Markel Group Inc (MKL) 2025 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to the Markel Group fourth quarter and year end 2025 conference call. (Operator Instructions)

早安，歡迎參加 Markel 集團 2025 年第四季及全年業績電話會議。（操作說明）

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.

在今天的電話會議中，我們可能會做出符合 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》規定的前瞻性陳述。它們是基於目前對各種已知和未知風險的假設和觀點。

Actual results may differ materially from those contained in are suggested by such forward-looking statements. 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 from our 2025 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 Statement and Risk Factors.

實際結果可能與此類前瞻性陳述所暗示的結果有重大差異。有關可能導致實際結果與前瞻性聲明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 2025 年業績新聞稿以及我們最新的 10-K 表格年度報告和 10-Q 表格季度報告，包括“安全港”和“警示性聲明”以及“風險因素”標題下的內容。

We may also discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures during the call today. You may find the most directly comparable GAAP measures and reconciliation to GAAP for these measures in the press release for our 2025 results, the press release for our 2025 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.

我們今天在電話會議中也可能會討論一些非GAAP財務指標。您可以在我們的 2025 年業績新聞稿中找到最直接可比較的 GAAP 指標以及這些指標與 GAAP 的調整表。我們的 2025 年業績新聞稿以及我們的 10-K 表格和 10-Q 表格可在我們的網站 www.mklgroup.com 的投資者關係部分找到。請注意，本次活動正在錄影。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Tom Gayner, Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead.

現在我將把會議交給執行長湯姆·蓋納。請繼續。

Thank you, Rebecca, and good morning, and welcome. Thank you for joining this call on today's call. I'm delighted to be here with my colleagues, Brian Costanzo, our CFO; Simon Wilson, CFO of Markel Insurance; as well as Mike Heaton, our COO, who will be available for the Q&A session.

謝謝你，麗貝卡，早安，歡迎你。感謝您參加今天的電話會議。我很高興能和我的同事們一起來到這裡，他們是：我們的財務長 Brian Costanzo；Markel Insurance 的財務長 Simon Wilson；以及我們的營運長 Mike Heaton，他將在問答環節中出席。

At Markel Group, our purpose is to be a long-term home for exceptional leaders and businesses and to relentlessly compound your capital at attractive rates of return over decades, all while staying true to our culture as we describe it in the Markel style.

在 Markel Group，我們的宗旨是成為傑出領導者和企業的長期歸宿，並在數十年內以具有吸引力的回報率不斷實現資本的複利增長，同時始終秉持我們 Markel 風格的企業文化。

2025 was a year that reinforced the power of that model. Every reportable segment made a positive contribution, and the company advanced both quantitatively and qualitatively. Let me begin with Markel Insurance, where we took a series of decisive long-term actions this year. These were not easy, but they were necessary. And I want to thank the entire team for a year marked by tough decisions and genuine progress.

2025 年進一步鞏固了此模式的有效性。每個可報告的業務分部都做出了積極貢獻，公司在數量和質量上都取得了進步。首先我想談談 Markel 保險公司，今年我們採取了一系列果斷的長期行動。這些事情並不容易，但卻是必要的。我還要感謝整個團隊，感謝他們在過去一年所做的艱難決定和取得的實際進步。

In 2025, we exited underperforming businesses, most notably reinsurance, made key leadership changes, including appointing Simon Wilson as the new CEO of Markel Insurance, and we made structural improvements to simplify the business and reinforce accountability. The full impact of these changes will play out over years as is the case with all long-term compounding.

2025年，我們退出了業績不佳的業務，尤其是再保險業務；我們進行了重要的領導層調整，包括任命西蒙·威爾遜為Markel Insurance的新任首席執行官；我們還進行了結構性改進，以簡化業務並加強問責制。這些變化的全部影響將在未來幾年逐漸顯現，就像所有長期複利一樣。

Last quarter, I described the results as a green shoot. This quarter, all adjusted to the plural. We are now seeing green shoots. In the fourth quarter, Markel Insurance generated a 92.9% combined ratio and contributed $399 million of adjusted operating income.

上個季度，我將結果描述為一線生機。本季全部調整為複數形式。現在我們看到了一些復甦的跡象。第四季度，Markel Insurance 的綜合比率為 92.9%，並貢獻了 3.99 億美元的調整後營業收入。

For the full year, the segment delivered $1.4 billion in adjusted operating income, up from $1.2 billion in the prior year. And 2025 marked the 21st consecutive year of favorable reserve development, a testament to our conservative posture and financial integrity.

全年來看，該業務部門實現調整後營業收入 14 億美元，高於上年的 12 億美元。2025 年是連續第 21 年儲量開發取得良好進展，證明了我們穩健的投資策略和財務誠信。

Within Markel Insurance, the headline is simple. We're doing more of what works and less of what doesn't with a focus on simplification, better execution, and improved returns on equity. As Simon will discuss later, we believe the foundation is now set, but it's early days. Importantly, Markel Insurance is only one part of a broader, more diverse ecosystem of high-quality cash flows, which are central to the Markel Group story.

在 Markel 保險公司，標題很簡單。我們正在更多地做有效的事情，減少無效的事情，重點是簡化流程、更好地執行，並提高股本回報率。正如西蒙稍後將要討論的那樣，我們認為基礎已經打好，但現在還處於早期階段。重要的是，Markel Insurance 只是一個更廣泛、更多元化的高品質現金流生態系統的一部分，而這些高品質現金流正是 Markel 集團故事的核心。

Our Financial, Industrial and Consumer and Other segments also delivered positive results in 2025, each benefiting from the autonomy and accountability we give leaders to make the best long-term decisions for their businesses.

2025 年，我們的金融、工業、消費及其他業務板塊也取得了積極的業績，這得益於我們賦予領導者的自主權和責任感，讓他們能夠為企業做出最佳的長期決策。

The Financial segment, which includes State National and Nephila had a tremendous year, generating $327 million in adjusted operating income, up 25% from 2024.

金融部門（包括 State National 和 Nephila）取得了巨大的成功，調整後的營業收入達到 3.27 億美元，比 2024 年增長了 25%。

The Industrial segment earned $343 million, slightly below last year's level. This was a strong result given the softening in certain end markets, and it reflects the skills of the amazing leaders of those businesses and the room and space we give them to serve their customers with a long-term mindset.

工業板塊收入為 3.43 億美元，略低於去年同期水準。考慮到某些終端市場的疲軟，這是一個強勁的成績，這反映了這些企業傑出領導者的能力，以及我們給予他們的空間和條件，讓他們能夠以長遠的眼光服務客戶。

Consumer and Other delivered $175 million of adjusted operating income, up from $145 million last year with our acquisition of EPI driving most of the increase.

消費者及其他業務調整後營業收入為 1.75 億美元，高於去年的 1.45 億美元，其中大部分成長來自對 EPI 的收購。

Our public equity portfolio returned 10.5%, generating $156 million in dividend income and ending the year with a market value of $13 billion with an unrealized gain of $8.9 billion. These equity holdings, diversified, high quality and held with a long-term mindset remain an important driver of compounding. All of our streams of adjusted operating income convert well into cash, producing durable, resilient and diverse inflows that give us the flexibility to allocate capital to its highest and best use wherever that may be across the group.

我們的公開股票投資組合回報率為 10.5%，產生了 1.56 億美元的股息收入，年底市值為 130 億美元，未實現收益為 89 億美元。這些多元化、高品質且著眼於長期的股權投資仍然是複利成長的重要驅動力。我們所有經過調整的營業收入都能很好地轉化為現金，產生持久、穩定且多元化的資金流入，使我們能夠靈活地將資本分配到集團內任何需要最高和最佳用途的地方。

To that end, cash flow from our operations grew to $2.8 billion in 2025, and we put that cash to work with discipline. To give you a sense of that, we deployed some of that cash to $1.4 billion in fixed maturity net purchases, $207 million in new property and equipment. We bought $143 million of net public equity securities and invested $170 million in bolt-on acquisitions and increases in our ownership stakes in our existing majority-owned businesses.

為此，到 2025 年，我們營運產生的現金流成長至 28 億美元，並且我們嚴格地利用了這些現金。為了讓您對這一點有所了解，我們將部分現金用於購買 14 億美元的固定到期淨資產，以及 2.07 億美元的新物業和設備。我們購買了價值 1.43 億美元的淨公開股權證券，並投資 1.7 億美元用於補充收購和增加我們在現有控股企業的持股比例。

We also redeemed $600 million in preferred shares and repurchased $430 million of our own common shares, all while weighing every dollar invested against its next best alternative. Even with all that investment and return of cash to shareholders, our cash balance increased by $411 million, and we paid down a little bit of our long-term debt.

我們也贖回了 6 億美元的優先股，並回購了 4.3 億美元的普通股，同時對每一美元的投資都進行了權衡，以找到次優方案。即使進行了所有這些投資並向股東返還了現金，我們的現金餘額仍增加了 4.11 億美元，我們還償還了一些長期債務。

That combination, high-quality cash inflows with a 360-degree set of opportunities to deploy it continues to fuel what we often describe as a perpetual motion machine of shareholder value creation. In any given year, results can and will be volatile. But over five-year periods and beyond, the trend has been up and to the right. That's the power of long-term compounding. It is a joy to serve you alongside such a great team. We are energized for the year to come, and we thank you for your ongoing engagement and support.

這種組合，即高品質的現金流入和全方位的投資機會，持續推動我們常說的股東價值創造的永動機。任何一年，結果都可能而且必然會波動。但從五年及更長的時間跨度來看，這個趨勢是上升且向右的。這就是長期複利的威力。能與如此優秀的團隊一起為您服務，我感到非常榮幸。我們對新的一年充滿熱情，感謝大家一直以來的參與與支持。

With that, I'll turn it over to Brian.

接下來，我將把麥克風交給布萊恩。

Thank you, Tom. Good morning, everyone. As a reminder, last quarter, we released significant enhancements to our financial disclosures, along with the reporting changes guide available on our IR site. We made these changes to help investors better understand the company and its performance.

謝謝你，湯姆。各位早安。再次提醒大家，上個季度我們對財務揭露進行了重大改進，同時在我們的投資者關係網站上提供了報告變更指南。我們做出這些改變是為了幫助投資人更了解公司及其績效。

To review the major changes we made were changing the presentation of investment gains and losses to be included outside of revenues, establishing new reportable segments of Markel Insurance, Industrial, Financial, and Consumer and Other, while collapsing our former investment segment results into these new segments and reporting of new metrics, including adjusted operating income for all segments that excludes investment gains and amortization expense and segment level KPIs such as organic growth and return on equity for insurance.

回顧我們所做的重大改變，包括將投資收益和損失的列報方式改為在收入之外列報，建立新的可報告分部，包括 Markel 保險、工業、金融和消費及其他，同時將我們以前的投資分部業績合併到這些新分部中，並報告新的指標，包括所有分部的調整後營業收入（不包括投資收益和投資收益）以及本分部增長

With that, let's cover the results for the period, starting with our consolidated results.

接下來，讓我們來看看本期間的業績，先從合併業績開始。

Markel Group's consolidated operating revenues, which exclude net investment gains, were up 8% for the quarter and 5% for the year.

Markel集團的合併營業收入（不包括淨投資收益）本季成長8%，全年成長5%。

Operating income for the quarter was $795 million, up from $595 million in the comparable period last year and $3.2 billion for the year versus $3.7 billion in 2024. As a reminder, operating income includes net investment gains, which can be volatile from period to period.

本季營業收入為 7.95 億美元，高於去年同期的 5.95 億美元；全年營業收入為 32 億美元，而 2024 年預計為 37 億美元。需要提醒的是，營業收入包括淨投資收益，而投資淨收益可能會因期間而異。

Net investment gains were $212 million in the quarter compared with $117 million in the fourth quarter last year and $1.1 billion for the year versus $1.8 billion in 2024.

本季淨投資收益為 2.12 億美元，而去年第四季為 1.17 億美元；全年淨投資收益為 11 億美元，而 2024 年預計為 18 億美元。

Adjusted operating income, which excludes net investment gains and amortization expense, totaled $626 million for the quarter, up 19% versus the same period last year.

經調整後的營業收入（不包括淨投資收益和攤銷費用）本季總計 6.26 億美元，比去年同期成長 19%。

Adjusted operating income was $2.3 billion in 2025 compared to $2.1 billion in 2024 or up 10%. The increase in adjusted operating income was primarily driven by improvements in our insurance business and strong performance within our Financial segment.

2025 年調整後營業收入為 23 億美元，而 2024 年為 21 億美元，成長 10%。調整後營業收入的成長主要得益於保險業務的改善和金融業務的強勁表現。

Operating cash flow was $2.8 billion in 2025 versus $2.6 billion in 2024 and comprehensive income to shareholders totaled $606 million in the quarter and $2.6 billion for the year.

2025 年經營現金流為 28 億美元，而 2024 年為 26 億美元；本季股東綜合收益總計 6.06 億美元，全年為 26 億美元。

Turning now to our operating segments, starting with Markel Insurance. The return on equity for Markel Insurance for 2025 was 14% and the trailing five-year period return on equity was 13%. We view the five-year average return on equity as our primary KPI within insurance, measuring our commitment to generating consistent profitability within both our underwriting and investment operations and remaining efficient with our use of capital.

現在讓我們來看看我們的營運部門，首先是 Markel 保險。Markel Insurance 2025 年的股本回報率為 14%，過去五年的股本回報率為 13%。我們認為五年平均股本回報率是保險業的主要KPI，它衡量了我們在承保和投資業務中持續盈利以及高效利用資本的承諾。

Markel Insurance underwriting gross written premiums increased 3% for the quarter and 4% for the full year, driven by personal lines in the US and growth across several product classes in our International division. At a divisional level within Markel Insurance, within our International division, gross written premium grew by 14% for the year with the division growing in every market.

Markel Insurance 的承保毛保費在本季度增長了 3%，全年增長了 4%，這主要得益於美國個人保險業務的增長以及國際部門多個產品類別的增長。在 Markel Insurance 的國際部門層面，毛保費收入年增 14%，且該部門在所有市場均實現了成長。

Our International division continued its recent track record of fantastic results, posting an 83% combined ratio for the year. Programs and Solutions gross written premium grew by 8% for the year, driven by our personal lines and delegated programs units.

我們的國際部門延續了近期的出色業績，全年綜合比率達到 83%。受個人保險和委託專案部門的推動，專案和解決方案部門的毛保費收入較去年同期成長 8%。

For our Wholesale and Specialty division, gross written premium declined 4% for the year. Excluding the impact from exiting our US risk managed professional liability book earlier this year, premium growth was flat across the division.

就我們的批發和特殊保險部門而言，全年毛保費收入下降了 4%。排除今年稍早退出美國風險管理專業責任險業務的影響，該部門的保費成長保持穩定。

In Global Reinsurance, which we exited in 2025, gross written premium declined 10% for the year. Overall, underwriting gross written premium volume, excluding the impact of exiting our Global Reinsurance and US risk managed professional lines grew by 7% for the year.

在全球再保險業務（我們於 2025 年退出），當年毛保費收入下降了 10%。整體而言，不計退出全球再保險和美國風險管理專業險業務的影響，承保毛保費收入年增 7%。

One additional note on premium volume relative to our 2026 reporting. Our underwriting premium volume next year will be impacted by two significant items. First, the exit of our $1 billion gross written premium Global Reinsurance business; and second, the transition effective January 1, 2026, of our partnership with Hagerty to a pure fronting model. Hagerty premium will be included in our results going forward as fronted gross written premium versus underwriting gross written premium. This change was a natural next step in our long-term evolution of our partnership with Hagerty, continuing to retain greater amounts of underwriting risk.

關於我們 2026 年的報告，還有一點關於保費收入的補充說明。明年我們的承保保費收入將受到兩個重大因素的影響。首先，我們將退出毛保費收入達 10 億美元的全球再保險業務；其次，從 2026 年 1 月 1 日起，我們將與 Hagerty 的合作關係過渡到純粹的前端模式。今後，Hagerty 保費將作為預付毛保費與承保毛保費的比較項計入我們的績效。這項變更是我們與 Hagerty 長期合作關係發展的自然下一步，我們將繼續承擔更大的核保風險。

In 2025, Markel only retained 20% of the Hagerty gross written premium volume, so the impact on our net earned premium volume will be significantly less. Together, these two changes will decrease underwriting gross written premiums for 2026 by approximately $2 billion, but we expect these changes over the long term to benefit our combined ratio, adjusted operating income and return on equity.

2025 年，Markel 僅保留了 Hagerty 毛保費收入的 20%，因此對我們的淨已賺保費收入的影響將大大減少。這兩項變化加在一起將使 2026 年承保毛保費減少約 20 億美元，但我們預計從長遠來看，這些變化將有利於我們的綜合比率、調整後的營業收入和股本回報率。

Turning back to insurance profitability. Adjusted operating income for Markel Insurance was $399 million for the quarter, up 31% from last year. The combined ratio for the quarter was 92.9% compared to 95.9% in the same quarter last year. This three-point improvement was driven by lower losses from our CPI product and within our US casualty lines, partially offset by higher attritional losses in our US personal umbrella product and large losses incurred in the fourth quarter within our US surety line. Our surety portfolio has been highly profitable for us since our acquisition of SureTec in 2017.

重新關注保險業的獲利能力。Markel Insurance 的季度調整後營業收入為 3.99 億美元，比去年同期成長 31%。本季綜合比率為 92.9%，去年同期為 95.9%。這一三個百分點的改善主要得益於我們的 CPI 產品和美國意外險業務的損失減少，但部分被美國個人傘險產品的自然損失增加以及美國擔保業務在第四季度發生的大額損失所抵消。自 2017 年收購 SureTec 以來，我們的擔保業務組合一直為我們帶來豐厚的利潤。

For the year, Markel Insurance finished with $1.4 billion in adjusted operating income and a combined ratio of 94.6%, a one point improvement from last year. We had six points of favorable prior year loss development for both the quarter and year-to-date periods, and our balance sheet position for reserves remains strong.

Markel Insurance公司本年度調整後營業收入為14億美元，綜合比率為94.6%，比去年改善了1個百分點。本季和年初至今的虧損發展均比去年同期有利 6 個百分點，我們的資產負債表儲備狀況依然強勁。

Turning next to our investment portfolio. Our net investment income was $258 million in the quarter and $970 million for the year, up 6% for the quarter and 5% year-to-date due to higher interest rates and increased holdings in fixed income securities. Our fixed income portfolio yield was 3.6% for the fourth quarter. We reinvested new money into securities at an average yield of 4% in the quarter versus 3.1% on average across our net maturities.

接下來我們來看看我們的投資組合。本季淨投資收益為 2.58 億美元，全年淨投資收益為 9.7 億美元，本季成長 6%，年初至今成長 5%，主要得益於利率上升和固定收益證券持有量增加。第四季我們的固定收益投資組合報酬率為3.6%。本季度，我們將新增資金再投資於證券，平均收益率為 4%，而我們淨到期證券的平均收益率為 3.1%。

Within our public equity portfolio, during 2025, we made $143 million of net purchases of securities. Our public equity portfolio returned 10.5% for the year, bringing the value of our public equity portfolio at the end of the year to $13 billion with a total unrealized gain of $8.9 billion.

在我們的公開股票投資組合中，2025 年我們淨購入了價值 1.43 億美元的證券。我們的公開股票投資組合本年度報酬率為 10.5%，到年底總價值達到 130 億美元，未實現總收益為 89 億美元。

Over the trailing five-year period, the equity portfolio's annual return was 12% compared with 15% for the S&P 500. Our net equity purchases declined year over year, reflecting rising and less attractive valuations and better opportunities elsewhere for incremental investments.

在過去五年中，股票投資組合的年回報率為 12%，而標準普爾 500 指數的年回報率為 15%。我們的淨股權購買量較去年同期下降，反映出估值上升且吸引力下降，以及其他地方有更好的增量投資機會。

Moving to our Industrial segment. Revenues were $1 billion for the quarter and $3.9 billion for the full year, up 4% for both the quarter and for the year. Organic revenue growth was 2% for the year. Revenue growth for the year was impacted by our acquisition of Valor and organic growth was driven by our equipment leasing business and our businesses that serve commercial and residential construction markets, partially offset by lower revenues in our transportation products businesses.

接下來進入工業板塊。本季營收為 10 億美元，全年營收為 39 億美元，季及全年營收均成長 4%。本年度有機收入成長率為2%。今年的營收成長受到收購 Valor 的影響，而有機成長則主要由我們的設備租賃業務以及服務於商業和住宅建築市場的業務推動，但部分被運輸產品業務收入的下降所抵消。

Adjusted operating income was $80 million for the quarter, down 26% from $108 million in the same period last year. Adjusted operating income was $343 million for the year or down 6% versus 2024. The decline in adjusted operating income was driven by lower revenues in our transportation products businesses and tightening margins due to higher materials and labor costs within our other products businesses.

本季調整後營業收入為 8,000 萬美元，比去年同期的 1.08 億美元下降了 26%。經調整後的年度營業收入為 3.43 億美元，比 2024 年下降 6%。調整後營業收入下降的原因是運輸產品業務收入減少，以及其他產品業務因材料和勞動力成本上升導致利潤率收緊。

For our Consumer and Other segment, revenues were $274 million in the quarter and $1.4 billion for the full year or up 4% for both the quarter and year-to-date periods. Organic revenue growth was 1% for the year. Adjusted operating income was $23 million in the quarter, up 35% versus $17 million in the same quarter one year ago. Adjusted operating income was $175 million for 2025 or up 20% versus 2024, driven primarily by our acquisition of EPI and higher sales volume of ornamental plants.

就我們的消費者及其他業務部門而言，本季營收為 2.74 億美元，全年營收為 14 億美元，季和年初至今均成長 4%。本年度有機收入成長率為1%。本季調整後營業收入為 2,300 萬美元，比去年同期的 1,700 萬美元成長了 35%。2025 年調整後營業收入為 1.75 億美元，比 2024 年成長 20%，主要得益於我們收購了 EPI 以及觀賞植物銷量增加。

Next, within our Financial segment, revenues were $224 million or up 41% for the quarter versus the same period one year ago and $737 million for 2025, up 24% versus 2024. Organic revenue growth was 17% for the year. The increase in revenues for the year was due primarily to increased performance fees and a higher management fee rate within ILS, along with higher premium volumes within our program services product. Year-to-date revenues were impacted by a $41 million gain on the sale of our remaining minority interest in Velocity earlier this year.

其次，在我們的金融部門，本季營收為 2.24 億美元，比去年同期成長 41%；2025 年預期營收為 7.37 億美元，比 2024 年成長 24%。本年度有機收入成長率為17%。今年的營收成長主要歸功於ILS中績效費的增加和管理費率的提高，以及我們專案服務產品保費收入的增加。今年迄今的收入受到出售我們持有的 Velocity 剩餘少數股權所得 4,100 萬美元收益的影響。

The increases in revenue drove adjusted operating income up 58% to $107 million for the quarter versus the comparable period one year ago and up 25% for 2025 to $327 million. The year-to-date adjusted operating income change was also impacted by $58 million of favorable loss development related to Markel CATCo recognized in 2024.

營收成長推動本季調整後營業收入較去年同期成長 58% 至 1.07 億美元，預計 2025 年將成長 25% 至 3.27 億美元。今年迄今的調整後營業收入變動也受到 2024 年確認的 Markel CATCo 5,800 萬美元有利虧損的影響。

Finally, regarding capital allocation. For the year, we repurchased shares totaling $430 million, reducing our share count to 12.6 million shares from 12.8 million shares at the end of last year. We also redeemed our $600 million preferred stock issue earlier this year, making total capital returned to shareholders over $1 billion.

最後，關於資本配置。今年，我們回購了總計 4.3 億美元的股票，使我們的股票數量從去年年底的 1,280 萬股減少到 1,260 萬股。今年早些時候，我們還贖回了 6 億美元的優先股，使返還給股東的總資本超過 10 億美元。

With that, I will pass it over to Simon to discuss Markel Insurance.

接下來，我會把話題交給西蒙，讓他來討論馬凱爾保險公司。

Thank you, Brian, and good morning, everyone. I'm pleased to be with you and share some further insight on the progress at Markel Insurance. First off, some numbers. The quarter produced a combined ratio of 92.9%, 3-percentage points better than the same quarter in 2024. The prior year reserve release of 6 points in the quarter was broad-based and reflective of the stable position of our reserves. We achieved 3% growth in GWP and 7% growth in net earned premium despite our withdrawal from the Global Reinsurance business.

謝謝你，布萊恩，大家早安。很高興能與各位交流，進一步分享一些有關 Markel 保險公司進展的見解。首先，來看一些數據。本季綜合比率為 92.9%，比 2024 年同期提高了 3 個百分點。上年同期本季釋放的6個百分點的儲備金基礎廣泛，反映了我們儲備金的穩定狀況。儘管我們退出了全球再保險業務，但我們的總保費收入仍增加了 3%，淨已賺保費收入增加了 7%。

Improving underwriting results were an important factor in achieving a 14% return on equity for Markel Insurance in 2025. Our underwriting and reorganization actions over recent years are beginning to pay dividends. We are now far better able to focus on the key areas where we have a right to win. The combined ratio of our three ongoing business divisions for Q4 2025, which excludes the impact from Global Reinsurance and CPI was 91%. This figure would have been even stronger, but was impacted by heavier-than-expected losses in a large personal umbrella program and our surety business, where we were hit by three discrete losses in the period.

承保業績的改善是 Markel Insurance 在 2025 年實現 14% 股本回報率的重要因素。我們近年來採取的承保和重整措施開始取得成效。我們現在能夠更好地專注於我們有理由獲勝的關鍵領域。2025 年第四季度，我們三個持續經營業務部門的綜合比率（不包括全球再保險和 CPI 的影響）為 91%。如果不是因為大型個人傘險計劃和擔保業務的損失比預期更大（在此期間我們遭受了三起獨立的損失），這個數字還會更高。

Every decision that we made during 2025 was designed to simplify our business and create clarity around P&L ownership. Ultimately, these decisions will drive more consistency and better execution around the key financial metrics of combined ratio and return on equity over the long term. The 2026 business planning process completed in the quarter was a key test of a new structure and gives me confidence that the overall organization will benefit from the changes we made in 2025.

我們在 2025 年所做的每項決定都是為了簡化我們的業務，並明確表示損益表的歸屬。從長遠來看，這些決策將推動綜合比率和股本回報率等關鍵財務指標更加穩定，執行更有效率。本季完成的 2026 年業務規劃流程是對新架構的關鍵考驗，也讓我確信，整個組織將從我們在 2025 年所做的改變中受益。

Five key indicators that underpin this confidence are: number one, a revamped portfolio mix with a refreshed focus on bottom line results and a wide range of profitable growth opportunities; number two, ambitious and measured investment plans for our high-performing businesses with clear growth opportunities such as environmental, energy, healthcare, financial institutions, personal lines and workers' comp in the US and our key regional businesses in the London market, European Union, Asia Pacific, Canada and the UK; number three, P&L owners are challenging expenses harder than I've seen in a long time. It's been interesting to watch the way behavior changes when costs are clearly attributable to a business unit. I fully expect and encourage this behavior to continue.

支撐這一信心的五個關鍵指標是：第一，重新調整了投資組合，更加註重最終業績和廣泛的盈利增長機會；第二，為我們業績優異且具有明確增長機會的業務制定了雄心勃勃且穩健的投資計劃，例如美國的環境、能源、醫療保健、金融機構、個人保險和工傷賠償業務，以及我們在倫敦市場、歐盟、亞太地區的支出觀察當成本明確歸因於某個業務部門時，人們行為發生的變化，是一件很有趣的事。我完全期待並鼓勵這種行為持續下去。

The planned doubling of investment of our technology stack this year versus last is the fourth area. These decisions are now driven by the business rather than the corporate center. For example, we have a complete system overhaul in the high-performing personal lines business, the continued transformation of our data and core operating systems across the International division and a commitment to increasing decision-making speed and response times in our core US wholesale and specialty division. AI will be a central component of all these investments. We are fully aware that speed is a critical success factor in our business, and we are focused on improving it.

第四個面向是計劃今年將技術堆疊的投資額比去年翻倍。這些決策現在由業務部門而非公司總部驅動。例如，我們對業績優異的個人保險業務進行了全面的系統改造，持續對國際部門的數據和核心操作系統進行轉型，並致力於提高美國核心批發和專業部門的決策速度和響應時間。人工智慧將是所有這些投資的核心組成部分。我們充分認識到速度是我們業務成功的關鍵因素，我們正致力於提高速度。

And finally, number five, a renewed sense of ownership across our leadership group. A founder's mentality is returning to the fray. Our business model is designed to be driven by many, not few. We have set clear expectations for every area of our business for 2026. Our job is now to execute.

最後，第五點，我們領導團隊重新建立了主人翁意識。創辦人的精神正在重返市場。我們的商業模式旨在由多數人而非少數人驅動。我們為公司2026年的各個業務領域設定了明確的預期目標。我們現在的任務是執行。

Further, the overall improvement in operations is built upon the continued strength of our balance sheet. The overall reserve release for 2025 was six points or $484 million. We're able to make these releases while increasing our margin of safety and overall strength of the balance sheet. We have a continued commitment to setting reserves that are more likely redundant than deficient.

此外，營運的整體改善建立在我們資產負債表的持續穩健之上。2025 年的總儲備釋放量為 6 個百分點，即 4.84 億美元。我們能夠在提高安全邊際和增強資產負債表整體實力的同時，實現這些股票發行。我們始終致力於設立儲備金，確保儲備金充足而非不足。

A strong margin of safety will be important in the coming years. There is no doubt that market conditions in many areas of the specialty insurance industry have softened. Profitability has been high. Competition has increased and prices are under pressure in several key lines of business. However, competition drives progress and our customers and brokers continue to value clear appetite, market-leading expertise, high-quality service and speed of decision-making.

未來幾年，維持較高的安全邊際至關重要。毫無疑問，專業保險業許多領域的市場狀況已經有所疲軟。獲利能力一直很高。競爭加劇，多個關鍵業務領域的價格面臨壓力。然而，競爭推動進步，我們的客戶和經紀人仍然重視清晰的需求、市場領先的專業知識、高品質的服務和快速的決策。

Our job is to continue building a business that meets these needs, all while staying true to the Markel style.

我們的工作是繼續打造一個能夠滿足這些需求的業務，同時保持 Markel 的風格。

Businesses and teams that focus on their customers remain well organized and have a strong sense of purpose for those best positioned to succeed in any market conditions. As the comedian Billy Connolly once quipped, there is no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes. I'm pleased with our new wardrobe and look forward to sharing the results with you on the 2026 catwalk.

以客戶為中心的企業和團隊組織嚴密，目標明確，因此最有可能在任何市場條件下取得成功。正如喜劇演員比利康諾利曾經打趣道的那樣，沒有糟糕的天氣，只有不合適的衣服。我對我們的新服裝很滿意，期待在 2026 年的 T 台上與大家分享成果。

With that, I pass it back to Tom.

說完，我把它遞還給了湯姆。

Thank you, Simon. Rebecca, we'd love to open the floor for questions. Thank you.

謝謝你，西蒙。麗貝卡，我們很樂意接受提問。謝謝。

(Operator Instructions) Andrew Kligerman, TD Cowen.

（操作說明）Andrew Kligerman，TD Cowen。

I'd like to start off in the property casualty segment. I think back in early January when you hosted an investor meeting, Simon, you touched on wanting to kind of level out at a 93% combined ratio. And I guess the fortunate part is that you're more focused on casualty. So I want to get a sense, do you feel like the way pricing is in casualty, coupled with some intense loss cost trends, can you -- and you did come in at 92.9%, so right on the number in the quarter.

我想先從財產意外險領域入手。西蒙，我記得一月初你主持投資人會議的時候，你曾提到希望將綜合比率穩定在 93%。我想幸運的是，你更關注的是傷亡情況。所以我想了解一下，您是否覺得意外險的定價方式，再加上一些嚴重的損失成本趨勢，您能否——而且您的結果確實是 92.9%，所以與本季度的數字完全一致。

Do you feel like you can sustain the trends, the 93%? And then underlying that, looking at Program and Solutions, you came in at 101.9%. I'd like to know what drove that and what you might do to kind of get that lower? And then on the flip side, International was fabulous at 80.5%, and I'm wondering what's driving such a terrific combined ratio and whether trends are going to push that up, long question.

你覺得你能維持目前的趨勢，也就是93%的成功率嗎？然後，從專案和解決方案的角度來看，你們的得分是 101.9%。我想知道是什麼原因導致了這種情況，以及你可以採取哪些措施來降低這個數值？另一方面，國際業務的綜合比率高達 80.5%，非常出色。我想知道是什麼因素促成瞭如此優異的綜合比率，以及未來的趨勢是否會進一步推高這一比率，這是一個很長的問題。

Well, that's pretty much everything there.

嗯，差不多就是這些了。

Yeah, one question, sorry.

不好意思，還有一個問題。

No, that's fine. And thank you for the interest in those numbers as well. (laughter) I have said -- and we said for a long time now that to hit our return on equity kind of like aspirations, a low-90s combined ratio is important to us. So that's absolutely my ambition and the focus of our organization to get down to that kind of a number consistently. That's the plan.

不，沒關係。也感謝您對這些數據感興趣。（笑聲）我說過——而且我們很久以來也一直這麼說——為了實現我們的股本回報率目標，將綜合比率控制在 90% 左右對我們來說很重要。所以，我的目標和我們組織的重點就是持續地將這個數字降到那個層次。這就是計劃。

Part of your question is saying, look, you guys pretty casualty-centric organization. How do you get to a 93% with that backdrop? I'd probably challenge that actually. I don't think we are that heavily casualty oriented. We've got a very diverse book of specialty products.

你的問題的一部分意思是，你看，你們是一個相當注重傷亡的組織。在這種背景下，你是如何拍出93%的正確率的？我可能真的會對此提出質疑。我不認為我們特別注重傷亡。我們的特色產品種類非常豐富。

Yes, we've got US casualty, but our London market business, for example, lots of marine, energy, a lot of professional lines all around the world. So I don't know the exact percentages of our casualty -- the casualty contribution to our book, but it will be less than 50% for sure. And so again, very well balanced across the portfolio. Therefore, I think it's the power of that diversification and us kicking the tires in lots of these specialty business areas that gives us the confidence that we can get towards achieving that ambitious combined ratio target over time.

是的，我們有美國意外險業務，但例如，我們在倫敦市場的業務還有很多，包括海運、能源以及世界各地的許多專業險種。所以我不知道我們傷亡事故的確切百分比——傷亡事故對我們帳目的貢獻，但肯定不會超過 50%。因此，投資組合的整體平衡性非常好。因此，我認為正是這種多元化的力量，以及我們在許多專業業務領域進行的深入探索，使我們有信心隨著時間的推移實現雄心勃勃的綜合比率目標。

So if you're asking me, do I think we can approach those targets? Well, everything that we're doing and putting in place is designed to achieve those, but we'll see how that pans out. But the diversification of the portfolio and those different drivers, a couple of those that you just called out that will end up with the result overall. So I'm focused on it, I feel good about it at the moment.

所以，如果你問我，我認為我們能否實現這些目標？我們正在做的一切以及採取的一切措施都是為了實現這些目標，但結果如何，我們拭目以待。但是投資組合的多元化以及你剛才提到的那些不同的驅動因素，最終都會產生最終結果。所以我現在專注於此，感覺很好。

Specifically on Programs and Solutions, you raised that in the quarter, it took a pop. And I did mention in my comments, and I think Brian did in his, there were two factors that influence that. And a quarter is a pretty short period of time. So you get the occasional blip. The two areas were in our -- what we call our programs business, that's delegated underwriting, where we do a personal umbrella account.

具體來說，關於專案和解決方案，您在本季度提出了這個問題，這需要一段時間才能解決。我在評論中提到過，我想布萊恩也在他的評論中提到過，有兩個因素會影響這一點。一個季度的時間相當短。所以偶爾會出現一些小故障。這兩個領域都屬於我們的——我們稱之為專案業務的領域，也就是委託承保，我們開展個人傘式帳戶業務。

And we saw the claims trends beginning to spike in that area. And what we tend to do at Markel and certainly my philosophy is to get ahead of those loss trends and put our reserves up early.

我們看到該地區的索賠趨勢開始飆升。在 Markel，我們通常的做法，當然也是我的理念，就是搶在虧損趨勢發生之前，及早增加我們的準備金。

So the combined ratio and the loss ratio within that for the personal umbrella program is really driven by us putting up a big solid reserve against that program so that we've got the money in the bank effectively to pay the claims that may or may not come through, but that's our best guess at the moment and very much focused on that redundant rather than deficient position on our balance sheet. So that's the first area in Programs and Solutions that created that result that came overall.

因此，個人傘險計劃的綜合比率和其中的賠付率實際上是由我們為該計劃設立的大量可靠準備金所驅動的，這樣我們銀行帳戶裡就有足夠的資金來支付可能發生也可能不發生的索賠，但這只是我們目前最好的估計，而且我們非常關注的是資產負債表上的冗餘而非不足的情況。所以，這是「專案與解決方案」領域中第一個產生整體效果的面向。

The second area was actually in our surety business, which I'll be honest, I think we were a little bit surprised, not least because the surety business has been an absolute mainstay of profitability for a decade now since we bought a company called SureTec back in the mid-2000 teens. This -- often in business like the ones that we do, we get the occasional large loss, and in surety, we actually suffered three large losses in the quarter, and we've obviously reserved and paid claims against those. That happens.

第二個領域實際上是我們的擔保業務，說實話，我們對此感到有點驚訝，尤其因為自從我們在 2000 年代中期收購了一家名為 SureTec 的公司以來，擔保業務一直是我們盈利的絕對支柱。在我們這樣的行業中，經常會遇到重大損失，在擔保業務方面，我們本季度實際上遭受了三起重大損失，我們顯然已經為此計提了準備金並支付了賠償金。這種情況時有發生。

I will take the trade on surety every day of the week, though. We were -- we had three large losses this year, but it's on the back of 10 years of very significant profitability. And as we look forward into 2026, having reviewed that entire book of business, we feel really good about that, the standard result that comes out of that business, absolutely meeting our combined ratio and return on equity targets.

不過，我每天都願意接受這種有保障的交易。我們今年遭遇了三筆巨額虧損，但這建立在連續 10 年的顯著獲利之上。展望 2026 年，在回顧了所有業務之後，我們對此感到非常滿意，該業務的標準結果完全達到了我們的綜合比率和股本回報率目標。

So I would consider, and I genuinely think that the Programs and Solutions business suffer from two very specific areas. The rest of that area, personal lines business, our Bermuda business and our workers' comp business all performed really well. So on average, I think they did really nicely.

因此，我認為，而且我真心認為，專案和解決方案業務在兩個非常具體的領域中存在問題。該領域的其他業務，包括個人保險業務、百慕達業務和工傷賠償業務，都表現得非常好。所以總的來說，我認為他們做得非常出色。

International, I do have fairly good insight into that. They've been producing extremely good results for a number of years now. And what happened there was in the late of probably 2017, '18, we took a big hard look at the portfolio and took out areas of business which we didn't think we were going to be profitable over the long term, areas where we didn't feel we had the right to win. So when we cut back and -- this is five, six years ago, those areas, we then started to grow in areas where we did have the right to win and our regional businesses as well.

國際方面，我確實有相當不錯的見解。多年來，他們一直取得了非常好的成績。大概在 2017 年底、2018 年，我們對投資組合進行了一次徹底的審視，並剔除了我們認為長期內無法獲利的業務領域，以及我們覺得自己沒有資格贏得的領域。所以，當我們削減開支時——那是五、六年前的事了——我們開始在那些我們有實力贏得的領域以及我們的區域業務中成長。

So what we're seeing now is the result of decisions that were made five and six years ago and then investment on that new business model over quite a long period of time. So key growth areas last year were in Asia Pacific, which was up over 30%, our European Union business, which is up 20%; London market business, which is up 13%. They are all areas that we've been strategically investing in for a long period of time. And the result is one of quite good market conditions over the past few years, but absolute focused investment in areas where we think we can win.

所以，我們現在看到的，是五、六年前做出的決策以及隨後很長一段時間內對這種新商業模式進行投資的結果。因此，去年的主要成長領域是亞太地區（成長超過 30%）、歐盟業務（成長 20%）和倫敦市場業務（成長 13%）。這些都是我們長期以來進行策略性投資的領域。結果是，過去幾年市場狀況相當不錯，但我們絕對專注於我們認為可以獲勝的領域進行投資。

And that's what we're trying to do in all the other areas of the business now that we've got this really focused business model across the whole of Markel Insurance. So I can't say that we're going to achieve low 80s combined across the whole thing for the next decade. That's not what I'm going to say here, but we'll take the International results now. And I think what we've seen there and the techniques that were driven to achieve those results is exactly what we're deploying across the rest of the business. And that's what gives me confidence in the thing as a whole.

現在，我們已經在 Markel Insurance 的所有其他業務領域中努力做到這一點，因為我們已經在整個公司範圍內採用了這種非常專注的商業模式。所以我不能說未來十年我們整體的綜合水準能達到 80% 左右。我不會在這裡說這些，但我們現在來看看國際比賽的結果。我認為我們在那裡看到的以及為實現這些結果而採取的技術，正是我們正在公司其他部門推廣的。正是這一點讓我對整件事情充滿信心。

And I look forward genuinely to what we can do in 2026.

我真心期待我們在 2026 年能有怎樣的成就。

If I may, Andrew, just to finish up, to translate Simon's English accent to the American idiom, we will do the best we can, and that's not so bad.

安德魯，如果可以的話，我想最後再補充一點，為了把西蒙的英語口音翻譯成美式英語，我們會盡力做到最好，這還不錯。

No, it's not. super helpful response. Maybe shifting over to Industrial and Consumer. And by the way, thank you for the new reporting structure. It's very helpful.

不，不是的。這回覆太有幫助了。或許會轉向工業和消費領域。順便說一句，謝謝你們提出的新報告架構。這很有幫助。

The Industrial organic revenue was up 2.5%. I think you just mentioned equipment leasing was good, and it was offset by transportation. Wondering if you could share a little color on how that's likely to trend going forward. And then in the Consumer, you had organic growth of about 1%. I think you mentioned ornamental plants was a positive.

工業有機收入成長了2.5%。我認為你剛才提到設備租賃是好事，但運輸環節抵消了這一點。想請您簡單介紹一下這方面未來的發展趨勢。而在消費者領域，自然成長率約為 1%。我認為你提到的觀賞植物是一個加分。

But how do you think that's going to trend going forward as well?

但你認為這種趨勢未來會如何發展呢？

Yes, Andrew, it's Tom. We are delighted with the collection of businesses that we own. We've got first-class people running them. They're producing good returns on capital. We run those with a focus on good returns on capital over long periods of time.

是的，安德魯，我是湯姆。我們對所擁有的企業組合感到非常滿意。我們聘請了一流的人員來運作這些項目。它們的資本回報率很高。我們經營這些項目的目的是為了在長期內獲得良好的資本回報。

Each and any one of those businesses in any quarter has volatility and normal cyclicality and seasonality. So frankly, the answer to your question is we don't think about it that much. As long as those businesses are being well run and doing what they should do, well, then the outside forces are what they are.

任何一個季度，這些企業都會出現波動，並且有正常的週期性和季節性波動。坦白說，對於你的問題，我們的回答是：我們並沒有過多考慮這個問題。只要這些企業經營良好，各司其職，那麼外部因素就順其自然吧。

But when we totted up the numbers of them for a long period of time. As you can more clearly see in the way we're presenting the financial disclosures and data these days, we are happy. We were happy six months ago. We're happy right now. We would anticipate continuing to be happy with the way those businesses are performing.

但是當我們長時間統計它們的數量時，發現並非如此。從我們最近公佈財務揭露和數據的方式上，您可以更清楚地看到，我們對此感到滿意。六個月前我們很幸福。我們現在很開心。我們預計這些企業的業績將繼續保持良好勢頭。

(Operator Instructions) Andrew Andersen, Jefferies.

（操作說明）安德魯·安德森，傑富瑞。

Maybe just on the Insurance segment. How are you kind of viewing the insurance pricing environment into '26? Are you still seeing rate increases in certain areas? And maybe how does that differ between US Wholesale and the International segment?

或許只針對保險領域。您如何看待 2026 年的保險定價環境？您是否仍然看到某些地區的利率上漲？那麼，美國批發市場和國際市場在這方面又有何不同呢？

Thanks, Andrew. Thanks for the question. In -- there's a general trend, I think I mentioned that sort of -- so there's a number of lines that you are seeing softening rating conditions at the moment. In particular, I would say US property would be top of the list on that.

謝謝你，安德魯。謝謝你的提問。總的來說，我認為我之前提到過，目前有很多評級機構的評級條件正在放寬。尤其是我認為美國房地產應該名列榜首。

We've seen very significant profitability definitely in our book, but that's across the industry. And with that profitability often in the insurance market cycle, you see heavy competition. So we are seeing very significant competition in that US property market. And it depends what the account is, but you're looking at probably at least 10% reductions in many of that -- in that property book and probably up nearer towards 20%, I think, in general terms. And we've seen that reported by several other players as well.

在我們的書中，我們確實看到了非常可觀的盈利能力，但這種情況在整個行業中都是如此。而保險市場週期中，獲利能力往往伴隨著激烈的競爭。因此，我們看到美國房地產市場競爭非常激烈。這取決於具體情況，但就房地產帳簿而言，許多帳簿的帳簿可能至少會減少 10%，而總體而言，我認為減少幅度可能接近 20%。我們也看到其他幾位玩家也反映了同樣的情況。

It is a bit more nuanced than that. It's not just to say like every property risk is down double-digit percentages. What we're really seeing in property is the structured and layered risks that come in. There's a change in the structure that's going about. So the primary layer is actually writing larger lines with sort of the initial insurer and some of the -- the layers on top of that, the excess layers are being challenged either by being removed completely or you're seeing an awful lot of competition going around them.

實際情況比這要複雜一些。並不是說所有房地產風險都下降了兩位數百分比。我們在房地產領域真正看到的是結構化和分層的風險。組織結構正在改變。所以，主層實際上與初始保險公司一起承保了更大的保單，而在此之上的某些層，即超額層，正面臨著挑戰​​，要么被完全移除，要么你會看到圍繞它們展開的激烈競爭。

So if you're playing in the second or third excess layer, you're probably seeing more intense price reductions there than maybe you are on the primary side. So property is generally soft, but you're also seeing that nuance a bit where depending on where you play in the program.

因此，如果你在第二層或第三層額外層進行遊戲，你可能會看到比在主要層更劇烈的價格下降。所以，房產通常比較軟，但你也會看到一些細微差別，這取決於你在專案中扮演的角色。

A lot of people though in property are talking maybe not just about rate reductions, but rate adequacy. And I think that's really important because there were a lot of sharp rises in the property market when we saw catastrophes kind of three and four years ago, impacting the cat market and then the non-cat market in property as well. So I think the general sentiment in the industry is that prices are just about remaining adequate at the moment, but you really have to be thoughtful about what your risk appetite is and where your sort of your walkaway price might be. So we're keeping a close eye on that area.

不過，許多房地產從業人員談論的可能不只是降低利率，而是利率是否合理。我認為這非常重要，因為在三、四年前發生災難時，房地產市場出現了許多急劇上漲，這不僅影響了受災房地產市場，也影響了非受災房地產市場。所以我認為業內普遍的看法是，目前的價格勉強還算合理，但你真的需要認真考慮你的風險承受能力以及你的底線價格是多少。所以我們正在密切關注那個地區。

Conversely, the casualty market continues to get rate increases, specifically in auto risks, habitational risks, construction risk. We're seeing that significant rate increases ongoing. And that's important because the claims trends that we're seeing in those areas continue to be fairly strong as well. So the skill in casualty is not just writing everything just because rates are going up, but really being thoughtful about the areas of the casualty market in which we're going to play because the litigation environment in the United States is all very significant as well.

相反，意外險市場持續上漲，特別是汽車保險、住宅保險和建築保險。我們看到利率持續大幅上漲。這一點很重要，因為我們在這些地區看到的理賠趨勢也依然相當強勁。因此，意外險的技巧不僅是因為費率上漲就盲目投保，而是要認真思考我們將要涉足的意外險市場領域，因為美國的訴訟環境也非常重要。

Moving to International briefly. I would suggest that there is softness there. So as a wholesale market in London, you see quite a lot of business that going to London becoming sort of structured and certain brokers are bringing that in and looking for price reductions when they go into London. So certainly, in marine lines, energy lines, property areas, we're seeing that price competition in London as well. I think the professional lines area actually has begun to stabilize after a couple of years of softening.

暫時轉到國際版塊。我認為那裡應該有柔軟的地方。因此，作為倫敦的批發市場，你會看到很多業務轉移到倫敦，這在某種程度上變得有條不紊，一些經紀人正在將這些業務帶到倫敦，並尋求降價。所以，在海運業、能源業、房地產領域，我們在倫敦也看到了這種價格競爭。我認為，經過幾年的疲軟之後，專業彩妝領域實際上已經開始趨於穩定。

I think that's stabilizing. And again, being really focused on rate adequacy in that area is what we're focused on. And sticking to the bits of the professional lines where we really think we add value to the broker and to the ultimate customer and where we've got expertise, that serves us well, and that's one of the reasons why our combined ratios have been so good in London is because we've chosen our risk pretty well.

我認為這是趨於穩定的過程。再次強調，我們真正關注的是該領域的費率是否足夠。我們堅持專注於那些我們認為真正能為經紀人和最終客戶創造價值，並且我們擁有專業知識的專業領域，這對我們很有幫助，這也是我們在倫敦的綜合比率一直很好的原因之一，因為我們很好地選擇了風險。

Outside of London, in our regional offices, and this is a really important point for people to note, we tend to focus on the small end of the risk market. And the very small end of the risk market, and this is maybe $2,000, $3,000 policies quite often, certainly in the European Union, the UK regions and some of our Asia book. In that area, the price competition is less aggressive.

在倫敦以外的地區辦事處，這一點非常重要，值得大家注意，我們往往專注於風險市場的小型部分。風險市場的一小部分，也就是保額為 2,000 美元、3,000 美元的保單，這種情況很常見，尤其是在歐盟、英國地區和我們的一些亞洲業務中。在該領域，價格競爭並不激烈。

So yes, you might see a bit of softening, but it's very much single digit in there. And often, we're charging minimum premium. So the rate adequacy can be really positive in that area. So less affected outside of our London lines than in London just because the intensity of competition for that small risk segment is just lower. It's harder to get at, and it's stickier.

所以，是的，你可能會看到一些緩和，但幅度仍然非常小，只有個位數。而且通常情況下，我們只收取最低保費。因此，該領域的利率充足性可能非常積極。因此，倫敦以外地區的業務受到的影響比倫敦地區小，原因就在於該小風險細分市場的競爭強度較低。它更難獲取，而且更粘。

So our strategy within International is to grow our non-London portion relative to London so that we've got more of this kind of smaller, stickier business, which is less exposed to intense price competition going forward. And I think that balance will help us with that overall diversified portfolio over time.

因此，我們在國際業務方面的策略是，相對於倫敦而言，擴大我們在倫敦以外的業務份額，以便我們擁有更多這種規模較小、客戶黏性更高的業務，從而減少未來激烈的價格競爭。我認為這種平衡會隨著時間的推移幫助我們實現整體多元化的投資組合。

So it's a mixed bag in terms of what's happening in the rating environment. And to very quickly summarize, property is competitive. Casualty actually, we're seeing firming and hardening, but it's not an easy market to underwrite your way through. London is competitive. Non-London International actually is stacking up, continues to stack up pretty well.

所以，就目前的評級環境而言，情況喜憂參半。簡單來說，房地產市場競爭激烈。實際上，意外險市場正在趨於穩定和收緊，但要在這個市場中承保並非易事。倫敦競爭激烈。非倫敦國際航班的客運量實際上正在穩步增長，而且持續保持著相當不錯的成長勢頭。

So hopefully, that gives you a bit of a flavor for what's going on in our world. It's an interesting time, and I like our odds with the underwriters that we've got on the ground to navigate it.

希望這能讓你對我們這個世界正在發生的事情有所了解。這是一個有趣的時期，我對我們與當地承銷商的合作前景感到樂觀，他們能夠幫助我們應對這項挑戰。

Very comprehensive. And maybe we could just kind of shift to AI and the expense ratio. What kind of -- where is it being deployed within insurance? Maybe what are some returns or examples you've seen so far, and some focus areas into '26 and '27 for deployment?

非常全面。或許我們可以轉向人工智慧，降低成本。它具體應用於保險業的哪些領域？您目前看到了哪些回報或案例？ 2026 年和 2027 年有哪些重點部署領域？

I'll ask Brian to take the first stab at that and --

我會請布萊恩先試試看。--

Sure. Yeah. I mean, I think with the new model that we have and the operating model and the org structure, I mean, now it's really in the hands of the individual business leaders. We're trying to put tools in their toolbox, make them aware of what's out there. We've had some really nice wins in lines where you have large documents and need to digest big amounts of data.

當然。是的。我的意思是，我認為有了我們現在的新模式、營運模式和組織結構，現在一切都真正掌握在各個業務領導者手中了。我們正在努力為他們提供工具，讓他們了解外面的世界。我們在處理大型文件和需要處理大量資料的領域取得了一些非常好的勝利。

So think of things like transaction liability, financial institutions where you can get data rooms filled with all kinds of things that humans have to pour through, the AI can synthesize that down very quickly, pull together the data and allow you to lower the investment of the human side, and that allows you to look at accounts that from a size and premium standpoint, you wouldn't have been able to access just because of the human element and the expense ratio of going after those. Now you've broadened what you can go after from an appetite standpoint. So that's certainly one example.

想想交易責任之類的事情，金融機構的數據室裡堆滿了各種各樣的東西，需要人工仔細查閱，而人工智能可以非常快速地進行綜合分析，將數據整合起來，從而降低人工投入，這樣你就可以查看那些從規模和保費角度來看，你原本無法訪問的賬戶，僅僅因為人工因素和追踪這些賬戶的成本比率。現在，從食慾的角度來看，你的選擇範圍已經擴大了。這當然是一個例子。

I think the other place we've seen a lot of AI use is in data ingestion. So when we have delegated underwriting arrangements, when we have [border] business coming in, when we need to get data into our systems and use that to make decisions using the AI to transport, bring it in, and that avoids a lot of the human element of what I call data wrangling and data compiling that's expensive, it's non-value add. It shifts those resources now to where the data is there, you can now spend the time doing the analysis, finding the trends, finding where you win and enhancing the book overall.

我認為我們看到人工智慧應用廣泛的另一個領域是數據採集。因此，當我們有委託承保安排，當我們有（邊境）業務進入時，當我們需要將數據導入我們的系統並利用人工智能做出決策來運輸、引進貨物時，這可以避免我所說的數據整理和數據彙編中很多人為因素，而這些因素成本高昂，而且沒有增值作用。現在，這些資源被轉移到數據所在的地方，你現在可以花時間進行分析，發現趨勢，找到你的優勢所在，並全面提升書籍的品質。

And I'll just add to Brian, and you picked up some really important spots. I will say this, I am -- Andrew, I'm utterly obsessed with operations. I'm sort of -- I'm pretty geeky around this stuff. I'll admit that much. And efficient and high-quality operations that lead to speed of response are absolutely at the center of my mind now.

我還要補充一點，布萊恩，你指出了一些很重要的地方。我要說的是，我——安德魯，我對營運非常著迷。我算是──我對這些東西挺痴迷的。我承認這一點。高效、高品質的運營，以及由此帶來的快速回應，現在是我最關注的問題。

I'm really excited about where we are on this AI position, right? We have some really exciting projects ongoing at the moment. Brian alluded to a couple of them there. But what 2025 did to clear the organizational structure so we can really focus on specific areas of the business, allows us to deploy AI in a much, much more effective way than a simple broad brush effect that we did previously.

我對我們在人工智慧領域的進展感到非常興奮，對吧？我們目前正在進行一些非常令人興奮的項目。布萊恩在那裡提到了其中幾個。但 2025 年的改革清理了組織結構，使我們能夠真正專注於業務的特定領域，這使我們能夠以比以前簡單粗暴的方式更有效的方式部署人工智慧。

So I don't think we -- we're doing some really exciting things. I think will begin to impact our productivity and efficiency at the moment. But I'm going to start turning the handle on AI and just operations in particular, during this quarter and next to get our focus in and around that. And I think that will begin to have a much more material impact as we go through the next sort of 6 to 12 months. So we've made a nice start, but the strategic level of what we need to do here is just beginning.

所以我覺得我們——我們正在做一些非常令人興奮的事情。我認為這將開始影響我們目前的生產力和效率。但是，在本季度和下一季度，我將開始專注於人工智慧，特別是營運方面，以便將我們的重點放在這方面。我認為，在接下來的 6 到 12 個月裡，這將開始產生更實質的影響。所以我們已經取得了不錯的開端，但我們在這裡需要做的戰略層面的工作才剛開始。

And maybe I'll add, Markel will talk more generally on expense ratio. If you look at the portfolio, the areas in which we're growing and have been very profitable in some of the segments in International, our European business, our Asian business in the US, our personal lines business, those are all great businesses, low combined ratios. They have higher expense ratios to operate.

我或許還要補充一點，Markel 將會更廣泛地談論費用率問題。如果你看一下我們的投資組合，你會發現我們在國際業務、歐洲業務、美國亞洲業務、個人保險業務等一些領域實現了增長，並且盈利能力非常強，這些都是非常優秀的業務，綜合比率都很低。它們的營運成本率較高。

They have opted inverted expense ratio loss ratio profile to other areas of the business. Areas where we've been very challenged, our Global Reinsurance business, our risk managed professional liability product that we've exited, those are some of the lowest expense ratio businesses that we had in our portfolio. So we are ultra-focused on combined ratio, return on equity. We certainly want to take advantage of efficiencies, AI or whatever they might be from an operations standpoint. But number one is that combined ratio focus that we have.

他們已將費用率虧損率倒置的模式應用於業務的其他領域。我們面臨巨大挑戰的領域包括我們的全球再保險業務，以及我們已經退出的風險管理專業責任險產品，這些業務是我們投資組合中費用率最低的業務之一。因此，我們非常關注綜合比率和股本回報率。我們當然希望從營運角度利用效率提升、人工智慧或其他任何相關技術。但最重要的是我們所關注的綜合比率。

Mark Hughes, Truist.

馬克·休斯，Truist。

In the Financial segment, earnings very strong this quarter. You talked about better fees, I think assets under management. How much of that was product of just the light cat season this year? And how much of that should we think ought to carry forward into 2026?

金融板塊本季獲利表現非常強勁。您提到了更優惠的費用，我想還有資產管理規模。其中有多少是因為今年淡水貓季造成的？那麼，我們認為其中有多少應該延續到 2026 年呢？

Yeah, I'll start, and I'll turn it to Brian. Yeah, clearly, the light cat environment helps.

好的，我先開始，然後把麥克風交給布萊恩。是的，很明顯，光線充足的貓咪環境對它們有幫助。

Yes. I mean -- so what I'll say is the like cat environment at Nephila, they did earn some performance fees in the fourth quarter based on that. But kind of -- we've talked about this before. Those kind of all matriculate in the fourth quarter. So you wait the full year, you see how the ultimate kind of cat season plays out.

是的。我的意思是——所以我要說的是，Nephila 公司營造的類似貓咪的工作環境，讓他們在第四季度獲得了一些業績獎金。但某種程度上——我們之前也討論過這個問題。這些人基本上都是在第四季入學。所以你等上一整年，看看貓咪的終極繁殖季節會如何上演。

And then in the fourth quarter, those crystallize. And with a very low cat season, we saw the benefit coming from that. The other thing going on there is the State National business has just been on a consistent track record year-over-year growth, growth in the premium base, growth in the fee income that they're generating. That's high-margin business when it comes in. So a lot of that growth drops right to the bottom line.

然後在第四季度，這些目標就會逐漸明朗。由於貓的數量很少，我們看到了由此帶來的好處。另外，State National 的業務一直保持著逐年成長的穩定記錄，保費基數和手續費收入都在成長。這可是高利潤的生意。因此，許多成長最終都體現在了利潤上。

On State National, have you seen any push in your book for more risk retention on your part? Or -- yes, I'll leave it at that.

關於 State National，您在書中是否看到任何要求您承擔更多風險的舉措？或者──是的，我就說到這裡吧。

Yes, it's Tom again. Yes, that's a feature of the market. State National has been a leader, they do well and leaders attract competition.

是的，又是湯姆。是的，這是市場的一個特徵。State National 一直是業界領先者，他們表現出色，而領先者往往會吸引競爭對手。

Very good. And then Tom, the AI trade, when you allude to your equity portfolio, a lot of discussion of software companies or tech companies that may be at risk from AI and obviously, opportunity, but then it's quite a volatile area. So how are you looking at that from your equity portfolio standpoint?

非常好。然後湯姆，關於人工智慧交易，當你提到你的股票投資組合時，我們經常討論軟體公司或科技公司可能受到人工智慧的影響，當然也存在機遇，但這是一個波動性很大的領域。那麼，從你的股票組合角度來看，你是如何看待這個問題的呢？

Well, I appreciate the question. One of my great friends and mentors and teachers and long-time Markel shareholder who passed recently, a guy named Chhadrow down in Texas, and I learned so much from him over the years. And one of the things he used to say was that in the investment business at any given point in time, you look either smarter or dummer than you really are.

感謝您的提問。我的一位摯友、導師、老師，也是 Markel 的長期股東，最近過世了。他叫 Chhadrow，住在德州。多年來，我從他身上學到了很多。他常說的一句話是，在投資產業，任何時候，你看起來要么比實際上更聰明，要么比實際上更愚蠢。

And 2025 was a year, I would say we looked dummer and we probably really are. If you look at our long-term record, very proud of it, very pleased with the discipline and the way we do things. But clearly, the AI headlines that you read had a lot to do with investment returns and probably a bit less with what happened at Markel.

而到了2025年，我覺得我們看起來更愚蠢了，而且我們可能真的更愚蠢了。縱觀我們長期以來的記錄，我感到非常自豪，對我們的紀律和做事方式非常滿意。但很顯然，你所看到的AI新聞標題與投資報酬率有很大關係，而與Markel發生的事情關係不大。

As we turn the quarter into 2026, the swirl that's out there, let's hold our fire and see how that works out. But clearly, the disciplines and the tools and the principles we've used to manage and select equity investments over the years on any given day will look better or worse than they truly are and I stand by what we do.

當我們把這個季度變成 2026 年，面對外面的種種變故，讓我們按兵不動，看看結果如何。但顯然，我們多年來用於管理和選擇股權投資的紀律、工具和原則，在任何一天看起來都會比實際情況更好或更差，但我堅持我們所做的一切。

Very good. And if I could squeeze in one more on the personal umbrella. You put up strong reserves. What underwriting actions have you taken; price increases, stricter terms and conditions, just curious?

非常好。如果我的個人雨傘上還能再擠下一個人就好了。你儲備了充足的資金。你們採取了哪些承保措施？例如提高價格、收緊條款和條件等等，我只是好奇問問？

Yeah, good question. So we've done two major things I would suggest just for this call. The first is to increase rate quite significantly. Now it's an admitted product, so you have to do that state by state, you have to apply for it. So I think we're up to, I mean, a dozen states now that have signed off on that.

嗯，問得好。所以，就這通通話而言，我想提兩點建議。首先，要大幅提高利率。現在它已經成為一種合法產品，所以你必須逐州申請。所以我覺得現在已經有十幾個州簽了相關協議。

So we have a material increase in the pricing that we're able to charge in those states now. But we've also taken another key underwriting action, which is to stop underwriting people's second homes in Florida. That was a cause of a lot of these losses. And increase the attachment point from -- it used to be $250,000 where we attached in these states where we've been able to get the rate increase, we've also increased the attachment point to $0.5 million.

因此，我們現在在這些州能夠收取的價格有了實質的提高。但我們也採取了另一項重要的承保措施，那就是停止為人們在佛羅裡達州的第二套房提供承保。這是造成許多損失的原因之一。並且，我們將附加條件從以前的 25 萬美元提高到 50 萬美元。在我們能夠提高稅率的這些州，附加條件也從 25 萬美元提高到了 50 萬美元。

And we think that will take away a significant chunk of the losses that we've been being hit with mainly from auto losses actually in those various states. So we've acted decisively, quickly, and we are keeping a very, very close eye on how those claims trends go from here on in. But we do have -- we put the reserve up this quarter to give ourselves breathing space and cushion to watch that play out.

我們認為這將大大減少我們所遭受的損失，這些損失主要來自各州的汽車事故損失。因此，我們採取了果斷迅速的行動，並且我們將密切關注這些索賠趨勢接下來的發展。但我們確實有——我們本季提高了儲備金，以便給自己留出喘息空間和緩衝，觀察事態發展。

And ultimately, if these underwriting actions don't work, then we'll have to think about maybe withdrawing from that particular area of business. We're not there yet, but we'll see. But a very, very big focus in the last couple of months from Alex Martin, Jeff Lamb, and their teams.

最終，如果這些核保措施不起作用，那麼我們就不得不考慮退出該特定業務領域。我們還沒達到目標，但我們會拭目以待。但在過去幾個月裡，亞歷克斯馬丁、傑夫蘭姆和他們的團隊將非常非常多的精力放在了這方面。

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

我們的問答環節到此結束。我謹將電話交還給湯姆·蓋納，請他作總結發言。

Thank you very much for joining us. We appreciate your support and your interest, and we're delighted to be able to report the results of the rational focus and the rational actions that we are indeed committed to and starting to see the green shoots from those activities. We look forward to connecting back with you next quarter. Be well.

非常感謝您的參與。我們感謝您的支持和關注，我們很高興能夠報告我們一直致力於的理性專注和理性行動所取得的成果，並且已經開始看到這些行動的成效。我們期待下個季度與您再次聯繫。祝您健康。

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

電話會議已結束。感謝各位蒞臨今天的報告會。您現在可以斷開連線了。