Mutual insurance

And that's with no cost or minimal cost.

Now, there is an option to use what's called Mutuelle, which is a top-up.

uh, policy that you can buy privately that covers the remaining 30%.

Sure.

And that came from a depletion of the capital, and the bases were low, and they had to kind of truly get back to their core.

And from there, here we are, now we have, you know, the, the number that Pat had mentioned is 16% just this year alone in-increase in the growth and surplus for the mutual insurers.

So when we think about that, what really drives this over, you know, our arching kind of underwriting cycle management really comes down to the capital supply, if low and if it's, and if it's high.

And so now that we're kind of riding high again, um, we've been listening to a lot of the board conversations when we go talk to them.

Um, that again, was a survey that we had done in 2021, and we like to do these five years later.

So again, we can take a look at what that looks like, um, in 2026.

But, um, mutual insurers overall retained a really strong reputation and, and that, you know, we're- Not surprised to see that and glad we see that, right? So 95% of agents view mutual insurers favorably.

Um, and actually, mutuals hold a real meaningful book of business, uh, with- within the independent agents.

Uh, she's the lady that stood in Congress and said, "I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired." But, uh, that'll be next week.

Mike's cooperative journey stretches more than four decades, from his family farm in Browns Valley, Minnesota, to helping create one of the largest farmer-owned cooperatives in the country, to leadership in a major member-owned mutual insurance company.

Mike grew up in his family farm, uh, and he has, uh, which has depended upon agriculture cooperat- cooperative for generations.

After college, he worked briefly for Harvest States Cooperatives before returning to the farm.

His cooperative leadership didn't stop with CHS.

He has served organizations including the Agricultural Council of, of America, CF Industries, and CIBO.

Since 2013, Mike has also served on the board of Nationwide Insurance, a nationwide, uh, mutual insurance company, where he now is the chair of the board.

He is first and foremost a farmer.

Insurers must identify the segments that best match their strengths, simplify agent workflows, and use technology to improve speed and consistency while preserving essential human judgment.

At the same time, the financial performance of US property casualty mutual insurers in twenty twenty-five tells a remarkable story.

Net income surged, doubling to roughly forty-two point six billion dollars, while underwriting income climbed to fourteen point eight billion dollars, marking a significant rebound from the previous year's losses.

As Justin Amon of AM Best noted, mutual insurers took proactive steps, including filing for rate increases, restructuring discounts, and raising deductibles.

Combined with advances in data analytics and risk modeling, those actions have meaningfully strengthened their revenue position.

Now let's turn to artificial intelligence and its expanding role across business and insurance.