Operator

Good day, everyone, and welcome to Conduit's Q1 2026 Trading Update. Thank you for joining us today. Joining me on the call are Neil Eckert, Chief Executive Officer; Elaine Whelan, Chief Financial Officer; and Stephen Postlewhite, Chief Underwriting Officer. Please note our disclaimer language on Slide 2. I will now turn the call over to our CEO, Neil Eckert.

Neil Eckert
CEO & Executive Director

Thanks, Brett, and welcome, everyone. As mentioned on our 2025 results call, Stephen joined in January, and I'm delighted to have him with us today. As usual, today's update focuses on our top line underwriting experience during the quarter and our view of the market with Steve providing more details of each of our segments. Elaine will then cover the financial and investment highlights, including a review of our capital management strategy.

In the first quarter of 2026, we continue to identify select areas for growth and increased gross premiums written by 4.9% over the prior year. Growth was again led by our Casualty segment, where risk-adjusted pricing has remained stable. The quarter saw heightened volatility in investment markets following the outbreak of the conflict in the Middle East. Against this backdrop, we were pleased with the performance of our investment portfolio, which generated a 0.3% return during the first quarter despite the volatility and higher fixed income yields and spreads. Importantly, our managed investments continued to grow by