Liberty Mutual’s ‘Deliberate Actions’ Keep It on Path to Profit

Liberty Mutual Holding Co. continued to put 2023’s losses behind it and carefully manage growth in 2024, reporting consolidated net income of $717 million for the second quarter versus a net loss of $585 million for the same period in 2023.

The insurer reported consolidated $2.252 billion net income for six months ended June 30, 2024, versus a net loss of $660 million for the same period in 2023.

Timothy Sweeney, Liberty Mutual president and chief executive officer, credited the results to continued improvement in the company’s underlying combined ratio and strong investment results.

He said “deliberate actions” are putting the company in good position to grow and meet its goals.

“We are taking a measured approach to growth,” Sweeney told analysts, reporting that consolidated net premiums were down about 3.3% in the second quarter to $11.4 billion and down 2.5% for the first six months to $22.4 billion.

Neeti Bhalla Johnson, president, Global Risk Solutions, echoed the message. “We do not feel pressure to chase growth if we are not being adequately compensated for the risk,” she stated.

Sweeney said the company is selectively targeting new business and seeing growth opportunities in mid and large commercial lines.

The second quarter underlying combined ratio improved 9.5 points from the prior year to 84.0%. Of that, 7.1 points of improvement resulted from what Sweeney said was “targeted underwriting strategies improving both personal and commercial lines.”

In addition, the company’s ongoing expense management program drove the expense ratio down 2.4 points to 26.4% for the second quarter and half year.

Catastrophe losses in the quarter ($15.4 million) remained elevated, despite improving over 2023 ($20 million), due primarily to severe convective storm activity in the US Midwest.

Including catastrophes, the total combined ratio was 99.6% for the quarter, a 9.8-point improvement over prior year. Year-to-date, the combined ratio was 97.7% compared to 106.5% for the six months of 2023.

In addition, investment results, benefiting from higher reinvestment rates and favorable private equity valuations, contributed to $1.3 billion of net investment income.

Second quarter net premiums for US Retail, which includes personal (82%)and small commercial (18%) lines, were down about 5% to $7.4 billion and down 5.3% year-to-date to $14 billion. The combined ratio for this division was 102.2 for the quarter (down from 114.8% for the second quarter last year) and 98.7 for year-to-date.

Global Risks Solutions, which includes North America and international commercial, specialty reinsurance and personal lines, saw net premiums hold steady for the second quarter at about $4 billion and come in at $8.4 billion year-to-date, up 1.7% from 2023’s first half. Total combined ratio was 89.4% for the quarter and 94.6% for the first six months.

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