Aspen near triples underwriting income ahead of Sompo’s $3.5bn takeover completion

Bermuda-based Aspen Insurance Holdings nearly tripled first-quarter underwriting income ahead of the completion of Sompo’s $3.5 billion acquisition, as improved catastrophe experience helped drive a stronger combined ratio despite the re/insurer posting a net loss linked to acquisition-related investment portfolio changes.

Aspen is about to be subsumed by Japanese insurance giant Sompo in a $3.5 billion acquisition due to close imminently.

Aspen’s uplift in underwriting income was partly due to a hugely improved Q1 catastrophe loss ratio of 3.5% compared with 13% a year ago when it took a net loss of anywhere up to $75 million from the Los Angeles wildfires. 

Q1 gross written premium was flat at $1.21 billion compared with $1.29 billion in the prior-year period. But net earned premiums lifted to $723.5 million compared with $702.7 million.

And Aspen’s combined ratio improved to 89.1% in Q1 compared with 96.1% in the first three months of 2025. 

However, due to Aspen reclassifying its investment portfolio as part of the Sompo acquisition process, the re/insurer stated a $55.6 million net loss compared with a $36.8 million profit a year ago. 

Sompo is certainly bullish about the prospects for Aspen. The company has talked of Aspen being responsible for two-thirds of the profit growth it plans in overseas property & casualty. 

Sompo has said the addition of Aspen will give it depth in specialty lines such as cyber, credit and political risk, UK property and US management liability. Aspen will also add global reinsurance capacity across casualty, property cat and specialty, while its Lloyd’s syndicate extends reach into the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific.

Did you get value from this story? Sign up to our free newsletters and get stories like this sent straight to your inbox.