Bermuda-based reinsurer Conduit Re recorded a 6.9% rise in gross premiums written (GPW) for the full year 2025, driven by the casualty segment with modest growth in property, as the firm’s undiscounted combined ratio rose by 4.4 percentage points to 101.5%, with a 15.3% contribution to the undiscounted net loss ratio from the January California wildfires.
Group-wide, GPW increased to $1.243 billion in 2025, compared with $1.162 billion a year earlier. Casualty premiums grew by 23% year-on-year to $392.3 million, as property premiums rose by 2.2% to $659.4 million, partially offset by a 3.6% decrease in specialty premiums to $191.3 million.
Within casualty, Conduit Re highlights increases in general third-party liability business with preferred partners in 2025, and attributes the slower property growth to softening prices and greater competition in the reinsurance industry. The company opted to reduce its growth in specialty as certain lines are experiencing more pressure on pricing and terms.
As regular readers will be aware, pricing levels and terms and conditions softened throughout 2025 in most classes of business, with conditions in property and specialty particularly competitive after several years of strong rate increases and robust profits.
As a result, Conduit Re’s overall risk-adjusted rate change for 2025, net of claims inflation, was -3%, driven by a 5% decrease in property and a 5% decrease in specialty, partially offset by a 1% increase in casualty, where Conduit Re notes a benefit from market correction driven by reserve deterioration and loss emergence.
Reinsurance revenue increased by 10.2% year-on-year to $897.1 million, while net reinsurance revenue increased by 8.1% year-on-year to $778 million in 2025, with higher revenue generated in all three business segments. Ceded reinsurance expenses increased year-on-year to $119.1 million from $93.7 million, driven by additional limits purchased due to the growth of the company’s inwards portfolio exposures, as well as broader outwards protections bought during the year related to secondary perils.
“We have renewed our core retrocession programme for 2026 with enhanced coverage for peak and secondary perils, such as the California wildfires, to improve our portfolio resilience and better manage earnings volatility. This has been a critical body of work, alongside the strengthening of our team,” said Neil Eckert, Chief Executive Officer.
Net reinsurance service expenses increased to $668.1 million in 2025 from $588.4 million in 2024, as reinsurance losses and loss related amounts rose to $623.2 million from $530.9 million. Conduit Re highlights another active year for natural catastrophe losses in 2025, notably severe convective storm activity in the US, and the January 2025 California wildfires, which the firm booked an undiscounted net loss, net of reinsurance and reinstatement premiums, of $119.1 million.
The company’s reinsurance service result for 2025 hit $109.9 million, so down more than 16% on the prior year’s $131.6 million, as the undiscounted combined ratio increased to 101.5% in 2025 from 97.1% a year earlier. The firm’s discounted combined ratio increased by 3.1 percentage points to 89.1% for 2025.
On the asset side of the balance sheet, Conduit Re generated a net investment result of $119.5 million for 2025, a significant 80.8% increase on the prior year.
Group-wide comprehensive income decreased by 7% from 2024’s $125.6 million to $116.8 million in 2025, resulting in an 11.1% return on equity.
“After a difficult start to 2025, we are pleased to have delivered an 11.1% RoE for the year. The result reflects our loss exposure to the California wildfires, the largest absorbed loss in Conduit’s history, and our post-event retrocession purchases. Our earnings were supported by strong investment performance, with a 6.7% net return and 24.2% growth in net investment income over 2024, and benign claims activity during the second half of 2025,” said Eckert.
“Conduit has had a successful January renewal season. We attracted select new business while continuing to support our key partners in a more meaningful way. At the same time, underwriting discipline remains our priority. As markets softened in 2025 and into 2026, our growth rate has moderated as we have reduced or exited business that did not meet our pricing or performance standards. Against the backdrop of more competitive market conditions, we are pleased with the start to 2026.
“Moving forward, we will carefully deploy our capital or return it to shareholders as appropriate. Our balance sheet remains strong and we continue to have appetite for share repurchases,” he added.
