W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

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Meyer Shields: Okay. No, I completely agree with that just both with the observation and the perception of it. And final question, if I can. If we pick you square to read the 10-Qs and 10-Ks anyway, can we start getting reserve development by segments on the call?

Robert Berkley: Yes. I’ll talk like — I’ll talk to somebody who makes these decisions. We probably have like a dozen lawyers that are deciding what we can and can’t say. So the answer is, well, I appreciate the gesture of the , and it will be in the queue and to the extent that anyone dying to know what it is, assuming that there’s no lawyer that pulls their hair out, Rich will have it available.

Meyer Shields: Okay. No. I completely agree with that. Just book with the observation and perception of it. And final question, if can. If we think you squared recent 10-Qs and 10-Ks. Anyway can we start reserve development chemical.

Robert Berkley: Yeah, I’ll talk to like I’ll talk to somebody who makes these decisions. We probably have like a dozen lawyers that are deciding what we can and can’t say. So the answer is, we’ll I appreciate the gesture of the pinky sweater and it will be in the queue and to the extent that anyone dying to know what it is, assuming that there’s no lawyer that pulls their hair out, Richard will have it available.

Meyer Shields: All right. Fantastic. Thanks so much.

Robert Berkley: You bet. Have a good evening. Thank you.

Operator: And we’ll take our last question from Mike Zaremski at BMO.

Robert Berkley: Hi, Mike. Good evening.

Michael Zaremski: Hey. Good evening. Thanks for fitting me in. I guess just — I think this was touched on in maybe Brian Meredith’s question. But I guess in terms of the lack of discipline, that’s your, I think, a term you used regarding the rate environment recently. I mean could some of that be do it — just competitors simply feeling that investment income is a much bigger plus than it was before. So it just simply makes sense. And maybe I’m wrong, but even on the work comp side, there’s an element of carriers being able to dictate rate a bit around the state bureau suggested rates. So just curious if you think that’s a theme that we should be thinking about as we’re thinking about pricing into ’23.

Robert Berkley: Mike, I just — I don’t see us getting back anytime soon to — if I’m understanding it correctly, call it, cash flow underwriting or something that’s a stepping stone to that. I think the reality is that not everyone’s investment income is taking off exactly the way ours is because a lot of people, quite frankly, had a much longer duration. So from my perspective, do I think over time, if rates stay up at the levels they are or higher, do I think that can eventually have an impact? Yes, I guess it could. But I don’t think that’s what we’re seeing today, if you want to talk about, for example, workers’ compensation. I mean if you really want to get granular about workers’ compensation, the fact of the matter is the people that are doing the irresponsible things are the same people that did the irresponsible things the last time we were in a trough.

Sometimes they’re in the same place, sometimes they’re in a new place. But it’s the same people that I don’t know if they don’t understand or they don’t care, but they’re creating mayhem in the market. We’ve kind of seen some version of the movie before, and we’ll just wait it out.

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