Kinsale books $37.6M pre-tax loss on portfolio repositioning

Kinsale Capital Group took a $37.6 million pre-tax loss repositioning its investment portfolio in the third quarter, trimming net income 30% to $98.1 million from $141.6 million a year earlier.

Kinsale said the portfolio move had no impact on book value. Net operating earnings rose 5.9% to $128.3 million, and the combined ratio was 75.4% against 74.9% a year earlier, Insurance Business America reported.

The $37.6 million pre-tax loss, absorbed without a book-value hit, gives allocators weighing a similar repositioning a cost benchmark while the portfolio kept growing from operating cash. Net investment income rose 17.5% to $58.3 million, which Kinsale attributed to portfolio growth from operating cash flows. Cash and invested assets reached $5.5 billion at Sept. 30, up from $5.2 billion at year-end 2025.

Gross written premiums fell 4.8% to $462.9 million, with the decline concentrated in property. Premiums across Kinsale's property divisions fell 19.3%, including a 26.8% drop in commercial property, the unit writing larger layered accounts. Casualty premiums grew 0.9%.

Commercial property premiums fell 32.7% in the second quarter, making the 26.8% third-quarter drop a slower contraction. One quarter's comparison is not enough to establish a turn.

The mix is consistent with the wider E&S market. The Wholesale & Specialty Insurance Association's 2026 midyear report said property and select professional lines are easing while commercial auto, umbrella and general liability keep hardening.

Net earned premiums rose 3.0% to $423.5 million. Because earned premium trails written premium, the 4.8% decline in gross written premiums is likely to reach that line in later quarters.