Essent Group Ltd. (ESNT)

Item 2.   Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The following discussion should be read together with our audited consolidated financial statements and related notes included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K as of and for the year ended December 31, 2025 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and referred to herein as the “Annual Report,” and our condensed consolidated financial statements and related notes as of and for the three and six months ended June 30, 2026 included in Part I, Item 1 of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, which we refer to as the “Quarterly Report.” In addition to historical information, this discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from management’s expectations. Factors that could cause such differences are discussed in the sections entitled “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” in this Quarterly Report and Part I, Item 1A “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report and Part II, Item 1A “Risk Factors” in this Quarterly Report. We are not undertaking any obligation to update any forward-looking statements or other statements we may make in the following discussion or elsewhere in this document even though these statements may be affected by events or circumstances occurring after the forward-looking statements or other statements were made.

Overview

Essent Group Ltd. (collectively with its subsidiaries, “Essent”) serves the housing finance industry by offering private mortgage insurance and reinsurance, title insurance and settlement services to mortgage lenders, borrowers and investors to support homeownership. We have two reportable segments: Mortgage Insurance and Reinsurance.

Essent Guaranty, Inc., our wholly-owned mortgage insurance subsidiary which we refer to as "Essent Guaranty," is approved by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and licensed to write coverage in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Our mortgage insurance operations generated new insurance written, or NIW, of approximately $14.1 billion and $25.2 billion for the three and six months ended June 30, 2026, respectively, compared to approximately $12.5 billion and $22.5 billion for the three and six months ended June 30, 2025, respectively. The financial strength ratings of Essent Guaranty are A2 with a stable outlook by Moody’s Ratings (“Moody's”), A- with a stable outlook by S&P Global Ratings (“S&P”) and A (Excellent) with a stable outlook by A.M. Best Ratings Services, Inc. ("AM Best").

Through our wholly-owned Bermuda-based subsidiary, Essent Reinsurance Ltd., which we refer to as "Essent Re", we reinsure U.S. mortgage risk in the GSE credit risk transfer market and also provide underwriting consulting services to third-party reinsurers. As of June 30, 2026, Essent Re provided insurance or reinsurance relating to GSE and other mortgage risk share transactions covering approximately $2.1 billion of risk. Essent Re also reinsures Essent Guaranty’s NIW under a quota share reinsurance agreement. Effective January 1, 2026, Essent Re began reinsuring certain property and casualty risks. The financial strength ratings of Essent Re are A- with a stable outlook by S&P and A (Excellent) with a stable outlook by AM Best.

We also offer title insurance products both directly and through a network of title insurance agents through Essent Title Insurance, Inc., which we refer to as "Essent Title", as well as title and settlement services. Title insurance operations are included in the Corporate & Other category.

We have a highly experienced, talented team with 518 employees as of June 30, 2026. Our holding company and reinsurance business are domiciled in Bermuda. Our U.S. mortgage insurance and title insurance operations are headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania.

Current Developments

The Federal Reserve increased the target federal funds rate several times during 2022 and 2023 in an effort to reduce consumer price inflation. As a result of progress on inflation, the Federal Reserve reduced the target federal funds rate by 100 basis points in 2024 and by another 75 basis points during 2025. Mortgage interest rates, however, have remained elevated, which has reduced home buying and mortgage refinance activity resulting in lower volumes of mortgage originations, NIW and title insurance and settlement service transactions. Higher interest rates have also resulted in increases in our net investment income generated by our investment portfolio and the persistency of our mortgage insurance in force.

Ongoing geopolitical tensions and military conflicts in the Middle East, including the conflict involving Iran, may adversely affect our operations as it relates to the conflict's impact on the interest rate environment, consumer habits, as well as conflict-related events that could lead to future property and casualty losses in our Reinsurance segment.

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Legislative and Regulatory Developments

Our results are significantly impacted by, and our future success may be affected by, legislative and regulatory developments affecting the housing finance industry. See Part I, Item 1 “Business—Regulation” and Part II, Item 7 “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Legislative and Regulatory Developments” in our Annual Report for a discussion of the laws and regulations to which we are subject as well as legislative and regulatory developments affecting the housing finance industry.

Bermuda Corporate Income Tax

On December 27, 2023, the Government of Bermuda enacted the Corporate Income Tax Act 2023 (CIT). Starting January 1, 2025, the CIT imposes a new 15% corporate income tax on in-scope entities that are resident in Bermuda or that have a Bermuda permanent establishment, without regard to any assurances that had previously been given pursuant to the Exempted Undertakings Tax Protection Act 1966.

Although our annual revenue meets the CIT threshold for "in-scope" (€750M), our Bermuda companies are not "in scope" because of a statutory exception for entities having “limited international presence” or "LIP". We currently meet the criteria for the LIP exception, which is available to our Bermuda companies for a period of five years, or when the LIP criteria are no longer met, whichever is sooner. The LIP exemption criteria are subject to interpretation of existing Bermuda law, as well as any related new regulations that may be issued by the Government of Bermuda. Also, future strategic business decisions could impact qualification for the LIP exception. Accordingly, no assurances can be made that we will continue meeting the LIP exception criteria during the four years remaining in our five-year exemption period.

Credit Score Models

In April 2026, FHFA announced that the GSEs will begin accepting loans with the VantageScore 4.0 model for certain approved lenders and will begin moving forward with FICO 10T. During the second quarter of 2026, Essent Guaranty began insuring loans from approved lenders that were submitted using the VantageScore 4.0 model. The loans insured that were submitted with a VantageScore credit score represent a de minimis amount of our NIW for the three and six months ended June 30, 2026 and IIF and RIF at June 30, 2026.

Factors Affecting Our Results of Operations

Net Premiums Written and Earned

Premiums associated with our U.S. mortgage insurance business are based on mortgage insurance in force, or IIF, during all or a portion of a period. A change in the average IIF during a period causes premiums to increase or decrease as compared to prior periods. Average net premium rates in effect during a given period will also cause premiums to differ when compared to earlier periods. IIF at the end of a reporting period is a function of the IIF at the beginning of such reporting period plus NIW less policy cancellations (including claims paid) during the period. As a result, premiums are generally influenced by:

•NIW, which is the aggregate principal amount of the new mortgages that are insured during a period. Many factors affect NIW, including, among others, the volume of low down payment home mortgage originations, the competition to provide credit enhancement on those mortgages, the number of customers who have approved us to provide mortgage insurance and changes in our NIW from certain customers;

•Cancellations of our insurance policies, which are impacted by payments on mortgages, home price appreciation, or refinancings, which in turn are affected by mortgage interest rates. Cancellations are also impacted by the levels of claim payments and rescissions;

•Premium rates, which represent the amount of the premium due as a percentage of IIF. Premium rates are based on the risk characteristics of the loans insured, the percentage of coverage on the loans, competition from other mortgage insurers and general industry conditions; and

•Premiums ceded or assumed under reinsurance arrangements. See Note 4 to our condensed consolidated financial statements.

Mortgage insurance premiums are paid either on a monthly installment basis (“monthly premiums”), in a single payment at origination (“single premiums”), or in some cases as an annual premium. For monthly premiums, we receive a monthly premium payment which is recorded as net premiums earned in the month the coverage is provided. Monthly premium

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payments are based on the original mortgage amount rather than the amortized loan balance. Net premiums written may be in excess of net premiums earned due to single premium policies. For single premiums, we receive a single premium payment at origination, which is recorded as “unearned premium” and earned over the estimated life of the policy, which ranges from 36 to 156 months depending on the term of the underlying mortgage and loan-to-value ratio at date of origination. If single premium policies are cancelled due to repayment of the underlying loan and the premium is non-refundable, the remaining unearned premium balance is immediately recognized as earned premium revenue. Substantially all of our single premium policies in force as of June 30, 2026 were non-refundable. Premiums collected on annual policies are recognized as net premiums earned on a straight-line basis over the year of coverage. For the six months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025, monthly premium policies comprised 98% and 99% of our NIW, respectively.

Premiums associated with our GSE and other mortgage risk share transactions are based on the level of risk in force and premium rates on the transactions. Premiums associated with property and casualty reinsurance are generally earned on a pro rata basis over the terms of the underlying policies or reinsurance contracts. Premiums written are based on contract and policy terms and include estimates based on information received from ceding companies. Subsequent revisions to premium estimates are recorded in the period in which they are determined.

Title insurance premiums are based on the number of title insurance policies issued and generally recognized as income at the transaction closing date which approximates the policy effective date.

Persistency and Business Mix

The percentage of IIF that remains on our books after any 12-month period is defined as our persistency rate. Because our insurance premiums are earned over the life of a policy, higher persistency rates can have a significant impact on our profitability. The persistency rate on our portfolio was 84.0% at June 30, 2026. Generally, higher prepayment speeds lead to lower persistency.

Prepayment speeds and the relative mix of business between single premium policies and monthly premium policies also impact our profitability. Our premium rates include certain assumptions regarding repayment or prepayment speeds of the mortgages.

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ITEM 7.    Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The following discussion should be read in conjunction with the "Selected Financial Data" and our financial statements and related notes thereto included elsewhere in this report. In addition to historical information, this discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from management’s expectations. Factors that could cause such differences are discussed in the sections entitled "Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" and "Risk Factors." We are not undertaking any obligation to update any forward-looking statements or other statements we may make in the following discussion or elsewhere in this document even though these statements may be affected by events or circumstances occurring after the forward-looking statements or other statements were made.

Overview

Essent Group Ltd. (collectively with its subsidiaries, “Essent”) serves the housing finance industry by offering private mortgage insurance and reinsurance, title insurance and settlement services to mortgage lenders, borrowers and investors to support homeownership. We have two reportable segments: Mortgage Insurance and Reinsurance.

Essent Guaranty, Inc., our wholly-owned mortgage insurance subsidiary ("Essent Guaranty"), is approved by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and licensed to write coverage in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. For the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, our mortgage insurance operations generated new insurance written, or NIW, of approximately $46.6 billion, $45.6 billion and $47.7 billion, respectively. As of December 31, 2025, we had approximately $248.4 billion of mortgage insurance in force. The financial strength ratings of Essent Guaranty are A2 with a stable outlook by Moody's Investors Service, Inc. ("Moody's"), A- with a stable outlook by S&P Global Ratings ("S&P") and A (Excellent) with a stable outlook by A.M. Best Company ("AM Best").

Through our wholly-owned Bermuda-based subsidiary, Essent Reinsurance Ltd. ("Essent Re"), we reinsure U.S. mortgage risk in the GSE credit risk transfer market and provide underwriting consulting services to third-party reinsurers. As of December 31, 2025, Essent Re provided insurance or reinsurance relating to GSE risk share and other reinsurance transactions covering approximately $2.3 billion of risk. Essent Re also reinsures Essent Guaranty's NIW under a quota share reinsurance agreement. The insurer financial strength ratings of Essent Re are A- with a stable outlook by S&P and A (Excellent) with a stable outlook by A.M. Best.

Prior to December 31, 2025, we disclosed one reportable segment, Mortgage Insurance, which was comprised of "U.S. mortgage insurance" and "GSE and other mortgage risk share." Our mortgage insurance business and GSE and other mortgage risk share business each represented operating segments that were aggregated and disclosed as one reportable segment based on their shared economic characteristics and the similarities between the two operating segments. In the fourth quarter of 2025, Essent Re entered the Lloyd's of London market to reinsure certain property and casualty risks beginning in the first quarter of 2026. Considering the expansion of business and types of risks reinsured at Essent Re, our Chief Operating Decision Maker began to assess the performance of all third-party reinsurance as an operating segment as of December 31, 2025. To reflect this change, the GSE and other mortgage risk share operating segment is no longer aggregated with mortgage insurance and all third-party reinsurance is now disclosed as a separate reportable segment: Reinsurance. All prior period segment information has been recast to conform to the new segment presentation.

We also offer title insurance products both directly and through a network of title insurance agents, as well as title and settlement services. This operating segment was established upon our acquisitions of Agents National Title Insurance Company (renamed Essent Title Insurance, Inc. effective January 1, 2025), a title insurance underwriter, and Boston National Title, a national title agency, which was effective July 1, 2023. Title insurance operations are included in the Corporate & Other category.

We have a highly experienced, talented team with 514 employees as of December 31, 2025. Our holding company and reinsurance business are domiciled in Bermuda. Our mortgage insurance and title insurance operations are headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania.

Current Developments

The Federal Reserve increased the target federal funds rate several times during 2022 and 2023 in an effort to reduce consumer price inflation. As a result of progress on inflation, the Federal Reserve reduced the target federal funds rate by 100 basis points in 2024 and by another 75 basis points during 2025. Mortgage interest rates, however, remain elevated, which has reduced home buying and mortgage refinance activity resulting in lower volumes of mortgage originations, NIW and title insurance and settlement service transactions. Higher interest rates have also resulted in increases in our net investment income generated by our investment portfolio and the persistency of our mortgage insurance in force.

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On September 26, 2024, Hurricane Helene made landfall and caused property damage in certain counties in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. On October 9, 2024, Hurricane Milton made landfall, causing damage in certain counties in Florida. Based on prior industry experience, we expect the ultimate number of hurricane-related defaults that result in claims will be less than the default-to-claim experience of non-hurricane-related defaults. The impact on our reserves in future periods will be dependent upon the performance of the hurricane-related defaults and our expectations for the amount of ultimate losses on these delinquencies.

In January 2025, several wildfires caused property damage in Southern California. Our insurance in force in areas with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) disaster declarations at the time of these wildfires was less than 0.1% of our total insurance in force. These wildfires did not have a material impact on our reserves.

Legislative and Regulatory Developments

Our results are significantly impacted by, and our future success may be affected by, legislative and regulatory developments affecting the housing finance industry. Key regulatory and legislative developments that may affect us include:

U.S. Tax Reform

On July 4, 2025, a budget reconciliation package known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 (“OBBBA”) was enacted which includes both tax and non-tax provisions. Based on our analysis of the provisions, the OBBBA did not have a material impact on our financial position or results of operations.

Bermuda Corporate Income Tax

On December 27, 2023, the Government of Bermuda enacted the Corporate Income Tax Act 2023 (CIT). Starting January 1, 2025, the CIT imposes a new 15% corporate income tax on in-scope entities that are resident in Bermuda or that have a Bermuda permanent establishment, without regard to any assurances that had previously been given pursuant to the Exempted Undertakings Tax Protection Act 1966.

Although our annual revenue meets the CIT threshold for "in-scope" (€750M), our Bermuda companies are not "in scope" because of a statutory exception for entities having “limited international presence” or "LIP". We currently meet the criteria for the LIP exception, which is available to our Bermuda companies for a period of five years, or when the LIP criteria are no longer met, whichever is sooner. The LIP exemption criteria are subject to interpretation of existing Bermuda law, as well as any related new regulations that may be issued by the Government of Bermuda. Also, future strategic business decisions could impact qualification for the LIP exception. Accordingly, no assurances can be made that we will continue meeting the LIP exception criteria during the four years remaining in our five-year exemption period.

Factors Affecting Our Results of Operations

Net Premiums Written and Earned

Premiums associated with our mortgage insurance business are based on insurance in force, or IIF, during all or a portion of a period. A change in the average IIF during a period causes premiums to increase or decrease as compared to prior periods. Average net premium rates in effect during a given period will also cause premiums to differ when compared to earlier periods. IIF at the end of a reporting period is a function of the IIF at the beginning of such reporting period plus NIW less policy cancellations (including claims paid) during the period. As a result, premiums are generally influenced by:

•NIW, which is the aggregate principal amount of the new mortgages that are insured during a period. Many factors affect NIW, including, among others, the volume of low down payment home mortgage originations, the competition to provide credit enhancement on those mortgages, the number of customers who have approved us to provide mortgage insurance and changes in our NIW from certain customers;

•Cancellations of our insurance policies, which are impacted by payments on mortgages, home price appreciation, or refinancings, which in turn are affected by mortgage interest rates. Cancellations are also impacted by the levels of claim payments and rescissions;

•Premium rates, which represent the amount of the premium due as a percentage of IIF. Premium rates are based on the risk characteristics of the loans insured, the percentage of coverage on the loans, competition from other mortgage insurers and general industry conditions; and

•Premiums ceded or assumed under reinsurance arrangements. See Note 5 to our consolidated financial statements.

Mortgage insurance premiums are paid either on a monthly installment basis ("monthly premiums"), in a single payment at origination ("single premiums"), or in some cases as an annual premium. For monthly premiums, we receive a monthly

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premium payment which is recorded as net premiums earned in the month the coverage is provided. Monthly premium payments are based on the original mortgage amount rather than the amortized loan balance. Net premiums written may be in excess of net premiums earned due to single premium policies. For single premiums, we receive a single premium payment at origination, which is recorded as "unearned premium" and earned over the estimated life of the policy, which ranges from 36 to 156 months depending on the term of the underlying mortgage and loan-to-value ratio at date of origination. If single premium policies are cancelled due to repayment of the underlying loan and the premium is non-refundable, the remaining unearned premium balance is immediately recognized as earned premium revenue. Substantially all of our single premium policies in force as of December 31, 2025 were non-refundable. Premiums collected on annual policies are recognized as net premiums earned on a straight-line basis over the year of coverage. For both of the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, monthly premium policies comprised 99% of our NIW.

Premiums associated with our reinsurance transactions are based on the level of risk in force and premium rates on the transactions.

Title insurance premiums are based on the number of title insurance policies issued and generally recognized as income at the transaction closing date which approximates the policy effective date.

Persistency and Business Mix

The percentage of IIF that remains on our books after any 12-month period is defined as our persistency rate. Because our insurance premiums are earned over the life of a policy, higher persistency rates can have a significant impact on

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