Bowhead Specialty, a provider of casualty and professional liability products, has announced its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2025, reporting a net income of $14.8 million and a 21.3% increase in gross written premiums (GWP).
The firm’s net income for the quarter increased 9.1%, compared to the $13.6 million reported in Q4 2024. Net income for the full year 2025 reached $53.8 million, up 40.6% from the
$38.2 million reported for the full year 2024.
GWP for Q4 2025 increased to $224.1 million from $184.7 million in the same period last year. For 2025, GWP increased 24.0% to $862.8 million.
According to the announcement, the increase in GWP in Q4 2025 was driven by Bowhead’s increasing renewal book, new business and the continued growth in its platform across all divisions.
The company’s casualty division led the growth with a 25.5% increase to $132.9 million; professional Liability increased 4.2% to $47.9 million; healthcare Liability increased 7.7% to $34.2 million; and Baleen Specialty increased 665.6% to $9.1 million.
Bowhead’s combined ratio for Q4 2025 was 96.9%, which compares to the 92.7% seen in Q4 2024. For 2025, the firm reported a 96.5% CoR, which compared to the 95.8% reported for 2024.
Due to the timing of the company’s independent actuarial review in Q4 of each year, Bowhead considers its full-year loss ratio a more meaningful metric, which stands at 66.7%, a 2.3 points increase compared to 64.4% in 2024.
At $143.5 million, net written premiums for Q4 2025 increased 19.4% from Q4 2024. For the full year 2025, net written premiums grew 23.7%, to $451.4 million.
Total revenues for the quarter reached $151.7 million, a 27.1% increase from Q4 2024. For the year, total revenues were $551.6 million, a 29.6% increase compared to 2024.
Bowhead Chief Executive Officer, Stephen Sills, commented: “Bowhead had a great year in 2025. Gross written premiums grew more than 21% in the fourth quarter, and 24% for the full year.
“At the start of the year, we expected a low 30s expense ratio for the full year of 2025 but achieved an expense ratio below 30% starting in the third quarter and for the full year of 2025. With these accomplishments, Bowhead’s adjusted net income for the year grew over 30%, adjusted return on equity was 13.6%, and diluted adjusted earnings per share was $1.65.”
Sills continued: “With a strong year behind us, I’m even more excited about Bowhead’s future. Over the past five years, we’ve built a highly effective “craft” underwriting model driven by experienced underwriters who excel at writing large and complex risks. In the second half of 2024, we supplemented this foundation by launching our complementary “digital” underwriting model, starting with Baleen, targeting small, harder-to-place risks with more restrictive coverage.
“In Baleen’s first full year, we generated over $21 million in premiums — an important milestone that validates our digital strategy. Since then, we’ve leveraged technology to streamline the submission, underwriting, and servicing of our existing Bowhead products, a capability we call “express”, to address small and mid-sized accounts, beginning with our small cyber liability products.”
The executive concluded: “While we continue to expect a GWP growth of around 20% in 2026 driven by our Casualty division, our digital expansion marks a major step forward for Bowhead, positioning us well to deliver sustainable and profitable growth across market cycles.”
