Selective Insurance Raises Investment Income Guidance as Premiums Slide
After-tax net investment income rose 18% to $119 million in the second quarter.
Selective Insurance Group (SIGI) reported a second quarter defined by rising investment returns and a contraction in written premiums. The property and casualty insurer saw a widening decline in its top-line growth, though it managed to improve its overall underwriting efficiency compared to the same period last year.
Net premiums written decreased 5% year-over-year in the second quarter. This represented an acceleration of the decline from the 1% decrease reported in the first quarter. The contraction was evident across major segments, as Standard Commercial Lines net premiums written fell 6% year-over-year, a sharper drop than the 1% decrease seen in the prior quarter.
Standard Personal Lines net premiums written declined 8% year-over-year, driven in part by a 36% decrease in new business. Underwriting performance in this segment weakened, with the combined ratio deteriorating 3.9 points year-over-year to 95.5%. Similarly, the Excess and Surplus Lines combined ratio increased 2.0 points year-over-year to 91.8%.
Despite segment-level pressure, the company's GAAP combined ratio improved to 98.0%, a 2.2 point improvement from 100.2% in the second quarter of 2025. This figure remained slightly higher than the 98.3% reported in the first quarter of 2026. Commercial Lines renewal pure price increases slowed to 6.5%, down from 8.9% in the second quarter of 2025 and 7.1% in the first quarter of 2026.
Investment performance provided a significant offset to the underwriting headwinds. After-tax net investment income rose 18% year-over-year to $119 million. This continued a steady upward trajectory from $113 million in the first quarter and $114 million in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Selective Insurance raised its full-year 2026 after-tax net investment income guidance to $480 million from the initial projection of $465 million.
Book value per common share increased 3% sequentially to $58.13, recovering from a decline to $56.58 in the first quarter. The company repurchased $32 million of common stock during the second quarter, up from $30 million in the first quarter.