State National Announces Extension of Nephila Partnership

State National Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNC), a leading specialty provider of property and casualty insurance, today announced that it has extended its partnership with Nephila Capital Ltd., a leading investment manager specializing in catastrophe insurance risk.

This new arrangement demonstrates Nephila’s long-term commitment to State National as its partner to access the primary market for U.S. catastrophe exposed property business. In exchange for the continued exclusive right to produce such catastrophe exposed property insurance via State National, Nephila has agreed to pay State National contractual minimum ceding fees through 2019.

“This is a transformative alliance in our industry. We are proud to extend our partnership with Nephila, and thereby further validate the pairing of a leading investment manager specializing in catastrophe insurance risk with our preeminent fronting services and access to the U.S. market. We are now both better positioned to benefit from the market trends that we believe will generate attractive growth for both Nephila and State National,” commented Terry Ledbetter, State National’s Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer.

New Extended Agreement - Minimum Fees
	Prior 2014				New Extended
($ millions)	Agreement				Agreement				Change
2016	$	19.50			$	14.00			$	(5.50	)
2017		5.00				10.00				5.00
Two year total	$	24.50			$	24.00			$	(0.50	)
2018		-				12.50				12.50
2019		-				15.00				15.00
Four year total	$	24.50			$	51.50			$	27.00

The contractual minimum fees are subject to State National’s maintaining its “A” A.M Best rating, with potential reductions if State National is unable to provide production year capacity or is otherwise constrained from writing premium.  Furthermore, under certain circumstances, Nephila may terminate the exclusivity, which would reduce the minimum fees to a total of $32.5 million for 2016 through 2019.  In the event of such a termination, State National would have the ability to write the catastrophe exposed property business for other capacity providers.

“Working with State National provides the conduit necessary for us to access the primary insurance market.  We are pleased to have strengthened our partnership with State National through this new arrangement, which aligns with our business plan and provides enhanced opportunities to efficiently deliver insurance risk to our investors,” said Frank Majors, Nephila’s Managing Partner. 

Conference Call

State National will host a conference on November 13, 2015 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time (9:00 a.m. Central Time) to discuss its third quarter 2015 results and the new arrangements with Nephila.  To access the call live, dial [phone] and use the passcode 53788912# at least 10 minutes prior to the start time.  Alternatively, investors can listen live over the Internet by visiting the Company’s website at http://ir.statenational.com/.  For those who cannot listen to the live call, a telephonic replay will be available through November 20, 2015 and may be accessed by calling [phone] and using pass code 53788912#.  Also, an archive of the webcast will be available after the call for a period of 90 days on the “Investor Relations” section of the Company's website at http://www.statenational.com/. 

About State National Companies, Inc.

State National Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNC) is a leading specialty provider of property and casualty insurance operating in two niche markets across the United States.  In its Program Services segment, the Company leverages its “A” (Excellent) A.M. Best rating, expansive licenses and reputation to provide access to the U.S. property and casualty insurance market in exchange for ceding fees.  In its Lender Services segment, the company specializes in providing collateral protection insurance, which insures personal automobiles and other vehicles held as collateral for loans made by credit unions, banks and specialty finance companies.  To learn more, please visit www.statenational.com. The Company routinely posts important company information on its website.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS ‎

Various statements contained in this press release are forward-looking statements made pursuant to the ‎Safe Harbor Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements ‎may include projections and estimates concerning the timing and success of specific projects and our future ‎production, revenues, income and capital spending. Our forward-looking statements are generally, but not always, ‎accompanied by words such as “estimate,” “believe,” “expect,” “will,” “plan,” “target,” “could”  or other words that convey the uncertainty of future events or ‎outcomes.‎

There can be no assurance that actual developments will be those anticipated by us. Actual results may differ ‎materially from those expressed or implied in these statements as a result of significant risks and uncertainties, ‎including, but not limited to, our ability to recover from our capacity providers, the cost and availability of ‎reinsurance coverage, challenges to our use of issuing carrier or fronting arrangements by regulators or changes ‎in state or federal insurance or other statutes or regulations, our dependence on a limited number of business ‎partners, potential regulatory scrutiny of lender-placed automobile insurance, level of new car sales, availability ‎of credit for vehicle purchases and other factors affecting automobile financing, our ability to compete effectively, ‎a downgrade in the financial strength ratings of our insurance subsidiaries, our ability to accurately underwrite ‎and price our products and to maintain and establish accurate loss reserves, changes in interest rates or other ‎changes in the financial markets, the effects of emerging claim and coverage issues, changes in the demand for our ‎products, the effect of general economic conditions, breaches in data security or other disruptions with our ‎technology, and changes in pricing  or other competitive environments. ‎

Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict, many of which are beyond our control. Additional information about these risks and uncertainties is contained in our filings with the ‎Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements in this press release speak only as of the ‎date of this release, and we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, ‎whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by law.‎

State National Companies, Inc.
David Hale, COO & CFO
817-265-2000

Dennard ▪ Lascar Associates
Rick Black
713-529-6600