Good morning. Welcome to the Hamilton Insurance Group, Ltd. 2026 annual meeting of stockholders. I would now like to turn the conference over to Gemma Carreiro. Please go ahead.
Good morning, and welcome to the 2026 annual general meeting of Hamilton Insurance Group, Ltd. I am Gemma Carreiro, Group General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, and I'm joined by David Brown, Chair of the Board of Directors, and Pina Albo, our Group Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director. Before we proceed with the formal agenda, I'd like to take a few moments to go over some logistical items to ensure the meeting runs smoothly for all. First, in the meeting materials portion of the proxyvote.com portal, shareholders will find links to, 1, the agenda for today's meeting outlining the order of business. 2, the rules of conduct and procedures which are intended to ensure an orderly meeting. 3, the annual report and proxy statement of Hamilton Insurance Group. Second, please note that today's remarks may include forward-looking statements, which are subject to risks and uncertainties.
These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are based on management's current expectations. Our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission provide details on important factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially. Except as required by the applicable securities laws, we are under no obligation to update any forward-looking statements if circumstances or opinions should change, and you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such statements. Additionally, today's remarks may refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation of such measures to the most comparable GAAP figures is included in our most recent earnings release and supplementary financial information, all of which are available on our website, investors.hamiltongroup.com.
Third, I have received an affidavit of distribution certifying that on March 24th, 2026, the notice of the 2026 annual general meeting was first sent to shareholders of record as of the close of business on March 17th, 2026. Finally, the Inspector of Election has informed us that in accordance with our bylaws, a majority of the common shares entitled to vote at this meeting as of the record date are represented here today. With proper notice having been given and a quorum present, the meeting is duly convened to transact such business as may properly come before it. With that, I will turn the meeting over to the Chair of the Board of Directors, David Brown.
Thank you, Gemma. Good morning, everyone. I'm David Brown, Chair of the Board of Directors, and I am joined by members of the Hamilton Executive Team and members of our Board of Directors, plus representatives from EY, our independent auditor. We are holding this meeting virtually to maximize shareholder participation, and we thank those of you who have joined us today. During the course of the meeting, shareholders may submit a question by utilizing the Ask a Question section on the portal. Please note that we will attempt to answer as many questions as time allows, but only questions that are germane to the meeting will be addressed. I hereby call to order the Hamilton 2026 annual general meeting.
The polls are open. Shareholders who have not yet voted or who wish to change their vote may do so at any time during the meeting by clicking on the voting button on the portal. Shareholders who have voted already and do not wish to change their vote do not need to do anything further. We will now proceed with the agenda for today's meeting. Following the presentation of all agenda items, we will briefly pause to allow for final voting. The first item of business is the election of 11 Class B directors for a 1-year term ending at the 2027 annual general meeting of shareholders. All director nominees have joined today's meeting. The board unanimously recommends a vote for each nominee.
The second agenda item is an advisory vote to approve the 2025 compensation of the executives named in the proxy statement, commonly called a Say-on-pay vote. The board unanimously recommends a vote for this proposal. The third and final agenda item is the ratification of the appointment of Ernst & Young as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for fiscal year 2026 and to authorize the board of directors to set the fees for Ernst & Young for 2026. The board unanimously recommends a vote for this proposal. We will now briefly pause for final voting. The polls are now closed. Preliminary vote results indicate that all proposals have been approved by the shareholders. Final votes will be tallied and certified by the Inspector of Election, and Hamilton will report the final voting results on a Form 8-K to be filed with the SEC.
This completes our formal business for today. Accordingly, the 2026 annual general meeting of shareholders is now adjourned. Before I turn the meeting over to Pina, I would like to take a moment to recognize Steve Pacala, whose tenure as a Director of Hamilton expires today. Steve has served on the company's board of directors since 2013. His steady judgment, insight, and commitment have been invaluable throughout our evolution as a company. On behalf of Hamilton, our board, and our shareholders, we thank him sincerely for his many years of dedicated service. With that, I will now turn the meeting over to Pina to make a few remarks about Hamilton's 2025 accomplishments and to address any shareholder questions.
Thank you, David, and good morning, everyone. I'm pleased to share an overview of Hamilton's performance in 2025, another year of exceptional results and continued strategic progress. For 2025, Hamilton delivered the strongest financial performance in our company's history. We generated record net income of $577 million, a 44% increase over last year, delivered a 22% return on average equity and grew tangible book value per share by 25%. We also reached a new high of $2.9 billion in gross premiums written, supported by a disciplined 92.9% combined ratio. These results underscore that our strategy is working and reflect the disciplined execution across the 4 business imperatives that guide us. First, sustainable underwriting profitability. Second, strategic growth. Third, technology enablement and operational efficiency. And fourth, being a magnet for talent.
Let me touch briefly on each one. First, on underwriting profitability. Our teams across every platform continued to demonstrate disciplined risk selection, strong technical expertise, and a consistent focus on the bottom line. This is the foundation of our success, and it showed up clearly in our results. Second, on strategic growth. Our diversified model allowed us to lean into areas of attractive opportunity while maintaining discipline where conditions were less favorable. For example, in our Bermuda Segment, where we predominantly write reinsurance business, gross premiums written grew 26% year-over-year to $1.4 billion. Our international segment also performed extremely well with Hamilton Global Specialty and Hamilton Select together delivering 16% growth year-over-year. Turning to our third imperative, technology enablement and operational efficiency.
We continued to invest in data, analytics, and digital capabilities that strengthen underwriting discipline, support better decision making, and enhance scalability across the group. Our proprietary platforms, HARP, Timef low, and Hamilton Insights, are increasingly embedded in how we operate, and we continue to evaluate opportunities to thoughtfully leverage AI to further improve efficiency and execution. That focus on technology and execution is ultimately enabled by our people, which brings me to our fourth imperative, being a magnet for talent. Hamilton's culture continues to be a competitive advantage. We attract and retain high caliber talent across geographies and functions, supported by our collaborative entrepreneurial environment. The results of our biannual engagement surveys remain strong, and our low turnover reflects a team that is deeply committed to Hamilton and to each other. Taken together, these four imperatives guide how we run the business and position Hamilton for long-term success.
Against that backdrop, we also continue to demonstrate disciplined capital management. In 2025, we repurchased $93 million worth of shares and declared our first special dividend in February of 2026. Our strong balance sheet, low leverage, and prudent reserving give us the flexibility to respond to market opportunities while continuing to create long-term shareholder value. Looking ahead, while the external environment remains uncertain, whether from geopolitical events, extreme weather, or inflationary pressures, we remain focused on disciplined underwriting, selective growth, continued investment in technology, and supporting our people. We are not chasing top-line growth at the expense of profitability, and we believe Hamilton is well-positioned to continue delivering attractive risk-adjusted returns through the cycle. I'm incredibly proud of what our team achieved in 2025 and also excited about the opportunities ahead.
I will now turn the meeting over to Gemma to moderate the Q&A portion of the meeting.
Thank you, Pina. Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that under the rules of conduct and procedures, only shareholders of record are able to submit questions. Each shareholder may submit a maximum of one question, and we will not address any questions that are unrelated to the business of today's meeting. We have not received any shareholder questions. Thank you all very much for joining us today. That concludes this meeting.
Thank you for attending the 2026 annual general meeting of shareholders of Hamilton Insurance Group, Ltd. The meeting and audio webcast are now concluded. Thank you.