Non-GAAP Financial Measures 27 In presenting the company's results, management has included and discussed in this presentation certain non generally accepted accounting principles ("non- GAAP") financial measures within the meaning of Regulation G as promulgated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Management believes that these non-GAAP measures, which may be defined differently by other companies, better explain the company's results of operations in a manner that allows for a more complete understanding of the underlying trends in the company's business. However, these measures should not be viewed as a substitute for those determined in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles ("U.S. GAAP"). "Operating income" is an internal performance measure used in the management of the company’s operations and represents after-tax operational results excluding, as applicable, net realized investment gains or losses, net impairment charges recognized in earnings, net foreign exchange gain or loss and other non-recurring items. The company excludes net realized investment gains or losses, net impairment charges recognized in earnings, net foreign exchange gain or loss, and other non-recurring items from the calculation of operating income because these amounts are heavily influenced by and fluctuate in part according to the availability of market opportunities and other factors. The company has excluded from operating income the termination fee received from Transatlantic Holdings, Inc. in 2011 as this is a non-recurring item. In addition to presenting net income determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP, the company believes that showing operating income enables investors, analysts, rating agencies and other users of the company’s financial information to more easily analyze our results of operations and underlying business performance. Operating income should not be viewed as a substitute for U.S. GAAP net income. The company has included "diluted book value per share" because it takes into account the effect of dilutive securities; therefore, the company believes it is an important measure of calculating shareholder returns. "Annualized net income return on average shareholders' equity" ("ROAE") is calculated using average shareholders’ equity, excluding the average after tax unrealized gains (or losses) on investments. Unrealized gains (losses) on investments are primarily the result of interest rate and credit spread movements and the resultant impact on fixed income securities. Such gains (losses) are not related to management actions or operational performance, nor are they likely to be realized. Therefore, the company believes that excluding these unrealized gains (losses) provides a more consistent and useful measurement of operating performance, which supplements U.S. GAAP information. In calculating ROAE, the net income (loss) available to shareholders for the period is multiplied by the number of such periods in a calendar year in order to arrive at annualized net income (loss) available to shareholders. The company presents ROAE as a measure that is commonly recognized as a standard of performance by investors, analysts, rating agencies and other users of its financial information. "Annualized operating return on average shareholders' equity" is calculated using operating income (as defined above and annualized in the manner described for net income (loss) available to shareholders under ROAE above), and average shareholders' equity, excluding the average after tax unrealized gains (losses) on investments. Unrealized gains (losses) are excluded from equity for the reasons outlined in the annualized net income return on average shareholders' equity explanation above. See slides 28 - 30 for a reconciliation of non-GAAP measures used in this presentation to their most directly comparable U.S. GAAP measures. |