MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings, Inc.

First-quarter fiscal 2026 adjusted profit excluding gains from sales of strategic equity holdings was JPY 251 billion, up JPY 64.7 billion year over year, or 47.2% of the full-year forecast. Group adjusted profit was JPY 310.6 billion, up JPY 71.1 billion year over year, or 38.8% of the full-year forecast. Insurance revenue was JPY 1.6158 trillion, up JPY 208.8 billion year over year. By segment, domestic non-life adjusted profit was JPY 124 billion, up JPY 4.2 billion; international adjusted profit was JPY 108.8 billion, up JPY 52.9 billion; and domestic life insurance service profit was JPY 16.5 billion, up JPY 4.4 billion. Strategic equity sale gains were JPY 59.6 billion, up JPY 6.4 billion year over year, toward a full-year target of JPY 268 billion. ESR rose to 215% from the end of March. Management did not change its annual guidance on the call; it said Q1 progress was strong but that it would continue to monitor nat cat losses, expense trends, and market conditions.

The lead executive framed the quarter as broadly strong and said the company is making solid progress across its main businesses. The tone was constructive but cautious: management emphasized that Q1 outperformance, especially in international business and investment income, should not automatically be treated as the new normal. They also stressed that natural catastrophe losses since July, including the Kumamoto earthquake, are still being assessed but are currently expected to stay within the full-year forecast.

Nakayama focused on the drivers behind the numbers and repeatedly anchored comments to specific figures. He attributed domestic non-life improvement to better auto loss ratios from rate revisions, international profit growth to the Americas, Europe, and Asia, and cited the JPY 59.6 billion of strategic equity gains as steady progress toward the JPY 268 billion target. He also said ESR increased to 215%, explained that integrated risk volume rose due to Barings and higher domestic stock prices, and noted that balance-sheet / profitability effects from seasonal factors were not material under their IFRS view.

Analysts pressed management on why international profit jumped, how much came from W.R. Berkley, and whether the rest came from Europe and Asia; management said Berkley contributed a little more than JPY 10 billion of the JPY 20.7 billion U.S. increase, while Europe rose JPY 18.6 billion and Asia JPY 14.9 billion, driven by MS Re, Amlin, and MSIG Mingtai. Questions also focused on domestic auto, fire, and nat cat trends: management said auto frequency was down less than assumed and average payout was below expectations, so net performance was broadly in line, while fire loss ratios improved but the benefit from onerous contract reversals was smaller than last year. On Kumamoto and domestic nat cats, management said current losses are still being assessed, Typhoon No. 6 has been partly recognized, Typhoons No. 7 and 8 were not yet included, and the overall impact is still expected to stay within the full-year range.