Thank you, Sylvie. Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining the call to discuss our fourth quarter financial results.

A link to our live webcast and materials for this call have been posted on our website at intactfc.com under the Investors tab. Before we start, please refer to slide 2 for a disclaimer regarding the use of forward-looking statements which form part of this morning's remarks, and slide 3 for a note on the use of non-GAAP financial measures and other terms used in this presentation.

To discuss our results today, I have with me our CEO, Charles Brindamour, our CFO, Ken Anderson, and Patrick Barbeau, our Chief Operating Officer. We will begin with prepared remarks, followed by Q&A.

With that, I will turn the call over to Charles.

Good morning, and thank you for joining us. Last night, we announced another very strong quarter.

Net operating income per share for the quarter was up 12% to $5.50 and for the full year was up 33% to $19.21. This brings our compounded annual net operating income per share growth to 18% over the last 3 years and 12% over the past decade, exceeding our 10% growth objective.

This track record is driven by three levers: solid organic growth, margin expansion, and accretive capital deployment. As I look ahead, given our opportunity set has expanded by a factor of 10 in the last decade, I see plenty of runway for each of these levers.

The strength of these results is driven by a combined ratio for Q4 of 85.9%, a 0.6 point improvement from last year, and the full year combined ratio of 88.2% improved by 4 points. This underwriting performance is a function of our superior risk selection machine and our unique market positions, where we have a massive scale advantage in Canada and a commercial and specialty lines portfolio that is 70% in the SME and mid-market space.

Our capital generation is impressive. Yet despite a very strong capital base, the operating ROE reached 19.5%, another proof point that our ROE has structurally shifted in the upper teens.

It is strong in both absolute and relative terms. Indeed, at the end of the third quarter of 2025, we estimate that our ROE outperformance reached 750 basis points, well above our 500 basis points objective.

When I look at our growth profile, I'm encouraged to see that we were outperforming the industry in Q3 on top line growth in personal lines in Canada and in commercial lines across North America. As I look ahead to 2026, I expect the platform overall to continue to deliver top line industry outperformance.

Let me provide some color on the results and outlook by line of business, starting with Canada. In personal auto, premiums grew 9% in the quarter, including a 2% increase in units.

Profitability for the industry remains challenged, with the combined ratio above 100% for the first 9 months ended September. As a result, we expect hard market conditions to persist.

Our underlying loss ratio improved 1.3 points year-over-year despite severe winter conditions. The overall combined ratio of 94.2 was very strong results, as Q4 is a higher seasonality quarter.

With our full year combined at 93.3, we met our sub-95 guidance and we remain well positioned to continue delivering on that objective. Moving to personal property, premium growth was 6% in the quarter.

Growth was supported by a 2% increase in units, but was upset by a nearly 3-point drag from a one-time item in our affinity and travel business. We do expect a similar one-time, but unrelated impact on our Q1 growth.

Adjusting for this, growth is running in the upper single-digit range, a level we expect to return to in Q2. At 76.4, the combined ratio was strong, and we're positioned to deliver a sub-95 combined ratio even with severe weather.

Our 10-year average combined ratio is still solid sub-90%. Overall in personal lines, which is nearly half of our business, we expect to see industry growth in the high single-digit to low double-digit range over the next 12 months, driven by continued industry profitability challenges.

We're well placed to continue to gain market share in this environment while also outperforming on combined ratio. In commercial lines in Canada, premium growth was 1% in the quarter.

Although top line growth is being tampered by elevated competition in large accounts and an average reduction in account size as a result, our growth initiatives in the SME and mid-market space continue to gain traction and we're growing our customer base in this environment. In fact, in commercial P&C, competed quotes are up 24% and new business is up 8% year-over-year.

We expect industry premium growth in the low to mid single-digit range over the next 12 months. Profitability was really excellent, with a combined ratio of 77.1% in the quarter.

Our pricing and risk selection advantage, which includes our investments in data and AI, allow us to grow while maintaining margins. We remain well positioned to deliver a low-90s or better combined ratio going forward.

Moving now to our UK&I business, premiums in the quarter were 2% lower year-over-year, but that's a 3-point improvement from the past two quarters, as expected. We see top line growth continue to improve in '26 as we unite the commercial lines business under the Intact brand and as remediation of the direct line book tapers off.

We expect industry premium growth in the low to mid single-digit range over the next 12 months. The combined ratio in the UK was 93.5% in the quarter.

This business is on track to evolve towards 90% over the next 12 months. In US, premiums were up 5% year-over-year, driven by our growth initiatives as new business increased 11%.

Our diversified product range coupled with progress in expanding and deepening our broker relationships is really paying off. While we see industry premium growth for US specialty lines in the mid single-digit over the next 12 months, our growth initiatives position us to outperform.

The combined ratio of 82.8% in the quarter in the US improved by more than 3 points year-over-year, reflecting a very strong underwriting discipline. Our strategy there is to grow faster in our most profitable lines and customer profiles.

In 2025, our business lines with a sub-90 combined ratio grew 7 points faster than those with a combined ratio above 90%. This focus on profitable growth helped us deliver the 10th quarter in a row with a sub-90 combined ratio in the US.

Overall across the platform, our team continues to execute on our strategic priorities. Let me highlight a few achievements in Q4.

First, we aim to be a global leader in leveraging data and AI, and up to now, our teams have deployed AI models generating north of $200 million of recurring benefits with a primary focus on pricing and risk selection. At this pace, we're on track to exceed our ambition of at least half a billion dollars by 2030.

Our AI investments continue to be concentrated where they move the needle the most. In '26, for example, we're investing in four distinct areas: advancing our risk selection advantage, as we have in the last decade; improving customer journeys to drive organic growth; significantly accelerating software development; and improving operational efficiency.

In software engineering, for instance, we've increased our output by close to 20% per dollar of investment in less than 24 months. Within the UK&I, we seek to deliver a leading broker and customer experience as well as optimize underwriting and claims to drive outperformance.

In the UK, we launched three new products in the quarter. In addition, Intact Insurance was voted by brokers as the number one insurer in the UK for commercial claims.

This is a recognition of the improvements we've made in customer and broker service, which, coupled with expanding our distribution footprint, will really help us achieve our ambition of doubling the size of the business by 2030. In global specialty lines, our strategy focuses on having a profitable and growing mix of verticals.

During the quarter, we launched a number of products, including a new marine cargo quota share offering in the London market. This allows us, for instance, to offer a comprehensive solution in cargo, thereby making it easier for brokers and customers to do business with us.

This is an example of the types of initiatives that help support our goal of reaching $10 billion in direct written premium by 2030 while sustaining a sub-90s combined ratio. The strength of our '25 results coupled with our confidence in delivering our financial objectives means that we're pleased to increase dividends by 11% to $1.47 per quarter, our 21st annual dividend increase.

Our quarterly and full year results demonstrate the strength and resilience of our platform. In 2025, we generated mid single-digit top line growth, margin improvement, double-digit earnings growth, and a 20% ROE.

Sitting here today, we're very confident in our ability to sustain annual ROE in the upper teens and deliver at least 500 basis points of ROE outperformance every year. There's no doubt we'll continue to deliver double-digit net operating income per share growth on an annual basis in the next decade.

Before concluding, I want to thank our employees for their exceptional dedication and execution this past year. Your discipline, commitment, and drive to do better every day has positioned us to continue to deliver in the years ahead.

With that, I'll turn the call over to our CFO, Ken Anderson.

Thanks, Charles, and good morning, everyone. We've ended 2025 on a very strong note.

Fourth quarter performance was excellent, with a combined ratio of 85.9%, driving a 12% increase in net operating income per share to $5.50. Operating ROE was 19.5% over the past 12 months, which fueled a 16% increase in book value per share to $107.35.

Let me add some color to our fourth quarter results. The underlying current accident year loss ratio improved by half a point year-over-year to 55.9% in the fourth quarter.

This measure was particularly strong across North America, where the ratio was 1.4 points better in Canada and 1.7 points better in the US. In the UK&I, improvements in the direct line portfolio were tempered by higher large losses in specialty lines, which can be volatile quarter-to-quarter.

Fourth quarter favorable prior year development was 5.5% and aligned with our expectation of hovering around the upper end of our 2% to 4% guidance in the near term. Our long track record of favorable PYD reflects the ongoing prudent approach we take in reserving the current accident year, which continued throughout 2025.

This is why we assess overall underlying performance by focusing on the total of the current accident year loss ratio and the prior year development ratio. On this measure, for the full year across IFC, we delivered close to a point improvement, and in commercial and specialty lines globally, we've seen year-over-year improvement for the past 12 quarters.

This illustrates the margin expansion the platform is producing. Catastrophe losses in the quarter totaled $69 million and $844 million for the full year.

Looking ahead to 2026, reflecting longer-term trends, the revision to our catastrophe event thresholds, as well as growth in our premium base, we are maintaining our overall annual catastrophe loss expectations at $1.2 billion for the year ahead, with 75% allocated to Canada, of which 70% is in personal lines. Mentioning catastrophes, I'll provide an update on reinsurance.

The January 1st renewals were favorable. We maintained our cat retentions at similar levels to 2025 while improving our aggregate coverage for multiple loss events.

Our approach to reinsurance remains unchanged. We use it to protect our balance sheet from tail risk.

Moving to expenses, the consolidated expense ratio was 34.4% for the quarter, a 0.8 point increase versus last year. This was driven by higher variable broker commissions and higher incentive compensation, reflecting our profitability in North America.

This also contributed to the full year expense ratio of 34%, which is aligned with our annual guidance of 33% to 34%. Operating net investment income increased 4% to $415 million in the quarter, reflecting higher assets and special distributions.

For 2026, we expect investment income to be more than $1.6 billion, as growth in invested assets should offset reinvestment yields being slightly below our current book yield. Distribution income decreased 5% in the quarter.

BrokerLink remained very active across 2025, completing over 20 transactions and acquiring $570 million in premiums to surpass the $5 billion mark. Overall distribution income growth was tempered by the favorable weather throughout 2025, which meant financial results at our countercyclical On Side Restoration operation were lower compared to 2024.

Our distribution income has grown at a compounded annual growth rate in the mid-teens over the last 5 and 10 years. While quarterly results may vary, we expect at least 10% annual growth in distribution in 2026 and beyond.

In non-operating results, we reported non-operating losses of $55 million for the quarter and $139 million for the year, a significant improvement compared to the prior period. In 2026, we expect acquisition, integration, and restructuring costs to be lower than 2025, as UK rebranding as well as RSA and DLG integration activities will be largely behind us.

Moving to our balance sheet, our financial position has never been stronger. In 2025, total capital margin grew by $800 million to $3.7 billion, while our adjusted debt-to-total capital ratio improved by almost 3 points to 16.5%.

All this while delivering close to a 20% operating ROE. Our capital management framework is robust, and the balance sheet is positioned to deal with any external shocks while also providing significant capacity to support both organic and inorganic growth opportunities, which remain our priority.

Within our framework, we will be renewing our normal course issuer bid on February 17th, allowing us to repurchase up to 3% of shares outstanding. Capital generation is very strong, and we will utilize our share buyback program opportunistically when we see our shares as significantly undervalued, as we do currently.

In the last 6 months, we deployed $200 million for share buybacks, and we will remain active and prepared to do more. With the attractive opportunity set we see on the M&A front in the near term, both in manufacturing and distribution, we are content to maintain dry powder, especially given our improving ROE outperformance trajectory.

In conclusion, I want to thank our team for the rigorous execution in 2025. Your drive for outperformance has delivered results which showcase our capacity to drive earnings growth.

It has also shifted our operating ROE into the upper teens. We are proud to be a leader among our global peer group, having amongst the highest ROE and the lowest ROE volatility.

It is a testament to the platform we have built and the successful execution of our profitable growth strategy. This positions the organization to continue to deliver on our financial objectives to compound net operating income per share growth by 10% annually over time and exceed industry ROE by at least 500 basis points every year.

With that, I'll turn it back to Jeff.

Thank you, Ken. In order to give everyone a chance to participate in the Q&A, we would ask that you limit yourself to two questions per person.

You can certainly requeue for follow-ups, and we'll do our best to accommodate if there's time at the end. Sylvie, we're ready to take questions now.

Good morning. Charles, recently there's been a lot of speculation about AI and disruption in the industry.

Now, you guys have been very vocal about the benefits that you're receiving in terms of deploying AI in your systems, but can you discuss the impact or maybe the lack of impact that AI may have in terms of the manufacturing of insurers, if not in Canada, then globally?

Did you say the manufacturing of insurers?

Manufacturing of insurance, AI disrupting the current players.

Yeah. I think, indeed, John, we've been very focused on AI for about a decade.

We've made massive investments in the risk selection side of things, and as I mentioned in my remarks, we're doubling down on that, but we're also deploying AI in the digital funnel, in software engineering, as well as in efficiency. I do think that large language models will certainly have an impact on our ability to capture traffic and shopping in the digital channel.

This is an area that we're very very focused on at this stage. In terms of manufacturing the product per se, keep in mind that the purpose of the organization is to get people back on track.

We've created probably a third of our ROE advantage coming out of getting people back on track, and I see this is happening in the physical world. I see little change there.

What I would say when it comes to predicting risk, AI has a fair bit of upside. I think the nature of advice will evolve over time.

I think we've been focused on disruption in distribution for over a decade. This is one more source of potential change that we need to keep an eye on, and we're very focused on that.

We want to make sure as a firm that through LLMs, people find our leading brands first, in particular in retail insurance, and that we win in that channel as well as we win in other channels.

That's great, Charles. Thanks for the color.

I'll requeue.

Thank you.

I guess I'll ask this question since I'm at the front of the queue, but you mentioned now for a couple quarters about obviously competition in large account. As the sector kind of is under pressure, how is there a buffer that softness, does it move into the middle or the SMED space that you mostly play in, and if yes or no, why or why not, I guess is the question?

Yeah. Stephen, thanks for your question.

I think if you look at the earnings base of Intact, half of it is personal lines and we're in a hard pricing environment and you see us outperform from both top and bottom line point of view. When you then look at the rest of the platform, which is commercial lines and specialty lines, about 70% of the portfolio is in the SME and mid-market space.

In large account, there is ongoing pressure. Then as you move from the smallest account to the largest account in the SME and mid-market space, competition is uneven as well.

This is not a new phenomenon, this is something we've seen over the past decades. The nature of that business tends to be far more service-oriented, speed-oriented, and ease of doing business-oriented, and as a result, tends to be stickier.

We've got two advantages. First, we're a big leader in that space in Canada.

Second, in our specialty lines operation in particular in North America, we can pick and choose where we decide to grow. Some segments are more competitive than other segments, and that's another, I think, big advantage.

Could it come down? We're seeing that the competition in the SME and mid-market space is highly uneven.

It's nowhere near what we see in large accounts. If I judge by our experience in the past 20 years, this is far less sensitive and I'm not losing much sleep over that, Stephen.

I think one of the things that is important, when you look say at the Canadian growth in commercial lines, which was about 1%, you have 2 to 3 points of change in mix, that is the average size of account, not rates, it's mix. It's the average size of account is down a bit.

That is a function of the fact that from small to very large, competition increases as you go up the size curve. We have tools to figure out where we grow.

This change in mix is not just a change in size, it's also a change in profitability profile. While it puts pressure on the top line, we think this is very good for our bottom line and margins.

Frankly, when you look at our performance, you get a sense that our risk selection strategy is working really well.

Okay. That's great, I appreciate that.

Maybe just a second question on personal auto. We all tracked the filings that happened here in Ontario.

The pace of rate increases has slowed. Your guidance remains it's going to be a firm to hard market for 2022 2026.

I'm just curious about the confidence that it continues to be firm and there was a couple insurers that got rate decreases approved. I'm just wondering if you could talk about that, please.

Stephen. Canada is a big country and I understand when we're based in Toronto, we look at Ontario and I think it's important.

Patrick, maybe Patrick can give his perspective on where the automobile market is going in aggregate and go ahead, Patrick.

Yeah. Overall, when we look at the first three quarters of 2025, which is information we have about the industry, it grew by high single digits overall Canada-wide.

The combined ratio, if I look both at 2024 for the industry was above 100% and was still above 100% in the first quarter, the first three quarters of 2025. When we look at specific regions, there might be situations one quarter to the especially on from a rate approval perspective, but overall, there's still pressure in the system.

We've talked about Alberta in particular, where we see pressure in the liability lines. There's a reform that will come on Jan 1st, but until then, there's, pressure on the Alberta market.

Overall, the combination of the industry not being profitable overall, inflation stabilizing in the five or mid- mid-single-digit type of range overall for the country is no means that the industry overall will need to continue to take rates to be profitable.

Yeah. I think our outlook in personal automobile, it's simple math.

Combined ratio above 100%, inflation 5. If you want to bring back in the industry in a reasonable zone, the industry needs to grow in the upper single-digit sort of range.

Our view is that this is true for the next 12 months. Now you have reforms coming in 2027 and in Alberta in particular, I think that'll be really important cuz that's a market that is dragging the industry's performance, more so than Ontario at the moment.

I would very much welcome in '27 an industry performance that would be better, and we'll see what it does to the environment. For the next 12 months, I think we're in a hard market environment in auto.

Okay. Thanks very much.

Hi, thanks. Good morning.

Just want to ask on the expense ratio, and I'm referring to the general expense ratio, we don't talk about that ratio too much. I'm asking about it because it's been roughly around the same level for 3 years now despite strong premium growth.

I might expect from, particularly an Intact with your scale advantages that that is a ratio that might improve over time. Maybe two parts of the question.

One is why is it not improving? Is it just simply investments in technology or otherwise?

Should we expect it to improve at some point in time as you continue to grow top line?

Yeah. Thanks, Paul.

Maybe just a few comments near term and then we can look a bit more longer term. We've guided towards 33% to 34% zone at the overall IFC level for, I guess, that's the combination of GenX and commission.

Overall for Q4, I would say, and the full year, a bit higher than last year, but again, driven by variable commission and variable comp, which really is reflecting the improved profitability. You are seeing that the profitability profile has improved over time.

The GenX is picking up a variable comp component in that. It's equally true, I would say, on the commission ratio as well.

I think it is fair to say, as you look over time, particularly in Canada, I would say, that as we've scaled up, you will see an improvement in the GenX ratio. I think in the US, it's a bit different because you have different lines of business, depending on whether you're dealing with MGAs or dealing with regular brokers, the level of internal cost that you will have versus external will also be a factor.

I think the shift in the lines of business within specialty is certainly a driver in the US, I would say. In the UK, we know that we're investing in technology, there's a need to renew the technology stack there, so that's going to show up in that GenX ratio in the UK.

Paul, I guess, you're saying, you're closing '25 with 14.6 GenX, you closed '24 at 14.6 GenX, you closed '23 at 14.6, '22 at 14.2, what are you guys doing? I think that's a fair statement, and frankly, we're challenging ourselves to do that.

I do think, Paul, that the strong growth in the direct channel is putting upward pressure on GenX more so than anything else. As Ken is saying, the lines that are growing the fastest in specialty and commercial lines would put upward pressure as well on GenX.

That's why I'm very focused myself on the combined ratio and the combination of both. That being said, we've given ourselves internally a number of pretty steep performance improvement targets in terms of expenses and productivity in the next 3 years.

I'm certainly hoping that this ratio is coming down.

Understood. It's helpful.

Part of the reason I asked the question is just kind of should we really be looking at the the K ratio, as you call it, expense ratio, cuz it seems like there's a little bit of puts and takes there, and I think part of your answer helps answer that, like mix, right? Specialty lines might have a lower loss ratio, but maybe a higher expense ratio, and so maybe I should be paying more attention to the total combined.

Either way, the combined's getting better.

No, exactly. On the theme of investments in technology and all of that, the reality, Paul, is we've been investing massively in technology and AI over the last decade, and frankly, we're making tradeoffs.

If you're investing more in technology, you have to manage your investment envelope, and I don't expect that this will put meaningful pressure prospectively. As Ken is saying, we're working really hard on the UK combined ratio following the fact that we've refocused that business on commercial lines completely, where we think we can win.

Okay. Okay.

Then my second question, Charles, you talked about a structurally higher ROE a number of times in your prepared remarks. I guess, my follow-on question there just so I completely understand that.

I get that mix has changed over time and mix has changed favorably. Is there also an argument that your, let's call it, legacy businesses or traditional businesses, you've also been able to expand your ROE advantage?

Is that second point fair also?

Absolutely, Paul. I think you look at the Canadian outperformance at Q3, I've never seen that level of outperformance.

It's 2 points from a top line point of view, but 8 points of combined ratio. Frankly, in my mind, it is a function of the massive investments we've made in bringing science, the latest science in the field when it comes to risk prediction, and the fact that the claims muscle is making a big difference.

Yes, the mix itself with GSL, global specialty lines, representing a much bigger portion of the pie and that's running sub-90 solid, that is a higher ROE business to start with, but I think the investments we've made in risk selection and in claims are also helping the trajectory of our what you call legacy business and what I would call outstanding businesses that we want to grow as much as we can.

Yeah. Okay.

Okay. Thank you for that.

I'll leave it there. Thanks.

Thanks, Paul. Thank you.

Thanks. Good morning.

My question's around you used to give an industry ROE outlook. It was around 10% the last couple of quarters.

I assume that is still your outlook for the industry ROE?

Go ahead, Ken.

Tom, you're correct, in the MD&A, we used to give a perspective on the industry ROE. We streamlined a bit our disclosure around that, but there's no real change in our expectation of it being around 10%, and I would just call out that it's refined disclosure and we feel that speculating on where the industry ROE is going forward is a bit challenging.

As there can be non-operating items that goes into the ROE, very difficult to project where they will end up. I go back to at September after three quarters outperformance 750 basis points, the trajectory, and when we talk about expanding the ROE outperformance beyond the 10-year track record of 650 basis points, that's certainly the zone that we're in after 9 months, and we would expect to be in as we close out the year.

Just following up on that, I notice that if you kind of look at the outlook, premium growth outlook, since this time last year, you've lowered it for essentially every line of business. If I look at the industry ROE outlook, you've increased it from high single digits to being around 10.

Are you suggesting then that despite the fact that we're getting pressure in terms of industry premium growth, that the industry still should be able to maintain an ROE around 10, which is in fact higher than what you would have suggested before you started revising down these premium growth outlooks? Just curious as to what your thinking is around that.

Yeah. I would say, Tom, when it comes to the industry ROE, that's an all-in measure.

It picks up premium, combined ratio, and also investment income, but also investment gains and losses. Again, those can be lumpy.

We look at where the industry unrealized position is and assess how much of that will come through the P&L over time to form our view on where the industry ROE will be. Our view is focused on our own margins, and we've talked about our own ability to expand margins and also to grow and outperform the industry on growth.

Yeah. I think, Tom, let's just not forget that in personal lines, you have an industry that is running above 100%, we expect that to come down.

It's a blend of things, but I think to start putting point estimate or a weighted average of industry's performance where we operate, we think we want to streamline our guidance there.

Yeah. Okay.

You've talked about wanting to exceed the industry ROE by at least 500 basis points for decades now. You've accomplished that, and now you've moved up higher, why not suggest that this number would not be 500, but might be 600 or something like that, or broaden out this outlook?

Thoughts there. Thanks.

I think it's a very valid point, Tom, and one we probably should debate one more time inside. On one hand, you're right.

The track record and the machine is spitting out more than 500 basis points in the long run. That's just a fact.

This is an objective that says every year, you need to be 50% more profitable than the industry, if you assume the industry is in 9% to 10% range. We're in the US for less than a decade, we're in the UK and Europe for less than 5 years.

We think we're starting to really understand what's going on in those places, but we want to outperform there as well, which we now do. I think we just want to make sure that we have objectives that are really stretch compared to our peers.

At the same time, we want to master those markets a bit more. I won't hide the fact, Tom, that it's a live debate whether that 500 basis point ROE outperformance objective should be more stretched.

Thanks. Thank you.

Thanks, good morning. Wanted to go back to the Investor Day, where you talked about 8% organic growth, about 6 points from premium growth, about 2 points from operating margin, but there's flexibility to optimize that.

As you're thinking about the current market and maybe this ongoing softening in some areas, how do you think about optimizing that roughly 8% organic growth you would expect to achieve through 2030?

Ken, do you want to provide a perspective?

Yeah. I I guess if you you look at this year, growth is in the mid-single-digit range.

The margin expansion is has been beyond, I would say, the 2 points that we've signaled. I think heading into 2026, we certainly see growth in in the zone of of of what we've signaled as a longer-term objective.

Clearly, on margin expansion, with the initiatives we're doing in terms of deploy- deploying our pricing and and risk selection capabilities, improving our claims operation, the ability to deliver 2+ points of of margin expansion is clearly there. In fact, I think that's where we have opportunity to to leverage that pricing sophistication to reinvest in the top line growth.

That's why, Jaeme, when you when you look at how we described it at Investor Day, we did combine the 6 of growth and 2 of margin into an overall view of 8 points. I think that certainly the machine is is set up to deliver that 8 points.

Then with distribution roll-up that we're doing in BrokerLink and we're now looking at in the MGA space in North America, that's that's giving at least another point. As we've said, in a in a worst-case scenario, the buybacks would deliver a further point.

Again, to be very clear, the the M&A outlook is quite is quite strong, and that's what pushes us beyond that 10% zone overall. All in, I think the 8 points of organic is, we're we're well Organic plus margin, delivering that 8 points, is is well set up.

I think that's exactly right. Historically, if you go back a decade, it was more 4-4-4 when you break down the 12% track record.

I think our sandbox is 10 times bigger today than it was at the start of the last decade. That's why I think from an organic growth point of view, the odds of beating what we've done historically, I think, are pretty good.

We're really finding out that the investments we've made in risk selection are paying off a bit more than what we thought even a year ago. We'll ride on all these levers.

As Ken says, the capital deployment lever in what I think is a very constructive M&A environment bodes well to outperform the 10 points of earnings growth in the next decade.

Great. Then as you talk about the structurally higher ROE in the upper teens, the balance sheet today currently is underlevered, as I can remember.

How much of that upper teens ROE is dependent on that balance sheet deployment? Can you achieve that upper teens base case with a leverage ratio sub-17%?

We are there now. Our target is 20 debt-to-total cap, and we'll get there as soon and as fast as we can when we find a highly accretive transaction.

Yeah. We'll buy back shares in the meantime.

Exactly. 19 and 1/2 operating ROE is with a balance sheet that's, as you said, under-optimized, if you want, from a leverage point of view.

That's the lens we look at when we say that we're comfortable and happy to hold dry powder on the M&A front, to be able to continue to outperform, well north of the 500 basis points, and maintain the dry powder on the M&A side. That's the equation, if you like, that we look at when we assess where the balance sheet is positioned.

Jaeme, my pedestrian perspective on this is that when you look at '25, we've printed an OROE of 20%, 19.5, and we've printed an adjusted ROE of 21. I think the cats came in a bit below guidance, and then our balance sheet is stronger than our target makeup of the capital base, and those two things largely offset each other, is my take.

Therefore, the guidance of upper teens, we don't sweat when we put that guidance out.

Great. Thank you.

Hi, good morning. Ken, Charles, you both have talked just about a constructive M&A environment right now, and Ken, I think you talked about manufacturing and on the distribution side.

Hoping you can unpack what you're seeing there. Is it more on the manufacturing, more on the distribution side, and maybe, what has been the impediment to more M&A right now, maybe in the Canadian market?

I think the distribution environment is active, very active. BrokerLink has been very active.

Some of the consolidators we support in consolidation are also very active. I would say the competitive pressure, the demand for assets in distribution is probably down compared to what it was a year ago.

Therefore, this is a place where we continue to deploy capital meaningfully. On the manufacturing front, it is a constructive environment in my mind globally.

You've seen a number of transactions, I do think that there'll be near-term opportunities here, in the US, on the other side of the pond, and I think in Canada as well, maybe not as near term as I can see in some of the other jurisdictions, but I think that this is a highly fragmented marketplace. Strategies are changing with the owners of some of these assets, and you'll see more consolidation in Canada.

Now, we're patient and strategic as a buyer, and therefore, we find the opportunities at the best moments. The position we're in today, Doug, which we've never really been in before, is the fact that we can fish in the US, we can fish in the UK and Europe, as well as Canada.

Why? Because outperformance exists pretty much everywhere at this stage.

That's why I'm thrilled about the M&A prospects, and it's an environment that is constructive, no doubt about that. People are open to talk.

Okay. Just on the European side, UK&I division, if you look at it on a current accident year basis, there's been some challenges there.

I guess the question I often get from people is you're comfortable doing, I think global specialty, MGAs, Canada, obviously, but would you do something more specifically in the UK on the M&A side near term?

I think the performance in UK and Europe is not bad. It's not where we want it to be, to be clear.

But 93.5 for that business given where it was when we took it, I like the trajectory. You have an expense ratio drag there that comes from the fact that we have taken a multiline business and we've made it a commercial lines business, which we love as an environment.

We like the trajectory. Would we put more capital there?

Yes, no doubt. The only caveat, Doug, is that in the UK commercial lines business, we are integrating the acquisition of Direct Line, which we've done in '24.

It is the real first acquisition by my team in the UK. I'd be careful to drop a second integration because, by the way, it's not just that they're integrating Direct Line, we're investing massively in systems, we're investing in risk selection techniques and data, we're investing in our claims strategy, and there's so much bandwidth an organization can have to deliver the goods in an acquisition.

As an attractive marketplace, I would put capital in the UK commercial lines, yes. Ken, that was a high-level perspective, I don't know if you want to add some color.

No, certainly not on the M&A front, but just on the quarterly performance, the 93.5 was solid. Cats were slightly lower by 2 points, but on the other side, we have the large losses, and those large losses didn't reach the cat threshold.

That's kind of part of the story why the current accident year loss ratio was a bit higher. Overall, as you've said, we're in the 92-93 zone, broadly in line with expectations, but not where we're aiming to get to, which is trending down towards that 90% over the next 12 or so months.

Doug, I'll take you back to 2022, when that business ran at 99.3, printing Q4 93.4, 95 for the year. That's why I'm saying I like the trajectory there, and I think performance might be lumpy a bit, but I like where this is going and I like the dynamic of that marketplace.

Perfect. Just one last one, Ken, probably for you, what is the deployable capital you have right now?

I can do the math on how much debt you could raise, but not the capital margin, but what's the amount that you could use for buybacks?

We've $3.7 billion of capital margin at the end of the year, and, obviously then from a look-forward point of view, significant capital generation in the year ahead, net of dividends and even regular distribution roll-up investments. If you think about the capital margin, you're right, it's there to cover volatility, and from that point of view, you can think of $2.5 billion to $3 billion of that margin would be retained in order to deal with volatility.

The excess over that is certainly deployable. Of course, we're also underlevered, so, when we think about deployable capital from an M&A point of view, you start to get up into the $4 billion to $5 billion zone in terms of the capital or the M&A size that we can execute on before we would need to raise equity.

Yeah. We've never been in that position, Doug, and yeah, I'm glad the M&A environment is constructive, but this is serious deployable capital before we issue shares.

I think at the end of the day, Doug, when I wake up in the morning and show up to work, I look at the ROE. We balance ROE, the intrinsic value of our share price, the M&A environment, and I think everything is attractive today.

Therefore, we're thrilled with our prospects to deploy capital, including our own shares.

I would echo what I'd just say, you're sitting on excess capital, it's not that you're only underlevered, but you also have excess capital, which weighs on ROE, but anyways, yeah, no, I appreciate all the color. Thank you very much.

Hi, good morning, thanks for taking my question. Wanted to ask around the margin expansion dynamic.

You called it out as one of the factors of the NOIPS growth track record and AI is helping you with margin expansion, and then commercial's got 12 quarters in a row, and we seem to keep underestimating the positive impact on PYD. Is it not time to revisit that 2% to 4% sort of guidance or are there other factors that keep you from doing so?

Go ahead, Ken.

Yeah. Thanks, Bart.

Going back to the PYD, first and foremost, the favorable PYD is a function of the prudent reserving of the current accident year. 5.5% in the quarter, I would say, aligned with expectations around being at the upper end of the 2% to 4% range that you mentioned, and, again, reflective of that current accident year prudence that we've been taking over many years.

If you look in the recent past, 3 and 5 years, it's hovered around 5%, and, again, when we look out near term, we're saying not to be surprised if we're in that 4% to 5% range. It's more when you look out longer term, very difficult to predict where things will be 5+ years out, and that's why the long-term average of 2% to 4%, which, if you go back and look over 15 years, that's where we are, and that's why we maintain the 2% to 4% range.

Certainly, looking in the recent past, we're hovering around the upper end, and that's why we think, and, as we look out in the near term, 12, 24 months, that's the zone we're expecting to be in.

Yeah. We're not that surprised by the sort of PYD we're seeing this quarter.

Bart, when we say when you look at results, don't strip the PYD, look at the combined. This is not just because it's convenient for us, it's because that's how the math works.

When you build reserves, the actuary looks at the current accident year and they put reserves aside, and they make sure that for the prior years, the reserves are adequate. The PYD really is a function of how much reserves you build in the current accident year.

When we say, guys, you should look at both combined, it's because we think that our actuaries have not changed their approach on the current accident year compared to what they used to do. Therefore, our view is look at both combined.

Yes, the track record in recent years has been above the top end of the range. We think it'll be above the top end of the range in the near to mid-term.

One really should look at both combined. When that changes, we'll be explicit about that, as we have been over the past decades.

Great. That's helpful color.

Thanks, Charles. Then just on the UK&I, the -2% sounds like it's turning a corner.

Is there a rough timeframe as to when you would expect that growth to resume to the industry growth outlook of call it low to mid-single digits?

In '26. Bart, we told you guys it would be gradual.

We were in the -5-ish sort of zone, Q4 came in at -2. That's where we're wanting to see it, and then in '26, you need to be in positive territory.

Frankly, I think that's where this is headed. Our work is not done in the UK, to be clear.

There might be lumpiness and so on, but I think we'll be in positive territory this year and not too far from the industry as the year closes.

Awesome. Thanks, that's it for me.

Good afternoon. Charles, as you can tell from the nature of the questions, capital's on everybody's mind, and the context, of course, is that every other large cap financial services company in Canada is fairly actively buying back stock while they also talk about potential M&A opportunities.

It's with that background that I want to just pursue this a little further. The 800 million in capital that was generated in the year that added to the capital margin, was that a special number or is 800 million doable for Intact on a go-forward basis?

Yeah. Not a special number, and to be clear, that's net of a 200 million buyback which we actually did over the last 6 months.

We talked at Investor Day, of the capital that we're generating, between organic growth and dividends, we consume about half of the capital that we're generating, and that includes the ongoing roll-up that BrokerLink is doing on the distribution side as well. To answer your question specifically, no, not a specific number, and probably it's net, as I say, of the buybacks that we've done.

Mario, I'll give you my holistic perspective on this. I might be wrong, and we have debates about that all the time and with the board again yesterday.

When I look at our track record in share buyback over the last decade, I think the return on that capital deployed hovered, depending on the buyback, in the 12% to 15%-ish zone, which is good. No debate there.

When I look at the track record of the capital deployed in M&A, that was north of 20%. Frankly, when I look at the environment in which we operate today, I think there will be opportunities to deploy in that zone, trying to strike that balance.

Then lastly, I do think Intact as a firm has a range of opportunities to deploy capital inorganically that is unmatched compared to what we're being compared against in the Canadian landscape. Our footprint is 10x what it was and we largely outperform everywhere.

I take your point, it's an important point and it's one we'll keep debating, but at least you get my perspective on this sitting here today.

I do. I think those are all important points.

The reason why it's so topical right now is the market just doesn't share your enthusiasm for the robustness of the results. Not this quarter or, frankly, not over the last few quarters.

I think that's why it's become so topical because of that dichotomy between arguably one of your strongest quarters and then the market's reaction to it. Let me flip over to something a little different.

I agree with you on that. Yeah.

We'll take that under advice. Under-

understood. The sort of a different question is early, I think the first question on this call was about AI and disrupt disruption.

I think you got part of the way there to answering the question, but let me be a little more direct. The The UK market was harmed, if you will.

Hurt a lot of the manufacturers when distribution became essentially the the brokers became disinter- intermediated, the manufacturers were impacted. The question is the the market's concern that AI could do precisely the same thing to Canada, to the US.

Are there structural or regulatory reasons why that wouldn't be the case or is it entirely plausible?

I think one big difference with the UK and we've spent a lot of time looking at personal lines in the UK is that the manufacturers just went along with it, basically. The relationship shifted with the distributor.

I do think that the brand and the credibility of our offers in personal lines and the importance of getting people back on track in backing those brands, for me, is a big differentiator between the UK market and what's happening here in North America. I do think that this will change the nature of advice.

I do think that this could contribute to the fact that the direct world today is growing faster than the broker distributed world in personal lines. We've built optionality to win on both sides.

For me, this is a potential disruptor, but I think that the manufacturers their brand and their value proposition does not disappear here. Distribution might shift as result of that, but I think the opportunity for strong manufacturers is really there.

Are you doing anything right now to make sure that you don't become a victim the way the UK manufacturers did?

100%. Mario, we've been focused on that sort of disruption for over a decade.

That's why we have built the brands we've built, that's why we've invested massively in the physical world, and that's why we're investing also heavily in our digital channels, which have been our fastest growing channels in the past 24 months. Right now, we're doing a fair bit of work to make sure that when it comes to search, that we show up prominently in all channels, including in GEO or in LLM distribution channels.

Got it. Thank you for your help.

Okay.

Thank you, everyone, for joining us today. Following the call, a telephone replay will be available for one week, and the webcast will be archived on our website for one year.

A transcript will also be available on our website in the Financial Reports section. Of note, our 2026 first quarter results are scheduled to be released after market close on Tuesday, May the 5th, with the earnings call starting at 11:00 a.m.

Eastern the following day. Thank you again, and this concludes our call.