AMERICAN COASTAL INSURANCE CORP (ACIC)
Sector: Financials
2026 Annual Meeting Analysis
AMERICAN COASTAL INSURANCE CORP · Meeting: May 26, 2026
Directors FOR
5
Directors AGAINST
0
Say on Pay
FOR
Auditor
FOR
Director Elections
Election of Class B Directors
Long-tenured director (since 2008) with relevant insurance and business experience; ACIC's 3-year total return of +365.9% far exceeds the peer group median of +97.2% by +268.7 percentage points, well above the 65pp underperformance threshold required to trigger a vote against, so no TSR concern applies; no overboarding, attendance, or independence issues identified.
Director since 2012 with NACD governance certification and business/medical leadership background; ACIC's outstanding TSR performance relative to peers eliminates any TSR trigger; no attendance, overboarding, or independence concerns identified.
Director since 2012 with over 30 years of entrepreneurial and operational business experience; ACIC's strong TSR outperformance versus peers means no TSR-based concern applies; no attendance, overboarding, or independence issues identified.
Director since 2017 with deep insurance industry expertise as a former Florida State University professor and insurance attorney; ACIC's TSR outperforms the peer group by a wide margin, so no TSR trigger applies; no attendance, overboarding, or independence concerns identified.
New nominee with strong CPA credentials, senior finance and audit leadership experience at TECO Energy, and current service as chair of the subsidiary's Risk Management Committee; she will serve as the Audit Committee financial expert, filling a clear governance need; as a new nominee she is not subject to the TSR lookback trigger.
All five Class B director nominees — four incumbents and one new candidate — receive a FOR vote. ACIC's 3-year total return of +365.9% outperforms the company-disclosed peer group median of +97.2% by +268.7 percentage points, far exceeding the 65pp threshold that would be required to trigger any TSR-based concerns. No overboarding, attendance, independence, or qualification issues were identified for any nominee. New nominee Deirdre Brown adds meaningful financial and audit expertise to the board.
Say on Pay
✓ FORCEO
B. Bradford Martz
Total Comp
$2,811,555
Prior Support
99.5%%
CEO B. Bradford Martz received total compensation of $2,811,555 in 2025, which is reasonable for a CEO of a $535 million financial services company that delivered exceptional operating results — a 60.1% combined ratio, 36.2% return on equity, and $106.8 million in net income. The pay program is well-structured: approximately 60% of total target compensation for eligible executives is performance-based through the Annual Incentive Plan (tied to combined ratio and return on equity) and a Long-Term Incentive Plan that includes performance stock units measured against peer ROAE, with all PSU tranches earning maximum payouts in 2025 due to outperformance. The prior year Say on Pay vote received 99.5% support, reflecting strong shareholder alignment, and the company maintains a clawback policy and robust stock ownership guidelines.
Auditor Ratification
✓ FORAuditor
Deloitte & Touche LLP
Tenure
8 yrs
Audit Fees
$1,224,000
Non-Audit Fees
$61,000
Deloitte has served as ACIC's auditor since 2018 (approximately 8 years), well below the 25-year tenure threshold that would raise independence concerns; non-audit fees of $61,000 (audit-related fees of $55,000 plus other fees of $6,000) represent approximately 5% of audit fees of $1,224,000, far below the 50% ratio that would trigger a concern; Deloitte is a Big 4 firm appropriate for a company of ACIC's size; no material restatements were identified.
Overall Assessment
The 2026 ACIC annual meeting presents two straightforward proposals — election of five Class B directors and ratification of Deloitte as auditor — both of which receive FOR votes with no policy triggers firing; there is no Say on Pay proposal on this year's ballot as shareholders voted in 2025 to hold the advisory compensation vote on a three-year cycle, with the next vote scheduled for 2028. ACIC's outstanding stock performance (+365.9% over three years versus a peer median of +97.2%), strong financial results, well-structured pay programs, and clean audit relationship support a fully supportive vote on all proposals.
Compensation Peer Group
9 companies disclosed in 2026 proxy filing