On this page of StockholderLetter.com we present the latest annual shareholder letter from UNITED FIRE GROUP INC — ticker symbol UFCS. Reading current and past UFCS letters to shareholders can bring important insights into the investment thesis.

 •  4/8/2025 Letter Continued (Full PDF)
 •  4/4/2023 UFCS Stockholder Letter
 •  4/2/2024 UFCS Stockholder Letter
 •  More "Insurance Brokers" Category Stockholder Letters
 •  UFCS Benford's Law Stock Score = 94

UFCS Shareholder/Stockholder Letter Transcript:

2O24
ANNUAL
REPORT
UNITED FIRE GROUP, INC.

United Fire Group, Inc. 2024 Annual Report
About UFG Insurance
Founded in 1946, UFG Insurance is a property and casualty insurance company with over 75 years of local market
expertise and a growing national footprint. We provide insurance protection to businesses across the country,
represented by approximately 1,000 independent agencies.
Our company is headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with offices in Arizona, California, Colorado, New Jersey and
Texas. With more than 850 employees, we pride ourselves on delivering deep expertise, specialized capabilities,
personal relationships and responsive service to our agents and policyholders.
At UFG, we are committed to achieving superior financial and operational performance, using our nearly eight
decades of experience to successfully guide us through market cycles and industry challenges. We hold a financial
strength rating of    A-    (Excellent) from AM Best that was affirmed in August 2024, reflecting our long-term balance
sheet strength.
UFG was founded and remains
proudly headquartered in
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, a vibrant
Midwest city that celebrated its
175th anniversary in 2024.
Annual meeting of shareholders
United Fire Group, Inc.   s (UFG) annual meeting of shareholders will be held at 10 a.m. CT on Wednesday, May 21, 2025.
This year   s meeting will be held in virtual format only via live audio webcast. You will be able to attend the meeting,
submit questions and vote online by logging on to https://meetnow.global/MA5DAKF using your 15-digit control number
provided with the Notice Regarding the Availability of Proxy Materials or on your proxy card.
Our Annual Report on Form 10-K for 2024 is filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and is available
(without exhibits) to shareholders, free of charge, upon written or oral request to:
Investor Relations
United Fire Group, Inc.
118 Second Avenue SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Telephone: 319-399-5700
or
Registrar and Transfer Agent
Computershare
P.O. Box 505000
Louisville, Kentucky 40233-5000
Board of directors
James W. Noyce, Chairperson of the Board
John-Paul E. Besong
Scott L. Carlton
Brenda K. Clancy
Christopher R. Drahozal
Matthew R. Foran
Mark A. Green
Kevin J. Leidwinger
Lura E. McBride
George D. Milligan
Susan E. Voss

United Fire Group, Inc. 2024 Annual Report
Letter to shareholders
Dear fellow shareholders,
When I began my tenure as CEO in August 2022, UFG
Insurance was a company in need of transformation.
Its long history of financial strength and stability had
been challenged by a period of declining growth and
profitability, and the company was ready to embark on
a new strategic path     one aimed at superior financial
and operational performance.
Since that time, we have taken decisive actions to
deepen expertise across all functional areas of the
company, evolve our capabilities to better serve
customers    changing needs and improve alignment
with our distribution partners.
From bringing on new talent that complements our
existing teams to investing in technology designed
to modernize the way we do business, we have
transformed UFG into a company with:




Fully established business units delivering specialized
expertise in middle market, construction, small
business, surety, specialty excess and surplus (E&S)
and alternative distribution.
Deep underwriting knowledge with the capability
to write complex accounts in every business
unit with aligned claims, premium audit and risk
control expertise.
Availability of workers compensation coverage for both
package and businessowners policy (BOP) business
in all regions, positioning UFG as a one-carrier solution
for policyholders.
A new small business quoting platform and refreshed
BOP product, delivering a seamless quoting experience
for our agent partners.
We are also in the midst of launching a new policy
administration system, underwriting workbench and
renewal underwriting center in 2025, intended to equip
our underwriting and business enablement teams with
the tools needed to process business more efficiently
and effectively going forward.
Collectively, we are confident these actions position us
to successfully deliver on UFG   s value proposition of
providing deep expertise and specialized capabilities
to meet the evolving needs of today   s business owners,
underpinned by the personal relationships and
responsive service our partners and policyholders value.
This value proposition     fulfilled day in and day out
by our outstanding people     is what sets us apart at
UFG. It enabled us to generate improved financial and
operational performance in 2024 and serves as a solid
foundation for our future success.
2024 FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE
In 2024, we produced the highest level of net written
premium in our company   s 78-year history, as well as
significantly improved financial performance. UFG
delivered a combined ratio of 99.2% and adjusted
operating income of $66.2 million     our best results
since 2015     and a substantially improved return on
equity of 8.2%. These milestones reflect key steps on
our journey to consistently deliver superior financial and
operational performance at UFG.
2024 FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
1.2 BILLION
99.2%
66.2 MILLION
8.2%

Record net written
premiums

Adjusted operating
income
Combined ratio
Return on equity
A- (EXCELLENT)
AM Best rating with stable outlook
For an explanation of non-GAAP financial measures and a
reconciliation to the most comparable GAAP figure, please see the
section entitled    Non-GAAP Financial Measures    in Part II, Item 7,
of the following Annual Report on Form 10-K.
To recap our full year results compared to 2023,
net written premium increased 15% led by our core
commercial, assumed reinsurance and surety business.
All business units performed well in 2024, exceeding our
overall growth and profit expectations while advancing
capabilities and efficiency across the organization.

United Fire Group, Inc. 2024 Annual Report
The overall average change in renewal premiums was
11.8%, demonstrating our continued focus on price
adequacy across all lines of business. On an annual basis,
premium retention was 80.0% compared to 82.6% in
2023, which we believe supports healthy growth while
allowing underwriters to address accounts that no longer
meet our profitability expectations or risk profile.
The combined ratio improved 10.1 points to 99.2%
in 2024, compared to 109.3% in 2023, driven by
improvement in nearly all components of the loss ratio:




The underlying loss ratio of 57.9% improved 4.3 points
from 2023, reflecting improvement from a combination
of underwriting actions, increased pricing, expense
management and lower frequency.
Prior year reserve development, excluding catastrophe
losses, was neutral in 2024 compared to 6.0% of
unfavorable development in 2023. Our overall reserve
position has improved over the past two years. Many
lines have shown favorable reserve development,
which has afforded us the opportunity to bolster liability
reserves without adversely impacting results in 2024.
Since the second quarter of 2022, we have added
$175 million in additional general liability, umbrella and
excess casualty reserves to accident years 2023 and
prior. We believe these actions position our reserves to
better manage the uncertain inflationary environment
we operate in today and expect to continue in the
near future.
Catastrophe losses added 5.4 points to the combined
ratio, an improvement of 0.8 points from 2023, which
is below our five-year and 10-year historical averages
and slightly below our current annual expectations.
This improvement is a result of ongoing multifaceted
strategies to improve our property catastrophe risk
profile. For example, our catastrophe management
efforts in Florida proved particularly beneficial in 2024
after three hurricane landfalls resulted in immaterial
losses for UFG.
The underwriting expense ratio of 35.9% increased
1.0 point primarily due to investments in talent and
technology to support long-term profitable growth
at UFG, as well as increased performance-based
compensation for employees and agents due to
current year achievements. We will continue to diligently
manage the expense ratio, confident in our ability to
reduce it to a more acceptable level over time while
making the necessary investments in our business.
Net investment income grew to $82.0 million in 2024,
an increase of $22.4 million or 37.5% from 2023. This
improvement is due in part to our decision to partner
with New England Asset Management (NEAM) in early
2024 to oversee our investment portfolio. Partnering
with NEAM has enabled us to increase our investment
income and enhance our governance while upholding
our conservative investment philosophy.
BALANCE SHEET STRENGTH
As of December 31, 2024, our balance sheet remained
strong, with $3.5 billion in total assets, $782 million in
total stockholders    equity and a $2.1 billion investment
portfolio, of which 89% is allocated to a high-quality fixed
income book. Book value per common share was $30.80
as of December 31, 2024, up $1.76 from a year ago.
To further strengthen our balance sheet, we completed
a $70 million capital raise in May 2024 with Ares
Management Corporation as the lead investor. We
believe this capital raise will support our long-term
growth strategies and improve our capital adequacy,
which is an important measure of financial strength for
insurance carriers.
Another important measure of financial strength is
our    A-    (Excellent) rating from AM Best, which was
reaffirmed in August 2024 with a stable outlook.
Throughout 2024, we paid total quarterly dividends
totaling $0.64 per share, returning $16.2 million to our
shareholders over the course of the year. UFG has a
57-year history of paying dividends to our shareholders.
CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY
Alongside our commitment to paying dividends is a
commitment to paying it forward. As part of our mission
at UFG, we promise to support the communities
where our people live and work through corporate
sponsorship and employee volunteerism.
In 2024, the UFG Foundation proudly celebrated its
25th anniversary, awarding nearly $1 million in nonprofit
grants and scholarships in communities around the
country and more than $17 million since its establishment

United Fire Group, Inc. 2024 Annual Report
in 1999. In addition, in 2024, UFG employees
volunteered more than 850 hours as part of our
company   s paid community service hour program,
inspiring us with their dedication to giving back locally.
Each year, we are also honored to recognize the
exceptional volunteerism of our employees and agents
with the    Scotty McIntyre Jr. Go Beyond    award, a
tribute to UFG   s founding family and their legacy of
giving. This award recognizes individuals for their
outstanding community service, with UFG donating
$5,000 to a charity of the winner   s choice.
Corporate responsibility is a hallmark of our
business     one that extends to the well-being of
our people. UFG   s commitment to advancing the
mental and physical health of our employees includes
a holistic wellness program rooted in whole-person
health, as well as initiatives to ensure the health
and comfort of our workspaces.
To that end, I am pleased to note that our headquarters
building in downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa, known as the
American Building, received WELL Certification    at the
Platinum level in 2024, the highest level of certification.
UFG   s corporate
headquarters building
was awarded WELL
Certification    at the
Platinum level in 2024.
This historic building
is prominently located
in downtown
Cedar Rapids.
Built in 1914 and renovated more than 100 years
later to balance architectural history with modern
efficiencies, the American Building   s prestigious WELL
Platinum certification is based on 10 categories of
building performance     air, community, light, materials,
mind, movement, nourishment, sound, thermal comfort
and water     demonstrating our ongoing commitment
to the well-being of our people.
ACCELERATING OUR PROGRESS IN 2025
In looking back at where we   ve been as a company
to where we are today, it is clear to see that our
transformation is well underway at UFG. I am pleased
with the progress we   ve made over the past two
years and immensely proud of our people, who have
shown great resilience in overcoming challenges,
embracing changes and developing new skills to
meet UFG   s needs.
Through strong and steady execution of our strategic
business plan, we have changed the trajectory of
our company while ensuring that our deeply valued
people-centered culture remains firmly intact for the
future. Our work is far from finished and we will strive
to accelerate our progress in 2025 as we execute our
business plan while adeptly navigating the shifting
economic and industry landscapes.
As we look ahead to celebrating UFG   s 80th anniversary
on January 2, 2026, I remain grateful for the dedication
of our employees, the support of the board of directors,
the loyalty of our distribution partners and the enduring
trust of our shareholders. Together with our people,
I am excited to continue to move UFG boldly forward
in 2025 and I am confident in our ability to deliver
improved financial and operational performance in
the years ahead.
Sincerely,
Kevin J. Leidwinger
UFG President and CEO



 4/8/2025 Letter Continued (Full PDF)