Markel Group Inc (MKL) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to the Markel Group second-quarter 2024 conference call. (Operator Instructions)

早安，歡迎參加 Markel 集團 2024 年第二季電話會議。（操作員說明）

During the call today, we may make forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. They are based on current assumptions and opinions concerning a variety of known and unknown risks. Actual results may differ materially from those contained in or suggested by such forward-looking statements.

在今天的電話會議中，我們可能會做出 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》含義內的前瞻性陳述。它們基於當前有關各種已知和未知風險的假設和意見。實際結果可能與此類前瞻性陳述中包含或暗示的結果有重大差異。

Additional information about factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements is included in the press release for our second quarter 2024 results as well as our most recent annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly report on Form 10-Q, including under the captions, Safe Harbor and Cautionary Statements and Risk Factors.

有關可能導致實際結果與前瞻性陳述中預測的結果存在重大差異的因素的更多信息，請參閱我們2024 年第二季度業績的新聞稿以及我們最新的10-K 表格年度報告和10-K 表格季度報告。

We may also discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures during the call today. You may find the most directly comparable GAAP measures and a reconciliation to GAAP for these measures in the press release for our second quarter 2024 results or our most recent Form 10-Q.

我們也可能在今天的電話會議上討論某些非公認會計準則財務指標。您可以在我們 2024 年第二季業績的新聞稿或最新的 10-Q 表格中找到最直接可比較的 GAAP 衡量標準以及這些衡量標準的 GAAP 調整表。

The press release for our second quarter 2024 results as well as our Form 10-K and Form 10-Q can be found on our website at www.mklgroup.com in the Investor Relations section. Please note, this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Tom Gayner, Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead.

有關 2024 年第二季業績的新聞稿以及 10-K 表格和 10-Q 表格可在我們網站 www.mklgroup.com 的投資者關係部分找到。請注意，此事件正在被記錄。我現在想將會議交給執行長湯姆蓋納 (Tom Gayner)。請繼續。

Thank you, and good morning. Welcome to the Markel Group second-quarter conference call. My name is Tom Gayner, and I serve as your CEO. I'm joined today by our CFO, Brian Costanzo; and the President of our Insurance Operations, Jeremy Noble.

謝謝你，早安。歡迎參加馬克爾集團第二季電話會議。我叫湯姆·蓋納，我是你們的執行長。今天我們的財務長 Brian Costanzo 也加入了我的行列。以及我們的保險業務總裁傑里米·諾布爾 (Jeremy Noble)。

I'll make a few opening remarks and then turn things over to Brian and Jeremy to update you on our financial results and some comments on our insurance engine. Then we will open the floor for questions.

我將做一些開場白，然後將事情交給 Brian 和 Jeremy，向您介紹我們的最新財務業績以及對我們保險引擎的一些評論。然後我們將開始提問。

We always appreciate the chance to spend time with our partners. We cannot build the Markel Group without long-term owners who share our goals. As such, we welcome your long-term questions, thoughts, and comments as fellow owners of the business.

我們總是很高興有機會與我們的合作夥伴共度時光。如果沒有與我們有著共同目標的長期所有者，我們就無法建立 Markel 集團。因此，我們歡迎您作為企業所有者提出長期問題、想法和意見。

First off, we've got some good results to share with you. Brian will follow the conventions of financial reporting and share our most recent quarterly and year-to-date financial results. I will speak to some longer-term numbers. Those results will show positive contributions from each of our three engines.

首先，我們有一些好的結果可以與您分享。布萊恩將遵循財務報告慣例，分享我們最近的季度和年初至今的財務表現。我將談論一些長期數字。這些結果將顯示我們三台引擎的正面貢獻。

Our insurance engine continued to grow in the first half of 2024. Underwriting profitability improved sequentially from the first quarter. Our ongoing accounting conservatism and integrity can also be seen by ongoing favorable reserve development.

2024年上半年，我們的保險引擎持續成長。承保獲利能力較一季較上季改善。我們持續的會計穩健性和誠信性也可以從持續的有利儲備發展中看出。

We continue to produce improved underwriting results so far in 2024, despite ongoing industry-wide pressures of inflation and loss costs across almost every class of business. I am proud of our insurance teammates and their ongoing dedication to continuing to improve our underwriting performance.

儘管幾乎所有類別的業務都面臨全行業的通貨膨脹和損失成本壓力，但到 2024 年，我們的承保業績仍將繼續取得改善。我為我們的保險團隊成員以及他們持續致力於繼續提高我們的承保業績而感到自豪。

In our Ventures operations, we set new records in sales and earnings. I think it's accurate to say that we achieved these results against a backdrop of increasingly competitive and challenging external positions. I would also describe the overall economic environment, as returning to some sense of normality after the last few years of disrupted overall conditions, supply chain challenges emerging and being dealt with, dramatic interest rate movements in both directions and other volatility creating surprises of HEP snapping speed in force. Markel Ventures continues to perform very well amidst these conditions, and I couldn't be prouder of the team's efforts and their results.

在我們的創投業務中，我們創下了銷售和盈利的新記錄。我認為可以準確地說，我們是在外部競爭日益激烈、充滿挑戰的背景下取得這些成果的。我還將描述整體經濟環境，即在過去幾年總體狀況受到破壞之後，在某種意義上恢復了正常狀態，供應鏈挑戰不斷出現並正在解決，利率雙向大幅波動以及其他波動性導致HEP 突然崩潰速度有效。在這些條件下，Markel Ventures 繼續表現出色，我為團隊的努力和成果感到無比自豪。

One other point on Ventures is that for the last several years, we've been talking about how high transaction prices were in the buying and selling the businesses. As such, we acted with discipline and did not add any new companies to our family in 2022 or 2023. I'm pleased to report that so far in 2024, our partners at VSC and Costa Farms have acquired businesses that complement their existing offerings and footprint.

關於創投的另一點是，在過去的幾年裡，我們一直在討論買賣企業的交易價格有多高。因此，我們行事嚴謹，在 2022 年或 2023 年沒有為我們的家族添加任何新公司。我很高興地報告，截至 2024 年，我們的 VSC 和 Costa Farms 合作夥伴已經收購了一些業務，以補充他們現有的產品和業務。

We also added a new Markel Ventures company at the end of the second quarter with the purchase of a majority interest in Valor Environmental. Valor is a leading provider of erosion control, storm water management, and regulatory-driven site services, and we are delighted to welcome them to the family. Valor in each of the VSC and Costa transactions met our long-standing four-part tasks we use to guide us in selecting investments, both public and private.

我們也在第二季末增加了一家新的 Markel Ventures 公司，購買了 Valor Environmental 的多數股權。Valor 是侵蝕控制、雨水管理和監管驅動的現場服務的領先提供商，我們很高興歡迎他們加入這個大家庭。VSC 和 Costa 的每筆交易中的勇氣都滿足了我們長期以來的四部分任務，我們用這些任務來指導我們選擇公共和私人投資。

Those four parts are, one, we look for businesses with good returns on capital that don't use too much debt; second, we look for management teams with equal measures of talent and integrity; third, we look for businesses with reinvestment opportunities and capital discipline; and four, we look for all of those first three lovely attributes at a fair price. As to Valor and the additions of Costa and VSC, check, check, check, and check.

這四個部分是，第一，我們尋找資本回報率良好且不使用太多債務的企業；其次，我們尋找人才和誠信同等的管理團隊；第三，我們尋找具有再投資機會和資本紀律的企業；第四，我們以合理的價格尋找所有前三個可愛的屬性。至於Valor以及Costa和VSC的補充，檢查，檢查，檢查，檢查。

It's worth noting that beyond being an attractive buyer and home to sellers of long-term, multi-generation family businesses and their owners, at certain times, we can be an attractive buyer for financial backers such as family offices and private equity firms. Until recently, we did not consummate any deals for those types of sellers.

值得注意的是，除了成為長期、多代家族企業及其所有者的有吸引力的買家和賣家之外，在某些時候，我們還可以成為家族辦公室和私募股權公司等財務支持者的有吸引力的買家。直到最近，我們還沒有為這些類型的賣家完成任何交易。

Higher interest rates and changing business conditions are starting to shake a few things loose from some different trees these days. We are productively engaged in way more conversations with way more kinds of sellers in this environment than it has been in the case in recent years. Stay tuned for more news as time goes by. I am personally excited by what we're seeing and what we're working on these days.

如今，更高的利率和不斷變化的商業環境開始動搖一些不同的東西。在這種環境下，與近年來的情況相比，我們與更多類型的賣家進行了富有成效的對話。隨著時間的推移，請繼續關注更多新聞。我個人對我們這些天所看到的和我們正在做的事情感到興奮。

Our ability to productively deploy capital at good rates of return and durable businesses that meet our four-part test is exciting to me. The skills and relationships required to invest capital wisely don't spring up overnight. We've been honing these skills for decades, and the opportunities to act on them are now growing.

我們能夠以良好的回報率和持久的業務有效地部署資本，滿足我們的四部分測試，這讓我感到興奮。明智地投資資本所需的技能和關係不會一夜之間出現。幾十年來，我們一直在磨練這些技能，現在運用這些技能的機會正在增加。

On the investment side, we continue to consistently follow our time-tested strategy. The recurring interest and dividend income continues to increase as each maturing bond in our portfolio is replaced with a higher coupon security. Similarly, dividend income from our high-quality portfolio of equities continues to increase.

在投資方面，我們繼續一貫遵循經過時間考驗的策略。隨著我們投資組合中每隻到期債券被更高票面證券取代，經常性利息和股息收入持續增加。同樣，我們優質股票投資組合的股利收入持續增加。

While our relative equity returns this year trails the S&P 500, we remain committed to our long-term disciplined approach. The last time we trailed the S&P by this magnitude was in the late 1990s when the market seemed possessed by a singular market focus. We stuck to our guns and preserved and protected our balance sheet.

雖然我們今年的相對股本回報率落後於標準普爾 500 指數，但我們仍然致力於長期嚴格的方針。上一次我們如此大幅度地落後標準普爾指數是在 20 世紀 90 年代末，當時市場似乎被單一的市場焦點所佔據。我們堅持己見，維護和保護我們的資產負債表。

That turned out to be a good thing, when the market environment changed. It seems to me like we might be facing a similar phase change environment today as we did at that time. We have been and will remain committed to our successful time-tested, low-cost and tax-efficient strategy.

當市場環境發生變化時，這被證明是一件好事。在我看來，我們今天可能面臨著與當時類似的相變環境。我們一直並將繼續致力於我們經過時間考驗的成功、低成本和節稅策略。

Finally, before I turn the call over to Brian to review the 2024 results, I want to provide some thoughts on a longer-term horizon measurement of our progress at the Markel Group. As we've stated repeatedly over the years, we aspire to build one of the world's great companies, and we mean to do so in an enduring fashion.

最後，在我打電話給 Brian 回顧 2024 年業績之前，我想就 Markel Group 的長期進展衡量提供一些想法。正如我們多年來反覆聲明的那樣，我們渴望建立世界上最偉大的公司之一，並且我們打算以持久的方式做到這一點。

As one tool to foster long-term behavior, internally, we measure our performance over five-year intervals to judge our performance and calculate incentive compensation. We do so in an effort to constantly remain focused on longer-term accomplishments rather than quarterly or annual measures.

作為培養長期行為的一種工具，我們在內部以五年為間隔衡量我們的績效，以判斷我們的績效併計算激勵薪酬。我們這樣做是為了不斷關注長期成就，而不是季度或年度指標。

Five years ago, at June 30, 2019, we had total net investments, that is our entire investment portfolio plus cash minus debt of $17.5 billion. As of June 30, 2024, that number stands at $28.2 billion, an increase of 61%.

五年前，也就是 2019 年 6 月 30 日，我們的淨投資總額為 175 億美元，也就是我們的整個投資組合加上現金減去債務。截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日，這一數字達到 282 億美元，成長 61%。

Five years ago through June 30, 2019, we earned underwriting and insurance income of $142 million. Five years later, through June 30, 2024, we earned underwriting and insurance income of $313 million, an increase of 120%.

五年前截至 2019 年 6 月 30 日，我們的核保和保險收入為 1.42 億美元。五年後，截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日，我們的核保和保險收入達到 3.13 億美元，成長了 120%。

Five years ago through June 30, 2019, we earned $133 million of operating income in our Markel Ventures operations. Through June 30, 2024, we earned $281 million of operating income, an increase of 112%.

五年前到 2019 年 6 月 30 日，我們的 Markel Ventures 業務賺取了 1.33 億美元的營業收入。截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日，我們實現營業收入 2.81 億美元，成長 112%。

At June 30, 2019, each share of Markel sold for about $1,100. At June 30, 2024, each share of Markel sold for about $1,575, an increase of about 43%. The share price change is the lowest number on the page.

截至 2019 年 6 月 30 日，Markel 每股售價約為 1,100 美元。截至2024年6月30日，Markel每股售價約1,575美元，漲幅約43%。股價變動是頁面上最低的數字。

In response to our own calculation of the intrinsic value per share of Markel and the array of opportunities available to us to productively deploy capital, we've repurchased Markel shares. Five years ago, the share count stood at 13.826 million shares. At June 30, 2024, it stood at 12.962 million, a decrease of almost 1 million shares. The vast majority of these repurchases took place in the 2022 through 2024 time frame.

根據我們自己對 Markel 每股內在價值的計算以及我們可以有效部署資本的一系列機會，我們回購了 Markel 股票。五年前，股數為1382.6萬股。截至2024年6月30日，為1296.2萬股，減少近100萬股。絕大多數回購發生在 2022 年至 2024 年。

It seems to me that math indicates we're looking at the circumstance of more company divided by fewer shares. I think that this ought to produce excellent returns for our shareholders over time. Even more important than the numbers is the way the numbers get achieved.

在我看來，數學表明我們正在研究更多公司除以更少股份的情況。我認為隨著時間的推移，這應該會為我們的股東帶來豐厚的回報。比數字更重要的是實現數字的方式。

The numbers are the outcome and the results of our culture and the efforts of people of this company. As we say in the first paragraph of our culture statement, the Markel Style, we believe in hard work and a zealous pursuit of excellence while keeping a sense of humor. Our creed is honesty and fairness in all of our dealings. I am proud of the people Markel, and I thank them for their ongoing efforts to build our company around such wonderful principles.

這些數字是我們的文化和公司員工努力的成果。正如我們在我們的文化聲明“馬克爾風格”的第一段中所說，我們相信努力工作和對卓越的熱忱追求，同時保持幽默感。我們的信條是在所有交易中誠實和公平。我為馬克爾員工感到自豪，我感謝他們為圍繞如此美好的原則建立我們公司所做的持續努力。

With that, I'd like to turn things over to Brian. But wait, before I do, I just want to interject here, my frac and able and wonderful assistance, Cynthia Featherman actually deployed the tools of AI to take my comments and ask Microsoft copilot to write a poem about what I just said. This will only take a second, but I can't help, but share it with you.

有了這個，我想把事情交給布萊恩。但等等，在我這樣做之前，我只想在這裡插話，我的frac 和能幹且出色的幫助，Cynthia Featherman 實際上部署了人工智能工具來接受我的評論，並要求微軟副駕駛寫一首關於我剛才所說的話的詩。這只需要一秒鐘，但我忍不住，但與你分享。

So here it goes. We're glad to share some news with you about our quarter two review. We have three engines that fuel our fire, insurance, ventures and investments they inspire. Our insurance engine showed its skill in underwriting despite some mills. Our ventures engine soared to new heights in sales and earnings and new buys. Our investment engine stuck to our plan of low-cost, tax-efficient and brand. We track our progress over five years, and we see more value and less fears. We also bought back some of our stock to show you that we value your lock. We thank you for your trust in backing, and we hope you'll join our unpacking. So with that AI augmented presentation, let me turn it over to you, Brian.

所以就這樣了。我們很高興與您分享有關第二季度審核的一些消息。我們擁有三個引擎，為我們的火力、保險、創投提供動力。儘管有一些工廠，我們的保險引擎還是顯示出了其承保能力。我們的創投引擎在銷售、獲利和新購買方面飆升至新的高度。我們的投資引擎堅持低成本、節稅、品牌的計畫。我們追蹤五年來的進展，我們看到了更多的價值和更少的恐懼。我們也回購了一些庫存，以向您表明我們重視您的鎖。感謝您對我們的信任支持，也希望您能加入我們的拆箱行列。那麼，關於人工智慧增強演示，讓我把它交給你，布萊恩。

Thanks, Tom. It'd be hard to top that. Maybe we can make Dr. Seuss book out of that poem there. Excited to be here this morning to discuss our results for the first half of 2024. Each of our three engines, insurance, investments, and Markel Ventures made significant contributions to our first-half results.

謝謝，湯姆。很難超越這一點。也許我們可以用那首詩來製作蘇斯博士的書。很高興今天早上能夠在這裡討論我們 2024 年上半年的業績。我們的三個引擎、保險、投資和 Markel Ventures 都為我們上半年的業績做出了重大貢獻。

Starting off with the consolidated results. Total revenues increased 5% to $8.2 billion for the first half of 2024, and total operating income increased slightly year over year to $1.75 billion with the largest driver of growth being a 34% increase in our net investment income.

從綜合結果開始。2024 年上半年，總收入成長 5%，達到 82 億美元，總營業收入較去年小幅成長，達到 17.5 億美元，其中最大的成長動力是淨投資收入成長 34%。

Net income to common shareholders was $1.3 billion in the first half of 2024 compared to $1.2 in the same period of 2023. Comprehensive income to shareholders in the first half of both 2024 and 2023 was $1.2 billion.

2024 年上半年普通股股東淨利為 13 億美元，而 2023 年同期為 1.2 美元。2024年及2023年上半年股東綜合收益均為12億美元。

Net cash provided by operating activities was $1.2 billion in the first half of 2024 compared to $1 billion in the same period of 2023. Operating cash flows in 2024 reflected strong cash flows from each of our operating engines with the most significant contribution coming from our insurance engine.

2024 年上半年經營活動提供的淨現金為 12 億美元，而 2023 年同期為 10 億美元。2024 年的營運現金流反映了我們每個營運引擎的強勁現金流，其中最重要的貢獻來自我們的保險引擎。

In May, we issued $600 million of 30-year 6% unsecured senior notes, bringing our debt-to-capital ratio to 22%. In the first half of 2024, we repurchased $260 million of Markel Group common stock under our outstanding share repurchase program compared to $187 million in the same period of last year.

5 月份，我們發行了 6 億美元的 30 年期 6% 無抵押優先票據，使我們的債務與資本比率達到 22%。2024 年上半年，我們根據已發行股票回購計畫回購了價值 2.6 億美元的 Markel Group 普通股，去年同期為 1.87 億美元。

Turning now to the performance of our three operating engines and starting with our insurance engine. Gross written premiums within our underwriting operations grew by 6% to $5.7 billion for the first half of 2024 compared to $5.4 billion in the same period of 2023.

現在轉向我們三個正在運行的引擎的性能，並從我們的保險引擎開始。2024 年上半年，我們承保業務的總承保保費成長了 6%，達到 57 億美元，而 2023 年同期為 54 億美元。

Our increased premium volume was driven by our international marine and energy insurance and reinsurance business and growth on select US lines of business, including personal lines and programs. This was partially offset by targeted premium contraction in select classes within our US professional liability and general liability portfolios where we took underwriting actions to improve profitability. Jeremy will discuss these actions in more detail within his commentary.

我們的保費成長是由我們的國際海運和能源保險及再保險業務以及特定美國業務（包括個人險種和計劃）的增長所推動的。這被我們美國專業責任和一般責任投資組合中特定類別的目標保費收縮所部分抵消，在這些類別中，我們採取了承保行動來提高盈利能力。傑里米將在他的評論中更詳細地討論這些行動。

Our consolidated combined ratio for the first half of 2024 was 94% compared to 93% in the same period of 2023. The 1 point increase was due to higher attritional loss ratios on our professional liability and general liability insurance product lines as we remain prudent in adding margin to classes with challenging loss trends. Also, we recognized losses on our discontinued intellectual property collateral protection insurance product.

2024 年上半年我們的綜合綜合成本率為 94%，而 2023 年同期為 93%。增加 1 個百分點是由於我們的專業責任和一般責任保險產品線的損耗損失率較高，因為我們仍然謹慎地為具有挑戰性的損失趨勢的類別增加保證金。此外，我們也確認了已停產的智慧財產權抵押保障保險產品的損失。

On year-to-date 2024 consolidated combined ratio, we included $96.8 million or 2 points of losses on our CPI product line. Prior year loss reserves development improved over the first half of 2024 to $221 million in loss takedowns versus $139 million in 2023. Favorable development in the first half of 2024 was most notable within our international professional liability product lines.

根據 2024 年年初至今的綜合綜合成本率，我們在 CPI 產品線中計入了 9,680 萬美元或 2 個百分點的損失。2024 年上半年，上一年的損失準備金發展有所改善，損失減少額達 2.21 億美元，而 2023 年為 1.39 億美元。2024 年上半年的良好發展在我們的國際專業責任產品線中最為顯著。

We remain cautious in our approach to reducing prior year loss reserves on our longer-tail US professional liability and general liability lines given recent claim trends. Within our program services and ILS operations, operating income increased 23% to $61 million primarily driven by strong growth and performance in our fronting businesses.

鑑於最近的索賠趨勢，我們在減少美國長尾專業責任和一般責任險上一年損失準備金的方法上保持謹慎。在我們的專案服務和 ILS 業務中，營業收入成長了 23%，達到 6,100 萬美元，這主要得益於我們前沿業務的強勁成長和業績。

Moving next to our investment results. We reported net investment income of $441 million in the first half of 2024 compared to $329 million in the same period last year. Net investment income reflects the recurring interest and dividends earned on our investment portfolio.

接下來是我們的投資結果。我們報告 2024 年上半年淨投資收入為 4.41 億美元，去年同期為 3.29 億美元。淨投資收入反映了我們投資組合所賺取的經常性利息和股利。

We continue to benefit from higher interest rates as the yield on our fixed maturity portfolio, short-term investments, and cash equivalents, all increased compared to the first half of 2023. We expect, based on the current interest rate environment, that the yield on fixed maturity securities will continue to increase slightly throughout 2024 as lower-yielding securities mature and are replaced by higher-yielding securities.

我們繼續受益於較高的利率，因為我們的固定期限投資組合、短期投資和現金等價物的收益率均較 2023 年上半年增加。我們預計，根據當前的利率環境，隨著低收益證券到期並被高收益證券取代，固定期限證券的收益率將在 2024 年繼續小幅上升。

As of June 30, 2024, the book yield on our fixed maturity portfolio was 3.4%, up from just over 3% at the end of last year. Net investment gains $772 million in 2024 reflect favorable market movements, resulting in a return of 8.9% on our public equity portfolio for the first six months of 2024.

截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日，我們固定期限投資組合的帳面收益率為 3.4%，高於去年年底的略高於 3%。2024 年的淨投資收益為 7.72 億美元，反映出有利的市場走勢，導致 2024 年前六個月我們的公共股票投資組合的回報率為 8.9%。

This compares to net investment gains of $857 million for the first half of 2023. As you've heard us say many times before, we focus on long-term investment performance, expecting variability in the equity markets from period to period.

相較之下，2023 年上半年的淨投資收益為 8.57 億美元。正如您之前多次聽到我們說過的那樣，我們專注於長期投資業績，預計股票市場會隨著時間的推移而變化。

At the end of June, the fair value of our equity portfolio included cumulative pretax unrealized gains of $6.9 billion. Net unrealized investment losses included in other comprehensive loss in the first half of 2024 or $152 million net of taxes compared to net unrealized investment gains of $30 net of taxes in the same period of 2023. Recall that we typically hold our fixed maturity investments until they mature and would generally expect unrealized holding gains and losses attributed to the change in interest rates to reverse future periods as bonds mature.

截至 6 月底，我們股票投資組合的公允價值包括累計稅前未實現收益 69 億美元。2024 年上半年計入其他綜合損失的未實現淨投資損失為稅後 1.52 億美元，而 2023 年同期的稅後未實現淨投資收益為 30 美元。回想一下，我們通常持有固定期限投資直至其到期，並且通常預計由於利率變化而導致的未實現持有收益和損失會隨著債券到期而逆轉未來時期。

We continue our long-standing precedent of investing in the highest quality of fixed income securities. As of June 30, 2024, 98% of our fixed maturity portfolio was rated AA or better and there are no current or expected credit losses within the portfolio.

我們延續了投資最高品質固定收益證券的長期先例。截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日，我們 98% 的固定期限投資組合的評級為 AA 或更高，且投資組合中不存在當前或預期的信用損失。

Finally, I'll cover the results from our Markel Ventures engine. Revenues from Markel Ventures increased 4% in the first half of 2024 versus the same period of 2023, reflecting moderate revenue increases at many of our products businesses as well as contributions from an acquisition made by one of our businesses in the first quarter of 2024.

最後，我將介紹 Markel Ventures 引擎的結果。2024 年上半年，Markel Ventures 的營收比 2023 年同期成長了 4%，反映出我們許多產品業務的營收適度成長，以及我們其中一項業務在 2024 年第一季度進行的收購的貢獻。

Markel Ventures operating income increased 7%, driven by higher revenues and improved operating margins at our consumer and building products businesses. As Tom mentioned, we also completed the acquisition of Valor Environmental late in the second quarter, adding to our family of businesses within Markel Ventures.

由於我們的消費品和建築產品業務收入增加以及營業利潤率提高，Markel Ventures 營業收入成長了 7%。正如 Tom 所提到的，我們也在第二季末完成了對 Valor Environmental 的收購，增加了 Markel Ventures 旗下的業務家族。

Inclusion of operating results from Valor will begin in the third quarter. For our June financials, the preliminary allocation of purchase price includes $108 million to million to goodwill and $49 to intangible assets. With that, I will turn it over to Jeremy to talk more about our insurance engine.

Valor 的營運業績將於第三季開始納入。對於我們 6 月的財務數據，購買價格的初步分配包括 1.08 億至 100 萬美元的商譽和 49 美元的無形資產。接下來，我將把它交給傑里米，更多地談論我們的保險引擎。

Thanks, Brian, and good morning, everyone. I'm pleased to be here with you to discuss our progress within the insurance engine over the first half of this year. Our insurance results continued to improve this year, coming off elevated combined ratio results during the latter half of 2023 due to prior year's reserve strengthening.

謝謝布萊恩，大家早安。我很高興能與您一起討論今年上半年我們在保險引擎方面的進展。由於上一年準備金加強，我們的保險業績今年持續改善，2023 年下半年綜合成本率業績有所提高。

Our combined ratio for the second quarter improved sequentially and our first half combined ratio is where we expected to be at this point in the year, despite higher losses within our intellectual property collateral protection portfolio, which is in runoff.

我們第二季度的綜合成本率環比有所改善，上半年的綜合成本率達到了我們今年此時的預期水平，儘管我們的知識產權抵押保護投資組合的損失較高，而且該投資組合正處於流失狀態。

As Brian shared, we experienced greater favorable development on prior year's reserves through six months of 2024 than a year ago and have not seen meaningful further development in the products we addressed at year end. Overall, our operating revenue growth and underwriting gross written premium growth in the first half of the year reflects the actions we have taken to improve profitability.

正如 Brian 分享的那樣，到 2024 年的六個月，我們在上一年的儲備上經歷了比一年前更有利的發展，但我們在年底解決的產品沒有看到有意義的進一步發展。整體而言，我們上半年的營業收入成長和承保總保費成長反映了我們為提高獲利能力所採取的行動。

Within our insurance segment, the lines where I have previously discussed us taking significant underwriting action to improve profitability, namely our brokerage excess and umbrella and brokerage contractors books within general liability. In our risk-managed professional liability classes, we decreased writings year to date by over 20%. The remainder of our products in our insurance segment, where we are generally achieving good levels of profitability and are satisfied with rate adequacy, have grown 8% in the aggregate.

在我們的保險部門中，我之前討論過我們採取重大承保行動來提高盈利能力，即我們的經紀超額以及保護傘和經紀承包商賬簿的一般責任。在我們的風險管理專業責任課程中，我們今年迄今的寫作量減少了 20% 以上。我們保險領域的其餘產品整體成長了 8%，我們整體上實現了良好的獲利水平，並對利率充足性感到滿意。

Now, let me briefly take you through each of our divisions for the first half of the year. First off, within our specialty division, we continue to benefit from the corrective actions taken within select classes in our casualty and professional liability books, while will also remain cautious on current accident year loss picks in these areas.

下面，我就跟大家簡單介紹一下上半年我們各部門的狀況。首先，在我們的專業部門內，我們繼續受益於我們的傷亡和專業責任手冊中選定類別所採取的糾正措施，同時也將對這些領域當前的事故年損失選擇保持謹慎。

This is most evident the gross written premium reductions in select classes of our casualty and professional books I mentioned earlier. But specifically, we continue to pursue growth and profitable product classes, including personal lines, property, inland marine, binding and small commercial, managed reliability, and select programs business. Many of these lines are achieving meaningful rate increases.

這在我之前提到的特定類別的傷亡和專業書籍中的毛承保保費下降最為明顯。但具體來說，我們繼續追求成長和盈利的產品類別，包括個人線路、財產、內陸海運、裝訂和小型商業、管理可靠性和精選項目業務。其中許多線路都實現了有意義的費率成長。

An exception is property, where in the past few months, we have seen a contraction in rates back to low single digits but still at attractive pricing levels. The growth in these lines is improving the product mix and overall combined ratio of the division as our premium earnings mix changes. Within casualty and professional liability classes, we continue to execute on our corrective underwriting action plans within certain pockets of the portfolio, where results have not met our expectations.

房地產業是一個例外，在過去的幾個月裡，我們看到利率回落至低個位數，但仍處於有吸引力的定價水平。隨著我們的溢價收益組合的變化，這些產品線的成長正在改善該部門的產品組合和整體綜合比率。在傷亡和專業責任類別中，我們繼續在投資組合的某些部分執行我們的糾正承保行動計劃，但結果未達到我們的預期。

During the first half of the year, our recently discontinued intellectual property collateral protection product line negatively impacted our combined ratio performance due to an increase in the frequency of defaults on loans collateralized by intellectual property that became impaired.

上半年，我們最近終止的智慧財產權抵押保護產品線對我們的綜合成本率表現產生了負面影響，因為以受損智慧財產權為抵押的貸款違約頻率增加。

During the second quarter, we recognized additional claims expense of $56 million relating to this discontinued product line, which adversely impacted our loss ratio by 3 points. Through the first half of 2024, we have recognized $97 million in claims activity which increased our loss ratio by 2 points.

在第二季度，我們確認了與該停產產品線相關的 5,600 萬美元額外索賠費用，這對我們的損失率產生了 3 個百分點的不利影響。截至 2024 年上半年，我們確認了 9,700 萬美元的索賠活動，這使我們的損失率增加了 2 個百分點。

Given the claims made nature of this product, most of these losses impact our current accident year attritional loss ratio. We recognized claims expense at the time are considered probable which occurs when there is both a default on the loan and an impairment on the intellectual property collateralizing the loan. That said, loan defaults are trending both at a faster clip and at a meaningfully higher level than anticipated at the beginning of the year.

鑑於該產品的索賠性質，大部分損失都會影響我們目前事故年的自然損耗率。我們認為，當貸款違約且抵押貸款的智慧財產權出現減損時，可能會發生索賠費用。也就是說，貸款違約的趨勢比年初的預期更快，水準也明顯更高。

Changes in the macroeconomic conditions have put strain on early-stage businesses, resulting in less access to capital and higher loan defaults.

宏觀經濟狀況的變化給早期企業帶來了壓力，導致獲得資本的機會減少和貸款違約率上升。

Valuations of the intangible assets, collateralized to loans also have not held up in the workout process. We expect the majority of loss activity on this product to resolve by the end of 2025. The impact in any future quarter is unlikely to be significantly more than what has been experienced in each of the past two quarters. For context, our portfolio consists of approximately 30 individual loan transactions for which we have recorded claims expense of just under half of the loans.

在解決過程中，以貸款為抵押的無形資產的估值也沒有維持。我們預計該產品的大部分損失活動將在 2025 年底前解決。未來任何季度的影響都不太可能比過去兩個季度的影響大得多。就背景而言，我們的投資組合由大約 30 筆個人貸款交易組成，我們記錄的索賠費用僅佔貸款的一半以下。

Overall, our specialty division under its recently refreshed management team led by Alex Martin has done a tremendous job of quickly executing on our corrective actions and improving profitability, while attending to the needs of our trading partners and insurers. We are now very focused on our product capabilities where we can add value and feel we can grow. I applaud our collective specialty team for their resiliency, tenacity, and commitment.

總體而言，我們的專業部門在Alex Martin 領導的最近更新的管理團隊的領導下，在快速執行我們的糾正措施和提高盈利能力方面做得非常出色，同時滿足了我們的貿易夥伴和保險公司的需求。我們現在非常關注我們的產品能力，我們可以在其中增加價值並感覺我們可以成長。我對我們集體專業團隊的韌性、堅韌和奉獻精神表示讚賞。

Our international division continues to produce fantastic results, achieving both significant premium growth of just over 8% and a sub-80 combined ratio for the first half of this year. We continue to push for growth, both organically and through geographic expansion as well as broadening our product offerings across our existing operations.

我們的國際部門持續創造出色的業績，今年上半年保費顯著成長超過 8%，綜合成本率低於 80。我們繼續透過有機成長和地理擴張以及擴大現有業務的產品供應來推動成長。

While we have seen an increase in competition and downward pressure on rates within some classes in our international book, specifically our professional liability, energy and cyber portfolios, we believe these lines are still priced at levels that meet our requirements from a rate adequacy standpoint.

雖然我們在國際帳簿中看到某些類別的競爭加劇和利率下行壓力，特別是我們的專業責任、能源和網路投資組合，但我們相信，從利率充足性的角度來看，這些產品線的定價水平仍能滿足我們的要求。

Our State National program services operations achieved significant premium growth of 22% for the first half, while producing consistent levels high profitability. We also continue to differentiate ourselves within the fronting market with our ability to facilitate and place complex transactions. Our team continues to be best in class and efficiently matching risk with capital and managing our exposures.

我們州的國家計劃服務業務上半年實現了 22% 的顯著保費增長，同時產生了持續高水平的盈利能力。我們也繼續憑藉促進和進行複雜交易的能力在前沿市場中脫穎而出。我們的團隊繼續保持一流水平，有效地將風險與資本相匹配並管理我們的風險敞口。

Within our Nephila operations, the team has been hard at work constructing attractive portfolios and responding to heightened levels of natural catastrophe losses anticipated this year. We have both hedged risk for current capacity deployed and reduced overall premium writings, which will modestly lower our operating revenues in the short term. However, these actions are in the long term best interest of our investors, and we remain excited about the future prospects of our business.

在我們的 Nephila 業務中，該團隊一直在努力建立有吸引力的投資組合，並應對今年預期的自然災害損失的加劇。我們既對沖了目前部署產能的風險，也減少了整體保費收入，這將在短期內小幅降低我們的營業收入。然而，這些行動符合我們投資者的長期最佳利益，我們對我們業務的未來前景仍然感到興奮。

In our global reinsurance division, we remain steadfastly focused on pricing adequacy for the lines we are deploying. In the current market environment, we've lowered our required combined ratio pricing targets to reflect caution, while also being opportunistic in pockets of the book and particularly within our marine and energy class. In general, we are walking away from deals where we believe pricing is inadequate.

在我們的全球再保險部門，我們仍然堅定地關注我們正在部署的產品線的定價充足性。在當前的市場環境下，我們降低了所需的綜合比率定價目標，以反映謹慎態度，同時也在帳簿的某些部分，特別是在我們的海洋和能源類別中保持機會主義。總的來說，我們會放棄那些我們認為定價不足的交易。

With that, I'd like to thank our over 5,000 associates across our insurance operations for their exemplary efforts for the first half of the year, delivering improving results, and serving our clients. Now I'll turn it back over to Tom.

在此，我要感謝我們保險業務部門的 5,000 多名員工，他們在今年上半年做出了堪稱典範的努力，交付了不斷改善的業績，並為我們的客戶提供了服務。現在我會把它轉回給湯姆。

Thank you, Jeremy, and Brian. And with that, we will open the floor for questions if we may.

謝謝傑里米和布萊恩。接下來，如果可以的話，我們將開始提問。

(Operator Instructions) Andrew Kligerman, TD Securities.

（操作員指示）Andrew Kligerman，道明證券。

Hey, good morning, everyone. Question for you around the prior year reserve release 6.9%. It seems that Markel is often -- it seems like a consistent trend that Markel can release reserves each quarter. And so what I'm thinking is, why not initially set the loss picks lower or am I not thinking about it the right way?

嘿，大家早安。關於上一年準備金釋放6.9%的問題。馬克爾似乎經常——馬克爾每季都會釋放儲備金，這似乎是一個一致的趨勢。所以我在想的是，為什麼不一開始就將損失選擇設定得更低，或者我沒有以正確的方式思考它？

Yeah, Andrew, this is Tom. Let me take the first pass at that, and I invite Brian and Jeremy to chime in as well. I've been at Markel for 34 years now, and have owned stocks since the IPO in 1986. And even before the IPO, the phrase that you would hear over and over again was that we set our reserves at levels that are more likely to prove redundant than deficient. That's been an unchanging value statement forever, for my lifetime for the history of this company.

是的，安德魯，這是湯姆。讓我先講一下，我也邀請布萊恩和傑瑞米插話。我已經在 Markel 工作了 34 年，自 1986 年 IPO 以來一直持有股票。甚至在首次公開募股之前，您會一遍又一遍地聽到的一句話是，我們將儲備金設定在更有可能被證明是多餘而不是不足的水平。在我的一生中，對於這家公司的歷史來說，這一直是個永遠不變的價值觀。

And I think that's hugely important because, it's important to be modest and humble about your ability to forecast what's really going to go on. So what we do is, we look at our book of business, we look at the risk, we look at our exposures, we take our best guess at what we think the ultimate loss costs are going to be.

我認為這非常重要，因為對你預測真正將要發生的事情的能力保持謙虛和謙遜很重要。因此，我們所做的是，我們查看我們的業務記錄，我們查看風險，我們查看我們的風險敞口，我們對最終損失成本進行最佳猜測。

And then, because we know that number is likely to be wrong, we ask ourselves, do we want it to be wrong, the wrong way or wrong the right way. And wrong the right way, is providing some margin of safety, some margin of error to be able to absorb surprises and yet still report to you fairly what's going on on a day-by-day basis.

然後，因為我們知道這個數字可能是錯的，所以我們問自己，我們希望它是錯誤的、以錯誤的方式還是以正確的方式錯誤。錯誤的正確方法是提供一定的安全邊際、一定的誤差邊際，以便能夠吸收意外情況，同時仍公平地向您報告每天發生的情況。

The other advantage to that is there's a feedback loop between setting reserves and underwriters making new pricing decisions on business that they're writing today and going forward. And if you get that reserve number a little skinny or tight, which you've introduced as a feedback loop and data to your underwriter, that would cause them to perhaps potentially write new business at a thinner rate than really what should happen.

這樣做的另一個優點是，在設定準備金和承銷商對他們今天和未來的業務做出新的定價決策之間存在反饋循環。如果你的儲備金數量有點少或緊，你已經將其作為反饋循環和數據引入承銷商中，這可能會導致他們以比實際應該發生的速度更慢的速度承保新業務。

So that's just a matter of philosophy. I know you're relatively new to following Markel. But you'll find -- if you go back in time, that has always been the case, and it will always be the case because we think that's the right way to run an insurance operation.

所以這只是一個哲學問題。我知道你對關注馬克爾還比較陌生。但你會發現——如果你回到過去，情況一直都是這樣，而且永遠都是這樣，因為我們認為這是經營保險業務的正確方式。

That makes a lot of sense, Tom. And I guess that -- okay, and that helps me frame the combined ratio better going forward. You seem genuinely very excited about opportunities in Markel Ventures right now.

這很有道理，湯姆。我想——好吧，這有助於我更好地制定未來的綜合比率。您現在似乎真的對 Markel Ventures 的機會感到非常興奮。

And I think, I heard it right on the call, but the valuation on Valor was around $200 million-plus. What are you looking at right now in terms of industries and potential price tags as you move forward?

我想，我在電話會議上聽到了，但 Valor 的估值約為 2 億美元以上。在您前進的過程中，您現在對行業和潛在價格標籤有何看法？

Well, in terms of potential industry, sometimes when I'm in a cocktail party and somebody wants to know what the Markel Group does or Markel will work? I'd say we're a holding company, we hold things that most people won't touch.

嗯，就潛在行業而言，有時當我參加雞尾酒會時，有人想知道馬克爾集團做什麼或馬克爾將做什麼？我想說我們是一家控股公司，我們持有大多數人不會碰的東西。

So we do not have an industry vertical that we seek and desire in a strategic way. We like wonderful businesses that produce good returns on capital that don't use too much debt to do it.

因此，我們沒有以戰略方式尋求和渴望的垂直行業。我們喜歡那些能夠產生良好資本回報且不使用太多債務的優秀企業。

They have management teams with integrity and talent, have reinvestment opportunities, and we can get them at a fair price. And that includes a lot of different things that you can see from the array of both the things we own in Ventures and the types of risks that we write in our insurance operation.

他們有誠信、有才華的管理團隊，有再投資的機會，我們可以以公平的價格得到他們。這包括很多不同的東西，你可以從我們在風險投資中擁有的一系列東西以及我們在保險業務中所寫的風險類型中看到。

So we're 360 degrees open. We've talked to a lot of people. We've built a lot of relationships over the years. And as a consequence, our phone rings with interesting stuff. In fact, there was one business where somebody called me and literally his opening line was, this business was so weird, I thought of you immediately.

所以我們是360度開放的。我們和很多人談過。多年來我們建立了許多關係。結果，我們的電話響起了有趣的內容。事實上，有一次，有人打電話給我，他的開場白是，這件事太奇怪了，我立刻就想到你了。

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Andrew Andersen, Jefferies.

安德魯安德森，杰弗里斯。

Good morning. You've talked about reserve studies in-depth reviews you conducted in fourth quarter 2022 and fourth quarter 2023. But could you touch on how the quarterly approach to reserve studies has changed if at all? Or should we continue to expect a larger widespread study conducted annually in the fourth quarter?

早安.您談到了您在 2022 年第四季和 2023 年第四季進行的儲備研究深入審查。但您能否談談儲備研究的季度方法是否發生了變化（如果有的話）？或者我們應該繼續期待每年第四季進行更大規模的廣泛研究？

It's Jeremy. I'll take that. So we do a comprehensive reserving study and analysis every quarter across the various years and products in each of our divisions. What stood out, in the last fourth-quarter period -- you mentioned, including the fourth quarter of this past year, was actually a more specific deeper dive in targeted areas because of some the reserving trends we have seen.

是傑里米。我會接受的。因此，我們每季都會對每個部門的不同年份和產品進行全面的儲備研究和分析。您提到的最後一個第四季度，包括去年第四季度，最突出的實際上是對目標領域的更具體的深入研究，因為我們看到了一些儲備趨勢。

So there is not to say that there is a fourth-quarter annual reserve study. Our approach to reserving and that comprehensive review of the product lines is very consistent over time. But also consistent over time, is we're always looking at anything that's developing or new trends that are deviating from our actuarial expectations and what we're seeing in the data. And if there's anything that we want to do a deeper dive on, we do those sub-class studies and examinations on a very regular basis.

所以沒有說有第四季年度儲備研究。隨著時間的推移，我們的預訂方法和對產品線的全面審查非常一致。但隨著時間的推移，我們總是專注於任何偏離我們精算預期和我們在數據中看到的情況的發展或新趨勢。如果我們想更深入地研究什麼，我們會定期進行這些子課程的學習和考試。

In the first quarter and the second quarter of this year, what we've seen is that the reserve analysis and the work that we did and the selections we made at the end of year, they've held up well. And so what you're seeing coming through is favorable development sequentially higher this year to last year, and that's driven in part by some of our shorter tail lines in the US space as well as across international portfolio.

在今年第一季和第二季度，我們看到的是，儲備分析、我們所做的工作以及我們在年底所做的選擇，都表現得很好。因此，您看到的是今年比去年連續走高的有利發展，這在一定程度上是由於我們在美國市場以及整個國際投資組合中一些較短的尾線所推動的。

Thanks for that. And then just on the growth within the insurance segment, 2% in the quarter. But it sounds like you're getting some rate on GL, though still being pretty cautious. Property returns are still pretty favorable. Would you expect primary insurance growth to accelerate a bit in the second half? And then maybe just with that, the session rate has ticked higher. Is 2Q a good run rate?

感謝那。然後是保險領域的成長，本季成長 2%。但聽起來你在 GL 上獲得了一些利率，儘管仍然非常謹慎。房產回報還是相當可觀的。您預計下半年初級保險成長會加速嗎？然後也許就這樣，會話率就上升了。2Q 的運作率好嗎？

Yeah. So there's any number of things that are happening in the portfolio. And you're exactly right, two stories that are happening. One is about in the insurance space. One is about the reshaping and re-underwriting and the actions we've taken in those areas that we've been really focused and intentional of wanting to drive some different outcomes.

是的。因此，投資組合中正在發生很多事情。你說得完全正確，兩個故事正在發生。一是關於保險領域。一是關於重塑和重新承保，以及我們在那些我們真正關注和有意想要推動一些不同結果的領域所採取的行動。

I think, I mentioned that in those product lines were down over 20% year over year. The rest of the portfolio in the aggregate is growing, and we see many pockets within the portfolio that feel actually pretty confident we can grow. So we'll continue to focus on --

我想，我提到這些產品線年減了 20% 以上。投資組合的其餘部分總體上正在增長，我們看到投資組合中的許多部分實際上對我們能夠成長充滿信心。所以我們將繼續關注--

And the opportunities we see in the International space, and then in the US space in personal lines. and in property, and binding, and small commercial, and programs, and inland marine, managed reliability a bunch of classes that we feel pretty good about.

我們在國際領域看到了機會，然後在美國領域的個人領域看到了機會。在財產、裝訂、小型商業、專案和內陸海洋、管理可靠性等方面，我們感覺非常好。

So even in the casualty and professional portfolios, where we've taken some targeted actions, we're trying to reposition and reshape those portfolios. So we still see areas of opportunity for growth. So I'm not going to guide towards a top line figure, but there certainly are pockets in the portfolio that we feel confident are profitable, are priced adequately, and that we feel that there's a good Markel value proposition. And our teams are very focused on growing in those products.

因此，即使在傷亡和專業投資組合中，我們採取了一些有針對性的行動，我們也在努力重新定位和重塑這些投資組合。因此，我們仍然看到有成長機會的領域。因此，我不會指導營收數字，但我們確信投資組合中的某些部分是有利可圖的，定價適當，而且我們認為有一個良好的馬克爾價值主張。我們的團隊非常專注於這些產品的發展。

John Fox, Fenimore.

約翰·福克斯，費尼莫爾。

Thank you. Good morning, everyone. In July, you did a press release on a reinsurance deal between State National and James River, which you didn't address in the Q. So I'm wondering if you could talk about that? And my understanding is there's some type of risk sharing in terms of future development. So Jeremy, maybe you could talk about that deal? And what are the risks to the downside if things are not developing as expected?

謝謝。大家，早安。7 月，您就 State National 和 James River 之間的再保險交易發布了新聞稿，但您在問題中沒有提及這一點。我的理解是，在未來的發展方面存在某種類型的風險分擔。傑里米，也許你可以談談那筆交易？如果事情沒有如預期發展，下行風險是什麼？

Yeah. Sure, John. This is Jeremy. So let me touch on that. Obviously, the attention that was garnered by that transaction comes from a counterparty on the one side of the transaction. So this deal is a State National deal and State National Insurance Company entered into that loss portfolio in adverse development cover reinsurance contract with the party that you mentioned.

是的。當然，約翰。這是傑里米。讓我談談這一點。顯然，該交易引起的關注來自於交易一方的交易對手。因此，這筆交易是一項州國民交易，州國民保險公司與您提到的一方簽訂了不利發展保險再保險合約中的損失組合。

So there's -- obviously, terms and conditions are laid out. Now, actually, this is very consistent with the role that State National plays in fronting transactions. So that deal was 100% retroceded, and all of the obligations associated with that loss portfolio transfer and adverse development cover agreement were transferred to a high-quality reinsurer.

顯然，條款和條件已經制定。實際上，這與國家國民在前置交易中所扮演的角色非常一致。因此，該交易被 100% 撤銷，與損失組合轉移和不利發展承保協議相關的所有義務均轉移給了一家高品質的再保險公司。

And those -- that retrocession contract, we contained the same credit risk mitigation features that would be typical of state nationals long-standing risk management practices. So that's actually -- I would say, we believe that, that agreement is a great example of our capabilities as the preeminent leader in the fronting space where at State National, we're able to support large complex transactions, efficiently match risk and capital, utilizing those market-leading services and capabilities within the State National platform, but also still taking this credit-risk-mitigation features that are very typical of our long-standing State National approach. That's part of the reason also you wouldn't see it disclosed within Markel, because it's really a State National transaction. It's more a fee-for-service type of arrangement.

在轉分保合約中，我們包含了與州國民長期風險管理實務相同的信用風險緩解功能。所以，實際上——我想說，我們相信，該協議是我們作為前沿領域卓越領導者的能力的一個很好的例子，在國家國家銀行，我們能夠支持大型複雜交易，有效匹配風險和資本，利用州國家平台內的那些市場領先的服務和功能，但仍採用這種信用風險緩解功能，這是我們長期以來州國家方法的典型特徵。這也是您不會在 Markel 內部看到它披露的部分原因，因為這實際上是一項國家交易。這更像是一種按服務付費的安排。

Okay. So when I look at the James River's release, which says State National provides $160 million adverse development, that's been reinsured out away from Markel's balance sheet?

好的。那麼，當我查看 James River 的新聞稿時，其中說 State National 提供了 1.6 億美元的不利開發，這些資金已從 Markel 的資產負債表中再保險了？

That's right. It's very similar to the deals that we would enter into in the fronting space with State National. There's a contract on one counterparty in the front end. There's another contract with another counterparty on the back end. We match up all those sorts of terms. And that's really what that fronting model, that State National model is all about.

這是正確的。這與我們在前沿領域與 State National 達成的交易非常相似。前端有一個交易對手的合約。後端還有另一份與另一個交易對手的合約。我們匹配所有這些術語。這確實是前沿模型、州國家模型的全部。

Okay. Great. And so staying in the weeds on reinsurance. In the Q on Page 24, it looks like there was some type of deal with Nephila and it looks like you reinsured that out also. So could you talk about the deal between Nephila and Markel in the quarter?

好的。偉大的。因此，在再保險方面仍處於困境。在第 24 頁的 Q 中，看起來與 Nephila 達成了某種類型的交易，而且您似乎也對該交易進行了再保險。那麼您能談談本季度 Nephila 和 Markel 之間的交易嗎？

Yeah. I don't have that language directly in front of me, and I don't think there was anything unique in the quarter with regards to Nephila. But however, what you may picking up on is within our other fronting operations.

是的。我沒有直接面對這種語言，我認為本季 Nephila 沒有任何獨特之處。但是，您可能會了解到我們其他前沿業務的內容。

We've seen an uptick in the premiums there, and we're acknowledging that those premiums are associated with the Nephila platform. That is where Nephila uses our rated balance sheet in some of its products that have enhanced fee features to support some of its investors.

我們看到那裡的保費有所上升，我們承認這些保費與 Nephila 平台相關。這就是 Nephila 在其一些產品中使用我們的評級資產負債表的地方，這些產品具有增強的費用功能來支持其一些投資者。

So again, it's leveraging some of the wider tools and capabilities that we have within the Markel platform to support some of the products and capabilities that Nephila has. But again, those arrangements would be using Markel rated paper but ultimately would be supporting third-party capital and investors.

因此，它再次利用 Markel 平台中擁有的一些更廣泛的工具和功能來支援 Nephila 擁有的一些產品和功能。但同樣，這些安排將使用馬克爾評級的紙張，但最終將支持第三方資本和投資者。

Yeah, John, maybe I'll add real quick. When you see other fronting eferred to in the Q or the press release, not all of it, but the majority of that is attributed to the Nephila transactions that Jeremy just described.

是的，約翰，也許我會很快補充。當你在 Q 或新聞稿中看到其他標題時，並不是全部，但其中大部分都歸因於 Jeremy 剛才描述的 Nephila 交易。

Charlie Lederer, Citigroup.

查理·萊德勒，花旗集團。

Hi, thanks. I have a few questions on the IP business that I know you discontinued, so I apologize. But can you walk us through the claims process with that product? We understand that some of these policies trigger a claim and the amount of the full collateral regardless of its value. Is that correct? And is that part of the severity here?

你好謝謝。我有一些關於智慧財產權業務的問題，我知道你們已經停止了，所以我很抱歉。但是您能引導我們完成該產品的索賠流程嗎？我們了解，其中一些保單會觸發索賠和全額抵押品的金額，無論其價值如何。那是對的嗎？這是這裡嚴重性的一部分嗎？

Yeah. Hey, Charlie, it's Jeremy. So you're right. The product is -- does have a sort of a dual trigger. So really, there needs to be a default on the loan, and that loan is backed by the IP. And then you also have to have the impairment in the collateral that secures loan. So that is the intellectual property itself.

是的。嘿，查理，我是傑瑞米。所以你是對的。該產品確實有一種雙觸發器。所以實際上，貸款需要違約，而該貸款是由智慧財產權支持的。然後你還必須對擔保貸款的抵押品進行減損。這就是知識產權本身。

So when we recognize claims or loss activity, we're reacting both to a default on the loan as well as to the impairment and the intellectual property of that entity that secured the loan.

因此，當我們確認索賠或損失活動時，我們不僅對貸款違約以及擔保貸款實體的減損和智慧財產權做出反應。

Got it. And how long of a process is that to determine the value of the IP or the collateral?

知道了。確定知識產權或抵押品價值的過程需要多長時間？

Yeah, it is a little bit contract to contract, but there tends to be from the point of a trigger default. I want to say something like six to nine months period to be able to actively work out what comes next. And there's any number of things that could happen with regard to the emerging or start-up, early-stage companies with regards to what could happen. If something doesn't occur in that six to nine-month period, that would then trigger an actual default. And the settlement -- and the potential settlement of the claim.

是的，這是一個有點合約到合約的情況，但往往是從觸發違約的角度開始的。我想說的是大約六到九個月的時間，以便能夠積極地制定接下來的計劃。對於新興或新創、早期階段的公司來說，可能會發生很多事情。如果在六到九個月的時間內沒有發生任何事情，就會觸發實際的違約。以及和解——以及索賠的潛在和解。

(Operator Instructions) Andrew Kligerman, TD Securities.

（操作員指示）Andrew Kligerman，道明證券。

Hey, thanks for taking me back in the queue. Just on the intellectual property item, you mentioned, I believe, on this call and in the 10-Q that there's a possibility that you could see similar loss levels in the subsequent two quarters. Why not take reserve charge right now just to kind of capture that if you think there's a good chance that, that will occur?

嘿，謝謝你讓我回到隊列。就智慧財產權項目而言，我相信您在這次電話會議和 10-Q 報告中提到，您有可能在接下來的兩個季度看到類似的損失水準。如果您認為這種情況很有可能發生，為什麼不立即採取儲備費用來捕捉這種情況呢？

Yeah. Andrew, this is Brian. I mean this is -- it's a tricky product. And if you think back to what Tom was talking about in our reserving philosophy, if this wasn't a unique product, that's probably what we would do. The fact that it's a claims-made product introduced a little bit of a different trigger in terms of when we recognize the claim expense.

是的。安德魯，這是布萊恩。我的意思是，這是一個棘手的產品。如果你回想一下湯姆在我們的預訂理念中所說的內容，如果這不是一個獨特的產品，我們可能會這麼做。事實上，它是一種索賠產品，在我們何時確認索賠費用方面引入了一些不同的觸發因素。

So as Jeremy mentioned, it's really looking at when we have a probable loss under that dual trigger mechanism. So there's a default on the loan, along with an impairment of the IP collateral that's backing the loan. That's well ahead of when the workouts are going to finalize and when you would ultimately pay the loss, but it's also not front-loading everything upfront.

正如傑里米所提到的，它真正關注的是在雙重觸發機制下我們何時可能出現損失。因此，存在貸款違約，以及支持貸款的知識產權抵押品的減損。這遠早於訓練即將結束以及您最終要支付損失的時間，但它也不是預先加載所有內容。

The best analogy to that is kind of how a mortgage product works where you don't anticipate all the defaults on a mortgage product on day one, they kind of spread out over the life of the -- length of the mortgage loans that are out there.

對此最好的類比是抵押貸款產品的運作方式，你不會在第一天就預料到抵押貸款產品的所有違約，它們會分散在抵押貸款的整個生命週期中。

I see. So given that it's a claims-made product, does that imply then that these policies are probably not going to last through the balance of the year. So by the end of this year, the claims that come in will be done and over with? Is that a fair way to think about it as well?

我懂了。因此，鑑於它是一款理賠產品，這是否意味著這些保單可能不會持續到今年剩餘時間。那麼到今年年底，收到的索賠將會完成嗎？這也是一種公平的思考方式嗎？

Yeah. The loans are typically four or five-year terms. So the policy is written over the duration of the loan. So the coverage lasts for the entirety of that loan, including to the ultimate repayment of the loan at the end. And so you're monitoring each of these deals throughout the duration of the loan and measure it against that criteria on a quarterly basis that I laid out.

是的。貸款期限通常為四年或五年。因此，保單是在貸款期間內制定的。因此，保險範圍持續整個貸款，包括最後貸款的最終償還。因此，您在整個貸款期間監控每筆交易，並根據我制定的每季標準進行衡量。

John Fox, Fenimore.

約翰·福克斯，費尼莫爾。

Hi. I guess I was getting limited to two questions. So I just want to confirm, I didn't see any cat losses disclosed in the Q. Is that correct?

你好。我想我只能問兩個問題。所以我只是想確認一下，我沒有看到問題中披露的任何貓損失。

Hey John, it's Jeremy. That's correct. We tend to -- there's always a little bit of bump in things that go bump in the night as far as the catastrophes go. We tend to just record that in attritional unless there's something that really stands out.

嘿約翰，我是傑瑞米。這是正確的。我們傾向於—只要發生災難，事情總會在夜間發生一些顛簸。除非有真正突出的東西，否則我們傾向於將其記錄為自然損耗。

Charlie Lederer, Citigroup.

查理·萊德勒，花旗集團。

Hi. Thanks. Sorry to harp on the IP stuff a little bit more. But last year, I think in 3Q and 4Q, you called out some losses that I think were credit losses related to the collateral not being what it was purported to be. Were there losses on top of those figures last year? I just want to make sure I understand the trend.

你好。謝謝。抱歉，我又多費口舌談 IP 的問題了。但去年，我認為在第三季和第四季度，您指出了一些損失，我認為這些損失是與抵押品不符合其聲稱的情況有關的信用損失。去年這些數字之外還有虧損嗎？我只是想確保我了解趨勢。

Yeah. Sure, Charlie. It's Jeremy. So -- and the specifics are documented in our disclosures, both in last year's third quarter 10-Q as well as the most recent 10-K. So we would have said last year, total losses on the CPI product amounted to a little more than 1 point on our consolidated combined rate ratio. Approximately 60% of that would have been associated with those two fraudulent letters of credit that we spoke to.

是的。當然，查理。是傑里米。因此，具體細節記錄在我們的揭露中，包括去年第三季的 10-Q 以及最近的 10-K。因此，我們去年會說，CPI 產品的總損失相當於我們綜合綜合利率比 1 點多一點。其中大約 60% 與我們採訪的兩份欺詐性信用證有關。

So we did acknowledge and highlight in the third fourth quarter of last year that there were also underlying losses associated with some of the defaults. And then we've seen that activity, and we've obviously quantified that activity through the first two quarters of this year.

因此，我們確實在去年第三季承認並強調，某些違約也存在潛在損失。然後我們看到了這種活動，而且我們顯然已經量化了今年前兩個季度的活動。

And we've talked about what could potentially happen in any future quarter as far as unlikely to be significantly more than what's experienced in this quarter. And we've said that should be done by the end of 2025 at the latest from a material standpoint, and we've given you a sense of the total size of the portfolio and how many defaults have happened.

我們已經討論了未來任何季度可能發生的情況，但不太可能明顯超過本季所經歷的情況。我們已經說過，從實質角度來看，最遲應該在 2025 年底之前完成，並且我們已經讓您了解了投資組合的總規模以及發生了多少次違約。

So I think we've laid out on IP as much of the inputs as possible to be as transparent as possible and allow you to come to your own conclusions. I do think, because there's a lot of questions, I think it's worth pointing out, the primary reason for providing some of the specifics around the CPI losses is that otherwise, it masks the improvement that we're seeing across the wider core ongoing insurance portfolios. And that's what I think is so important.

因此，我認為我們已經在智慧財產權方面提供了盡可能多的投入，以盡可能透明，並讓您得出自己的結論。我確實認為，因為存在許多問題，我認為值得指出，提供有關 CPI 損失的一些細節的主要原因是，否則，它掩蓋了我們在更廣泛的核心持續保險中看到的改善投資組合。這就是我認為非常重要的。

We've been working really hard to navigate current market conditions, take proactive actions where necessary, grow in many diversified lines of business where we view profitability levels to be attractive. Our specialty team has been laser-focused, put CPI in runoff. There are certainly some tough lessons that we've learned, but we've turned the page and I'm confident that we're well positioned moving forward in our Specialty Insurance operations.

我們一直在努力應對當前的市場狀況，在必要時採取積極行動，在我們認為盈利水平具有吸引力的許多多元化業務領域發展。我們的專業團隊一直高度專注，將 CPI 推向高潮。我們確實吸取了一些慘痛的教訓，但我們已經翻開了新的一頁，我相信我們在專業保險業務方面處於有利地位。

Thank you. I can definitely appreciate it and understood. Just a different question. Just given the growth in property, can you just give us a sense of your cat exposure in the insurance segment heading into wind season?

謝謝。我絕對可以欣賞並理解。只是一個不同的問題。鑑於房地產業的成長，您能否向我們介紹一下您在進入風季之前在保險領域的風險敞口？

Yeah, sure. Thanks for that question, Charlie. So we've actively managed our property aggregates over some period of time. We would have talked about in recent years reducing and removing some of the volatility within our book.

好，當然。謝謝你提出這個問題，查理。因此，我們在一段時間內積極管理我們的財產總量。近年來，我們會在書中討論減少和消除一些波動性。

Obviously, the consolidation of our property reinsurance capabilities through Nephila, was an example of that. Exiting a number years ago, open market property in the international space as an example of that.

顯然，透過 Nephila 整合我們的財產再保險能力就是一個例子。多年前退出國際市場的房地產公開市場就是一個例子。

Now our property writings are really sort of the core aspect of our portfolio. We've continued to opportunistically grow in that space. But in terms of across the portfolio, in terms of an average annual loss or in terms of modeling out on a capital event to [150 or 250] or something like that, as a percentage of shareholders' equity, those amounts have actually come down over time. So opportunistically taking advantage of the market, but also benefiting from a larger more well-diversified portfolio and a larger balance sheet.

現在，我們的房地產著作確實是我們投資組合的核心部分。我們繼續在這個領域機會主義地發展。但就整個投資組合而言，就平均年損失或將資本事件建模為 [150 或 250] 或類似的情況而言，作為股東權益的百分比，這些金額實際上已經下降隨著時間的推移。因此，我們可以機會主義地利用市場，同時也受益於更大、更多元化的投資組合和更大的資產負債表。

Andrew Kligerman, TD Securities.

安德魯·克利格曼，道明證券。

This is my record and a long career of being on queue. This is my third round, very exciting. Last question for you is around Ventures. You did 5% revenue growth. And I'm kind of curious, is this a good trend line to think about going forward? And within Ventures, what businesses are really knocking the ball out of the park and which businesses do you feel like might be a little slow at this time?

這是我的紀錄，也是我漫長的排隊生涯。這是我的第三輪，非常激動。最後一個問題是關於創投的。您的收入成長了 5%。我有點好奇，這是一個值得考慮的未來趨勢線嗎？在創投公司內部，哪些業務真正成功，哪些業務目前您覺得可能有點緩慢？

Well, thanks, Andrew. And for your gold medal round of questioning, and let me tackle this in Olympic Spirit. So the rate of growth in Ventures as we sit right now is slowing a bit. And I would basically attribute that to just what you see in the overall economy.

嗯，謝謝，安德魯。對於你們的金牌提問，讓我以奧林匹克精神來解決這個問題。因此，目前創投的成長速度正在放緩。我基本上將其歸因於你在整體經濟中看到的情況。

So if we think about the last three or four years, I think four factors: one, labor. We were short labored. We were trying to hire people every day, and just trying to get people in the door.

所以如果我們想想過去三、四年，我認為有四個因素：第一，勞力。我們的勞力很短。我們每天都在努力招募人才，並努力吸引人才加入。

Factor two, we were short inventory. We couldn't build stuff fast enough. We couldn't get fast enough. Inventory conditions were short.

第二個因素，我們庫存短缺。我們無法足夠快地建造東西。我們速度不夠快。庫存條件短缺。

Three, we have long order books. And that meant for orders that we had, our orders were great. And there were long lead times in getting stuff out the door because of all the things that I talked about. And there were long lag times in getting inputs and getting things in.

第三，我們有很長的訂單。這意味著對於我們的訂單來說，我們的訂單很棒。由於我談到的所有事情，將產品交付出去的準備時間很長。而且在獲取輸入和獲取內容方面存在很長的延遲時間。

And then fourth, we were operating in an environment of 0%-ish interest rates. So the world was just funding anybody who had some idea that thought they could make positive returns.

第四，我們在零利率的環境下運作。因此，世界只是資助那些有想法並認為自己可以獲得正回報的人。

As we look at conditions right now, I would say, on each of those four points, labor markets are softening a little bit. So they're not there's not an unemployment crisis, but labor markets are a little softer than what they were.

當我們審視目前的情況時，我想說，在這四點中，勞動市場都在稍微疲軟。因此，並不是沒有失業危機，而是勞動市場比以前更疲軟。

Two, inventory in a lot of places is building up a little bit, and this is more things we see rather than in our own internal operations. But we see cars on lots and we see warehouses with some stuff in it that we didn't see over the course of the last three years. Order books are a little softer. And four, interest rates exist to people's behaviors are more cautious on the hurdle rates to do anything are going up.

第二，很多地方的庫存都在一點點增加，這是我們看到的，而不是我們內部運作的狀況。但我們看到很多汽車，我們看到倉庫裡有一些我們在過去三年裡沒有看到的東西。訂單簿稍微軟一些。第四，利率存在讓人們的行為更加謹慎，做任何事的門檻利率都在上升。

In that kind of environment, I fully expect the topline growth in the external conditions we operate in to be a little bit tougher. But that said, I love the team that's on the field. And I love the things that are being shaken loose by an environment like this, which when we start talking about these five-year numbers are things that add to the good. So I don't really have any current market commentary or specific businesses to point to other than what I would say about the group in aggregate.

在這種環境下，我完全預期我們營運的外部條件下的收入成長會更加困難。但話雖如此，我喜歡球場上的球隊。我喜歡在這樣的環境下發生的事情，當我們開始談論這些五年數字時，這些事情就會增加好處。因此，除了我對該集團的總體看法外，我實際上沒有任何當前的市場評論或具體業務可指出。

Andrew Andersen, Jefferies.

安德魯安德森，杰弗里斯。

Sorry for another guidance-type question, but hopefully, I'll get a pass on this one. The reinsurance segment premium growth has really bounced around here. Can you kind of help us think about ideal size here? And is like a mid-90s combined ratio still the target in reinsurance?

很抱歉又提出了一個指導性問題，但希望我能通過這個問題。再保險領域的保費成長確實在此反彈。您能幫我們考慮一下理想的尺寸嗎？90 年代中期的綜合比率仍然是再保險的目標嗎？

Yes. Thanks for that. A couple of things. So premium in the -- certainly in the quarter looked to be up pretty significantly. I would suggest some of that is really due to favorable timing. So inception date changes on some larger deals.

是的。感謝那。有幾件事。因此，本季的溢價肯定會大幅上漲。我認為其中一些確實是由於有利的時機。因此，一些較大交易的起始日期會發生變化。

Some of it was selectively increasing participation on a few favorable renewals. We saw some modest new business opportunities across several product lines. And honestly, that was offset in part by non-renewals where there were some deals that didn't meet our profitability requirements.

其中一些是選擇性地增加一些有利續約的參與度。我們在多個產品線上看到了一些適度的新商機。老實說，這部分被不續約所抵消，因為有些交易不符合我們的獲利能力要求。

So across the collection of product capabilities we had in reinsurance, net-net, I continue to see some modest growth opportunities. And that's what we've been seeing in the portfolio to-date.

因此，透過我們在再保險、網路-網路領域的產品能力集合，我繼續看到一些適度的成長機會。這就是我們迄今為止在產品組合中看到的。

As far as the combined ratio goes, it has been a pretty steady story over the last several quarters because by and large, particularly after several years ago, when we shifted our property reinsurance capabilities under one umbrella and collected center excellence to Markel with Nephila, we became a very long-tail-oriented casualty professional and specialty shop.

就綜合比率而言，過去幾季的情況相當穩定，因為總的來說，特別是幾年前，當我們將財產再保險能力轉移到一個保護傘下並將卓越中心集中到 Markel 和 Nephila 之後，我們成為一家非常以長尾為導向的傷病專業和專賣店。

We look at the current underwriting years, and we feel really good about portfolio we have in place. But because it's longer tail, it's going to be -- we're going to take a while to observe the underlying trends, before we would take any credit for hopefully what we would believe to be an improved portfolio, which means we're really seeing the noise in the combined ratio in any given period coming down to the prior year development.

我們回顧了目前的承保年份，我們對現有的投資組合感到非常滿意。但因為它的尾部更長，所以我們需要一段時間來觀察潛在趨勢，然後我們才能相信我們所認為的改進的投資組合，這意味著我們真的看到任何給定時期的綜合比率中的噪音都下降到上一年度的發展水準。

And in many instances, we're reacting to anything we see, but it tends to be across a smattering deals, across smattering of underwriting years, across smattering of product lines. Not too uncommon that deals were no longer support and product areas that we no longer support as well. That creates the noise. So for the most part in any given period, you're likely -- for the foreseeable future, you're likely to see in the range that we've reported in recent quarters.

在許多情況下，我們會對所看到的任何事情做出反應，但它往往涉及少量的交易、少量的承保年份、少量的產品線。交易不再是支援以及我們也不再支援的產品領域的情況並不少見。這會產生噪音。因此，在任何給定時期的大多數情況下，在可預見的未來，您可能會看到我們最近幾季報告的範圍。

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would now like to turn the conference back over to Tom Gayner for any closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。現在我想將會議轉回給湯姆·蓋納（Tom Gayner）發表閉幕詞。

Thank you very much for joining us, and we look forward to reporting back to you again in another 90 days. Be well.

非常感謝您加入我們，我們期待在 90 天後再次向您報告。祝你一切順利。

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

電話會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開連線。