2018 was an extremely busy and challenging year on many fronts.  We continue to deal with effects of the events that occurred during 2017.  These include the continued development of Hurricane Irma losses, primarily due to the litigious environment we deal with in Florida property insurance, and significant development from hail storms in Texas that occurred earlier in the year.  Combine this with another hyperactive severe convective storm season during the spring in the Southeast, and finally Hurricane Michael making landfall as almost a Category 5 Hurricane in October.  The challenges faced by Southeastern insurance carriers were many.  Through it all, Centauri has remained steadfast in its commitment to remain financially responsible, fairly and efficiently handle every claim that comes our way and validate our ability to remain strategic and nimble in the face of adversity.   Some tough business decisions had to be made this past year, a continuation of an exposure reduction strategy centered around markets that contained high frequency coupled with high severity loss characteristics.  Some of these changes will linger into 2019 and beyond.       

 

As we head into 2019 however, I cannot help but feel positive about the fact that Centauri is well positioned to continue to serve the needs of our agents, shareholders, and employees who all share a similar vision.  And that is to be the best we can be for our policyholders.  This is and has been our promise collectively, and everything we do revolves around executing on that promise.  Yes, 2018 was challenging, but in many ways, rewarding too.  Our agency partners have stood by us in the face of stiff pricing competition that has entered the Southeast coastal markets.  Our employees have been through two battle-tested years and come out stronger and more experienced than ever before.  The Company continues to develop technical talents internally that rival even the largest regional carriers.  Our employees remain the strength of this organization, and in 2019 we will rely on all these prior experiences to create value for our respective organizations. 

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We thank all of our business partners reading this article for being such a critical piece of our ongoing success, for the commitment, but mostly for the friendships.  Best wishes on a prosperous New Year.  We look forward to making 2019 one of our best years ever.