CNA Financial Corporation (CNA) Business Profile

What it does

CNA Financial Corporation is an insurance holding company that primarily sells commercial property and casualty insurance. These policies help businesses and other customers manage risks involving property damage and liability to others. Its products also include surety, and its services include warranties, risk-management information and claims administration.

CNA serves small, medium and large businesses, as well as insurance companies, associations, professionals and other groups. It generally reaches them through independent agents, retail and wholesale brokers, and managing general underwriters. Its insurance subsidiaries underwrite policies and handle claims through operations in the United States and abroad.

The company manages its commercial property and casualty business in three segments: Specialty, Commercial and International. Specialty includes management and professional liability coverage; Commercial markets a range of insurance to business customers; and International underwrites coverage through operations in Canada, Europe and Lloyd’s of London. Outside those segments, CNA has a long-term care business in run-off, meaning it continues to manage existing obligations, and other corporate and older insurance exposures.

CNA was founded in 1897 and is headquartered in Chicago. Douglas M. Worman is president and chief executive officer. As of December 31, 2025, the company had approximately 6,600 employees.

How it makes money

CNA collects premiums for insurance coverage and earns investment income from its assets. Its underwriting results depend on earned premiums less insurance expenses, including claims and policyholder benefits, acquisition costs and insurance-related administrative expenses. The company also manages investing activities separately from underwriting.

Specialty provides management and professional liability and other property and casualty coverages. Commercial markets a range of policies to customers including small businesses, construction companies and middle-market businesses. International underwrites property and casualty coverage through Canada, the U.K., Luxembourg and a Lloyd’s syndicate. Life & Group primarily contains the long-term care business in run-off. Corporate & Other includes corporate expenses and certain older property and casualty businesses in run-off.

Policies can generate renewal business when customers continue coverage. CNA measures renewal premium change using changes in both price and exposure—the measure of risk used to price a policy. It also tracks retention and new business, including new customers and additional policies sold to existing customers. Premiums relating to unexpired coverage are recorded as unearned premiums.

To manage exposure, CNA buys reinsurance: a reinsurer assumes a specified portion of risk in exchange for a specified portion of policy premiums. CNA remains responsible to its customers under the original policies if a reinsurer cannot meet its obligations.

Specialty revenue was $1.6 billion in FY2025. It was reported on 26 October 2026 that expected revenue for the quarter ended September 2026 was $3.54 billion.

Customers and how it sells

CNA markets insurance to customers ranging from small businesses to large companies, as well as professionals, associations, other groups and insurance companies. Commercial targets small-business, construction and middle-market customers, among others. Specialty distributes management and professional liability coverage through intermediaries.

Independent agents, retail and wholesale brokers, and managing general underwriters are the principal routes to customers. These intermediaries can also distribute competing insurers’ products and, in some cases, their own. CNA’s U.S. field underwriting locations work alongside centralized operations that process policies, handle billing and collections, and serve as call centers. Claims are handled at primary and regional offices.

Outside the United States, CNA has property and casualty underwriting operations in Canada, the U.K. and Continental Europe. Its International segment includes a Canadian branch, insurance companies based in the U.K. and Luxembourg, and Hardy, its Lloyd’s syndicate. CNA also has access to business placed at Lloyd’s of London through Syndicate 382.

Suppliers and costs

CNA’s insurance costs include claims and claim-adjustment expenses, policyholder benefits, acquisition costs and administrative expenses. It maintains reserves for reported claims that have not been settled and for claims that have occurred but have not yet been reported. Those reserves are estimates of the eventual costs, rather than exact calculations.

Reinsurers are counterparties in CNA’s risk management. CNA pays them a portion of premiums in return for their assumption of specified exposures. The cost and availability of reinsurance depend in part on economic conditions and events affecting the reinsurance market. CNA remains liable to its policyholders even when it has transferred exposure to a reinsurer.

CNA also relies on employees and vendors to perform functions including policy processing, customer service and claims payments. Its corporate expenses include interest on corporate debt. Insurance subsidiaries are subject to regulatory requirements covering areas such as capital, reserves, investments and certain transfers of assets or payments.

Competitive position

CNA competes for customers and distributors with stock and mutual insurers and other entities. Competition involves price, products, services, ratings and financial strength. Some competitors may be larger or have more financial or other resources. No individual competitors are identified.

The property and casualty market goes through periods of greater and lesser price competition. CNA can lose business to insurers offering similar products at lower prices. Its agents, brokers and managing general underwriters also distribute competitors’ products and may increasingly compete with CNA themselves. New market entrants and consolidation have changed the competitive landscape.

Our reading: CNA’s distribution network gives it access to a range of customers, but the intermediaries are not exclusive, limiting its value as a protective advantage. Our reading: Underwriting and claims expertise can support its ability to serve specialized risks, but competition for specialized employees limits the protection that expertise provides.

CNA also faces technological competition. Other insurers’ use of data analytics or artificial intelligence could affect product design and pricing, while alternative digital distribution channels could change relationships with agents and brokers.

Growth opportunities

CNA’s commercial insurance operations serve several customer groups and markets through Specialty, Commercial and International. Its distribution network can bring business from independent agents, brokers and managing general underwriters, while its International operations underwrite coverage through Canada, Europe and Lloyd’s of London.

CNA tracks new business from new customers and additional policies written for existing customers. It also measures retention and renewal premium change. The latter includes changes in price and in the exposure used to price a policy, so a change in renewal premiums can reflect either or both factors.

The company uses analytical models and data in decisions including underwriting, pricing and capital allocation. It also develops employee expertise through technical training, mentorship, apprenticeships and other programs. CNA faces competition for specialized staff and says that technological changes in insurance transactions may present competitive risks.

It was reported on 26 October 2026 that revenue for the quarter ended September 2026 was expected to be $3.54 billion, up 3.1% from the year-ago quarter.

Structural risks

• Reserve estimates: Claims can take years to report and settle, particularly for long-tail coverage. If recorded reserves are insufficient, CNA must increase them and charge the increase against earnings. Inflation, legal changes and claims severity can affect the estimates.
• Catastrophes and reinsurance: Natural disasters, cyber events and other catastrophes can produce losses that are difficult to predict. Reinsurance may be costly or unavailable on acceptable terms, and reinsurers may fail to pay what they owe.
• Long-term care: Reserves depend on assumptions including illness, policyholder persistence, expenses and premium-rate actions. Actual experience or regulatory approval of rate increases can differ from those assumptions.
• Legacy claims: Asbestos and environmental pollution claims are subject to uncertainty. Substantially all legacy liabilities were ceded under a transaction with a $4 billion aggregate limit; the cumulative amount ceded was $3.9 billion as of December 31, 2025. Claims exceeding the limit or counterparty nonperformance could require additional reserves.
• Investments and competition: Interest rates, defaults and market movements can affect investment values and income. Price competition and changes in relationships with distributors can also affect premiums and business volume.

Leadership

Loews Corporation beneficially owned approximately 92% of CNA’s outstanding common shares as of December 31, 2025, and can control actions requiring stockholder consent, including director elections. CNA notes that its relationships with Loews could create potential conflicts of interest.

Bottom line

Our reading

CNA is a commercial insurer whose business rests on underwriting risks, distributing policies through intermediaries and investing assets supporting its obligations. [item1] [item7] Its exposure extends beyond current policies: long-tail claims, long-term care and older asbestos and environmental liabilities can require reserve increases years after coverage was written. [item1a] Reinsurance helps manage exposure but does not remove CNA’s responsibility to policyholders, while its distributors also sell competing products. [item1a]