Conduit Re, a Bermuda-based global reinsurance company, has grown its top-line from nought to more than $1.2 billion in the five years since its inception, and while very robust, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Neil Eckert told Reinsurance News that the emphasis is on capital management and portfolio quality rather than growth.
This morning, Conduit Re announced a strong set of results for 2025, including an 11.1% ROE, which is ahead of market expectations, and which was achieved despite the challenging first half of the year following the costly California wildfires. The reinsurance service result did come down year-on-year but remains solid at almost $110 million, while the investment performance was very strong with a result of nearly $120 million, reflecting a net return of 6.7%.
At the same time, gross premiums written increased by 6.9% year-on-year to $1.243 billion, with strong growth in casualty and modest growth in property, slightly offset by a decrease in specialty.
In its presentation, Conduit Re also provides an overview of its experience at the January 1st, 2026, reinsurance renewals, revealing a risk-adjusted rate change of -5%, with property and specialty down 7%, and casualty off 1%, when compared with the January 2025 renewal.
Conduit Re explained that in property it reduced exposure or exited treaties with poor loss experience or unattractive terms, while in specialty the firm took a hard line on marginal business and exited certain treaties that did not meet its profitability expectations.
In light of this, we asked Eckert how Conduit Re navigates maintaining underwriting discipline while seeking growth in the current market environment.
“The emphasis is not on growth; it’s actually about capital management and portfolio quality,” he said. “So, we don’t feel under any pressure to deliver growth. There’s a good renewal portfolio. We have gone from nought to $1.2 billion from a standing start in five years. The capital is, by and large, pretty well fully deployed. We’ve started doing share buybacks. So, we’ve got an option. It’s not about growing, it’s about capital discipline, and it’s about, if business does not meet our pricing criteria, we will walk away.”
In 2025, Conduit Re grew its casualty portfolio by 23% to $392.3 million, and during the year, rates actually increased after inflation by 1%, but came down 1% after inflation at the 1.1 2026 renewals.
Eckert confirmed that the casualty book is holding up, adding that, “We would expect that effect to continue because of loss activity on some of the back years… So, that’s been underpinning the market, and we don’t see any radical change in those market conditions.”
Looking ahead to subsequent 2026 renewals for property, Eckert said that the expectation is for continued softening.
“That’s a function of capital and results. The rate we published at 1.1 2026 is year-on-year… you’ve then got the US cat renewal season. And we just expect similar trends on an ongoing basis. But at the moment, it’s largely rate adequate,” he said.
While the underwriting result was strong in 2025 in spite of the elevated catastrophe experience in the first half of the year, for Eckert, the highlight of 2025 was the investment return, which was 6.7%, up on the prior year’s 4%.
“Our gross asset base is now up to over $2 billion. So, that’s strong. The balance sheet remains strong, and we continue to buy our shares in the market,” said Eckert.
