Travelers turned in another quarter of near-US$2 billion earnings on October 16. Behind the headline, its international commercial business, which includes its UK, Irish and Lloyd’s operations, grew strongly, while pricing in its US commercial book all but stalled.
Travelers’ Business Insurance segment writes in the UK and Ireland, and as a corporate member of Lloyd’s. Its international premiums were US$393 million in the third quarter, compared with US$409 million a year earlier. But the prior-year figure included the Canadian commercial business Travelers sold to Definity Financial at the start of 2026. Excluding that US$59 million, international business insurance premiums grew about 12%, by IB’s calculation.
Bond & Specialty’s international business, which covers specialty lines in the UK and Ireland alongside Canadian surety and a joint venture in Brazil, grew 17% to US$146 million.
Travelers does not break out its UK results separately, but the international numbers suggest its European commercial business is growing faster than its US operation, where premiums rose 4%.
At group level, core income rose 4% to US$1.947 billion, or US$9.18 per diluted share, up from US$8.14. Net income was US$1.917 billion. The combined ratio improved to 86.8% from 87.3%, while the underlying combined ratio, excluding catastrophes and reserve development, edged up to 84.1% from 83.9%.
Core return on equity was 22.1% for the quarter and 24.1% over 12 months.
“It was another in a run of successful quarters, with very strong underwriting performance across all three segments and a record result from our investment portfolio,” said chairman and chief executive Alan Schnitzer.
The most telling number in the results was a small one. Across Travelers’ US business insurance book, excluding National Accounts, renewal rate change fell to 0.9% from 4.3% a year earlier, according to the company’s earnings presentation. Renewal premium change, which includes exposure growth, slowed to 4.1%.
Property is driving the slowdown. US commercial property premiums fell about 4%, while general liability and commercial auto continued to grow. Excluding property, renewal premium change was 7.0%. Retention held at 86%, and new business reached a third-quarter record of US$699 million.
“If there’s one word over the top to describe it, I would say it’s stable,” Schnitzer said on the earnings call, adding: “We’re not prepared to call a bottom.”
The pattern will be familiar to UK brokers. Marsh’s global index showed commercial rates down 6% in the second quarter, led by property, while casualty has held up better. Travelers’ US numbers show the same split: property softening fastest, liability still firming.
Bond & Specialty was the standout segment. Net written premiums rose 12% to US$1.209 billion, and segment income climbed 24% to US$309 million. US surety premiums grew 21%, and management liability renewal premium change improved to 3.8%, with retention steady at 89%.
The segment’s combined ratio improved to 77.3% from 81.6%, helped by US$95 million of favourable reserve development, partly from management liability coverages.
For London market and UK brokers placing financial lines, firming management liability pricing at one of the largest US writers suggests the soft market in D&O may be nearing its floor in the US, although conditions in the UK and London remain competitive.
Travelers no longer writes personal lines outside the US. Personal Insurance income fell 13% to US$706 million, as catastrophe losses added 9.2 points to the segment’s combined ratio. US auto premiums fell 8%, and Travelers took about 10 auto rate decreases in the quarter.
Net investment income reached a record US$1.098 billion pre-tax, up 6%. Higher rates also widened unrealized investment losses to US$6.352 billion after tax, and book value per share fell 6% to US$141.48. Excluding unrealized losses, adjusted book value per share rose 9% to US$172.47.
Travelers added US$295 million to asbestos reserves after its annual review, but net favourable reserve development across the group still totalled US$234 million. Catastrophe losses were US$538 million, mostly from US wind and hail events.
For UK brokers, Travelers’ results describe a carrier growing its international commercial business while its home market softens. Fry said strong results were pushing profit-sharing and contingent commissions above plan, a trade he described as one Travelers is “very willing to make.”
Schnitzer said he expects Travelers to become “a consolidator of premium,” with savings from AI and scale showing up first in margins. If US pricing continues to flatten, its international operations, including Lloyd’s, are likely to remain an important part of that growth.
The board declared a quarterly dividend of US$1.25 per share, payable December 31.
