HCI Group Inc

Report of Independent Regis tered Public Accounting Firm

To the Shareholders, Board of Directors, and Audit Committee

HCI Group, Inc. and Subsidiaries

Opinion on the Consolidated Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of HCI Group, Inc. and Subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, the related consolidated statements of income, comprehensive income, equity, and cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2023, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2023, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”), the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission, and our report dated March 8, 2024 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.

Basis for Opinion

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud.

Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures include examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Critical Audit Matters

The critical audit matters communicated below are matters arising from the current period audit of the financial statements that were communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relate to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matters below, providing separate opinions on the critical audit matters or on the accounts or disclosures to which they relate.

Reserves for Losses and Loss Adjustment Expenses

As described in Note 2 -- “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” and Note 15 -- “Losses and Loss Adjustment Expenses” to the consolidated financial statements, the Company’s reserves for losses and loss adjustment expenses (“LAE”) reported in the consolidated balance sheet were $585.1 million at December 31, 2023. Reserves for losses and LAE reflect management’s best estimate regarding the Company’s ultimate losses, resulting in a liability for claims that have been incurred, but not yet paid, and claims that have been incurred but not yet reported. The reserves are based on the application of actuarial techniques and other projection methodologies, taking into consideration other facts and circumstances known at the balance sheet date. The methods used by management in determining the reserves for losses and LAE are complex and subjective with various key inputs and assumptions. Judgement is required to determine the inputs and assumptions used and these can significantly impact the reserves recognized. The most significant judgments include the choice of the appropriate standard actuarial reserving methods, the selection of loss development factors that place reliance on actual historical loss experience, current claim trends, and the prevailing social, economic and legal environments, and reserves derived specific to catastrophe events.

The principal considerations for our determination of the reserves for losses and LAE as a critical audit matter are the complexity and subjectivity of the judgments, estimates and assumptions that management utilized in determining their ultimate loss estimates. This required a high degree of effort and judgment in selecting the audit procedures to evaluate management’s estimates and assumptions as it relates to the reserves for losses and LAE, including the use of an auditor’s specialist.

The primary procedures we performed to address this critical audit matter included:

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We obtained an understanding, evaluated the design and tested the operating effectiveness of controls related to management’s determination of the reserves for losses and LAE, including controls over the actuarial methods and assumptions utilized to support the reserve calculations, and controls over the completeness and accuracy of historical loss data utilized in the reserves calculations.

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We tested the completeness and accuracy of the historical loss data used in the development of the reserves.

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We performed analytical procedures over the Company’s recorded reserves in relation to the Company’s consulting actuary’s range of reserve estimates.

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We engaged an actuary as an auditor’s specialist to independently assess the Company’s consulting actuary’s selection of actuarial methods and assumptions and the resulting reserve ranges and point estimates.

Valuation of Limited Partnership Investments

As described in Note 2 -- “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” and Note 5 -- “Investments” to the consolidated financial statements, the Company’s limited partnership investments reported in the consolidated balance sheet were $23.6 million at December 31, 2023. For the investments with ownership interest at five percent or less, the Company uses the net asset value method to estimate the fair value of these investments. Due to a reporting lag, the Company may record an adjustment to the Company’s most recent share of net asset value when the amount can be reasonably estimated and a significant adverse impact on the net asset value is expected as a result of a major economic event. The methods used by management in determining if an adjustment to the Company’s most recent share of net asset value is necessary are complex and subjective based on the judgement that is required to determine the key inputs and assumptions which can significantly impact the adjustments recognized.

The principal considerations for our determination of the valuation of limited partnership investments as a critical audit matter are the subjectivity of the inputs and assumptions that management utilized in determining the adjustment to the Company’s most recent share of net asset value. This required a high degree of effort and judgment in selecting the audit procedures to evaluate management’s estimates and assumptions as it relates to the valuation of limited partnership investments, including the use of an auditor’s specialist.

The primary procedures we performed to address this critical audit matter included:

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We obtained an understanding, evaluated the design and tested the operating effectiveness of controls related to the valuation of limited partnership investments, including controls over management’s estimate of the adjustment to the Company’s most recent share of net asset value of the limited partnership investments.

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We tested the completeness and accuracy of the data utilized by management and evaluated the reasonableness of management’s assumptions used to develop an estimate of fair value.

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We engaged a specialist to develop an independent estimate of fair value of the limited partnership investments and comparison of management’s estimate to the independently developed estimate of fair value.

/s/ FORVIS, LLP

We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2013.

Charlotte, North Carolina

March 8, 2024

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm on Internal Control

To the Shareholders, Board of Directors, and Audit Committee

HCI Group, Inc. and Subsidiaries

Opinion on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

We have audited HCI Group, Inc. and Subsidiaries (the “Company”)’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). In our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework (2013) issued by COSO.

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”), the consolidated financial statements of the Company for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2023, and our report dated March 8, 2024, expressed an unqualified opinion on those consolidated financial statements.

Basis for Opinion

The Company’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting, and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the accompanying Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit.

We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk, and performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Definition and Limitations of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

/s/ FORVIS, LLP

Charlotte, North Carolina

March 8, 2024