HARTFORD INSURANCE GROUP, INC. Q2 FY2025 earnings call

• Business Insurance: Top line growth of 8%, underlying combined ratio 88. Small Business had excellent underlying combined ratio and record net new business premium. Middle & Large Business focused on maintaining margins. Global Specialty had outstanding results with sustained underlying margins and record gross written premium.
• Personal Insurance: Significant improvement over prior year, homeowners with 17% written premium growth and low 70s underlying combined ratio. Auto underlying results improved by 9.7 points. Introduced Prevail offering to agency channel.
• Employee Benefits: Exceptional core earnings margin of 9.2%, partnership with Nayya for AI-powered benefits enrollment.
• Innovation: Prioritizing AI applications to augment human talent and drive productivity.

Business Insurance: Core earnings were $697 million with written premium growth of 8% and an underlying combined ratio of 88. Small Business had written premium growth of 9% and an underlying combined ratio of 89. Middle & Large Business had an underlying combined ratio of 89.1 and written premium growth of 5%. Global Specialty: Underlying combined ratio of 84.8 and written premium growth of 9%. Personal Insurance: Core earnings for the quarter were $94 million with an underlying combined ratio of 88. Auto underlying combined ratio of 95.2 improved 9.7 points from the 2024 period, and homeowners produced an excellent underlying combined ratio of 72.7, which improved 5.1 points. Written premium in Personal Insurance increased 7% in the second quarter. Employee Benefits: Core earnings of $163 million for the quarter, with a core earnings margin of 9.2% reflecting excellent group life and disability performance.

Core earnings for the quarter were $981 million or $3.41 per diluted share with a trailing 12-month core earnings ROE of 17%. Expect to remain at $400 million share repurchases in the third quarter, with $2.35 billion remaining on the share repurchase authorization through December 31, 2026. Confident in capturing additional market share, delivering profitable growth.

• Catastrophe losses: P&C current accident year losses $212 million before tax, subject to $200 million aggregate catastrophe cover.
• Litigation finance and social inflation impacting loss trends and allocated loss expenses.
• Tariffs and their potential impact on auto insurance.

Q: Andrew Kligerman asks about Global Specialty mix and growth areas.

A: Chris Swift and Adin Morris Tooker respond.

Q: Andrew Kligerman asks about Personal Lines growth timing and rate.

A: Chris Swift responds.

Q: Elyse Greenspan asks about Business Insurance guidance.

A: Chris Swift responds.

Q: Elyse Greenspan asks about Employee Benefits life business.

A: Chris Swift and Michael Fish respond.

Q: Brian Meredith asks about commercial property markets.

A: Chris Swift and Adin Morris Tooker respond.

Q: Mike Zaremski asks about investment portfolio yield.

A: Chris Swift and Beth Costello respond.

Q: Gregory Peters asks about data science advancements.

A: Chris Swift and Adin Morris Tooker respond.

Q: Taylor Alexander Scott asks about Business Insurance comps and workers' comp.

A: Chris Swift and Adin Morris Tooker respond.

Q: Wesley Carmichael asks about Employee Benefits growth and tariffs.

A: Chris Swift and Michael Fish respond.

Q: Rob Cox asks about expense ratio sustainability.

A: Chris Swift responds.

Q: David Motemaden asks about workers' comp medical severity.

A: Chris Swift responds.

Q: Jon Paul Newsome asks about social inflation.

A: Chris Swift responds.

Q: Bob Huang asks about Personal Line competitive dynamics.

A: Chris Swift and Melinda Thompson respond