⚡What does Travelers do, in 30 seconds?
Travelers is a holding company whose companies sell property and casualty insurance to businesses, government units, associations and individuals 24. It took in $48.8bn ✓ of revenue in FY2025. Business insurance was the biggest part, at 46% ✓ of revenue.
📱What does Travelers sell?
Travelers reports three insurance groups, plus the money it earns by investing. Business insurance is the biggest, at 46% ✓ of FY2025 revenue.
Business insurance
Travelers insures small businesses, mid-sized firms with 50 to 1,000 employees and large companies, mainly in the US 1. It also writes business in the UK, Ireland and at Lloyd's 1. Commercial multi-peril was the biggest product line in 2025, ahead of commercial auto and commercial property 1. The group also owns Simply Business, which sells small-business policies mainly in the UK 1. Its premiums came to $22.4bn ✓ in FY2025.
👥 Small, mid-sized and large companies, mainly in the US, reached through thousands of independent agencies and brokers 1 3.
Personal insurance
Travelers sells car and homeowners insurance to people in the US 4. It also covers boats and yachts, jewelry and other valuable items, and even weddings 4. In 2025 it wrote $9.051 billion of net premiums in US homeowners and other cover and $7.745 billion in US car insurance 4. Its premiums came to $17.4bn ✓ in FY2025.
👥 Households, reached mainly through thousands of independent agents, and also directly and through partners such as employers and credit unions 4.
Bond and specialty insurance
This group sells surety bonds for builders and other businesses, plus fidelity cover 5. It also offers management liability, such as cover for directors and officers and cyber cover, plus professional liability 5. Its premiums came to $4.1bn ✓ in FY2025.
👥 Businesses, mainly in the US 5. Most of its US products are sold through many of the same agencies and brokers that sell business insurance 5.
Investment income and other
In FY2025, revenue other than the three groups' premiums was $4.9bn ✓. Travelers' net investment income was $3.96 billion in 2025, 10% more than in 2024 7. At 31 December 2025, 94% of its $101.18 billion of invested assets sat in fixed maturity and short-term investments 7.
👥 Income from the investments Travelers owns, 94% of which were fixed maturity and short-term investments at 31 December 2025 7, plus other items.
How the mix has shifted
Where the customers are
Almost all of Travelers' revenue comes from the United States, at 95% ✓ in FY2025. Canada added 3% ✓, and other countries 2% ✓. Travelers sold its Canadian personal insurance business and most of its Canadian business insurance on 2 January 2026, and kept its Canadian surety business 23. In 2025, California was its largest state, at 10.6% of direct written premiums 7.
💸How does Travelers make money?
Follow the money from left to rightfrom top to bottom: what comes in, what it costs to run, what is lost on insurance claims, and what is left as profit.
Travelers took in $48.8bn ✓ of revenue in FY2025. Claims and benefits cost $27.2bn ✓. Running costs took $6.1bn ✓ and other costs $7.7bn ✓. That left a pretax profit of $7.8bn ✓.
After tax of $1.5bn ✓, net income was $6.3bn ✓. Put simply, out of every hundred dollars of revenue, about $56 ✓ went on claims and benefits. Running costs took $12 ✓, other costs $16 ✓ and tax $3 ✓. Travelers kept $13 ✓ as profit.
Out of every $100 of revenue in FY2025…
⏱️ Travelers by the clock
Spread the FY2025 totals evenly over its 365 days and you get this. Source: TRAVELERS COMPANIES, INC. 10-K [6].
📈How is Travelers doing?
Travelers has grown steadily for a decade, while its profit has gone up and down. From FY2015 to FY2025, revenue grew 6.2% ✓ a year on average, from $26.8bn ✓ to $48.8bn ✓. Revenue rose in 10 ✓ of those 10 ✓ years.
Profit has been bumpier. Pretax margin fell from 17.7% ✓ in FY2015 to 8.1% ✓ in FY2023. It then rose to 16.0% ✓ in FY2025. Catastrophe losses were $3.69 billion pre-tax in 2025, mainly from the California wildfires that January and from wind and hail storms 7. Even so, FY2025 net income reached $6.3bn ✓, up from $3.0bn ✓ two years before.
The latest four quarters, to 30 September 2026, were stronger still for profit. Revenue was $48.9bn ✓, up 1.1% ✓ on the four quarters before, and net income was $8.3bn ✓. In the first nine months of 2026, catastrophe losses fell to $1.817 billion pre-tax, from $3.595 billion a year earlier 22. The combined ratio improved to 86.3% from 93.2% 22.
📝 The report card
Travelers earns top marks for profit, its balance sheet and steadiness, but only a middling mark for growth. Cash generation is not graded ✓ for insurers. Every company is graded on the same fixed scale, so an A means the same thing on every page. The strip shows where Travelers (orange) and its 4 peers land; further right is better.
Growth
Travelers' revenue grew 9.8% ✓ a year over its last three fiscal years, which earns a C ✓ on the fixed scale. That is a little under the 10% needed for a B, and below the 10.4% ✓ median of its four peers. Progressive grew fastest, at 20.9% ✓ a year, good for an A ✓.
Why this measure? (higher is better)
Growing revenue is the engine of a business. For a bank, revenue is what it earns after paying interest to savers and lenders; for an insurer, it is mostly premiums. Mature giants rarely grow fast, so 5% a year already earns a C.
Profitability
For insurers, we grade profit against the owners' money rather than revenue. Over the last three years combined, Travelers earned 16.7% ✓ on its shareholders' equity, which earns an A ✓. That is a little below the 17.8% ✓ peer median. Progressive earned 31.1% ✓, also an A ✓.
Why this measure? (higher is better)
Banks and insurers work with other people's money, so profit margins on revenue say little. Return on equity shows how much profit they make on the owners' money; above 15% is excellent for a big bank or insurer.
Cash generation
Not graded for banks and insurers: their cash flow mostly moves customers' money (deposits, loans, premiums), so it says little about the business.
Cash generation is not graded ✓ for Travelers or its peers. For insurers, cash flow mostly moves customers' money, such as premiums paid before claims, so it says little about the business ✓. Even so, Travelers brought in $10.6bn ✓ of operating cash flow in FY2025.
Balance sheet
For insurers, we grade the balance sheet on shareholders' equity as a share of everything the company owns. At the end of FY2025, Travelers' figure was 22.9% ✓, an A ✓. That is below the 26.3% ✓ peer median. It ranks 5 ✓ of 5, the lowest equity share of the five, though still an A ✓. Berkshire, whose figure covers the whole company, has 58.7% ✓, also an A ✓.
Why this measure? (higher is better)
Owners' equity is the cushion that absorbs losses before customers' money is at risk. The thicker the cushion compared with everything the company owns, the safer it is.
Steadiness
Travelers' yearly revenue growth swings by just 3.7% ✓ (a standard deviation), which earns an A ✓. It ranks 1 ✓ of the five, the steadiest. The peer median is 6.5% ✓. Its fastest year was 12.2% ✓ in FY2024, and its slowest 1.3% ✓ in FY2020.
Why this measure? (lower is better)
Steady growers are easier to plan around. Big swings mean revenue depends on interest rates, markets or one-off events.
🧑🏫 How the grades work
- Same scale for everyone. Each measure has fixed cut-offs (shown under each strip). Clear the A line and you get an A, whatever your peers do.
- Three years together. Profitability and cash generation add up the last three fiscal years before dividing, so one unusual year counts for less than it would on its own (a year much bigger than the others still weighs most).
- Banks and insurers are graded differently. They lend or invest customers' money, so profitability uses return on equity, the balance sheet uses the owners' share of total assets, and cash generation is not graded. They are compared only with other banks and insurers.
- Peers for context. The rank shows how Travelers compares with the group. Companies within 0.1 percentage point share a rank.
- Same source. Every company's figures come from its own latest annual report (10-K), so fiscal years end in different months.
- Judgement, openly stated. The cut-offs are QuantVantage.ai's view of what good looks like for a large, established company. They are not a forecast or a recommendation.
11 years at a glance
Where the cash goes
Travelers hands a large part of its profit back to its owners. From FY2015 to FY2025 it returned $28.8bn ✓ through buybacks and dividends. In FY2025 alone it returned $4.0bn ✓, including $3.0bn ✓ of buybacks. In the third quarter of 2026 it returned $1.769 billion, including $1.508 billion of share buybacks 22.
🧮Ratios 101: what are Travelers' key financial ratios?
Ratios shrink Travelers' big numbers into easy comparisons with other insurers. A ratio divides one number by another so companies of any size can be compared. Each card shows the formula with Travelers' real FY2025 numbers, the peer median and the trend.
💰 Profitability: how much of each dollar of revenue is kept?
Net margin
The bottom line: profit after interest and taxes, per dollar of revenue.
👉 Travelers kept 12.9% ✓ of FY2025 revenue as final profit, about the same as 12.8% ✓ in FY2015. That is below the 16.3% ✓ peer median.
📏 Rule of thumb: Above 15% is strong; one-off tax items can move it in a single year.
Return on equity (ROE)
Profit earned for each dollar that shareholders have left in the company.
👉 ROE was 19.1% ✓ in FY2025, up from 14.6% ✓ in FY2015 but below the 23.8% ✓ peer median. The bottom of the sum, shareholders' equity, was $32.9bn ✓.
📏 Rule of thumb: Around 15% or more is good, but buybacks shrink equity and can make ROE look huge.
⚙️ Efficiency: how hard do the assets work?
Return on assets (ROA)
Profit earned from everything the company owns, however it was paid for.
👉 ROA was 4.4% ✓, up from 3.4% ✓ in FY2015. It sits below the 7.0% ✓ peer median, on total assets of $143.7bn ✓.
📏 Rule of thumb: For big banks, about 1% on assets is usual and above 1.2% is strong; insurers are not judged on that scale.
💵 Cash and owners: where does the money end up?
Stock pay
Pay given to staff in shares instead of cash. It is a real cost to owners because it adds shares.
👉 Stock pay was 0.5% ✓ of revenue, the same as 0.5% ✓ in FY2015. That is a little above the 0.2% ✓ median of the two peers that report it.
📏 Rule of thumb: Banks and insurers pay part of their staff in shares, so a few percent of revenue is normal.
Shareholder payout
How much of the year's profit was handed back to owners.
👉 Travelers paid out 63.3% ✓ of FY2025 profit as dividends and buybacks, well above the 23.7% ✓ peer median. In FY2015 it paid out 113.1% ✓, more than its profit that year.
📏 Rule of thumb: Above 100% means it returned more than it earned, using cash savings or debt.
Ratios use fiscal-year-end balance sheet values. Inputs are shown rounded, so dividing them can differ from the result in the last digit. A peer median leaves out peers that do not report the inputs, or where the ratio means nothing (for example, negative shareholders' equity). Rules of thumb are general guides from QuantVantage.ai, not hard limits. No share-price ratios (like price-to-earnings) are shown on this page.
🥊Who are Travelers' competitors?
We compare Travelers with four other big insurers that compete in the US. Berkshire Hathaway is a holding company whose businesses include insurance, a railroad and utilities 27. Its figures here are for the whole company. Allstate and Progressive sell car and home insurance to US households, as Travelers does 412 1718. Chubb and Berkshire's Primary Group insure US businesses, as Travelers does 15716 1314. Travelers also buys reinsurance from Berkshire 1314.
| Company | Where they compete | Revenue | Growth/yr (3y) | Pretax margin | Return on equity (3y) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Travelers (TRV, FY2025) | Business, personal, and bond and specialty insurance 1 4 5; 95.2% of 2025 direct written premiums came from the US 7 | $48.8bn | 9.8% | 16.0% | 16.7% |
| Allstate (ALL, FY2025) | Car and home insurance for US households, sold through its own agents, independent agents, online and by phone 412 | $67.7bn | 9.6% | 19.4% | 21.1% |
| Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B, FY2025) | Property and casualty insurance for US businesses; also Travelers' second-largest reinsurer group by recoverables at the end of 2025 1314 | $371.4bn | 7.1% | 22.2% | 13.1% |
| Chubb (CB, FY2025) | Insurance for small, mid-sized and large US businesses through agents and brokers; Chubb operates in 54 countries and territories 15716 | $59.4bn | 11.3% | 22.0% | 14.5% |
| Progressive (PGR, FY2025) | US car and home insurance through independent agents; $69.456 billion of personal vehicle premiums in 2025, against Travelers' $7.745 billion of US auto 1718 | $87.7bn | 20.9% | 16.2% | 31.1% |
About 1,100 property and casualty insurance groups operate in the US, and the top 150 wrote about 94% of the industry's net written premiums in 2024 19. The independent agents who sell Travelers' personal insurance also offer policies from rival insurers 3.
🧭Travelers SWOT: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
💪 Strengths
- In the third quarter of 2026, retention in Business Insurance was 86%, higher or stable in every line 21.
- Its combined ratio was 89.9% in 2025, 2.6 points better than in 2024, on net earned premiums of $43.91 billion 15.
- Revenue grew in all 10 ✓ fiscal years to FY2025, and its steadiness grade is an A ✓.
- Its claims team had about 12,300 employees, and it answers major disasters mainly with its own staff, including a Catastrophe Response Team 20.
🩹 Weaknesses
- Catastrophe losses were $3.69 billion pre-tax in 2025, adding 8.4 points to its combined ratio 7. The Palisades fire alone cost $1.344 billion in 2025 7.
- The agents who sell its personal insurance also offer rivals' policies, and most use software that compares quotes from several insurers 3.
- Net unrealized investment losses were $8.049 billion pre-tax at 30 September 2026, up from $1.862 billion at the end of 2025, driven by higher interest rates 22.
- In the third quarter of 2026, Travelers added $295 million to its asbestos reserves, though overall its past-year reserves moved $234 million pre-tax in its favour 22.
🚀 Opportunities
- Bond and specialty net written premiums grew 12% to $1.209 billion in the third quarter of 2026, and surety premiums grew 21% 22.
- Pre-tax net investment income was a record $1.098 billion in the third quarter of 2026, up 6% from a year earlier 22.
- Travelers expects after-tax income from its bond portfolio to grow from about $875 million in the first quarter of 2027 to about $965 million in the fourth 23.
- Travelers believes selling bond and specialty products to its other customers gives it an advantage, and many agents sell all three groups' products 3.
⚠️ Threats
- Over the ten years to 2025, about 37% of its yearly catastrophe losses came in the second quarter, mainly from wind and hail storms 23.
- Travelers names tariffs, the labor market and geopolitical tensions, such as the war with Iran, among things that could push its loss costs higher or lower than expected 23.
- Personal insurance net written premiums fell 7% to $4.403 billion in the third quarter of 2026, or 3% leaving out the Canadian business it sold 22.
- Travelers expects the market for new business to stay competitive for the rest of 2026 and into 2027 23.
🏰Does Travelers have a moat?
Why 3?
Travelers says it is one of the oldest insurance groups in the US, dating back to 1853 19. It has registered the Travelers name and its umbrella logo in many countries, and regards them as highly valuable for marketing 20. But in personal insurance, most of its agents use software that compares quotes from several insurers 3.
Why 3?
In the third quarter of 2026, retention in Business Insurance was 86% 21. In Management Liability it was 89% 21. Travelers says success in business insurance largely means providing cover, claims handling and risk advice at prices and terms that keep customers and attract new ones 3. For small businesses, competition centres on ease, speed and price 3. In personal insurance, agents also offer rivals' policies, and most use software that compares quotes on new and renewal business 3.
Why 2?
Business Insurance sells through thousands of independent agencies and brokers, served by 80 field offices 3. Many of those agents sell all three groups' products 3. But agents also offer rivals' policies 3. These links add reach, but none is a strong network effect, where each new user makes the service better for the others.
Why 3?
Travelers had about 34,000 employees at the end of 2025 20. Its claims team of about 12,300 answers major disasters mainly with its own staff 20. Its combined ratio was 89.9% in 2025, on net earned premiums of $43.91 billion 15. It was 86.8% in the third quarter of 2026 21. But about 1,100 insurance groups operate in the US, and the top 150 wrote about 94% of the industry's net written premiums in 2024 19.
A moat is what keeps rivals from taking a company's customers and profits. Scores are QuantVantage.ai's judgement (5 = strongest), set with the same rubric on every explainer (orange is Travelers; grey dots are peers).
🔭What should you watch next?
Quarterly dividend
The board declared a dividend of $1.25 per share, payable on 31 December 2026 to shareholders of record on 10 December 2026 22.
Catastrophe reinsurance renewals
Travelers' reinsurance against big disasters normally renews or changes in January and July each year 23.
Renewals and competition
Travelers expects retention to stay strong for the rest of 2026 and into 2027, while new business stays competitive 23.
Spring storm season
Over the ten years to 2025, about 37% of Travelers' yearly catastrophe losses came in the second quarter, mainly from wind and hail storms 23.
📚Learn the words
❓Frequently asked questions about Travelers
How does Travelers make money?
Travelers makes money by selling insurance and by earning income on its investments 24 7. In FY2025, business insurance premiums came to $22.4bn ✓ and personal insurance premiums to $17.4bn ✓. Its net investment income was $3.96 billion in 2025 7.
Who runs Travelers?
Alan D. Schnitzer runs Travelers. He has been chief executive since December 2015 and chairman of the board since August 2017 24.
Does Travelers still sell insurance in Canada?
Only in part. Travelers sold its Canadian personal insurance and most of its Canadian business insurance to Definity Financial for about US$2.4 billion 19. The sale closed on 2 January 2026, and Travelers kept its Canadian surety business 19. In FY2025, before the sale, Canada made up 3% ✓ of revenue.
What is a combined ratio, and what is Travelers'?
The combined ratio is claims and costs as a share of premiums, so lower is better. Travelers' combined ratio was 89.9% in 2025, down from 92.5% in 2024 15. In the third quarter of 2026 it was 86.8% 21.
How do storms and wildfires affect Travelers?
Big disasters add to claims. Catastrophe losses were $3.69 billion pre-tax in 2025, adding 8.4 points to the combined ratio 7. They came mainly from the California wildfires that January and from wind and hail storms 7. The Palisades fire alone cost $1.344 billion in 2025 7.
Is Travelers in the Dow?
Yes. Travelers is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, according to its October 2026 results release 22.
Does Travelers pay a dividend?
Yes. Its board declared a quarterly dividend of $1.25 per share, payable on 31 December 2026 22. In FY2025, Travelers paid $1.0bn ✓ in dividends.
Does Travelers work with GEICO?
Yes, in home insurance. Since 1995, Travelers has had an agreement with GEICO's agency arm to insure part of GEICO's homeowners business 4.
🎮Play: higher or lower, then test yourself
Figures come from each company's latest annual report (10-K); fiscal years end in different months. Sources: [6] [8] [9] [10] [11].
🧠 Test yourself
5 quick questions. Score: 0 / 5
1. About how much of Travelers' FY2025 revenue came from business insurance?
2. How far back does Travelers date?
3. Which unusual thing can Travelers' personal insurance cover?
4. Over the ten years to 2025, about what share of Travelers' yearly catastrophe losses came in the second quarter, on average?
5. What does a combined ratio under 100% mean?
🔎Sources and method
Every figure comes from a source listed here or is calculated from those sources (marked ✓). Company financials are taken from SEC filings (10-K and 10-Q) as tagged in XBRL. Peer grades rank the same measures across the company and its peers. This page contains no share-price data and no valuation.
- The Travelers Companies Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025 — Item 1 Business Insurance: markets, products and 2025 net written premiums by market and product (accessed 2026-10-30)
- Travelers (TRV) Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025, filed 2026-02-12 — revenue by product, segment and geography (accessed 2026-10-28)
- The Travelers Companies Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025 — Item 1 segments: distribution through independent agents and brokers, competition by segment (accessed 2026-10-29)
- The Travelers Companies Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025 — Item 1 Personal Insurance: products, 2025 net written premiums, policies in force, distribution, pricing (accessed 2026-10-30)
- The Travelers Companies Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025 — Item 1 Bond & Specialty Insurance: products, 2025 net written premiums, distribution, Brazil joint venture (accessed 2026-10-30)
- SEC EDGAR companyfacts: Travelers (TRV) — annual 10-K facts (accessed 2026-10-28)
- The Travelers Companies Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025 — Item 1 geographic premium mix; Item 7 catastrophe losses, net investment income and invested assets in 2025 (accessed 2026-10-30)
- SEC EDGAR companyfacts: ALLSTATE CORP (ALL) — annual 10-K facts (accessed 2026-10-28)
- SEC EDGAR companyfacts: BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC (BRK.B) — annual 10-K facts (accessed 2026-10-28)
- SEC EDGAR companyfacts: Chubb Ltd (CB) — annual 10-K facts (accessed 2026-10-28)
- SEC EDGAR companyfacts: PROGRESSIVE CORP/OH/ (PGR) — annual 10-K facts (accessed 2026-10-28)
- The Allstate Corporation Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025 — Item 1 Allstate Protection products and U.S. distribution through exclusive agents (accessed 2026-10-30)
- Berkshire Hathaway Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025 — Item 1 insurance and reinsurance: GEICO, BH Primary, BH Reinsurance Group, competition, float, statutory surplus, catastrophe limit (accessed 2026-10-29)
- Travelers Companies Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025 — Business Insurance overview; top five reinsurer groups by reinsurance recoverable at December 31, 2025 (accessed 2026-10-29)
- The Travelers Companies Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025 — Item 7 MD&A: 2025 consolidated results and combined ratio (accessed 2026-10-29)
- Chubb Limited Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025 — Item 1 countries of operation and North America commercial segment; Item 7 P&C combined ratio 2025 (accessed 2026-10-30)
- The Progressive Corporation 2025 Annual Report to Shareholders (Form 10-K Exhibit 13, Management's Discussion and Analysis) — History, segments, 2025 net premiums written by segment and channel, underwriting profit, Florida policyholder credits, consumer segments (accessed 2026-10-30)
- The Travelers Companies Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025 (Personal Insurance) — Travelers Personal Insurance products, distribution and 2025 net written premiums (accessed 2026-10-30)
- The Travelers Companies Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025 — Item 1 business overview: history, industry structure, competitive factors, Canadian sale (accessed 2026-10-29)
- The Travelers Companies Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025 — Item 1 claims services, regulation, human capital and intellectual property (accessed 2026-10-29)
- The Travelers Companies Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1: third quarter 2026 results release (October 16, 2026) — Q3 2026 combined ratio and retention by segment (accessed 2026-10-29)
- The Travelers Companies Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1: third quarter 2026 results release (October 16, 2026) — Q3 2026 net income, premiums, investment income, catastrophes, segment results, capital returned, dividend, company profile (accessed 2026-10-30)
- The Travelers Companies Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2026 — Canadian sale closing; MD&A outlook: retention, investment income, cyber reinsurance, catastrophe seasonality and risks (accessed 2026-10-30)
- The Travelers Companies Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025 — Cover page, Item 1 opening and executive officers: incorporation, offices, fiscal year, chief executive (accessed 2026-10-30)
- SEC EDGAR companyfacts: Travelers (TRV) — quarterly 10-Q/10-K facts (accessed 2026-10-28)
- SEC EDGAR companyfacts: Travelers (TRV) — balance sheet at 2026-09-30 (accessed 2026-10-28)
- Berkshire Hathaway Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025 — Item 1 general: holding company, domicile and headquarters, employees, decentralized management; Item 5: dividend history; cover: fiscal year end (accessed 2026-10-29)