W R Berkley Corp at Goldman Sachs U.S. Financial Services Conference Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Robert Cox - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : That's great. I wanted to zone in on something you said, you said that the 60 or so businesses, you've got 60 or so independently managed underwriting units. Can you talk about cycle management and how the firm is leveraging those independent units during this phase of the cycle?

Question: Robert Cox - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : Okay. And so, the some of those niches that you operate in, you previously highlighted that points to 10% to 15% growth for the business. Can you talk about what's been driving that growth? And is there any reason to believe you couldn't continue producing that level of growth?

Question: Robert Cox - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : Okay. And you've touched on social inflation there, and you guys have been vocal about this issue in the past. What is W.R. Berkley done to address this issue in the portfolio? And can you give us an update on what you're seeing a mark-to-market on those trends today.

Question: Robert Cox - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : Okay. And I wanted to ask a related topic on reserves. There's been some industry discussion that some of the more recent accident years, like 2021 to 2023 have had some adverse development, kind of similar. And there's discussion around these years may be mispriced similar to like the 2015, 2019 accident years. Curious if you have a view on that for the industry and what you would say about W.R. Berkley?

Question: Robert Cox - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : Okay. And you've mentioned the claim cost pressure in casualty lines, and you've also noted more recently that there's been some stabilization in the commercial property market. Just curious on your view of the pricing sustainability here?

Question: Robert Cox - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : Got it. And Berkley has opportunistically shifted some premium mix to property over the course of recent periods. Is pricing still attractive in these markets? And how do you think about increasing property exposure in the context of WRB being a firm that puts a premium on limited volatility.

Question: Robert Cox - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : Okay. And putting the property side together with the casualty side, the Berkley insurance segment has been achieving high single-digit pricing, and you've noted that it's in excess of claim cost trend or hypothetically building margin. How should we think about the trajectory of the underlying loss ratio into 2025?

Question: Robert Cox - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : Maybe shifting to the E&S market. So Berkley is a prominent company in the specialty access and surplus lines market. I was just hoping to get an update from you on where you think this market is headed. It now represents 25% or so of the commercial lines market. Is there room for E&S to become an even bigger part of the market? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. DECEMBER 11, 2024 / 4:20PM, WRB.N - W R Berkley Corp at Goldman Sachs U.S. Financial Services Conference

Question: Robert Cox - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : Got it. And how does reinsurance in monoline excess fit into the picture. I wanted to ask how the opportunity to deploy capital within those businesses is shaping up compared to the insurance business?

Question: Robert Cox - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : How about workers' comp. You've been vocal on the trends there with workers' comp severity, at least the potential for it. What trends are you seeing for that product line? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. DECEMBER 11, 2024 / 4:20PM, WRB.N - W R Berkley Corp at Goldman Sachs U.S. Financial Services Conference

Question: Robert Cox - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : How about from a macroeconomic perspective, a broad question, but anything that's a particular focus for you as you head into 2025?

Question: Robert Cox - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : How about on the expense ratio side of the equation. The firm has made significant improvement over a 5 to 10 year period. Are there ways Berkley can get more efficient and continue to improve through scale or is high-20s the rate range?

Question: Robert Cox - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : How is Berkley thinking about competition for both talent and premiums from the increasing proliferation of MGAs in the market?

Question: Robert Cox - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : Got it. Last question for you as we're almost running out of time here. But I wanted to ask you if you think there are any impacts to WRB from increasing insurance broker consolidation? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. DECEMBER 11, 2024 / 4:20PM, WRB.N - W R Berkley Corp at Goldman Sachs U.S. Financial Services Conference

Question: Robert Cox - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : Awesome. We'll leave it at that. Thanks so much for being here with us, Rob.