Zurich Insurance Group increased business operating profit (BOP) in its Property & Casualty (P&C) business by 16% to $2.8 billion in H1 2026, as premium growth in Specialty, alongside stronger investment returns, helped offset softer commercial pricing.
P&C gross written premiums grew 7% like-for-like to $29.9 billion in H1 2026, with insurance revenue up 6% to $25 billion. The P&C combined ratio edged up to 92.7%, from 92.4% a year earlier.
As per Zurich, the increase in P&C operating profit reflected strong underwriting performance and an improved investment result, which rose by $346 million, supported by higher returns and non-recurring dividend income
Underwriting also remained disciplined in H1 2026, with natural catastrophe losses contributing 1.9 percentage points to the combined ratio, broadly unchanged from the prior-year period.
Within P&C, Commercial Insurance GWP rose 6% to $18.3 billion in H1 2026, while BOP rose 12% to $2 billion. Commercial Insurance’s combined ratio was 91.2%.
However, pricing within Commercial Insurance declined 1%, reflecting continued pressure in Property, particularly on large accounts in North America and the UK.
Zurich said margins remained healthy despite the rate environment, while Casualty lines within its Commercial Insurance business continued to achieve positive rate changes. Cyber rate reductions were also said to have moderated, with early signs of stabilisation as AI-related developments increased risk awareness.
The Retail business, which also sits within P&C, recorded 14% growth in BOP to $825 million in H1 2026, with its combined ratio improving to 94%.
Within P&C’s Commercial Insurance business, Global Specialty continued to outperform, with premiums increasing 8% to $5.5 billion, led by Construction, where premiums rose 18% globally.
The insurer attributed the growth in Global Specialty to increasing demand for data centre infrastructure, driven, as mentioned, by artificial intelligence investment, alongside energy infrastructure projects.
Zurich expanded its Data Centre Project Guard insurance and risk management solution into Europe and Latin America. The firm also entered into a new data centre construction quota share reinsurance arrangement, providing up to $1 billion of risk capacity to support the expansion of its global portfolio.
Importantly, Zurich said reinsurance remained an important tool within its P&C business for optimising risk-adjusted returns, limiting earnings volatility and creating underwriting capacity.
Its 2026 P&C renewals included three new quota share arrangements covering Data Centre Construction, Energy Onshore and Corporate Liability, increasing capacity in selected growth areas while supporting portfolio diversification.
Meanwhile, the firm’s Life segment also delivered a record H1 performance, with BOP increasing 23% in US dollar terms to $1.3 billion. Gross premiums rose 1% on a like-for-like basis to $19.5 billion in H1 2026, supported by growth in higher-margin protection and unit-linked business.
Elsewhere, Zurich’s Farmers business recorded a more modest 2% increase in BOP to $1.2 billion. Growth was supported by record fee income at Farmers Management Services, reflecting continued premium growth at the policyholder-owned Farmers Exchanges.
At the group level, Zurich’s BOP increased 13% to $4.8 billion in H1 2026, while net income attributable to shareholders rose 14% to $3.5 billion.
Core earnings per share, adjusted for the impact of the capital raise associated with the proposed acquisition of Beazley, increased 11.5% to $24.20. Core return on equity on the same adjusted basis reached 27.1%, up from 26.3% a year earlier.
Zurich attributed the overall performance to accelerating growth in its preferred business areas, including Specialty, Middle Market, SMEs and Life, where demand is being driven by technology, infrastructure investment and changing protection needs.
The group also benefited from a stronger investment performance in H1 2026, with its net investment result increasing 35% to $4.1 billion. Net investment return rose to 2.4%, compared with 1.9% in the prior-year period.
