The evolving geopolitical landscape in the Middle East is opening new opportunities in the region, Dan Burrows, Pelagos Insurance Capital CEO, commented during the company’s recent earnings call.
For the first quarter of 2026, Pelagos Insurance Capital Limited, formerly known as Fidelis Insurance Holdings Limited, reported a group-wide underwriting income gain of $76.2 million, driven by a solid performance in both its insurance and reinsurance segments.
Yesterday, the firm held an earnings call with analysts, and when talking about the marine line of business, Burrows noted that the segment experienced strong new business flow in the quarter, with the ongoing conflict in the Middle East triggering a “step change” in marine war rates.
He commented: “As a leader, our ability to quickly respond, executing bespoke trades in the open market, enables us to actively manage our portfolio and the individual risk level.”
Pelagos differentiates itself through its underwriting discipline driven by a precise risk assessment process, burrows stated. He went on to explain that alongside its underwriting partners, the company analyses each risk across critical factors like vessel, journey, crew origination, cargo and beneficial ownership, a process that allows them to underwrite vessel by vessel.
The shifting geopolitical environment also generated notable expansion in political violence and terror lines. This growth was attributed to the company’s “agile approach to selecting individual risks that meet our pricing hurdles.”
Burrows stated: “Pricing in the Middle East remains strong. We continue to benefit from our scale and lead position, enabling selected deployment and margin preservation in attractive segments. The evolving geopolitical landscape is creating new opportunities in this region, which we are well positioned to continue executing on.”
The executive pointed to the company’s rapid operational response as a key differentiator following the initial escalation of tensions in the region.
“Following the outbreak of conflicts in the Middle East, we immediately sat on underwriting and risk appetite framework,” Burrows explained. “Working alongside our partners, we’re among the first to underwrite risk and deploy capital. This enabled us to maximise pricing and set terms and conditions. Demonstrating our ability to not only match the right capital to the right risk, but also to the right partner at the right time.”
Burrows also commented on how the geopolitical events in the Middle East impacted this quarter, highlighting that the financial tailwinds from these accounts will manifest more later in the year.
Burrows said: “I think it obviously spans both quarters. You’ll see a bigger uptick in Q2 than in Q1. But it’s obviously an ongoing situation, we still see opportunity in that area. But it’s going to be loaded more to Q2 than it was in Q1.”
