Statutory Information and Dividend Restrictions

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

Statutory Information and Dividend Restrictions

The insurance departments of various states in which the insurance subsidiaries of HMEC are domiciled recognize as net income and surplus those amounts determined in conformity with statutory accounting principles prescribed or permitted by the insurance departments, which differ in certain respects from GAAP.

HMEC has principal insurance subsidiaries domiciled in Illinois, New York and Texas. The statutory financial statements of these subsidiaries are prepared in accordance with accounting principles prescribed or permitted by the Illinois Department of Insurance, the New York Department of Insurance and the Texas Department of Insurance, as applicable. Prescribed statutory accounting principles include a variety of publications of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), as well as state laws, regulations and general administrative rules.

In converting from statutory to GAAP, typical adjustments include DAC, certain reinsurance transactions, the inclusion of statutory non-admitted assets and the inclusion of net unrealized investment gains or losses in shareholders' equity relating to fixed maturity securities.

The following table includes selected information for HMEC's insurance subsidiaries:


($ in thousands)	Year Ended December 31,
	2020		2019		2018
Consolidated net income, statutory basis	$	141,904	$	62,316	$	45,977
Consolidated capital and surplus, statutory basis (1)	$	937,274	$	868,839	$	903,564

(1) Subject to regulatory restrictions.

The NAIC has risk-based capital guidelines to evaluate the adequacy of statutory capital and surplus in relation to risks assumed in investments, reserving policies, and volume and types of insurance business written. At December 31, 2020 and 2019, the minimum statutory-basis capital and surplus required to be maintained by HMEC's insurance subsidiaries was $113.2 million and $108.1 million, respectively. At December 31, 2020 and 2019, statutory capital and surplus of each of the Company's insurance subsidiaries was above required levels. The restricted net assets of HMEC's insurance subsidiaries were $26.9 million and $26.0 million as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. The minimum statutory basis capital and surplus amount at each date is the total estimated authorized control level risk-based capital for all of HMEC's insurance subsidiaries combined. Authorized control level risk-based capital represents the minimum level of statutory basis capital and surplus necessary before the insurance commissioner in the respective state of domicile is authorized to take whatever regulatory actions considered necessary to protect the best interests of the policyholders and creditors of the insurer. The amount of restricted net assets represents the combined fair value of securities on deposit with governmental agencies for the insurance subsidiaries as required by law in various states in which the insurance subsidiaries of HMEC conduct business.

HMEC relies largely on dividends from its insurance subsidiaries to meet its obligations for payment of principal and interest on debt, dividends to shareholders and parent company operating expenses, including tax payments pursuant to tax sharing agreements. Payments for share repurchase programs also have this dependency. HMEC's insurance subsidiaries are subject to various regulatory restrictions which limit the amount of annual dividends or other distributions, including loans or cash advances, available to HMEC without prior approval of the insurance regulatory authorities. As a result, HMEC may not be able to receive dividends from such subsidiaries at times and in amounts necessary to pay desired dividends to shareholders. The maximum amount of dividends that may be paid in 2021 from all of HMEC's insurance subsidiaries without prior regulatory approval is $248.7 million, excluding the impact and timing of prior year dividends.