and believes they are fully recoverable.

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Use of Estimates
The preparation of financial statement in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
Accounting Pronouncements
In February 2008, the FASB issued FSP No. FAS 157-2, “Effective Date of FASB Statement No. 157” (“FSP FAS 157-2”) which delayed the effective date of SFAS 157 to fiscal years beginning after November 15, 2008 for certain nonfinancial assets and nonfinancial liabilities.
The FSP FAS 157-2 deferral expired as of January 1, 2009 and therefore, the Company has applied the provisions of SFAS 157 to the nonfinancial assets and nonfinancial liabilities within the scope of FSP FAS 157-2.
In December 2007, the FASB issued SFAS No. 141(R), “Business Combinations” (“SFAS No. 141(R)”). This standard establishes principles and requirements for how the acquirer of a business recognizes and measures in its financial statements the identifiable assets acquired, the liabilities assumed, and any noncontrolling interest in the acquiree. SFAS No. 141(R) also provides guidance for recognizing and measuring the goodwill acquired in the business combination and determines what information to disclose to enable users of the financial statements to evaluate the nature and financial effects of the business combination. The Company adopted the provisions of SFAS No. 141(R) on January 1, 2009. See Note 3—“Acquisitions” for further financial statement disclosure required pursuant to SFAS 141(R).
In June 2008, the FASB issued FSP No. EITF 03-6-1, “Determining Whether Instruments Granted in Share-Based Payment Transactions Are Participating Securities” (“FSP EITF 03-6-1”). The FSP addresses whether instruments granted in share-based payment transactions are participating securities prior to vesting and, therefore, need to be included in the earnings allocation in computing earnings per share (“EPS”) under the two-class method described in SFAS No. 128, “Earnings per Share” (“SFAS 128”). The FSP requires that unvested share-based payment awards that contain nonforfeitable rights to dividends or dividend equivalents (whether paid or unpaid) are participating securities and shall be included in the computation of EPS pursuant to the two-class method. FSP EITF 03-6-1 is effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2008, and interim periods within those years. All prior-period EPS data presented shall be adjusted retrospectively (including interim financial statements, summaries of earnings, and selected financial data) to conform to the provisions of this FSP. Early application was not permitted. The Company adopted FSP EITF 03-6-1 on January 1, 2009, which did not have a material effect on the Company’s earnings per share.
In April 2008, the FASB issued FSP No. FAS 142-3, “Determination of the Useful Life of Intangible Assets” (“FSP FAS 142-3”). FSP FAS 142-3 amends the factors that should be considered in developing renewal or extension assumptions used to determine the useful life of a recognized intangible asset under SFAS 142. FSP FAS 142-3 amends paragraph 11(d) of SFAS 142 to require an entity to use its own assumptions about renewal or extension of an arrangement, adjusted for the entity-specific factors in paragraph 11 of SFAS 142, even when there is likely to be substantial cost or material modifications. FSP FAS 142-3 is effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2008, and interim periods within those fiscal years, with early adoption prohibited. The provisions of FSP FAS 142-3 are to be applied prospectively to intangible assets acquired after January 1, 2009, although the disclosure provisions are required for all intangible assets recognized as of or subsequent to January 1, 2009. The Company adopted the provisions of FSP FAS 142-3 on January 1, 2009, which did not have a material effect on the Company’s consolidated financial condition and results of operations.
In April, 2009, the FASB issued FSP FAS 157-4, “Determining Fair Value When the Volume and Level of Activity for the Asset or Liability have Significantly Decreased and Identifying Transactions That Are Not Orderly” (“FSP FAS 157-4”). This FSP provides additional guidance to help an entity in determining whether a market for an asset is not active and when a price for a transaction is not distressed. The model includes the following two steps:
  Determine whether there are factors present that indicate that the market for the asset is not active at the measurement date; and

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  Evaluate the quoted price (i.e., a recent transaction or broker price quotation) to determine whether the quoted price is not associated with a distressed transaction.
FSP FAS 157-4 is effective for interim and annual periods ending after June 15, 2009, with early adoption permitted for periods ending after March 15, 2009. However, FSP FAS 157-4 and FSP 115-2 must be adopted concurrently. In addition an entity that elects to early adopt FSP FAS 107-1 must early adopt FSP FAS 157-4 and FSP 115-2. The Company adopted the provisions of FSP FAS 157-4 on January 1, 2009. The adoption did not have a material effect on the Company’s consolidated financial condition and results of operations.
In April 2009, the FASB issued FSP FAS 115-2, FAS 124-2, and EITF 99-20-b, “Recognition and Presentation of Other-Than-Temporary Impairments” (“FSP FAS 115-2”). FSP FAS 115-2 includes changes to the guidance for other-than-temporary impairments (“OTTI”). Previously, an entity was required to assess whether it has the intent and ability to hold a security to recovery in determining whether an impairment of that security is other-than-temporary. In addition, FSP FAS 115-2 requires entities to initially apply the provisions of the final standard to previously other-than-temporarily impaired instruments existing as of the effective date by making a cumulative-effect adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings in the period of adoption. The cumulative-effect adjustment reclassifies the noncredit portion of a previously other-than-temporarily impaired instrument held as of the effective date to accumulated other comprehensive net loss from retained earnings. FSP FAS 115-2 is effective for interim and annual reporting periods ending after June 15, 2009, with early adoption permitted for periods ending after March 15, 2009. However, FSP FAS 157-4 and FSP 115-2 must be adopted concurrently. In addition an entity that elects to early adopt FSP FAS 107-1 must early adopt FSP FAS 157-4 and FSP 115-2. The Company adopted the provisions of FSP FAS 115-2, on January 1, 2009. In adopting FSP FAS 115-2, the Company was required to make a cumulative effect adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings for the noncredit portion of the previously recorded other-than-temporarily impaired securities in the amount of $1.6 million, net of tax. See Note 4—“Investments—Impairment Review” for further information about the impact of applying this standard.
In April, 2009, the FASB issued FSP FAS 107-1 and APB 28-1, “Interim Disclosures about Fair Value of Financial Instruments” (“FSP FAS 107-1”) This FSP amends FASB Statement No. 107, “Disclosures about Fair Value of Financial Instruments”, to require disclosures about fair value of financial instruments in interim financial statements as well as in annual financial statements. This FSP also amends APB Opinion No. 28, “Interim Financial Reporting”, to require those disclosures in all interim financial statements. The FSP is for interim and annual reporting periods ending after June 15, 2009, with early adoption permitted for periods ending after March 15, 2009. However, FSP FAS 157-4 and FSP 115-2 must be adopted concurrently. In addition an entity that elects to early adopt FSP FAS 107-1 must early adopt FSP FAS 157-4 and FSP 115-2. The Company adopted the provisions of FSP FAS 107-1 and APB 28-1 on January 1, 2009. The adoption did not have a material effect on the Company’s consolidated financial condition and results of operations
Note 3—Acquisitions
Acquisition of CastlePoint Holdings, Ltd.
On February 5, 2009, the Company completed the acquisition of 100% of the issued and outstanding common stock of CastlePoint Holdings, Ltd. (“CastlePoint”), a Bermuda exempted corporation, pursuant to the stock purchase agreement (“the Agreement”), dated as of August 4, 2008, by and among the Company, and CastlePoint. The acquisition was accounted for using the purchase method in accordance with SFAS No. 141R, “Business Combinations” (“SFAS 141R”). Under the terms of the Agreement, the Company acquired CastlePoint for approximately $491.4 million comprised of 16, 878,410 shares of Tower common stock with an aggregate value of approximately $421.6 million, $4.4 million related to the fair value of unexercised warrants, plus $65.4 million of cash. Additionally, under the terms of the Agreement, the Company issued 1,148,308 employee stock options to replace the CastlePoint employee stock options as of the acquisition date. The value of the Company’s stock options attributed to the services rendered by the CastlePoint employees as of the acquisition date totaled approximately $9.1 million and is included in the purchase consideration in accordance with FAS 141R. Also, the fair value of the CastlePoint acquisition included the fair value of the Company’s previously held interest in CastlePoint and is presented as follows:

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($ in thousands)        
 
Purchase consideration
  $ 491,366  
Fair value of outstanding CastlePoint stock options
    9,138  
 
Total purchase consideration
    500,504  
 
Fair value of investment in CastlePoint
    34,673  
 
Fair value of CastlePoint at acquisition
  $ 535,177  
 
CastlePoint was a Bermuda holding company organized to provide property and casualty insurance and reinsurance business solutions, products and services primarily to small insurance companies and program underwriting agents in the United States. Reinsurance is an arrangement by which one insurance company, called the reinsurer, agrees to indemnify another insurance (or reinsurance) company, called the ceding company, against all or a portion of the insurance (or reinsurance) risks underwritten by the ceding company under one or more policies. Program underwriting agents are insurance intermediaries that aggregate insurance business from retail and wholesale agents and manage business on behalf of insurance companies. Their functions may include some or all of risk selection, underwriting, premium collection, policy form and design, and client service. As a result of this transaction, the Company expects to expand and diversify its source of revenue by accessing CastlePoint’s programs, risk sharing and reinsurance businesses.
The Company began consolidating the financial statements as of the closing date in accordance with SFAS 141R. The purchase consideration has been allocated to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed, including separately identified intangible assets, based on their fair values as of the close of the acquisition, with the amounts exceeding the fair value recorded as goodwill. The goodwill consists largely of the synergies and economies of scale expected from combining the operations of the Company and CastlePoint.
The following unaudited condensed balance sheet presents assets acquired and liabilities assumed with the acquisition of CastlePoint, based on their fair values and the fair value hierarchy level under SFAS 157 as of February 5, 2009:
                                 
($ in thousands)   Level 1   Level 2   Level 3   Total
 
Assets
                               
Investments
  $ 868     $ 484,937     $ 1,358     $ 487,163  
Cash and cash equivalents
    307,632                   307,632  
Receivables
                211,464       211,464  
Prepaid reinsurance premiums
                23,424       23,424  
Reinsurance recoverable
                8,249       8,249  
Deferred acquisition costs
                69,253       69,253  
Deferred income taxes
                27,128       27,128  
Goodwill and intangibles
                190,923       190,923  
Other assets
                72,742       72,742  
 
Total assets
    308,500       484,937       604,541       1,397,978  
 
Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity
                               
Loss and loss adjustment expenses
    `             290,497       290,497  
Unearned premium
                242,365       242,365  
Other liabilities
                130,623       130,623  
Subordinated debt
                134,022       134,022  
 
Total liabilities
                797,507       797,507  
 
Stockholders’ equity
    308,500       484,937       (192,966 )     600,471  
 
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity
  $ 308,500     $ 484,937     $ 604,541     $ 1,397,978  
 
As the values of certain assets and liabilities are preliminary in nature, they are subject to adjustment as additional information is obtained, including, but not limited to, valuation of separately identifiable intangibles, fixed assets, loss reserves and deferred taxes. The valuations will be finalized within the measurement period which cannot exceed 12 months from the close of the acquisition. When the valuations are finalized, any changes to the preliminary valuation of assets acquired or liabilities assumed may result in retrospective adjustments to the provisional amounts recognized at the acquisition date to reflect new information obtained about facts and circumstances that existed as of the acquisition date that, if known, would have affected the measurement of the amounts recognized as of that date.

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In connection with recording the acquisition, the Company revalued its previous investment in CastlePoint at the fair value as of the acquisition date in accordance with SFAS 141R, resulting in a gain of $7.4 million, before income taxes. This gain is included in the Consolidated Statement of Income in the first quarter of 2009. The Company incurred approximately $11.3 million of transaction costs, including legal, accounting and other costs directly related to the acquisition, which were expensed in the first quarter of 2009.
Under SFAS 142, the Company is required to allocate goodwill to its reportable segments in accordance with FASB No. 131, “Disclosures about Segments of an Enterprise and Related Information.” See Note 6 for further information about the allocation of goodwill.
Acquisition of Hermitage
On February 27, 2009, the Company through its subsidiary, CPRe, completed the acquisition of Hermitage, a property and casualty insurance holding company, from a subsidiary of Brookfield Asset Management Inc. for $130.1 million. The purchase price is subject to certain adjustments which are not expected to be finalized for several months and could reduce the price. This transaction was previously announced on August 27, 2008. Hermitage offers both admitted and E&S lines products and wrote over $100 million of premiums in 2008. This transaction further expands the Company’s wholesale distribution system nationally and establishes a network of retail agents in the Southeast.
The Company began consolidating the financial statements as of the closing date in accordance with SFAS 141R. The purchase consideration has been allocated to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed, including separately identified intangible assets, based on their fair values as of the close of the acquisition, with the amounts exceeding the fair value recorded as goodwill. The goodwill consists largely of the synergies and economies of scale expected from combining the operations of the Company and Hermitage.
The following unaudited condensed balance sheet presents assets acquired and liabilities assumed with the acquisition of Hermitage, based on their fair values and the fair value hierarchy level under SFAS 157 as of February 27, 2009:
                                 
($ in thousands)   Level 1   Level 2   Level 3   Total
 
Assets
                               
Investments
  $ 151     $ 101,940     $ 263     $ 102,354  
Cash and cash equivalents
    88,032                   88,032  
Receivables
                11,896       11,896  
Prepaid reinsurance premiums
                5,385       5,385  
Reinsurance recoverable
                7,310       7,310  
Deferred acquisition costs
                10,735       10,735  
Deferred income taxes
                6,366       6,366  
Goodwill and intangibles
                44,772       44,772  
Other assets
                2,075       2,075  
 
Total assets
    88,183       101,940       88,802       278,925  
 
Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity
                               
Loss and loss adjustment expenses
                92,105       92,105  
Unearned premium
                43,541       43,541  
Other liabilities
                13,166       13,166  
 
Total liabilities
                148,812       148,812  
 
Stockholders’ equity
    88,183       101,940       (60,010 )     130,115  
 
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity
  $ 88,183     $ 101,940     $ 88,802     $ 278,926  
 
As the values of certain assets and liabilities are preliminary in nature, they are subject to adjustment as additional information is obtained, including, but not limited to, valuation of separately identifiable intangibles, fixed assets, loss reserves and deferred taxes. The valuations will be finalized within the measurement period which cannot exceed 12 months from the close of the acquisition. When the valuations are finalized, any changes to the preliminary valuation of assets acquired or liabilities assumed may result in retrospective adjustments to the provisional amounts recognized at the acquisition date to reflect new information obtained about facts and circumstances that existed as of the acquisition date that, if known, would have affected the measurement of the amounts recognized as of that date.

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Under SFAS 142, the Company is required to allocate goodwill to its reportable segments in accordance with FASB No. 131, “Disclosures about Segments of an Enterprise and Related Information.” See Note 6 for further information about the allocation of goodwill.
For the three months ended March 31, 2009, the Company included revenue and earnings for CastlePoint and Hermitage in its consolidated statement of income from their respective acquisition dates as follows:
                 
($ in thousands)   CastlePoint   Hermitage
 
Total revenue
  $ 80,761     $ 8,561  
Net income
    10,709       1,706  
The Company recorded goodwill on the acquisition of CastlePoint and Hermitage in the amount of $181.8 million and $33.9 million, respectively. The Company estimates that $22.0 million related to the Hermitage acquisition is deductible for tax purposes. The Company has not yet determined the amount of goodwill related to the CastlePoint acquisition that is tax deductible.
Significant Factors Affecting Acquisition Date Fair Values
Value of Business Acquired (“VOBA”)
Fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. The valuation of the insurance policies that were in force on the acquisition dates has been determined by using a cash flow model rather than an observable market price as a liquid market for valuing the in force business could not be determined. The valuation model uses an estimate of the underwriting profit and the net nominal future cash flows associated with the in force policies that a market participant would expect as of the dates of the acquisitions. The estimated underwriting profit and the future cash flows are adjusted for the time value of money at a risk free rate and a risk margin to compensate an acquirer for bearing the risk associated with the in force business. An estimate of the expected level of policy cancellations that would occur after the acquisition dates was also included.
The underwriting profit component of the VOBA will be amortized in proportion to the timing of the estimated underwriting profit associated with the in force policies acquired. The cash flow or interest component of the VOBA asset will be amortized in proportion to the expected pattern of the future cash flows. The amortization will be reflected as a component of underwriting expenses in both the brokerage insurance and specialty business segments.
At acquisition, VOBA, which is included with DAC on the balance sheet, was $80.0 million and the Company amortized $23.0 million for the three months ended March 31, 2009. The Company expects to amortize approximately $76.0 million in 2009 and the remainder amortized over the expected payout pattern of the underlying liabilities.
Intangibles
The fair value of intangible assets was for customer relationships, insurance licenses and trademarks. The fair value of customer relationships and trademarks were estimated based on using an income approach methodology. The fair value of insurance licenses was valued using a market approach methodology and the fair value of internally developed software was valued using a cost approach methodology. Critical inputs into the valuation model for customer relationships included estimations of expected premium and attrition rates, expected operating margins and capital requirements.
Loss and Loss Adjustment Expense Reserves (“LAE”) Acquired
The required valuation of loss and loss adjustment reserves acquired has been determined by using a cash flow model rather than an observable market price as a liquid market for such underwriting liabilities could not be determined. The valuation model uses an estimate of net nominal future cash flows related to liabilities for losses and LAE that a market participant would expect as of the date of the acquisitions. These future cash flows are adjusted for the time value of money at a risk free rate and a risk margin to compensate an acquirer for bearing the risk associated with the liabilities.

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The fair value adjustment for loss and LAE resulted in an increase of $16.6 million to the estimated nominal reserves and will be amortized over the loss and LAE payout pattern and reflected as a component of loss and loss adjustment expenses. The Company amortized $0.7 million for the three months ended March 31, 2009 and expects to amortize $5.2 million in 2009 with the remainder being amortized over the next three to four years.
Non-financial Assets and Liabilities
Receivables, other assets and liabilities are valued at fair market which approximates carrying value.
Pro forma Results of Operations
Selected unaudited pro forma results of operations assuming the acquisitions had occurred as of January 1, 2008, are set forth below:
                 
    Three Months Ended
    March 31,
($ in thousands)   2009   2008
 
Total revenue
  $ 245,902     $ 195,047  
Net income
    17,352       18,962  
Net income per share — basic
  $ 0.44     $ 0.48  
Net income per share — diluted
  $ 0.43     $ 0.47  
 
               
Weighted average common shares outstanding
               
Basic
    39,799,550       39,798,243  
Diluted
    40,305,264       40,017,386  
Note:
The Company excluded certain one-time charges from the pro forma results including, (i) transaction costs of $11.4 million and $3.6 million, respectively related to the acquisitions of CastlePoint and Hermitage, (ii) CastlePoint’s severance expenses of $2.0 million and, (iii) Tower’s gain of $7.4 million related to the acquisition of CastlePoint.
Note 4—Investments
The amortized cost and fair value of investments in fixed-maturity securities and equities are summarized as follows:
                                                 
    March 31, 2009   December 31, 2008
    Cost or           Unrealized   Cost or           Unrealized
    Amortized   Aggregate   Gains/   Amortized   Aggregate   Gains/
($ in thousands)   Cost   Fair Value   (Losses)   Cost   Fair Value   (Losses)
 
U.S. Treasury securities
  $ 28,320     $ 28,770     $ 450     $ 26,482     $ 27,006     $ 524  
U.S. Agency securities
    23,619       23,878       259       361       399       38  
Municipal bonds
    306,281       310,515       4,234       179,734       179,948       214  
Corporate and other bonds
                                               
Finance
    141,955       124,295       (17,660 )     84,579       74,860       (9,719 )
Industrial
    178,754       168,780       (9,974 )     122,599       109,695       (12,904 )
Utilities
    25,733       25,306       (427 )     2,829       2,420       (409 )
Commercial mortgage-backed securities
    181,547       162,440       (19,107 )     52,558       31,535       (21,023 )
Residential mortgage-backed securities
                                               
Agency backed
    267,196       273,045       5,848       70,416       72,179       1,763  
Non-agency backed
    30,907       20,688       (10,218 )     31,441       24,315       (7,126 )
Asset-backed securities
    29,317       25,332       (3,986 )     10,471       7,802       (2,669 )
 
Total fixed-maturity securities
    1,213,629       1,163,048       (50,581 )     581,470       530,159       (51,311 )
Preferred stocks
    14,529       11,371       (3,158 )     5,551       3,694       (1,857 )
Common stocks
    368       287       (81 )     7,175       7,120       (55 )
 
Total
  $ 1,228,526     $ 1,174,706     $ (53,820 )   $ 594,196     $ 540,973     $ (53,223 )
 
Investments at March 31, 2009 include the fair value of the fixed-maturity securities and equities acquired with the acquisitions of CastlePoint and Hermitage. Under fair value accounting at the respective dates of acquisition, the

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cost or amortized cost is adjusted to equal the fair value which eliminates any unrealized gain or loss. The fair value of fixed maturity securities and equities acquired is shown in Note 3 “Acquisitions.”
Major categories of the Company’s net investment income are summarized as follows:
                 
    Three months ended
    March 31,
($ in thousands)   2009   2008
 
Income
               
Fixed-maturity securities
  $ 13,969     $ 8,992  
Equity securities
    315       385  
Cash and cash equivalents
    665       633  
Dividends on common trust securities
    53       53  
 
Total
    15,002       10,063  
Expenses
               
Investment expenses
    469       267  
 
Net investment income
  $ 14,533     $ 9,796  
 
Proceeds from the sale and maturity of fixed-maturity securities were $40.1 million and $122.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008, respectively. Proceeds from the sale of equity securities were $28.6 million and $0 million for the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008, respectively. The Company’s gross realized gains, losses and impairment write-downs on investments are summarized as follows:
                 
    Three months ended
    March 31,
($ in thousands)   2009   2008
 
Fixed-maturity securities
               
Gross realized gains
  $ 2,489     $ 3,906  
Gross realized losses
    (136 )     (96 )
 
 
    2,353       3,810  
Equity securities
               
Gross realized gains
    262        
Gross realized losses
    (62 )      
 
 
    200        
 
Net realized gains (losses) on investments
    2,554       3,810  
 
Other-than-temporary impairment losses
               
Fixed-maturity securities
    (3,226 )      
Equity securities
          (2,436 )
 
Total other-than-temporary impairment losses
    (3,226 )     (2,436 )
 
Total net realized gains (losses), including other-than temporary impairment losses
  $ (672 )   $ 1,374  
 
Impairment Review
The Company regularly reviews its fixed-maturity and equity securities portfolios to evaluate the necessity of recording impairment losses for other-than-temporary declines in the fair value of investments. In evaluating potential impairment, management considers, among other criteria: (i) the current fair value compared to amortized cost or cost, as appropriate; (ii) the length of time the security’s fair value has been below amortized cost or cost; (iii) specific credit issues related to the issuer such as changes in credit rating, reduction or elimination of dividends or non-payment of scheduled interest payments; (iv) whether management intends to sell the security and, if not, whether it is not more likely than not that the Company will be required to sell the security before recovery of its amortized cost basis; (v) specific cash flow estimations for certain mortgage-backed securities and (vi) current economic conditions.

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In reviewing specific cash flow estimations for certain mortgage-backed securities (other than those of high credit quality or sufficiently collateralized to ensure that the possibility of credit loss is remote), management follows the guidance of FSP EITF 99-20-1. Accordingly, on a quarterly basis, when significant changes in estimated cash flows from the cash flows previously estimated occur due to actual prepayment and credit loss experience, and the present value of the revised cash flow is significantly less than the present value previously estimated, OTTI is deemed to have occurred. Based on recent guidance in FSP FAS 115-2 and FAS 124-2 “Recognition and Presentation of Other-Than-Temporary Impairments,” a company that does not intend to sell the debt security and it is not more likely than not that the entity will be required to sell the debt security before recovery of its amortized cost basis, is required to separate the decline in fair value into (a) the amount representing the credit loss and (b) the amount related to all other factors. The amount of the total decline in fair value related to the credit loss shall be recognized in earnings as OTTI, with the amount related to other factors recognized in accumulated other comprehensive net loss, net of applicable income taxes. OTTI credit losses result in a permanent reduction of the cost basis of the underlying investment. The determination of OTTI is a subjective process, and different judgments and assumptions could affect the timing of loss realization.
The following table shows the number and amount of fixed-maturity and equity securities that the Company determined were OTTI for the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008. Beginning on January 1, 2009, the Company adopted FSP FAS 115-2 and FAS 124-2 and recorded the portion of OTTI representing credit losses in earnings with the remaining loss recorded in accumulated other comprehensive net loss.
                                 
    Three Months Ended March 31,
    2009   2008
($ in thousands)   No.   Amount   No.   Amount
 
Commercial mortgage-backed securities
    10     $ (5,521 )         $  
Residential mortgage-backed securities
    5       (2,455 )            
Asset-backed securities
    8       (760 )            
Equities
                7       (2,436 )
 
 
    23     $ (8,735 )     7     $ (2,436 )
Portion of loss recognized in accumulated other comprehensive net loss, principally residential mortgage-backed securities
            5,509                
 
Net impairment losses recognized in earnings
          $ (3,226 )           $ (2,436 )
 
The following table provides a rollforward of the OTTI showing the amounts that have been included in earnings and other comprehensive net loss.
                         
    Recognized In    
            Other    
            Comprehensive    
($ in thousands)   Earnings   Net Loss   Total
 
Beginning balance, January 1, 2009
  $ 25,094     $     $ 25,094  
Cumulative effect of adjustment resulting from adoption of FSP 115-2, before income taxes
    (2,497 )     2,497        
 
 
    22,597       2,497       25,094  
Other-than-temporary impairment loss
    3,226       5,506       8,732  
 
Ending balance, March 31, 2009
  $ 25,823     $ 8,003     $ 33,826  
 
Unrealized Losses
There are 584 securities at March 31, 2009 that account for the gross unrealized loss, none of which is deemed by the Company to be OTTI. Significant factors influencing the Company’s determination that unrealized losses were temporary included the magnitude of the unrealized losses in relation to each security’s cost, the nature of the investment and that management does not intend to sell these securities and it is not more likely than not that the Company will be required to sell these investments for a period of time sufficient to allow for anticipated recovery of fair value to the Company’s cost basis. The following table presents information regarding the Company’s

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invested assets that were in an unrealized loss position at March 31, 2009 and December 31, 2008 by amount of time in a continuous unrealized loss position.
                                                                         
    Less than 12 Months   12 Months or Longer   Total
                    Unrealized                   Unrealized           Aggregate Fair   Unrealized
($ in thousands)   No.   Fair Value   Losses   No.   Fair Value   Losses   No.   Value   Losses
 
March 31, 2009
                                                                       
U.S. Treasury securities
                                                          $     $  
U.S. Agency securities
    4     $ 220     $ (3 )     1     $ 976     $ (35 )     5     $ 1,196     $ (37 )
Municipal bonds
    61       78,436       (880 )     16       13,506       (907 )     77       91,942       (1,787 )
Corporate and other bonds
                                                                       
Finance
    109       60,201       (9,039 )     47       27,969       (9,689 )     156       88,170       (18,728 )
Industrial
    101       74,798       (4,398 )     56       34,139       (6,516 )     157       108,937       (10,914 )
Utilities
    15       10,787       (242 )     8       3,550       (321 )     23       14,336       (563 )
Commercial mortgage- backed securites
    34       39,689       (4,939 )     26       16,014       (19,929 )     60       55,703       (24,867 )
Residential mortgage- backed securites
                                                                       
Agency backed
    9       4,274       (11 )     5       4,741       (15 )     14       9,016       (26 )
Non-agency backed
    24       5,673       (3,295 )     25       14,154       (7,199 )     49       19,828       (10,494 )
Asset-backed securities
    12       3,749       (869 )     13       4,915       (3,204 )     25       8,664       (4,073 )
 
Total fixed maturity securities
    369       277,828       (23,674 )     197       119,965       (47,815 )     566       397,792       (71,489 )
Preferred stocks
    8       6,813       (467 )     6       2,853       (2,698 )     14       9,666       (3,165 )
Common stocks
    4       43       (120 )                       4       43       (120 )
 
Total
    381     $ 284,684     $ (24,262 )     203       122,818       (50,513 )     584     $ 407,501     $ (74,775 )
 
December 31, 2008
                                                                       
U.S. Treasury securities
                                                                       
U.S. Agency securities
                                                                       
Municipal bonds
    53     $ 49,879     $ (2,485 )     1     $ 371     $ (166 )     54     $ 50,250     $ (2,651 )
Corporate and other bonds
                                                                       
Finance
    55       42,007       (6,003 )     38       20,575       (4,173 )     93       62,582       (10,176 )
Industrial
    110       72,787       (7,740 )     32       17,701       (5,639 )     142       90,488       (13,379 )
Utilities
    5       1,974       (205 )     2       446       (204 )     7       2,420       (409 )
Commercial mortgage- backed securites
    15       13,997       (4,399 )     22       16,431       (16,626 )     37       30,427       (21,026 )
Residential mortgage- backed securites
                                                                       
Agency backed
    6       3,408       (16 )     1       582       (20 )     7       3,990       (36 )
Non-agency backed
    32       12,676       (3,536 )     16       9,953       (3,594 )     48       22,629       (7,130 )
Asset-backed securities
    20       6,481       (2,652 )     2       552       (49 )     22       7,032       (2,701 )
 
Total fixed maturity securities
    296       203,208       (27,037 )     114       66,610       (30,472 )     410       269,818       (57,508 )
Preferred stocks
                      6       3,694       (1,857 )     6       3,694       (1,857 )
Common stocks
    1       1,440       (60 )                       1       1,440       (60 )
 
Total
    297     $ 204,648     $ (27,096 )     120     $ 70,304     $ (32,329 )     417     $ 274,952     $ (59,424 )
 
The unrealized position associated with the fixed maturity portfolio included $71.5 million in gross unrealized losses, consisting of asset-backed and mortgage-backed securities representing 53%, corporate bonds representing 40% and municipal bonds representing 2% of the total portfolio. The total fixed maturity portfolio of gross unrealized losses included 566 securities which were, in aggregate, approximately 15% below amortized cost. Of the 566 investments evaluated, 197 have been in an unrealized loss position for more than 12 months. The total unrealized loss on these 197 investments at March 31, 2009 was $47.8 million. The Company does not consider these investments to be other-than-temporarily impaired.
The unrealized losses on the Company’s investments in preferred securities were primarily due to the market disruption caused by temporary market conditions. The Company evaluated all 14 preferred securities that were in an unrealized loss position as of March 31, 2009. These securities have been in an unrealized loss position for a period ranging from 1 to 46 months. The severity of the impairment in relation to the carrying amounts of preferred stock ranged from 31% to 72% for five of these securities. The Company does not consider these investments to be other-than-temporarily impaired.
The following tables stratifies, by securitized assets and all other assets, the length of time the gross unrealized losses in the Company’s portfolio at March 31, 2009, by duration in a loss position and magnitude of the loss as a percentage of the cost of the security.

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    Securitized Assets
            Total Gross   Decline of Investment Value
    Fair   Unrealized   >15%   >25%   >50%
($ in thousands)   Value   Losses   No.   Amount   No.   Amount   No.   Amount
 
Unrealized loss for less than 6 months
  $ 44,103     $ (3,867 )     3     $ (839 )     4     $ (109 )     3      (168 )
Unrealized loss for over 6 months
    11,532       (4,202 )     1       (77 )     11       (3,119 )     4       (668 )
Unrealized loss for over 12 months
    17,248       (10,220 )     4       (670 )     16       (4,245 )     6       (4,535 )
Unrealized loss for over 18 months
    9,863       (12,383 )     1       (324 )     3       (2,419 )     13       (9,613 )
Unrealized loss for over 2 years
    10,464       (8,788 )     1       (268 )     7       (1,621 )     10       (6,610 )
 
 
  $ 93,211     $ (39,460 )     10     $ (2,178 )     41     $ (11,513 )     36     $ (21,594 )
 
 
    All Other Assets
            Total Gross   Decline of Investment Value
    Fair   Unrealized   >15%   >25%   >50%
($ in thousands)   Value   Losses   No.   Amount   No.   Amount   No.   Amount
 
Unrealized loss for less than 6 months
  $ 176,410     $ (7,578 )     21     $ (1,381 )     14     $ (2,207 )     3     $ (112 )
Unrealized loss for over 6 months
    49,356       (6,705 )     10       (676 )     7       (1,566 )     4       (2,210 )
Unrealized loss for over 12 months
    49,848       (10,141 )     8       (994 )     10       (4,862 )     5       (1,644 )
Unrealized loss for over 18 months
    19,112       (4,535 )     5       (529 )     13       (2,899 )     2       (390 )
Unrealized loss for over 2 years
    19,564       (6,356 )     1       (98 )     11       (3,169 )     3       (2,276 )
 
 
  $ 314,290     $ (35,315 )     45     $ (3,678 )     55     $ (14,703 )     17     $ (6,632 )
 
The Company evaluated the severity of the impairment in relation to the carrying amount for the securities referred to above and found it to be between 1% and 87%. The Company considered all relevant factors, in assessing whether the loss was other-than-temporary. The Company does not intend to sell its fixed maturity securities and it is not more likely than not that the Company will be required to sell these investments until there is a recovery of fair value to the Company’s original cost basis, which may be at maturity. As a result, the Company does not consider these investments to be other-than-temporarily impaired.
Note 5—Fair Value Measurements
On January 1, 2008, the Company adopted SFAS No. 157 regarding fair value measurements. The valuation technique used to fair value the financial instruments is the market approach which uses prices and other relevant information generated by market transactions involving identical or comparable assets when available.
SFAS No. 157 establishes a three-level hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value. The fair value hierarchy gives the highest priority to quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3). If the inputs used to measure the assets or liabilities fall within different levels of the hierarchy, the classification is based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement of the asset or liability. Classification of assets and liabilities within the hierarchy considers the markets in which the assets and liabilities are traded and the reliability and transparency of the assumptions used to determine fair value. The hierarchy requires the use of observable market data when available. The levels of the hierarchy and those investments included in each are as follows:
Level 1 — Inputs to the valuation methodology are quoted prices (unadjusted) for identical assets or liabilities traded in active markets. Included are those investments traded on an active exchange, such as the NASDAQ Global Select Market.
Level 2 — Inputs to the valuation methodology include quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets, quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in markets that are not active, inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for the asset or liability and market-corroborated inputs. Included are investments in U.S. Treasury securities and obligations of U.S. government agencies, municipal bonds, corporate debt securities, commercial mortgage and asset-backed securities and certain residential mortgage-backed securities.

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Level 3 - Inputs to the valuation methodology are unobservable for the asset or liability and are significant to the fair value measurement. Material assumptions and factors considered in pricing investment securities may include projected cash flows, collateral performance including delinquencies, defaults and recoveries, and any market clearing activity or liquidity circumstances in the security or similar securities that may have occurred since the prior pricing period. Included in this valuation methodology are investments in certain mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities.
The availability of observable inputs varies and is affected by a wide variety of factors. When the valuation is based on models or inputs that are less observable or unobservable in the market, the determination of fair value requires significantly more judgment. The degree of judgment exercised by management in determining fair value is greatest for investments categorized as Level 3. For investments in this category, the Company considers prices and inputs that are current as of the measurement date. In periods of market dislocation, as characterized by current market conditions, the observability of prices and inputs may be reduced for many instruments. This condition could cause a security to be reclassified between levels.
During the three months ended March 31, 2009, certain securities, primarily commercial and non-agency mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities were either not traded or very thinly traded due to concerns in the securities market. As a result, prices from independent third party pricing services, broker quotes or other observable inputs were not always available, or, in the case of certain broker quotes, were non-binding. Therefore, the fair values of these securities were estimated using a model to develop a security price using future cash flow expectations that were developed based on collateral composition and performance and discounted at an estimated market rate (including estimated risk and liquidity premiums) taking into account estimates of the rate of future prepayments, current credit spreads, credit subordination protection, mortgage origination year, default rates, benchmark yields and time to maturity. For certain securities, broker quotes were available and these were also considered in determining the appropriateness of the developed security price.
As at March 31, 2009, the Company’s investments are allocated among pricing levels as follows:
                                 
($ in thousands)   Level 1   Level 2   Level 3   Total
                 
Fixed-maturity investments
                               
U.S. Treasury securities
  $     $ 28,770     $     $ 28,770  
U.S. Agency securities
          23,878             23,878  
Municipal bonds
          310,515             310,515  
Corporate and other bonds
          318,381             318,381  
Commercial mortgage-backed securities
          158,355       4,085       162,440  
Residential mortgage-backed securities
                               
Agency
          273,045             273,045  
Non-agency
          14,150       6,537       20,687  
Asset-backed securities
          21,216       4,116       25,332  
 
Total fixed maturities
          1,148,310       14,737       1,163,048  
Equity investments
    3,871       7,787             11,658  
 
Total
  $ 3,871     $ 1,156,097     $ 14,737     $ 1,174,706  
 
The Company’s use of Level 3 (the unobservable inputs) included 64 securities and accounted for less than 2% of total investments at March 31, 2009.
The following table summarizes changes in Level 3 assets measured at fair value for the three months ended March 31, 2009:
         
($ in thousands)        
 
Beginning balance
  $ 18,084  
Total gains (losses)-realized / unrealized Included in net income
    (3,226 )
Included in other comprehensive income (loss)
    (1,168 )
Purchases, issuances and settlements
    114  
Net transfers into (out of) Level 3
    933  
 
Ending balance
  $ 14,737  
 
Note 6—Goodwill and Intangible Assets
Goodwill
Goodwill is calculated as the excess of purchase price over the net fair value of assets acquired. See Note 3 to the Unaudited Interim Consolidated Financial Statements for information regarding the calculation of goodwill related to the acquisitions of CastlePoint and Hermitage. The following is a summary of goodwill by business segment:
                                 
    Brokerage   Specialty   Insurance    
($ in thousands)   Insurance   Business   Services   Total
 
Balance, January 1, 2009
  $ 18,962     $     $  —     $ 18,962  
Additions (a)
    161,219       54,547               215,766  
 
Balance, March 31, 2009
  $ 180,181     $ 54,547     $     $ 234,728  
 
(a)   In 2009, primarily relates to the acquisition of CastlePoint and Hermitage.

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The purchase price was allocated to balance sheet assets acquired (including identifiable intangible assets arising from the acquisition) and liabilities assumed based on their estimated fair value.
The Company performs an annual impairment analysis to identify potential goodwill impairment and measures the amount of a goodwill impairment loss to be recognized. This annual test is performed at December 31 of each year or more frequently if events or circumstances change in a way that requires the Company to perform the impairment analysis on an interim basis. Goodwill impairment testing requires an evaluation of the estimated fair value of each reporting unit to its carrying value, including the goodwill. An impairment charge is recorded if the estimated fair value is less than the carrying amount of the reporting unit.
Intangibles
Intangible assets consist of finite and indefinite life assets. Finite life intangible assets include customer and producer relationships and trademarks. Insurance company licenses are considered indefinite life intangible assets subject to annual impairment testing. The weighted average amortization period of identified intangible assets of finite useful life is 14.8 years as of March 31, 2009.
With the acquisition of CastlePoint on February 5, 2009, the Company recognized $9.1 million of identifiable intangible assets including CastlePoint’s customer and producer relationships of $6.9 million, trademarks of $1.5 million and insurance company licenses of $0.7 million. The customer and producer relationships and trademarks acquired are finite lived assets that will be amortized over fifteen and five years, respectively, and are subject to annual impairment testing. The insurance company licenses are included as indefinite lived intangibles subject to annual impairment testing.
With the acquisition of Hermitage on February 27, 2009, the Company recognized $10.9 million of identifiable intangible assets including Hermitage’s customer and producer relationships of $6.6 million, trademarks of $0.9 million and insurance company licenses of $3.4 million. The customer and producer relationships and trademarks acquired are finite lived assets that will be amortized over fifteen and five years, respectively, and are subject to annual impairment testing. The insurance company licenses are included as indefinite lived intangibles subject to annual impairment testing.
The components of intangible assets are summarized as follows:
                                                         
    March 31, 2009   December 31, 2008
            Gross           Net   Gross           Net
    Useful   Carrying   Accumulated   Carrying   Carrying   Accumulated   Carrying
($ in thousands)   Life (in yrs)   Amount   Amortization   Amount   Amount   Amortization   Amount
     
Insurance licenses
        $ 10,603     $     $ 10,603     $ 6,503     $     $ 6,503  
Customer relationships
    10-20       30,580       (3,648 )     26,932       17,090       (3,129 )     13,961  
Trademarks
    5       2,340       (51 )     2,289                    
     
Total
          $ 43,523     $ (3,699 )   $ 39,824     $ 23,593     $ (3,129 )   $ 20,464  
     
During the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008, the Company recorded amortization expense, related to intangibles, of $0.6 million and $0.4 million, respectively. The estimated aggregate amortization expense for the remainder of the current year and each of the next five years is:
         
($ in thousands)        
 
2009
  $ 2,631  
2010
    3,591  
2011
    3,135  
2012
    2,769  
2014
    2,478  
2013
    1,832  

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Note 7—Investment in Unconsolidated Affiliate—CastlePoint
The Company acquired CastlePoint on February 5, 2009, at which time it became a wholly-owned subsidiary. The Company recorded the following adjustments to its equity investment in CastlePoint through the acquisition date:
         
($ in millions)        
 
Carrying value of equity investment, January 1, 2009
  $ 29.3  
Equity in net loss of CastlePoint
    (0.8 )
Equity in net unrealized gain / (loss) of the CastlePoint investment portfolio
    (0.8 )
Dividends received from CastlePoint
    (0.1 )
Acquisition of CastlePoint by Tower on February 5, 2009
    (27.6 )
 
Carrying value of equity investment, March 31, 2009
  $ 0.0  
 
The Company has recorded $830,000 of CastlePoint dividends received or accrued since inception as a reduction to its investment in CastlePoint.
See Note 3—“Acquisitions” for a complete description of accounting for the acquisition of CastlePoint.
Affiliated Agreements with CastlePoint
The Company and/or its subsidiaries were parties to a master agreement, certain reinsurance agreements, and other agreements, including management agreements and service and expense sharing agreements, with CastlePoint. For more information regarding these agreements, please refer to the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008.
Master Agreement
The Master Agreement provided that CastlePoint will manage the traditional program business and the specialty program business and the Company will manage the brokerage business. The managers were required to purchase property and casualty excess of loss reinsurance and property catastrophe excess of loss reinsurance from third party reinsurers to protect the net exposure of the participants. The master agreement was rendered null and void at the closing of the merger. However, certain of the underlying agreements remain in effect and certain others have been replaced by new agreements effective in 2009, as more fully set forth below.
Reinsurance Agreements
The Company’s insurance subsidiaries were parties to three multi-year quota share reinsurance agreements with CPRe covering brokerage insurance business, traditional program business and specialty program business. These were terminated on December 31, 2008.
The following table provides an analysis of the reinsurance activity between the Company and CPRe for the period January 1, 2009 — February 5, 2009 and the three months ended March 31, 2008, respectively:

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    Ceded   Ceded   Ceding   Ceding
    Premiums   Premiums   Commissions   Commission
($ in thousands)   Written   Earned   Revenue   Percentage
 
January 1 - February 5, 2009
                               
Brokerage business
  $ (407 )   $ 8,989     $ 3,232       36.0 %
Traditional program business
    109       490       155       31.6 %
Specialty program business and insurance risk-sharing business
    (805 )     4,600       1,574       34.2 %
 
Total
  $ (1,103 )   $ 14,079     $ 4,961       35.2 %
 
Three months ended March 31, 2008
                               
Brokerage business
  $ 45,544     $ 52,348     $ 16,407       36.0 %
Traditional program business
    2,524       1,178       819       32.5 %
Specialty program business and insurance risk-sharing business
    8,008       3,265       3,145       39.3 %
 
Total
  $ 56,076     $ 56,791     $ 20,371       36.3 %
 
Ceded premiums earned and ceding commission revenue arising from reinsurance contracts with CPRe during the three months ended March 31, 2009 represent activity from January 1, 2009 to the acquisition closing date on February 5, 2009.
Quota share reinsurance agreements with CPRe and Swiss Re expired December 31, 2008 and were not renewed.
TICNY Service and Expense Sharing Agreements
Under the service and expense sharing agreements, CPM can purchase from TICNY, and TICNY can purchase from CPM, certain insurance company services, such as claims adjustment, policy administration, technology solutions, underwriting, and risk management services, at cost, and market these services to program underwriting agents on an unbundled basis. The reimbursements for these charges have been recorded as “Other administration revenue” in the Company’s insurance services segment. CPM shares with the Company 50% of the profits and losses generated from marketed services. The Company charged CastlePoint $0.2 million and $0.4 million for such services for the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008, respectively. These agreements continue in force and effect.
TRM Service and Expense Sharing Agreements
Effective May 2007, TRM entered into a service agreement with CPM pursuant to which TRM provides to CPM and CPM may provide to TRM insurance company services such as claims adjustment, policy administration, technologies solutions, underwriting and risk management services. Under this agreement TRM agreed to produce and manage, on behalf of CPM, CPIC’s share of the Company’s brokerage business. CastlePoint paid $0.7 million and $0.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008, respectively, for claims adjustment services pursuant to this agreement.
Note 8—Other Assets
                 
    (Unaudited)    
    March 31,   December 31,
($ in thousands)   2009   2008
 
Assumed premiums receivable
  $ 6,924     $ 1,837  
Receivable — claims paid by agency
    5,049       4,639  
Federal and state taxes recoverable
    243        
Investment in statutory business trusts, equity method
    7,058       3,036  
Deferred merger and acquisition expenses
          9,412  
Prepaids, deposits and advances
    6,060       4,006  
Receivable from residual market plans
    2,778       2,818  
Commission receivable from issuing carriers
    5,965       7,887  
Other
    5,323       1,532  
 
Other assets
  $ 39,400     $ 35,167  
 

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Note 9—Loss and Loss Adjustment Expenses
Incurred losses attributable to insured events of prior years decreased by $3.0 million for the first three months of 2009 of which $2.5 million was due to a decrease in required LAE reserves as a result of changing to a fixed fee billing for our in-house attorneys for claims handled and legal fee auditing of external attorneys’ bills for business written by CPIC and Hermitage. The decrease was also due to lower than expected net loss emergence for commercial multi-peril liability, other liability and homeowners’ lines which was partially offset by unfavorable development in workers’ compensation, commercial automobile, and property lines of business.
Additionally, net loss reserves include the fair value adjustment of $11.2 million and $5.4 million related to the acquisitions of both CastlePoint and Hermitage on February 5, 2009 and February 27, 2009, respectively.
The following table provides a reconciliation of the beginning and ending balances for unpaid losses and LAE for the three months ended March 31, 2009:
         
($ in thousands)        
 
Balance at January 1, 2009
  $ 534,991  
Less reinsurance recoverables
    (222,229 )
 
 
    312,762  
CastlePoint net reserves at date of acquisition
    282,434  
Hermitage net reserves at date of acquisition
    87,567  
Incurred related to:
       
Current year
    93,239  
Prior years
    (2,982 )
 
Total incurred
    90,257  
Paid related to:
       
Current year
    11,830  
Prior years
    46,603  
 
Total paid
    58,433  
 
Net balance at end of period
    714,587  
Add reinsurance recoverables
    108,645  
 
Balance at March 31, 2009
  $ 823,232  
 
Note 10—Accounts Payable, Accrued Liabilities and Other Liabilities
                 
    (Unaudited)    
    March 31,   December 31,
($ in thousands)   2009   2008
 
Accounts payable and accrued expenses
  $ 28,214     $ 12,470  
Funds held as agent
    3,089       3,516  
Deferred rent liability
    6,918       7,014  
Payable for securities
    19,492       561  
Federal income taxes payable
    6,018        
Other
    13,608       7,001  
 
Accounts payable, accrued expenses and other liabilities
  $ 77,339     $ 30,562  
 
Note 11—Debt
Subordinated Debentures
The Company, and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, has issued trust preferred securities through wholly-owned Delaware statutory business trusts. The trusts use the proceeds of the sale of the trust preferred securities and common securities that the Company acquired from the trusts to purchase a junior subordinated debenture from the Company with terms that match the terms of the trust preferred securities. Interest on the junior subordinated debentures and the trust preferred securities is payable quarterly. In some cases, the interest rate is fixed for an initial period of five years after issuance, and then floats with changes in the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”)

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and in other cases the interest rate floats with LIBOR without any initial fixed-rate period. The principal terms of the outstanding trust preferred securities relating to CastlePoint are summarized in the following table:
                             
                            Principal
                        Amount of   Amount of
                        Investment in   Junior
                        Common   Subordinated
                        Securities of   Debenture
Issue Date   Amount   Issuer   Maturity Date   Early Redemption   Interest Rate   Trust   Issued to Trust
 
September 2007
  $30.0 million   CastlePoint Bermuda
Capital
Trust I
  September 2037   At our option at par on or after September 27, 2012   8.39% until September 27, 2012; three-month LIBOR plus 350 basis points thereafter   $0.9 million   $30.9 million
 
                           
December 2006
  $50.0 million   CastlePoint
Management
Statutory Trust II
  December 2036   At our option at par on or after December 14, 2011   8.5551% until December 14, 2011; three-month LIBOR plus 330 basis points thereafter   $1.6 million   $51.6 million
 
                           
December 2006
  $50.0 million   CastlePoint
Management
Statutory Trust I
  December 2036   At our option at par on or after December 1, 2011   8.66% until December 1, 2011; three-month LIBOR plus 350 basis points thereafter   $1.6 million   $51.6 million
Total interest expense incurred for all subordinated debentures, including amortization of deferred origination costs, was $3.8 million and $2.3 million, respectively, for the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008, respectively.
Aggregate scheduled maturities of the subordinated debentures at March 31, 2009 are:
         
($ in thousands)        
 
2033
  $ 20,620  
2034
    25,775  
2035
    13,403  
2036
    123,741  
2037
    51,519  
 
 
  $ 235,058  
 
Note 12—Stockholders’ Equity
Authorized Shares of Common Stock
On January 28, 2009 an amendment to increase the number of authorized shares of common stock, par value $0.01 per share, from 40,000,000 shares to 100,000,000 shares was approved at a special meeting of stockholders. The amendment was filed with the Secretary of the State of Delaware on February 4, 2009.

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Shares of Common Stock Issued
In connection with the acquisition of CastlePoint on February 5, 2009, the Company issued 16,878,410 shares to the shareholders of CastlePoint increasing the Company’s shares outstanding and increasing Common Stock by $169,000 and Paid-in Capital by $421.5 million.
Warrants
As part of the IPO in October 2004, the Company issued to Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co., Inc. (“FBR”), the lead underwriter, warrants to purchase 189,000 shares of the Company’s common stock at an exercise price of $8.50 per share. The warrants are exercisable for a term of five years beginning on October 20, 2004 and expire on October 20, 2009. During 2008, FBR assigned the then outstanding warrants to six of its employees.
                         
            Warrants   Treasury
Exercise Date   Exercised by   Exercise Type   Surrendered   Shares Issued
 
January 2, 2009
  FBR employee   Cashless     5,000       3,211  
March 2, 2009
  FBR employee   Cashless     6,000       3,945  
March 30, 2009
  FBR employee   Cashless     6,000       3,823  
As of March 31, 2009, there were 8,000 warrants outstanding that are included in the calculation of diluted EPS.
Dividends Declared
The Company declared dividends on common stock of $2.0 million and $1.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008, respectively.
Note 13—Stock Based Compensation
Restricted Stock Awards
During the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008, restricted stock shares were granted to senior officers and key employees respectively as shown in the table below. Included in the restricted stock shares granted in 2009 were 83,228 restricted stock shares that were originally issued to employees or directors of CastlePoint and were converted into restricted shares of the Company’s common stock upon the acquisition of CastlePoint. The fair value of the awards for the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008 was $6.9 million and $3.3 million, respectively, on the date of grant. Compensation expense recognized for the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008 was $0.4 million and $0.3 million net of tax, respectively. The total intrinsic value of restricted stock vesting was $1.4 million and $0.7 million for the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008, respectively. The intrinsic value of the unvested restricted stock outstanding as of March 31, 2009 is $12.3 million.
Changes in restricted stock for the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008 were as follows:
                                 
    Three Months Ended March 31,
    2009   2008
            Weighted           Weighted
            Average           Average
    Number of   Grant Date   Number of   Grant Date
    Shares   Fair Value   Shares   Fair Value
 
Outstanding, January 1
    258,645     $ 24.97       195,468     $ 24.97  
Granted
    302,459       22.79       132,358       32.20  
Vested
    (60,091 )     25.79       (26,418 )     15.11  
Forfeitures
    (3,193 )           (442 )     22.59  
 
Outstanding, March 31
    497,820     $ 26.05       300,966     $ 24.97  
 
Stock Options
The following table provides an analysis of stock option activity during the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008:

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    Three Months Ended March 31,
    2009   2008
            Average           Average
    Number of   Exercise   Number of   Exercise
    Shares   Price   Shares   Price
 
Outstanding, January 1
    258,530     $ 5.57       281,896     $ 4.94  
Granted at fair value
    1,148,308       20.61              
Exercised
    (7,000 )     2.78       (23,366 )     2.78  
Forfeitures and expirations
    (122,892 )     21.98              
 
Outstanding, March 31
    1,276,946     $ 17.51       258,530     $ 5.57  
 
Exercisable, March 31
    710,479     $ 15.34       233,296     $ 4.95  
 
Included in options granted in 2009 were 1,148,308 stock options that were originally issued to employees or directors of CastlePoint on four grant dates and were converted into options to acquire shares of the Company’s common stock upon the acquisition of CastlePoint.
The fair value of the options granted to replace the CastlePoint 2006 options was estimated using the Black-Scholes pricing model as of February 5, 2009, the date of conversion from CastlePoint stock options to the Company’s stock options, with the following weighted average assumptions: risk free interest rate of 1.46%, dividend yield of 0.8%, volatility factors of the expected market price of the Company’s common stock of 45.3%, and a weighted-average expected life of the options of 3.3 years.
The fair value of the options granted to replace the CastlePoint 2007 options was estimated using the Black-Scholes pricing model as of February 5, 2009, the date of conversion from CastlePoint stock options to the Company’s stock options, with the following weighted average assumptions: risk free interest rate of 1.62%, dividend yield of 0.8%, volatility factors of the expected market price of the Company’s common stock of 43.8%, and a weighted-average expected life of the options of 4.3 years.
The fair value of the options granted to replace the CastlePoint 2008 options was estimated using the Black-Scholes pricing model as of February 5, 2009, the date of conversion from CastlePoint stock options to the Company’s stock options, with the following weighted average assumptions: risk free interest rate of 1.83%, dividend yield of 0.8%, volatility factors of the expected market price of the Company’s common stock of 44.0%, and a weighted-average expected life of the options of 5.3 years.
The fair value measurement objective of SFAS No, 123-R is achieved using the Black-Scholes model as the model (a) is applied in a manner consistent with the fair value measurement objective and other requirements of SFAS No. 123-R, (b) is based on established principles of financial economic theory and generally applied in that field and (c) reflects all substantive characteristics of the instruments.
Compensation expense (net of tax) related to stock options was $0.4 million and $12,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008, respectively. The total intrinsic value of stock options exercised during the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008 was $0.2 million and $0.3 million, respectively. The intrinsic value of stock options outstanding as of March 31, 2009 is $9.1 million, of which $6.6 million is related to vested options.
The total remaining compensation cost related to non-vested stock options and restricted stock awards not yet recognized in the income statement was $12.5 million of which $2.2 million was for stock options and $10.3 million was for restricted stock as of March 31, 2009. The weighted average period over which this compensation cost is expected to be recognized is 6.4 years.
Note 14—Income Taxes
Deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined using the enacted tax rates applicable to the period the temporary differences are expected to be recovered. Accordingly, the current period income tax provision can be affected by the enactment of new tax rates. The net deferred income taxes on the balance sheet reflect temporary differences between the carrying amounts of the assets and liabilities for financial reporting purposes and income tax purposes, tax effected at a 35% rate. Significant components of the Company’s deferred tax assets and liabilities are as follows:

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    March 31,   December 31,
($ in thousands)   2009   2008
 
Deferred tax asset:
               
Claims reserve discount
  $ 26,217     $ 11,863  
Unearned premium
    31,798       12,837  
Allowance for doubtful accounts
    151       136  
Equity compensation plans
    4,438       273  
Net unrealized depreciation of securities
    18,634       18,919  
Investment impairments
    8,655       8,680  
Net operating loss carryforwards
    19,678       13,632  
Capital loss carryforwards
          2,848  
Other
    7,744       514  
 
Total deferred tax assets
    117,317       69,702  
Deferred tax liability:
               
Deferred acquisition costs net of deferred ceding commission revenue
    34,222       18,578  
Depreciation and amortization
    9,659       7,096  
Warrant received from unconsolidated affiliate
          1,612  
Gain from issuance of common stock by unconsolidated affiliate
          3,706  
Equity income in unconsolidated affiliate
          1,111  
Salvage and subrogation
    764       764  
Accrual of bond discount
    641       628  
Other
    913        
 
Total deferred tax liabilities
    46,199       33,495  
 
Net deferred income tax asset
  $ 71,118     $ 36,207  
 
In assessing the valuation of deferred tax assets, the Company considers whether it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. The ultimate realization of deferred tax assets is dependent upon the generation of future taxable income during the periods in which those temporary differences become deductible. No valuation allowance against deferred tax assets has been established as the Company believes it is more likely than not the deferred tax assets will be realized.
Preserver, which was acquired by the Company on April 10, 2007, and CastlePoint, which was acquired by the Company on February 5, 2009, have tax loss carryforwards and other tax assets that the Company believes will be used in the future, subject to change of ownership limitations pursuant to Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code and to the ability of the combined post-merger company to generate sufficient taxable income to use the benefits before the expiration of the applicable carryforward periods.
Section 382 imposes limitations on a corporation’s ability to utilize its net operating loss carry forwards (NOL) if it experiences an “ownership change.” In general terms, an ownership change results from transactions increasing the ownership of certain stockholders in the stock of a corporation by more than 50 percentage points over a three-year period. As a result of the acquisitions, Preserver and CastlePoint underwent ownership changes. Use of Preserver’s NOL of $38.2 million and CastlePoint’s NOL of $18.0 million are subject to an annual limitation under Section 382 determined by multiplying the purchase price of the stock of Preserver and CastlePoint by the applicable long-term tax free rate resulting in an annual limitation amount of approximately $2.8 million and $10.0 million. Any unused annual limitation may be carried over to later years. Preserver’s NOL balance has been adjusted to reflect the finalization of filing Preserver income tax returns with the IRS.
At March 31, 2009, the Company had $38.9 million of net operating loss carryforwards that will expire if unused in 2009-2027.
The Company made elections under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) § 338(g) for CPBH and CPRe, both of which are Bermuda entities. The effect of these elections is to treat CPBH and CPRe as new corporations, effective as of the day of the closing, with a fair market value basis in their assets for US tax purposes and a new taxable year beginning the day after the closing. The Company also made a “check-the-box” election to treat CPBH as a disregarded entity for US tax purposes. Furthermore, the Company made an IRC § 953(d) election with regards to CPRe for the taxable year beginning after the date of acquisition. The 953(d) election will cause CPRe to be treated as a domestic corporation for US income tax purposes.

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The Company has also made elections under IRC §338(h)(10) with regards to its purchase of Hermitage. The effect of these elections is to treat Hermitage as a new corporation, effective as of the day of the closing, with a fair market value basis in their assets for US tax purposes and a new taxable year beginning the day after the closing.
The Company adopted the provisions of Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Interpretation No. 48, “Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes, an interpretation of FASB Statement No. 109” (“FIN 48”), on January 1, 2007. At the adoption date and as of March 31, 2009, the Company had no material unrecognized tax benefits and no adjustments to liabilities or operations were required.
The Company recognizes interest and penalties related to uncertain tax positions in income tax expense which were zero for the three months ended March 31, 2009 and March 31, 2008 in income tax expense.
Tax years 2004 through 2008 are subject to examination by the Internal Revenue Service, which is currently performing an audit of the 2006 tax year. There is currently a New York State Department of Taxation and Finance audit under way for the tax years of 2003 through 2004. The Company does not anticipate any material adjustments from these audits.
Note 15—Security Requirements
As required by the Company’s reinsurance agreements with its cedents, CPRe ad CPIC, where they are a non-admitted or non-accredited reinsurer, are required to collateralize amounts through a letter of credit, cash advance, funds held or a trust account. The amount of the letter of credit or trust is to be adjusted each calendar quarter, and the required amount is to be at least equal to the sum of the following contract amounts: (i) unearned premium reserve, (ii) paid loss and loss adjustment expense payable, (iii) loss and loss adjustment expenses reserves, (iv) loss incurred but not reported, (v) return and refund premiums, and (vi) less premium receivable. As of March 31, 2009, CPRe and CPIC maintained trusts and a letter of credit in the amount of $112.5 million and $1.2 million, respectively, at a Massachusetts trust company. Both CPRe and CPIC earn and collect the interest on the trust funds.
Note 16—Fair Value of Financial Instruments
Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 107, “Disclosures about Fair Value of Financial Instruments,” requires all entities to disclose the fair value of financial instruments, both assets and liabilities recognized and not recognized in the balance sheet, for which it is practicable to estimate fair value. See Note 3—“Acquisitions” for further information about the fair value of assets and liabilities of CastlePoint and Hermitage acquired upon acquisition. The Company uses the following methods and assumptions in estimating its fair value disclosures for financial instruments:
Equity and fixed income investments: Fair value disclosures for investments are included in “Note 4—Investments.”
Common trust securities—statutory business trusts: Common trust securities are investments in related parties; as such it is not practical to estimate the fair value of these instruments. Accordingly, these amounts are reported using the equity method.
Agents’ balances receivable, assumed premiums receivable, receivable-claims paid by agency: The carrying values reported in the accompanying balance sheets for these financial instruments approximate their fair values.
Reinsurance balances payable, payable to issuing carrier and funds held: The carrying value reported in the balance sheet for these financial instruments approximates fair value.
Subordinated debentures: The carrying values reported in the accompanying balance sheets for these financial instruments approximate fair value. Fair value was estimated using projected cash flows, discounted at rates currently being offered for similar notes.
Note 17—Earnings per Share
Effective January 1, 2009, the Company adopted FSP EITF 03-6-1, which requires that unvested share-based payment awards that contain nonforfeitable rights to dividends or dividend equivalents (whether paid or unpaid) be considered participating securities and included in the computation of earnings per share pursuant to the two-class method. FSP EITF 03-6-1 became effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2008, and interim periods within those years.
In accordance with the two-class method, the Company allocates its undistributed net earnings (net income less dividends declared during the period) to both its common stock and unvested share-based payment awards (“unvested restricted stock”). Because the common shareholders and share-based payment award holders share in dividends on a 1:1 basis, the earnings per share on undistributed earnings is equivalent. Undistributed earnings are allocated to all outstanding share-based payment awards, including those for which the requisite service period is not expected to be rendered.
All prior-period earnings per share data have been adjusted retrospectively to conform to the provisions of this FSP. As a result of the adoption of FSP EITF 03-6-1, weighted average common shares outstanding for the three months

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ended March 31, 2008 increased by 219,144 shares to 23,214,655 shares. Basic earnings per share for the three months ended March 31, 2008 decreased by $0.01 to $0.64 .
The following table shows the computation of the Company’s earnings per share pursuant to the two-class method:
                 
    Three Months Ended March 31,
($ in thousands, except share and per share amounts)   2009   2008
 
Numerator
               
Net income
  $ 17,976     $ 14,853  
 
Denominator
               
Weighted average common shares outstanding
    33,766,141       23,214,655  
Effect of dilutive securities:
               
Stock options
    132,895       146,167  
Restricted stock units
    7,335       20,915  
Warrants
    11,733       25,179  
 
Weighted average common and potential dilutive shares outstanding
    33,918,103       23,406,916  
 
Earnings per share — basic
               
Common stock:
               
Distributed earnings
  $ 0.05     $ 0.05  
Undistributed earnings
    0.48       0.59  
 
Total
    0.53       0.64  
 
Earnings per share — diluted
  $ 0.53     $ 0.64  
 
Note 18—Changes in Estimates
See Note 9—“Loss and Loss Adjustment Expenses,” for information on change in estimates.
There was no change in insurance subsidiaries’ estimated sliding scale commission revenue in the first quarter of 2009 compared to a decrease of $385,000 of ceding commission revenue in the first quarter of 2008. TRM’s changes in estimated sliding scale commissions was a decrease in direct commission revenue for prior years of $139,000 in the first quarter of 2009 compared to an increase of $702,000 in direct commission revenue in the first quarter of 2008.
Note 19—Segment Information
The Company has changed the presentation of its business results by allocating its previously reported insurance segment into brokerage insurance and specialty business, based on the way management organizes the segments for making operating decisions and assessing profitability. This change results in reporting three segments: brokerage (commercial and personal lines underwriting), specialty, which will include third party reinsurance assumed by CPRe, and insurance services (underwriting, claims and reinsurance services). The prior period segment disclosures have been restated to conform to the current presentation. The Company considers many factors in determining reportable segments including economic characteristics, production sources, products or services offered and the regulatory environment.
The accounting policies of the segments are the same as those described in the summary of significant accounting policies in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008. The Company evaluates segment performance based on segment profit, which excludes investment income, realized gains and losses, interest expense, income taxes and incidental corporate expenses. The Company does not allocate assets to segments because assets, which consist primarily of investments and fixed assets, other than intangibles and

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goodwill, are considered in total by management for decision-making purposes. Goodwill is allocated for purposes of impairment testing as more fully described in Note 6—“Goodwill and Intangible Assets.”
Business segments results are as follows:
                 
    Three Months Ended
    March 31,
($ in thousands)   2009   2008
 
Brokerage Insurance Segment
               
Revenues
               
Net premiums earned
  $ 127,311     $ 66,330  
Ceding commission revenue
    10,668       18,408  
Policy billing fees
    532       502  
 
Total revenues
    138,511       85,240  
 
Expenses
               
Net loss and loss adjustment expenses
    65,908       36,062  
Underwriting expenses
    53,292       39,269  
 
Total expenses
    119,200       75,331  
 
 
               
Underwriting profit
  $ 19,311     $ 9,909  
 
 
               
Specialty Business Segment
               
Revenues
               
Net premiums earned
  $ 40,779     $ 2,100  
Ceding commission revenue
    2,910       2,246  
 
Total revenues
    43,689       4,346  
 
Expenses
               
Net loss and loss adjustment expenses
    24,349       1,235  
Underwriting expenses
    16,322       2,717  
 
Total expenses
    40,671       3,952  
 
 
               
Underwriting profit
  $ 3,018     $ 394  
 
 
               
Insurance Services Segment
               
Revenues
               
Direct commission revenue from managing general agency
  $ 3,107     $ 8,164  
Claims administration revenue
    846       957  
Other administration revenue
    195       372  
Reinsurance intermediary fees
    94       168  
Policy billing fees
    19       76  
 
Total revenues
    4,261       9,737  
 
Expenses
               
Direct commission expense paid to producers
    1,491       3,370  
Other insurance services expenses:
               
Underwriting expenses reimbursed to TICNY
    859       1,574  
Claims expense reimbursement to TICNY
    846       957  
 
Total expenses
    3,196       5,901  
 
 
               
Insurance services pretax income
  $ 1,065     $ 3,836  
 

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The following table reconciles revenue by segment to consolidated revenue:
                 
    Three Months Ended
    March 31,
($ in thousands)   2009   2008
 
Brokerage insurance segment
  $ 138,511     $ 85,240  
Specialty business segment
    43,689       4,346  
Reinsurance segment
               
Insurance services segment
    4,261       9,736  
 
Total segment revenues
    186,461       99,322  
Net investment income
    14,533       9,796  
Net realized gains (losses) on investments, including other-than-temporary impairments
    (672 )     1,374  
 
Consolidated revenues
  $ 200,322     $ 110,492  
 
The following table reconciles the results of the Company’s individual segments to consolidated income before taxes:
                 
    Three Months Ended
    March 31,
($ in thousands)   2009   2008
 
Brokerage insurance segment underwriting profit
  $ 19,311     $ 9,909  
Specialty business segment underwriting profit
    3,018       394  
Insurance services segment pretax income
    1,065       3,834  
Net investment income
    14,533       9,796  
Net realized gains (losses) on investments, including impairment losses
    (672 )     1,374  
Corporate expenses
    (1,341 )     (386 )
Interest expense
    (3,783 )     (2,322 )
Other income (loss) *
    (4,737 )     760  
 
Income before taxes
  $ 27,394     $ 23,359  
 
 
*   See Note 3—“Acquisitions” and Note 7—“Investment in Unconsolidated Affiliate—CastlePoint”
Note 20—Subsequent Events
Dividends
The Company’s Board of Directors approved a quarterly dividend on April 23, 2009 of $0.07 per share payable June 26, 2009 to stockholders of record as of June 15, 2009.

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Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
Note on Forward-Looking Statements
Some of the statements under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and elsewhere in this Form 10-Q may include forward-looking statements that reflect our current views with respect to future events and financial performance. These statements include forward-looking statements both with respect to us specifically and to the insurance sector in general. Statements that include the words “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “project,” “estimate,” “may,” “should,” “anticipate,” “will” and similar statements of a future or forward-looking nature identify forward-looking statements for purposes of the Federal securities laws or otherwise.
All forward-looking statements address matters that involve risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, there are or will be important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those indicated in these statements. We believe that these factors include, but are not limited to, the following:
  ineffectiveness or obsolescence of our business strategy due to changes in current or future market conditions;
 
  developments that may delay or limit our ability to enter new markets as quickly as we anticipate;
 
  increased competition on the basis of pricing, capacity, coverage terms or other factors;
 
  greater frequency or severity of claims and loss activity, including as a result of natural or man-made catastrophic events, than our underwriting, reserving or investment practices anticipate based on historical experience or industry data;
 
  the effects of acts of terrorism or war;
 
  developments in the world’s financial and capital markets that adversely affect the performance of our investments;
 
  changes in regulations or laws applicable to us, our subsidiaries, brokers or customers;
 
  changes in acceptance of our products and services, including new products and services;
 
  changes in the availability, cost or quality of reinsurance and failure of our reinsurers to pay claims timely or at all;
 
  changes in the percentage of our premiums written that we cede to reinsurers;
 
  decreased demand for our insurance or reinsurance products;
 
  loss of the services of any of our executive officers or other key personnel;
 
  the effects of mergers, acquisitions and divestitures;
 
  changes in rating agency policies or practices;
 
  changes in legal theories of liability under our insurance policies;
 
  changes in accounting policies or practices;
 
  changes in general economic conditions, including inflation, interest rates and other factors;
 
  disruptions in Tower’s business arising from the integration of CastlePoint and Hermitage into Tower;
 
  increases in Tower’s exposure to risk of loss arising from the CastlePoint merger or the Hermitage acquisition;
 
  the possibility that Tower will incur significant charges on writing down the goodwill and intangibles established in connection with the CastlePoint merger and the Hermitage acquisition if CastlePoint’s or Hermitage’s businesses do not perform well or Tower does not integrate CastlePoint’s and Hermitage’s businesses successfully; and
 
  the absence at Hermitage of internal controls over financial reporting that meet the standard required of a publicly traded company.

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The foregoing review of important factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements included in this Form 10-Q. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.
Critical Accounting Policies
See Note 2—“Accounting Policies and Basis of Presentation” for information related to updated critical accounting policies.
Consolidated Results of Operations
During this quarter we closed on the previously announced acquisitions of CastlePoint and Hermitage on February 5, 2009 and February 27, 2009, respectively. Accordingly, our consolidated revenues and expenses reflect significant changes as a result of these acquisitions particularly through the expansion of our distribution platform which now includes all of the specialty business produced through program underwriting agents and small insurance companies through CastlePoint, as reported in our Specialty Business segment, and excess and surplus lines distribution through Hermitage as reported in our Brokerage Insurance segment.
Accordingly, we have changed the presentation of our business results by allocating our previously reported insurance segment between brokerage insurance and specialty business based on the way management organizes the segments for making operating decisions and assessing profitability. This resulted in reporting three segments: brokerage insurance, specialty business and insurance services. The prior period segment disclosures have been restated to conform to the current presentation. Because we do not manage our assets by segments, our investment income is not allocated among our segments. Operating expenses incurred by each segment are recorded in such segment directly. General corporate overhead not incurred by an individual segment is allocated based upon the methodology deemed to be most appropriate, which may include employee head count, policy count and premiums written in each segment.
Our results of operations are discussed below in two parts. The first part discusses the consolidated results of operations. The second part discusses the results of each of our three segments. The comparison between quarters is affected by the acquisition of CastlePoint on February 5, 2009 and Hermitage on February 27, 2009.

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    Three Months Ended
    March 31,
($ in millions)   2009   2008   Change   Percent
 
Revenues
                               
Premiums earned
                               
Gross premiums earned
  $ 216.1     $ 135.1     $ 80.9       59.9 %
Less: Ceded premiums earned
    (48.0 )     (66.7 )     18.7       (28.1 %)
 
Net premiums earned
    168.1       68.4       99.7       145.6 %
Total commission and fee income
    18.4       30.9       (12.5 )     (40.5 %)
Net investment income
    14.5       9.8       4.7       48.4 %
Net realized investment (losses) gains
    (0.7 )     1.4       (2.0 )     (148.9 %)
 
Total
    200.3       110.5       89.8       81.3 %
 
Expenses
                               
Net loss and loss adjustment expenses
    90.3       37.3       53.0       142.0 %
Operating expenses
    74.2       48.3       25.9       53.6 %
Interest expense
    3.8       2.3       1.5       62.9 %
 
Total expenses
    168.2       87.9       80.3       91.4 %
 
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated affiliate
    (0.8 )     0.8       (1.5 )     (202.2 %)
Acquisition-related transaction costs
    (11.3 )           (11.3 )        
Gain on investment in acquired unconsolidated affiliate
    7.4             7.4          
 
Income before taxes
    27.4       23.4       4.0       17.3 %
Federal and state income taxes
    9.4       8.5       0.9       10.7 %
 
Net Income
  $ 18.0     $ 14.9     $ 3.1       21.0 %
 
 
                               
Key Measures
                               
Gross premiums written and produced:
                               
Written by Brokerage and Specialy Insurance Segments
  $ 199.9     $ 135.1     $ 64.8       48.0 %
Produced by Insurance Services Segment
    10.7       23.3       (12.6 )     (53.9 %)
Assumed premiums
    0.6       (1.0 )     1.7       (161.0 %)
 
Total
  $ 211.2     $ 157.4     $ 53.9       34.3 %
 
 
                               
Percent of total revenues:
                               
Net premiums earned
    83.9 %     61.9 %                
Commission and fee income
    9.2 %     28.0 %                
Net investment income
    7.3 %     8.9 %                
Net realized investment gains (losses)
    (0.3 %)     1.2 %                
Return on average equity (1)
    17.3 %     19.1 %                
 
 
(1)   Net realized investment losses and acquisition-related transaction costs, net of tax for the three months ended March 31, 2009 reduced return on average equity by 10.0% and net realized investment gains for the three months ended March 31, 2008 increased return on average equity by 1.0%.
Consolidated Results of Operations Three Months Ended March 31, 2009 and 2008
Total revenues. During this quarter we closed on the previously announced acquisitions of CastlePoint and Hermitage on February 5, 2009 and February 27, 2009, respectively. Accordingly, our consolidated revenues and expenses reflect significant changes as a result of these acquisitions. Total revenues increased due to significant increases in net premiums earned and net investment income. However, commission and fee income declined. Net premiums earned, as a percent of total revenues, increased due to organic growth in Tower’s gross premiums,

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discussed more fully in the “Brokerage Insurance Segment Results of Operations” and “Specialty Business Segment Results of Operations” sections below. Net premiums earned also increased due to the inclusion, in the consolidated entity from February 5, 2009, of brokerage business premiums managed by Tower but previously ceded to or placed with a CastlePoint company and certain Specialty Business premiums on Tower’s paper previously ceded to CastlePoint. Also, in order to effectively utilize the additional capital obtained through the acquisition of CastlePoint, we did not cede any premiums externally on a quota share basis during this quarter, thereby also increasing net premiums earned.
Although net investment income, excluding realized capital losses or gains, increased in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the first quarter of 2008, primarily as a result of the acquisitions, such income represented 7.3% of total revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2009, as compared to 8.9% for the same period last year as net premiums earned was a more significant contributor to total consolidated revenues in 2009.
Total commission and fee income for the three months ended March 31, 2009 was 9.2% of total revenues as compared to 28.0% in the same period in 2008. This decline was due primarily to a reduction in ceding commission revenue, as we did not cede any brokerage insurance business on a quota share basis in 2009. In addition, we recorded a reduction in fee income from premium placement by TRM, our managing general agency, which placed business with and on behalf of CPIC in 2008 and thereby generated fee income for the entire first quarter of 2008, whereas fee income on such placed business in the first quarter of 2009 was earned only from January 1, 2009 to the closing date on February 5, 2009. The placement of business with CPIC ceased on February 5, 2009 and the earned premiums on such business, since that date, are included in consolidated gross and net premiums earned.
Premiums earned. As discussed above, the increase in gross and net premiums earned was primarily due to the CastlePoint and Hermitage acquisitions. Gross and net premiums earned by CastlePoint since the acquisition date was $51.6 million and $37.6 million, respectively. Gross and net premiums earned by Hermitage since the acquisition date was $8.2 million and $7.9 million, respectively. The decrease in ceded premiums earned resulted from our decision to not cede any brokerage premiums on a quota share basis in 2009 as compared to ceded premiums in 2008 to CastlePoint of $56.8 million under quota share agreements.
Commission and fee income. Commission and fee income decreased primarily due to our decision to not cede brokerage premiums in 2009 as discussed above. Ceding commission revenue in 2009 represents commissions on ceded premiums earned from quota share reinsurance contracts written in 2008 and continuing to earn in 2009. With respect to placed business, TRM produced $10.7 million and $21.8 million, respectively in premiums on behalf of CPIC and earned $3.4 million and $7.1 million in fee income during the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008, respectively. Commission and fee income includes other administration revenue of $0.2 million and $0.4 million from services provided to and reimbursed by CastlePoint for the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008, respectively. The change in the estimated sliding scale commission rate for commissions earned in prior periods in both the brokerage insurance segment and the insurance services segment resulted in a net decline of $0.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2009, compared to an increase of $0.3 million for the same period last year.
Net investment income and net realized gains (losses). The increase in net investment income resulted from an increase in cash and invested assets to approximately $1.5 billion as of March 31, 2009 compared to $633.8 million as of March 31, 2008. The increase in cash and invested assets resulted primarily from the acquisitions of CastlePoint and Hermitage and from cash provided from operations of $54.3 million less $130.1 million of CastlePoint’s cash used to acquire Hermitage. We have $305 million in cash and cash equivalents, which is three times the level of a year ago. In the first quarter, net investment income increased by 48.4% to $14.5 million as compared to $9.8 million for the same period last year. The tax equivalent investment yield, including cash, in the first quarter was 5.5%, compared with 5.3% at March 31, 2008. The higher yield is due to the acquisition of CastlePoint whose investments had a market yield, excluding cash and cash equivalents, on the date of acquisition of 7.0%. CastlePoint’s market yield becomes Tower’s book yield due to purchase accounting rules. The higher book yield was partially offset by large cash holdings at March 31 yielding less than 1%. Overall, we have directed our portfolio managers to invest conservatively with a focus on high quality municipal securities as our allocation dropped below our target as a result of the CastlePoint and Hermitage transactions. Our investment focus is in the new issue market where supply has generally been limited and oversubscribed, which has resulted in a slower cash deployment.

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Net realized investment losses were $0.7 million during the three months ended March 31, 2009 compared to investment gains of $1.4 million in the same period last year. Included in the 2009 realized investment loss are approximately $2.5 million of net realized capital gains and $3.2 million of OTTI losses related primarily to structured securities rated below AA. The gains in 2009 resulted primarily from opportunistic sales of CMBS securities where yield spreads narrowed during the quarter, and sales of preferred stocks, primarily in the banking sector, to reduce our overall exposure in this sector. OTTI losses in the three months ended March 31, 2008 were $2.4 million, relating primarily to equity REITs subsequently sold in the second quarter of 2008. OTTI losses in 2009 consisted of $3.2 million of projected credit losses and $5.4 million of projected non-credit losses which, were classified in accumulated other comprehensive net loss as a result of our election to adopt the provisions of FSP FAS 115 -2 and FAS 124-2.
Losses and loss adjustment expenses. Gross loss and loss adjustment expenses and the gross loss ratio for the three months ended March 31, 2009 were $129.4 million and 59.9%, respectively, compared to $67.1 million and 49.7% respectively, in the same period in 2009. Net loss and loss adjustment expenses and the net loss ratio for the three months ended March 31, 2009 were $90.3 million and 53.7%, respectively, compared to $37.3 million and 54.5%, respectively, in the same period in 2008. See “Brokerage Insurance Segment Results of Operations” for an explanation of this change.
Operating expenses. Operating expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2009, increased from the comparable period in 2008 primarily as a result of an increase in underwriting expenses resulting from (i) the growth in premiums earned, primarily relating to the CastlePoint and Hermitage acquisitions completed in the first quarter of 2009, (ii) additional staffing also resulting from the acquisitions and (iii) additional depreciation costs related to our increased investment in technology. The gross and net expense ratio for our Insurance Subsidiaries was 32.0% and 33.0% for the three months ended March 31, 2009, compared to 30.7% and 30.4% for the three months ended March 31, 2008.
Other income (loss). Other losses for the three months ended March 31, 2009 increased compared to the comparable period in 2009 as a result of writing off acquisition related transaction costs of $11.4 million following the new business combinations requirements, offset by a gain of $7.4 million on the revaluation of the shares owned in CastlePoint at the time of its acquisition.
Interest expense. Interest expense increased by $1.5 million or 62.9% of which $1.8 million was incurred on CastlePoint’s subordinated debentures, offset by lower interest expense from a decrease in interest rates on the floating rate portions of our subordinated debentures and as a result of crediting less interest to reinsurers on funds withheld in segregated trusts as collateral for reinsurance recoverables due to the run-off of these obligations.
Income tax expense. Income tax expense increased as a result of an increase in income before income taxes. The effective income tax rate (including state and local taxes) was 34.4% for the three months ending March 31, 2009 compared to 36.4% for the same period in 2008. The decrease in the effective tax rate was primarily related to an increase in our tax exempt municipal investments, and, to a lesser extent, lower state and local income taxes which resulted from the decline in pre-tax earnings in the insurance services segment. At the acquisition dates, CastlePoint had no holdings in municipal fixed income securities, as CastlePoint was not a US taxpayer and did not benefit from the tax advantaged investments prior to acquisition. The reduction in the effective tax rate was partially offset by the limited amount of tax deductible transaction costs related to the CastlePoint acquisition.
Net income and return on average equity. Net income and annualized return on average equity were $18.0 million and 17.3%, respectively, for the three months ended March 31, 2009 compared to $14.9 million and 19.1%, respectively, for the same period in 2008. For the first quarter of 2009, the return was calculated by dividing annualized net income of $71.9 million by an average common stockholders’ equity of $415.3 million. For the first quarter of 2008, the return was calculated by dividing annualized net income of $59.4 million by an average common stockholders’ equity of $311.7 million. Net income in the quarter ended March 31, 2009 was negatively impacted by $9.9 million, net of tax, of transaction related expenses pertaining to the CastlePoint acquisition.

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Brokerage Insurance Segment Results of Operations
                                 
    Three Months Ended
    March 31,
($ in millions)   2009   2008   Change   Percent
 
Revenues
                               
Premiums earned
                               
Gross premiums earned
  $ 162.5     $ 126.2     $ 36.2       28.7 %
Less: ceded premiums earned
    (35.2 )     (59.9 )     24.7       41.3 %
 
Net premiums earned
    127.3       66.3       61.0       91.9 %
Ceding commission revenue
    10.7       18.4       (7.7 )     (42.0 %)
Policy billing fees
    0.5       0.5       0.0       6.0 %
 
Total
    138.5       85.2       53.3       62.5 %
 
Expenses
                               
Loss and loss adjustment expenses
                               
Gross loss and loss adjustment expenses
    98.2       61.9       36.3       58.6 %
Less:ceded loss and loss adjustment expenses
    (32.3 )     (25.9 )     (6.4 )     24.8 %
 
Net loss and loss adjustment expenses
    65.9       36.1       29.8       82.8 %
Underwriting expenses
                               
Direct commission expense
    31.2       20.9       10.3       49.4 %
Other underwriting expenses
    22.1       18.4       3.7       20.1 %
 
Total underwriting expenses
    53.3       39.3       14.0       35.7 %
 
Underwriting profit
  $ 19.3     $ 9.9     $ 9.4       94.9 %
 
 
                               
Key Measures
                               
Premiums written
                               
Gross premiums written
  $ 153.2     $ 114.9     $ 38.3       33.4 %
Less: ceded premiums written
    (11.3 )     (51.7 )     40.4       78.2 %
 
Net premiums written
  $ 141.9     $ 63.2     $ 78.7       124.6 %
 
 
                               
Ceded premiums as a percent of gross premiums
                               
Written
    7.4 %     45.0 %                
Earned
    21.6 %     47.5 %                
Loss Ratios
                               
Gross
    60.4 %     49.1 %                
Net
    51.8 %     54.4 %                
Accident Year Loss Ratios
                               
Gross
    54.3 %     50.2 %                
Net
    54.1 %     54.4 %                
Underwriting Expense Ratios
                               
Gross
    32.5 %     30.7 %                
Net
    33.1 %     30.7 %                
Combined Ratios
                               
Gross
    92.9 %     79.8 %                
Net
    84.8 %     85.1 %                

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Brokerage Insurance Segment Results of Operations for Three Months Ended March 31, 2009 and 2008
Gross premiums. The increase in brokerage business premium written resulted primarily from the acquisitions of CastlePoint and Hermitage on February 5, 2009 and February 27, 2009, respectively, which added $29.0 million and $36.6 million in gross premiums written and earned, respectively, for the three months ended March 31, 2009. Although CastlePoint primarily writes specialty business, a portion of Tower’s brokerage business was produced by TRM on behalf of CastlePoint in 2008. Premium growth for our brokerage business in the first quarter of 2009 included business written by CastlePoint, was $18.4 million or 13.4% in comparison to the comparable quarter in 2008. Although we are seeing slower growth from wholesale and general agents in the New York metropolitan area, such slower growth has been offset by continuing our national wholesale expansion through wholesale and general agents elsewhere in the Northeast and other areas. We are writing excess and surplus lines business in Florida and Texas, and writing on an admitted basis in California. New business written in California, Texas and Florida increased to $18.7 million for the three months ending March 31, 2009 compared to $6.7 million for the same period last year. Our brokerage business written outside the state of New York totaled $64.7 million and as a percentage of our total gross premiums increased to 36.0% at March 31, 2009 from 28.7% at March 31, 2008.
Excluding Hermitage, policies in force for our brokerage insurance segment increased by 19.0% as of March 31, 2009 compared to March 31, 2008. For the first quarter of 2009, premiums on renewed business increased 2.5% in personal lines and decreased 0.8% in commercial lines, resulting in an overall increase of 0.3%. The retention rate on brokerage business was 90% for personal lines and 82% for commercial lines, resulting in a retention rate of 87% for all lines for the first quarter of 2009.
Ceded premiums. The reduction in ceded premiums written resulted from our decision to retain more of our business following the increase in our capital from the CastlePoint acquisition. Therefore, we did not renew the quota share reinsurance agreement with CastlePoint for the period from January 1, 2009 to the closing date on February 5, 2009, nor did we renew the quota share contract with Swiss Re in the first quarter of 2009. During the first quarter of 2008, we ceded 40% of our brokerage business to CPRe amounting to $52.3 million. We did not cede any business to Swiss Re until the second quarter of 2008.
Overall, our catastrophe ceded premiums were $5.5 million for the first three months of 2009 as compared to $3.1 million for the same period last year. As part of the brokerage business quota share agreement, CastlePoint reimbursed us $1.3 million, which represented a 30% share of our catastrophe reinsurance costs in the first quarter of 2008.
Ceded premiums earned decreased 41.3% to $35.2 million for the first three months of 2009 as compared to $59.9 million for the same period last year. This decrease was primarily due to our decision to retain more of our business as mentioned above. The ceded premiums earned in the first quarter of 2009 resulted primarily from the premiums ceded under the 2008 quota share agreement with Swiss Re.
Net premiums. Because of the acquisitions of CastlePoint and Hermitage and our decision to retain more of our business, net premiums written during the first three months of 2009 increased 124.6% over the comparable 2008 period. While gross premiums written increased by 33.4% in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the same period in 2008, net premiums written increased significantly more in percentage terms because of the significant reduction in ceded premiums written for the first quarter of 2009 compared to the same period in 2008. Net premiums earned increased by 91.9% to $127.3 million in the first quarter of 2009 compared to $66.3 million for the same period last year due to the aforementioned increase in gross premiums earned and the decrease in ceded premiums earned.
Ceding commission revenue. Ceding commission revenue decreased by 42.0% to $10.7 million for the first three months of 2009 compared to $18.4 million for the same period last year. The decrease was due to the decrease in ceded premiums earned.
Loss and loss adjustment expenses and loss ratio. Gross loss and loss adjustment expenses and the gross loss ratio for the three months ended March 31, 2009 were $98.2 million and 60.4%, respectively, compared to $61.9 million and 49.1%, respectively, for the same period in 2008. Net loss and loss adjustment expenses and the net loss ratio

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for the three months ended March 31, 2009 were $65.9 million and 51.8%, respectively, compared to $36.1 million and 54.4%, respectively, for the same period in 2008.
The increase in the gross loss ratio in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the same period in 2008 was primarily due to four large commercial property losses that increased the first quarter 2009 gross loss ratio by approximately 9.7 percentage points. The decrease in the net loss ratio in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the same period in 2008 was primarily due to the decrease in required LAE reserves as a result of changing to fixed fee billing for our in-house attorneys for claims handled and of legal fee auditing of external attorneys’ bills for business written by CPIC and Hermitage. The decrease in the net loss ratio was also due to lower than expected net loss emergence for all lines of business for accident years 2007 and prior. During the first quarter of 2009, prior years’ loss reserves developed favorably by $3.0 million, of which $2.5 million resulted from the revised estimates of required ALAE reserves as mentioned above. The decrease in the net loss ratio was also affected by the decrease in catastrophe reinsurance premiums ceded. We ceded catastrophe reinsurance premiums equal to 3.2% of net premiums earned during the three months ended March 31, 2009 compared to 4.4% during the same period of 2008.
Underwriting expenses and underwriting expense ratio. Underwriting expenses, which include direct commission expenses and other underwriting expenses, were $53.3 million for the first three months of 2009 as compared with $39.3 million for the same period last year. The increase in underwriting expenses is due to the increase in gross premiums earned, which was primarily due to the CastlePoint and Hermitage acquisitions completed during the first quarter of 2009. Our gross expense ratio was 32.5% for the first three months of 2009 as compared with 30.7% for the same period last year.
The commission portion of the gross expense ratio, which expresses direct commission expense paid to our producers as a percentage of gross premiums earned, was 19.2% for the first three months of 2009, compared to 16.5% for the same period last year. The increase in commission rate resulted from the acquisition of CastlePoint. CastlePoint’s brokerage business historically had higher commission rates as compared to Tower and includes amortization expense for the value of the business acquired.
The underwriting expense portion of the gross expense ratio was 13.3% for the first three months of 2009 as compared to 14.1% for the same period last year. The decrease in this ratio resulted from increased economies of scale and greater operating efficiencies through the use of technology and cost savings arising from our integration of CastlePoint.
The net underwriting expense ratio, which reflects the benefits of ceding commission revenue that lowers the gross expense ratio, was 33.1% for the first three months of 2009 as compared to 30.7% for the same period last year. The increase in the net expense ratio resulted from a decrease in the ceding commission rate during the first quarter of 2009 as a larger percentage of our ceded premiums earned were on excess and catastrophe reinsurance agreements which do not generate any ceding commission revenue.
Underwriting profit and combined ratio. The underwriting profit, which reflects our underwriting results on a net basis after the effects of reinsurance, was $19.3 million in the first quarter of 2009 compared to $9.9 million for the same period last year. The gross combined ratio was 92.9% for the first three months of 2009 as compared with 79.8% for the same period last year. The higher gross combined ratio in the first quarter of 2009 resulted primarily from a higher gross loss ratio in the first quarter of 2009 compared to 2008. The net combined ratio was 84.8% for the first quarter of 2009 as compared to 85.1% for the same period last year. The decrease in the net combined ratio resulted from a decrease in the net loss ratio partially offset by an increase in the net underwriting expense ratio.

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Specialty Business Segment Results of Operations
                                 
    Three Months Ended
    March 31,
($ in millions)   2009   2008   Change   Percent
 
Revenues
                               
Premiums earned
                               
Gross premiums earned
  $ 53.6     $ 8.9     $ 44.7     NM
Less: ceded premiums earned
    (12.8 )     (6.8 )     (6.0 )     88.5 %
 
Net premiums earned
    40.8       2.1       38.7     NM
Ceding commission revenue
    2.9       2.2       0.7       29.6 %
 
Total
    43.7       4.3       39.3     NM
 
Expenses
                               
Loss and loss adjustment expenses
                               
Gross loss and loss adjustment expenses
    31.3       5.2       26.1     NM
Less: ceded loss and loss adjustment expenses
    (6.9 )     (4.0 )     (2.9 )     74.0 %
 
Net loss and loss adjustment expenses
    24.3       1.2       23.1     NM
Underwriting expenses
                               
Direct commission expense
    13.8       2.4       11.4       484.5 %
Other underwriting expenses
    2.5       0.4       2.2     NM
 
Total underwriting expenses
    16.3       2.7       13.6     NM
 
Underwriting profit
  $ 3.0     $ 0.4     $ 2.6     NM
 
 
                               
Key Measures
                               
Premiums written
                               
Gross premiums written
  $ 46.7     $ 20.2     $ 26.5       130.9 %
Less: ceded premiums written
    (2.4 )     (15.1 )     12.7       84.1 %
 
Net premiums written
  $ 44.3     $ 5.2     $ 39.2     NM
 
NM is shown where percentage change exceeds 500%
                               
 
                               
Ceded premiums as a percent of gross premiums
                               
Written
    5.1 %     74.5 %                
Earned
    23.9 %     76.4 %                
Loss Ratios
                               
Gross
    58.3 %     58.6 %                
Net
    59.7 %     58.8 %                
Accident Year Loss Ratios
                               
Gross
    58.3 %     58.6 %                
Net
    59.7 %     58.8 %                
Underwriting Expense Ratios
                               
Gross
    30.5 %     30.6 %                
Net
    32.9 %     22.4 %                
Combined Ratios
                               
Gross
    88.8 %     89.1 %                
Net
    92.6 %     81.2 %                

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Specialty Business Segment Results of Operations for Three Months Ended March 31, 2009 and 2008
Gross premiums. Total specialty business gross premiums written for the three months ended March 31, 2009 consisted of program business written in Tower insurance subsidiaries, program business written in CPIC and reinsurance business written in CPRe, as compared to the three months ended March 31, 2008 for which the total specialty business gross premiums written consisted of program business written in Tower insurance subsidiaries only. Gross premiums earned increased by more than fivefold to $53.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2009 compared to $8.9 million for the same period in 2008.
The increase in specialty business premium written resulted primarily from the acquisition of CastlePoint which added $21.5 million of gross premiums written. Tower insurance subsidiaries increased their program gross premiums written by $5.0 million to $25.2 million for the first three months of 2009 compared to the same period in 2008, primarily as a result of an increase in premiums from programs which began in early 2008 and were in place for the entire first quarter of 2009. A new commercial auto program contributed $4.5 million of the $10.6 million of CPIC program gross premiums written in the first quarter of 2009. CPRe’s reinsurance gross written premium for the first quarter of 2009 was $11.0 million which was substantially all quota share reinsurance. A new quota share client writing California risks only was added in February. This accounted for over $1.4 million of gross written premium.
Ceded premiums. The reduction in ceded premiums written was primarily the result of Tower, in January 2009, not ceding program business to CastlePoint Re on new and renewal policies. After the completion of the CastlePoint merger on February 5, 2009, ceded premium transactions to CastlePoint Re were eliminated in consolidation. On certain specific programs we cede reinsurance on a quota share or excess of loss basis to reduce our risk, including quota share reinsurance to insurance companies affiliated with the program underwriting agency handling such program business, which we term “risk sharing.” Despite the reduced ceded premiums written, ceded premiums earned increased 88.5% to $12.8 million for the first three months of 2009 as compared to $6.8 million for the same period last year primarily due to the fact that in 2008 our risk sharing program was just beginning and had little ceded earned premiums. During the first quarter of 2008, we ceded 50% and 85% of our traditional and specialty program business to CPRe, totaling $1.2 million and $3.3 million of ceded premiums earned, respectively.
Ceding commission revenue. The increase in ceding commission revenue resulted primarily from the increase in ceded premiums as discussed above although the ceding commission ratio decreased. The decrease in ceding commission ratio resulted primarily from business that was ceded to CPRe in 2008 and eliminated in consolidation in 2009 after completion of the acquisition on February 5, 2009.
Loss and loss adjustment expenses. During the first quarter of 2009, there was no change in prior years’ estimates of gross and net reserves. During the first quarter of 2009, the net loss ratio on assumed reinsurance business was 60.5% and on programs was 59.2%. In the first quarter of 2008, we did not write assumed reinsurance business. The net loss ratio on programs was 58.8% for the first three months of 2008.
Underwriting expenses and underwriting expense ratio. Underwriting expenses include direct commissions and other underwriting expenses. Our gross expense ratio for the first three months of 2009 was 30.5% as compared to 30.6% for the comparable period in the prior year.
The commission portion of the gross expense ratio, which expresses direct commission expense as a percentage of gross premiums earned, was 25.7% for the first three months of 2009, compared to 26.5% for the same period last year.
The other underwriting expenses portion of the gross expense ratio was 4.7% for the first three months of 2009 compared to 4.0% for the same period last year. The increase resulted from CPIC and CPRe having a slightly higher expense ratio than Tower, offset by lower boards, bureaus and tax expense since CPRe does not pay these taxes.
The net underwriting expense ratio, which reflects the benefits of ceding commission revenue that generally lowers the net expense ratio, was 32.9% for the first three months of 2009 as compared to 22.4% for the same period last year. The net underwriting expense ratio was slightly higher than the gross ratio in 2009 because ceded earned premium increased in greater proportion than the ceding commission revenue as described above. The increase in

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the net expense ratio resulted from the ceding commission revenue having a smaller impact on the expense ratio for the three months ended March 31, 2009 compared to the same period in 2008.
Underwriting profit and combined ratio. The underwriting profit reflects our underwriting results on a net basis after the effects of reinsurance. The lower gross combined ratio for the first three months ended March 31, 2009 compared to the same period in 2008 resulted from a decrease in the underwriting expense ratio offset by a slight increase in the gross loss ratio. The increase in the net combined ratio for the three months ended March 31, 2009 compared to the same period in 2008 resulted from both a higher underwriting expense ratio and net loss ratio compared to the same period in 2008.

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Insurance Services Segment Results of Operations
                                 
    Three Months Ended
    March 31,
($ in millions)   2009   2008   Change   Percent
 
Revenue
                               
Direct commission revenue from managing general agency
  $ 3.1     $ 8.2     $ (5.1 )     (61.9 %)
Claims administration revenue
    0.8       1.0       (0.1 )     (11.6 %)
Other administration revenue
    0.2       0.4       (0.2 )     (47.4 %)
Reinsurance intermediary fees
    0.1       0.2       (0.1 )     (44.0 %)
Policy billing fees
    0.0       0.1       (0.1 )     (75.5 %)
 
Total
    4.3       9.7       (5.5 )     (56.2 %)
 
Expenses
                               
Direct commission expense paid to producers
    1.5       3.4       (1.9 )     (55.8 %)
Other insurance services expenses
    0.9       1.6       (0.7 )     (45.4 %)
Claims expense reimbursement to TICNY
    0.8       1.0       (0.1 )     (11.6 %)
 
Total
    3.2       5.9       (2.7 )     (45.9 %)
 
Insurance services pre-tax income (loss)
  $ 1.1     $ 3.8     $ (2.8 )     (72.2 %)
 
Premiums produced by TRM on behalf of issuing companies
  $ 10.7       23.3     $ (12.6 )     (53.9 %)
 
Total revenues. The decrease in total revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2009 compared to the same period in the prior year resulted from a reduction in business produced on behalf of CPIC to $10.7 million for the three months ending March, 31, 2009 compared to $21.8 million for the same period last year. As a result of the decrease in premiums produced, revenues declined to $4.3 million from $9.7 million for the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008, respectively. Direct commission revenue decreased to $3.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2009 compared to $8.2 million for the same period in 2008. The decline resulted from a decrease in business produced by TRM on behalf of CPIC. Subsequent to the completion of the CastlePoint acquisition on February 5, 2009, TRM ceased producing business on behalf of CPIC. In addition, there was a decrease in direct commission revenue of $0.2 million for the first three months of 2009 as a result of unfavorable loss development on the business produced in prior years, as compared to an increase of $0.7 million for the same period last year as a result of favorable loss development.
Direct commission expense. The decrease in direct commission expenses was a result of the decrease in business produced by TRM on behalf of CPIC. The direct commission expense ratio was 13.9 % for the first three months of 2009 compared to 14.5% for the same period last year. The CPIC book of business is produced through the same agents who produce business written through our brokerage insurance segment and TRM’s commission rates are similar to the commission rates in the insurance segment for similar lines of business.
Other insurance services expenses. The amount of reimbursement for underwriting expenses by TRM to TICNY for the three months ended March 31, 2009 was $0.9 million as compared to $1.6 million for the same period in 2008. The decrease in other insurance expenses resulted from the decline in premium produced.
Claims expense reimbursement. The amount of reimbursement by TRM for claims administration pursuant to the terms of the expense sharing agreement with TICNY in the first quarter of 2009 was $0.8 million as compared to $1.0 million in the first quarter of 2008. The claims expense reimbursement was relatively flat in comparison to last year.
Pre-tax income. Pre-tax income decreased to $1.1 million in the first quarter of 2009 as compared to $3.8 million in the same period in 2008. The decrease was primarily due to the decrease in premiums produced.

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Investments
Portfolio Summary
The following table presents a breakdown of the amortized cost, aggregate fair value and unrealized gains and losses by investment type as of March 31, 2009 and December 31, 2008:
                                                 
    Cost or   Gross   Gross Unrealized Losses           % of
    Amortized   Unrealized   Less than 12   More than 12   Fair   Fair
($ in thousands)   Cost   Gains   Months   Months   Value   Value
 
March 31, 2009
                                               
U.S. Treasury securities
  $ 28,320     $ 450     $     $     $ 28,770       2.4 %
U.S. Agency securities
    23,619       296       (3 )     (35 )     23,878       2.0 %
Municipal bonds
    306,281       6,021       (880 )     (907 )     310,515       26.4 %
Corporate and other bonds
    346,442       2,144       (13,678 )     (16,527 )     318,381       27.1 %
Commercial, residential and asset-backed securities
    508,967       12,127       (10,062 )     (29,528 )     481,504       41.0 %
 
Total fixed maturity securities
    1,213,629       21,038       (24,623 )     (46,997 )     1,163,048       99.0 %
Equity securities
    14,897       47       (587 )     (2,698 )     11,658       1.0 %
 
Total
  $ 1,228,526     $ 21,084     $ (25,210 )   $ (49,695 )   $ 1,174,706       100.0 %
 
 
 
December 31, 2008
                                               
U.S. Treasury securities
  $ 26,482     $ 524     $     $     $ 27,006       5.0 %
U.S. Agency securities
    361       38                   399       0.1 %
Municipal bonds
    179,734       2,865       (2,485 )     (166 )     179,948       33.3 %
Corporate and other bonds
    210,007       932       (13,948 )     (10,016 )     186,975       34.6 %
Commercial, residential and asset-backed securities
    164,886       1,838       (10,603 )     (20,290 )     135,830       25.1 %
 
Total fixed maturity securities
    581,470       6,197       (27,036 )     (30,472 )     530,159       98.0 %
Equity securities
    12,726       5       (60 )     (1,857 )     10,814       2.0 %
 
Total
  $ 594,196     $ 6,202     $ (27,096 )   $ (32,329 )   $ 540,973       100.0 %
 
Credit Rating of Fixed Maturity Securities
The average credit rating of our fixed maturity securities, using ratings assigned to securities by Standard & Poor’s, was AA at March 31, 2009 and AA- at December 31, 2008. The following table shows the ratings distribution of our fixed maturity portfolio.
                                 
    March 31, 2009   December 31, 2008
            Percentage of           Percentage of
    Fair Market   Fair Market   Fair Market   Fair Market
($ in thousands)   Value   Value   Value   Value
 
Rating
                               
U.S. Treasury securities
  $ 28,770       2.5 %   $ 27,006       4.4 %
AAA
    597,866       51.4 %     187,377       47.2 %
AA
    174,272       15.0 %     110,601       11.9 %
A
    199,150       17.1 %     113,651       13.3 %
BBB
    103,073       8.9 %     62,566       12.8 %
Below BBB
    59,917       5.2 %     28,958       10.4 %
 
Total
  $ 1,163,048       100.0 %   $ 530,159       100.0 %
 
Fixed Maturity Investments—Time to Maturity
The following table shows the composition of our fixed maturity portfolio by remaining time to maturity at March 31, 2009 and December 31, 2008. For securities that are redeemable at the option of the issuer and have market price that is greater than par value, the maturity used for the table below is the earliest redemption date. For securities that are redeemable at the option of the issuer and have a market price that is less than par value, the maturity used for the table below is the final maturity date.

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    March 31, 2009   December 31, 2008
            Percentage of           Percentage of
    Fair Market   Fair Market   Fair Market   Fair Market
($ in thousands)   Value   Value   Value   Value
 
Remaining Time to Maturity
                               
Less than one year
  $ 23,324       2.0 %   $ 8,789       2.1 %
One to five years
    190,880       16.4 %     112,514       19.4 %
Five to ten years
    278,771       24.0 %     176,218       31.0 %
More than 10 years
    188,569       16.2 %     96,807       13.7 %
Mortgage and asset-backed securities
    481,504       41.4 %     135,831       33.8 %
 
Total
  $ 1,163,048       100.0 %   $ 530,159       100.0 %
 
Fixed Maturity Investments with Third Party Guarantees
At March 31, 2009, $121.6 million of our municipal bonds, at fair value, were guaranteed by third parties from a total of $1.2 billion, at fair value, of all fixed maturity securities held by us. The amount of securities guaranteed by third parties along with the credit rating with and without the guarantee is as follows:
                 
    With   Without
($ in thousands)   Guarantee   Guarantee
 
AAA
  $ 9,807     $ 2,032  
AA
    86,307       63,648  
A
    30,469       40,290  
BBB
    944       944  
No underlying rating
          20,612  
 
Total
  $ 127,527     $ 127,527  
 
We do not have any direct exposure to guarantors, and our indirect exposure by guarantor is as follows:
                 
    Guaranteed   Percent
($ in thousands)   Amount   of Total
 
MBIA Inc.
  $ 52,091       41 %
Financial Security Assurance
    29,592       23 %
Ambac Financial Corp.
    20,244       16 %
FGIC Corp.
    11,147       9 %
Others
    14,453       11 %
 
Total
  $ 127,527       100 %
 
Fair Value Consideration
As disclosed in Note 5 to the Consolidated Financial Statements, “Fair Value Measurements,” effective January 1, 2008, we adopted SFAS No. 157, which provides a revised definition of fair value, establishes a framework for measuring fair value and expands financial statement disclosure requirements for fair value. Under SFAS No. 157, fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants (an “exit price”). The statement establishes a fair value hierarchy that distinguishes between inputs based on market data from independent sources (“observable inputs”) and a reporting entity’s internal assumptions based upon the best information available when external market data is limited or unavailable (“unobservable inputs”). The fair value hierarchy in SFAS No. 157 prioritizes fair value measurements into three levels based on the nature of the inputs. Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets have the highest priority (“Level 1”), followed by observable inputs other than quoted prices including prices for similar but not identical assets or liabilities (“Level 2”), and unobservable inputs, including the reporting entity’s estimates of the assumption that market participants would use, having the lowest priority (“Level 3”).
As of March 31, 2009, approximately 98% of the investment portfolio recorded at fair value was priced based upon quoted market prices or other observable inputs. For investments in active markets, we used the quoted market prices provided by the outside pricing services to determine fair value. In circumstances where quoted market prices are unavailable, we utilize fair value estimates based upon other observable inputs including matrix pricing, benchmark interest rates, market comparables and other relevant inputs. When observable inputs are adjusted to

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reflect management’s best estimate of fair value, such fair value measurements are considered a lower level measurement in the SFAS 157 fair value hierarchy.
Our process to validate the market prices obtained from the outside pricing sources include, but is not limited to, periodic evaluation of model pricing methodologies and analytical reviews of certain prices. We also periodically perform testing of the market to determine trading activity, or lack of trading activity, as well as market prices.
In addition, in certain instances, given the market dislocation, we deemed it necessary to utilize Level 3 pricing over available pricing service valuations used throughout 2008 and 2009, resulting in transfers from Level 2 to Level 3. In the periods of market dislocation, the observability for prices and inputs may be reduced for many instruments as currently is the case for certain non-agency residential, commercial mortgage-backed securities and asset-backed securities.
A number of our Level 3 investments have been written down as a result of our impairment analysis. At December 31, 2008, there were 94 securities that were priced in Level 3 with a fair value of $30.3 million and an unrealized loss of $8.9 million.
As more fully described in Note 4 of our Consolidated Financial Statements, “Investments—Impairment Review,” we completed a detailed review of all our securities in a continuous loss position, including but not limited to residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities, and concluded that the unrealized losses in these asset classes are the result of a decrease in value due to technical spread widening and broader market sentiment, rather than fundamental collateral deterioration, and are temporary in nature.
Refer to Note 5—“Fair Value Measurements” of our Consolidated Financial Statements for a description of the valuation methodology utilized to value Level 3 assets, how the valuation methodology is validated and an analysis of the change in fair value Level 3 assets. As of March 31, 2009, the fair value of Level 3 assets as a percentage of our total assets carried at fair value was as follows:
                         
                    Level 3 Assets
    Assets           As a Percentage
    Carried at           of Total Assets
    Fair Value at   Fair Value of   Carried at
($ in thousands)   March 31, 2009   Level 3 Assets   Fair Value
 
Fixed-maturity investments
  $ 1,163,048     $ 14,737       1.3 %
Equity investments
    11,658             0.0 %
 
Total invesments available for sale
    1,174,706       14,737       1.3 %
Cash and cash equivalents (1)
    304,650             0.0 %
 
Total
  $ 1,479,356     $ 14,737       1.0 %
 
(1)   Amount includes $395,664 of cash acquired with the acquisitions of CastlePoint and Hermitage.
Unrealized Losses
Beginning in 2008 and continuing into 2009, yield spreads widened as a result of the credit crisis and lack of liquidity in the market. As reflected in other comprehensive income, the gross unrealized investment loss did not change materially from December 31, 2008, which is due in part to increased gains in municipal bonds and certain mortgage-backed securities, offset by increased losses in corporate bonds, particularly in the finance sector, and other mortgage-backed securities. Changes in interest rates directly impact the fair value for our fixed maturity portfolio. We regularly review both our fixed maturity and equity portfolios to evaluate the necessity of recording impairment losses for other-than-temporary declines in the fair value of investments.
The following table presents information regarding our invested assets that were in an unrealized loss position at March 31, 2009 and December 31, 2008 by amount of time in a continuous unrealized loss position:

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    Less than 12 Months   12 Months or Longer   Total
                    Unrealized                   Unrealized           Aggregate Fair   Unrealized
($ in thousands)   No.   Fair Value   Losses   No.   Fair Value   Losses   No.   Value   Losses
 
March 31, 2009
                                                                       
U.S. Treasury securities
                                                          $     $  
U.S. Agency securities
    4     $ 220     $ (3 )     1     $ 976     $ (35 )     5     $ 1,196     $ (37 )
Municipal bonds
    61       78,436       (880 )     16       13,506       (907 )     77       91,942       (1,787 )
Corporate and other bonds
                                                                       
Finance
    109       60,201       (9,039 )     47       27,969       (9,689 )     156       88,170       (18,728 )
Industrial
    101       74,798       (4,398 )     56       34,139       (6,516 )     157       108,937       (10,914 )
Utilities
    15       10,787       (242 )     8       3,550       (321 )     23       14,336       (563 )
Commercial mortgage- backed securites
    34       39,689       (4,939 )     26       16,014       (19,929 )     60       55,703       (24,867 )
Residential mortgage- backed securites
                                                                       
Agency backed
    9       4,274       (11 )     5       4,741       (15 )     14       9,016       (26 )
Non-agency backed
    24       5,673       (3,295 )     25       14,154       (7,199 )     49       19,828       (10,494 )
Asset-backed securities
    12       3,749       (869 )     13       4,915       (3,204 )     25       8,664       (4,073 )
 
Total fixed maturity securities
    369       277,828       (23,674 )     197       119,965       (47,815 )     566       397,792       (71,489 )
Preferred stocks
    8       6,813       (467 )     6       2,853       (2,698 )     14       9,666       (3,165 )
Common stocks
    4       43       (120 )                       4       43       (120 )
 
Total
    381     $ 284,684     $ (24,262 )     203       122,818       (50,513 )     584     $ 407,501     $ (74,775 )
 
December 31, 2008
                                                                       
U.S. Treasury securities
                                                                       
U.S. Agency securities
                                                                       
Municipal bonds
    53     $ 49,879     $ (2,485 )     1     $ 371     $ (166 )     54     $ 50,250     $ (2,651 )
Corporate and other bonds
                                                                       
Finance
    55       42,007       (6,003 )     38       20,575       (4,173 )     93       62,582       (10,176 )
Industrial
    110       72,787       (7,740 )     32       17,701       (5,639 )     142       90,488       (13,379 )
Utilities
    5       1,974       (205 )     2       446       (204 )     7       2,420       (409 )
Commercial mortgage- backed securites
    15       13,997       (4,399 )     22       16,431       (16,626 )     37       30,427       (21,026 )
Residential mortgage- backed securites
                                                                       
Agency backed
    6       3,408       (16 )     1       582       (20 )     7       3,990       (36 )
Non-agency backed
    32       12,676       (3,536 )     16       9,953       (3,594 )     48       22,629       (7,130 )
Asset-backed securities
    20       6,481       (2,652 )     2       552       (49 )     22       7,032       (2,701 )
 
Total fixed maturity securities
    296       203,208       (27,037 )     114       66,610       (30,472 )     410       269,818       (57,508 )
Preferred stocks
                      6       3,694       (1,857 )     6       3,694       (1,857 )
Common stocks
    1       1,440       (60 )                       1       1,440       (60 )
 
Total
    297     $ 204,648     $ (27,096 )     120     $ 70,304     $ (32,329 )     417     $ 274,952     $ (59,424 )
 
At March 31, 2009, the unrealized losses for fixed-maturity securities were primarily in our investments in corporate and other bonds, commercial and residential mortgage-backed securities and asset-backed securities and certain equity securities.
The following table shows the number of securities, fair value, unrealized loss, percentage below amortized cost and fair value by rating:
                                                                         
                    Unrealized Loss    
                            Percent of   Fair Value by Security Rating
            Fair           Amortized                                   BB or
($ in thousands)   Count   Value   Amount   Cost   AAA   AA   A   BBB   Lower
 
U.S. Agency securities
    5     $ 1,196     $ (37 )     (3 %)     14 %     0 %     86 %     0 %     1 %
Municipal bonds
    77     $ 91,942     $ (1,787 )     (2 %)     65 %     18 %     14 %     2 %     0 %
Corporate and other bonds
    336       211,443       (30,205 )     (12 %)     0 %     9 %     44 %     38 %     9 %
Commercial mortgage-backed securities
    60       55,703       (24,867 )     (31 %)     75 %     3 %     5 %     0 %     17 %
Residential mortgage-backed securities
    49       19,828       (10,494 )     (35 %)     67 %     2 %     2 %     7 %     22 %
Asset-backed securities
    25       8,664       (4,073 )     (32 %)     7 %     16 %     33 %     3 %     41 %
Equities
    18       9,709       (3,285 )     (25 %)     0 %     0 %     10 %     79 %     11 %
See Note 4—”Investments” in our unaudited financial statement for further information about impairment testing and other—than—temporary impairments.

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Liquidity and Capital Resources
Cash Flows.
The primary sources of cash flow in our Insurance Subsidiaries are gross premiums written, ceding commissions from our quota share reinsurers, loss payments by our reinsurers, investment income and proceeds from the sale or maturity of investments. Funds are used by the Insurance Subsidiaries for ceded premium payments to reinsurers, which are paid on a net basis after subtracting losses paid on reinsured claims and reinsurance commissions. The Insurance Subsidiaries also use funds for loss payments and loss adjustment expenses on our net business, commissions to producers, salaries and other underwriting expenses as well as to purchase investments, fixed assets and to pay dividends to Tower. TRM’s primary sources of cash are commission and fee income. TRM’s primary uses of cash are commissions to producers, expenses reimbursed to TICNY under an expense sharing agreement and dividends to Tower.
Our reconciliation of net income to cash provided from operations is generally influenced by the collection of premiums in advance of paid losses, the timing of reinsurance, issuing company settlements and loss payments.
Cash flow and liquidity are categorized into three sources: (1) operating activities; (2) investing activities; and (3) financing activities, which are shown in the following table:
Cash Flow Summary
                 
    March 31,  
($ in thousands)   2009     2008  
 
Cash provided by (used in):
               
Operating activities
  $ 54,268     $ 14,445  
Investing activities
    (279,301 )     2,372  
Financing activities
    (2,369 )     (1,057 )
 
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents
    (227,402 )     15,760  
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of year
    532,052       77,679  
 
Cash and cash equivalents, end of year
  $ 304,650     $ 93,439  
 
For the three months ended March 31, 2009, net cash provided by operating activities was $54.3 million. Net cash provided by operations was $14.4 million for the same period in 2008. The increase in cash flow for the three months ended March 31, 2009 was primarily a result of additional operating cash flows provided through the acquisitions of CastlePoint and Hermitage and an increase in premiums collected.
The net cash flows used in investing activities was $279.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2009. For the three months end March 31, 2008, $2.4 million was provided by investing activities. The three months ended March 31, 2009 included the acquisitions of CastlePoint and Hermitage for $195.4 million. The remaining cash flows used primarily related to purchases and sales of investment securities.
We paid dividends in the amount of $2.0 million and $1.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008, respectively.
Our insurance companies are subject to significant regulatory restrictions limiting their ability to declare and pay dividends. As of March 31, 2009, the maximum amount of distributions that our insurance companies could pay to us without approval of their domiciliary Insurance Departments was approximately $20.8 million. In addition, we can return capital of approximately $18.8 million from CPRe without permission from the Bermuda Monetary Authority.
Cash flow needs at the holding company level are primarily for dividends to our stockholders and interest payments on our $235.1 million of subordinated debentures.
Security Requirements
CPRe and CPIC are required by its reinsurance agreements with cedents to collateralize amounts where they are a non-admitted or non-accredited reinsurers. The collateral can be in the form of a letter of credit, cash advance, funds held or a trust account. The amount of the letter of credit or trust is to be adjusted each calendar quarter, and the required amount is to be at least equal to the sum of the following contract amounts: (i) unearned premium reserve, (ii) paid loss and loss adjustment expense payable, (iii) loss and loss adjustment expenses reserves, (iv) loss incurred but not reported, (v) return and refund premiums, and (vi) less premium receivable. As of March 31, 2009, CPRe and CastlePoint Insurance Company maintained trusts and a letter of credit in the amount of $112.5 million and $1.2 million, respectively, at a Massachusetts trust company. Both CastlePoint Re and CastlePoint Insurance earn and collect the interest on the trust funds.
Subordinated Debentures
In November and December 2006, CPM formed two Trusts (Trust I and Trust II), of which CPM owns all of the common trust securities. On December 1, 2006 and December 14, 2006, respectively, the Trusts each issued $50.0 million of trust preferred securities for cash at a fixed rate equal to 8.66% and 8.55% per annum, respectively during the first five years from their respective dates of issuance, after which the interest rate will become floating and equal to the three month London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) plus 3.5% per annum (calculated quarterly). The Trusts invested the proceeds thereof and the proceeds received from the issuance of the common trust securities in exchange for approximately $103.1 million of junior subordinated

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debentures (the “CPM Debentures”) issued by CPM, with terms that mirror those of the trust preferred securities. On September 2007, CPBH formed a third Trust, of which CPBH owns all of the common trust securities. On September 27, 2007, this Trust issued $30.0 million of trust preferred securities for cash at the fixed rate of 8.39% per annum during the first five years from the date of issuance, after which the interest rate will become floating and be equal to the three month LIBOR plus 3.5% per annum (calculated quarterly). The Trust invested the proceeds thereof and the proceeds received from the issuance of the common trust securities in exchange for approximately $30.9 million of junior subordinated debentures (the “CPBH Debentures”) issued by CPBH, with terms that mirror those of the trust preferred securities.
The CPM Debentures and the CPBH Debentures are unsecured obligations of CPM and CPBH, respectively, and are subordinated and junior in right of payment to all present and future senior indebtedness of CPM and CPBH. All of these subordinated debentures have stated maturities of 30 years. CPM and CPBH have the option to redeem any or all of the debentures beginning five years from the date of issuance, at the principal amount plus accrued and unpaid interest. If CPM and CPBH choose to redeem their debentures, the Trusts would then redeem the trust preferred securities at the same time. The issuer of the debentures has the right under the indenture to defer payments of interest on the debentures, so long as no event of default has occurred and is continuing, for up to 20 consecutive quarterly periods (“Extension Period”) at any time and from time to time. During any Extension Period, interest will continue to accrue on the debentures.
The Company has guaranteed, on a subordinated basis, CPM’s obligations and CPBH’s obligations under the debentures and distributions and other payments due on the Trusts’ preferred securities. These guarantees provided a full and unconditional guarantee of amounts due on the Trusts’ preferred securities. Issuance costs of $1.5 million each for Trust I and Trust II for CPM, respectively, were deferred and are being amortized over the term of the subordinated debentures using the effective interest method. Issuance costs of $0.9 million for the Trust for CPBH were deferred and are being amortized over the term of the subordinated debentures using the effective interest method. The proceeds of these issuances of subordinated debentures were used for general corporate purposes, including acquisition and capitalization of CPIC.
The Trusts are unconsolidated variable interest entities pursuant to FIN 46(R) because the holders of the equity investment at risk do not have adequate decision making ability over the Trusts’ activities.
We do not consolidate interest in the statutory business trusts for which we hold 100% of the common trust securities because we are not the primary beneficiary of the trusts. We report the outstanding subordinated debentures owed to the statutory business trusts as a liability.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
Between 2004 and 2006, we formed six Delaware statutory business trusts of which Tower Group, Inc. owns all of the common trust securities. CastlePoint formed two Delaware statutory business trusts in 2006 of which CPM owns all of the common trust securities. CastlePoint formed a third Delaware statutory business trust in 2007 of which CPBH owns all of the common trust securities. For additional information, see Note 10, “Debt,” to our unaudited interim consolidated financial statements elsewhere in this report.

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Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk
Market risk is the risk that we will incur losses in our investments due to adverse changes in market rates and prices. Market risk is directly influenced by the volatility and liquidity in the market in which the related underlying assets are invested. We believe that we are principally exposed to three types of market risk: changes in credit quality of issuers of investment securities and reinsurers, changes in equity prices, and changes in interest rates.
Interest Rate Risk
Interest rate risk is the risk that we may incur economic losses due to adverse changes in interest rates. The primary market risk to the investment portfolio is interest rate risk associated with investments in fixed maturity securities, although conditions affecting particular asset classes (such as conditions in the commercial and residential housing markets that affect commercial and residential mortgage-backed securities) can also be significant sources of market risk. Fluctuations in interest rates have a direct impact on the market valuation of these securities. The fair value of our fixed maturity securities as of March 31, 2009 was $1.2 billion.
For fixed maturity securities, short-term liquidity needs and potential liquidity needs for our business are key factors in managing our portfolio. We use modified duration analysis to measure the sensitivity of the fixed income portfolio to changes in interest rates as discussed more fully below under “Sensitivity Analysis”.
As of March 31, 2009, we had a total of $36.0 million of outstanding floating rate debt, all of which is outstanding subordinated debentures underlying our trust preferred securities issued by our wholly owned statutory business trusts and carrying an interest rate that is determined by reference to market interest rates. If interest rates increase, the amount of interest payable by us would also increase.
Sensitivity Analysis
Sensitivity analysis is a measurement of potential loss in future earnings, fair values or cash flows of market sensitive instruments resulting from one or more selected hypothetical changes in interest rates and other market rates or prices over a selected time. In our sensitivity analysis model, we select a hypothetical change in market rates that reflects what we believe are reasonably possible near-term changes in those rates. The term “near-term” means a period of time going forward up to one year from the date of the consolidated financial statements. Actual results may differ from the hypothetical change in market rates assumed in this disclosure, especially since this sensitivity analysis does not reflect the results of any action that we may take to mitigate such hypothetical losses in fair value.
In this sensitivity analysis model, we use fair values to measure our potential loss. The “Sensitivity Analysis” model includes fixed maturities and short-term investments.
For invested assets, we use modified duration modeling to calculate changes in fair values. Durations on invested assets are adjusted for call, put and interest rate reset features. Durations on tax-exempt securities are adjusted for the fact that the yield on such securities is less sensitive to changes in interest rates compared to Treasury securities. Invested asset portfolio durations are calculated on a market value weighted basis, including accrued investment income, using holdings as of March 31, 2009.
The following table summarizes the estimated change in fair value on our fixed maturity portfolio including short-term investments based on specific changes in interest rates as of March 31, 2009:
                 
    Estimated Increase   Estimated Percentage
    (Decrease) in Fair Value   Increase (Decrease)
Change in interest rate   ($ in thousands)   in Fair Value
 
300 basis point rise
    (134,131 )     (10.7 %)
200 basis point rise
    (90,187 )     (7.2 %)
100 basis point rise
    (45,521 )     (3.6 %)
As of March 31, 2009
    0       0.0 %
100 basis point decline
    45,614       3.6 %

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The sensitivity analysis model used by us produces a predicted pre-tax loss in fair value of market-sensitive instruments of $45.5 million or 3.6% based on a 100 basis point increase in interest rates as of March 31, 2009. This loss amount only reflects the impact of an interest rate increase on the fair value of our fixed maturity investments, which constituted approximately 99% of our total invested assets excluding cash and cash equivalents as of March 31, 2009.
Interest expense would also be affected by a hypothetical change in interest rates. As of March 31, 2009 we had $36.0 million of floating rate debt obligations. Assuming this amount remains constant, a hypothetical 100 basis point increase in interest rates would increase annual interest expense by $360,000, a 200 basis point increase would increase interest expense by $720,000, and a 300 basis point increase would increase interest expense by $1,080,000.
With respect to investment income, the most significant assessment of the effects of hypothetical changes in interest rates on investment income would be based on Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 91, “Accounting for Nonrefundable Fees and Costs Associated with Originating or Acquiring Loans and Initial Direct Costs of Leases” (“FAS 91”), issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”), which requires amortization adjustments for mortgage-backed securities. The rates at which the mortgages underlying mortgage-backed securities are prepaid, and therefore the average life of mortgage-backed securities, can vary depending on changes in interest rates (for example, mortgages are prepaid faster and the average life of mortgage-backed securities falls when interest rates decline). The adjustments for changes in amortization, which are based on revised average life assumptions, would have an impact on investment income if a significant portion of our mortgage-backed securities holdings had been purchased at significant discounts or premiums to par value. As of March 31, 2009, the par value of our mortgage-backed securities holdings was $578.0 million and the amortized cost of our mortgage-backed securities holdings was $509.0 million. This equates to an average price of 88.1% of par. Historically, few of our mortgage-backed securities were purchased at more than three points (below 97% and above 103%) from par, thus a FAS 91 adjustment would not have a significant effect on investment income. However, since many of our non-investment grade mortgage-backed securities have been impaired as a result of adverse cash flows, the required adjustment to book yield can have a significant effect on our future investment income.
Furthermore, significant hypothetical changes in interest rates in either direction would not have a significant effect on principal redemptions, and therefore investment income, because of the prepayment protected mortgage securities in the portfolio. The mortgage-backed securities portion of the portfolio totaled 38.8% as of March 31, 2009. Of this total, 23.2% was in agency pass through securities, which have the highest amount of prepayment risk from declining rates. The remainder of our mortgage-backed securities portfolio is invested in agency planned amortization class collateralized mortgage obligations, non-agency residential non-accelerating securities, and commercial mortgage-backed securities.
The planned amortization class collateralized mortgage obligation securities maintain their average life over a wide range of prepayment assumptions, while the non-agency residential non-accelerating securities have five years of principal lock-out protection and the commercial mortgage-backed securities have very onerous prepayment and yield maintenance provisions that greatly reduce the exposure of these securities to prepayments.
Item 4. Controls and Procedures
Our management, with the participation of the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, has evaluated the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Securities Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(e)) as of the end of the period covered by this report. Based on that evaluation, the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures are effective to provide reasonable assurance that material information relating to us and our consolidated subsidiaries required to be disclosed in our reports filed with or submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Exchange Act is made known to such officers by others within these entities, particularly during the period this quarterly report was prepared, in order to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

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Changes in internal control over financial reporting
On February 5, 2009, we completed the acquisition of CastlePoint. CastlePoint has an existing program of internal controls over financial reporting in compliance with the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002. This program is being integrated into our Sarbanes Oxley program for internal controls over financial reporting. On February 27, 2009, we completed the acquisition of Hermitage. Hermitage has not previously been subject to a review of internal controls over financial reporting under the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002. We began the process of integrating Hermitage’s operations including internal controls over financial reporting and extending our Section 404 compliance to Hermitage’s operations. Hermitage accounts for 11.5% of assets and 9.5% of net income of the Company.

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Part II — OTHER INFORMATION
Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds
During the three months ended March 31, 2009, the Company purchased 15,155 of its common shares from employees in connection with the vesting of restricted stock issued under the Company’s 2004 Long Term Equity Compensation Plan (the “Plan”). The shares were withheld at the direction of the employees as permitted under the Plan in order to pay the minimum amount of tax liability owed by such employees from the vesting of those shares.
The following table summarizes the Company’s stock repurchases for the three-month period ended March 31, 2009 and represents employees’ withholding tax obligations on the vesting of restricted stock.
                                 
                            Maximum Number (or
                    Total Number of Shares   Approximate Dollar
    Total Number           Purchased as Part of   Value) of Shares that May
    of Shares   Average Price   Publicly Announced Plans   Yet Be Purchased Under
Period   Purchased   Paid per Share   or Programs   the Plans or Programs
 
January 1 - 31, 2009
        $           $  
February 1 - 28, 2009
                       
March 1 - 31, 2009
    15,155       23.43              
 
Total
    15,155     $ 23.43           $  
 
Item 6. Exhibits
     
10.1
  Employment Agreement, dated March 23, 2009, by and between Tower Group, Inc. and Richard Barrow
 
   
31.1
  Chief Executive Officer — Certification pursuant to Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 Section 302
 
   
31.2
  Chief Financial Officer — Certification pursuant to Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 Section 302
 
   
32
  Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer — Certification pursuant to Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 Section 906

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Signatures
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
         
  Tower Group, Inc.
Registrant
 
 
Date: May 11, 2009  /s/ Michael H. Lee    
  Michael H. Lee   
  Chairman of the Board,
President and Chief Executive Officer 
 
 
     
Date: May 11, 2009  /s/ Francis M. Colalucci    
  Francis M. Colalucci   
  Senior Vice President,
Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer 
 
 

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EX-10.1 2 y75944exv10w1.htm EX-10.1: EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT EX-10.1
Exhibit 10.1
EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT
     THIS AGREEMENT (the “Agreement”), dated as of March 23, 2009, is by and between Tower Group, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), and Richard Barrow (the “Executive”).
WITNESSETH THAT
     WHEREAS, the Executive and the Company wish to enter into a written agreement setting forth the terms and conditions of the Executive’s employment with the Company; and
     WHEREAS, this Agreement is the entire agreement between the parties concerning the subject matter hereof and supersedes all prior agreements concerning the same subject.
     NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises and the mutual covenants contained herein, the Company and the Executive hereby agree as follows:
     1. Term.
          (a) Term of Employment.
               (i) The Company shall employ the Executive, and the Executive shall serve the Company, on the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in this Agreement, commencing on or prior to March 23, 2009 (the “Effective Date”) and, unless sooner terminated pursuant to section 4, continuing until the date that is the two-year anniversary of the Effective Date or such later date as provided in subsection 1(a)(ii) below (the “Term of Employment”).
               (ii) The Term of Employment shall be extended automatically for one additional year on the last day before the second anniversary of the Effective Date and for one additional year on each anniversary thereafter unless and until either party gives written notice to the other not to extend this Agreement at least one year before such extension would be effectuated.
          (b) Term of the Agreement. This Agreement shall become effective on the Effective Date and shall continue in effect throughout the Term of Employment; provided, however, the restrictive covenants contained in section 10 of this Agreement and, as applicable, the Company’s and the Executive’s obligations under the other provisions of this Agreement shall survive the Term of Employment and shall continue in effect through the periods provided therein and/or until the Company’s and/or the Executive’s obligations, as applicable, thereunder are satisfied.
     2. Position and Duties.
          (a) Positions, Duties, and Responsibilities. The Executive shall serve as the Senior Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer of the Company with such duties and responsibilities as are customarily assigned to such position, and such other duties and responsibilities not inconsistent therewith as may from time to time be assigned to him by the Chief Financial Officer (the “CFO”) of the Company. The Executive shall report solely to the CFO unless the CFO, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or the Board of Directors of the Company (the “Board”) determines otherwise. The Executive agrees to serve without additional compensation in such capacities (including, without limitation, as an employee or director) with Company affiliates as the CFO, CEO or the Board may in its discretion prescribe; provided, that upon termination of the Executive’s employment with the Company, any employment, board membership or other service relationship with such affiliate shall automatically terminate unless otherwise determined by the parties hereto.

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          (b) Time and Attention. Excluding any periods of vacation and sick leave to which the Executive is entitled, the Executive shall devote substantially all of his attention and time during normal working hours to the business and affairs of the Company and its affiliates. It shall not be considered a violation of the foregoing, however, for the Executive to (i) serve on corporate, industry, educational, religious, civic, or charitable boards or committees or (ii) make and attend to passive personal investments in such form as will not require any material time or attention to the operations thereof during normal working time and will not violate the provisions of section 10 hereof, so long as such activities in clauses (i) and (ii) do not materially interfere with the performance of the Executive’s responsibilities as an employee of the Company in accordance with this Agreement or violate section 10 of this Agreement.
     3. Compensation. Except as otherwise expressly set forth below, the Executive’s compensation shall be determined by, and in the sole discretion of, the Board.
          (a) Annual Base Salary. Subject to adjustment pursuant to this subsection 3(a), the Executive shall receive an annual base salary of $326,000 during the Term of Employment (the annual base salary in effect from time to time, “Annual Base Salary”). The Annual Base Salary shall be payable in accordance with the Company’s regular payroll practice for its senior officers, as in effect from time to time. The Annual Base Salary shall be reviewed from time to time, but not less frequently than annually, and, in the sole discretion of the Board, may be adjusted but not decreased below the amount set forth in the first sentence of this subsection 3(a). To the extent Annual Base Salary is adjusted, then such adjusted salary shall be the Executive’s Annual Base Salary for all purposes of this Agreement.
          (b) Adjusted Base Salary.: For purposes of calculating the annual bonus award and the annual equity award the Executive’s adjusted base salary will be $286,000. The Adjusted Base Salary shall be reviewed from time to time, but not less frequently than annually, and, in the sole discretion of the Board, may be adjusted but not decreased below the amount set forth in the first sentence of this subsection 3(b). To the extent Adjusted Base Salary is adjusted, then such adjusted salary shall be the Executive’s Adjusted Base Salary for all purposes of this Agreement.
          (c) Annual Bonus Plan. The Executive shall have an opportunity to receive an annual bonus during the Term of Employment (the “Annual Bonus”), subject to such terms and conditions as the Board or a delegatee thereof shall prescribe. The Executive’s target Annual Bonus opportunity shall be equal to 30% of his Adjusted Base Salary, it being understood that the actual Annual Bonus received by the Executive will depend on the level of attainment of performance and other factors used by the Company to determine Annual Bonus amounts and that there is no guarantee that an Annual Bonus will be earned.
          (d) Annual Equity Award. The Executive shall have an opportunity to receive an annual equity award (the “Annual Equity Award”) under the Company’s long-term incentive plan during the Term of Employment, subject to such terms and conditions as the Board or a delegate thereof shall prescribe. The Executive’s target Annual Equity Award opportunity shall be equal to 30% of his Adjusted Base Salary, it being understood that the actual Annual Equity Award received by the Executive will depend on the level of attainment of performance and other factors used by the Company to determine Annual Equity Awards and there is no guarantee that an Annual Equity Award will be granted.
          (e) Employee Benefits; Fringe Benefits. In addition to the foregoing, during the Term of Employment,
               (i) to the extent not duplicative of the specific benefits provided herein, the Executive shall be eligible to participate in all incentive compensation, retirement, supplemental

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executive retirement, and deferred compensation plans, policies and arrangements that are provided generally to other senior officers of the Company;
               (ii) the Executive and, as applicable, the Executive’s covered dependents shall be eligible to participate in all of the Company’s health and welfare benefit plans (within the meaning of Section 3(1) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended); and
               (iii) the Executive shall be entitled to receive the fringe benefits that are provided generally to other senior officers of the Company, and shall be entitled to avail himself of paid holidays, as determined from time to time by the Company.
          (f) Paid Time Off. The Executive shall be entitled to not less than twenty-eight paid time off (“PTO”) days per calendar year during the Term of Employment. PTO days not used within the year shall be carried forward to subsequent years, as determined by the Company; provided, however, that the maximum carry forward of PTO shall be two weeks.
          (g) Expenses. The Executive shall be reimbursed by the Company for reasonable business expenses actually incurred in rendering to the Company the services provided for hereunder during the Term of Employment, payable in accordance with customary Company practice, after the Executive presents written expense statements or such other supporting information as the Company may require of its senior officers for reimbursement of such expenses.
          (h) Executive Medical Reimbursements: The Company will reimburse the Executive for uncovered medical expenses, up to $5,000 per calendar year, subject to receipt by the Company of appropriate documentation from the Executive. Expenses that do not meet the IRS criteria cannot be submitted for reimbursement.
     4. Termination of Employment.
          (a) The Company or the Executive may terminate the Executive’s employment at any time and for any reason in accordance with subsection 4(b) below. The Term of Employment shall be deemed to have ended on the last day of the Executive’s employment. The Term of Employment shall terminate upon the Executive’s death.
          (b) Notice of Termination. Any purported termination of the Executive’s employment (other than by reason of death) shall be communicated by written Notice of Termination from one party hereto to the other party hereto in accordance with the notice provisions contained in subsection 16(b) below. For purposes of this Agreement, a “Notice of Termination” shall mean a notice that indicates the Date of Termination (as that term is defined in subsection 4(c) below) and, with respect to a termination due to Disability, Cause or Good Reason, sets forth in reasonable detail the facts and circumstances that are alleged to provide a basis for such termination. A Notice of Termination from the Company shall specify whether the termination is with or without Cause or due to the Executive’s Disability. A Notice of Termination from the Executive shall specify whether the termination is with or without Good Reason or due to the Executive’s Disability or retirement.
          (c) Date of Termination. For purposes of this Agreement, “Date of Termination” shall mean the date specified in the Notice of Termination (but in no event shall such date be earlier than the 30th day following the date the Notice of Termination is given, unless expressly agreed to by the parties hereto) or the date of the Executive’s death.
          (d) No Waiver. The failure to set forth any fact or circumstance in a Notice of Termination, which fact or circumstance was not known to the party giving the Notice of Termination

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when the notice was given, shall not constitute a waiver of the right to assert such fact or circumstance in an attempt to enforce any right under or provision of this Agreement.
          (e) Cause. For purposes of this Agreement, “Cause” means: (i) the Executive’s gross negligence or gross misconduct or (ii) the Executive’s having been convicted of, or entered a plea of nolo contendere to, a felony involving moral turpitude. No act or failure to act directly related to Company action or inaction that constitutes Good Reason (as that term is defined in subsection 4(g) below) shall constitute Cause under this Agreement if the Executive has provided a Notice of Termination based on such Good Reason event prior to the Company’s giving of the Notice of Termination for Cause. The Executive’s termination for Cause shall be effective when and if a resolution is duly adopted by an affirmative vote of the entire Board (less the Executive), stating that, in the good faith opinion of the Board, the Executive is guilty of the conduct described in the Notice of Termination, and such conduct constitutes Cause under this Agreement; provided, however, that the Executive shall have been given the opportunity (i) to cure any act or omission that constitutes Cause if capable of cure and (ii) together with counsel, during the 30-day period following the receipt by the Executive of the Notice of Termination and prior to the adoption of the Board’s resolution, to be heard by the Board.
          (f) Disability. For purposes of this Agreement, the Executive shall be deemed to have a Disability if the Executive is entitled to long-term disability benefits under the Company’s long-term disability plan or policy, as the case may be, as in effect on the Date of Termination (as that term is defined in subsection 4(c) above)
          (g) Good Reason. For purposes of this Agreement, the term “Good Reason” means the occurrence (without the Executive’s express written consent) of any of the following acts or failures to act by the Company:
               (i) the assignment to the Executive of duties materially inconsistent with the Executive’s position of Senior Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer, or a substantial diminution in the Executive’s authority and duties;
               (ii) any reduction in the Executive’s Annual Base Salary, Adjusted Base Salary, target Annual Bonus opportunity or target Annual Equity Award opportunity;
               (iii) requiring the Executive to be based more than 50 miles away from the Company’s headquarters in New York, New York;
               (iv) the material breach by the Company of any of its other obligations under this Agreement; or
               (v) the failure of the Company to obtain the assumption of this Agreement as contemplated in Subsection 13(b) hereof.
               The Executive’s continued employment shall not constitute consent to, or a waiver of rights with respect to, any act or failure to act constituting Good Reason hereunder; provided, however, that no such event described above shall constitute Good Reason unless the Executive has given a Notice of Termination to the Company specifying the condition or event relied upon for such termination within 90 days from the Executive’s actual knowledge of the occurrence of such event and, if capable of cure, the Company has failed to cure the condition or event constituting Good Reason within the 30 day period following receipt of the Executive’s Notice of Termination.

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     5. Obligations of the Company upon Termination.
          (a) Termination by the Company for other than Cause or by the Executive for Good Reason. If the Executive’s employment is terminated by the Company for any reason other than Cause or Disability or by the Executive for Good Reason:
               (i) The Company shall pay to the Executive, within thirty business days of the Date of Termination, any earned but unpaid Annual Base Salary;
               (ii) The Company shall pay to the Executive, within thirty business days of the Date of Termination, a prorated Annual Bonus based on (A) the target Annual Bonus opportunity in the year in which the Date of Termination occurs or the prior year if no target Annual Bonus opportunity has yet been determined (disregarding any reduction in target Annual Bonus opportunity that was the basis for a termination by the Executive for Good Reason) and (B) the fraction of the year the Executive was employed.
               (iii) The Company shall pay to the Executive, within thirty business days of the Date of Termination, a lump-sum payment equal to the sum of 100% of (x) the Executive’s Annual Base Salary in effect immediately prior to the Date of Termination (disregarding any reduction in Annual Base Salary that was the basis for a termination by the Executive for Good Reason), and (y) the Executive’s target Annual Bonus opportunity for the year in which the Date of Termination occurs or the prior year if no target Annual Bonus opportunity has yet been determined (disregarding any reduction in target Annual Bonus opportunity that was the basis for a termination by the Executive for Good Reason);
               (iv) For a one (1) year period after the Date of Termination, the Company will arrange to provide the Executive (and any covered dependents), without cost to the Executive, with life, accident and health insurance benefits substantially similar to those the Executive and any covered dependents were receiving immediately prior to the Notice of Termination, except for any such benefits that were waived by the Executive in writing. If the Company arranges to provide the Executive and covered dependents with life, accident and health insurance benefits, those benefits will be reduced to the extent comparable benefits are actually received by, or made available to, the Executive by a subsequent employer without cost during the one (1) year period following the Executive’s Date of Termination. The Executive must report to the Company any such benefits that he actually receives or are made available. In lieu of the benefits described in this subsection 5(a)(iv), the Company, in its sole discretion, may elect to pay to the Executive a lump sum cash payment equal to the annual premium that would have been paid by the Company to provide such benefits to the Executive and any covered dependents. Nothing in this subsection 5(a)(iv) will affect the Executive’s right to elect COBRA continuation coverage in accordance with applicable law or extend the COBRA continuation coverage period; and
               (v) The Executive’s vested outstanding stock options shall remain exercisable until the earlier of (i) the three month anniversary of the Date of Termination and (ii) the last day of the option term under the applicable option award agreement.
          (b) Termination in Connection with a Change in Control.
               (i) If, in anticipation of or within the 24 month period following a Change in Control (as defined below), the Executive’s employment is terminated by the Company for any reason other than Cause or Disability or by the Executive for Good Reason, the Executive shall receive the payments and benefits described in subsection 5(a) and, in addition, all of the Executive’s outstanding equity-based awards shall become fully vested on the Date of Termination.

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               (ii) For purposes of this Agreement, the term “Change in Control” shall mean the occurrence of any of the following events:
                    (A) any “person” (within the meaning ascribed to such term in Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended from time to time (the “Exchange Act”) and used in Sections 13(d) and 14(d) thereof, including a “group” as defined in Section 13(d) thereof), other than the Company, any trustee or other fiduciary holding securities under an employee benefit plan of the Company, or any corporation owned directly or indirectly by the stockholders of the Company in substantially the same proportion as the ownership of stock of the Company, (a “Person”) that is not on the Effective Date the “beneficial owner” (as defined in Rule 13d-3 under the Exchange Act), directly or indirectly, of securities of the Company representing more than 20% of the combined voting power of the Company’s then outstanding securities becomes after the Effective Date the beneficial owner, directly or indirectly, of securities of the Company representing more than 20% of the combined voting power of the Company’s then outstanding securities;
                    (B) individuals who, as of the Effective Date, constitute the Board (the “Incumbent Board”) cease for any reason to constitute at least a majority of the Board of the Company, provided that any person becoming a director subsequent to the date hereof whose election, or nomination for election by the Company’s stockholders, was approved by a vote of at least a majority of the directors then comprising the Incumbent Board (other than an election or nomination of an individual whose initial assumption of office is in connection with an actual or threatened election contest relating to the election of the directors of the Company) shall be, for purposes of this definition, considered as though such person were a member of the Incumbent Board;
                    (C) consummation of a merger, consolidation, reorganization, share exchange or similar transaction (a “Transaction”) of the Company with any other entity, other than (I) a Transaction that would result in the voting securities of the Company outstanding immediately prior thereto directly or indirectly continuing to represent (either by remaining outstanding or by being converted into voting securities of the surviving entity or a parent company) more than 80% of the combined voting power of the voting securities of the Company or such surviving entity or parent company outstanding immediately after such Transaction or (II) a Transaction effected to implement a recapitalization of the Company (or similar transaction) in which no Person acquires more than 20% of the combined voting power of the Company’s then outstanding securities;
                    (D) the sale, transfer or other disposition (in one transaction or a series of related transactions) of more than 50% of the operating assets of the Company; or
                    (E) the approval by the shareholders of a plan or proposal for the liquidation or dissolution of the Company.
          (c) Termination by the Company for Cause or by the Executive without Good Reason. If the Executive’s employment is terminated by the Company for Cause the Company shall pay to the Executive, within thirty business days of the Date of Termination, any earned but unpaid Annual Base Salary and all outstanding stock options (whether or not then exercisable), unvested stock and other incentive awards shall be forfeited. If the Executive’s employment is terminated by the Executive without Good Reason (and not due to death, Disability or Retirement), the Company shall pay to the Executive, within thirty business days of the Date of Termination, any earned but unpaid Annual Base Salary, all of the Executive’s unvested equity-based awards shall be forfeited as of the Date of Termination and the Executive’s vested outstanding stock options shall remain exercisable until the earlier of (i) the three month anniversary of the Date of Termination or (ii) the last day of the option term under the applicable option award agreement.

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          (d) Termination due to death or Disability. If the Executive’s employment is terminated due to death or Disability, (i) the Company shall pay to the Executive (or to the Executive’s estate or personal representative in the case of the Executive’s death), within thirty business days after the Date of Termination, (A) any earned but unpaid Annual Base Salary and (B) a prorated Annual Bonus based on (I) the target Annual Bonus opportunity in the year in which the Date of Termination occurs or the prior year if no target Annual Bonus opportunity has yet been determined and (II) the fraction of the year the Executive was employed, and (ii) all of the Executive’s outstanding equity-based awards shall vest on the Date of Termination and the Executive’s outstanding stock options shall remain exercisable until the earlier of (x) the one year anniversary of the Date of Termination or (y) the last day of the option term under the applicable option award agreement.
          (e) Retirement. If the Executive retires after attaining age 55 but before attaining age 62, (i) the Company shall pay to the Executive, within thirty business days after the Date of Termination, any earned but unpaid Annual Base Salary, (ii) the Executive shall receive applicable retiree benefits, if any, provided at such time by the Company to retirees or as the Company shall determine, and (iii) the Executive’s stock options that are vested as of the Date of Termination shall remain exercisable through the earlier of the third anniversary of the Date of Termination or the last day of the option term, with any outstanding unvested equity-based awards expiring on the Date of Termination. If the Executive retires after attaining age 62, (i) the Company shall pay to the Executive, within thirty business days after the Date of Termination, any earned but unpaid Annual Base Salary, (ii) the Executive shall receive applicable retiree benefits, if any, provided at such time by the Company to retirees or as the Company shall determine, (iii) the Executive’s outstanding equity-based awards shall vest on the Date of Termination, and (iv) the Executive’s stock options shall remain exercisable until the last day of the option term under the applicable option award agreement.
     6. Certain Tax Consequences.
          (a) If any payments or benefits paid or provided or to be paid or provided to the Executive or for his benefit pursuant to the terms of this Agreement or otherwise in connection with, or arising out of, his employment with the Company (a “Payment” or “Payments”) would be subject to any excise tax (the “Excise Tax”) imposed by section 4999 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), then the Executive will be entitled to receive an additional payment (a “Gross-Up Payment”) in an amount such that after payment by the Executive of all taxes (including any interest, penalties, additional tax, or similar items imposed with respect thereto and the Excise Tax), including any such taxes imposed upon the Gross-Up Payment, the Executive retains an amount of the Gross-Up Payment equal to the Excise Tax imposed upon the Payments.
          (b) An initial determination as to whether a Gross-Up Payment is required pursuant to this Agreement and the amount of such Gross-Up Payment will be made at the Company’s expense by an accounting firm selected by the Company. The accounting firm will provide its determination, together with detailed supporting calculations and documentation, to the Company and the Executive within 10 days after the Date of Termination, or such other time as requested by the Company or by the Executive. If the accounting firm determines that no Excise Tax is payable by the Executive with respect to a Payment or Payments, it will furnish the Executive with an opinion reasonably acceptable to the Executive to that effect. The Gross-Up Payment, if any, will be paid by the Company to the Executive within thirty business days of the receipt of the accounting firm’s determination. Within 10 days after the accounting firm delivers its determination to the Executive, the Executive will have the right to dispute the determination. The existence of a dispute will not in any way affect the Executive’s right to receive the Gross-Up Payment in accordance with the determination. If there is no dispute, the determination will be binding, final, and conclusive upon the Company and the Executive. If there is a dispute, the Company and the Executive will together select a second accounting firm, which will review the determination and the Executive’s basis for the dispute and then will render its own determination, which

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will be binding, final, and conclusive on the Company and on the Executive. The Company will bear all costs associated with that determination, unless the determination is not greater than the initial determination, in which case all such costs will be borne by the Executive.
          (c) For purposes of determining the amount of the Gross-Up Payment, the Executive will be deemed to pay federal income taxes at the highest marginal rate of federal income taxation in the calendar year in which the Gross-Up Payment is to be made and applicable state and local income taxes at the highest marginal rate of taxation in the state and locality of the Executive’s residence on the Date of Termination, net of the maximum reduction in federal income taxes that would be obtained from deduction of those state and local taxes.
          (d) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Agreement to the contrary, in the event that, according to the accounting firm’s determination, an Excise Tax will be imposed on any Payment or Payments, the Company will pay to the applicable government taxing authorities as Excise Tax withholding, the amount of the Excise Tax that the Company has actually withheld from the Payment or Payments in accordance with law.
     7. Release. Notwithstanding any provision herein to the contrary, no payments under section 5 of this Agreement (other than payments due by reason of the Executive’s death) shall become payable to the Executive unless and until the Executive executes a complete release of claims against the Company and its affiliates and related parties in such form as is reasonably required by the Company, and any waiting periods contained in such release shall have expired.
     8. Non-Exclusivity of Rights. Except as otherwise provided in this Agreement, nothing in this Agreement shall prevent or limit the Executive’s continuing or future participation in any plan, program, policy or practice provided by the Company or any of its affiliated companies for which the Executive may qualify (other than severance policies). Vested benefits and other amounts that the Executive is otherwise entitled to receive under any other plan, program, policy, or practice of, or any contract or agreement with, the Company or any of its affiliated companies on or after the Date of Termination shall be payable in accordance with the terms of each such plan, program, policy, practice, contract or agreement, as the case may be, except as expressly modified by this Agreement.
     9. Full Settlement. In no event shall the Executive be obligated to seek other employment or take any other action by way of mitigation of the amounts payable to the Executive under any of the provisions of this Agreement and, except as otherwise provided in subsections 5(a)(iv) and 16(e), the amount of any payment or benefit provided for in this Agreement shall not be reduced by any compensation earned by the Executive as the result of employment by another employer, by retirement benefits, by offset against any amount claimed to be owed by the Executive to the Company, or otherwise.
     10. Confidential Information; and Non-Solicitation.
          (a) Confidential Information. The Executive shall hold in a fiduciary capacity for the benefit of the Company all secret or confidential information, knowledge, trade secrets, methods, know-how or data relating to the Company or its affiliates and their businesses or acquisition prospects that the Executive obtained or obtains during the Executive’s employment by the Company (“Confidential Information”), provided that “Confidential Information” shall not include any secret or confidential information, knowledge, trade secrets, methods, know-how or data that is or becomes generally known to the public (other than as a result of the Executive’s violation of this section 10). Except as may be required and appropriate in connection with carrying out his duties under this Agreement, the Executive shall not communicate, divulge, or disseminate any material Confidential Information at any time during or after the Executive’s employment with the Company, except with the prior written consent of the

8


 

Company or as otherwise required by law or legal process; provided, however, that if so required, the Executive will provide the Company with reasonable notice to contest such disclosure.
          (b) Non-Solicitation. During the Term of Employment and for the one (1) year period following the Date of Termination for any reason, the Executive will not, directly or indirectly, initiate any action to solicit or recruit anyone who is then an employee of the Company for the purpose of being employed by him or by any business, individual, partnership, firm, corporation or other entity on whose behalf he is acting as an agent, representative, employee or otherwise.
          (c) Non-Interference with Customers or Producers. During the Term of Employment and for the one (1) year period following the Date of Termination for any reason, the Executive will not interfere with any business relationship between the Company and any of its customers or agents or brokers that produce insurance business for the Company.
          (d) Remedies; Severability.
               (i) The Executive acknowledges that if the Executive shall breach or threaten to breach any provision of subsections 10(a) through (c), the damages to the Company may be substantial, although difficult to ascertain, and money damages will not afford the Company an adequate remedy. Therefore, if the provisions of subsections 10(a) through (c) are violated, in whole or in part, the Company shall be entitled to specific performance and injunctive relief, without prejudice to other remedies the Company may have at law or in equity.
               (ii) If any term or provision of this section 10, or the application thereof to any person or circumstances shall, to any extent, be invalid or unenforceable, the remainder of this section 10, or the application of such term or provision to persons or circumstances other than those as to which it is held invalid or unenforceable, shall not be affected thereby, and each term and provision of this section 10 shall be valid and enforceable to the fullest extent permitted by law. Moreover, if a court of competent jurisdiction deems any provision of subsections 10(a) through (c) to be too broad in time, scope, or area, it is expressly agreed that such provision shall be reformed to the maximum degree that would not render it unenforceable.
     11. Attorneys’ Fees. Each party shall pay its own legal fees, court costs, litigation expenses and/or arbitration expenses (as applicable) in connection with any dispute, litigation or arbitration regarding the validity or enforceability of, or liability under or otherwise involving, any provision of this Agreement, except that if the Executive prevails on the majority of material claims disputed, the Company shall pay all reasonable legal fees, court cost, litigation expenses and/or arbitration expenses.
     12. Indemnification. The Executive shall be indemnified by the Company for actions taken in his position as an officer, director, employee and agent of the Company to the greatest extent permitted by applicable law. The Executive shall also be covered as an insured by a liability insurance policy secured by and maintained by the Company covering acts of officers and members of the Board.

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     13. Successors.
          (a) Assignment of Agreement. This Agreement is personal to the Executive and, without the prior written consent of the Company, shall not be assignable by the Executive otherwise than by will or the laws of descent and distribution.
          (b) Successors of the Company. No rights or obligations of the Company under this Agreement may be assigned or transferred except that the Company will require any successor (whether direct or indirect, by purchase, merger, consolidation or otherwise) to all or substantially all of the business and/or assets of the Company to expressly assume and agree to perform this Agreement in the same manner and to the same extent that the Company would be required to perform it if no such succession had taken place. As used in this Agreement, “Company” shall mean the Company as herein before defined and any successor that executes and delivers the agreement provided for in this section 13 or which otherwise becomes bound by all the terms and provisions of this Agreement by operation of law.
     14. Arbitration. Except for matters covered under section 10, in the event of any dispute or difference between the Company and the Executive with respect to the subject matter of this Agreement and the enforcement of rights hereunder, either the Executive or the Company may, by written notice to the other, require such dispute or difference to be submitted to arbitration. The arbitrator or arbitrators shall be selected by agreement of the parties or, if they cannot agree on an arbitrator or arbitrators within 30 days after the date arbitration is required by either party, then the arbitrator or arbitrators shall be selected by the American Arbitration Association (the “AAA”) upon the application of the Executive or the Company. The determination reached in such arbitration shall be final and binding on both parties without any right of appeal or further dispute. Execution of the determination by such arbitrator may be sought in any court of competent jurisdiction. The arbitrators shall not be bound by judicial formalities and may abstain from following the strict rules of evidence and shall interpret this Agreement as an honorable engagement and not merely as a legal obligation. Unless otherwise agreed by the parties, any such arbitration shall take place in New York, New York.
     15. Applicability of Section 409A of the Code.
          (a) To the extent applicable, it is intended that this Agreement and any payment made hereunder shall comply with the requirements of Section 409A of the Code, and any related regulations or other guidance promulgated with respect to such Section by the U.S. Department of the Treasury or the Internal Revenue Service (“Code Section 409A”). Any provision that would cause this Agreement or any payment hereof to fail to satisfy Code Section 409A shall have no force or effect until amended to comply with Code Section 409A, which amendment may be retroactive to the extent permitted by Code Section 409A. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing: (i) for all purposes under this Agreement, reference to Executive’s “termination of employment” (and corollary terms) with the Company shall be construed to refer to Executive’s “separation from service” (as determined under Treasury Regulation Section 1.409A-1(h), as uniformly applied by the Company) with the Company; and (ii) to the extent that any reimbursement, fringe benefit or other, similar plan or arrangement in which Executive participates during the Term of Employment or thereafter provides for a “deferral of compensation” within the meaning of Code Section 409A, (x) the right to reimbursement or in-kind benefits shall not be subject to liquidation or exchange for another benefit, (y) the amount eligible for reimbursement or payment under such plan or arrangement in one calendar year may not affect the amount eligible for reimbursement or payment in any other calendar year, and (z) subject to any shorter time periods provided in any expense reimbursement policy of the Company, any reimbursement or payment of an expense under such plan or arrangement must be made on or before the last day of the calendar year following the calendar year in which the expense was incurred. In addition, whenever a provision under this Agreement specifies a payment period with reference to a number of days, the actual date of payment within the specified period shall be within the sole discretion of the Company.

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          (b) Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in this Agreement, if the Executive is deemed on the date of termination to be a “specified employee” within the meaning of that term under Code Section 409A(a)(2)(B), then with regard to any payment or the provision of any benefit that is specified as subject to this section, such payment or benefit shall not be made or provided (subject to the last sentence of this section 15(b)) prior to the earlier of (i) the expiration of the six (6)-month period measured from the date of the Executive’s “separation from service” (as such term is defined under Code Section 409A), and (ii) the date of Executive’s death (the “Delay Period”). All payments and benefits delayed pursuant to this section 15(b) (whether they would have otherwise been payable in a single sum or in installments in the absence of such delay) shall be paid or reimbursed to the Executive in a lump sum on the first business day following the expiration of the Delay Period, and any remaining payments and benefits due under this Agreement shall be paid or provided in accordance with the normal payment dates specified for them herein.
     16. Miscellaneous.
          (a) Governing Law and Captions. This Agreement shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of New York without reference to principles of conflict of laws. The captions of this Agreement are not part of the provisions hereof and shall have no force or effect.
          (b) Notices. All notices and other communications under this Agreement shall be in writing and shall be given by hand delivery or by facsimile (provided confirmation of receipt of such facsimile is received) to the other party or by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, postage prepaid, or by Federal Express or other nationally-recognized overnight courier that requires signatures of recipients upon delivery and provides tracking services, addressed as follows:
If to the Executive:
Richard Barrow
1955 Brook Park Drive
Merrick, NY 11566
If to the Company:
Tower Group, Inc.
120 Broadway, 31st Floor
New York, New York 10271
Attention: General Counsel
Facsimile: 212-271-5492
or to such other address as either party furnishes to the other in writing in accordance with this subsection 16(b). Notices and communications shall be effective when actually received by the addressee.
          (c) Amendment. This Agreement may not be amended or modified except by a written agreement executed by the parties hereto or their respective successors and legal representatives.
          (d) Severability. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of this Agreement shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision of this Agreement. If any provision of this Agreement shall be held invalid or unenforceable in part, the remaining portion of such provision, together with all other provisions of this Agreement, shall remain valid and enforceable and continue in full force and effect to the fullest extent consistent with law.

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          (e) Withholding. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement, the Company may withhold from amounts payable under this Agreement all federal, state, local, and foreign taxes that are required to be withheld by applicable laws or regulations.
          (f) Waiver. The Executive’s or the Company’s failure to insist upon strict compliance with any provision of, or to assert any right under, this Agreement (including, without limitation, the right of the Executive to terminate employment for Good Reason) shall not be deemed to be a waiver of such provision or right or of any other provision of or right under this Agreement.
          (g) Entire Understanding; Counterparts. The Executive and the Company acknowledge that this Agreement supersedes and terminates any other severance and employment agreements between the Executive and the Company or any Company affiliates. This Agreement may be executed in several counterparts, each of which shall be deemed an original, and said counterparts shall constitute but one and the same instrument.
          (h) Rights and Benefits Unsecured. The rights and benefits of the Executive under this Agreement may not be anticipated, assigned, alienated, or subject to attachment, garnishment, levy, execution, or other legal or equitable process except as required by law. Any attempts by the Executive to anticipate, alienate, assign, sell, transfer, pledge or encumber the same shall be void. Payments hereunder shall not be considered assets of the Executive in the event of insolvency or bankruptcy.
          (i) Noncontravention. The Company represents that the Company is not prevented from entering into, or performing this Agreement by the terms of any law, order, rule or regulation, its by-laws or declaration of trust, or any agreement to which it is a party.
          (j) Section and Subsection Headings. The section and subsection headings in this Agreement are for convenience of reference only; they form no part of this Agreement and shall not affect its interpretation.

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     IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Executive has hereunto set the Executive’s hand and, pursuant to the authorization of the Board, the Company has caused this Agreement to be executed, all as of the day and year first above written.
         
  TOWER GROUP, INC.
 
 
  By:   /s/ Elliott S. Orol    
    Its SVP, General Counsel & Secretary   
       
    RICHARD BARROW
 
 
    /s/ Richard Barrow     
       
       
 

 

EX-31.1 3 y75944exv31w1.htm EX-31.1: CERTIFICATION EX-31.1
Exhibit 31.1
CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO
SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002
I, Michael H. Lee, certify that:
1.   I have reviewed the Quarterly Report of Tower Group, Inc. (the “Company”) on Form 10-Q for the period ending March 31, 2009 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on the date hereof (the “Report”);
2.   Based on my knowledge, the Report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by the Report;
3.   Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in the Report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the Company as of, and for, the periods presented in the Report;
4.   The Company’s other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a—15(f) and 15d—15(f)) for the Company and have:
  a)   designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the Company, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within the Company, particularly during the period in which the Report is being prepared;
 
  b)   designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;
 
  c)   evaluated the effectiveness of the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in the Report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by the Report based on such evaluation; and
 
  d)   disclosed in the Report any changes in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the Company’s first quarter of 2009 that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting; and
5.   The Company’s other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the Company’s auditors and to the audit committee of the Company’s Board of Directors:
  a)   all significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the Company’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and
 
  b)   Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.
         
     
May 11, 2009  /s/ Michael H. Lee    
  Michael H. Lee   
  Chief Executive Officer   

 

EX-31.2 4 y75944exv31w2.htm EX-31.2: CERTIFICATION EX-31.2
         
Exhibit 31.2
CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO
SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002
I, Francis M. Colalucci, certify that:
1.   I have reviewed the Quarterly Report of Tower Group, Inc. (the “Company”) on Form 10-Q for the period ending March 31, 2009 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on the date hereof (the “Report”);
2.   Based on my knowledge, the Report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by the Report;
3.   Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in the Report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the Company as of, and for, the periods presented in the Report;
4.   The Company’s other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a—15(f) and 15d—15(f)) for the Company and have:
  a)   designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the Company, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within the Company, particularly during the period in which the Report is being prepared;
 
  b)   designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;
 
  c)   evaluated the effectiveness of the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in the Report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by the Report based on such evaluation; and
 
  d)   disclosed in the Report any changes in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the Company’s first quarter of 2009 that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting; and
5.   The Company’s other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the Company’s auditors and to the audit committee of the Company’s Board of Directors:
  a)   all significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the Company’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and
 
  b)   any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.
         
     
May 11, 2009  /s/ Francis M. Colalucci    
  Francis M. Colalucci   
  Chief Financial Officer   

 

EX-32 5 y75944exv32.htm EX-32: CERTIFICATION EX-32
         
Exhibit 32
CERTIFICATION OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER AND CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
PURSUANT TO 18 U.S.C. SECTION 1350,
AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO
SECTION 906 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT FOF 2002
In connection with the Quarterly Report of Tower Group, Inc. (the “Company”) on Form 10-Q for the period ending March 31, 2009, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on the date hereof (the “Report”), we, Michael H. Lee, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, and Francis M. Colalucci, Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of the Company, certify, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 1350, as adopted pursuant to § 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, that:
(1)   The Report fully complies with the requirements of Section 13(a) and 15(d) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934; and
(2)   The information contained in the Report fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of the Company.
         
     
May 11, 2009  /s/ Michael H. Lee    
  Michael H. Lee   
  President and Chief Executive Officer   
         
     
May 11, 2009  /s/ Francis M. Colalucci    
  Francis M. Colalucci   
  Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer   
 

 

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