Assurant 2009 Annual Report Download - page 6

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04
ImprovingefciencywasacommonfocusforallAssurantbusinessesin2009.Wechallenged
our businesses to cut back on expenses and once again our employees’ ingenuity came through.
By consolidating operations, using technology in lieu of travel, and centralizing some common
functions, we were able to reduce expenses without diminishing service to our customers. In
2010, we will continue to pursue opportunities to improve performance across our company.
2009 RESULTS FROM OPERATIONS
Each of our businesses felt the economic headwinds of 2009. But by staying focused on
executing our specialty strategy, we were able to better anticipate client needs, adapt our
services, reshape our offerings and advance our ability to meet evolving customer expectations.
We believe that these actions position us well for the long term.
SOUND INVESTMENTS AND MORE EFFICIENT OPERATIONS
Our investment holdings were a source of strength and stability for Assurant in 2009. We
maintainedalow-risk,well-diversiedportfoliothatprovidedsteadyreturnswhileavoiding
riskier asset classes. In 2009, improvements in the credit markets and the lower interest rate
environment helped our portfolio valuation. Our investment strategy focuses on risk-adjusted
yields. It has allowed us to avoid some of the asset classes that have suffered a loss in value
during the downturn. As conditions warrant, we will continue to look for opportunities to
improvetherisk/rewardproleofourportfolio.
Manybelievetheglobalnancialcrisiswascausedbyalackofriskoversight.AtAssurant,
we are leveraging skills company wide in Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) to preserve our
fundamentalnancialstrengthinthefuture.Doingsoledtoourdecisiontoholdacapital
buffer to protect the company if the credit markets “lock up” once again. We embrace a
collaborative approach to ERM that utilizes the company’s deep reservoir of risk management
expertise. It’s easy to be risk-averse in these challenging times, but we know that assuming
risk is central to the value we offer our customers. Our ERM program promotes a risk-aware
culture, so that decisions are made with a full understanding of risk/reward trade-offs. We
applyuniformmetricsacrosstheorganizationtomeasurenancialandoperatingrisks,and
our wealth of experience data helps us continuously improve our decision-making ability.