Bowhead Specialty, a provider of casualty and professional liability products, has announced financial results for the fourth quarter of 2025, with net profit of $14.8 million and a gross written premium (GWP) increase of 21.3%.
The company’s net income for the quarter rose 9.1%, up from $13.6 million reported in the fourth quarter of 2024. Net profit for the full year of 2025 will reach US$53.8 million, an increase of 40.6% from the fourth quarter of 2024
Full-year 2024 reported revenue of $38.2 million.
Global warming potential in the fourth quarter of 2025 increased to US$224.1 million from US$184.7 million in the same period last year. In 2025, global warming potential increased by 24.0% to reach US$862.8 million.
According to the announcement, growth in GWP in the fourth quarter of 2025 was driven by Bowhead’s increasing renewals, new business, and continued growth across all of its segment platforms.
The company’s casualty division led growth, rising 25.5% to $132.9 million; professional liabilities increased 4.2% to $47.9 million; health care liabilities increased 7.7% to $34.2 million; and Baleen Specialty grew 665.6% to $9.1 million.
Bowhead’s combined ratio for the fourth quarter of 2025 was 96.9%, compared with 92.7% for the fourth quarter of 2024. In 2025, the company reported a CoR of 96.5%, while in 2024 it reported a CoR of 95.8%.
Due to the timing of the company’s annual independent actuarial review in the fourth quarter, Bowhead considers its full-year loss ratio, a more meaningful metric, to be 66.7%, an increase of 2.3 percentage points from 64.4% in 2024.
Net written premiums for the fourth quarter of 2025 were $143.5 million, an increase of 19.4% from the fourth quarter of 2024. For the full year of 2025, net written premiums increased 23.7% to $451.4 million.
Total revenue for the quarter reached $151.7 million, an increase of 27.1% from the fourth quarter of 2024. Total revenue for the year was $551.6 million, an increase of 29.6% from 2024.
Stephen Sills, CEO of Bowhead, commented: “Bowhead had a great year in 2025. Gross written premiums increased by more than 21% in the fourth quarter and 24% for the full year.
“At the beginning of the year, we expected full-year 2025 expense ratio to be in the mid-$30s, but starting in the third quarter and throughout 2025, the expense ratio was below 30%. With these achievements, Bowhead’s adjusted net income increased by more than 30% for the year, with an adjusted return on equity of 13.6% and diluted adjusted earnings per share of $1.65.”
Sils continued: “With a strong year behind us, I am even more excited about Bowhead’s future. Over the past five years, we have built a highly effective ‘craft’ underwriting model, driven by experienced underwriters who specialize in underwriting large, complex risks. In the second half of 2024, we complement this foundation by launching complementary ‘digital’ underwriting models, starting with Baleen, with tighter coverage for smaller, hard-to-implement risks.”
“In Baleen’s first full year, we generated more than $21 million in premiums, a major milestone validating our digital strategy. Since then, we have leveraged technology to streamline submission, underwriting and servicing of existing Bowhead products, a capability we call ‘Expedited’, to address small and medium-sized accounts, starting with our small cyber liability product.”
The executive concluded: “While we still expect GWP to grow by around 20% by 2026, driven by the casualty segment, our digital expansion marks a major step forward for Bowhead, positioning us to achieve sustainable and profitable growth throughout the market cycle.”
