“As Eric stated, we are on track to bring our expense ratio below 30% for full year 2027.”

In context

“Keith Walsh (Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer): Thank you, Eric, and good morning. We had a strong second quarter and exceptional first half of 2026. I will expand on the financial highlights. Second quarter General Insurance adjusted pretax income was $1.5 billion, up 4% from the prior year quarter, reflecting higher underwriting income and higher interest income, partially offset by lower income from our alternatives portfolio. Net premiums earned were $6.2 billion, up 5% year-over-year. Underwriting income increased 10% year-over-year to $686 million, driven by improved accident year underwriting results and more favorable prior year reserve development, partially offset by higher catastrophe losses. For the first half of 2026, General Insurance underwriting income increased 68% to $1.5 billion, reflecting an excellent 13% increase in accident year underwriting earnings, lower catastrophe losses and more favorable prior year reserve development. Overall, first half 2026 net premiums written grew 13%, which we expect to support earnings growth as it earns in over 2026 and 2027. Moving to second quarter underwriting ratios. General Insurance accident year combined ratio as adjusted was 88.1%, an improvement of 30 basis points from the prior year quarter. The improvement was driven by a lower expense ratio of 30.8%, which improved 20 basis points year-over-year. As we've mentioned in prior calls, it is better to look at our expense ratio over the course of the year to see the trend in underlying improvements. As of June 30, 2026, the trailing 12-month expense ratio was 30.7%, reflecting increased operating leverage and continued expense discipline. As Eric stated, we are on track to bring our expense ratio below 30% for full year 2027. The accident year loss ratio as adjusted of 57.3% improved 10 basis points from the prior year quarter. Total catastrophe charges for the quarter were $210 million and included $75 million in net losses related to the Middle East conflict. Prior year development, net of reinsurance and prior year premium was $145 million favorable and included $146 million of net favorable loss reserve development, $26 million of ADC amortization and $27 million of prior year return premiums. The favorable development was driven primarily by continued favorable loss experience, most notably in U.S. workers' compensation of $177 million and U.S. property and special risks of $79 million. This was partially offset by strengthening in U.S. excess casualty of $74 million, predominantly in accident years 2016 and 2023. Specifically in 2023, we took the opportunity to slightly increase that accident year to bring it in line with the level of prudence reflected in 2024 and 2025. There are several key factors in our process that give us confidence in our reserves. First, the continued execution of our limit management strategy has resulted in lower limits with tighter terms and conditions across our portfolio. Second, our comprehensive reinsurance program helps to mitigate severity risk while providing an additional layer of external validation from our reinsurance partners about our assumptions. Third, we conduct a review of the entire portfolio every 90 days, allowing us to identify emerging trends earlier and react quickly. We complement this with monthly looks at actual versus expected movements and regular interactions to inform the underwriting, claims and actuarial feedback loop. We continue to feel confident with our reserve position. Overall, second quarter General Insurance calendar year combined ratio improved 30 basis points year-over-year to 89.0%. The combined ratio for the first half of the year was 88.1%, an improvement of 450 basis points, an outstanding result. Moving to segment results. North America Commercial accident year combined ratio as adjusted was 86.7%, an increase of 50 basis points over the prior year quarter. The accident year loss ratio as adjusted was 63.4%, an increase of 30 basis points, driven by changes in business mix as we reduced certain property lines and earned in more casualty business, combined with rate pressure, particularly in property. The expense ratio increased 20 basis points, driven by the acquisition ratio, which was 50 basis points higher due to mix change, while the GOE ratio improved by 30 basis points. This quarter included 410 basis points of catastrophe losses and 680 basis points of favorable prior year development. Overall, North America Commercial calendar year combined ratio was 84.0%, an excellent result and an improvement of 190 basis points from the prior year quarter. International Commercial accident year combined ratio as adjusted was 87.3%, an increase of 230 basis points. The accident year loss ratio was 55.2%, a 100 basis point increase year-over-year, reflecting rate pressure, partially mitigated by underwriting actions and reinsurance benefits. The expense ratio rose 130 basis points to 32.1%, driven entirely by a higher acquisition ratio. The increase in the acquisition ratio was primarily driven by strong new business growth and changes in business mix. While our recent strategic transactions benefited the overall expense ratio in the quarter, they contributed to a higher acquisition ratio, which was more than offset by the benefits in the GOE ratio. The International Commercial calendar year combined ratio of 91.3% included 390 basis points of catastrophe losses, driven by $75 million of net losses related to the Middle East conflict. Moving to Global Personal. The business generated strong growth momentum in Accident & Health and high net worth, as Eric outlined, while delivering continued profitability improvement. Second quarter underwriting income of $114 million increased nearly $90 million year-over-year, and our adjusted accident year underwriting income more than doubled. The accident year combined ratio as adjusted was 91.2%, a 490 basis point decrease year-over-year, driven by strong improvement in both the accident year loss ratio and expense ratio. The accident year loss ratio improved 270 basis points to 51.5%, driven by underwriting actions and lower reinsurance costs. The expense ratio improved 220 basis points, primarily driven by continuing benefit of more favorable high net worth commission terms. This quarter included 170 basis points of catastrophe losses and de minimis prior year development. Second quarter calendar year combined ratio was 92.9%, an improvement of 560 basis points year-over-year. For the first half of 2026, the combined ratio was 91.2%, a 1,200 basis point improvement. We are pleased with the progress we are making as the actions we've taken to reposition the portfolio continue to earn through. Moving to pricing, starting with North America Commercial. Eric outlined details of the property market, so my comments will focus on other lines. Excluding property, North America Commercial renewal pricing increased 5% year-over-year. North America Casualty pricing remains favorable with retail casualty pricing increasing 10%, exceeding loss cost trend and including a 14% pricing increase in excess casualty. In Glatfelter and programs, which focus on small and medium businesses, pricing increases were 7% and 5%, respectively. In Financial Lines, our pricing, excluding cyber, was flat for the quarter, which improved from the prior year. We have been successful in obtaining rate across all segments of our book and in targeted classes of D&O, we have seen positive pricing change. Overall, we believe Financial Lines will be less of a headwind moving forward. In International Commercial, renewal pricing declined 6% following multiple years of compounded rate increases. By line of business, Global Energy saw pricing decreased 15% and Financial Lines pricing was down 4%. Where the market conditions are highly competitive, we will focus on preserving margin and being disciplined in the application of our underwriting standards. Moving to net investment income. Second quarter total net investment income on an APTI basis was $908 million. General Insurance net investment income was $871 million, flat year-over-year. In our core fixed income portfolio, net investment income grew 4% from the prior year quarter. During the second quarter, we continued to reinvest at higher yields with the average new money yield on our core fixed income portfolio roughly 60 basis points higher than sales and maturities. The annualized yield was 4.72%, a 30 basis point improvement over the prior year quarter. The steady growth in our core fixed income portfolio was partially offset by lower alternative investment income of $13 million, down from $48 million in the prior year quarter. The decline was due to private equity, which posted a loss of $8 million. As a reminder, private equity is reported on a 1-quarter lag and the second quarter results reflected the market volatility and valuation marks from the first quarter of 2026. We continue to execute on our previously announced investment partnerships where we have deployed capital and expect to see the benefits moving forward. Moving to other operations. Second quarter adjusted pretax loss was $142 million versus a loss of $101 million in the prior year quarter. The difference was driven by lower net investment income and other of $39 million compared to $92 million in the prior year quarter, which included $27 million of Corebridge dividends. In addition, the current quarter had lower short-term investment income. Turning to capital management. We have a strong balance sheet and significant financial flexibility. Our capital management priorities remain focused on deploying capital to support profitable growth and delivering attractive long-term returns to shareholders. We maintained our strong financial position and ended the quarter with $9 billion of debt outstanding and a total debt to adjusted capital ratio of 17.6%. In May, we sold approximately 25 million shares of Corebridge common stock for $710 million, which was the remainder of our holdings. This sale marks the culmination of our 5-year separation process and a significant milestone as we've transformed into a focused global property and casualty insurer. Book value per share at June 30, 2026, was $77.39, up 4% from the prior year quarter, reflecting growth in net income as well as the favorable impact of lower interest rates, partially offset by capital return to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. Adjusted tangible book value per share was $72.18, up 3% from the prior year quarter. In summary, we delivered a strong second quarter with excellent underwriting results that contribute to an exceptional first half of 2026. We remain on track to deliver on our Investor Day goals. With that, I will turn the call back over to Eric.”