Berkshire Hathaway being cautious as competition and capital soften reinsurance: CEO Abel

Berkshire Hathaway reduced its underwriting of property reinsurance in the first-quarter of the year and its CEO Greg Abel said during the firm’s annual meeting on Saturday that competition and capital is flowing into the industry, leading the company to be more cautious as it looks to sustain adequate underwriting returns on risks assumed.

Berkshire Hathaway reported increased net underwriting earnings from its insurance and reinsurance businesses of $1.717 billion for the first-quarter of 2026, a roughly 29% increase on the prior year.

The company highlighted the competitive property reinsurance market and lower rate environment, explaining this was the cause of a reduction in premiums written in that segment in Q1 2026.

Read more on Berkshire Hathaway’s Q1 results over at our sister publication Reinsurance News.

Speaking during the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting later on Saturday, CEO Greg Abel explained why the company is adjusting to more competitive dynamics.

He explained, “What we’re feeling in the insurance industry right now, there’s two things. One, our 2026 results do not reflect any catastrophic events, it was a pretty benign period. There were some storms in the northeast part of the United States, but relative to 2025 and past years, very benign.

“The industry as a whole, the pricing we’ve talked about that hardening, i.e. can you get the proper premium for risk? It’s becoming a more challenging market.

“What’s driving that, when you see a benign environment… you start to see competition coming into the industry. They bring a variety of products and forms. But it’s really they’re bringing capital into the industry.

“So just wanted to really highlight, we still see that as a softening market.”

Abel later discussed the fact both the Berkshire Hathaway primary and reinsurance businesses combined ratios were in the 80’s for Q1 2026, below the 10-year average of 93%, which he said has helped Berkshire to realise more underwriting income profit despite market forces.

“What’s driving that? A very benign environment, when you think of the catastrophic environment we insure into. The last time there was a hurricane that hit landfall in the US was 19 months ago,” Abel said.

Continuing, “So our quarterly results, our results last year, do not reflect those type of outcomes. Again, that means we have more capital coming into that industry.

“Yes, we like those results. But the reality is, as that business, as our insurance business softens and we cannot realise the value we should for the related risk, Ajit and our insurance team across the businesses, we start writing less premium.

“We still want to write it at an underwriting profit because there’s still opportunities there and there’s a number of risks we’ll insure. But we’ll be much more cautious, specifically across the the primary and reinsurance businesses.”

Read more on Berkshire Hathaway’s Q1 results over at our sister publication Reinsurance News.