American Financial Group, Inc.

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the American Financial Group third quarter 2023 results conference call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question during the session, you will need to press star 11 on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star 11 again. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Diane Widener, Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Good morning, and welcome to American Financial Group's third quarter 2023 results conference call, earnings results conference call. We released our 2023 third quarter results yesterday afternoon. Our press release, investor supplement, and webcast presentation are posted on AFG's website under the investor relations section. These materials will be referenced during portions of today's call. I'm joined this morning by Carl Lindner III and Craig Lindner, co-CEOs of American Financial Group, and Brian Hertzman, AFG CFO. Before I turn the discussion over to Carl, I would like to draw your attention to the notes on slide two of our webcast. Some of the matters to be discussed today are forward-looking. These forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results and or our financial condition to differ materially from these statements. A detailed description of these risks and uncertainties can be found in AFG's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are also available on our website. We may include references to core net operating earnings, a non-GAAP financial measure in our remarks or responses to questions. A reconciliation of net earnings attributable to shareholders to core net operating earnings is included in our earnings release. If you are reading a transcript of this call, please note that it may not be authorized or reviewed for accuracy, and as a result, it may contain factual or transcription errors that could materially alter the intent or meaning of our statements. Now, I'm pleased to turn the call over to Carl Linder III to discuss our results.

Good morning. I'll begin my remarks by sharing a few highlights from AFG's 2023 third quarter, after which Craig and I will walk through more details. We'll then open it up for Q&A, where Craig, Brian, and I will respond to your questions. I am pleased to report strong underwriting results in the quarter despite elevated catastrophe losses. Higher interest rates contributed to meaningfully higher year-over-year investment income, culminating in a very strong annualized third quarter core operating return on equity of 18.3%. Our entrepreneurial, opportunistic culture and disciplined operating philosophy continue to serve us well in a favorable property and casualty market in a dynamic economic environment, These factors, coupled with a commitment to effective capital management, enable us to continue to create long-term value for our shareholders. Craig and I thank God, our talented management team, and our great employees for helping us to achieve these results. And I'll turn the discussion over to Craig to walk us through AFG's third quarter results, investment performance, and to discuss our overall financial position at September 30th.