AXS AXIS Capital Holdings Limited

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$101.61

AXIS Capital Holdings Limited Q3 F2026 Earnings Call Transcript

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Conference Operator
Operator
Good day and welcome to the Access Capital Third Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press star then one on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, please press star then two. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to hand the call to Cliff Gallant, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.
Cliff Gallant
Investor Relations
Thank you. Good morning and welcome to our third quarter 2026 conference call. Our earnings press release and financial supplement were issued last night. If you would like copies, please visit the investor information section of our website at accesscapital.com. We set aside an hour for today's call, which is also available as an audio webcast on our website. Joining me on today's call are Vince Tizzio, our President and CEO, and Matt Kirk, our CFO. I would like to remind everyone that the statements made during this call, including the question and answer session, which are not historical facts, may be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. Actual events or results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors, including the risk factors set forth in the company's most recent report on the Form 10-K or our quarterly report on Form 10-Q and other reports the company files with the SEC. This includes the additional risks identified in the cautionary note regarding the forward-looking statements in our earnings press release issued last night. You will undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. In addition, on our non-GAAP financial measures may be discussed during this conference call. Reconciliations are included in our press release and financial supplement. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Vince.
Vincent Tizzio
President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you, Cliff. Good morning, and thank you for joining our third quarter call. Before turning to our results, I'll take a moment to recognize the outstanding efforts of our team. During the quarter, we celebrated Axis' 25th anniversary, a milestone that underscores both the progress we've made and the strength of the company we are today. Axis was born as a specialist underwriter, and as we bridge past, present, and future, we continue to lean into our specialist value proposition to address the needs of our customers. This was evident in our third quarter performance. Our guiding metric continues to be growth in diluted book value, and we delivered a 7% increase over the past 12 months, or a 14.4% increase ex-AOCI. We produced $2.4 billion in gross premiums written, representing an 11% increase year over year, with more than $700 million in new business. We continue to target short tail specialty businesses and short tail lines represent 56% of our premiums and we generate a combined ratio of 94%. Axis is well positioned in the current market. Our ability to identify shifts in the risk landscape and respond early, act decisively, and shape our portfolio ahead of the market is what differentiates Axis. This enables us to take advantage of dislocations, Thank you for joining us. We spoke to deteriorating conditions in property and certain casualty lines within our insurance segment, and we were early to voice those concerns, as now we have seen other market participants have since followed. That discipline works in both directions. Where conditions deteriorate, we act early to protect underwriting margins. Where dislocations create attractive returns, we move decisively to capture opportunities. For example, in marine war and terrorism, Access continues to help customers navigate the Iran conflict. We are drawing from a deep expertise and longstanding reputation in the market. Additionally, we continue to see opportunity across our expanded classes where we are capturing share in markets where access has historically been underrepresented and where margins remain attractive. Finally, through our Access Capacity Solutions capability, also known as ACS, We are matching our specialty underwriting knowledge with third-party capital. This is enabling us to serve clients with greater capacity while generating fee income for access. Over the past three years, we have deliberately repositioned Access Re as a boutique specialist, and we have done this while posting profits in the segment for 11 consecutive quarters. We feel great about the direction that Access Re is headed in. As respects capital management, We continue to deliver shareholder value through our stock repurchase program. Since the fourth quarter of 2023, we have reduced our share count by approximately 16.6%. We expect to remain opportunistic in repurchasing shares where we believe doing so creates long-term value. Over the past three years, our How We Work program has fundamentally improved the way Axis operates. We've established a strengthened operating infrastructure, embedded agile ways of working across the organization, and are increasingly leveraging technology and AI to improve our speed, processes, and drive business outcomes. By example, earlier this year I spoke with you about our new end-to-end next generation underwriting platform, Rollout. It was deployed in our lower middle market business. The platform is showing its ability to reduce quote cycle time by up to 70%. In claims, our agentic first notice of loss capability, launched initially within our property business, is accelerating processing while giving us insights, including during catastrophe events. These illustrate a broader shift in how Access operates, where you're using technology and AI not to simply automate tasks, but to increase underwriting capacity, improve decision-making, compress cycle times, and enable the organization to scale more efficiently. Our overall progress is underpinned by the reputation we earn from our brokers and customers. I'm pleased to note that in our most recent broker survey, Axis was once again recognized with top quartile net promoter scores and leadership as a specialty insurer. Moreover, we were ranked ahead of the market for our underwriting knowledge, alignment with our customers, strategy, and brand recognition. Let's now move to our segment results, and we'll begin with insurance. Thank you for joining us. I'll unpack the 13% growth in more detail. ACS led the way, contributing 7%. Our expanded classes contributed 5%, and our core insurance book generated the remaining balance. Notably, we again observed increasing contributions from our retail classes in North America, which delivered 16% growth year over year. We are also continuing to see healthy submission flow, including a 15% year-over-year increase in North America. Our London market business performed very well in the quarter. A top 10 syndicate at Lloyd's, we're leveraging our scale and relevance and leaning into our lead position across multiple lines, including marine, A&H, and credit and political risk to name several. Let's now unpack market conditions within insurance. As I've discussed previously, We operate across a series of micro markets, each with their own set of risk characteristics, but with an overarching theme of increasing competition across most lines. Against this backdrop, we remain an underwriting led and bottom line focused company with premium adequacy, portfolio construction, and specialty expertise as guiding principles in our decision making. We are balancing active cycle management with the selective pursuit Dislocations, where our specialty expertise gives us an advantage. I'll provide observations across several lines of businesses. In property, growth continued to moderate and was 11% in the quarter. Rates declined 10% and we were down 15% in E&S specifically. We are being increasingly selective in property, particularly in segments where pricing is no longer rational. Notwithstanding the softer conditions, we have stayed true to the fundamentals that guide our approach. We maintain a well-constructed property book with an average net limits that remain in the low single-digit millions, a balanced mix of perils and geographies, and a CATXOL protection that attaches at $100 million per event. In liability, where rates increased 8% in the quarter, broadly keeping pace with loss trends, We deliberately reduced exposures where pricing did not meet our expectations. In U.S. excess casualty, even with rate increases of 10%, we are maintaining a disciplined stance. Retention on our renewal business was steady, but we did not grow new premiums within the line. In our dedicated U.S. excess casualty lower middle market unit, we grew 23% as business remained premium adequate. In primary casualty, Rates rose 10%, similar to U.S. excess casualty. We maintained a cautious position on new premiums while our renewal business was stable. In professional, growth was 16%, consistent with last quarter, with a rate increase of 3%. E&O remained a key driver with meaningful contributions from expanded classes, including allied health and environmental. Our growth in professional was also supported by our RAC-RE partnership. Within cyber, we maintained a highly selective approach. Rates were down 4% while premiums were up $7 million with growth concentrated in targeted large account business. As previously reported, our underwriting strategy in cyber is selective and being executed with great discipline amidst a risk landscape that has been escalated by AI. Let's now turn to reinsurance, where the repositioning of the portfolio continues to produce tangible results. In the third quarter, premiums increased 4% to nearly $450 million, with specialty short-tail lines representing 57%. We delivered more than $70 million in new business, of which 60% was short-tail, and we generated a 92.4 combined ratio. We continue to lean into our specialty lines while maintaining a highly selective stance in liability and professional. In closing, Access has the right strategy, capabilities, and talent to succeed in a changing market. We have a resilient and diversified portfolio, robust global distribution platform, and deep customer relationships grounded in trust We will act decisively and have the expertise to identify market dislocations that create new profitable growth opportunities, the discipline to reduce exposures when returns do not meet our standards, and the financial strength to invest in our business while returning capital to our shareholders. With that, I'll now pass the floor to Matt for his comments.
Matt Kirk
Chief Financial Officer
Thank you, Vince, and good morning, everyone. Axis delivered a strong quarter with disciplined underwriting Double-digit growth in insurance, solid investment income, and continued active capital management. Net income available to common shareholders was $202 million or $2.75 per diluted common share, resulting in an annualized net income ROE of 13.8%. Operating income was $229 million or $3.12 per diluted common share, which produced an annualized operating ROE of 15.7%. Starting with our group underwriting highlights, gross written premiums were 2.4 billion, up 11% over the prior year quarter. Insurance gross written premiums increased by 13%. The growth was broad-based with contributions from ACS, Marine, Property, Professional Lines, and A&H. In reinsurance, gross premiums increased 4%. Growth in shorter tail lines was partially offset by our continued reduction in longer tail business. Note, for the full year, we still expect reinsurance premiums down low double digits. The combined ratio was 94.0% compared with 89.4% in the prior year quarter. Catastrophe and war-related losses were 75 million, or 4.6 points, including 44 million of war losses and 31 million of catastrophe and weather-related losses. This compares with 44 million, or 3.0 points, of CATs in the prior year quarter. During the quarter, we recognized 15 million of favorable prior year reserve development, or 0.9 points. As in recent quarters, the releases were concentrated in shorter tail lines. Our current action year loss ratio, excluding catastrophe and war-related losses, was 57%, compared with 56.3% in the prior year quarter. The insurance attrition loss ratio was 54.2%, up 1.9 points, reflecting the business mix and market pressures we discussed last quarter, including a more competitive property and casualty environment. We expect these pressures to continue. The uptick in Marine War Premium had some benefit to the attritional, but overall our stance on loss picks has remained prudently conservative. The reinsurance attritional loss ratio was 68.3%, up 0.4 points. Our reinsurance business continues to produce steady and strong results. Our acquisition expense ratio was 22.5% compared with 19.7% in the prior year quarter. As we discussed on our second quarter call, we have been emphasizing growth in shorter tail lines such as PET, Surety, and ACX, which carry higher commission costs. Importantly, we manage these businesses for total underwriting economics. While the mix can result in higher acquisition costs, Those costs can be offset by lower losses, lower internal expenses, or in the case of ACS, additional fee income. In addition, this quarter included more Marine War premium, a specialized class of business that carries higher commission rates. Our consolidated GA ratio, including corporate expenses, was 10.8% compared with 11.7% in the prior year quarter. Dollar spending was nearly flat year over year, while the ratio benefited from strong earned premium growth. Year to date, the consolidated G&A ratio was 10.7%, modestly better than our full year target of 11%. The income in the quarter was $23 million, including $18 million, which served as an offset to GA expense, and $5 million reported as other insurance-related income. This compares to $19 million of fee income in the prior year quarter. Note that the G&A offset derives from ILS vehicles and ACS-related fee income. Turning to investments and capital, net investment income was $211 million, up 14% from $185 million in the prior year quarter. We're seeing the benefits of strong operating cash flow and improving yields. We are also pleased with the quarter's performance of alternatives where quarter to quarter volatility is typical. Overall, the outlook for net investment income has improved as we incorporate higher yield securities in the core fixed income portfolio. We remain in a strong financial position, which allows us to support profitable organic growth while returning excess capital to shareholders. During the quarter, we repurchased 109 million of common shares, up from 89 million in QQ and 60 million in Q1. We view our share valuation as highly attractive today, and we expect to continue to be buyers of our stock. Overall, our results demonstrate Axis' ability to navigate changing markets to build long-term shareholder value as measured by the 14% growth in diluted book value per share excluding AOCI over the past 12 months. As specialty underwriting experts, we don't need to swing at every pitch but have the expertise and discipline to lean into attractive opportunities while pulling back where returns don't meet our standards. This approach is delivering strong underwriting income while our focus on operating excellence and financial discipline further enhance those returns. With that, we'd be happy to answer your questions.
Conference Operator
Operator
We will now begin the question and answer session. To ask a question, you may press star then one on your telephone keypad. If you are using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. To withdraw your question, please press star then two. At this time, we will pause momentarily to assemble our roster.
Conference Operator
Operator
And our first question comes from Yaron Kinnar of Mizuho.
Conference Operator
Operator
Please go ahead.
Chris
Analyst, Mizuho (on behalf of Yaron Kinnar)
Good morning. This is Chris on for your own. My first question is, why prioritize growth associated with compressing margins and diminishing returns over buybacks, considering where the share price is currently trading?
Matt Kirk
Chief Financial Officer
Hey, Chris, it's Matt Kirk. Thanks for the question. I don't know if it's about prioritization. We're happy to support our growth at these return levels, which are very value accretive. At the same time, we're also very happy to return capital to our shareholders. We saw an increase in that quarter over quarter, and we're glad to support both initiatives. So I don't think it's choosing between two. We have a strong balance sheet in the capital to support both initiatives.
Vincent Tizzio
President and Chief Executive Officer
Chris, this is Vince. Good morning. I would just add that the trade that we placed in 3Q reflects the balance that we've been talking about throughout the journey. We delivered a strong ROE, strong growth, and we posted an 87 to XCAT combined ratio in our insurance business. We like the bets that we're placing. And as Matt indicated in his opening remarks, we've increased our share repurchase program. And at these levels, we would align that there's still potential value creation through doing so additionally.
Chris
Analyst, Mizuho (on behalf of Yaron Kinnar)
Awesome, thank you. And my second question is, how high can the insurance segment acquisition ratio move on mix shift? And do you expect loss ratio improvement from mix to fully offset that?
Matt Kirk
Chief Financial Officer
Yeah, so we do, and we explained in greater detail the mix over the last handful of quarters. We have been guiding and we guided to a commission ratio of 21. I think the new factor is the war premium, which also comes with a higher commission ratio. That's a business we really like. We've been doing it for decades, and we believe that will be beneficial over the long term. As for how high it can get, I don't want to give particular numbers. I would say for Q4, we still are writing war business numbers. So if you wanted a proxy, I think 22 is a good proxy for the fourth quarter.
Conference Operator
Operator
Great. Thank you for taking my questions. Thank you.
Conference Operator
Operator
The next question comes from Charlie Lederer of PMO Capital Markets. Please go ahead.
Charlie Lederer
Analyst, PMO Capital Markets
Hey, thanks. Good morning. Just thinking about the growth and the mixed shift in insurance in the quarter, I'm assuming the Marine and War growth is included in the core book and not the new and expanded classes. Is that fair? And I guess as you think about the growth trajectory and the makeup of that growth going forward, is this quarter representative of how the core book and the new and expanded classes should trend, I guess, with the war going on? Thanks.
Vincent Tizzio
President and Chief Executive Officer
Chris, good morning. This is Vince. To the first part of your question, it is not included in and New and Expanded. As respects New and Expanded, we're really pleased with the result in the quarter and cumulatively. You may recall when we first put forward in Q2-25 the outset comments around what we would embark upon, we talked about the development of a set of new propositions responding to our distribution channel needs, more particularly in the United States. We're quite pleased with well over a billion dollars of Premium Adequate Business that has been written since that period of time. The run rate that you've seen in the second and third quarter, approximating 5%, 6%, we think will continue. Obviously, we're not going to speak about 2027 today, but certainly for the year end. And I would advise that obviously as a specialist that responds to dislocations, we will create new propositions as the market dislocates in certain pockets. And we'll have more to say about that in subsequent calls.
Charlie Lederer
Analyst, PMO Capital Markets
Thanks. And maybe on ACS, you had mentioned, I think, last quarter the possibility of turning down some of that business or walking away from pieces of it. Can you just give us your updated thoughts on the growth trajectory there? I think there's supposed to be a leg up in year two. Thanks.
Vincent Tizzio
President and Chief Executive Officer
Sorry about that. We're very pleased with ACS in total. You may recall why we created the capability to begin with. We did so really an observation of market trends that were going on in the London market and in the U.S. wholesale space. We're quite pleased with the execution of what we've transacted. Now, when it gets into the more specific part of your question, I think you're footing yourself to the RAC retransaction, which has been emblematic of what people have associated ACS as being within Axis. We are taking advantage of our contractual right to curate the portfolio for year two. We're pleased with the contribution of written premium from the first year, the premium adequacy associated, but we will obviously, as specialists, tweak the portfolio going forward and we will reveal that in year two as the premiums unfold.
Conference Operator
Operator
The next question comes from Andrew Kringerman of TD Cowen.
Conference Operator
Operator
Please go ahead.
Andrew Kringerman
Analyst, TD Cowen
Good morning. My first question is around insurance. And, you know, terrific 13%, roughly 13% gross and net written growth. And so my question is, you know, going forward, and Vince, you sounded very cautious just about both casualty and property more so than you've been in the past. So as we look to next year, A, can we expect this double-digit growth? And B, where might that come from? Will it be ACS? Yeah. Yeah.
Vincent Tizzio
President and Chief Executive Officer
I apologize. There's a delay on our side, even between the exchange of questions. So I'm going to ask our team to look at the phone here. So I apologize for cutting you off. Look, we're not dour. We're not pessimistic. We are specialists. We are seeking risk-adjusted returns in everything that we do. We're cycle managing our portfolio. We still have a favorable view generally in our insurance business, but we have humility. The market is softening. and we took very early notice of that in the second quarter. We've seen the subsequent market movements by those against whom we compete having expressed similar views. But in respect direct to property and casualty, these are huge segments, right? And so we continue to see our transactional business in favorable terms. We continue to see some of the most complicated business and risk profiles that we service through wholesale in favorable ways on a risk adjusted basis. Nonetheless, Growth at double digit, we're not prepared to give any commentary or guidance about that for the 27 year. Our heads are down focused on closing 2026 as capably as we can, delivering the kind of predictability and sustainability of consistent, strong results that we have been tying together now for, well, many quarters, Andrew, many quarters.
Andrew Kringerman
Analyst, TD Cowen
Okay, so then Vince, my follow-up will be around the insurance accident year combined ratio, which came in at a really strong 92.9. For the first nine months, it's 90.6. Given your commentary on, in many instances, pricing not keeping up with loss, cost, and casualty, pricing coming down in property, should we expect a little bit of erosion on that and more.
Vincent Tizzio
President and Chief Executive Officer
Matt gave explicit guidance in the second quarter call in respect to our insurance loss ratio. I thought he was quite clear about our collective view at Axis in the performance of our loss ratio. Thank you for joining us. delivering strong risk-adjusted returns, and ensuring that our underlying platform has the flexibility of capital, the product positioning, and geographic positioning to take advantage of the dislocations that a specialist is designed to solve problems for. And that you can take to the bank, Andrew.
Andrew Kringerman
Analyst, TD Cowen
Okay, so I'm going to assume, you know, given those returns that you feel like you're You could kind of stay somewhere similar in terms of returns on capital going forward. That's the objective, right?
Vincent Tizzio
President and Chief Executive Officer
Plus or minus. Plus or minus for sure. Plus or minus.
Conference Operator
Operator
Okay. Thanks a lot. Thank you, Andrew.
Conference Operator
Operator
The next question comes from Hirstian Guestoff of Wells Fargo. Please go ahead.
Hirstian Guestoff
Analyst, Wells Fargo
Hi, good morning. I was wondering if you could give us a sense as to the underlying margin impact on insurance from ACS and RACRI. Essentially, if you downsize that going forward, just having stricter underwriting standards, like what effect would that have on the starting point relative to the 54 underlying that's expected for this year in insurance?
Matt Kirk
Chief Financial Officer
Listen, I don't think, if you think about ACS, that starts with underwriting returns that meet our standards. and we were able to get larger lines because of the RAC redeal and we were able to generate fee income while doing it. If that was downsized, I would not think there'd be significant difference in our underwriting KPIs.
Vincent Tizzio
President and Chief Executive Officer
Yeah, this is Vince. I would just add, in short, not materially, and I apologize I didn't catch your first name. Realize we're not relying on one trick or one initiative to produce the underwriting profits of our company. Prior questions pointed to new and expanded. Prior comments in the past have pointed to the breadth of our core portfolio. We have a diversified portfolio. We're leaning into selective markets as quickly as we can to meet those dislocations and deliver strong risk-adjusted returns.
Hirstian Guestoff
Analyst, Wells Fargo
Got it. Thank you. And then for my follow-up, is there any way you could quantify the Marine War premiums that were in the quarter that had a beneficial impact on the insurance accident-year loss ratio? And should we expect those premiums to be of similar magnitude in the Q4?
Matt Kirk
Chief Financial Officer
So we had about $100 million of earned premium from war in the quarter. On the attritional ratio, it was a modest impact. If we had to put a number, it's around a half a point. And then if you think about Q4, it's really, really difficult to say. I'd say we're in the market. We're writing business. We're going to continue to support our clients so long as it meets our underwriting returns. To the extent of what we write will be highly dependent on how this conflict continues. But we will see some more activity in Q4. We just can't size that for you right now.
Conference Operator
Operator
Great. Thanks so much.
Conference Operator
Operator
The next question comes from Andrew Anderson of Jefferies. Please go ahead.
Andrew Anderson
Analyst, Jefferies
Hey, good morning. It sounds like cyber rate declines had moderated a little bit. Has risk-adjusted pricing reached a floor there, or is the growth and the rate change difference more account mix and exposure rather than an improved market?
Vincent Tizzio
President and Chief Executive Officer
Andrew, good morning. Look, I think The decrease has dissipated in its order of run rate decrease, to be sure. Nonetheless, importantly, I think the risk landscape is heightened within cyber. You have seen from Axis a deliberate set of underwriting actions. And despite the modicum of increase in written premium discrete in the quarter in our insurance business, which is internationally focused on large accounts, something we've spoken about, we remain hyper-vigilant. There are any number of threat actors being prosecuted in different forms of ransomware losses, and so we'll remain vigilant, and I would not expect a material change coming from Axis in its underwriting strategy.
Andrew Anderson
Analyst, Jefferies
Thanks. And if we go back a bit and recognizing you have been buying back stock, but have the ADCs you signed in past years or some normal business mix shift generated any capital release this year? Would you expect that to come in the coming years? Just is there more capital efficiency opportunity?
Matt Kirk
Chief Financial Officer
Yeah, I think we recognized the capital relief from the LPT when we undertook the transaction last year. and that also allowed us coincidentally to be larger in share returns last year. I would just say we have appropriate capital to continue our share repurchase program. I mentioned it in my prepared comments, but I really believe where we are trading, it's an excellent way to build value for our shareholders and we'll be continuing to be active in fourth quarter.
Conference Operator
Operator
Thank you. Thanks Andrew.
Conference Operator
Operator
The next question comes from Roland Mayer of RBC Capital Markets. Please go ahead.
Roland Mayer
Analyst, RBC Capital Markets
Hi, good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. The sequential step up in fixed maturity net investment income was fairly significant. Was there anything one time in that step up or is 182 million a good run rate going forward?
Matt Kirk
Chief Financial Officer
Yeah, it's a good question. I think it is two things happening simultaneously that we're frankly quite pleased with. The primary driver was continued growth in our invested asset base. We entered the quarter with more than 5% higher investable assets at the beginning of the quarter. So our averages across the quarter were heavily weighted to the front end. And we're seeing higher yields as everyone else is. So we're pleased to see that step up. I think it's around that figure. I'd also call your attention that our overall net investment income was very good at $211 million. We had additional positive marks on our private equity. Those can be lumpy, and so you may not see that outperformance on a quarter-to-quarter basis. All in, if you wanted to pick a number, a broad pick, about $200 million for Q4 would not be a bad place to put yourself.
Roland Mayer
Analyst, RBC Capital Markets
Thank you. And then going back to Vince's comments on AI and cyber, can you remind us where you play in the cyber market, how you set limits, and how you reinsure that portfolio?
Vincent Tizzio
President and Chief Executive Officer
Yes, this is Vince. We have a very strong portfolio construction as relates limit profile on a net basis under $4 million. We have a target customer that is in the large account segment. We have previously discussed reshaping and non-renewing in a substantial part our delegated business. We address the middle market through a joint partnership with Alpha Secure. It's a tiny portfolio for us, has very strong vulnerability scan and patching assessment capabilities that support our broader underwriting strategy. And our outbounds reinsurance strategy is a substantial quota share with a lot of tail cover on an XOL basis that we feel very comfortable with.
Roland Mayer
Analyst, RBC Capital Markets
Thank you, and if I could sneak in one more. You gave Christian $100 million of war premium. What's a good PAC ratio to associate with that marine war business?
Vincent Tizzio
President and Chief Executive Officer
I didn't hear what ratio?
Roland Mayer
Analyst, RBC Capital Markets
Acquisition costs.
Vincent Tizzio
President and Chief Executive Officer
I would suggest to you, depending upon lead versus follow, it's somewhere between 30% and 40%, sir.
Roland Mayer
Analyst, RBC Capital Markets
Thank you so much.
Vincent Tizzio
President and Chief Executive Officer
You're welcome.
Conference Operator
Operator
The next question comes from Josh Shanker of Bank of America.
Josh Shanker
Analyst, Bank of America
Please go ahead. Good morning, everybody. Is there any way you can scale the amount of business being written in access capacity solutions right now or the amount of the growth that was generated in the quarter in the insurance segment? And likewise, can we talk about the acquisition cost? and many more.
Vincent Tizzio
President and Chief Executive Officer
You know from prior calls that this really reaches the highest part of our organization in sign-off. Our chief underwriting officer is definitely involved and supported by great teammates that are doing yeoman work. So the direct answer with some color and context is yes, we think we can scale it. I won't comment on its order, but I will tell you it is highly dependent on meeting a number of different thresholds that also cascade the investment strategy of these entities and our CFO, of course, are deeply involved. So I'm very pleased with the governance that the company is bringing to these transactions. As it relates to the acquisition expense associated with ACS transactions, the short answer is while there is an increase in the acquisition expense, there's an offset from the fee income. That offset goes against our GA ratio. It is not reflected, Josh, in our acquisition expense. I think that's the short answer to the second part of your question.
Josh Shanker
Analyst, Bank of America
Okay, can we say is ACF 10% of the book? Is it 20% of the book? Or at least is there some frame we can put on that?
Matt Kirk
Chief Financial Officer
Yeah. Josh, is your question still on acquisition? I just want to make sure I understand where you're headed.
Josh Shanker
Analyst, Bank of America
No, the amount of the insurance book being written by third-party underwriters as opposed to access-employed underwriters.
Vincent Tizzio
President and Chief Executive Officer
Well, that's a misnomer, right? So this is the RAC retransaction with Ryan's specialty within their MGUs. We have approximated the volume of that $400-plus-odd million previously. That's not maturely changing. There will be changes for year two, and that, again, is through a curated effort with Axis Underwriting Strategies in partnership with Ryan Specialty.
Josh Shanker
Analyst, Bank of America
And I guess your MGA programs in the Axis Capacity Solutions?
Vincent Tizzio
President and Chief Executive Officer
Yeah. In the U.S., the delegated business actually shrunk a percentage point in the quarter to 14-odd percent.
Roland Mayer
Analyst, RBC Capital Markets
Okay.
Josh Shanker
Analyst, Bank of America
All right. Well, thank you. And then... and the frame, can you walk a little bit through that fee income offset? If we were to add the acquisition cost increase associated with that business that comes through the acquisition cost ratio but reduce the fee that we don't see that runs through it, is it a net-net neutral to the acquisition cost or is it still more expensive?
Matt Kirk
Chief Financial Officer
It's broadly a net neutral that you're going to find in the expense ratio.
Josh Shanker
Analyst, Bank of America
Okay, thank you.
Conference Operator
Operator
Thank you, Josh.
Conference Operator
Operator
This concludes our question and answer session. I'd like to turn the call over to Vincent Tizzio for any closing remarks.
Vincent Tizzio
President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you again for your time and your questions this morning. We feel very good about where Access stands today and in the future, and supported by our clear strategy, a strong portfolio, and an exceptional team. We look forward to keeping you updated on our progress, and good day.
Conference Operator
Operator
The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation and you may now disconnect.