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Fidelity National Financial, Inc.
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Todd C. Johnson |
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601 Riverside Avenue, Jacksonville, FL 32204
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Senior Vice President |
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Telephone: (904) 854-8594
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Corporate Counsel |
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Facsimile: (904) 357-1036
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and Secretary |
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E-mail: todd.johnson@fnf.com |
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July 24, 2007
VIA EDGAR CORRESPONDENCE FILING
Mail Stop 6010
United States Securities and Exchange Commission
100 F Street NE
Washington, D.C. 20549
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Attention: |
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Jim B. Rosenberg
Senior Assistant Chief Accountant |
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Re: |
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Fidelity National Financial, Inc.
Form 10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2006
Filed March 1, 2006
File No. 001-32630 |
Dear Mr. Rosenberg:
This letter responds to comments received during a discussion with Kei Ino on July
6th
regarding our initial responses to comments 1 and 2 of the
Staffs comment letter dated
May 23, 2007. Each additional response follows the Staffs original comments in bold below.
Item 7. Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,
page 31.
Critical Accounting Estimates, page 35
Reserve for Claim Losses, page 35
1. |
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You list several factors at the bottom of page 36 and the top of page 37 that caused you to
differ in your reserve estimate from what the actuary determined. These four critical
assumptions appear to be what could potentially impact your reserve in a more detailed manner
than the more general sensitivity analysis that you provided. In a disclosure type format,
please identify and describe those key assumptions that materially affect the estimate of the
reserve for loss and loss adjustment expenses. In addition, quantify each of your key
assumptions and, if applicable, explain the changes in these assumptions during the operating
periods presented. |
Letter to Jim B. Rosenberg
July 24, 2007
Page 2
The four critical assumptions which primarily make up the $77.6 million difference between
our independent actuarys point estimate and our carried reserve level at December 31, 2006, are
quantified as follows. The difference in weight given to a separate projection of individually
significant losses (losses greater than $500,000) was $33.0 million; greater anticipated loss and
allocated loss adjustment expense savings resulting from claim administration improvements were
$18.0 million; cost reduction expectations with respect to unallocated loss adjustment expense
(ULAE) reserves were $17.4 million; and adjustments based on recent experience to realize
emerging changes in refinance and home sale activity were $4.1 million. The remaining $5.1 million
is made up of individually insignificant items. There were no significant fluctuations in these
factors from 2005 to 2006 other than the $18.0 million in savings resulting from claim
administration improvements since those improvements were implemented during 2006. We believe that
these amounts are immaterial with respect to the total reserve for claim losses. In future periods,
if any of these factors or any additional factors are determined to be material with respect to the
Companys reserve for claim losses or if any changes in such factors are determined to be material
with respect to our provision for claim losses, we will identify, describe, and quantify such
material factor(s) in any of our filings with the SEC that include financial statements for such
future periods.
2. |
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Please revise your discussion to include by name the independent actuary referred to in this
disclosure. |
As previously disclosed to the Staff, the Company is prohibited by the terms of an engagement
letter with its independent actuary from identifying such actuary in its public filings. Further,
given recent enhancements to the Companys reserve estimation process, management believes that the
identification of its independent actuary in future periods may be misleading. During 2006, the
Company strengthened its internal actuarial resources and now dedicates an internal actuary to the
analysis of its reserve position. Such internal actuarys analysis was used in concert with the
analysis performed by the Companys independent actuary at December 2006 in the Company concluding
on the material adequacy of its reserve for claim losses. During 2007, our process places primary
reliance on our internal analysis to estimate our reserve for claim losses and the analysis
performed by the external actuary is directed primarily to review the adequacy of the Companys
reserves under statutory reporting requirements. Based on these facts, in the Companys opinion, it
is not necessary to identify our external actuary in our periodic filings on a go forward basis.
Accordingly, we plan to modify our disclosure in future filings, beginning with our 10-Q for the
quarter ended June 30, 2007 to reflect this change as follows.
Reserve for Claim Losses. Title companies issue two types of
policies since both the buyer and lender in real estate transactions
want to know that their interest in the property is insured against
certain title defects outlined in the policy. An owners policy
insures the buyer against such defects for as long as he or she owns
the property (as well as against warranty claims arising out of the
sale of the property by such owner). A lenders policy insures the
priority of the lenders security interest over the claims that other
parties may have in the property. The maximum amount of liability
under a title insurance policy is generally the face amount of the
policy plus the cost of defending the insureds title against an
adverse claim. While most non-title forms of insurance, including
property and casualty, provide for the assumption of risk of loss
arising out of unforeseen future events, title insurance serves to
protect the policyholder from risk of loss from events that predate
the issuance of the policy.
Unlike many other forms of insurance, title insurance requires
only a one-time premium for continuous coverage until another policy
is warranted due to changes in property circumstances arising from
refinance, resale, additional liens, or other events. Unless we issue
the subsequent policy, we receive no notice that our exposure under
our policy has ended and as a result we are unable to track the actual
terminations of our exposures.
Our reserve for claim losses includes reserves for known claims
(PLR) as well as for losses that have been incurred but not yet
reported to us (IBNR), net of recoupments. We reserve for each known
claim based on our review of the estimated amount of the claim and the
costs required to settle the claim. Reserves for IBNR claims are
estimates that are established at the time the premium revenue is
recognized and are based upon historical
Letter to Jim B. Rosenberg
July 24, 2007
Page 3
experience and other factors, including industry trends, claim
loss history, legal environment, geographic considerations, and the
types of policies written. We also reserve for losses arising from
escrow, closing and disbursement functions due to fraud or operational
error.
The table below summarizes our reserves for known claims and
incurred but not reported claims related to title insurance.
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As of |
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As of |
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June 30, |
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December 31, |
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2007 |
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% |
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2006 |
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% |
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(In thousands) |
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PLR |
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$ |
202,195 |
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17.6 |
% |
IBNR |
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952,677 |
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82.4 |
% |
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Total Reserve |
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$ |
1,154,872 |
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100.0 |
% |
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Although most claims against title insurance policies are
reported relatively soon after the policy has been issued, claims may
be reported many years later. By their nature, claims are often
complex, vary greatly in dollar amounts and are affected by economic
and market conditions and the legal environment existing at the time
of settlement of the claims. Estimating future title loss payments is
difficult because of the complex nature of title claims, the long
periods of time over which claims are paid, significantly varying
dollar amounts of individual claims and other factors.
We continually update loss reserve estimates based upon the
latest available premium and claim information at the end of each
quarter and year. Management also considers quantitative and
qualitative data provided by our legal, claims and underwriting
departments to ultimately arrive at our best reserve estimate. All
reserve methods include the application of significant judgment and
assumptions. Management regularly looks for ways to improve the
accuracy and reduce the uncertainty of the estimate. However, as new
claim experience emerges, new information becomes available, or
additional influences on claim experience are identified the loss
reserve estimate will change, perhaps significantly.
Management forecasts ultimate losses for each policy year based
upon examination of historical policy year loss emergence
(development) and adjustment of the emergence patterns to reflect
policy year differences in the effects of various influences on the
timing, frequency and severity of claims. Management also uses a
technique that relies on historical loss emergence and on a
premium-based exposure measurement. The latter technique is
particularly applicable to the most recent policy years, which have
few reported claims relative to an expected ultimate claim volume.
Letter to Jim B. Rosenberg
July 24, 2007
Page 4
While there can be no assurance as to the accuracy of loss
reserve estimates, development of prior years loss reserves over the
past three years(1) has generally been within a narrow range.
(1) AS SHOWN IN THE TABLE INCLUDED IN OUR 2006 FORM 10-K AND
REPEATED HERE BELOW:
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2006 |
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2005 |
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2004 |
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(In thousands) |
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Beginning Balance |
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$ |
1,068,072 |
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$ |
987,076 |
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$ |
940,217 |
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Reserve Assumed/Transferred |
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(8,515 |
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1,000 |
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38,597 |
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Claims Loss provision related to: |
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Current year |
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306,179 |
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319,870 |
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278,449 |
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Prior years |
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39,399 |
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36,631 |
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(17,787 |
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Total claims loss provision |
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345,578 |
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356,501 |
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260,662 |
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Claims paid, net of recoupments related to: |
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Current year |
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(18,815 |
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(14,478 |
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(19,547 |
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Prior years |
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(231,448 |
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(262,027 |
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(232,853 |
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Total claims paid, net of recoupments |
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(250,263 |
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(276,505 |
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(252,400 |
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Ending Balance |
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$ |
1,154,872 |
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$ |
1,068,072 |
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$ |
987,076 |
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Title Premiums |
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$ |
4,608,329 |
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$ |
4,948,966 |
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$ |
4,718,217 |
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Provision for claim losses as a percentage
of title insurance premiums: |
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Current year |
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6.6 |
% |
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6.5 |
% |
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5.9 |
% |
Prior years |
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0.9 |
% |
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0.7 |
% |
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(0.4 |
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Total Provision |
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7.5 |
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7.2 |
% |
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5.5 |
% |
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Sensitivity Analysis (effect on pretax
earnings of a 0.4% loss ratio change)(1): |
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Ultimate Reserve Estimate +/ |
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$ |
18,433 |
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$ |
19,794 |
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$ |
18,873 |
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* * *
Please do not hesitate to contact me at 904-854-8547 with further questions or comments.
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Very truly yours,
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/s/ Todd C. Johnson
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Todd C. Johnson |
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