Bermuda-based global reinsurer Conduit Re’s revenue has grown from zero to more than $1.2 billion in the five years since its inception, and although it’s very strong, chief executive officer (CEO) Neil Eckert told Reinsurance News the focus is on capital management and portfolio quality rather than growth.
This morning, Conduit Re announced a strong set of results for 2025, including an 11.1% return on equity that beat market expectations and was achieved despite a challenging first half of the year in the wake of costly California wildfires. Reinsurance services performance did decline year over year, but remained stable at nearly $110 million, while investment performance was very strong, with performance of nearly $120 million and a net return of 6.7%.
At the same time, total written premiums increased by 6.9% year-on-year to US$1.243 billion, with strong growth in casualty insurance business and moderate growth in property and casualty insurance business, slightly offset by a decline in professional insurance business.
In its presentation, Conduit Re also outlined its experience with reinsurance renewals on January 1, 2026, showing risk-adjusted rate changes of -5% compared to January 2025 renewals, down 7% for property and professional lines and 1% for casualty lines.
Conduit Re explained that in real estate it has reduced its exposure or exited treaties that had poor loss experience or unattractive terms, while in specialty the company has taken a hard stance on marginal business and exited certain treaties that did not meet its earnings expectations.
With this in mind, we asked Eckert how Conduit Re is seeking growth in the current market environment while maintaining underwriting discipline.
“The focus is not on growth; it’s really on capital management and portfolio quality,” he said. “So we don’t feel any pressure to grow. We have a nice refreshed portfolio. In five years, we went from zero to $1.2 billion. Capital overall is fully deployed. We’ve started doing share buybacks. So, we have a choice. It’s not growth, it’s capital discipline, and if the business doesn’t meet our pricing criteria, we’re out.”
Conduit Re’s casualty portfolio grew 23% to $392.3 million in 2025, with inflation-adjusted rates actually increasing 1% during the year, but at renewal in 1.1 2026, inflation-adjusted rates fell 1%.
Eckert confirmed that casualties are continuing, adding, “We expect the impact to continue due to the loss activity over the past few years… So that has been supporting the market and we are not seeing any fundamental changes in those market conditions.”
Looking ahead to subsequent real estate renewals in 2026, Eckert said continued weakness is expected.
“It’s a function of capital and performance. The 1.1 rate we posted in 2026 was year-over-year…and then you get into the U.S. Cat refresh season. We just expect similar trends to continue. But for now, rates are basically adequate,” he said.
Underwriting performance in 2025 remains strong despite increased catastrophe experience in the first half, but for Eckert, the highlight of 2025 is return on investment, which was 6.7%, up from 4% the previous year.
“Our total asset base is now over $2 billion. So, that’s strong. The balance sheet remains strong and we continue to buy our shares in the market,” Eckert said.