Bermudian-based holding company Assured Guaranty Ltd has reported net income of $389 million in fiscal year 2021.

That includes a $175 million pre-tax ($138 million after-tax) loss on debt extinguishment resulting from the voluntary early redemption of certain senior notes.

The 2021 result for the bond insurer compares with net income of $362 million in 2020.

Adjusted operating income was $470 million.

Fourth quarter 2021 net income was $263 million, which compares with net income of $148 million in the fourth quarter of 2020.

Shareholders’ equity attributable to Assured Guaranty Ltd per share reached a record high of $93.19 as of December 31.

Adjusted operating income in the fourth quarter was $273 million.

Adjusted operating shareholders' equity per share and adjusted book value per share reached record highs of $88.73 and $130.67, respectively, as of December 31.

In the fourth quarter, capital returned to shareholders totalled $207 million, including the repurchase of 3.7 million shares for $192 million, and dividends of $15 million.

In the insurance segment, adjusted operating income was $277 million for the fourth quarter. Gross written premiums totalled $100 million and present value of new business production was $98 million.

In the asset management segment, the adjusted operating loss was $3 million in the fourth quarter, and assets under management (AUM) inflows were $950 million.

AUM as of December 31 was $17.5 billion, compared with $17.6 billion as of September 30.

Continuing the company’s strategy to wind down legacy funds, distributions from such funds were $226 million in the fourth quarter.

For the full year, capital returned to shareholders totalled $562 million, including the repurchase of 10.5 million shares (or approximately 14 per cent of shares outstanding at the beginning of 2021) for $496 million, and dividends of $66 million.

In the insurance segment, adjusted operating income was $722 million for 2021, gross written premiums totalled $377 million, and the present value of new business production was $361 million.

In the asset management segment, the adjusted operating loss was $19 million and assets under management inflows were $3.2 billion.

AUM as of December 31 was $17.5 billion, compared with $17.3 billion as of December 31, 2020.

Distributions from legacy funds totalled $1 billion in 2021.

“Assured Guaranty’s outstanding 2021 results reflected the success of our uniquely diversified insurance strategy, the effectiveness of our loss mitigation efforts in Puerto Rico and RMBS, and our exercise of prudent capital management,” said Dominic Frederico, president and CEO.

“We more than doubled annual adjusted operating income per share, brought our three principal measures of shareholder value to new highs, and produced $350 million or more of direct PVP for the third consecutive year.

“With a more than 60 per cent share of insured par issued, we led the municipal bond insurance industry to its highest market penetration in a dozen years.

“Our insurance business also performed well in international and structured finance markets, and we made significant strides in our asset management business.”

Assured Guaranty Ltd is a publicly-traded Bermudian-based holding company.

Through its subsidiaries, it provides credit enhancement products to the US and international public finance, infrastructure and structured finance markets and also provides asset management services.