increased incentive compensation accruals and higher non-cash stock compensation expense for restricted stock units granted in the fourth quarter of 2021 and the second quarter of 2022. Increased professional service expense of $0.2 million, higher travel expense of $0.1 million and higher other general expenses of $0.2 million also contributed to the increase in operating expenses for the six months ended June 30, 2022 as compared to the same period the prior year.
Financial Condition and Liquidity
Sources and Uses of Funds
Our sources of funds are from insurance-related operations, financing activities and investing activities. Major sources of funds from operations include premiums collected (net of policy cancellations and premiums ceded), commissions, and processing and service fees. As a holding company, Hallmark is dependent on dividend payments and management fees from its subsidiaries to meet operating expenses and debt obligations. As of June 30, 2022, Hallmark and its non-insurance company subsidiaries had $13.3 million in unrestricted cash and cash equivalents. As of that date, our insurance subsidiaries held $99.9 million of unrestricted cash and cash equivalents, as well as $435.3 million in debt securities with an average modified duration of 1.0 years. Accordingly, we do not anticipate selling long-term debt instruments to meet liquidity needs.
AHIC and TBIC, domiciled in Texas, are limited in the payment of dividends to their stockholders in any 12-month period, without the prior written consent of the Texas Department of Insurance, to the greater of statutory net income for the prior calendar year or 10% of statutory policyholders’ surplus as of the prior year end. Dividends may only be paid from unassigned surplus funds. HIC and HNIC, both domiciled in Arizona, are limited in the payment of dividends to the lesser of 10% of prior year policyholders’ surplus or prior year’s statutory net income, without prior written approval from the Arizona Department of Insurance. HSIC, domiciled in Oklahoma, is limited in the payment of dividends to the greater of 10% of prior year policyholders’ surplus or prior year’s statutory net income, not including realized capital gains, without prior written approval from the Oklahoma Insurance Department. During 2022, the aggregate ordinary dividend capacity of these subsidiaries is $32.0 million, of which $22.7 million is available to Hallmark. As a county mutual, dividends from HCM are payable to policyholders. During the first six months of both 2022 and 2021, our insurance subsidiaries paid $3.0 million in dividends to Hallmark. During the first six months of 2022 and 2021, our insurance subsidiaries paid $6.5 million and $7.0 million in management fees to Hallmark, respectively.
Comparison of June 30, 2022 to December 31, 2021
On a consolidated basis, our cash (excluding restricted cash) and investments at June 30, 2022 were $592.8 million compared to $691.6 million at December 31, 2021. The primary reasons for this decrease in unrestricted cash and investments were cash used by operations and purchases of investment securities.
Comparison of Six Months Ended June 30, 2022 and June 30, 2021
During the six months ended June 30, 2022, our cash flow used by operations was $78.3 million compared to cash flow provided by operations of $28.9 million during the same period the prior year. The cash flow used in operations was driven primarily by higher reinsurance balances paid (including $38.6 million paid to fund the payment of claims under the LPT Contract without prejudice on behalf of DARAG under the interim agreement), an increase in net paid claims and lower collected investment income, partially offset by decreased paid operating expenses and federal income taxes recovered during the six months ended June 30, 2022 as compared to the same period the prior year.
Net cash used in investing activities during the first six months of 2022 was $161.1 million as compared to net cash provided by investing activities of $194.8 million during the first six months of 2021. The net cash used in investing activities during the first six months of 2022 was primarily comprised of an increase of $217.8 million in purchases of debt and equity securities, a decrease of $137.6 million in maturities, sales and redemptions of investment securities and a $0.5 million increase in purchases of fixed assets.
The Company did not report any net cash from financing activities during the first six months of 2022 or 2021.