Axis Capital Holdings Limited

Good day and welcome to the Q2 2019 Access Capital Earnings Conference Call and Webcast. All participants will be in listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press star then one on your touch-tone phone. To withdraw your question, please press star then two. Please note, this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Matt Rohrman, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Alison. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I'm happy to welcome you to our conference call to discuss the financial results for Axis Capital for the second quarter and period ended at June 30, 2019. Our earnings press release and financial supplement were issued yesterday evening after the market closed. If you'd like copies, please visit the investor information section of our website at accesscapital.com. We've set aside an hour for today's call, which is also available as an audio webcast through the investor information section of our website. With me today on the call are Albert Benchmark, our president and CEO, and Pete Vogt, our CFO. Before I turn the call over to Albert, I'll remind everyone that the statements made during this call, including the question and answer session, which are not historical facts may be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. Actual events or results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors, including the risk factors set forth in ACTS's most recent report on Form 10-K, as well as the additional risks identified in the cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements and earnings press release issued yesterday evening. We undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements. In addition, This presentation may contain non-GAAP financial measures. For the purposes of this call, we believe the best way to discuss our operating results is on an ex-BGAAP basis, which is a better representation of the run rate performance of our business. Reconciliations are included in our earnings press release and financial supplement, which can be found in the investor information section of our website. Now, with that, I'd like to turn the call over to Albert. Thank you, Matt.

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining our call. This was a good quarter for Axis, one in which we saw strong momentum and positive trends across many areas of our business. Our results provide further validation that we're on the right path. We're taking smart actions to strengthen our business, and we're effectively positioning Axis to be among those companies that will maximize the benefits of affirming insurance and reinsurance marketplace. There were a number of highlights this quarter. We once again recorded double digit operating ROE XP gap. Our diluted book value per share is up 6% for the quarter and 12% year to date. We continue to improve our core underwriting margins and we had record net investment income. Our XP gap ROE in the quarter and in the first half of the year were both the best in the past five years. Importantly, we've improved ROE while reducing portfolio volatility. We've made substantial reductions to our property exposures and changes to our reinsurance and retro arrangements. For example, if the events of 2017 were to reoccur this year, our net loss across the enterprise would be lower by more than 25%. Moreover, the full benefits of the initiatives that we've already put in place have yet to be seen. We're still earning runoff premiums that are dragging on our results, and we still expect to deliver additional savings between now and the end of 2020. We're very aware that one or two quarters do not prove a trend. There is inherent volatility in our business. Nevertheless, all data points indicate that our actions are producing tangible results, and we're confident of our ability to deliver ongoing improvements. To be clear, we know that there's more work to be done. and we're continuing to look for opportunities to optimize our portfolio, lower volatility, and reduce exposure to less profitable business, even while we grow in attractive lines and markets. But we're highly motivated by the progress to date. Encouragingly, we're also seeing an expansion and acceleration of improved pricing and terms and conditions in our chosen markets. Indeed, Axis is a leading or highly relevant player in those markets that are seeing the most significant price corrections. With our strong presence at Lloyd's, the U.S. E&S markets, professional lines, and global reinsurance, we're very well positioned to capitalize on these trends. Beyond improving our underwriting performance, our enterprise-wide transformation program, supporting our ability to implement digital capabilities and enhanced analytics, is progressing well. We're confident this will help improve the customer experience including the introduction of new products. Our strategic intent is to become a stronger, faster, more innovative, and more profitable customer-focused company, one that's able to deliver differentiated value to our clients and partners in distribution. Later during the call, I'll speak on the trends that we're seeing in the marketplace. But for now, I'll pass the floor to Pete, who will walk us through the second quarter results. Pete?