Good day, and welcome to the Chubb Limited First Quarter 2021 Earnings Call. Today's call is being recorded. For opening remarks and introductions, I'd like to turn the call over to Ms. Karen Beyer, Senior Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Welcome everyone to our March 31, 20 21 First Quarter Earnings Conference Call. Our report today will contain forward looking statements, including statements relating to company performance, Pricing and business mix, growth opportunities and economic and market conditions, which are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially. Please see our recent SEC filings, earnings release and financial supplement, which are available on our website at investors. Chubb.com for more information on factors that could affect We will also refer today to non GAAP financial measures, reconciliations of which to the most direct comparable GAAP measures and related details All provided in our earnings press release and financial supplement.
Now I'd like to introduce our speakers. First, We have Evan Greenberg, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer followed by Phil Bancroft, our Chief Financial Officer and then we'll take your questions. Also with us to assist with your questions today are several members of our management team. And now it's my pleasure to turn the call over to Evan.
Good morning. We had a really good start to the year, highlighted by excellent premium revenue growth globally, powered by our Commercial businesses, double digit commercial P and C rate increases and expanding underwriting margins, leading to record ex CAT underwriting results and simply world class margins. It was an active quarter for natural catastrophes Due primarily to the winter storm losses in Texas, though even with that, we produced a really good calendar year combined ratio, Which speaks to our improved risk adjusted underwriting returns. The published P and C combined ratio was 91.8 And included catastrophe losses of 9.1 percentage points compared with 3.3% last year. The current accident year combined without cats was 85.2% compared to 87.5% prior The 2.3 percentage point improvement was made up of a point of loss ratio with the balance related to the Adjusted net investment income in the quarter was $930,000,000 up about 1.5% and that Excludes private equity gains, which most other companies include.
On that basis, investment income grew 50%. In sum, core operating income in the quarter of $2.52 per share was down $40,000,000 from prior year to $1,100,000,000 while net income of $2,300,000,000 was up significantly over prior for years $252,000,000 Phil will have more to say about the expense ratio, cat, prior period development, investment income And book value. Turning to growth and the rate environment. P and C premiums were up 9.7% globally, With commercial premiums up 15.6% and consumer lines down 2 Point 5. Foreign exchange had a positive impact on growth of 1.6 points.
The consumer lines result Included negative growth in Global A and H, flat revenue in International Personal Lines and about 2.5% Underlying growth in North America Personal Lines. We continue to experience a very strong commercial P and C pricing environment globally. And based on what we see today, I'm confident these conditions will endure. Jubb was built in all aspects Over years to capitalize on these conditions. In North America, commercial P and C premiums grew almost 15%.
New business was up 21.7% and renewal retentions remained strong At 95% on a premium basis. In North America, major accounts in specialty business, Net premiums written grew about 17.5 percent or about 15% excluding year over year impact of large structured transactions. Our middle market and small commercial business grew over 11%. Overall rate increases in North America commercial were up by 14.5%, while loss costs are trending up about 5.5%, though it varies up or down depending upon line of business. Let me give you a better sense of the rate environment.
In major accounts, risk management related primary casualty rates were up almost General casualty rates were up 34.5% and varied by category of casualty. Property rates were up nearly 20% and financial lines rates were up almost 21%. In our E and S Wholesale business, Property was up 15.5%, casualty and financial lines rates were up 25%. In our middle market business, rates for property were up 16%, casualty was up 12%, excluding comp, with comp up 1% And financial lines rates were up 18.5%. In our international general insurance operations, Commercial premiums grew over 20% on a published basis or 15% in constant International retail commercial grew about 17.5% and our London wholesale business grew 38.5%.
Retail commercial growth varied by region with premiums up over 26.5% in Asia Pac, 22.5% in Europe With equally strong growth in both the U. K. And on the continent, our Latin America Commercial Lines business returned to growth in the quarter With premiums up 4.7%. Internationally, like in the U. S, in those markets where we grew, We continue to achieve improved rate to exposure across our commercial portfolio.
In overseas gen, rates were up About 14.5 percent with a loss cost trend of 3%, though that varies by class of business and country. Rates were up 14% in our international retail business and 20% in our London wholesale Keep in mind, these outstanding commercial insurance growth rates in the U. S. And overseas were achieved in spite of the headwinds we face from negative exposure growth due to reduced business activity. On the other hand, Consumer lines growth globally in the quarter continued to be impacted by the pandemic's effects On consumer related activities, during the quarter, there were signs of recovery beginning, breaking consumer down Between A and H and Personal Lines.
Our International Personal Lines business produced modest growth depressed and that hits A and H hard, while our direct marketing and group employee benefits A and H business is beginning to pick up modestly. If we exclude the travel business, our international A and H business grew almost 2% on a published basis. We expect growth to continue to improve as the year goes along, though predicting the continued impact of the pandemic in Asia, Latin America Net premiums in our North America high net worth personal lines business were up about 2.5%, Excluding reinsurance reinstatements, auto renewal credits in California and wildfire exposure related cancellations. As I have said before, this outstanding franchise is about customers who choose Chubb for the service And richness of coverage, and we're willing to pay for them. These client segments, which are at the heart of what we do, Grew 8% in the quarter.
Overall, portfolio retention remained strong and high net worth at over 94%, And we achieved positive pricing, which includes rate and exposure of 11% in our homeowners portfolio. Looking ahead, We have been and are taking continued action to shape this portfolio. To that point, we're taking ongoing action To reduce our wildfire exposure in parts of California as a consequence of our inability to achieve Adequate rate and terms for the coverage. This will have an impact for the remainder of the year of about $50,000,000 We're about 1.25 percent impact on our growth rate. Lastly, In our Asia Focused International Life Insurance Business, net premiums plus deposits were up over 18.5% in the quarter.
In sum, as I have said the past few quarters or longer, we are in a harder firming market for commercial P and C in most of the world. The rate environment in my judgment is a rational and necessary response to years of industry underpricing And a more uncertain risk environment today driven by climate change, the litigation environment And cyber related exposures. Given our years of data and analytics capabilities and underwriting know how, We know what rate we need in order to achieve an adequate risk adjusted rate of return from underwriting, and that is the objective. And it is a relentless focus, though we're never perfect. Some lines are there, others have a way to go.
Virtually all of our commercial P and C lines of business continue to achieve rates that exceed loss cost and so margins Continue to improve. As you can see, we're off to an outstanding start to the year. My colleagues and I are Confident in our ability to grow our business and continue to expand margins. And as I said, I expect as the year progresses, Our sizable consumer business will return to growth. Our organization is focused.
It's mission driven. The quality of Chubb's service And consistency is a widely recognized differentiator. They are the wellhead of our reputation. We are leaning into the current favorable underwriting conditions and capitalizing wherever we can get paid adequately to assume risk And volatility, we are growing exposure. Our people are energized and focused, and we have all of the capabilities in place to grow our company profitably while increasing shareholder value.
In light of recent events concerning The Hartford And for the sake of absolute clarity, I want to reiterate once again our enduring views concerning M and A and Capital Management. We look at lots of deals every year, different sizes, small to large, Different geographies and product areas. And we pull the trigger infrequently. Lots of optionality. We have made 17 acquisitions over the past 15 years And have an excellent track record of advancing the company's capabilities while creating shareholder value.
Our approach is steady and consistent. We are extremely patient, disciplined and the money is not Burning a hole in our pocket. If we believe a transaction will advance our strategy and further what we are building organically And is good for shareholders, we won't hesitate to pull the trigger. As regards surplus capital, we're again very consistent. We hold capital for risk and growth, both organic and non organic.
Beyond that, we return surplus capital to shareholders. We are Highly confident about our future and wealth creation prospects, and we approach The Hartford from that position of strength. This was another opportunity to create additional value and would not distract us from capitalizing on an organic growth With that said, the purpose of today's call is to discuss our Q1 financials and our company's business. I'll now turn the call over to Phil and then we're going to come back and take your questions.
Thank you, Evan. Our financial position remains Our balance sheet includes a $121,000,000,000 AA rated portfolio of Cash and invested assets. We have over $74,000,000,000 in capital stemming from our superior operating and investing performance. Our operating cash flow remains very strong and was $2,100,000,000 for the quarter. Among the capital related actions in the quarter, we Earned 871,000,000 to shareholders, including 352,000,000 in dividends and 519,000,000 In share repurchases, adjusted pretax investment income for the quarter of 930,000,000 The variability in investment income, we expect our quarterly run rate to be approximately 900,000,000 Our annualized core operating ROE and core operating return on tangible equity were 8.2 2% and 12.8% respectively for the quarter.
Separately, as Evan mentioned, we continue to present The fair value mark on our private equity funds outside of core operating income as realized gains and losses instead of net investment income As other companies do. The gain from the fair value mark this quarter would have added 3.1 percentage points to core operating ROE. Book and tangible book value per share decreased by 0.4% and 0.6% respectively for the quarter Due to unrealized losses of $1,900,000,000 after tax in our investment portfolio from rising interest rates. This loss was tempered by adjusted realized gains of $1,200,000,000 after tax mainly from the mark to market gains in private and public And in our variable annuity reinsurance portfolio. At March 31, our investment portfolio Remains in an unrealized gain position of $2,800,000,000 after tax.
Our pre tax P and C net catastrophe losses for the from the storms in the U. S. We had favorable prior period development in the quarter of $192,000,000 pretax For $156,000,000 after tax, the favorable development is split approximately 20% In long tail lines, principally from accident years 2017 and prior and 80% in short tail lines. There was no change to the previously reported aggregate P and C COVID-nineteen losses, the majority of which Joe was 77%. The P and C administrative expense ratio of 8.6% in the quarter Improved by 70 basis points over the prior year, about half related to one time items that we don't expect to repeat.
Our core Operating effective tax rate was 15.5 percent for the quarter, which is within our expected range of 15% to 17 I'll turn the call back over to Karen.
Thank you, Phil. At this point, we're happy to take your questions.
We'll go first to Michael Phillips with Morgan Stanley.
Thanks. Good morning and congrats on a nice quarter again, Evan. I appreciate I guess I want to focus first on, you sound still very bullish on commercial and exposure growth That you want to push for. You said last quarter commercial line size legs. This quarter you're confident the conditions will continue I guess with your numbers that you gave on pricing and loss trends, there's still quite a bit of a gap there.
That's good. A little bit narrow than what you said prior, but I guess 2 part question is, how adequate are current rates across the board? It's hard to imagine they're not. And then I guess you didn't say you want to push for exposure growth still. So is commercial lines still the place to push Given what might be a narrowing gap in the rate versus loss trend?
It's funny how people think about rate right now. And this obsession with our rate increases decelerating, the rate of increase, Decelerating, accelerating, where is it? What are you trying to achieve? You're trying to achieve A risk adjusted return, which translates to a combined ratio that is at least Adequate to return a good risk adjusted return. So let's call that 15 Or it depends on the line of business.
So let's call it 15%. And As you approach that, as you achieve it, do you need to keep increasing rates? So you ask yourself that question. And you need rates to remain there, you got to achieve at least loss cost. We're achieving We have more and more of our portfolio and its proprietary, so I will not go into what percentages of the portfolio are at A proper risk adjusted return in terms of combined ratios on a policy year and accident year And we measure both.
And with that in total Look at the overall level of rate increase and look at the margin between The rate and exposure and loss cost. Now with that, Let me go a step further for you because of this obsession about this. When I look at the 3rd and 4th quarter last year and I measure the Q1 against it right now. And I'm taking the time on this question because I know all of your colleagues or most of them have this question on their minds. When I look at the Level of rate increase this quarter measured against prior.
Okay. Property in North America in aggregate Got rate increases in the mid teens, which is about 2 to 3 points lower than it was And when I look at the average of the 3rd Q4 last year, property has been getting rate on rate on rate on rate. When I look at primary casualty, the rates are up. They're higher than they were on the average. When I look at excess in umbrella, the rate of increase is flat with the average Of the quarters.
When I look at financial lines, the rate of increase is flat with prior quarters. When I look at Marine, it's up. When I look at Aviation, it's flat to down. When I do this internationally, Kind of the same trend. Property down 2 to 3 points, the rate of increase from what it was the other two quarters.
Primary casualty is flat. Excess and umbrella, the rate of increase is Flat. Financial lines is up and marine is down. So no, sorry, marine is up And aviation is down a little bit. So you know what, I think that gives you guys as much color As I can give you and to answer that question that from every angle I can that I know is on Everyone's mind.
You know what, the conditions are excellent. Thank you very much for the
Thank you. That's helpful. Conditions are excellent. So that leads to this one. Frankly, I'm not even quite sure how to ask it, Evan, but I I'm not even asking about Hertford, but specifically at all, but just in general, clearly there was some capital to be deployed there.
As you said, not putting a hole in our pocket. You're very infrequent. You pull this very frequently. If something like that size is off the table and the growth in the conditions are Pretty right. I guess how should we think about where to go from here for maybe another capital deployment round of authorization versus more organic or just kind of What can we expect for what was possibly to be used there and how it might be used in the near term?
What you can imagine, is steady as she goes. We have clear minds and we are at rest. We adopt our buybacks From $1,500,000,000 to $2,500,000,000 and we will actively resume that. We had to take a pause during this episode with Hartford And beyond that, steady as she goes. We got capital for risk and opportunity and we are patient people.
Okay. Thank you very much, Owen. Appreciate it. Congrats on me.
Thank you very much.
We'll go next to Greg Peters with Raymond James.
Good morning.
I don't want this to count as a question, but I believe, Phil, this is going to be your last earnings call. If If I'm correct, well, congratulations on your retirement.
Well, thank you so much. Who is, by the way, number 78?
He's going over the wall. Number 78. Not that you yes, I knew you guys did. Yes. Yes.
Yes. Thank you.
I knew I'd be I knew I knew I knew that would be an issue.
And remember, every year with me is like dog You know how old he looks now?
Well, the rumors about working for you are epic. So, I'm sure it's been a good time.
I don't know what they're talking about. I don't know what Greg, they're just a rumor.
So one of the areas that you spent time in previous calls talking about is the expense ratio because it has it showed improvement last year because of in part some COVID related T and E savings and things like that. And then it still seems like it's on a general pathway of improvement. So I was wondering Perhaps if you can give us an updated view. When we look at these other companies that we follow, most of them try and Map out between a 40 to 70 basis point operational improvement in their expense ratio year in, year out. I'm wondering if you can just give us an updated view on your expense ratio.
Yes. Most of them are bloated. Look at our expense ratio in absolute terms versus others, our operating expense ratio. And North America It's in the single digits and continuing to head marginally lower and it Will through efficiencies, which I have talked about numerous times that with technology And in all forms, so I won't go into it in great detail, Robotics, straight through processing, etcetera. We are on track to continue to drive Efficiencies in the operations.
And the same in overseas general, the difference there is you're across 50 some odd Countries. And so by its nature, you have a different expense structure and it continues To improve. Look, we're growing our P and C business, The commercial businesses at a rate far in excess of Growing operating expense, operating expenses up marginally. So we're leveraging against that. Both exposure and Policy count is up, but you also got the added benefit which drives the ratio down of Simply price increase that feeds in there also.
It runs a lower acquisition cost Then does the consumer lines business, but it runs a higher loss ratio. That's just axiomatic and true of it. That business will continue to operate in the range That it's in that you see right now. Up or down a couple of 10ths of a percent in my mind As we look forward, the consumer businesses will come back. And as they come back, they have that higher acquisition cost.
The operating expense, So the internal expense ratio will go down because you will have more volume returning against it. But the acquisition ratio, which will remain steady within the line, it will become a greater mix of our total. And So that will go the other way. It's just natural. And, but that business then runs a lower loss ratio.
The margins are excellent, As you know. So maybe that gives you the color you're looking for.
Indeed. Thanks. And my follow-up question, boy, so many different areas I could go in, but I'm going to focus on operations. You said in your prepared remarks that loss cost trend was running around just above 5 points across the book. And then during your comments and then your response to the previous question, you talked about really some really robust rate actions being taken across certain lines of business like general casualty, financial lines, things like that.
Should I think about the loss cost Trend in those lines is running higher because of the rate you're able to achieve? Or is that just an industry loss cost trend that You're able to get the rate you're getting.
Let's see if I answer it this way for you. The marketplace in terms of rate is striving the marketplace You operate within the marketplace. Is striving for 2 things and that is you have those who have a hole Phil, because they have deficiency in lines of business. Remember, the 3 operates like a giant retro. And then they also need rate For adequacy today, that's the marketplace.
If You have operated at adequacy along the way. You don't have that first part that hole And achieving market rate, you're achieving better than Adequate. And that benefits you. We'll see we're in a We're certainly in an active loss cost period. Would you remove The transient impact of COVID.
And so we'll see how it all plays in terms of margin, we play things conservatively. But we are receiving rate rate of return across the book. And if we have more than that, well, that'll just speak For itself over time.
Got it. Thanks for the answers.
That's the best I can give you.
Understood.
We'll go next to David Motmaden with Evercore ISI.
Hi, thanks. Good morning. Evan, I just wanted to follow-up a little bit on the loss cost Trend in North America commercial, it sounds like that's ticked up a bit to 5.5. Sounds like it's been ticking up. I guess, it's obviously a minor detail, Given the amount of rate that you're getting and continuing to earn in above trend, but wondering if you could just talk about what you're seeing That's driving that increase.
I know there's a lot of moving pieces, mix and everything else. But just sort of wondering if maybe You can just elaborate on what was driving the increase in the loss trend.
Yes. And My God, you're looking at about a half a point change. So let's just keep it in perspective. You have a couple of things. So in the short tail lines, you have non modeled cat loss That is on an accelerated trend.
Everyone sees it. You know that. I'll move on from there. But That finds its way into your if you're prudent into your expected loss cost. Secondly, On the casualty side, given the litigation environment and across different lines of business, You know we have watched and have talked about it endlessly that it is The loss cost environment there is not benign.
And so as we always Relentlessly study our trends across each class. We reflected over in how we view loss cost and we react very quickly, Particularly if there's any bad news, we react very slowly to good news. And so, it's those 2 that are conspire
Got it. That's helpful. Was there anything in the quarter or I guess some of the courts Started to reopen. Was there anything specifically on the litigation environment that you saw during the quarter? Or it's just more a reflection?
David, no news in a quarter. We just do study that we look at we're looking at years past And trending forward. When you think about these things, they don't you don't react to loss cost trends aren't based On news of this or that in any given quarter, they're based on a more stable
Yes, got it. That makes sense. Thanks for that. And then I wanted to switch gears a little bit To the International Life Business, another good quarter, strong sales there, Up 14% constant currency. I was hoping maybe you could dive into the different regions between Asia And LatAm and what's driving success there in each region.
And maybe just stepping back a bit, just Talk about the opportunity here, and if you think M and A is a lever that you're evaluating to maybe increase Scale in any of these markets?
So, great question. The business is overwhelmingly Asia. Latin America, Think predominantly Chile and Banco de Chile and our partnership with them. And Chile is a great market, but Chile has truly been suffering from COVID And the lockdown and while it's a very good business, it has some Headwind in terms of growth related to that, but it's coming back and that will continue to do very well. It's bank distribution, On both branch and direct marketing related, it's more credit related type products and short Term than it is, long term product, though there is a mix of that in the portfolio.
When you go to Asia, the growth is coming predominantly right now and in this quarter, Vietnam, Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan doing well. And our business in Korea Getting better, but it's small. And it will take a while to cash out. What's not consolidated in those Numbers, but we that we add as a line item because we don't have over 50% yet is the increase in Wai Tai, Which is doing well. And by the way, we are on our path.
And it's in a very sensitive moment, I don't want to talk about it much, but that will consolidate. I'm confident we'll finish what we got to get done to be able Consolidated one time. And that Life business is growing well. The organic growth and those are agency based businesses for the most part with some direct marketing as well, Particularly in Thailand, and bank distribution in Taiwan. But if you look at Vietnam, Thailand, Hong Kong, China.
And those are predominantly those are agency businesses where our agency force is growing. Okay. These are long term products. Guarantees, are extremely low, Like in the 1% to 2% range. And there's a healthy mix of savings and protection product.
And that business We built it from dust predominantly and it's cast in a shadow. It's a few $1,000,000,000 now. And I see great growth potential for that. As regards M and A, I made the statement When I came to the end of my commentary, I said we have lots of optionality. We have optionality When we're looking at opportunity, what that means is across product lines, across geographies, across customer segments, And that includes the life insurance business.
And if we found the right thing And it was accretive to our strategy and was good for shareholders, we wouldn't hesitate for a minute. Thanks for the question.
Thank you.
We'll go next to Elyse Greenspan with Wells Fargo.
Hi, thanks. Good morning. My first Question, tying together some of the comments we've heard throughout the call, just in terms of Market conditions, Evan, you still seem pretty positive there. And then as we think about the rest of this year, right, we'll have The economy continues to improve, so exposure growth should pick up. So as we think about your commercial businesses, both within the U.
S. And internationally, Given the dynamics of maybe some stabilization to slight deceleration in pricing, but I guess the question is, I'm trying to understand, should we think about as we think about premium growth within commercial, should we think about that Being stable relative to the Q1 and perhaps even improving as we get the economic improvement picking up from here.
I don't there's nothing on the horizon that I see that That tells me we're going to really decelerate in the commercial area. It varies by business As we look at it, but we're feeling very good about it.
Okay. That's helpful. Then my second question, Evan, as I was reading your annual letter, You made mention social inflation. I know throughout the call we've kind of brought it up in terms of What we're seeing today, but there's obviously been issues that the industry is dealing with that goes back many, many decades. And I was just hoping to kind of get your updated view, kind of elaborate on some of the what you mentioned in your annual report as you guys think about some of kind of the looming issues that the industry yourselves and others are dealing with today.
It's not a new issue to us. We've Been on top of it for a while, the reviver statutes. They Produce lots of notices. They then start to ripen And you get facts and you're able to match them up against coverages that were in force At a period of time and as they do, we Recognize any liability we have been and continue to recognize liabilities that We have against those and that is all baked into Our published loss ratios, thank you. See, the reviver statutes have been open For a period of time.
And so in most all jurisdictions, The reported notices of circumstances have decelerated tremendously From when they first open up. There are some states that are continuing to consider opening provider statutes and theirs. And so this is an event that the industry deals with Over time, these things evolve over time. I might add, we're very sympathetic To those and it breaks your heart where you see the circumstances of children abused by adults Sexually, and we're there for real. And then on the other side of the coin, the trial bar It's a money making machine.
And there is that combined with new technologies of social media And litigation funding, they see it as another dog bowl to eat out of. And There is also a lot of suspect and specious behavior That is involved here. And our job is to tease out what's real and defend against anything That we suspect is just for Bill Gautam Gain.
That's helpful. Thanks for the color, Evan. And I also just want to And my congrats to Bill on his upcoming retirement.
Elyse, was that also because he went over the wall?
Thank you, Elyse. Thanks, Elyse.
Thanks.
We'll go next to Yaron Kinar with Goldman Sachs.
Good morning, everybody. So I'm a bit obsessive in my nature, so I hope you can indulge another question on rates.
Ask me some questions.
I'll try. So you said market conditions, Cinder, I think that we are seeing more lines And we're in 30 year rate increases in excess of trends. Interest rates have increased. So why wouldn't Chubb Specifically or the industry more broadly be willing to give up more rate for volume as we look
at the year ahead?
That doesn't make any sense to me At this point, look at combined ratios of most, Look at the loss environment and I'll tell you what, I think The industry overall is not in a place where it has achieved Adequate risk adjusted when you consider both things I talked about. And by the way, We are driving. I can't speak about the industry, but I'll tell you what, Chubb Just look at it. Chubb is growing exposure. We're achieving rate And we are growing a lot of business because it's at prices that we adequate to produce an adequate risk adjusted return.
Our new business Was up over 20%. Well, and our renewal retentions are high. We're growing. We're growing market share Because the pricing is right. You're in a risk business and pricing is and adequacy is where you start.
That's as good as I can give you, Yaron. Beyond that, you're overthinking it.
All right. That's very helpful. And Clearly, you guys are growing off of a very large base to begin with. So, no other questions behind that. I guess switching gears a little bit.
We've heard some talk about potential tax reform. I realize these are very early days here, but Can you maybe share your views on corporate tax reform, its potential impact on Chubb and Chubb's positioning?
You know what, I don't know enough. And we have both the corporate tax rate That could go up. They're talking 21 going to 25 or 28. We'll see how that plays. And then secondly, you've got guilty and beat.
And Then you've got the notion of a minimum global tax rate, multilateral agreement with OECD. All of these plates are spinning. The green book is not yet out. That would tell us any detail of what's in the tax reform the tax increase, it's Not a reform. Proposal.
And so we don't even know what the administration is yet Posing other than in headlines. And so we really can't speculate at this point. We just don't know. And when it comes out, we'll have a better sense. And then it's got to run the gauntlet in Congress And we'll see from there.
So I can't speculate at this point here.
Yes, fair enough. I appreciate the thoughts. You're
welcome. We'll go
next to Brian Meredith with UBS.
Yes, thanks. A couple of them here quickly for you, Evan. The first one, if I look at the rate activity that you've been generating in the last several quarters in North America commercial and The 5.5% loss cost inflation, now you do the math and you get a lot more underlying loss ratio improvement than you're booking right now. Is that because of your just conservatism with respect to potential social inflation trends? Or is there something else that we're just not thinking about?
Brian, I don't know what you're thinking about. I don't know what you guys are thinking about, but I we have always operated the
Okay. And then second question, just curious if I look at
I will say this to you. Let's see. We produced over 2 points of margin improvement. It was an accident year combined ratio of 85 Wait, 2%. My God, world class.
No doubt. Completely agree.
The second one just sticking with North America Commercial, written premium net written premium growth Really attractive in the quarter. Gross written premium growth also kind of increased, but clearly you're seeing some benefits from just lower ceded premium. Any Change in kind of the reinsurance strategy as we head into 2021?
No, not a change of strategy. Not a change of strategy. There we have it varies by line of business. There's mix within there and then there is also within some lines of business we have increased our net appetite.
Got you.
That makes sense. Thank you.
We'll own more exposure we have better spread of risk. Thank you. You're welcome.
We'll go next to Ryan Tunis with Autonomous Research.
Hey, thanks. Good morning. My question was just on I was thinking of language from the statement that you guys Put out last week. Just looking for some clarification, there's a comment where you said And this is involving The Hartford. The path to a transaction would have been engagement coming from The Hartford on the terms of our last proposal.
I guess my question is, is that just a general comment about your desire to Do friendly M and A or are you trying to say something about that being your last proposal?
Look, the chapter with The Hartford is closed. We have moved along. And beyond that, Ryan, I'm not going to now engage and talk about past events.
Understood. That's fair. In terms of like thinking about M and A now, I guess it's been 5 years since Jubb. Back then, I think the big gating item was you didn't want to dilute tangible book value per share. I'm just trying to understand as you think about M and A targets, As many of your thinking evolved in terms of what's most important financially?
Is it earnings
First of all, Brian, with all due respect, your comment about tangible book is a nonsense comment. It was dilutive to begin with to tangible and then it powered its way, way out of it. Almost 29%. So I don't know what How you're thinking about it, it's hard to do M and A that isn't dilutive to tangible. And then the question is, In the first moment and then the question is, is how accretive is it and how quickly do you return?
So with all due Respect, I don't think you're thinking clearly. Number 2, let me make a one I'm not going to go into Chubb's metrics of That's not important here. And by the way, every deal has its own signature. And so you wanted to fit on a bumper sticker and it doesn't work that But I'm going to make one comment about M and A today. EPS accretion when you use a lot of Cash is a midget's lift.
That's really easy. And I don't miss that one whatsoever. None of us do. So that's the easiest metric. That's not what it's about when you measure wealth Creation value.
Thank you very much for the question.
Thanks for the thoughts.
We'll take our last question from Meyer Shields, KBW.
Thanks. Two really quick ones, I think. One, Evan, should we infer anything significant about reinsurance Pricing from the fact that gross written premiums were down year over year?
No.
Okay. Second question, I was hoping you could comment on non travel accident and health pricing?
On accident health pricing? Yes. Non travel. Non travel. Yes.
It's Meyer, it's remember, we don't do a lot of health insurance. It's supplemental health and accident business. So it's fundamentally stable and actually up a few points. Rates have been moving up, particularly in the corporate travel area, the commercial business. And in our direct marketing business, it's very steady.
Okay. That's perfect. Thank you.
You're welcome.
And at this time, there are no further questions.
Thanks, everyone, for your time and attention this
you for your participation.