Axis Capital Holdings Limited

Good day, everyone, and welcome to the Axis Capital second quarter 2021 earnings conference call. All participants will be in a 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. Please note that this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Matt Rorman, head of investor relations. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you, Cole. 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 ended June 30, 2021. Our next 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 axiscapital.com. We set aside an hour for today's call, which is also available as an audio webcast found in the investor information section of our website. With me today, are Albert Benchimol, 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 the company's most recent report on Form 10-K and other reports the company files for the SEC. This includes additional risks identified in the cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements in our earnings press release issued yesterday evening. We're going to take no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. In addition, this presentation may contain non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations are included in our earnings press release and financial supplement. With that, I'll turn the call over to Albert. Thank you, Matt.

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining today's call. This has been another strong quarter for Axis, an additional data point that reinforces the positive momentum in our positioning and performance, which we believe is the outcome of a multi-year effort to build a more profitable and resilient company. In both the second quarter and first half of 2021, we reported record operating earnings per share, underpinned by excellent production, strong underwriting, and solid investment income. And we believe that we're only just beginning to show what we're capable of achieving. While the broader industry benefited from a relatively low CAD quarter, the big story for Axis is the continued strengthening of our core underwriting performance. Our current year X-CAD combined ratio of 88.7 for the quarter, almost three points better than the prior year, marked the seventh consecutive quarter since the fourth quarter of 2019 that we've driven improvements in our underlying core results. Our insurance segment followed a very strong start of the year with an even better second quarter. Indeed, our insurance business is delivering performance on par with the best companies in our industry, including strong growth and improvements across almost all underwriting metrics to deliver an all-in quarterly combined ratio of 85. Our work over the last few years has positioned us very favorably in the markets experiencing the strongest conditions, and we're firmly on the front foot leading to record new business production. I'll expand on it later in our call, but we expect favorable market conditions will continue while to 2022, providing us with an even broader set of opportunities to build on our progress. Our reinsurance team is also leveraging current market conditions to further optimize their contribution to our consolidated portfolio, and the team is delivering on its goals. We're growing where it makes sense, holding the line where conditions are not as attractive as they should be, and meaningfully reducing catastrophe PMLs, all of which are leading to a stronger, more profitable portfolio. I'd make a couple of observations about our premium production and reinsurance. We're building the book of business that will drive the earnings profile that we want. Excluding property and catastrophe, where we're targeting lower exposures, gross reinsurance premiums written would be up 14% of the quarter. Importantly, as many of you have noted, given the improved construction of our portfolio, we're keeping more of what we're producing, and net written premiums are up 8% this quarter, and that's what will be driving profitable earned premium growth in coming periods. Moreover, our reinsurance team's consistent approach to underwriting profitability continues to deliver sub-90s accident-year ex-cat combined ratios and an all-in quarterly combined ratio of 90%. We're pleased with the progress that we're making across our company. We believe we're making the right moves and that we have the wind at our backs. We've worked hard to get to this point, and we feel great about the direction that we're headed in. And throughout the business, our team is playing a win. I'll now pass the floor to Pete, who will walk us through the second quarter financials. Then I'll come back and discuss market trends, and we'll have our Q&A.