Chicago-based insurance company CNA Financial Corporation reported financial results for the first quarter of 2026, with net income of $211 million, down from $274 million in the same period last year.
Core revenue for the quarter was $225 million, compared with $281 million in the first quarter of 2025, driven by strong investment income and underwriting discipline.
“The fundamentals of our business remain strong as we execute a thoughtful strategy to optimize our portfolio at a time when the industry faces pressure from growth, interest rate and loss cost trends,” said Douglas M. Worman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CNA Financial Corporation.
CNA recorded net investment income of $610 million, a slight increase from $604 million in the first quarter of 2025, due to higher returns on fixed income securities.
Property and casualty (P&C) segment core revenue was $248 million, down from $311 million. The results reflected lower underlying underwriting results and unfavorable front-end developments, partially offset by higher net investment income.
The segment’s combined ratio increased to 102.2% in the first quarter of 2026 from 98.4% in the same period last year. CoR for the quarter included catastrophe-related impacts of 3.6 points, compared with 3.8 points in the year-ago period. Catastrophe impact was $97 million pre-tax, including $9 million in catastrophe-related reinsurance recovery premiums, which was unchanged from the prior year.
It also includes an adverse impact of 4.1 percentage points from prior year net development driven by excess casualties and specialty E&O lines in recent accident years, compared with 2.5 percentage points in the year-ago period.
In the first quarter of 2026, the basic combined ratio of property and casualty insurance was 94.5%, a slight increase from 92.1% in the same period last year. The basic loss rate of property insurance was 64.1%, and the expense rate was 29.9%.
“The total property and casualty combined ratio for the quarter was 102.2%, with 3.6 points of catastrophic impact and 4.1 points of prior development. We took decisive action this quarter to take additional prudent measures on our property and casualty reserves in response to the excess casualties in commercial and specialty E&O specialty incidents in recent years, which we believe is fundamentally appropriate given the current environment,” Warman commented.
Adding: “Net written premiums increased 1% in the quarter, new business increased 3% to $581 million, and retention rate was 83%. We expanded certain parts of the portfolio to provide accretive returns and remained unchanged in other areas where we believe the market does not support acceptable levels of returns.
“Rates increased by 2%, while renewal premium changes were up by 3%, reflecting significant differences across business segments and categories. For example, we continued to see double-digit rate increases in business categories that are subject to social inflation, while national accounts property declined by double-digits due to the competitive environment in this area.”
CNA also reported a core loss of $9 million at its Life & Group, compared with first-quarter 2025 core revenue of $6 million.
In addition, core loss in Corporate and Others was $14 million, compared with a core loss of $36 million in the same period last year.
Warman concluded: “Looking ahead to the remainder of the year, we will continue to operate with confidence and prioritize underwriting discipline. We remain committed to executing in the market and implementing a dedicated underwriting strategy to deliver profitable growth while maintaining balance sheet strength in the current environment.”