[ The transcript was presubmitted by CNA Financial Corporation. No live call was conducted for the first quarter earnings call. ] In a quarter marked by substantially elevated industry catastrophe losses, we produced solid core income while achieving an overall underwriting gain. The consistent strength of our underlying portfolio generated the eighth consecutive quarter of pre-tax underlying underwriting gain of $200 million or greater, and we continue to grow our top-line at a strong pace. Core income was $281 million in the quarter with pretax net investment income of $604 million, which was in line with the prior year quarter. Growth in fixed income was offset by lower but still strong returns in our limited partnership and common stock portfolio. The P&C all-in combined ratio was 98.4% in the quarter, including $97 million, or 3.8 points, of catastrophe loss. This includes $53 million for the California wildfires, which is consistent with our previous estimate, and $44 million for other events, the majority of which is related to March severe storm activity. Prior period development for P&C overall was unfavorable by $63 million, or 2.5 points of the combined ratio, and was driven by accident year 2024 in our commercial auto and auto warranty businesses. The P&C underlying combined ratio was 92.1%. The underlying loss ratio was 61.5% and the expense ratio was 30.2%. Gross written premiums excluding captives grew 7%, or 8% excluding currency fluctuation. Net written premium growth remained strong at 9% and 10% excluding currency fluctuations. New business was up 7% in the quarter to $565 million with positive growth in all three operating segments. Rate increase was 4% in the quarter, up one point compared to the fourth quarter, and renewal premium change was up two points to 6%. In the U.S., which has been more significantly…

CNA's first quarter core income of $281 million is down 21% compared to the first quarter of last year leading to a trailing twelve-month core return on equity of 10.2%. Our P&C expense ratio for the first quarter was 30.2%, which is about flat with last year. We tend to have a certain amount of variability quarter to quarter in this ratio, but for the full year 2025 we currently expect an expense ratio of about 30.5%. For Life & Group, core income of $6 million for the first quarter is about flat with the prior year quarter, reflecting modestly favorable persistency compared to expectations, offset by $5 million lower investment income, primarily from limited partnership investments. Our Corporate segment produced a core loss of $36 million in the first quarter compared to a $22 million loss in the prior year quarter. The Corporate segment results this quarter include a $17 million after-tax charge related to unfavorable development for legacy mass tort abuse claims. As we have noted in prior quarters, a comprehensive review of legacy mass tort exposures is undertaken in the second quarter of each year, consistent with the recent historical timing of such review. However, we will review and react to developing facts and circumstances in the interim quarters. Net investment income was $604 million in the first quarter compared with $609 million in the prior year quarter. The slight decrease reflects the largely offsetting impacts of lower common stock returns and higher income from fixed income securities as compared to the prior year quarter. Fixed income and other investments generated $550 million of income, up 2% compared to the prior year quarter. Our A-rated fixed income portfolio continues to provide consistent contributions to core income, which have been steadily increasing because of favorable reinvestment rates and…

In the quarter we delivered solid core income of $281 million, an overall underwriting gain, strong operating cash flow, and we produced an underlying underwriting gain of $200 million or more for the eighth straight quarter. We achieved all of this despite elevated industry catastrophes and actions taken to strengthen prior year reserves, and to increase the current accident year loss ratio reflective of the current tort environment and pricing levels. We had strong growth in all three operating segments where we continue to see ample opportunities in our target specializations. Our retention remains consistently high even as we achieved a point higher rate increase in the quarter. We are encouraged by the opportunities to continue to grow profitably in 2025.

We invite shareholders and analysts to submit questions for management in advance of each quarter's earnings release. Below we address some questions we have received as well as some timely and topical focus areas for CNA and our industry.

Did you perform a reserve review on workers' compensation this quarter?

In general, we review each line of business twice per year, though we will take action if we see activity that differs from our expectations on the off-cycle quarters that we feel we need to react to. This quarter, we did not review workers' compensation. Workers' compensation is scheduled to be reviewed in the second and fourth quarters of 2025 along with several other classes of business. The $1 million of unfavorable development we reported in workers' compensation this quarter was associated with small changes in the tabular discount.

Can you comment on the potential impact of tariffs on your business?

The U.S. tariff policy dynamics are creating a significant amount of macroeconomic uncertainty. The biggest direct impact we would expect to see in the short term from increased tariffs is higher loss costs in areas substantially exposed to cost of goods sold inflation such as commercial property and auto physical damage. The magnitude will vary depending on the claim cost mix between labor and materials. We would also expect some mitigating impacts -- as an example, we would expect to increase valuations on property in response, similar to what happened in recent periods of higher economic inflation. We believe we are well positioned to navigate the future impacts with regard to tariffs.

Can you provide more color on what you are seeing in commercial auto in your construction book?

The commercial auto business within construction is comprised of heavier vehicles that generate a higher proportion of the types of bodily injury claims that have been particularly susceptible to the effects of social inflation in recent periods, resulting in elevated loss cost trends.