AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd (AXS) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good day and welcome to the Second Quarter 2024 AXIS Capital Earnings Call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. (Operator Instructions) Please note this event is being recorded.

美好的一天，歡迎參加 2024 年第二季 AXIS Capital 收益電話會議。所有參與者將處於僅聽模式。（操作員說明）請注意此事件正在被記錄。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Cliff Gallant, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

現在我想將會議交給投資者關係主管 Cliff Gallant。請繼續。

Thank you. Good morning, and welcome to our second quarter 2024 conference call. Our earnings press release and financial supplement were issued last night. If you would like copies please visit the Investor Information section of our website at axiscapital.com. We set aside an hour for today's call, which is also available as an audio webcast on our website.

謝謝。早上好，歡迎參加我們的 2024 年第二季電話會議。我們的收益新聞稿和財務補充資料已於昨晚發布。如果您需要副本，請造訪我們網站 axiscapital.com 的投資者資訊部分。我們為今天的電話會議預留了一個小時，該電話會議也可以在我們的網站上以音訊網路廣播的形式提供。

Joining me on today's call are Vince Tizzio, our President and CEO and Pete Vogt, our CFO. In addition, I would like to remind everyone that the statements made during this call, including the question-and-answer session, which are not historical facts, may be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions.

參加今天電話會議的有我們的總裁兼執行長文斯·蒂齊奧 (Vince Tizzio) 和財務長皮特·沃格特 (Pete Vogt)。另外，我想提醒大家，這次電話會議，包括問答環節所做的陳述，並非歷史事實，可能是前瞻性陳述。前瞻性陳述涉及風險、不確定性和假設。

Actual events or results may differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors, including the risk factors set forth in the company's most recent report on the Form 10-K or our quarterly report on Form 10-Q and other reports the company files with the SEC.

由於多種因素，實際事件或結果可能與前瞻性陳述中預測的事件或結果有重大差異，包括公司最新的 10-K 表報告或我們的 10-Q 表季度報告中列出的風險因素，以及公司向SEC 提交的其他報告。

This includes the additional risks identified in the cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements in our earnings press release issued last night. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. In addition, non-GAAP financial measures may be discussed during this conference call. Reconciliations are included in our earnings press release and financial supplement.

這包括我們昨晚發布的收益新聞稿中有關前瞻性陳述的警示說明中指出的其他風險。我們不承擔公開更新或修改任何前瞻性陳述的義務。此外，本次電話會議期間可能會討論非公認會計準則財務指標。調節表包含在我們的收益新聞稿和財務補充中。

And with that, I'll turn the call over to Vince.

然後，我會將電話轉給文斯。

Thank you, Cliff. Good morning and thank you for joining our call. During the second quarter and first half of the year, we continue to make strong progress against our stated strategy of achieving specialty underwriting leadership. Indeed, our performance during the quarter demonstrated advancements across the key metrics we outlined at our Investor Day this past May.

謝謝你，克里夫。早安，感謝您加入我們的通話。在第二季和上半年，我們持續在實現專業核保領先地位的既定策略方面取得強勁進展。事實上，我們本季的業績證明了我們在今年五月投資者日概述的關鍵指標上的進步。

Before unpacking our results, I'll take a moment to thank my AXIS colleagues. We're operating in a dynamic market requiring increased collaboration, consistency and a resilient attitude and I'm proud of our team's commitment to providing excellent service to our brokers and customers.

在揭曉我們的結果之前，我要花點時間感謝我的 AXIS 同事。我們在一個充滿活力的市場中運營，需要加強協作、一致性和堅韌的態度，我為我們的團隊致力於為經紀商和客戶提供優質服務而感到自豪。

Let's now review some of the headline results from the second quarter. Our annualized operating ROE was 20%, driven by strength across the vast majority of our business lines. We produced operating earnings per share of $2.93, a 31.5% increase over the prior year quarter and the highest quarterly operating earnings per share in the company's history. Our diluted book value per share was $59.29.

現在讓我們回顧一下第二季度的一些主要結果。在我們絕大多數業務線的實力推動下，我們的年化營運 ROE 為 20%。我們的每股營業利潤為 2.93 美元，比去年同期成長 31.5%，是公司歷史上最高的季度每股營業利潤。我們的稀釋後每股帳面價值為 59.29 美元。

Overall premiums were up 6.8% driven by solid growth across both insurance and reinsurance, which were up approximately 8 percentage points and 4 percentage points over the prior year quarter, respectively. Our overall underwriting profitability remains strong with a 90.4% combined ratio. Our attritional loss ratio improved a point versus the prior year quarter at $55.1. Net investment income increased 40% or $54 million as compared to the prior year quarter.

在保險和再保險業務穩健成長的推動下，整體保費成長了 6.8%，分別比去年同期成長了約 8 個百分點和 4 個百分點。我們的整體承保獲利能力依然強勁，綜合成本率為 90.4%。我們的自然損耗率比去年同期提高了一個百分點，達到 55.1 美元。淨投資收益較去年同期成長 40%，即 5,400 萬美元。

Let's now move to our operating segments, and we'll start first with insurance. In the quarter, our insurance business performed very well. We generated a combined ratio of 87.9%, with premium production of $1.8 billion, 17% net written premium growth, record new business premiums of $576 million with particularly strong contributions from our property lines.

現在讓我們轉向我們的營運部門，我們首先從保險開始。本季度，我們的保險業務表現非常好。我們的綜合成本率為 87.9%，保費收入達 18 億美元，淨承保保費成長 17%，新業務保費創下 5.76 億美元的記錄，其中我們的財產業務貢獻尤其強勁。

In North America, we continue to see a healthy demand for our specialty products and capabilities. New business was up 18% as compared to the prior year quarter. Within the wholesale channel, we saw submissions increase 24%, marking the 10th quarter in a row where submission growth has been double digits. Two of our wholesale business units, property and excess casualty were up 25% and 16%, respectively, over the prior year quarter.

在北美，我們繼續看到對我們的特色產品和能力的健康需求。新業務較去年同期成長 18%。在批發通路中，我們看到提交量成長了 24%，這標誌著提交量連續第 10 個季度實現兩位數成長。我們的兩個批發業務部門——財產險和超額傷亡險——比去年同期分別增長了 25% 和 16%。

As regards the new initiatives mentioned at Investor Day, our distribution partners response is strong. It is early days, but our Inland Marine, US construction capabilities are being recognized. Our expanded environmental team had a strong quarter and positive momentum.

對於投資者日提到的新舉措，我們的經銷夥伴反應強烈。雖然現在還處於早期階段，但我們的內陸海軍、美國的建造能力正在得到認可。我們擴大的環境團隊在本季表現強勁，勢頭積極。

In addition, our dedicated wholesale lower middle market business is starting to take hold with 20% premium growth over the prior year quarter.

此外，我們專門的中低端市場批發業務已開始佔據主導地位，保費比去年同期增長了 20%。

We continue to cycle manage the portfolio. By example, during the quarter, we continued to reshape our primary casualty, cyber small and delegated and public D&O portfolios, while refocusing our underwriting appetite to areas of opportunity. I'll speak more to this when we discuss market conditions.

我們繼續循環管理投資組合。例如，在本季度，我們繼續重塑我們的主要傷亡人員、網路小型、授權和公共 D&O 投資組合，同時將我們的承保興趣重新聚焦於機會領域。當我們討論市場狀況時，我會詳細討論這一點。

Moving to global markets. Our results were highlighted by double-digit growth across a number of our lines, construction, global property, credit. In the London market, we are observing increasing levels of competition. However, our portfolio remains highly rate adequate and has a diverse product set of offerings to service a wide net of customers' needs and broker expectations.

進軍全球市場。我們的業績突顯在我們的許多業務、建築、全球房地產、信貸領域都實現了兩位數的成長。在倫敦市場，我們觀察到競爭日益激烈。然而，我們的投資組合仍然高度充足，並擁有多樣化的產品組合，可以滿足廣泛的客戶需求和經紀人期望。

As previously shared, we launched our new energy transition syndicate on April 1, and we're already seeing positive response from our distribution partners and encouraging signs that our syndicate over time, will be a meaningful contributor in future years. Finally, our specialist capabilities in marine war provided opportunistic growth while meeting our customers' needs.

正如之前所分享的，我們在4 月1 日啟動了新能源轉型辛迪加，我們已經看到了分銷合作夥伴的積極回應，以及令人鼓舞的跡象，表明隨著時間的推移，我們的辛迪加將在未來幾年成為有意義的貢獻者。最後，我們在海洋戰爭方面的專業能力提供了機會性成長，同時滿足了客戶的需求。

Moving to our reinsurance business. We delivered 89.3% combined ratio while generating $46 million in underwriting profit. These results reflect our continued progress in repositioning the business.

轉向我們的再保險業務。我們實現了 89.3% 的綜合成本率，同時創造了 4,600 萬美元的承保利潤。這些結果反映了我們在重新定位業務方面不斷取得的進展。

During the quarter, we continued to lean into our specialty lines, including credit and surety, A&H, cyber and agriculture with specialty businesses growing more than twice the 4% we delivered for the reinsurance portfolio in total.

本季度，我們繼續專注於我們的專業業務，包括信貸和擔保、A&H、網路和農業，專業業務的成長是我們再保險投資組合總成長率 4% 的兩倍多。

We continue to see meaningful opportunities in cyber, while maintaining prudent limit deployment and balance with our insurance portfolio. As respects casualty and professional lines we remain vigilant and selective as we have not evidenced the degree of rate change and ceding commission changes that we expected.

我們繼續在網路領域看到有意義的機會，同時保持審慎的限額部署和保險組合的平衡。在傷亡和專業方面，我們仍然保持警惕和選擇性，因為我們沒有證明我們預期的費率變化和放棄佣金變化的程度。

During the [1/7] renewal season, where approximately 13% of our business is up for renewal. We saw continued positive submission flow in our targeted specialty growth lines, while we continue to navigate a competitive reinsurance market, particularly in professional and casualty lines.

在[1/7]續約季節，我們大約有 13% 的業務需要續約。我們在目標專業成長領域看到了持續的積極提交流，同時我們繼續在競爭激烈的再保險市場中航行，特別是在專業和意外險領域。

I'll now take a moment to comment on overall market conditions. Conditions continue to be generally favorable and premium adequacy across our portfolio remains strong for both new and renewal business. Within our insurance, our limit profile remains virtually unchanged from prior quarters and aligns with our portfolio objectives.

現在我將花點時間評論整體市場狀況。對於新業務和續保業務來說，整體情況仍然有利，我們的投資組合的保費充足性仍然強勁。在我們的保險範圍內，我們的限額概況與前幾季幾乎保持不變，並且與我們的投資組合目標保持一致。

In addition, we continue to mix shift towards short-tail lines, which in the quarter formed 52% of our group gross premiums written, up approximately 4% as compared to the prior year quarter. These lines are strongly priced and match our underwriting capabilities and needs of our brokers and customers.

此外，我們持續向短尾險種進行混合轉型，本季短尾險種占我們集團毛保費的 52%，比去年同期成長約 4%。這些產品線價格低廉，符合我們的承保能力以及經紀人和客戶的需求。

In the quarter, we observed heightened competition in our property businesses. Notwithstanding, we continue to see strong submission flow and premium growth. We feel confident about our portfolio construction. Particularly our average net limits, geographic spread of the business, peril mix and outbound event attachment point of $100 million as we look toward what is forecasted as a busy third quarter win season.

本季度，我們觀察到房地產業務的競爭加劇。儘管如此，我們仍然看到強勁的提交流量和保費成長。我們對我們的投資組合建設充滿信心。特別是我們的平均淨限額、業務的地理分佈、風險組合和 1 億美元的出境活動附著點，因為我們預計第三季將是一個繁忙的勝利季節。

In liability, we have evidenced a resurgence of rate. Within our US casualty business, we continue to see double-digit rate increases that continue to perform ahead of trend. US primary casualty and US excess casualty were up 27% and 12%, respectively. In our primary casualty business, a book that we previously noted as being reshaped, written premium was down $52 million quarter-over-quarter. We expect our repositioning of the business to last throughout the year.

在責任方面，我們已經證明了比率的回升。在我們的美國傷亡業務中，我們繼續看到兩位數的成長率，繼續領先趨勢。美國主要傷亡人數和超額傷亡人數分別增加了 27% 和 12%。在我們的主要傷亡業務中，我們之前註意到該業務正在重塑，承保保費環比下降了 5,200 萬美元。我們預計業務的重新定位將持續一整年。

Excluding the actions within primary casualty, our insurance segment growth during the second quarter was over 11% as compared to the prior year quarter. Finally, within liability reinsurance rates were up close to double digit and ahead of trend.

不包括主要傷亡業務在內，我們第二季的保險業務與去年同期相比成長超過 11%。最後，責任再保險費率上升至接近兩位數並領先趨勢。

As I've commented in past calls, within insurance, we remain vigilant in managing our professional lines portfolio, particularly in public D&O, where pricing continues to be inadequate. This is being offset by the growth that we're driving across select premium adequate lines such as our US D&O business, which grew 10% in the quarter, and our transactional liability class, which grew 62%, albeit off a relatively small base.

正如我在過去的電話會議中所評論的那樣，在保險領域，我們在管理我們的專業產品組合方面保持警惕，特別是在定價仍然不足的公共 D&O 領域。這被我們在精選保費充足業務領域推動的成長所抵消，例如我們的美國D&O 業務，該業務在本季度增長了10%，而我們的交易負債類別則增長了62%，儘管基數相對較小。

As respect cyber, we continue focusing on growing the large account segment while selectively targeting and reshaping our small and delegated businesses. By example, we expanded our partnership with Elpha Secure, and InsurTech that blends cyber insurance with advanced diagnostics and security software, which will help enhance risk selection for our small cyber portfolio, while over time extending these capabilities to our broader cyber portfolio.

在尊重網路方面，我們繼續專注於發展大型客戶細分市場，同時有選擇地瞄準和重塑我們的小型和授權業務。例如，我們擴大了與Elpha Secure 和InsurTech 的合作關係，將網路保險與先進的診斷和安全軟體相結合，這將有助於增強我們小型網路投資組合的風險選擇，同時隨著時間的推移，將這些功能擴展到我們更廣泛的網路投資組合。

Looking at the performance across both segments. We're pleased with the second quarter. Our previously shared guidepost of producing 7% to 12% annual premium growth for insurance and single-digit growth for our reinsurance business are unchanged. Pete will give more detail shortly.

看看這兩個細分市場的表現。我們對第二季感到滿意。我們先前分享的保險年保費成長 7% 至 12% 以及再保險業務個位數成長的目標沒有改變。皮特很快就會提供更多細節。

Stepping back, in the second quarter, we produced earnings results that demonstrated what we said at our Investor Day. We grew our diluted book value per share and produced strong financial results. We drove profitable growth by leaning into our targeted specialty markets and tapping into new growth opportunities. We continued making improvements to our operating model to improve efficiency and productivity.

退一步來說，我們在第二季公佈的獲利結果證明了我們在投資者日所說的內容。我們增加了稀釋後的每股帳面價值，並取得了強勁的財務表現。我們透過專注於目標專業市場並利用新的成長機會來推動獲利成長。我們繼續改進我們的營運模式，以提高效率和生產力。

And finally, we are making investments in our platform to align with our go-forward strategic imperatives. During the quarter, we made tangible progress in advancing our How We Work program to enhance all aspects of how we operate and go to market.

最後，我們正在對我們的平台進行投資，以符合我們前進的策略要求。本季度，我們在推動「我們的工作方式」計畫方面取得了切實進展，以增強我們營運和進入市場方式的各個方面。

This includes implementing improvements focused on heightening our organizational effectiveness and making investments to empower our colleagues and optimize their productivity while improving service quality.

這包括實施旨在提高組織效率的改進，並進行投資以增強我們同事的能力並優化他們的生產力，同時提高服務品質。

We also continue to reinvest in the business to enable sustained, profitable growth. This includes further enhancing our claims and operations capabilities, advancing digitization and automation initiatives to increase our agility and response time, improving our tools, technology and platforms.

我們也繼續對業務進行再投資，以實現持續的獲利成長。這包括進一步增強我們的索賠和營運能力，推動數位化和自動化計劃以提高我們的敏捷性和回應時間，改善我們的工具、技術和平台。

In summary, it has been a very strong first half of the year for AXIS as we continue to execute on our strategy. I'll now turn the call over to Pete for a more detailed discussion of our financials.

總而言之，隨著我們繼續執行我們的策略，AXIS 今年上半年表現非常強勁。我現在將把電話轉給皮特，以便更詳細地討論我們的財務狀況。

Thank you, Vince, and good morning, everyone. AXIS had a very strong performance in the quarter. Our net income available to common shareholders was $204 million or $2.40 per diluted common share, which resulted in an annualized ROE of 16.2% and drove our book value per diluted common share to $59.29 at quarter end, an increase of nearly 10% year-to-date and adjusted for dividends, up nearly 20% over the past 12 months.

謝謝你，文斯，大家早安。AXIS 在本季的表現非常強勁。我們提供給普通股股東的淨利潤為 2.04 億美元，即每股稀釋普通股 2.40 美元，年化 ROE 為 16.2%，季度末每股稀釋普通股帳面價值達到 59.29 美元，年成長近 10% -日期並根據股息進行調整，在過去12 個月中增長了近20%。

Our operating income was $250 million or $2.93 per diluted common share, the highest quarterly operating EPS in our company's history, which resulted in an annualized operating ROE of 20%. Looking at our consolidated results. Our company-wide gross premiums written grew 6.8% to $2.4 billion, our highest second quarter ever as we continue to see attractive pricing across most lines of business.

我們的營業收入為 2.5 億美元，即每股稀釋普通股 2.93 美元，這是我們公司歷史上最高的季度營業每股收益，年化營業淨資產收益率達到 20%。看看我們的綜合業績。我們全公司的毛保費成長了 6.8%，達到 24 億美元，這是第二季以來的最高水平，因為我們繼續看到大多數業務線的定價具有吸引力。

Our quarterly combined ratio was an excellent 90.4%, generating $161 million of underwriting income, marking our highest ever accident year underwriting income for a quarter.

我們的季度綜合成本率為 90.4%，創造了 1.61 億美元的承保收入，創下了我們有史以來最高的事故年單季承保收入。

Our current accident year loss ratio, ex-cat and weather was an excellent 55.1%. Importantly, our loss picks continue to be consistent with the learnings from our in-depth reserve review conducted at the end of last year. While it's only been six months since our year-end reserve actions, early data has reinforced our confidence that the actions were appropriate and we made no changes to prior period reserves.

我們目前的事故年損失率（除事故損失和天氣損失）高達 55.1%。重要的是，我們的損失選擇繼續與我們去年年底進行的深入儲備審查的教訓一致。雖然我們的年底準備金行動距今只有六個月，但早期數據增強了我們的信心，認為這些行動是適當的，而且我們沒有對前期準備金進行任何更改。

We did experience $47 million in cats in the quarter, resulting in a 3.6% cat loss ratio. Natural catastrophes and weather-related losses were $38 million, accounting for 2.9 points of the cat loss ratio, with an additional $9 million or [seven-tenths] of a point resulting from losses due to the Red Sea Conflict.

本季我們確實經歷了 4700 萬美元的貓損失，導致貓損失率為 3.6%。自然災害和天氣相關損失為 3,800 萬美元，佔巨災損失率的 2.9 個百分點，紅海衝突造成的額外損失為 900 萬美元，即十分之七。

Our peak PMLs are large US natural catastrophes, including a California earthquake or a Southeast hurricane. Each of these events remains well below 5% of shareholder equity at the one in 250-year peril mark.

我們的峰值 PML 是美國的大型自然災害，包括加州地震或東南颶風。這些事件中的每一項都遠低於股東權益的 5%，處於 250 年一遇的風險水準。

In the quarter, we renewed our outwards insurance property program. The renewal went very well. Specifically, within our worldwide cat occurrence XOL, we increased our ground-up indemnity event protection from $415 million to $565 million and maintained our treaty event attachment point of $100 million. While we are taking advantage of market opportunities and growing our insurance property book materially, our event PMLs have remained steady.

本季度，我們更新了向外保險財產計劃。續訂進行得很順利。具體來說，在我們的全球巨災發生 XOL 中，我們將基本賠償事件保護從 4.15 億美元增加到 5.65 億美元，並將條約事件附加點維持在 1 億美元。雖然我們正在利用市場機會並大幅增加我們的保險財產帳簿，但我們的活動 PML 仍然保持穩定。

The consolidated G&A expense ratio, including corporate was 11.4%, down from 13.3% a year ago. We have previously said that as we execute on how we work, we expected our dollar spend to decline and sure enough, our year-to-date G&A spend is down 7%, even as we have grown our premium volume.

綜合管理及行政費用率（包括公司費用）為 11.4%，低於一年前的 13.3%。我們之前曾說過，隨著我們執行工作方式，我們預計我們的美元支出將會下降，果不其然，我們今年迄今為止的一般管理支出下降了 7%，儘管我們的保費數量有所增加。

I want to be clear that the expense improvement we are experiencing this quarter is the result of several successive actions we have taken over the past year to optimize our target operating model and progress underlying processes. Our actions have been decisive but thoughtful as we strived for operating excellence.

我想澄清的是，我們本季所經歷的費用改善是我們在過去一年中為優化目標營運模式和推進基礎流程而採取的多項連續行動的結果。在我們努力追求卓越營運的過程中，我們的行動既果斷又深思熟慮。

In that effort, as we have told you, we will also continue to make investments in our company, whether it by adding to our talent pool, implementing new operating systems or expanding capabilities. So as we continue to invest in the company, we expect the degree of year-over-year improvement experienced this quarter may not continue into the second half of this year.

正如我們已經告訴您的那樣，在這項努力中，我們還將繼續對我們的公司進行投資，無論是透過增加我們的人才庫、實施新的作業系統還是擴展能力。因此，隨著我們繼續對該公司進行投資，我們預計本季的年比改善程度可能不會持續到今年下半年。

However, we remain committed to the target we previously shared with you of a G&A ratio below 11% for the full year 2026. This quarter included $14 million of reorganization expenses, which is essentially the cost of severance and outplacement as we reduced head count across several areas during the quarter.

然而，我們仍致力於實現先前與您分享的目標，即 2026 年全年的一般管理費用比率低於 11%。本季包括 1,400 萬美元的重組費用，這基本上是遣散費和再就業成本，因為我們在本季度減少了多個領域的員工人數。

Now let's move on and discuss our segment results in more detail. Insurance had a strong quarter. Gross premiums written were $1.8 billion, an increase of 7.7% compared to the prior year and our highest volume quarter ever for insurance. Across most of our book, pricing remains adequate. And we see opportunity to put capital to work at attractive returns above our long-term targets.

現在讓我們繼續更詳細地討論我們的細分結果。保險業季度表現強勁。總保費收入為 18 億美元，比上年增長 7.7%，是我們保險業有史以來最高的季度保費收入。在我們的大部分書中，定價仍然足夠。我們看到了利用資本獲得高於我們長期目標的誘人回報的機會。

Let me discuss a few lines of business. Property was a major driver of growth this quarter across most classes. We saw premium growth well into the double digits in E&S property, renewable energy onshore, construction and global property. Pricing remains very attractive, although as Vince discussed, the rate of improvement has slowed.

讓我討論幾個業務領域。房地產是本季大多數類別成長的主要推動力。我們看到 E&S 房地產、陸上再生能源、建築和全球房地產的溢價增長達到兩位數。定價仍然非常有吸引力，儘管正如文斯所討論的，改進的速度已經放緩。

In US casualty, we are very careful in pursuing growth. And overall in the quarter, we are down about 5%. Breaking it down, we are growing in US excess casualty where rate was 12% ahead of high single-digit loss trend, and we continue to see good opportunities.

在美國傷亡方面，我們非常謹慎地追求成長。整個季度，我們下降了約 5%。細分來看，美國的超額傷亡人數正在成長，其比率為 12%，領先高個位數的損失趨勢，並且我們繼續看到良好的機會。

The growth we're seeing in excess casualty is more than offset by reshaping we are executing in primary casualty that Vince spoke about earlier. To give you a sense of magnitude, excluding the primary casualty reshaping, our insurance liability growth rate would have been approximately 14%.

我們看到的過度傷亡人數的增長被文斯之前談到的我們正在對主要傷亡人員的重塑所抵消。為了讓您感受到規模，不包括主要傷亡重塑，我們的保險責任成長率約為 14%。

Lastly, in A&H. We note that we had double-digit growth, which is being driven by good growth in North America pet insurance. In our first quarter call, we stated an expectation of 7% to 12% growth in insurance for this year, and our expectation remains in that range, but we favor the lower end.

最後，在A&H。我們注意到，我們實現了兩位數的成長，這是由北美寵物保險的良好成長所推動的。在我們第一季的電話會議中，我們預計今年保險業將成長 7% 至 12%，我們的預期仍保持在這個範圍內，但我們傾向於低端。

Net written premium in the quarter was up 17%, benefiting from the gross premium growth as well as the restructuring of an outward reinsurance treaty, which resulted in a 34% session rate for this quarter. When normalized, the session rate was approximately 36%. The insurance combined ratio was an outstanding 87.9%, including 4.8% of cat and weather-related losses, resulting in $116 million of underwriting income.

本季的淨承保保費成長了 17%，受益於毛保費成長以及分出再保險條約的重組，導致本季的會話率達到 34%。標準化後，會話率約為 36%。保險綜合成本率高達 87.9%，其中包括 4.8% 的巨災和天氣相關損失，帶來 1.16 億美元的承保收入。

The current accident year loss ratio ex-cat and weather was 51.8%, which compares to 51.5% in the prior year and continues to be consistent across recent quarters. Additionally, the acquisition cost ratio of 19.6% was up over the prior year, reflecting mix of business change as we favor short tail lines and lower ceding commissions in pro lines and cyber.

目前事故年度損失率為 51.8%，去年為 51.5%，並在最近幾季中繼續保持一致。此外，收購成本比率比前一年上升了 19.6%，反映了業務變化的組合，因為我們傾向於短尾線以及較低的專業線和網路佣金。

Given our treaties have renewed with consistent ceding commissions this year, we would expect the ratio to be fairly consistent going forward.

鑑於今年我們的條約已續簽並持續放棄佣金，我們預計未來該比例將相當一致。

Now let's move on to the reinsurance segment. Gross premiums were up 4.3% in the quarter as we continue to build our specialty-focused business. As I mentioned on our first quarter call, the first quarter benefited by some timing of a few contract renewals, a number of which were new business in 2Q of last year, thus having a negative impact on this 2Q.

現在讓我們轉向再保險領域。隨著我們繼續打造以專業為中心的業務，本季毛保費成長了 4.3%。正如我在第一季電話會議中提到的，第一季受益於一些合約續約的時機，其中一些是去年第二季的新業務，對第二季產生了負面影響。

Again, this quarter, we benefited from timing between renewals from the third quarter to the second quarter. As a result, despite the high single-digit growth year-to-date, we are maintaining our expectation for mid-single-digit growth for the full year, with a particularly difficult comparison in 3Q.

同樣，本季我們受益於從第三季到第二季的續訂時間。因此，儘管今年迄今實現了高個位數成長，但我們仍維持全年中個位數成長的預期，而第三季的比較尤其困難。

I wanted to highlight that our growth in professional lines of 9% was entirely driven by growth in cyber reinsurance. And without cyber, pro lines would have been down year-over-year. Net written premiums declined versus prior year quarter as we are ceding more business to our strategic capital partners. We would expect the ceding percent of approximately 37% to be maintained throughout the year.

我想強調的是，我們專業產品線 9% 的成長完全是由網路再保險的成長所推動的。如果沒有網絡，專業線路將會逐年下降。由於我們將更多業務轉讓給策略資本合作夥伴，淨承保保費較去年同期下降。我們預計全年將維持約 37% 的讓出比例。

Our reinsurance team remains focused on the bottom line, and we are pleased with the much improved consistency in the results. The combined ratio was 89.3% with an ex-cat and weather loss ratio of 64.2%, both very solid. Our acquisition cost ratio of 22.3% is consistent with recent quarters, with some variability reflecting the impact of profit commissions associated with loss sensitive features.

我們的再保險團隊仍然專注於利潤，我們對結果一致性的顯著改善感到高興。綜合率為 89.3%，除貓損失率和天氣損失率為 64.2%，兩者都非常穩定。我們的購置成本率為 22.3%，與最近幾季的情況一致，但存在一些變化，反映了與損失敏感功能相關的利潤佣金的影響。

Our reinsurance G&A ratio of 2.5% is down from 4.6% in the prior year quarter. The improvement in G&A ratio is driven equally from lower spending and from higher third-party capital fees, which increased to $14 million in the quarter, up from $9 million a year ago.

我們的再保險管理費用比率為 2.5%，低於去年同期的 4.6%。G&A 比率的改善同樣受到支出減少和第三方資本費用增加的推動，本季第三方資本費用從一年前的 900 萬美元增至 1,400 萬美元。

We also had a company record level of investment income at $191 million, up 40% from the prior year in the quarter, driven by a higher yield on a larger fixed income portfolio, and in part by alternatives reporting positive returns versus a loss in the prior year quarter.

我們的公司投資收入也創下了1.91 億美元的創紀錄水平，比上年同期增長了40%，這主要是由於較大的固定收益投資組合收益率較高，部分原因是另類投資報告正回報而不是虧損。

The fixed income portfolio reported $154 million of income, up 24% over the prior year quarter, benefiting from higher yields and strong operating cash flow. The overall outlook remains positive as our book yield on fixed income securities was 4.4% at quarter end, while the new money yield was 5.7% and we continue to generate excellent operating cash flow, which was $902 million for the first half of the year.

固定收益投資組合報告營收為 1.54 億美元，較去年同期成長 24%，受益於較高的收益率和強勁的營運現金流。整體前景仍然樂觀，因為我們的固定收益證券帳面收益率在季度末為 4.4%，而新資金收益率為 5.7%，而且我們繼續產生出色的營運現金流，今年上半年為 9.02 億美元。

Our effective tax rate in the quarter was 16%, a bit higher than what we've typically reported as more of our profitability occurred in our higher tax geographies. We're producing substantial capital today. The priority for capital is to advance our strategic goals, whether it be growth opportunities, both organic and the hiring of new teams or investing in our capabilities such as at scale adoption of digital and analytic capabilities.

本季我們的有效稅率為 16%，略高於我們通常報告的稅率，因為我們的獲利能力更多地發生在稅收較高的地區。今天我們正在產生大量資本。資本的首要任務是推進我們的策略目標，無論是有機成長機會還是招募新團隊，還是投資於我們的能力，例如大規模採用數位和分析能力。

However, despite our share price hitting new highs in the quarter, we view repurchase of our own shares as an attractive option for utilizing our capital. In the quarter, we returned $76 million to shareholders through $38 million of common share dividends and $38 million of share repurchases.

然而，儘管我們的股價在本季創下新高，但我們認為回購自己的股票是利用我們資本的一個有吸引力的選擇。本季度，我們透過 3,800 萬美元的普通股股息和 3,800 萬美元的股票回購向股東返還 7,600 萬美元。

In closing, we're very pleased with the results today and we're looking forward to the second half of the year with optimism. We'd be happy to take your questions.

最後，我們對今天的結果感到非常滿意，並樂觀地期待下半年。我們很樂意回答您的問題。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Yaron Kinar, Jefferies.

亞倫·基納爾，傑弗里斯。

Thank you. Good morning. Pete, in your opening comments, you said that the early data reinforces your confidence in the reserve actions you took in the fourth quarter. Can you maybe elaborate on that a little bit and maybe also touch on specifically the greener accident years 2020 through 2023. And I ask that, obviously, just given the intense investor focus on reserves on that has really come the forefront this quarter?

謝謝。早安.皮特，您在開場白中表示，早期數據增強了您對第四季度採取的儲備行動的信心。您能否詳細說明一下這一點，也許還可以具體談談 2020 年至 2023 年的綠色事故年。我問，顯然，考慮到投資者對儲備的強烈關注，本季這一點真的成為了最重要的嗎？

Yeah. Thanks for the question, Yaron. The first thing I'd say is we do, do and completed a full review of our reserves in the quarter. We do that every quarter. So we did a full ground-up review of all the classes. I'd say our philosophy remains the same. We will take bad news as soon as we see it quickly, and we will wait for good news to really be substantiated through the results over time before we actually see any good news.

是的。謝謝你的提問，亞龍。我要說的第一件事是，我們確實、正在做並完成了對本季儲備金的全面審查。我們每季都會這樣做。因此，我們對所有課程進行了全面的基礎審查。我想說我們的理念保持不變。我們一看到壞消息就會很快接受，而我們會等待好消息真正透過時間的結果得到證實，然後才真正看到任何好消息。

Having said that, as we did the reviews this quarter, when we looked at all the data, We looked at, I'll call it the paid data that we're looking at. We are looking at close claims data, and we did this review with our claims team and our actuarial team, both pricing and reserving. We felt very confident about the assumptions that we used for all the accident years with the performance and the results that we did in the fourth quarter.

話雖如此，正如我們本季度進行的審查一樣，當我們查看所有數據時，我們查看了，我將其稱為我們正在查看的付費數據。我們正在研究密切的索賠數據，並與我們的索賠團隊和精算團隊一起進行了審查，包括定價和準備金。我們對所有事故年份所使用的假設以及第四季度的表現和結果非常有信心。

I would remind you that when we did the fourth quarter, the $425 million included a $177 million of liability reserve increases for the '20 to '22 accident years and we did increase our 2023 loss picks in the fourth quarter on the liability lines. So when we took those actions, we on-leveled everything for what we saw with our higher severity as well as the elongation that we talked about at the time with the development patterns.

我想提醒您，當我們進行第四季度時，4.25 億美元包括 20 至 22 事故年增加的 1.77 億美元的責任準備金，並且我們確實在第四季度增加了 2023 年責任限額的損失選擇。因此，當我們採取這些行動時，我們以更高的嚴重性以及我們當時談論的開發模式的延伸來提高我們所看到的一切。

And as we said, it's early days still, but we feel very good about the strength of our reserves and everything we're seeing with regard to those data points are actually holding and we feel very good about where we are. I don't know, Vince, if you like to add something to that.

正如我們所說，現在還處於早期階段，但我們對我們的儲備實力感到非常滿意，而且我們所看到的有關這些數據點的一切實際上都在堅持，我們對我們所處的位置感覺非常好。我不知道，文斯，你是否願意補充一些東西。

I think you covered all of it, Pete. The only thing I'd remind Yaron by is we also on-leveled the loss ratio assumptions from the assessment that we took at 4Q. And the point you made around the claim integration insights is a very good point, especially relating to the patterns that we're observing around closed claims without payments, Yaron. There's a fairly tight and integrated process between our claims and reserving actuaries, and it gives Pete and myself increasing confidence.

我想你已經涵蓋了所有內容，皮特。我唯一要提醒 Yaron 的是，我們還根據第四季的評估調整了損失率假設。您圍繞索賠整合見解提出的觀點非常好，特別是與我們在未付款的已結索賠周圍觀察到的模式有關，Yaron。我們的索賠和保留精算師之間有一個相當嚴格和完整的流程，這讓皮特和我自己越來越有信心。

Thank you. I appreciate that. And then my second question, maybe to you, Pete. You talked about share still being a very attractive option for utilizing capital – buybacks, sorry. But I don't think that you conducted any additional buybacks since the Investor Day. And if I'm correct in that, can you maybe elaborate on why you didn't?

謝謝。我很欣賞這一點。然後是我的第二個問題，也許是問你的，皮特。您談到股票仍​​然是利用資本的一個非常有吸引力的選擇——抱歉，回購。但我認為自投資者日以來您沒有進行任何額外的回購。如果我的說法是正確的，您能詳細說明為什麼沒有這樣做嗎？

Yaron, this is Vince. So as Pete mentioned in his opening remarks, we found that the work we were doing relative to how we work would have precluded us from going into the market and buying back our shares. It was a decision that we took with the knowledge that we had around the actions that we were undertaking in the quarter.

亞倫，這是文斯。因此，正如皮特在開場白中提到的那樣，我們發現我們正在做的工作與我們的工作方式有關，這會阻止我們進入市場並回購我們的股票。這是我們在了解本季所採取行動的情況下所做的決定。

We've maintained the same view that we shared at the Investor Day that we believe our stock is not priced to its fullest measure. We will opportunistically and strategically look to buy back shares in the future. As you know, coming out of our most recent Board meeting, we saw and obtained an additional authorization of $300 million without any time restriction. So we will continuously evaluate and be opportunistic in our share repurchase approach.

我們保持了與投資者日所分享的相同觀點，即我們認為我們的股票定價並未充分衡量。我們將在未來機會主義和策略性地回購股票。如您所知，在我們最近的董事會會議上，我們看到並獲得了 3 億美元的額外授權，沒有任何時間限制。因此，我們將不斷評估並在我們的股票回購方法中抓住機會。

Pete, I don't know if you want to add.

皮特，我不知道你是否要補充。

Yeah. The only thing I'd add is you could see it in the quarter, Yaron, we took $14 million of below the line charges associated with restructuring. The vast majority of that was severance and outplacement costs for a number of employees that we left.

是的。我唯一要補充的是，Yaron，您可以在本季度看到，我們收取了 1400 萬美元的與重組相關的線下費用。其中絕大多數是我們留下的一些員工的遣散費和再就業費用。

And all those actions happened in June. Since we knew those actions were to happen in June, kind of at the end of May, we felt we had material non-public information and so out of abundance of caution, we didn’t buy any shares; we didn't trade.

所有這些行動都發生在六月。由於我們知道這些行動將在 6 月（大約是 5 月底）發生，因此我們認為我們掌握了重要的非公開訊息，因此出於謹慎考慮，我們沒有購買任何股票；我們沒有購買任何股票。我們沒有交易。

That makes sense. Thanks so much.

這是有道理的。非常感謝。

You're welcome.

不客氣。

Josh Shanker, Bank of America.

喬許‧尚克，美國銀行。

Yeah. Thanks. I trust the reserve reviews were done in great care. And I noticed that the unfavorable or favorable, that was zero, which is an unusual number. There are some other companies that put up zero. You guys go through hundreds of millions of dollars worth of reserve reviews. To come to number zero means no change whatsoever. There are plenty of companies put up that zero numbers. AXIS is one of those companies that in the end, the plan is if there's not a major change to round the reserve adequacy or an average to zero?

是的。謝謝。我相信預訂審查是經過精心處理的。我注意到不利或有利的數字為零，這是一個不尋常的數字。還有一些其他公司的投入為零。你們經歷了價值數億美元的儲備審查。達到數字零意味著沒有任何變化。有很多公司都提供了零數字。AXIS 是這樣的公司之一，最終的計劃是，如果沒有重大變化來將儲備充足率或平均值四捨五入為零？

I would say, Josh, this is Pete. When we go through the process, what we're looking at is what we think the ultimate loss picks are on these lines of business. And with all the data we had, we felt very good and comfortable actually reinforced with the assumptions we had. So because of that, the ultimate loss picks didn't change. And so to your point, there is some rounding that happens. It's just when you look at it in millions, it turns down to zero.

我會說，喬什，這是皮特。當我們經歷這個過程時，我們所關注的是我們認為這些業務領域的最終損失選擇。憑藉我們擁有的所有數據，我們感覺非常好和舒適，實際上我們的假設得到了強化。因此，最終的失敗選擇並沒有改變。因此，就您的觀點而言，會發生一些捨入。只是當你以百萬為單位查看時，它就會變成零。

So there were puts and takes, some things were better than you thought and some things, not quite as good, but in aggregate, everything sort of balanced to zero?

所以有看跌期權，有些事情比你想像的要好，有些事情則不太好，但總的來說，一切都平衡為零？

Yeah. I would say everything balanced to zero because the ultimate loss picks we thought were actually right on point. So when I look at it by accident, when we look at it by accident year, there really wasn't any movements versus accident year that had anything to do with the ultimate expectation of claims.

是的。我想說一切都平衡為零，因為我們認為的最終損失選擇實際上是正確的。因此，當我偶然查看它時，當我們按事故年份查看它時，確實沒有任何與事故年份相比的變化與索賠的最終預期有任何關係。

And when we look at it by line of business, when you look at the Q, you'll see it by line of business, you've seen zero cost. We did have movement in the first quarter. If you recall in the first quarter, we had some negatives that come out of the aviation area due to some losses that were materializing out of 2019 that were negative, and that was offset by some positives that we saw in the property line.

當我們按業務線查看它時，當您查看 Q 時，您會按業務線看到它，您看到了零成本。我們在第一季確實有進展。如果你還記得第一季度，我們在航空領域出現了一些負面影響，這是由於 2019 年實現的一些負面損失，而這被我們在房地產領域看到的一些積極因素所抵消。

Okay. And then final, but just a little bit on the share repurchase issue. I don't know what the future brings. I think you're investing in your business is doing a wonderful job doing it. Who knows what the actual results will be as things mature. We know where the share price is today, and we know where your book value is today. Given that situation, as you report earnings and now the severance costs are out of the equation.

好的。最後是關於股票回購問題的一點。我不知道未來會帶來什麼。我認為你對你的生意的投資做得非常出色。誰知道事情成熟後實際結果會是什麼。我們知道今天的股價是多少，我們也知道你今天的帳面價值是多少。鑑於這種情況，當你報告收入時，現在遣散費就不再考慮在內了。

When we think about earning an 18% ROE in a company that's been derisk from cat risk over time, trading at probably at or maybe even below year ahead of book value, can you go through the capital sort of math on whether share repurchases are better or worse than investing in your own business? And I know you can do both, but one thing you probably feel confident your share price isn't going to be $70 or $74 forever. Is investing your business, you can do at any time. Can you buy back your shares at this level at any time?

當我們考慮在一家公司中賺取18% 的ROE 時，該公司隨著時間的推移已經擺脫了巨災風險，其交易價格可能等於或甚至低於去年的賬面價值，你能通過資本數學來判斷股票回購是否更好或比投資自己的企業更糟？我知道你可以兩者兼而有之，但有一件事你可能確信你的股價不會永遠是 70 美元或 74 美元。投資你的生意，你隨時都可以做。你可以隨時在這個水準回購你的股票嗎？

Hey Josh, this is Pete. What I'll tell you is, number one, I do think our operating ROE in the quarter was about [99] and I think today, we're trading at least we're trading above tangible book as well as full book. So we do think that the stock price is moving in the right direction. But to your point, we believe it should go higher.

嘿喬什，這是皮特。我要告訴你的是，第一，我確實認為我們本季的營運 ROE 約為 [99]，我認為今天我們的交易至少高於有形帳面和完整帳面。因此，我們確實認為股價正在朝著正確的方向發展。但就您的觀點而言，我們認為它應該走得更高。

I'd say that good use of capital, our number one use of capital continues to be investing in the business. And we believe right now with the price adequacy we're seeing, we're getting returns in excess of our long-term targets. And we like to continue to invest in the business by bringing on more teams by building out our infrastructure and by also building our capabilities.

我想說的是，充分利用資本，我們對資本的首要用途仍然是投資於業務。我們相信，目前我們所看到的價格充足性，我們所獲得的回報將超過我們的長期目標。我們希望繼續投資業務，透過建立我們的基礎設施和建立我們的能力來吸引更多團隊。

Having said that, I think you're correct. Our new $300 million, we will use opportunistically, and it will be based upon where we see the market dynamics as well as our results over a quarter. We do expect our results to be less volatile going forward, and all that will take it into account as we think about share repurchases over the future.

話雖如此，我認為你是對的。我們將根據我們對市場動態以及一個季度業績的看法，擇機使用新的 3 億美元。我們確實預計我們的業績未來波動性會較小，並且在我們考慮未來的股票回購時，所有這些都將考慮在內。

Pete, I think you covered a majority of it and just reminding Josh and others, when we spoke to the capital walk at the Investor Day, we outlined our philosophy around capital management. We've taken a successive set of actions to transform the organization and design in focus of its underwriting strategy, its cost structure.

皮特，我認為你涵蓋了大部分內容，只是提醒喬希和其他人，當我們在投資者日談論資本步行時，我們概述了我們圍繞資本管理的理念。我們採取了一系列連續的行動來轉變組織和設計，並專注於其承保策略和成本結構。

And of course, as part of seeking and obtaining the Board authorization of additional share repurchase. It's certainly contemplated in our overall strategy. But as Pete noted, we're going to continue to make investments in our operating platform, continue to bring in teams of underwriters and it will certainly be accounted for in our calculus.

當然，這是尋求並獲得董事會額外股份回購授權的一部分。我們的整體策略中肯定考慮到了這一點。但正如皮特指出的那樣，我們將繼續對我們的營運平台進行投資，繼續引入承銷商團隊，這肯定會計入我們的計算中。

And I guess you'll indulge me on one more along those lines, if we get to the end of the third quarter and the buyback hasn't resumed, would you be surprised?

我想你會再讓我繼續講下去，如果我們到了第三季末而回購還沒有恢復，你會感到驚訝嗎？

Well, it's certainly not going to speculate as to the third quarter. What we're focused on today is advancing the underwriting strategy, making certain that our underwriters have the tools and sufficient capital to go to market to ensure that our continued work and delivering really spectacular results is sustained, Josh.

好吧，它肯定不會猜測第三季的情況。我們今天的重點是推進承保策略，確保我們的承銷商擁有進入市場的工具和足夠的資本，以確保我們持續的工作和交付真正令人驚嘆的結果，喬什。

Okay. Thank you very much.

好的。非常感謝。

You got it.

你明白了。

Brian Meredith, UBS.

布萊恩·梅雷迪思，瑞銀集團。

Yeah. Thanks. First question, I wanted to dive in a little bit into the insurance underlying loss ratios or loss picks you guys are putting up, they are incredibly attractive. And if I look at the maybe kind of on a year-over-year basis, my assumption is they're probably down when you kind of factor in some of the reserve development actions you took at the end of last year.

是的。謝謝。第一個問題，我想深入了解你們提出的保險基本損失率或損失選擇，它們非常有吸引力。如果我逐年觀察，我的假設是，當你考慮到去年年底採取的一些儲備開發行動時，它們可能會下降。

So Peter, I was wondering if you could dive in a little bit, what is kind of driving that? Is it a mix? We've heard companies talking about maybe increasing loss picks on liability a little bit just because of the questions on tort inflation. Maybe give us a little color on what's going on there and why they continue to kind of trend downwards here?

彼得，我想知道你是否可以深入探討一下，是什麼樣的驅動力？是混合的嗎？我們聽到公司談論可能會因為侵權通貨膨脹的問題而稍微增​​加責任損失的選擇。也許可以讓我們了解那裡正在發生的事情以及為什麼它們在這裡繼續呈下降趨勢？

Yeah. So Brian, this is Pete. I would say I use the word consistent. I think our attritional loss ratio ex-cat and weather has been very consistent when we look year-over-year. But to your point, there are two really drivers underneath there.

是的。布萊恩，這是皮特。我想說我用了「一致」這個詞。我認為，當我們逐年觀察時，我們的除貓和天氣因素外的自然損耗率非常一致。但就你而言，背後有兩個真正的驅動因素。

One is, we do have a mix shift. As you've noticed, we are selling more short-tail business, especially in the insurance business, and that's up probably 4%, 5% when I think about the mix shift. And if I looked overall, we would have expected that to maybe drop the loss ratio by about a point.

一是，我們確實有混合班次。正如您所注意到的，我們正在出售更多的短尾業務，尤其是保險業務，當我考慮混合轉變時，這一數字可能增長了 4%、5%。如果我從整體來看，我們預期損失率可能會下降大約一個百分點。

That is being offset because, as I mentioned earlier, when we did our fourth quarter review in the long-tail lines, we moved our long-tail loss picks up, and we've unleveled it for '20, '21, '22 as well as '23. And so we're actually booking to that higher loss pick in our long-tail liabilities and that's about a point higher. So the two are offsetting to create that consistent, I'm going to call it, [ 52] plus or minus you're seeing in the insurance attritional loss ratio. Does that make some sense?

這被抵消了，因為正如我之前提到的，當我們對長尾產品線進行第四季度審查時，我們將長尾損失回升，並且我們已將 20 年、21 年、22 年的損失拉平。以及'23。因此，我們實際上在長尾負債中預訂了較高損失的選擇，大約高出一個點。因此，兩者相互抵消以形成一致，我將其稱為[52]加上或減去您在保險損耗損失率中看到的值。這樣有道理嗎？

Yeah, it makes a lot of sense. That's really, really helpful. And then the second question, I guess, more for Vince here. I guess two parts here. One, maybe you can talk a little bit about why writing cyber is more attractive right now from a reinsurance perspective than maybe on the primary side?

是的，這很有意義。這真的非常非常有幫助。我想第二個問題更多的是針對文斯的。我想這裡有兩個部分。第一，也許你可以談談為什麼現在從再保險的角度來看網路寫作比初級方面更具吸引力？

And then the second part to that, obviously, there was a pretty major headline event, CrowdStrike. What do you think that does to the dynamics of the cyber market here going forward? Will it cause some firmness? Is it going to make any changes you think to policy forms or anything as you look for in forward here?

然後第二部分，顯然，有一個相當重要的頭條事件，CrowdStrike。您認為這對未來網路市場的動態有何影響？會不會造成一些僵硬？您認為它會對政策形式或您在此期待的任何內容做出任何改變嗎？

Thank you, Brian. So first, with respect to Cyber Re, we announced a quarter or so ago an interest in leaning into our reinsurance business. We saw an opportunity to provide solutions to our cedents. And from the access point of view, we did so in a way that we feel is premium adequate, first.

謝謝你，布萊恩。首先，關於 Cyber​​ Re，我們在大約一個季度前宣布有興趣進軍我們的再保險業務。我們看到了為我們的分出公司提供解決方案的機會。從訪問的角度來看，我們首先以我們認為足夠優質的方式這樣做。

Secondly, being able to be executed with loss cats so that we're not creating conflict with our insurance portfolio, and finally, we liked the cedent portfolios, the information set that we were able to obtain an understanding in a very detailed way, we felt comfortable with the risk. And we saw it as an offset to the changing insurance landscape in the small and delegated segments where we have cut back and we've shrunk.

其次，能夠執行損失貓，這樣我們就不會與我們的保險投資組合產生衝突，最後，我們喜歡分出投資組合，我們能夠以非常詳細的方式獲得了解的信息集，我們對風險感到滿意。我們將其視為對小型授權細分市場不斷變化的保險格局的抵消，在這些細分市場中，我們已經削減了開支並縮小了規模。

In terms of CrowdStrike, we think this is an opportunity for the market to reset appropriately. When you think about the business interruption language associated within the primary forms, when you think about the waiting periods and the application of those waiting periods across different industries, we think it's an important opportunity for companies to take stock. AXIS is comfortable with CrowdStrike not creating any impact to our financials at this time.

就CrowdStrike而言，我們認為這是市場適當重置的機會。當您考慮主要表格中相關的業務中斷語言時，當您考慮等待期以及這些等待期在不同行業中的應用時，我們認為這是公司進行盤點的重要機會。AXIS 對 CrowdStrike 目前不會對我們的財務狀況造成任何影響感到滿意。

Obviously, this will develop over a successive period. But what we see now, we're very comfortable with what we've seen. But we think more importantly, for the industry, language change around contingent BI, language around clarity on non-malicious events and certainly, the waiting periods will come under increasing scrutiny.

顯然，這將在連續一段時間內發展。但我們現在所看到的，我們對所看到的感到非常滿意。但我們認為更重要的是，對於業界來說，圍繞著意外商業智慧的語言變化、圍繞非惡意事件清晰度的語言，當然，等待期將受到越來越嚴格的審查。

Great. Thank you.

偉大的。謝謝。

Elyse Greenspan, Wells Fargo.

伊麗絲‧格林斯潘，富國銀行。

Hi, thanks. Good morning. My first question, I guess, going back to the insurance margin discussion. So 51.8% in the quarter, based on – I know you mentioned there's kind of a shift towards some short tail lines, right, which could help that number. Based on your view of pricing and business mix as well as loss trend. Do you view that as a sustainable level for the insurance business?

你好，謝謝。早安.我想我的第一個問題是回到保險保證金的討論。因此，本季為 51.8%，基於——我知道您提到有一種向短尾線的轉變，對吧，這可能有助於這個數字。基於您對定價和業務組合以及損失趨勢的看法。您認為這對保險業來說是一個可持續的水平嗎？

Certainly within '24, at least we don't see any material change whatsoever.

當然，在 24 年之內，至少我們沒有看到任何實質改變。

Okay. And then on the reinsurance side, right, maybe like a similar question, right? The underlying loss ratio was just over 64% in the quarter. You guys had said mid-60s is kind of the target for that business after you exited property in Cat Re. It seems like it's a little bit better than planned. How do you – was there anything one-off in that loss ratio in the quarter? And how do you view the sustainability of that number?

好的。然後在再保險方面，對吧，也許有類似的問題，對吧？本季基本損失率略高於 64%。你們曾說過，在退出 Cat Re 的房產後，60 多歲是這項業務的目標。看起來比計劃的要好一些。您認為本季的損失率是否有一次性的情況？您如何看待這個數字的可持續性？

Yeah, Elyse, this is Pete. I would say there really wasn't anything one-off in that quarter. It had some benefit in the marine area, but that was actually offset by the ad engineering that we mentioned in the press release. So if you're thinking reinsurance, that mid-60s, so 64% to 65%, we think that's where we expect that business to perform as we go on a go-forward basis.

是的，愛麗絲，這是皮特。我想說那個季度確實沒有什麼一次性的事情。它在海洋領域有一些好處，但這實際上被我們在新聞稿中提到的廣告工程所抵消。因此，如果你考慮的是 60 年代中期的再保險，那麼 64% 到 65%，我們認為這就是我們期望該業務在未來發展中表現的地方。

Okay. And then maybe one more on buyback. I know you guys mentioned there were some charges related to that How We Work program in the Q2. Would there be subsequent charges, or I guess now because we know that there could be charges, would -- I'm just trying to get a sense of subsequent action there would preclude you from additional buyback.

好的。然後也許還有一個關於回購的事情。我知道你們提到了第二季的「我們如何工作」計畫相關的一些費用。是否會產生後續費用，或者我現在猜想，因為我們知道可能會產生費用，我只是想了解後續行動是否會阻止您進行額外的回購。

Yes. This is Elyse – Pete. Now I'll let Vince expand on this. But as we sit here today, we don't expect any additional below-the-line charges with regard to the How We Work program, which we don't have any in our sites.

是的。這是愛麗絲·皮特。現在我將讓文斯進一步闡述這一點。但當我們今天坐在這裡時，我們預計不會對「我們的工作方式」計劃產生任何額外的線下費用，我們的網站上沒有任何此類費用。

No. And you'll certainly hear more about our investments as the year unfolds in the remaining five months. There's quite a bit of work that still remains. It's a multiyear program in how we work, but we'll leave it there.

不。隨著今年剩下的五個月的展開，您肯定會聽到更多有關我們投資的資訊。還有相當多的工作要做。這是一個關於我們工作方式的多年計劃，但我們會將其留在那裡。

Thank you.

謝謝。

You're welcome.

不客氣。

Meyer Shields, KBW.

邁耶·希爾茲，KBW。

Great. Thanks and good morning. So I guess you both have emphasized the fact that you're shifting towards shorter tail line. But can we take a step back and say, okay, property rate increases are decelerating and sorry, casualty are reaccelerating. How sustainable is the current mix shift relative to the opportunities that the market is going to present over the next 12 months?

偉大的。謝謝，早安。所以我猜你們都強調了這樣一個事實：你們正在轉向更短的尾線。但我們能否退後一步說，好吧，房價上漲正在放緩，抱歉，傷亡人數正在加速增加。相對於未來 12 個月市場將呈現的機遇，目前的組合轉變的可持續性如何？

Meyer, this is Vince. I think for the balance of the year, the mix will look just as we're reporting. As you know from prior representations, we are reshaping our primary casualty business in North America. We have grown our excess casualty business quite substantially. We are developing new underwriting appetite in our liability classes generally.

邁耶，這是文斯。我認為在今年剩下的時間裡，這種組合將與我們報告的一樣。正如您從先前的陳述中了解到的，我們正在重塑我們在北美的主要傷亡業務。我們的超額傷亡業務已大幅成長。我們正在總體上在我們的責任類別中開發新的承保興趣。

Mike, our North American executive leadership is putting a lot of effort in time toward that endeavor. Over time, next year, I would expect our liability writings to start to show the benefit of this reinvestment of underwriting tools, appetite as we continue. Now whether or not that's going to materially mix shift in the immediate term, I don't see that in the immediate term, but over time for sure.

麥克，我們的北美執行領導層正在為此付出大量努力。隨著時間的推移，明年，我預計我們的責任著作將開始顯示出核保工具再投資的好處，以及我們繼續進行的興趣。現在，無論這是否會在短期內產生實質的混合轉變，我認為短期內不會出現這種情況，但隨著時間的推移肯定會發生這種情況。

Okay. That's helpful. Thank you. You've also talked about adding teams. And I was hoping you could give us sort of an overview of what the current market for underwriting talent is and where the – obviously, not names, but where the opportunities are?

好的。這很有幫助。謝謝。您還談到了添加團隊。我希望您能給我們大致介紹一下當前承保人才的市場情況以及機會在哪裡——顯然，不是名字，而是機會在哪裡？

Yeah. So it's an active specialty market for talent. There's certainly a premium being paid and there's equally a premium being paid for the kind of culture of the organization. The tools that are being provided to the underwriters in order to execute their role, the empowerment that they're seeking. And so we've been reasonably successful at creating an environment that allows for those attributes to be satisfied.

是的。因此，這是一個活躍的人才專業市場。當然，這需要付出一定的代價，組織的文化也同樣需要付出代價。為承銷商提供的工具，以履行他們的角色，以及他們正在尋求的授權。因此，我們在創建一個能夠滿足這些屬性的環境方面相當成功。

We will continue to add to the numbers of investments we've made across a variety of product capabilities that include North America, but as well in our global markets portfolio equally. And so we'll continue to be on the town search.

我們將繼續增加在包括北美在內的各種產品能力方面的投資數量，同時也在我們的全球市場組合中進行相同的投資。因此我們將繼續進行城鎮搜索。

In terms of representation, we don't believe in having one targeted company. We've enjoyed the trust of colleagues from a number of prior companies. There isn't one particular company that has in any meaningful way contributed to that. We're seeking out attributes and culture and attitude and, of course, capability of the person. So that's our mantra.

就代表性而言，我們不相信只有一家目標公司。我們贏得了許多先前公司同事的信任。沒有一家特定的公司為此做出了任何有意義的貢獻。我們正在尋找一個人的特質、文化和態度，當然還有能力。這就是我們的座右銘。

Great. Thanks a lot.

偉大的。多謝。

Josh Shanker.

喬許·尚克。

Yeah. Just a quick one. Of course, there's been a lot of talk about professional lines pricing and the trends, and you guys have shrunk your exposure in the primary market. But on the reinsurance market, it looks like the exposure increase or at least you wrote a lot more. Is there something different going on in excess layers than there is in the more central layers?

是的。只是快一點。當然，關於專業線定價和趨勢的討論很多，你們已經縮小了在第一級市場的曝光度。但在再保險市場上，看起來風險敞口增加了，或至少你寫了更多。多餘層中發生的情況是否與更中心層發生的情況不同？

Well, Pete will unpack that for you.

好吧，皮特會為你打開包裝。

Yeah. Actually, Josh, I think Vince might have alluded to this in his comments. But when we look at reinsurance professional lines, you're right, it was up 9% in the quarter year-over-year. When we take cyber out of that because cyber in reinsurance is reported through professional lines, the rest of professional lines is actually down 8% year-over-year.

是的。事實上，喬什，我認為文斯可能在他的評論中提到了這一點。但當我們看看再保險專業業務時，你是對的，該季度同比增長了 9%。當我們將網路排除在外時，因為再保險中的網路是透過專業線路報告的，其餘專業線路實際上比去年同期下降了 8%。

So to your point, we are seeing that pressure in professional lines in the reinsurance space also. And if it hadn't been for the growth in cyber, pro lines actually would have been down year-over-year.

因此，就您的觀點而言，我們也看到了再保險領域專業領域的壓力。如果沒有網路的成長，專業線路實際上會逐年下降。

Thank you.

謝謝。

This concludes our question and answers. I would like to turn the conference back over to CEO, Vince Tizzio for any closing remarks.

我們的問題和答案到此結束。我想將會議轉回執行長文斯蒂齊奧 (Vince Tizzio) 發表閉幕詞。

Thank you for joining today's call. In summary, it's been a very strong quarter and first half year for AXIS. We look forward to reporting our continued progress in our third quarter call. Thank you very much.

感謝您參加今天的電話會議。總之，對於 AXIS 來說，這是一個非常強勁的季度和上半年。我們期待在第三季電話會議中報告我們的持續進展。非常感謝。

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開連線。