AGO

On August 7, Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) closed out a first half that pushed several core valuation metrics to record territory. Shareholders' equity, adjusted operating shareholders' equity, and adjusted book value per share all hit new highs at quarter-end, while new business production climbed to $152 million in present value of new business production/PVP for the first six months of 2026, up from $103 million a year earlier. That growth came even as the company kept underwriting through credit exposures that haven't gone away. US public finance alone generated $106 million of PVP in the first half of 2026, more than the entire company produced in the first half of 2025, while insuring $9.6 billion of new issue par across 423 transactions. Global structured finance PVP more than doubled to $35 million from $15 million a year earlier, helped by fund finance deals that typically mature in a few months to a little over two years, letting the company recycle capital faster than in its longer-duration public finance book. The newer annuity reinsurance platform, Assured Life Re, launched in January, and management says it remains on track to hit its production and income milestones. Overseas, the company added deals in the UK, Spain, and France, part of a stated push into Europe and Asia Pacific. Second quarter adjusted operating income rose 22% year-over-year to $55 million, or $1.23 per share, helped by loss expense falling to $4 million from $28 million a year earlier. The company also kept returning cash, repurchasing 554,000 shares for $45 million in the quarter and paying $17 million in dividends, with the quarterly dividend per share now at $0.38. Not everything moved in a straight line. The Brightline transaction was the biggest driver of economic loss development in the quarter, and management said the toll operator continues to face liquidity pressure even as its revenue grows; the exposure hasn't hurt adjusted operating income yet because expected losses haven't exceeded the deferred premium revenue on the policy, but the company said it is still working with Brightline and its other creditors on a resolution. Thames Water remained a live issue too, though management reported no material change to its loss expectations in the second quarter, and the company is waiting on a new administration to help implement a solution creditors already negotiated with the UK regulator. The alternative investment book, which has delivered a roughly 12% inception-to-date internal rate of return against a 4.3% three-year average yield on the fixed maturity portfolio, took a step back after a $19 million mark-to-market loss tied to a CLO equity fund investment that reports on a one-quarter lag, a reminder of how much a single position can sway quarterly results. Hedge fund ownership slipped to 33 funds from 37 in the prior quarter, a pullback that stands out against a quarter of record book value and rising income. Short interest sits at 6.44% of float, enough to suggest a real bear camp rather than one built purely on hedging. As of August 17, the stock trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 11.67, a multiple that doesn't obviously reflect double-digit earnings growth and record equity per share. Assured Guaranty closed the first half with record equity metrics and a new business pipeline that grew across nearly every segment, from municipal bonds to fund finance to annuity reinsurance. That growth is happening while two exposures, Brightline and Thames Water, sit unresolved on the books without yet touching earnings. The company's early third quarter pipeline already points to another $42 million of PVP, a sign the first half's momentum is carrying forward. While we acknowledge the potential of AGO as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 10 Best Future Stocks to Buy Under $10 and 12 Best Performing Semiconductor Stocks to Invest In. Disclosure: None. Follow Insider Monkey on Google News.

Assured Guaranty’s second quarter saw a negative market reaction as results missed Wall Street expectations. Management attributed the underperformance to a combination of lower alternative investment returns and a challenging environment for certain insured credits, particularly Brightline. CEO Dominic Frederico noted, “Alternative investments, which remain an important part of our overall investment strategy, were down in the second quarter due to a $19 million mark-to-market loss on an investment in a CLO equity fund.” The company also faced ongoing liquidity concerns related to specific credits but emphasized that strong premium income and disciplined underwriting provided some offset. Is now the time to buy AGO? Find out in our full research report (it’s free). Revenue: $195 million vs analyst estimates of $200.3 million (30.6% year-on-year decline, 2.6% miss) Adjusted EPS: $1.23 vs analyst expectations of $1.60 (23.2% miss) Operating Margin: 30.8%, down from 46.3% in the same quarter last year Market Capitalization: $3.29 billion While we enjoy listening to the management’s commentary, our favorite part of earnings calls is the analyst questions. Those are unscripted and can often highlight topics that management teams would rather avoid or topics where the answer is complicated. Here is what has caught our attention. Ameeta Lobo Nelson (UBS) asked about the impact of CLO volatility on alternative investment strategy. CEO Dominic Frederico explained that while some losses are cyclical and may reverse, the company remains committed to a diversified investment approach. Ameeta Lobo Nelson (UBS) inquired about the balance between share repurchases and annuity reinsurance capital needs. Frederico and CFO Benjamin Rosenblum explained that as new business opportunities grow, capital may be diverted from buybacks to fund these investments. Ameeta Lobo Nelson (UBS) questioned the outlook for the soft capital facility and its effect on buybacks. Frederico responded that the facility could provide more flexibility, but capital deployment decisions will prioritize accretive business opportunities. Thomas Mcjoynt-Griffith (KBW) pressed for details on Brightline credit risk and the likelihood of claim payments. Rosenblum clarified that significant deferred premiums remain and immediate risk of claims is low, but liquidity constraints are closely watched. Thomas Mcjoynt-Griffith (KBW) asked if strong new business volumes in the first half could be sustained. COO Robert Bailenson expressed confidence in the pipeline for the second half, citing robust activity across U.S. public finance and international markets. In upcoming quarters, the StockStory team will closely monitor (1) the pace of new business production, especially in the annuity reinsurance and international segments, (2) the impact of alternative investment volatility on overall earnings, and (3) developments in key credit exposures like Brightline and Thames Water. Progress in capital allocation and risk management will also be essential indicators of execution. Assured Guaranty currently trades at $74.74, down from $82.57 just before the earnings. In the wake of this quarter, is it a buy or sell? Find out in our full research report (it’s free for active Edge members). ONE MORE THING: Top 5 Growth Stocks. The biggest stock winners almost always had one thing in common before they ran. Revenue growing like crazy. Meta. CrowdStrike. Broadcom. Our AI flagged all three. They returned 315%, 314%, and 455%, respectively. Find out which 5 stocks it’s flagging this month — FREE. Get Our Top 5 Growth Stocks for Free HERE. Stocks that have made our list include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,460% between June 2020 and June 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-micro-cap company Kadant (+214% between June 2020 and June 2025). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.

Image source: The Motley Fool. Friday, Aug. 7, 2026 at 8:00 a.m. ET Senior Managing Director, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications-Robert Tucker President and Chief Executive Officer-Dominic Frederico Chief Operating Officer-Robert Bailenson Chief Financial Officer-Benjamin Rosenblum Operator: Good morning, and welcome to the Assured Guaranty Limited Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. My name is Kelsey, and I will be the operator for today's call. [Operator Instructions] Please note that this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to our host, Robert Tucker, Senior Managing Director, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications. Please go ahead. Robert Tucker: Thank you, operator, and thank you all for joining Assured Guaranty for our second quarter 2026 financial results conference call. Today's presentation is made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The presentation may contain forward-looking statements about our new business and credit outlooks, market conditions, credit spreads, financial ratings, loss reserves, financial results or other items that may affect our future results. These statements are subject to change due to new information or future events. Therefore, you should not place undue reliance on them as we do not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise them, except as required by law. If you're listening to a replay of this call or if you're reading the transcript of the call, please note that our statements made today may have been updated since this call. Please refer to the Investor Information section of our website for our most recent presentations and SEC filings, most current financial filings and for the risk factors. This presentation also includes references to non-GAAP financial measures. We present the GAAP financial measures most directly comparable to the non-GAAP financial measures referenced in this presentation, along with a reconciliation between such GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures in our financial supplement and equity investor presentation, which are on our website at assuredguaranty.com. Turning to the presentation. Our speakers today are Dominic Frederico, President and Chief Executive Officer of Assured Guaranty Limited; Rob Bailenson, our Chief Operating Officer; and Ben Rosenblum, our Chief Financial Officer. After their remarks, we will open the call to your questions. As the webcast is not enabled for Q&A, please dial into the call if you'd like to ask a question. I will now turn the call over to Dominic. Dominic Frederico: Thank you, Robert, and welcome to everyone joining today's call. Assured Guaranty had a strong first half of 2026. Additionally, our key valuation metrics of shareholders' equity, adjusted operating shareholders' equity and adjusted book value per share reached record highs at quarter end. Our new business production continued to deliver solid results, generating $152 million of PVP in the first half, nearly 50% higher than in the first half of 2025, led by our activity in U.S. public finance and global structured finance. Rob will discuss the production detail shortly. But briefly, it is worth noting that U.S. public finance and global structured finance produced $32 million and $20 million more, respectively, in PVP than in last year's first half. In our Asset Management segment, our 12% inception-to-date annualized internal rate of return for all of our alternative investments continues to support our strategic decision to allocate a portion of our investment portfolio to alternative investments. As for our annuity reinsurance platform, we are pleased with the progress we have made and the market reception of Assured Life Re. We are comfortable that we are on track to meet the production and income milestones we set when we launched our annuity reinsurance platform in January. In addition to our new annuity reinsurance business, we remain focused on further growing our financial guarantee business abroad, including Europe and the Asia Pacific region, while also sustaining our leadership position in U.S. bond insurance. As we stated previously, we're also looking at opportunities that would further optimize our capital structure to reward shareholders, support business growth and protect policyholders. Over the last few weeks, S&P, KBRA and Moody's have all affirmed the financial strength ratings of our financial guarantee insurance subsidiaries with stable outlooks. While I won't go to all that was positively highlighted in these reports, it is worth noting that they again discussed our excellent capital and earnings, exceptional liquidity, strong competitive position and our diversified approach to underwriting, offering us flexibility to pivot toward favorable markets as conditions shift. As we move into the second half of 2026, we expect demand to continue for our core products, and we see attractive prospects for our annuity reinsurance business. We have significant opportunities for substantial future growth and greater revenue diversification. As always, we will maintain disciplined underwriting and risk management to protect our policyholders and prudent competitive pricing for our obligors and for our clients looking to optimize their capital while focusing on increasing value creation for our shareholders. I will now turn the call over to Rob to provide more details about our production results. Robert Bailenson: Thank you, Dominic, and good morning to everyone on the call. Assured Guaranty closed $152 million of PVP in the first half of 2026 compared with $103 million of PVP in the first half of last year, a 48% increase. U.S. public finance alone produced more first half PVP than the whole company did during the first half of 2025 with $106 million of PVP. During the first half of 2026, Assured Guaranty remained the top provider of municipal bond insurance. We insured $9.6 billion of new issue par sold covering 423 transactions in total, including both primary and secondary market par for U.S. public finance, Assured Guaranty insured over $10.1 billion. Assured Guaranty's insurance supported a wide range of municipal bond transactions, both large and small, throughout the first half of the year, with the larger transactions reflecting sustained institutional demand for our guarantee. In the first half, we insured a total of 17 transactions that were $100 million of par or more, including $870 million for the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York, $330 million in student housing revenue bonds for the Kentucky Bond Development Corporation, $297 million in airport senior revenue bonds for the Burbank Glendale Pasadena Airport Authority and $102 million in taxable bonds for Brown University Health to name a few. Within the AA category in the first half of 2026, we insured $2.8 billion of par across our primary and secondary transactions. We believe investors continue to value our insurance as an important layer of protection against issuer headline or downgrade risk and as a means to help preserve market value. We continue to prioritize risk-based competitive pricing and appropriate returns while maintaining a disciplined underwriting approach. This approach reinforces the value that Assured Guaranty policy provides to both issuers and investors. Turning to our other financial guarantee businesses. We continue to see positive developments in global structured finance where PVP was $35 million compared to $15 million in the first half of last year. Our structured finance results were attributable primarily to fund finance and financial guarantees for life insurance capital management purposes. We continue to further develop our fund finance business. It is a highly rated product area that has transactions that are typically repeatable flow business with relatively short lives, resulting in our earning the premiums considerably faster than most of our other markets. Fund finance maturities typically range from a few months to a little over 2 years, which means we can recycle our capital more quickly. As we have mentioned in the past, we expect that the majority of these transactions will renew at maturity. Non-U.S. public finance PVP results for the first half of 2026 included a secondary local authority transaction in the U.K., annual extensions of liquidity facilities, a regulated utility in Spain and a primary social housing transaction in France. Further, we are off to a great start in the third quarter of 2026 with a promising pipeline ahead. At this point, during the third quarter, we have issued policies or commitments on a number of large U.S. public finance transactions, a primary market European toll road and several structured finance transactions, including 2 transactions with a new counterparty. In total, these transactions are expected to generate $42 million of PVP. We continue to look to expand the application of our products into various new sectors and geographic markets, develop additional product applications and add new counterparty relationships all in line with our strategic objective to accelerate our business growth. We believe opportunities in Europe and the Asia Pacific regions will underpin that growth as a complement to our robust U.S. municipal business. I will now turn the call over to Ben to discuss our financial results. Benjamin Rosenblum: Thank you, Dominic and Rob, and good morning. I am pleased to report second quarter 2026 adjusted operating income of $55 million or $1.23 per share, which represents an increase of 22% over adjusted operating income per share in the second quarter of last year. The increase in adjusted operating income from $50 million to $55 million was primarily attributable to strong results in premium income and lower loss expense. Net earned premiums increased due to both higher refundings and higher scheduled net earned premiums, which are primarily attributable to continued growth in shorter duration strategies like fund finance that complement the rest of our long-duration model. Loss expense was down from $28 million in the second quarter of 2025 to $4 million in the second quarter of this year. Loss expense that emerges in the income statement in any given period is a function of the amount of deferred premium revenue relative to expected losses to be paid on a contract-by-contract basis. The largest driver of economic loss development in the second quarter of this year was the Brightline transaction, which did not impact adjusted operating income because expected losses have not exceeded its deferred premium revenue. Despite increased revenues, Brightline continues to experience liquidity pressure. We continue to work proactively with Brightline and the other creditors on a solution. There have been no significant developments with respect to our Thames Water exposure in the second quarter that affect our expected loss scenarios. We look forward to working with the new administration to implement the solution the creditors group has negotiated with the U.K. regulator that will deliver Thames Water customers a resilient water system that they can rely on. Alternative investments, which remain an important part of our overall investment strategy, were down in the second quarter of 2026 due to a $19 million mark-to-market loss on an investment in a CLO equity fund, which we report on a 1-quarter lag. The other alternative investments performed well and delivered relatively consistent results. Despite this quarter's market movements, we still have an inception-to-date IRR of approximately 12% on the alternative investment portfolio, which is significantly higher than the 3-year average yield on our fixed maturity portfolio of 4.3%. As always, we continually evaluate a range of capital deployment opportunities and allocate capital to various strategies that may include supporting growth in our financial guarantee and annuity reinsurance platform, where we currently project near-term opportunities to provide attractive long-term returns to our shareholders, maintaining an appropriate capital cushion and repurchasing shares. On the asset management front, we have continued to invest in Sound Point growth by seeding new investments while promoting our alternative investment strategy. In the second quarter of 2026, we repurchased 554,000 shares for $45 million at an average price of $80.68 per share. We also returned $17 million in dividends to our shareholders in the second quarter. As of today, our total share repurchases since the beginning of the program in 2013 amount to $6 billion or 81% of the shares that are outstanding at the start of the program. Over that same period, we also increased our quarterly dividends per share from $0.10 to its current quarterly level of $0.38 per share. Our holding company liquidity as of today is approximately $179 million, of which $60 million is at AGL. As of the end of the second quarter of 2026, we had again reached record per share valuation of $129.94 for adjusted operating shareholders' equity and $189.72 for adjusted book value, reflecting the successful execution of our key strategic initiatives. I will now turn the call over to our operator to give you instructions for the Q&A period. Operator: [Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from the line of Marissa Lobo with UBS. Ameeta Lobo Nelson: Just following up on the CLO marks. Given the increased volatility in CLO returns, how are you thinking about the strategy in higher-yielding alt investments? And given the reporting lag, how should we think about the impact of Q2 on next quarter's results? Dominic Frederico: Well, remember, as we look at the alternative investments, there's a basket of opportunities there that go beyond just CLO. CLOs is one of the components of part of it. Everything is going to have its good day and its bad day. Most marks or at least some marks will have the ability to reverse and we've seen already activity in the large one that we took the loss in this quarter already reversing in next quarter because we book it on a quarter lag for reversing some of it. So it really doesn't affect our long-term view of the alternative investments and the diversification we have across the platform. And as I said, that market historically did very well in terms of average annual returns. So we're going to continue to use that as part of our strategy as we look forward. Ameeta Lobo Nelson: Okay. And just looking at buybacks, you've guided about $30 million for 2Q came in modestly above that. Was that opportunistic? And how are you thinking about capital activity for Life Re? And does that constrain anything for 3Q? Dominic Frederico: I'll do the Life Re. I'll let Ben do the buyback. So the Life Re, obviously, we have a projection of when that business would be booked and the capital necessary to book the initial transaction or the early transactions. As we said, once you get to a certain size, it becomes capital sufficient on its own. As we've talked about, we're very pleased with the reception of AL Re into the marketplace. We actually now believe we're going to accelerate the timing of bookings in terms of our schedule of capital need being spread out over a longer period of time. We think it has a chance of being accelerated, which means it will take more capital day 1. But obviously, that capital ultimately funds itself after a period of time and get to an economic level of stability in the portfolio. So that could put a little bit of strain in our original projection of capital. And as we said, we look at capital based on an opportunistic basis. We evaluate all alternatives. And if we think we've got good new business prospects that have high returns, accretive to the company and the shareholder, we're obviously going to pursue that. We look at putting dollars on the balance sheet has a compounding effect as well as opposed to the share buyback. So we'll make that determination kind of every step of the way, every quarter as we look at our opportunities and look at the capital adequacy across all businesses and make the determination of whether we would add excess capital we cannot put to use accretively, then we return it to shareholders. Ben you want to add? Benjamin Rosenblum: Generally, the way we see the world is we have a large portfolio, a large back book and it runs off every year. And when it runs off, it releases capital. And the way we think about it, we're capital allocators. We look at a pool of capital that gets released every year, and we sit there and look at the opportunity set for creating accretive opportunities for our shareholders. Historically, that frontier was relatively small where we didn't see really good uses of our capital. As we've expanded geographically and into other counterparties to other jurisdictions and other products, we are seeing a diverse range of high ROE accretive opportunities for our shareholders. So when we look at the pool of capital that's getting released today, we're now saying, gee, yes, it's less available for share repurchases because we are putting it into our growth strategies that we have, and we think those growth strategies will yield really good opportunities for our shareholders, good returns in the future. Ameeta Lobo Nelson: And I was just going to ask, where do things stand on that soft capital facility exploration you flagged last quarter? Is that a 2026 event? And does it change the buyback math? Dominic Frederico: It's a 2026 event. It could possibly change the buyback math based on the process or methodology that we're following in terms of how we look at ourselves as optimizing capital usage and capital value to the organization. So as we said, if we look at the new business pipeline, the value that creates for the organization, not only for today, but on a compounded basis and then compare that to the other alternatives, which includes buyback stock. If we can't put the capital to use effectively and accretively, then we'll buy back stock. And soft capital will give us greater flexibility in making that determination. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Tommy McJoynt with KBW. Thomas Mcjoynt-Griffith: I had a couple of questions around the Brightline credit. So your internal downgrade caused the adverse economic loss development. But as you flagged, the deferred premium remains enough that you don't have to provision for that through the GAAP income statement. So a question really is how much deferred premium is still available to offset any incremental loss development? Should that credit continue to deteriorate? We've seen Brightline start to dip into reserves. What scenario would you need to see in terms of the conditions at Brightline perhaps to push it into the surveillance Category 3 from the Category 2 that I believe it's in now? Benjamin Rosenblum: Yes. So I'll start and then I'll let Dominic chime in. So firstly, when you look at our surveillance categories, really pushing surveillance category 3, we're going to have to start paying claims on Brightline. So that's just -- just call it, it's not even mathematical, just it's binary, we're making claim payments or are not making claim payments and certainly, we'll look at in the future. Brightline has unquestionably got some liquidity constraints right now, and that's really what we're looking into and dealing with. But the thing to remember about Brightline and really with all our policies, the beauty of our business model is we can't be accelerated again. So what are we sitting here with Brightline is we have par outstanding with Brightline. It's a constrained credit. We believe in the credit. And all we're going to have to do is make interest payments until 2042. So we have plenty of runway to see the growth story for Brightline come through. And I think when you look at the Brightline numbers and they're public out there, you can see the year-over-year growth is more passengers are up, revenues are up. And I think when you look at that, it's really a testament to the fact we went in at the beginning. There was quite a bit of value beneath us. It was over -- we're the senior top of the cap stack. It's top $2 billion. We're half of that. We're $1 billion in the top 2 roughly, and it was $4 billion below us. Unfortunately, it got off to a slow start. It's not unusual for start-ups to get up to those starts. They have enough trains. The trains weren't delivered. They've refined their pricing. And when you look, revenues are up year-over-year. And so we have plenty of time for this to work itself out with very low cash payments we have to make in the future should they run out of liquidity and we remain committed to this asset. We stand behind, and we think this will work itself out over time. Thomas Mcjoynt-Griffith: Okay. And then switching over to the alternative investments that had a bit of weak performance in the quarter. I understand those CLO marks come through on a quarter lag. From what you've seen in the market and some of the available market pricing for 2Q, is it your expectation that some of those CLO marks would have reversed in the second quarter, and so you'll see some sort of offset or some benefit come through in the third quarter? Benjamin Rosenblum: Yes. So as Dominic mentioned before, for the ones that we booked on a lag, which is the primary cause of the loss, from last quarter, we've already seen some of that reverse this quarter. I think when my Chief Investment Officer told me she said to me, don't worry about it, Ben. This quarter has already been -- even Q2 is actually better than some of the things we're seeing in Q1. We're in for the long haul. We're not sitting here. We don't look at it on a quarter-by-quarter basis. We know the markets fluctuate up and down. We think the CLOs, the Sound Point is working -- works and manages for us, so well positioned. They have less of some of the AI software risk than some of the other CLOs that you see in the market. But unfortunately, the market is really, really right now concerned with AI software risk. And when that happens, you get pulled along with it. But we remain very comfortable with the product. We're willing to write out the highs and lows. And ultimately, as I mentioned, we still have a 12% IRR for alternative investments and we remain confident in the strategy. Dominic Frederico: Yes. The diversification of that portfolio allows you to be able to absorb the downtime in certain asset classes where you have a very positive time in other asset classes. So as Ben said, we're very comfortable with how we structured the alternative investment portfolio, the return that it has been providing us relative to what the normal portfolio gets. So we see it as a positive trade, and we're going to go through cycles as any other business goes through cycles. But we have a high degree of confidence in how we've structured the investments and therefore, the diversification we think will see us through this. Thomas Mcjoynt-Griffith: And then just last question. Looking at the PVP production in the first half of '26, very strong on a year-over-year basis, the comps get a little bit harder in the second half of the year. From what you've seen to date in July and what you have visible in your pipeline today, is it your expectation that you think you can grow PVP year-over-year in the second half of the year as well? Robert Bailenson: Yes. I just see a very strong pipeline. You heard my commentary, we're going to have a very strong second half on all 3 of our financial guarantee lines of business. We see it in U.S. public finance. We see increasing counterparties that are trading with us in global structured finance in Europe and in Asia Pacific. And we're seeing large transactions and infrastructure on the continent. So yes, I'm very confident about that. Dominic Frederico: From my point of view, we've always had an international side of our business. And if you go back years and years, it used to be a significant contributor. It's really nice to see us booking transactions around the areas of the world where we believe there's a market and we have interest in and actually have a quarter where I can look at a diversified book of risk, which includes a very heavy complement from the international side is quite rewarding for the investment we've made in following those businesses and maintaining our presence to see it now come to fruition. And Mr. Bailenson, the one that was speaking before me, who is responsible for production across the entire organization is more proud than you can ever imagine. We have to deal with his ego in meetings these days. But we'll put up with it for the benefit of the results that he's putting up on the board. Benjamin Rosenblum: I'll just add, the thing that I really like as a CFO is the returns on that capital are actually quite good. The ROEs we're seeing in that book of business are really returns that I think our shareholders are going to appreciate. Dominic Frederico: And the recycling of the capital is also a nice feature as well. Robert Bailenson: It's really important. The recycling of the capital in the structured finance business, the velocity of that capital comes back quickly, the earnings come in quickly. And it complements our U.S. public finance business, which we're seeing really large transactions that we will continue to see throughout the year. Benjamin Rosenblum: And when Rob said, the earnings come in quickly, you can already see that our scheduled earned premiums were up this quarter, as I mentioned in the script, and that is we're an insurance company, we like seeing our scheduled earned premiums go up. Dominic Frederico: Ego is over at Assured Guaranty? No, I wouldn't have [ guessed ] that. Operator: This concludes the question-and-answer session. I would now like to turn the conference back over to our host, Robert Tucker for closing remarks. Robert Tucker: Thank you, operator. I'd like to thank everyone for joining us on today's call. If you have additional questions, please feel free to give us a call. Thank you very much. Operator: This concludes today's conference call. Thank you all for attending. You may now disconnect your lines. Have a great day. Before you buy stock in Assured Guaranty, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Assured Guaranty wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut are built for long-term growth and could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $421,943!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,382,819!* That performance is why people listen. With a track record of beating the S&P 500 by nearly 5x, Stock Advisor offers a distinct advantage. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built for the long haul. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of August 14, 2026. This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. While we strive for our Foolish Best, there may be errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in this transcript. As with all our articles, The Motley Fool does not assume any responsibility for your use of this content, and we strongly encourage you to do your own research, including listening to the call yourself and reading the company's SEC filings. Please see our Terms and Conditions for additional details, including our Obligatory Capitalized Disclaimers of Liability. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Assured Guaranty (AGO) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript was originally published by The Motley Fool

Financial guaranty insurer Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) fell short of the market’s revenue expectations in Q2 CY2026, with sales falling 30.6% year on year to $195 million. Its non-GAAP profit of $1.23 per share was 23.2% below analysts’ consensus estimates. Is now the time to buy AGO? Find out in our full research report (it’s free). Revenue: $195 million vs analyst estimates of $200.3 million (30.6% year-on-year decline, 2.6% miss) Adjusted EPS: $1.23 vs analyst expectations of $1.60 (23.2% miss) Operating Margin: 30.8%, down from 46.3% in the same quarter last year Market Capitalization: $3.64 billion Assured Guaranty’s second quarter saw a negative market reaction as results missed Wall Street expectations. Management attributed the underperformance to a combination of lower alternative investment returns and a challenging environment for certain insured credits, particularly Brightline. CEO Dominic Frederico noted, “Alternative investments, which remain an important part of our overall investment strategy, were down in the second quarter due to a $19 million mark-to-market loss on an investment in a CLO equity fund.” The company also faced ongoing liquidity concerns related to specific credits but emphasized that strong premium income and disciplined underwriting provided some offset. Looking ahead, management remains focused on expanding its core U.S. public finance and global structured finance businesses, as well as accelerating growth in its new annuity reinsurance platform. Frederico stated, “We see attractive prospects for our annuity reinsurance business and significant opportunities for substantial future growth and greater revenue diversification.” However, he cautioned that increased capital commitments to new business may constrain share repurchases in the near term. The company expects to maintain a disciplined approach to risk management and capital allocation as it pursues these opportunities. Management pointed to robust new business production in public finance and structured finance as key strengths, while lower alternative investment returns and specific credit exposures weighed on the quarter. Strong new business generation: The company delivered $152 million in present value of premiums (PVP) during the first half, driven by U.S. public finance and global structured finance segments. Management highlighted that U.S. public finance alone produced more PVP than the entire company did in the first half of the previous year. Alternative investment headwinds: Returns from alternative investments, particularly a $19 million loss in a CLO equity fund (collateralized loan obligation), negatively impacted results. Management views these mark-to-market movements as cyclical and remains confident in the long-term value of a diversified investment portfolio. Brightline credit monitoring: The Brightline exposure continued to experience liquidity pressures. CFO Benjamin Rosenblum explained that the company has sufficient deferred premium to offset expected losses and is not immediately at risk of claim payments, but acknowledged ongoing credit risk. Capital deployment shift: With increased growth opportunities—particularly in annuity reinsurance and international markets—management indicated that more capital will be allocated to business expansion rather than share repurchases, at least in the near term. International and sector diversification: Assured Guaranty is making progress expanding its presence in Europe and Asia Pacific, with management citing large transactions and infrastructure deals as contributors to a more diversified risk profile. Assured Guaranty’s outlook is anchored in continued growth from new business production and diversification, balanced by careful capital management amid investment volatility. Annuity reinsurance platform: Management believes the annuity reinsurance business will be a key driver of future revenue and earnings diversification. They expect accelerated growth in this area, which will require greater upfront capital but should become self-sustaining over time. International expansion: The company is targeting growth in Europe and Asia Pacific, aiming to complement its robust U.S. municipal bond insurance business. Management sees increased counterparties and large infrastructure transactions as supporting this strategy. Investment portfolio risk: Volatility in alternative investment returns, especially in CLOs, remains a headwind. Management cautioned that while long-term returns are strong, short-term fluctuations could affect earnings, and ongoing credit monitoring is required for exposures like Brightline. In upcoming quarters, the StockStory team will closely monitor (1) the pace of new business production, especially in the annuity reinsurance and international segments, (2) the impact of alternative investment volatility on overall earnings, and (3) developments in key credit exposures like Brightline and Thames Water. Progress in capital allocation and risk management will also be essential indicators of execution. Assured Guaranty currently trades at $79.34, down from $82.64 just before the earnings. In the wake of this quarter, is it a buy or sell? See for yourself in our full research report (it’s free for active Edge members). ONE MORE THING: Top 5 Growth Stocks. The biggest stock winners almost always had one thing in common before they ran. Revenue growing like crazy. Meta. CrowdStrike. Broadcom. Our AI flagged all three. They returned 315%, 314%, and 455%, respectively. Find out which 5 stocks it’s flagging this month — FREE. Get Our Top 5 Growth Stocks for Free HERE. Stocks that have made our list include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,460% between June 2020 and June 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-small-cap company Comfort Systems (+1,154% between June 2020 and June 2025). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.

Never miss an important update on your stock portfolio and cut through the noise. Over 7 million investors trust Simply Wall St to stay informed where it matters for FREE. Assured Guaranty (AGO) drew fresh attention after reporting second quarter 2026 results, with revenue of US$195 million and net income of US$39 million, alongside a quarterly dividend declaration and ongoing share repurchases. See our latest analysis for Assured Guaranty. The earnings release on 6 August 2026 appears to have acted as a reset point for Assured Guaranty, with the share price at US$75.43, down 8.65% over one day and 15% year to date. The 5 year total shareholder return of 63.40% shows that longer term holders have still seen meaningful gains. If this earnings move has you reassessing your watchlist, it could be a good moment to broaden your search with a curated set of founder led companies through the 19 top founder-led companies After Assured Guaranty’s sharp pullback and considering the gap between its recent US$75.43 share price, analyst targets and intrinsic value estimates, where does a reasonable fair value range really sit for this stock now? With Assured Guaranty last closing at $75.43 against a narrative fair value of $92.33, the current gap centers attention on long term earnings power and capital allocation. Read the complete narrative. The key to this valuation story is how Assured Guaranty turns new business pipelines, margin resets and share count changes into future earnings power. Curious which growth, profitability and discount rate assumptions have to hold for that fair value to make sense and how sensitively that value shifts if those inputs move. The full narrative lays out the entire playbook. Result: Fair Value of $92.33 (UNDERVALUED) Have a read of the narrative in full and understand what's behind the forecasts. However, investors still need to weigh interest rate moves that could pressure Assured Guaranty’s investment portfolio, as well as any setbacks on troubled credits like PREPA that lift loss expenses. Find out about the key risks to this Assured Guaranty narrative. With both risks and rewards in play for Assured Guaranty, sentiment is mixed. It makes sense to move quickly and test the numbers yourself. A helpful place to start is by weighing the 5 key rewards and 2 important warning signs If Assured Guaranty is on your radar, do not stop there. The real edge comes from comparing it with other high quality stocks filtered using clear, data driven rules. Target resilient income potential by reviewing companies that feature in the 8 dividend fortresses and see how their payouts stack up against your goals. Identify potential value opportunities early by scanning the screener containing 21 high quality undiscovered gems and seeing which stocks the market may be overlooking. Focus on capital preservation by checking companies highlighted in the 83 resilient stocks with low risk scores so you can react in a timely way when conditions change. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Companies discussed in this article include AGO. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email [email protected]

Interested in Assured Guaranty Ltd.? Here are five stocks we like better. Strong first-half growth: Assured Guaranty’s first-half present value of new business production rose 48% year over year to $152 million, led by $106 million from U.S. public finance and increased global structured finance activity. Improved quarterly earnings: Second-quarter adjusted operating income increased to $55 million, or $1.23 per share, as higher premium income and lower loss expense helped offset economic loss development tied primarily to Brightline. Capital priorities are shifting: The company repurchased $45 million of stock and paid $17 million in dividends, but management said future capital deployment may increasingly support growth, including the expanding Assured Life Re annuity reinsurance platform. Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) reported higher second-quarter adjusted operating income and record per-share valuation metrics, while executives pointed to growth in U.S. public finance, global structured finance and the company’s newer annuity reinsurance platform. Chief Executive Officer Dominic Frederico said the company had a “strong first half of 2026,” with shareholders’ equity, adjusted operating shareholders’ equity and adjusted book value per share all reaching record highs at quarter-end. He said production across the company’s financial guarantee operations generated $152 million in present value of new business production, or PVP, during the first half, nearly 50% above the comparable period of 2025. → Meta’s Earnings Drop Shows Wall Street Wants More Than Ad Growth Chief Operating Officer Rob Bailenson said first-half PVP rose 48% from $103 million a year earlier to $152 million. U.S. public finance generated $106 million of PVP, exceeding the company’s total first-half PVP in 2025. Assured Guaranty insured $9.6 billion of new-issue municipal bond par during the first half across 423 transactions. Including primary and secondary-market business, the company insured more than $10.1 billion of U.S. public finance par, according to Bailenson. → 4 Oil and Gas ETF Plays as Prices Stay Sky-High The company insured 17 transactions with par amounts of at least $100 million, including: $870 million for the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York; $330 million of student housing revenue bonds for the Kentucky Bond Development Corporation; $297 million of airport senior revenue bonds for the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority; and $102 million of taxable bonds for Brown University Health. Within the AA category, Assured Guaranty insured $2.8 billion of par across primary and secondary transactions in the first half. Bailenson said the company believes investors continue to view its insurance as protection against issuer headline and downgrade risk and as a way to help preserve market value. → Sandisk Just Delivered a Blowout Quarter—Here's Why the Stock Is Falling Global structured finance PVP increased to $35 million from $15 million in the first half of 2025. Bailenson attributed the performance primarily to fund finance and financial guarantees used for life insurance capital management purposes. He said fund finance transactions generally have maturities ranging from a few months to slightly more than two years, allowing the company to earn premiums faster and recycle capital more quickly than in many of its longer-duration markets. Non-U.S. public finance activity included a U.K. local authority secondary transaction, annual extensions of liquidity facilities, a regulated utility in Spain and a primary social housing transaction in France. Bailenson said the company had already issued policies or commitments during the third quarter on several large U.S. public finance transactions, a primary-market European toll road transaction and several structured finance transactions, including two involving a new counterparty. Those transactions are expected to generate $42 million of PVP. Chief Financial Officer Ben Rosenblum reported second-quarter adjusted operating income of $55 million, or $1.23 per share, up 22% on a per-share basis from the prior-year quarter. Adjusted operating income increased from $50 million a year earlier, driven primarily by stronger premium income and lower loss expense. Net earned premiums rose due to higher refundings and higher scheduled net earned premiums, Rosenblum said, with shorter-duration strategies such as fund finance contributing to the increase. Loss expense declined to $4 million in the second quarter from $28 million in the same quarter of 2025. The largest source of economic loss development during the quarter was the Brightline transaction, although Rosenblum said it did not affect adjusted operating income because expected losses had not exceeded deferred premium revenue. He said Brightline continued to face liquidity pressure and that Assured Guaranty was working with the company and other creditors on a solution. Rosenblum said a move of Brightline into the company’s surveillance category three would require claim payments to begin. He said the company remains committed to the asset, citing Brightline’s year-over-year gains in boarded passengers and revenue, as well as the insurer’s position near the top of the capital structure. There were no significant second-quarter developments related to the company’s Thames Water exposure that affected its expected-loss scenarios, Rosenblum said. The company expects to work with the new administration to implement a solution negotiated by the creditor group and the U.K. regulator. Alternative investments recorded a second-quarter decline due to a $19 million mark-to-market loss on an investment in a collateralized loan obligation equity fund, which is reported with a one-quarter lag. Rosenblum said other alternative investments performed well and delivered relatively consistent results. Frederico said some of the mark-to-market decline had already begun to reverse in the following quarter. Management said it remains committed to the diversified alternative-investment strategy, which had generated an inception-to-date annualized internal rate of return of about 12%, compared with a 4.3% three-year average yield on the company’s fixed-maturity portfolio. During the second quarter, Assured Guaranty repurchased 554,000 shares for $45 million, or an average price of $80.68 per share, and paid $17 million in dividends. Since launching its repurchase program in 2013, the company has repurchased $6 billion of stock, representing 81% of shares outstanding when the program began, Rosenblum said. At quarter-end, adjusted operating shareholders’ equity per share was $129.94 and adjusted book value per share was $189.72, both records. Holding-company liquidity stood at about $179 million at the time of the call, including $60 million at AGL. Executives said capital deployment could increasingly favor business growth opportunities over buybacks as the company expands geographically and enters additional products and counterparties. Frederico said Assured Life Re, the company’s annuity reinsurance platform launched in January, has received favorable market reception and could book business more quickly than initially projected, potentially requiring more capital earlier in its development. Frederico also said the company’s exploration of a “soft capital” facility remained a 2026 event and could provide greater flexibility in capital allocation decisions. He said management would continue to compare the value of new business opportunities, balance-sheet capital and share repurchases when determining how to deploy capital. Assured Guaranty Ltd is a Bermuda-domiciled provider of financial guaranty insurance and reinsurance products serving public finance, infrastructure and structured finance markets. The company's primary business activity is credit enhancement, whereby it guarantees the timely payment of principal and interest on debt obligations issued by municipal and infrastructure entities. By combining rigorous risk assessment with active portfolio management, Assured Guaranty helps issuers access capital at more attractive rates while protecting investors against credit events. In its public finance segment, the company underwrites municipal bond insurance for state and local governments, public-private partnerships and essential infrastructure projects. This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]. The article "Assured Guaranty Q2 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat. View MarketBeat's top stocks for August 2026.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Adjusted Operating Income: $55 million, or $1.23 per share, in Q2 2026, a 22% increase year-over-year. Net Earned Premiums: Increased due to higher refundings and scheduled net earned premiums, driven by growth in shorter-duration strategies like fund finance. Loss Expense: Decreased to $4 million in Q2 2026 from $28 million in Q2 2025. PVP (Present Value of New Business Premiums): $152 million in H1 2026, a 48% increase from $103 million in H1 2025. US Public Finance PVP: $106 million in H1 2026, up $32 million year-over-year. Global Structured Finance PVP: $35 million in H1 2026, up from $15 million in H1 2025. New Issue Par Insured: $9.6 billion across 423 transactions in H1 2026; over $10.1 billion including secondary market par. Alternative Investments: Inception-to-date annualized IRR of approximately 12%, versus a 3-year average yield of 4.3% on fixed maturity portfolio. Share Repurchases: 554,000 shares repurchased for $45 million at an average price of $80.68 per share in Q2 2026. Dividends: $17 million returned to shareholders in Q2 2026; quarterly dividend at $0.38 per share. Adjusted Operating Shareholders' Equity: Record $129.94 per share at end of Q2 2026. Adjusted Book Value: Record $189.72 per share at end of Q2 2026. Holding Company Liquidity: Approximately $179 million as of the call date. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 3 Warning Sign with LEFUF. Is AGO fairly valued? Test your thesis with our free DCF calculator. Release Date: August 07, 2026 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. Record-high adjusted book value per share of $189.72 and adjusted operating shareholders' equity per share of $129.94, reflecting strong strategic execution. New business production (PVP) surged 48% year-over-year to $152 million in the first half of 2026, driven by robust US public finance and global structured finance activity. Maintained leadership in US municipal bond insurance, insuring $9.6 billion of new issue par across 423 transactions, including 17 large deals over $100 million. Global structured finance PVP more than doubled to $35 million, supported by growth in fund finance and life insurance capital management transactions. Strong third-quarter pipeline with $42 million of PVP already committed, including large US public finance deals, a European toll road, and new structured finance counterparties. Alternative investments continue to deliver a 12% inception-to-date IRR, significantly outperforming the 4.3% yield on fixed maturity portfolio. Ratings affirmed by S&P, KBRA, and Moody's with stable outlooks, highlighting excellent capital, earnings, and liquidity. Shareholder returns remain robust with $45 million in buybacks and $17 million in dividends during Q2, totaling $6 billion in repurchases since 2013. Adjusted operating income per share growth of 22% was partly offset by a $19 million mark-to-market loss on a CLO equity fund investment, reflecting market volatility. Brightline transaction continues to face liquidity pressure, leading to adverse economic loss development, though it did not impact adjusted operating income. Thames Water exposure remains a concern, with no significant developments in Q2 and ongoing uncertainty around the resolution. Capital allocation is increasingly directed toward growth initiatives like annuity reinsurance and new business, potentially reducing share repurchase capacity. The soft capital facility exploration, while a 2026 event, could alter buyback math and create uncertainty for shareholders. CLO marks are reported on a one-quarter lag, meaning Q2 volatility could impact Q3 results, adding unpredictability to earnings. Q: How are you thinking about the strategy in higher-yielding alternative investments given the increased volatility in CLO returns, and how should we think about the impact of Q2 marks on next quarter's results?A: Dominic Frederico (CEO) explained that alternative investments are a diversified basket beyond just CLOs, and while some marks will have good and bad days, the large loss taken this quarter has already begun to reverse in the next quarter due to the reporting lag. He emphasized that this does not affect the long-term view of the strategy, which has historically delivered strong average annual returns. Ben Rosenblum (CFO) added that the CLO fund managed by Sound Point is well-positioned with less AI software risk than others, and despite market concerns, the portfolio still maintains a 12% inception-to-date IRR, so they remain confident in the strategy. Q: You've guided about $30 million for 2Q buybacks, but it came in modestly above that. Was that opportunistic, and how does capital activity for Life Re constrain anything for 3Q?A: Dominic Frederico (CEO) stated that they are pleased with the market reception of Assured Life Re and now believe the timing of bookings will be accelerated, which means more capital will be needed day one, though it will fund itself over time. He noted this could put a slight strain on original capital projections, but they evaluate capital on an opportunistic basis, prioritizing high-return new business prospects over buybacks if they are accretive. Ben Rosenblum (CFO) added that as the capital released from the back book is allocated to growth strategies with high ROE opportunities, less is available for share repurchases, but they will return capital to shareholders when it cannot be deployed accretively. Q: Where do things stand on the soft capital facility exploration you flagged last quarter? Is that a 2026 event, and does it change the buyback math?A: Dominic Frederico (CEO) confirmed it is a 2026 event and could change the buyback math depending on the process they follow to optimize capital usage. He explained that if new business pipeline value creation, on a compounded basis, exceeds the alternative of buying back stock, they will pursue the growth opportunities. Soft capital will provide greater flexibility in making that determination. Q: How much deferred premium is still available to offset any incremental loss development on Brightline, and what scenario would push it into surveillance Category 3?A: Ben Rosenblum (CFO) clarified that pushing into surveillance Category 3 would require starting to make claim payments on Brightline, which is a binary event. He noted that Brightline has liquidity constraints, but the company has plenty of runway since they only need to make interest payments until 2042. He highlighted that Brightline's year-over-year growth in passengers and revenues is positive, and with $1 billion of exposure at the top of a $2 billion cap stack with $4 billion of value beneath them, they remain committed to the credit and believe it will work itself out over time. Q: From what you've seen in the market, is it your expectation that some of the CLO marks would have reversed in the second quarter, providing a benefit in the third quarter?A: Ben Rosenblum (CFO) confirmed that for the CLO investments booked on a lag, which were the primary cause of the loss, some of the marks have already reversed this quarter. He noted that Q2 is actually better than Q1, and while the market is concerned with AI software risk, they remain comfortable with the product and are willing to ride out the highs and lows. The alternative investment portfolio still maintains a 12% IRR, and the diversification allows them to absorb downtimes in certain asset classes while benefiting from positive performance in others. Q: Given the strong PVP production in the first half of '26, do you expect to grow PVP year-over-year in the second half of the year as well?A: Robert Bailenson (COO) expressed strong confidence, citing a very strong pipeline across all three financial guarantee lines of business, including US public finance, global structured finance in Europe and Asia Pacific, and large infrastructure transactions on the continent. Dominic Frederico (CEO) added that it's rewarding to see the international side of the business, which was historically a significant contributor, now coming to fruition with a diversified book of risk. Ben Rosenblum (CFO) highlighted that the returns on that capital are quite good, with ROEs that shareholders will appreciate, and the recycling of capital in structured finance brings earnings in quickly. Q: Can you provide more detail on the strong production results in US public finance and global structured finance for the first half of 2026?A: Robert Bailenson (COO) reported that US public finance produced $106 million of PVP in the first half, more than the whole company did in the first half of 2025, with $9.6 billion of new issue par insured across 423 transactions. He highlighted 17 transactions of $100 million or more, including $870 million for the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York and $330 million in student housing revenue bonds for Kentucky. Global structured finance PVP was $35 million, up from $15 million, driven primarily by fund finance and financial guarantees for life insurance capital management, with maturities ranging from a few months to over two years, allowing for faster capital recycling. Q: What were the key drivers of the increase in adjusted operating income for the second quarter of 2026?A: Ben Rosenblum (CFO) reported adjusted operating income of $55 million or $1.23 per share, a 22% increase over the prior year quarter. The increase was primarily attributable to strong premium income and lower loss expense. Net earned premiums increased due to higher refundings and higher scheduled net earned premiums, driven by growth in shorter-duration strategies like fund finance. Loss expense decreased from $28 million in Q2 2025 to $4 million in Q2 2026, with the largest economic loss development driver being the Brightline transaction, which did not impact adjusted operating income as expected losses have not exceeded deferred premium revenue. Q: How is the annuity reinsurance platform progressing, and what are the expectations for production and income milestones?A: Dominic Frederico (CEO) stated they are pleased with the progress and market reception of Assured Life Re, and they are on track to meet the production and income milestones set at launch in January. He noted that the timing of bookings may be accelerated, which will require For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.

Our analysts just identified a stock with the potential to be the next Nvidia. Tell us how you invest and we'll show you why it's our #1 pick. Tap here. New business production grew nearly 50% year-over-year, driven by a strategic shift toward shorter-duration global structured finance and sustained leadership in U.S. public finance. The company achieved record highs in adjusted book value and operating shareholders' equity, reflecting the successful execution of capital optimization and diversified underwriting. Global structured finance growth is being fueled by fund finance and life insurance capital management, which offer faster premium recognition and quicker capital recycling than traditional municipal bonds. Management attributes the strong first-half performance to a diversified approach that allows the firm to pivot toward favorable markets as competitive conditions shift. The alternative investment strategy continues to outperform fixed maturity yields with a 12% inception-to-date IRR, despite short-term volatility in specific asset classes like CLOs. Expansion into Europe and the Asia Pacific region is serving as a critical complement to the robust U.S. municipal business, diversifying the risk profile and revenue streams. Management expects the third quarter to start strong with a $42 million PVP pipeline already identified across U.S. public finance, European infrastructure, and several structured finance transactions. The annuity reinsurance platform, Assured Life Re, is on track to meet production milestones and may require accelerated capital deployment due to positive market reception. A soft capital facility exploration is planned for 2026, which is expected to provide greater flexibility in optimizing capital usage between new business and share repurchases. Future capital allocation will prioritize high-ROE growth opportunities in financial guarantee and annuity reinsurance over share buybacks if those opportunities prove more accretive. The company anticipates that the majority of fund finance transactions will renew at maturity, creating a repeatable flow of high-velocity business. A $19 million mark-to-market loss was recorded on a CLO equity fund investment due to market concerns regarding AI software risk, though management expects partial reversal in the subsequent quarter. The Brightline credit experienced liquidity pressure and an internal downgrade, but no GAAP loss provision was required as expected losses have not exceeded deferred premium revenue. Thames Water exposure remains under surveillance with no significant developments in the second quarter; management is awaiting the implementation of a negotiated solution with U.K. regulators. Loss expense decreased significantly to $4 million from $28 million in the prior year, primarily due to the relationship between deferred premium revenue and expected loss payments. One stock. Nvidia-level potential. 30M+ investors trust Moby to find it first. Get the pick. Tap here. Management clarified that CLO marks are reported on a one-quarter lag and that some of the losses reported in the second quarter, which actually occurred in the first quarter due to a one-quarter reporting lag, have already begun to reverse in the current period. The company remains committed to the alternative investment strategy, citing the 12% IRR and the benefits of diversification across multiple asset classes beyond just CLOs. The launch of Assured Life Re may accelerate capital needs, potentially constraining the original projection for share repurchases in the near term. Management emphasized they are 'capital allocators' first, preferring to fund high-ROE growth strategies that offer compounding effects over returning capital through buybacks. A move to surveillance Category 3 would only occur if the company begins making actual claim payments, which has not happened yet. Management noted that the policy cannot be accelerated, meaning they only have to cover interest payments until 2042, providing a long runway for the credit's ridership and revenue to improve.

GAAP Highlights: Non-GAAP Highlights: Return of Capital to Shareholders: HAMILTON, Bermuda, August 06, 2026--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE: AGO) (AGL and, together with its subsidiaries, Assured Guaranty or the Company) announced today its financial results for the three-month period ended June 30, 2026 (second quarter 2026). Dominic Frederico, President and CEO, said: "At the midway point of 2026, Assured Guaranty’s key valuation metrics - shareholders’ equity, adjusted operating shareholders’ equity, and adjusted book value - all reached per share record highs, finishing at $126.18, $129.94 and $189.72, respectively. "In the first half of 2026, we saw solid new business production. Both GWP and PVP exceeded last year’s first half totals, increasing by 26% and 48%, respectively, led by results in our U.S. public finance and global structured finance businesses. "We continue to see positive developments in our global structured finance business. As for our annuity reinsurance platform, Assured Life Re, we are pleased with the progress we have made and the market’s reception of it." On a per share basis, shareholders’ equity attributable to AGL increased to $126.18 as of June 30, 2026 from $125.32 as of December 31, 2025, primarily due to net income and share repurchases, partially offset by unrealized losses on the investment portfolio and dividends. On a per share basis, ABV increased to $189.72 as of June 30, 2026 from $186.43 as of December 31, 2025, primarily due to adjusted operating income, new business production, share repurchases, and the accretive effect of the acquisition of Assured Life Reinsurance Ltd. (Assured Life Re), partially offset by dividends. Financial Guaranty Segment The Financial Guaranty segment primarily consists of (i) the Company’s financial guaranty insurance subsidiaries that provide credit protection products to the United States (U.S.) and non-U.S. public finance (including infrastructure) and structured finance markets, excluding the effect of variable interest entity (VIE) consolidations, and (ii) Assured Guaranty Inc.’s investment subsidiary, AG Asset Strategies LLC. Financial Guaranty Segment New Business Production U.S. public finance GWP and PVP include transactions closed in both the primary and secondary markets. U.S. public finance GWP in second quarter 2026 decreased compared with second quarter 2025 due to additional installment premiums in second quarter 2025 on a transportation revenue transaction. PVP increased in second quarter 2026 compared with second quarter 2025, primarily due to infrastructure finance transactions that were written in second quarter 2026. The Company’s primary par written represented 51% of the total U.S. municipal market insured par sold in second quarter 2026, compared with 64% in second quarter 2025, and the Company’s penetration of all municipal issuance was 3.3% in second quarter 2026, compared with 6.0% in second quarter 2025. Non-U.S. public finance GWP and PVP in second quarter 2026 included a regulated utility in Spain and a secondary market regulated utility in the United Kingdom (U.K.). U.S. and non-U.S. structured finance GWP and PVP in second quarter 2026 increased 375% and 125%, respectively, compared with second quarter 2025, and included fund finance and financial guaranties for life insurance capital management purposes. Business activity in the non-U.S. public finance and structured finance markets often has long lead times and therefore may vary from period to period. Financial Guaranty Segment Adjusted Operating Income Financial Guaranty segment adjusted operating income increased to $85 million in second quarter 2026 from $76 million in second quarter 2025 primarily due to lower loss expense of $22 million primarily related to the U.S. and non-U.S. public finance sectors and the increase of $14 million in net earned premiums and credit derivative revenues in second quarter 2026. These increases were partially offset by the decreases of $12 million in equity in earnings of investees stemming primarily from losses generated by the Company’s investment in a collateralized loan obligation (CLO) equity fund, a decrease of $10 million in foreign exchange remeasurement gains related primarily to cash, and lower other income primarily due to $6 million of interest received on late financial guaranty premiums in second quarter 2025. The components of the Financial Guaranty segment’s premiums, losses and income from the investment portfolio are presented below. Financial Guaranty Segment Net Earned Premiums and Credit Derivative Revenues Scheduled net earned premiums and credit derivative revenues increased to $95 million in second quarter 2026 from $88 million in second quarter 2025 primarily due to continued growth in shorter duration strategies like fund finance that complement the rest of our long duration model. Financial Guaranty Segment Loss Expense (Benefit) and the Roll Forward of Expected Losses Loss expense is a function of net economic loss development (benefit) and deferred premium revenue. The difference between loss expense and economic development in a given period represents the amount of deferred premium revenue absorbing expected losses to be paid. Loss expense attributable to public finance decreased in second quarter 2026 compared with second quarter 2025 primarily due to lower loss expenses on a U.K. regulated utility, certain healthcare exposures and certain U.S. municipal revenue exposures in second quarter 2026 compared with second quarter 2025. The table below presents the roll forward of net expected losses for second quarter 2026. Net economic loss development in second quarter 2026 was primarily attributable to Brightline Trains Florida LLC (Brightline). The Company insures a portion of the senior revenue bonds issued by Brightline, which are secured by a continuing senior lien on Brightline’s assets. Financial Guaranty Segment Income from the Investment Portfolio Net investment income represents interest income on available-for-sale fixed-maturity securities and short-term investments, which had an overall pre-tax book yield of 4.92% as of June 30, 2026 and 4.67% as of June 30, 2025. Equity in earnings (losses) of investees was a loss of $10 million in second quarter 2026, compared with a gain of $2 million in second quarter 2025, primarily due to $19 million in mark-to-market losses in second quarter 2026 related to CLO investments. Equity in earnings (losses) of investees may be more volatile than net investment income on available-for-sale fixed-maturity securities and short-term investments, due to mark-to-market changes associated with certain alternative investments. As of June 30, 2026, the Company had $928 million in alternative investments across a variety of asset classes: $726 million in the Financial Guaranty segment consisting primarily of CLO equity tranches in the available-for-sale fixed-maturity securities portfolio and investments in funds focused on asset classes such as private healthcare investing, asset-based/specialty finance, commercial real estate finance and CLOs. The remaining alternative investments are in the Corporate division. The inception-to-date annualized internal rate of return for all alternative investments was 12% as of June 30, 2026. Annuity Reinsurance Segment On January 21, 2026, the Company expanded its insurance operations to include annuity reinsurance through the acquisition of Warwick Re Limited, which it renamed Assured Life Re. The Annuity Reinsurance segment consists of the results of Assured Life Re and the other subsidiaries acquired as part of that transaction. Assured Life Re reinsures a block of PRT business, with reserves of $484 million, supported by a $596 million asset portfolio that consists primarily of U.S. and U.K. corporate and government bonds, including a portfolio of inflation-linked bonds. The asset portfolio also includes derivatives that economically hedge the currency, inflation and interest rate mismatches between the PRT liabilities, which are long-dated inflation-linked obligations denominated in pound sterling, and the investment portfolio, which includes certain U.S. dollar denominated and non-inflation linked securities. See "Reconciliation to GAAP." Assured Life Re also reinsures a block of MYGA business with a policyholder account value of $256 million. The MYGA policyholder account balances for annuity reinsurance contracts are supported by assets in a funds withheld arrangement with the cedant and primarily consist of mortgage and other asset-backed securities for which the Company reports a funds withheld receivable of $296 million. Asset Management Segment Asset management adjusted operating loss was $4 million in second quarter 2026 and income of $4 million in second quarter 2025. It includes the Company’s ownership interest in Sound Point and the related amortization of intangible assets, as well as net carried interest in second quarter 2025, which related to the sale of the underlying assets in a single asset-fund in the first quarter of 2026. Corporate Division The Corporate division primarily consists of interest expense on the debt of Assured Guaranty US Holdings Inc. and Assured Guaranty Municipal Holdings Inc. as well as expenses attributed to the holding companies’ activities. The Corporate division also includes equity in earnings (losses) of investees related to certain alternative investments. Reconciliation to GAAP The following table presents a reconciliation of net income (loss) attributable to AGL to adjusted operating income (loss). Realized losses on investments were primarily due to credit losses on CLO equity tranches in both periods. Except for credit impairment, the fair value adjustments on credit derivatives in the insured portfolio are non-economic adjustments that reverse to zero over the remaining term of that portfolio. The Company purchases swaps and forwards to economically hedge foreign currency, interest rate and inflation risks in the annuity reinsurance business. These derivatives are freestanding and not in designated hedging relationships in accordance with GAAP. The funds withheld arrangement includes the Company’s right to receive the total return on the assets supporting the funds withheld coinsurance agreement, which represents an embedded derivative. The fair value of this embedded derivative is included in funds withheld on the condensed consolidated balance sheets and the change in its fair value is based on the unrealized gains and losses of the underlying assets. The changes in fair value of the embedded derivative in funds withheld related to realized and unrealized gains and losses of the underlying investment portfolio are not included in adjusted operating income. Fair value of CCS is heavily affected by, and in part fluctuates with, changes in market interest rates, credit spreads and other market factors and is not expected to result in an economic gain or loss. Foreign exchange gains (losses) primarily relate to remeasurement of certain assets and liabilities such as premiums receivables and insurance liabilities that are long term in nature and are mainly due to changes in exchange rates relative to the U.S. dollar of the pound sterling and, to a lesser extent, the euro. Common Share Repurchases Since the launch of its share repurchase program in 2013, the Company has returned $6 billion of capital to shareholders, having repurchased 81% of its common shares outstanding at the beginning of the program. As of August 5, 2026, the Company was authorized to repurchase an additional $121 million of its common shares. As part of its overall capital management strategy, the Company evaluates on a quarterly basis planned uses of available capital, which may include growth opportunities in its financial guaranty insurance and annuity reinsurance businesses, maintaining a capital cushion to support its existing business and share repurchases. The timing, form and amount of any future share repurchases will be determined at the Company’s discretion and will depend on various factors, including alternative uses for capital, the Company’s regulatory capital position, rating agency capital considerations, availability of cash at the parent company, market conditions and legal and regulatory requirements. Any such share repurchases may be made from time to time through open-market purchases or privately negotiated transactions, and there can be no assurance of the amount of share repurchases that will occur in the future. Financial Statements Explanation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures The Company discloses both: (i) financial measures determined in accordance with GAAP; and (ii) financial measures not determined in accordance with GAAP (non-GAAP financial measures). Financial measures identified as non-GAAP should not be considered substitutes for GAAP financial measures. The primary limitation of non-GAAP financial measures is the potential lack of comparability to financial measures of other companies, whose definitions of non-GAAP financial measures may differ from those of the Company. The Company’s management believes that many investors, analysts and financial news reporters use adjusted operating shareholders’ equity and/or ABV, each further adjusted to remove the effect of FG VIE and CIV consolidation, as the principal financial measures for valuing AGL’s current share price or projected share price and also as the basis of their decision to recommend, buy or sell AGL’s common shares and provides information that is necessary for analysts to calculate their estimates of Assured Guaranty’s financial results in their research reports on Assured Guaranty. Adjusted operating income, further adjusted for the effect of FG VIE and CIV consolidation, enables investors and analysts to evaluate the Company’s financial results in comparison with the consensus analyst estimates distributed publicly by financial databases. GAAP requires the Company to consolidate entities where it is deemed to be the primary beneficiary which include FG VIEs, which the Company does not own and where its exposure is limited to its obligation under the financial guaranty insurance contract, and certain CIVs in which subsidiaries invest. The Company discloses the effect of FG VIE and CIV consolidation that is embedded in each non-GAAP financial measure, as applicable. The Company believes this information may also be useful to analysts and investors evaluating Assured Guaranty’s financial results. In the case of both the consolidated FG VIEs and the CIVs, the economic effect on the Company of each of the consolidated FG VIEs and CIVs is reflected primarily in the results of the Financial Guaranty segment. The Company’s management and AGL’s Board of Directors use non-GAAP financial measures further adjusted to remove the effect of FG VIE and CIV consolidation when the consolidation effects are not consistent with the Company’s economic interest or exposure to those entities (which the Company refers to as its core financial measures), as well as GAAP financial measures and other factors, to evaluate the Company’s results of operations, financial condition and progress towards long-term goals. The Company uses core financial measures in its decision-making process and as a basis for establishing target levels and awards under the Company’s executive incentive compensation programs. The financial measures that the Company uses to help determine compensation are: (i) adjusted operating income per share, further adjusted to remove the effect of FG VIE and CIV consolidation (core operating income per share); (ii) adjusted operating shareholders’ equity per share, further adjusted to remove the effect of FG VIE and CIV consolidation (core operating shareholders’ equity per share); (iii) ABV per share, further adjusted to remove the effect of FG VIE and CIV consolidation (core ABV per share); (iv) core operating return on equity, which is calculated as core operating income divided by the average of core operating shareholders’ equity at the beginning and end of the period; and (v) PVP. The following paragraphs define each non-GAAP financial measure disclosed by the Company and describe why it is useful. To the extent there is a directly comparable GAAP financial measure, a reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measure and the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure is presented below. Adjusted Operating Income The Company’s management believes that adjusted operating income is a useful measure because it clarifies the understanding of the operating results of the Company and excludes certain items including (i) items that, under GAAP, may vary significantly from period to period due to near-term market conditions or are otherwise not directly comparable or reflective of the underlying performance of the Company’s business, (ii) items that, under GAAP, result in asymmetrical accounting adjustments, and/or (iii) non-economic gains and losses. Adjusted operating income is defined as net income (loss) attributable to AGL, as reported under GAAP, adjusted for the following: 1) Elimination of realized gains (losses) on investments that are recognized in net income (loss) attributable to AGL, except for gains and losses on securities classified as trading. The timing of realized gains and losses, which depends largely on market credit cycles, can vary considerably across periods. The timing of sales is largely subject to the Company’s discretion and influenced by market opportunities, as well as the Company’s tax and capital profile. 2) Elimination of non-credit impairment-related fair value gains (losses) on credit derivatives that are recognized in net income (loss) attributable to AGL, which is the amount of fair value gains (losses) in excess of the present value of the expected estimated economic credit losses. Such fair value adjustments are heavily affected by, and in part fluctuate with, changes in market interest rates, the Company’s credit spreads and other market factors and are not expected to result in an economic gain or loss. 3) Elimination of changes in fair value of freestanding derivatives in the Annuity Reinsurance segment that economically hedge market movements in financial instruments and insurance liabilities (but are not in designated hedging relationships in accordance with GAAP). Certain mark-to-market movements of the hedged market risks are not reported in net income (loss) attributable to AGL, such as changes in the unrealized gains and losses on the available-for-sale investment portfolio due to fluctuations in exchange rates, and interest rates, and certain components of changes in insurance liabilities as a result of changes in interest rates. 4) Elimination of the changes in fair value of the embedded derivative in funds withheld that are recognized in net income (loss) attributable to AGL related to realized and unrealized gains (losses) of the underlying investment portfolio, whose value may change significantly from period to period due to near term market conditions. 5) Elimination of fair value gains (losses) on CCS that are recognized in net income (loss) attributable to AGL. Such amounts are affected by changes in market interest rates, the Company’s credit spreads, price indications on the Company’s publicly traded debt and other market factors and are not expected to result in an economic gain or loss. 6) Elimination of foreign exchange gains (losses) on remeasurement of assets and liabilities such as net premium receivables and insurance liabilities that are long-term in nature that are recognized in net income (loss) attributable to AGL. Long-dated receivables and insurance reserves represent the present value of future contractual or expected cash flows. Therefore, the current period’s foreign exchange remeasurement gains (losses) are not necessarily indicative of the total foreign exchange gains (losses) that the Company will ultimately recognize. 7) Income tax allocated to the adjustments above. Adjusted operating income per share is calculated by dividing adjusted operating income by the weighted average diluted shares. The method for calculating weighted average diluted shares is in accordance with GAAP. See "Reconciliation to GAAP" above for a reconciliation of net income (loss) attributable to AGL to adjusted operating income (loss). Adjusted Operating Shareholders’ Equity and ABV The Company’s management believes that adjusted operating shareholders’ equity is a useful measure because it excludes the fair value adjustments that are not expected to result in economic gain or loss. The Company’s management uses ABV, further adjusted to remove the effect of FG VIE and CIV consolidation, to measure the intrinsic value of the Company, excluding franchise value. The Company’s management believes that ABV is a useful measure because it enables an evaluation of the Company’s in-force premiums and revenues net of expected losses. Adjusted operating shareholders’ equity per share and ABV per share, each further adjusted for FG VIE and CIV consolidation (core operating shareholders’ equity per share and core ABV per share, respectively), are two of the key financial measures used in determining the amount of certain long-term compensation elements to management and employees and used by rating agencies and investors. Adjusted operating shareholders’ equity is defined as shareholders’ equity attributable to AGL, as reported under GAAP, adjusted for the following: 1) Elimination of non-credit impairment-related fair value gains (losses) on credit derivatives that are reported on the consolidated balance sheet, which is the amount of fair value gains (losses) in excess of the present value of the expected estimated economic credit losses. Such fair value adjustments are heavily affected by, and in part fluctuate with, changes in market interest rates, credit spreads and other market factors and are not expected to result in an economic gain or loss. 2) Elimination of fair value gains (losses) on CCS that are reported on the consolidated balance sheet. Such amounts are affected by changes in market interest rates, the Company’s credit spreads, price indications on the Company’s publicly traded debt and other market factors and are not expected to result in an economic gain or loss. 3) Elimination of unrealized gains (losses) on investments that are recorded as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income (AOCI). The AOCI component of the fair value adjustment on the investment portfolio is not deemed economic because the Company generally holds these investments to maturity and therefore would not result in an economic gain or loss. 4) Elimination of the fair value of freestanding derivatives in the Annuity Reinsurance segment that economically hedge market movements in financial instruments and insurance liabilities (but are not in designated hedging relationships in accordance with GAAP), such as changes in fair value on derivatives that hedge fluctuations in foreign exchange, interest rates and inflation on Assured Life Re’s available-for-sale investment portfolio. 5) Elimination of the unrealized gains (losses) of the underlying investments in funds withheld arrangements. 6) Income tax allocated to the adjustments above. ABV is adjusted operating shareholders’ equity, as defined above, further adjusted for the following: 1) Elimination of deferred acquisition costs, net. These amounts represent net deferred expenses that have already been paid or accrued and will be expensed in future accounting periods. 2) Addition of the net present value of estimated net future revenue. See below. 3) Addition of deferred income on insurance contracts (including deferred profit liability and, in the case of financial guaranty insurance contracts, the amount of deferred premium revenue in excess of expected loss to be expensed, net of reinsurance). 4) Income tax allocated to the adjustments above. Shares outstanding as of the end of the reporting period are used to calculate adjusted operating shareholders’ equity per share and ABV per share. The unearned premiums and revenues included in ABV will be earned in future periods, but actual earnings may differ materially from the estimated amounts used in determining current ABV due to changes in foreign exchange rates, prepayment speeds, terminations, modifications, credit defaults, changes in assumptions for or actual experience of the annuity insurance business and other factors. Net Present Value of Estimated Net Future Revenue The Company’s management believes that this amount is a useful measure because it enables an evaluation of the present value of estimated net future revenue for non-financial guaranty insurance contracts. This amount represents the net present value of estimated future revenue from these contracts (other than credit derivatives with net expected losses), net of reinsurance, ceding commissions and premium taxes. Future installment premiums are discounted at the approximate average pre-tax book yield of fixed-maturity securities purchased during the prior calendar year, other than certain fixed-maturity securities such as Loss Mitigation Securities. The discount rate is recalculated annually and updated as necessary. Net present value of estimated future revenue for an obligation may change from period to period due to a change in the discount rate or due to a change in estimated net future revenue for the obligation, which may change due to changes in foreign exchange rates, prepayment speeds, terminations, credit defaults or other factors that affect par outstanding or the ultimate maturity of an obligation. There is no corresponding GAAP financial measure. PVP or Present Value of New Business Production The Company’s management believes that PVP is a useful measure because it enables the evaluation of the value of new business production in the Financial Guaranty segment by taking into account the value of estimated future installment premiums on all new contracts underwritten in a reporting period as well as additional installment premiums and fees on existing contracts (which may result from supplements or fees or from the issuer not calling an insured obligation the Company projected would be called), regardless of form, which management believes GAAP GWP and changes in fair value of credit derivatives do not adequately measure. PVP in respect of contracts written in a specified period is defined as gross upfront and installment premiums received and the present value of gross estimated future installment premiums. Future installment premiums are discounted at the approximate average pre-tax book yield of fixed-maturity securities purchased during the prior calendar year, other than certain fixed-maturity securities such as Loss Mitigation Securities. The discount rate is recalculated annually and updated as necessary. Under GAAP, financial guaranty installment premiums are discounted at a risk-free rate. Additionally, under GAAP, management records future installment premiums on financial guaranty insurance contracts covering non-homogeneous pools of assets based on the contractual term of the transaction, whereas for PVP purposes, management records an estimate of the future installment premiums the Company expects to receive, which may be based upon a shorter period of time than the contractual term of the transaction. Actual installment premiums may differ from those estimated in the Company’s PVP calculation due to factors including, but not limited to, changes in foreign exchange rates, prepayment speeds, terminations, amendments to policies, credit defaults or other factors that affect par outstanding or the ultimate maturity of an obligation. Conference Call and Webcast Information The Company will host a conference call for investors at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time (9:00 a.m. Atlantic Time) on Friday, August 7, 2026. The conference call will be available via live webcast in the Investor Information section of the Company’s website at AssuredGuaranty.com or by dialing 1-833-461-5787 (in the U.S.) or 1-585-542-9983 (International); the access code is 348883485. A webcast replay of the conference call will be available approximately three hours after the call ends. The webcast replay will be available for one year in the Investor Information section of the Company’s website at AssuredGuaranty.com. Please refer to Assured Guaranty’s June 30, 2026 Financial Supplement, which is posted on the Company’s website at assuredguaranty.com/agldata, for more information on the Company’s financial guaranty portfolio, investment portfolio and other items. In addition, the Company is posting at assuredguaranty.com/presentations its "June 30, 2026 Equity Investor Presentation." The Company plans to post by early next week on its website at assuredguaranty.com/agldata the following: "Public Finance Transactions in 2Q 2026," which lists the U.S. public finance new issues insured by the Company in second quarter 2026, and "Structured Finance Transactions at June 30, 2026," which lists the Company’s structured finance exposure as of that date. In addition, the Company will post on its website, when available, Assured Guaranty Inc.’s financial supplement and its "Fixed Income Presentation" for the current quarter. Those documents will be furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission in a Current Report on Form 8-K. Assured Guaranty Ltd. is a publicly traded (NYSE: AGO), Bermuda-based holding company. Through its subsidiaries, Assured Guaranty provides credit enhancement products to the U.S. and non-U.S. public finance, infrastructure and structured finance markets. Assured Guaranty also participates in the asset management business through its ownership interest in Sound Point Capital Management, LP and certain of its investment management affiliates, and in the annuity reinsurance business through Assured Life Reinsurance Ltd. More information on Assured Guaranty Ltd. and its subsidiaries can be found at AssuredGuaranty.com. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Any forward-looking statements made in this press release reflect the Company’s current views with respect to future events and financial performance and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in these statements. Among factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are: (i) significant changes in inflation, interest rates, the world’s credit markets or segments thereof, credit spreads, foreign exchange rates, tariff regimes or general economic conditions, including the possibility of a recession or stagflation; (ii) geopolitical risk, terrorism and political violence risk, including regional and global military conflicts, and strategic competition and trade confrontation; (iii) cybersecurity risk and the impacts of artificial intelligence, machine learning and other technological advances, including the possibility of malicious cyber attacks, dissemination of misinformation, and disruption of markets in which Assured Guaranty participates; (iv) the impact of a United States (U.S.) government shutdown and/or the possibility of payment defaults on the debt of the U.S. government or instruments issued, insured or guaranteed by related institutions, agencies or instrumentalities, and downgrades to their credit ratings; (v) developments in the world’s financial and capital markets, including stresses in banking institutions, and the possibility that increasing participation of unregulated financial institutions in these markets results in losses or lower valuations of assets, reduced liquidity and credit and/or contraction of these markets, that adversely affect repayment rates of insured obligors, Assured Guaranty’s insurance loss or recovery experience, or investments of Assured Guaranty; (vi) reduction in the amount or market rates of return of available insurance or reinsurance opportunities and/or the demand for Assured Guaranty’s insurance and reinsurance; (vii) the failure or ineffectiveness of Assured Guaranty’s risk mitigation strategies or activities, including distressed credit workouts, management of exposure limits, hedging activities, and the procurement of third-party reinsurance for insured exposures; (viii) any rating agency action in relation to Assured Guaranty, and/or of any securities Assured Guaranty has issued, and/or of transactions that Assured Guaranty has insured, including requirements to maintain rating agency capital redundancy and to hold additional capital against certain insured exposures; (ix) the possibility that investments made by Assured Guaranty for its investment portfolio do not result in the benefits anticipated or subject Assured Guaranty to negative consequences; (x) the possibility that Assured Guaranty’s strategies or strategic transactions do not result in the benefits anticipated and/or subject Assured Guaranty to negative consequences; (xi) the impact of the announcement of Assured Guaranty’s strategies on Assured Guaranty and the perception of Assured Guaranty by its investors, regulators, rating agencies, and employees; (xii) risks related to the expansion into annuity reinsurance and the launching of Assured Life Reinsurance Ltd.; (xiii) the failure of Assured Guaranty to successfully integrate acquired businesses, including Assured Guaranty’s acquisition of Warwick Company (UK) Limited; (xiv) loss of key personnel; (xv) the possibility that longevity, mortality, lapse, withdrawal or surrender experience in Assured Guaranty’s annuity reinsurance business is less favorable than the rates Assured Guaranty used in pricing its reinsurance agreements; (xvi) the inability to control the business, management or policies of entities in which Assured Guaranty holds a noncontrolling interest; (xvii) the impact of market volatility on the fair value of Assured Guaranty’s assets and liabilities subject to mark-to-market, including certain of its investments, contracts accounted for as derivatives, its committed capital securities, and its consolidated variable interest entities; (xviii) the possibility that budget or pension shortfalls, difficulties in obtaining additional financing, changes in applicable laws or regulations or other factors will result in credit losses or liquidity claims on obligations that Assured Guaranty insures or reinsures; (xix) insured losses, including losses with respect to related legal proceedings, in excess of those expected by Assured Guaranty or the failure of Assured Guaranty to realize loss recoveries that are assumed in its expected loss estimates for insurance exposures; (xx) the possibility that underwriting insurance in new jurisdictions and/or covering new sectors, lines or classes of business does not result in the benefits anticipated or subjects Assured Guaranty to negative consequences; (xxi) increased competition, including from new market entrants and alternative forms of credit protection; (xxii) the inability of Assured Guaranty to access capital on acceptable terms or have sufficient liquidity to cover unexpected stress; (xxiii) noncompliance with, and/or changes in, applicable laws or regulations, including insurance, bankruptcy and tax laws, tariffs, or other governmental actions; (xxiv) the possibility that legal or regulatory decisions or determinations subject Assured Guaranty or obligations that it insures or reinsures to negative consequences; (xxv) difficulties or delays with the execution of Assured Guaranty’s business strategy; (xxvi) changes in applicable accounting policies or practices; (xxvii) public health crises, including pandemics and endemics, and the governmental and private actions taken in response to such events; (xxviii) natural or man-made catastrophes; (xxix) the impact of climate change on Assured Guaranty’s business and regulatory actions taken related to such risk; (xxx) other risk factors identified in AGL’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; (xxxi) other risks and uncertainties that have not been identified at this time; and (xxxii) management’s response to these factors. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of August 6, 2026, and Assured Guaranty undertakes no obligation to update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as required by law. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260805920758/en/ Contacts Robert TuckerSenior Managing Director, Investor Relations and Corporate [email protected] Ashweeta DuraniDirector, Media [email protected]

Assured Guaranty (AGO) came out with quarterly earnings of $1.23 per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.66 per share. This compares to earnings of $1.01 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items. This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of -25.90%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this insurance holding company would post earnings of $1.5 per share when it actually produced earnings of $2.5, delivering a surprise of +66.67%. Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates three times. Assured Guaranty, which belongs to the Zacks Insurance - Multi line industry, posted revenues of $199 million for the quarter ended June 2026, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.75%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $199 million. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates three times over the last four quarters. The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call. Assured Guaranty shares have lost about 7.9% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 12.8%. While Assured Guaranty has underperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock? There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately. Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions. Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for Assured Guaranty was mixed. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to perform in line with the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and the current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is $1.69 on $191.1 million in revenues for the coming quarter and $7.08 on $754.5 million in revenues for the current fiscal year. Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Insurance - Multi line is currently in the bottom 40% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1. One other stock from the broader Zacks Finance sector, Oxbridge Re Holdings Limited (OXBR), is yet to report results for the quarter ended June 2026. This company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.04 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +116%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days. Oxbridge Re Holdings Limited's revenues are expected to be $1.1 million, up 66.7% from the year-ago quarter. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Assured Guaranty Ltd. (AGO) : Free Stock Analysis Report Oxbridge Re Holdings Limited (OXBR) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research