Chicago-based insurer CNA Financial Corporation has announced its financial results for the first quarter of 2026, reporting a net income of $211 million, down from $274 million in the comparable prior year quarter.
Core income for this quarter was $225 million, buoyed by strong investment income and underwriting discipline, compared to $281 million in Q1 2025.
“The fundamentals of our business remain strong as we execute deliberate strategies to optimize our portfolio at a time when the industry is experiencing pressure on growth, rate and loss cost trends,” Douglas M. Worman, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of CNA Financial Corporation, said.
CNA recorded net investment income of $610 million, a slight increase from the $604 million seen in Q1 2025, driven by higher returns on fixed-income securities.
The property and casualty (P&C) segment saw a core income of $248 million, down from $311 million. This result reflects lower underlying underwriting results and unfavourable prior period development, partially offset by higher net investment income.
The segment’s combined ratio rose to 102.2% in Q1 2026 from 98.4% in the same period last year. This quarter’s CoR included a 3.6 point impact related to catastrophes compared with 3.8 points in the prior year quarter. Catastrophe impacts were $97 million pretax, inclusive of $9 million of catastrophe-related reinsurance reinstatement premiums, which is in line with the previous year.
It also includes an unfavourable impact of 4.1 points from net prior period development driven by excess casualty and professional E&O lines in recent accident years, compared to 2.5 points in the prior year quarter.
The P&C underlying combined ratio was 94.5%in Q1 2026, a slight rise compared with 92.1% in the prior year quarter. The P&C underlying loss ratio was 64.1% and the expense ratio was 29.9%.
“The P&C all-in combined ratio was 102.2% in the quarter and included 3.6 points of catastrophe impact and 4.1 points of prior period development. We took decisive action this quarter to add additional prudence to P&C reserves in recent accident years on excess casualty in Commercial and professional E&O in Specialty, which we view as fundamentally appropriate given the current environment,” Worman commented.
Adding: “Net written premiums grew 1% in the quarter, new business grew 3% to $581 million and retention was 83%. We grew certain pockets of our portfolio that offer accretive returns and held the line in other areas we felt the market is not supporting an acceptable level of return.
“Rate increase was 2% while renewal premium change was up 3% reflecting significant differentiation by business unit and class. For example, we continue to achieve double-digit rate increase in social inflation impacted classes of business, while national accounts property was down double-digit due to the competitive environment in that space.”
CNA has also reported that its Life & Group saw a core loss of $9 million, compared to a core income of $6 million seen in Q1 2025.
Additionally, Corporate & Other recorded a core loss of $14 million versus $36 million in the prior year quarter.
Worman concluded: “Looking ahead to the rest of the year, we will continue to operate with confidence and prioritize underwriting discipline. We remain committed to executing in the marketplace as we implement specialized underwriting strategies to achieve profitable growth while maintaining the strength of our balance sheet in the current environment.”
