Everest Group, Ltd.

good day everyone and welcome to the everest group limited first quarter 2026 earnings conference call all participants will be in a listen-only mode should you need assistance please see no 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 and then one on your telephone keypads to withdraw your questions you may press star and two Please also note, today's event is being recorded. At this time, I'd like to turn the floor over to Mr. Matt Rorman, Senior Vice President, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Jamie. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Everest Group Limited first quarter of 2026 earnings conference call. The Everest executives leading today's call are Jim Williamson, President and CEO, and Mark Kosciancic, Super Vice President and CFO. We are also joined by other members of the Everest management team. Before we begin, I will preface the comments by noting that today's call will include forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially, and we undertake no obligation to publicly update forward-looking statements. Management comments regarding estimates, projections, and future results are subject to the risks, uncertainties, and assumptions as noted in Evers' SEC filings. Management will also be referring to certain non-GAAP financial measures. Available explanations and reconciliations to GAAP can be found in the earnings release, investor presentation, and financial supplement on our investor relations website. With that, I turn the call over to Jim.

Thanks, Matt, and good morning, everyone. This is the first quarter reporting under the new segment structure we previously announced, and the early read is consistent with what we committed to, a more focused, more profitable, more capital-efficient Everest. Both core businesses contributed meaningful underwriting income, investment income remained a durable earnings engine, and we accelerated capital return to shareholders. There is more work to do, but the quarter offers clear evidence of the strength in our lead market reinsurance treaty franchise and that the strategic reset within our new global wholesale and specialty segment is beginning to take hold in the numbers. Group operating income for the quarter was $648 million, producing a net operating return on equity of 16.7% and an annualized total shareholder return of 16.1%. This performance was delivered despite a more challenging market environment. The combined ratio was 91.2%, with $130 million of pre-tax catastrophe losses, net of recoveries, and reinstatement premium, including a $58 million provision for the conflict in Iran. Excluding the legacy segment, the combined ratio for the quarter was 89.3%. Net investment income was $567 million, supported by fixed income portfolio growth and strong limited partnership returns. Gross written premium was $3.6 billion, down year over year 18%, largely due to the completed exit of our commercial retail insurance business and continued runoff of legacy U.S. casualty exposures. Excluding the impact of divestitures and deliberate runoff, underlying premium declined 6.4%. Consistent with the strategy we laid out in October, we will continue to prioritize profitability and shareholder return over top-line volume, and Q1 is a clear example of that philosophy at work. Treaty Reinsurance delivered an excellent quarter, generating $315 million of underwriting income on an 87.2 combined ratio. Gross written premium was $2.7 billion, down 8.9% year-over-year, driven primarily by continued casualty discipline and selective reductions where pricing or structure did not meet our return thresholds. Since January 2024, we have reduced casualty premium by more than $1.2 billion. Over that same window, the portfolio has rotated meaningfully toward short tail and specialty lines where we continue to see opportunities for attractive risk-adjusted returns. The April 1 renewal reflected the market conditions we anticipated on the last call. Property catastrophe pricing continued to soften with rate down 13% on our book globally. However, terms and conditions held, attachment points held, and structural discipline remained intact. Our lead market position and preferred counterparty status allowed us to shape signings towards the most attractive deals. Bound premium at 4.1 decreased 14.6% versus expiring, but expected returns on the written portfolio remain above our thresholds. Looking to the mid-year renewals, we see continued competitive conditions. Florida will be an interesting dynamic with strong demand by sedents and meaningful tort reform benefits that we are clearly seeing in our data. We will continue to deploy capacity where the math works and pull back where it does not. Mount Logan continues to build momentum. with assets under management now exceeding $2.6 billion. Our pipeline of investor interest is strong across multiple strategies, and Logan is playing an increasingly important role in our overall capital model, supporting underwriting capacity and enhancing our return on capital. Turning to the global wholesale and specialty segment. As a reminder, this business includes our London market operation, U.S. wholesale, global FAC, and a number of specialty groups with deep expertise in their respective markets. This is the first quarter printed results for the Go Forward platform, a 96.8% combined ratio on $793 million of gross written premium, producing $23 million of underwriting income. Premium was up modestly year over year, driven by growth in specialty lines and accident and health, partially offset by continued reductions in U.S. casualty, especially in our facultative business. A word on how to read the results. Underlying attritional loss performance in the quarter was strong, improving 3.8 points to 58.9. This was achieved by repositioning the portfolio into higher margin lines and by underwriting improvements in each of our portfolios. Rate achievement in key U.S. lines, including GL, umbrella access, and auto liability, remained strong. The operating expense ratio at 12.6% continues to reflect drag tied to mix and modestly lower underwriting leverage, which we expect to improve as we scale the business over time. The team is executing a clear plan, sharpening underwriting, driving operating leverage, and concentrating on the specialty and wholesale segments where Everest has genuine competitive advantage. Meanwhile, the transition of our retail business to AIG is progressing as planned, and we continue to expect meaningful capital release from this transaction to become visible in the back half of 2026. Moving to reserves, we completed our customary Q1 reserve assessments across the group. The overall reserve position remains robust, especially in reinsurance, with favorable development in the quarter of $33 million driven primarily by short tail lines. Consistent with our expectations following the comprehensive actions we took in 2025, there were no material movements in U.S. Casualty. Our approach to current year loss picks remains prudent across both businesses and in every line, particularly in U.S. Casualty, where we continue to build risk margin. Now a word on capital. In the quarter, we repurchased $331 million of shares at an average price of $330. We also repurchased an additional $100 million in April. Effective this quarter, we are raising the quarterly floor on share repurchases from $200 million to $300 million, absent major external dislocation. This reflects our continued conviction that Everett's share price today does not accurately reflect either the current value or the true earnings power of the company. And as we have demonstrated in the past two quarters, we have a willingness and ability to exceed the floor repurchased amount. Stepping back, this quarter shows what the new Everest can produce. Focused businesses centered on markets where we have a right to win, disciplined underwriting deploying capital only where return expectations are clearly above our threshold, a strong balance sheet underpinned by prudent loss picks and reserve practices and a growing third-party capital base, and a clear capital return trajectory. While this quarter is a meaningful step in our journey, we are not declaring victory. Market conditions are more competitive than a year ago. The legal environment in the U.S. remains hostile, and we will have to continue earning our results deal by deal, renewal by renewal, quarter by quarter. But Everest is better positioned today than it has been in years, and the team has confidence in where we are taking this company. Before I turn it over to Mark, let me take a moment to thank him for his service as our CFO over the last five years. He has been an important partner to me as we've moved Everest to a stronger position. On behalf of the entire Everest board and management team, I want to wish him the best of luck in his retirement. Over to you, Mark.