Hamilton Insurance Group, a Bermuda-based insurance and reinsurance provider known for its underwriting platforms, is making the most of favourable conditions in the casualty market—bolstered by a recent credit rating upgrade from AM Best, the credit rating agency.
During the company’s Q1 2025 earnings call, CEO Pina Albo highlighted a strong start to the year, driven by momentum in both casualty and property business.
Hamilton Re, the group’s reinsurance arm, recorded USD 473 million in gross written premiums in the first quarter, an 18% increase over the same period last year. According to Albo, this was “primarily driven by casualty and property classes.”
Much of the growth stems from enhanced client confidence following the upgrade of Hamilton’s financial strength rating by AM Best to an ‘A’.
Albo credited the rating for driving both new business and an expansion of existing relationships, stating, “We are very happy about the client and broker response to our AM Best upgrade… we grew USD 40 million of casualty premium in the first quarter… predominantly casualty premium.”
Hamilton’s approach to this opportunity is both strategic and cautious. The insurer is pursuing select clients who meet specific criteria. “We focus on building strong relationships with key clients with whom we enjoy a broad trading relationship,” Albo explained.
She added that ideal partners are those with “a very strong underwriting and claims handling culture… and keep a significant amount of their exposure net, thus ensuring alignment of interest.”
Hamilton’s underwriting discipline also remains central to its approach. Each casualty deal is carefully vetted using internal actuarial views that operate independently from those of cedents and brokers.
“Each casualty deal is actuarially reviewed with a view of risk and a loss ratio that is independent from those of our cedents and brokers and reflects what we believe to be a cautious view of loss trends, including social inflation,” added Albo.
She further noted that current casualty market conditions remain highly supportive, with rates increasing in the “low to mid-teens” for Hamilton’s target lines. The environment is also favourable because some competitors are pulling back, which creates opportunities for well-capitalised and disciplined players like Hamilton.
“We think that the opportunity of this A.M. Best upgrade coming at a time where underlying market conditions are strong on casualty and where others perhaps are still backing away because they may have been outsized gives us a very particular opportunity at this time,” Albo said.
Hamilton’s focus remains on sustainable growth through long-term partnerships and robust risk assessment. With its strengthened AM Best rating providing added market credibility, the group appears well-positioned to continue its upward trajectory in 2025.
