Everest Group, Ltd.

Welcome to the Everest Group Limited Third Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. 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 1 on a touch-tone phone. To withdraw your question, please press star then 2. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Matthew Rohrmann, Senior Vice President, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Drew. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Everest Group Limited third quarter of 2026 earnings conference call. The Everest executives leading today's call are Jim Williamson, President and CEO, and Elias Habayeb, Executive Vice President and CFO. We're also joined by other members of the Everest management team. Before we begin, I'll preface the comments by noting that today's call will include forward-looking statements. Action results may differ materially, and we undertake no obligation to publicly update forward-looking statements. Please note that forward-looking statements, including estimates, projections, and forecasts of future results, are subject to the risks, uncertainties, and assumptions 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. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Jim.

Thanks, Matt. Good morning, everyone. Everest has generated a year-to-date annualized total shareholder return of 14.2% while executing on several initiatives focused on generating shareholder value and positioning the company for its next chapter. I've said that Everest would do whatever was necessary to ensure the strength and sustainability of our balance sheet. This quarter, we prudently strengthened our casualty reserves and reinsurance while not taking full credit for favorable development in short tail lines. As a result, our reserve position is now over $850 million above our more conservative actuarial central estimates, further demonstrating this commitment. Our annual long tail reserve studies were more robust than ever. Both Elias and Katie Bradica, our new group chief actuary, materially enhanced our reserving process, applying more conservative assumptions while giving little to no credit for the significant underwriting actions we've taken unless clearly evident in our data. Elias will provide more details. Moving on to third quarter results. Our strategy is centered around strengthening our core underwriting businesses while managing the cycle with relentless discipline. Operating earnings per share of $7.62 were driven by disciplined attritional underwriting across our core businesses, record net investment income, and accelerated capital return. Our core businesses delivered $3.7 billion in gross written premium, a modest year-over-year decrease reflecting our disciplined approach. As I've said, prioritizing bottom line results over top line production is imperative. especially when we're seeing more signs of irresponsible behavior in the market. Over the past several years, we have significantly repositioned the casualty portfolios across both core businesses, balanced our mix, and improved risk quality. We prudently raised our casualty loss picks at the beginning of this year. Coupled with the significant underwriting actions we've implemented, our current accident year loss picks remain conservative. Now turning to the segments. Our reinsurance treaty team continues to do an excellent job managing the cycle across all markets. We continued to decrease our exposure to U.S. casualty lines and selectively reduce business where rates were not adequate. This resulted in about a 6% decrease in gross written premium year over year on a constant dollar basis and excluding reinstatement premiums. Casualty lines were down by 18%. while property premiums decreased slightly as growth in property pro rata was offset by decreases in our CAT and non-CAT XOL portfolios. We continue to see growth opportunities in our global specialty and financial risk portfolios where risk adjusted returns remain attractive. Growth in the quarter was led by a variety of specialty lines. The increase in the combined ratio in the quarter largely reflects the casualty reserve strengthening I mentioned as well as pre-tax catastrophe losses of $277 million net of estimated recoveries and reinstatement premiums primarily associated with the Columbia earthquake, events in the Middle East, and a number of smaller European and Canadian losses. At the same time, the underlying portfolio's performance remains solid as evidenced by the attritional loss ratio improving to 56.3% in the quarter. Looking ahead to the 1-1-27 renewals, we expect market conditions to remain competitive. Everest is well-known in the industry as a top-tier lead market, sought after by high-quality seedings looking for long-standing partnerships. Despite expected competition, we continue to see opportunities for attractive capital deployment. That said, we remain disciplined. Where deals don't meet our return thresholds, we'll adjust our participation accordingly. Turning to the global wholesale and specialty segment, which delivered another solid performance. Despite rate headwinds and short tail lines, our strategy to expand the portfolio in specialty lines and targeted international markets remains consistent while continuing to deliver margin expansion. Gross rent and premium increased over 3% year over year. We grew double digits internationally with broad base growth across financial lines, marine, and a number of specialty classes, Partially offset by aviation. While rate across our portfolio increased modestly, it continues to vary by line. More importantly, the areas of our business we are expanding are rate adequate. The attritional loss ratio improved 90 basis points year over year to 60%. This is a result of the team's disciplined risk selection and portfolio management driving improved loss experience. The combined ratio was 97.3%. Prudently positioned at the high end of our expected range in the mid to high 90s for the full year. This included pre-tax catastrophe losses of $25 million net of estimated recoveries, primarily resulting from the Columbia earthquake and midsize losses in the Middle East. Now a word on capital management. We accelerated capital return to shareholders to approximately $550 million in the quarter, inclusive of dividends. bringing the year-to-date total to over $1.4 billion. Share repurchases continue to be a top priority for capital deployment as we approach year-end and head into 2027. Over the last two years, we have transformed Everest. As we move forward, I couldn't be more optimistic in the strategy we're executing across our core businesses as Everest embarks on its next chapter, one that I believe will consistently generate value for shareholders led by disciplined Proactive Capital Management, and Balance Sheet Strength. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Elias.