Company: AHL
Filing Date: 2025-03-19
Form Type: 20-F
Source: 0001267395-25-000019
Chunk: 170

Company: ASPEN INSURANCE HOLDINGS LTD
Filing Date: 2025-03-19
Form: 20-F
Item: Item 4
Chunk 170
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193.2 million in 2024, equivalent to 12.2% of net earned premiums, versus $171.6 million or 11.8% of net earned premiums in 2023. The increase in the acquisition cost ratio in 2024 was primarily driven by a change in business mix, with a larger volume of delegated business written which attract higher acquisition costs.

General and administrative expenses

General and administrative expenses increased by $30.3 million, from $233.9 million in 2023 to $264.2 million in 2024. The general and administrative expense ratio was 16.7% in 2024, an increase of 0.7 percentage points from 2023, largely driven by an increase in the number of employees, investment in operational excellence enhancements and expense alignment in our functions which support corporate activities.

Table of Contents

Balance Sheet

Total cash and investments

As at December 31, 2024 and 2023, total cash and investments, including accrued interest receivable, were $7.7 billion and $7.5 billion, respectively. Total cash and investments increased mainly due to cash generated from operating activities of $554.9 million and net proceeds of $217.0 million from the issuance of preference shares. This was partially offset by payments of ordinary and preference share dividends of $249.9 million, and the advance payment of $275.0 million relating to the redemption of preference shares in January 2025.

Our investment strategy is focused on delivering stable investment income and total investment returns through all market cycles while maintaining appropriate portfolio liquidity and credit quality to meet the requirements of our customers, rating agencies and regulators. We also consider how our investments should match the liability characteristics in terms of duration and foreign currencies.

As of December 31, 2024, a significant majority of funds available for investment were deployed in a diversified portfolio of high quality, investment grade securities, including U. S. government, corporate and U. S. agency mortgage-backed securities. As part of our strategic asset allocation, we also invest a portion of our portfolio in investments such as unrated private fixed and floating rate investments, and other investments not categorized as fixed income. These securities generally pay a higher rate of interest or return and may have a higher degree of credit or default risk, or less liquidity.

The duration of total fixed income securities (the aggregate of available for sale and trading) as at December 31, 2024 was 2.9 years compared to 2.