Cincinnati Financial Corporation

Good day everyone and thank you for joining this Cincinnati Financial Corporation second quarter 2026 earnings conference call. As a reminder, all phone participants are in a listen-only mode and today's session is being recorded. It is my pleasure to turn the floor over for opening remarks and introductions to Mr. Dennis McDaniel, Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

Hello, this is Dennis McDaniel at Cincinnati Financial. Thank you for joining us for our second quarter 2026 earnings conference call. Late yesterday, we issued a news release on our results, along with our supplemental financial package, including our quarter end investment portfolio. To find copies of any of these documents, please visit our investor website, investors.cinfan.com. The shortest route to the information is the quarterly results section near the middle of the investor overview page. On this call, you'll first hear from President and Chief Executive Officer Steve Spray, and then from Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Mike Sewell. After their prepared remarks, investors participating on the call may ask questions. At that time, some responses may be made by others in the room with us, including Executive Chairman Steve Johnston, Chief Investment Officer Steve Soloria, and Cincinnati Insurance's Chief Claims Officer, Mark Shambo and Senior Vice President of Corporate Finance, Andy Schnell. Please note that some of the matters to be discussed today are forward-looking. These forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties. With respect to these risks and uncertainties, we direct your attention to our news release and to our various filings with the SEC. Also, our reconciliation of non-GAAP measures was provided with the news release Statutory accounting data is prepared in according with statutory accounting rules and therefore is not reconciled to GAAP. Now I'll turn over the call to Steve.

Good morning and thank you for joining us today to hear more about our results. Our second quarter and first half results continue to reflect consistent execution of our strategy, including maintaining pricing discipline in a softening property casualty insurance market. While catastrophe losses for the quarter were modestly higher than our longer term average, other metrics for our property casualty operations were generally in line with our expectations. Net income of nearly $1.3 billion for the second quarter of 2026 included recognition of $882 million on an after-tax basis for the increase in fair value of equity securities still held. Non-GAAP operating income was $224 million for the quarter compared with $311 million a year ago. The 100.8% second quarter 2026 property casualty combined ratio increased by 5.9 percentage points compared with second quarter last year, including an increase of 2.3 points for catastrophe losses. Our current Ax in the Ear combined ratio before catastrophe losses for the first six months of 2026 was 87.8%. Fairly consistent with the 87.7% reported through the first six months of 2025. Turning to premium growth, our consolidated property casualty net written premiums grew 3% for the quarter. Slow growth reflects pricing discipline as our underwriters continue to emphasize pricing and risk segmentation on a policy-by-policy basis in their underwriting decisions. Estimated average renewal price increases for most lines of business during the second quarter were lower than the first quarter of 2026, but still at levels we believe were healthy. Commercial lines and excess and surplus lines averaged increases near the high end of the low single digit percentage range. Our personal line segment included personal auto and homeowner increases in the high single digit percentage range. While market conditions have tempered premium growth, we believe our focus on providing outstanding service and our deep relationships with independent insurance agents keep us positioned well for long-term success. Next, I'll comment on second quarter performance by insurance segment compared with a year ago. Commercial lines grew net written premiums 3% with a 104.1% combined ratio that increased by 11.2 percentage points, including 4.9 points from higher catastrophe losses. Personal lines grew net written premiums 1%, impacted by lower new business premiums that reflect softening market conditions. The combined ratio for purse lines was 99.9%, 2.1 percentage points better than last year, including a decrease of 1.6 points from lower catastrophe losses. Excess and surplus lines grew net written premiums 8% and produced an excellent combined ratio of 90.5%. Cincinnati RE and Cincinnati Global continued to contribute to premium growth as well as diversifying risk of our insurance operations. Cincinnati RE's second quarter 2026 net written premiums increased by 16%. Its combined ratio was an outstanding 87.6%. Cincinnati Global's combined ratio of 110.8% along with premium growth of 1%. Our life insurance subsidiary had another strong quarter, including 15% net income growth. In addition, term life insurance earned premiums grew 5%. I'll end my commentary with a summary of our primary measure of long-term financial performance, the value creation ratio. Our VCR was 7.9% for the second quarter of 2026. Net income before investment gains or losses for the quarter contributed 1.4%. Higher overall valuation of our investment portfolio and other items contributed 6.5%. Now I'll turn it over to Chief Financial Officer Mike Sewell for additional insights regarding our financial performance.