Bowhead Specialty Holdings Inc. reported a 24% increase in gross written premiums for the first quarter of 2026, driven by expansion across its casualty and digital underwriting divisions, the specialty insurer stated Tuesday.
The New York-based company said gross written premiums reached $216.7 million for the three months ended March 31, up from $174.8 million in the same period last year, according to a press release.
Net income rose 40.1% year over year to $16.0 million, or $0.48 per diluted share, compared with $11.4 million, or $0.34 per diluted share, in the first quarter of 2025. The company’s return on equity improved to 14.1% from 12.0% a year earlier.
Total revenue increased 26.9% to $155.7 million, supported by a 43.5% jump in net investment income to $18.0 million. The company attributed the investment gains to a higher balance of investments, with its portfolio carrying a book yield of 4.6% and a new money rate of 4.7% as of March 31.
Among its underwriting divisions, Baleen Specialty, part of Bowhead’s digital platform, recorded the fastest growth, with gross written premiums surging 313.9% to $11.4 million. Healthcare Liability rose 28.0% to $30.4 million, while Casualty, the company’s largest segment, grew 20.4% to $147.3 million. Professional Liability increased 6.4% to $27.7 million.
The company’s combined ratio – a key measure of underwriting profitability where a figure below 100% indicates a profit – improved to 95.3% from 97.3% in the prior-year period. Its expense ratio fell 2.0 percentage points to 28.4%, which the company attributed to business scaling and expense management. The loss ratio was unchanged at 66.9%.
Chief executive officer Stephen Sills said in the release that he was “very pleased with our strong start to 2026.” Sills added that the company remains “focused on our strategy of building a balanced portfolio of craft and digital solutions to deliver sustainable and profitable growth across market cycles.”
Bowhead’s digital underwriting segment, which includes Baleen Specialty and small-business express offerings, accounted for 6.8% of total gross written premiums in the first quarter, up from 1.6% in the same period of 2025.
The company held total assets of $2.48 billion as of March 31, 2026, compared with $2.37 billion at the end of December 2025.
