The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Abby and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the third quarter 2023, the Hartford Financial Results webcast. Today's call is being recorded and all lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during that time, simply press the star key followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, press star 1 a second time. Thank you, and I will now turn the conference over to Susan Spivak, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations. You may begin.

Good morning, and thank you for joining us today for our call and webcast on third quarter 2023 earnings. Yesterday, we reported results and posted all the earnings-related material on our website. For the call today, our participants are Chris Swift, Chairman and CEO of the Hartford, Beth Costello, Chief Financial Officer, Jonathan Bennett, Group Benefits, Stephanie Bush, Small Commercial and Personal Lines, and Mo Tooker, Middle and Large Commercial and Global Specialty. Just a few comments before Chris begins. Today's call includes forward-looking statements as defined under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results could be materially different. We do not assume any obligation to update information or forward-looking statements provided on this call. Investors should also consider the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from these statements. A detailed description of those risks and uncertainties can be found in our SEC filing. Our commentary today include non-GAAP financial measures. Explanations and reconciliations of these measures to the comparable gap measure are included in our SEC filings as well as in the news release and financial supplement. Finally, please note that no portion of this conference call may be reproduced or rebroadcast in any form without the Hartford's prior written consent. Replays of this webcast and an official transcript will be available on the Hartford's website for one year. I'll now turn the call over to Chris.

Good morning, and thank you for joining us. The Hartford's third quarter financial and operational performance builds upon the momentum achieved in the first half of the year. Once again, commercial lines and group benefits, which in aggregate represent over 85% of earned premium, delivered exceptional results. We continue to expand our strong competitive position successfully executing on priorities and delivering superior returns for shareholders. Let me now call your attention to highlights from the third quarter. Top line growth in commercial lines of 8%, with an underlying combined ratio of 87.8. Strong pricing across PNC, including double digit increases in commercial property, personal lines auto and home. Group benefits fully insured premium growth of 8% with a core earnings margin of 9.8%. Strong investment performance with reinvestment rates climbing to 6%, driving higher portfolio yield, and a trailing 12-month core earnings ROE of 14.9%. These results are outstanding and keep us on track to deliver a full-year core earnings ROE in the range of 14 to 15%. As I look across the markets, the U.S. economy has remained resilient, and recent data points, including robust payroll, strong retail sales, and solid levels of industrial production, point to an environment which continues to be supportive of the Hartford's businesses. Now let me dive deeper into the third quarter performance by business. In small commercial, written premiums were $1.2 billion, with 16% growth in new business and another sub-90 underlying margin. Our best-in-class package product, which we call Spectrum, continues to outperform in a competitive marketplace, contributing new business premium of approximately $100 million, up 20% over prior year. In addition, Written premium for excess and surplus lines grew 34% in the quarter, with new business growth of over 50%. We expect ENS premium to approach $200 million for the full year. I am incredibly pleased with the overall performance in small commercial, which continues to deliver outstanding results with industry-leading products and unmatched ease of conducting business, and unrivaled pricing accuracy. This business is poised to exceed $5 billion of written premium this year. Middle and large commercial had another great quarter. Written premiums grew 5%, reflecting strong rate execution and new business growth in our excess lines. Our general industry's property book grew 13%, while large property grew 15%. Looking across commercial lines, we are taking a thoughtful and disciplined approach to grow property premium within favorable market conditions to a level approaching 2.5 billion for the full year or a 25% increase. We are focused on managing our cat exposure as evidenced by our year-to-date cat losses, which were lower than our market share. Coming back to middle and large commercial, Underlying margins were exceptional, reflecting the advancements made in data science capabilities, pricing, and underwriting tools. Margins also benefited from favorable property losses. Those advancements, combined with our best-in-class talent, position us well to sustain profitable growth in this business. Global specialty continues to deliver outstanding results, with net written premiums up 11% driven by new business growth and strong renewal written pricing in a number of key lines. Submission flow in the U.S. was up 11% in the quarter, including 15% growth in wholesale, and international saw strong new business growth in marine and energy. Within renewal written pricing, momentum has been building in the wholesale excess market Property pricing has been above 20% all year, and international casualty is above 10%. In addition, we remain excited about the ongoing benefits to the top line from our expansive product portfolio. Our underwriting discipline, along with enhanced capabilities developed over the past few years in global specialty, are driving targeted market share gains with a stellar underlying combined ratio that has hovered in the mid-80s for the past six quarters. In short, our execution has never been stronger. Turning to pricing, Commercial Line's renewal written pricing was 5.4%, flat with the second quarter. Excluding workers' compensation, renewal written pricing rose to 8%, up 4 tenths sequentially, with strong pricing in property, auto, and general liability. Across commercial, property pricing is over 10%, with auto and general liability nearing that level as well. Pricing in other liability and casualty lines also remains strong, while public D&O is still pressured. In workers' compensation, renewal written pricing continues to exceed expectations, remaining slightly positive in the quarter. All in, ex comp renewal written pricing in commercial lines remains on top of lost cost trends, reinforcing my confidence in achieving our margin expectations for the year. In summary, momentum persists in commercial lines where I expect top line growth at highly profitable margins to continue. Moving to personal lines, I am pleased with our continued response to elevated loss costs in both auto and home. In this challenging environment, our focus, objectives, and execution are unwavering. During the quarter, we achieved auto renewal written price increases of nearly 20%, which we expect to continue at that rate into the fourth quarter. Current accident year loss trend expectations for the third quarter, as updated in June, held. a promising development as we finish the year. In homeowners, renewal written pricing of 14.1% comprised of net rate and insured value increases outpaced underlying lost cost trends. This is the fifth consecutive quarter of double-digit pricing increases in this book. Our focus on the preferred market within personal lines business is a competitive advantage with our modern, innovative, and digitally enhanced offering, Prevail. This product will be available in 39 states by the end of this month, and we are optimistic about future prospects for growth. In the fourth quarter, we expect to achieve auto new business rate adequacy in over half the states, representing two-thirds of new business premium. I am confident in the pricing actions we are taking will return this business to targeted profitability in 2025. In group benefits, premium growth of 8% and a core earnings margin of 9.8% were both outstanding. Core earnings of $170 million was a quarterly record reflecting focused execution, improved mortality trends, in continued strong disability results. This quarter's disability loss ratio reflects historically low long-term disability incidence trends and favorable claim recoveries. In group life, mortality trends have improved both sequentially and year-over-year, but remain above pre-pandemic levels. Looking at the top line, Growth was driven by book persistency above 90%, plus strong year-to-date sales. Overall, the strength of our group benefits, diversified product portfolio, as well as our commitment to outstanding customer experience through the use of data and technology resonates in this marketplace, cementing our leadership position. Before I turn the call over to Beth, let me share some takeaways from the recent Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers Annual Conference. Throughout the course of the 60-plus meetings and touch points at CIAB, we heard a consistent acknowledgement of the strength of our franchise. Partners called out our unique digital tools, broad product set, the strength of our innovation agenda, and the consistent execution of our strategy over a number of years. They also expressed their desire to grow their business with us and have come to view our team as best in class with relationships that have never been stronger. Confirmation from distribution partners that we are delivering on our strategy is strong validation of our leading position in the market. Through those relationships, combined with enhanced capabilities, state-of-the-art technology, and digital tools, we are taking market share, while delivering industry-leading returns. With that track record, I am confident in our ability to consistently deliver core earnings ROEs in the 14 to 15% range. Now, I'll turn the call over to Beth to provide more detailed commentary on the quarter.