General

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2023

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

General

General

    The unaudited consolidated financial statements, which include the accounts of W. R. Berkley Corporation and its subsidiaries (the “Company”), have been prepared on the basis of U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) for interim financial information. Accordingly, they do not include all the information and notes required by GAAP for annual financial statements. The unaudited consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments, consisting only of normal recurring items, which are necessary to present fairly the Company’s financial position and results of operations on a basis consistent with the prior audited consolidated financial statements. Operating results for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated. For the six months ended June 30, 2022, the Company did not correct the proceeds from sale of fixed maturity securities and purchase of fixed maturity securities lines within the consolidated statements of cash flows for an incremental inter-company elimination as the effects were not material and had no impact on the total amount of investing activities.

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the revenues and expenses reflected during the reporting period. For further information related to areas of judgment and estimates and other information necessary to understand the Company’s financial position and results of operations, refer to the audited consolidated financial statements and notes included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022.

The income tax provision has been computed based on the Company’s estimated annual effective tax rate. The effective income tax rate differs from the federal income tax rate of 21% primarily due to state and foreign income taxes, which was partially offset by tax-exempt investment income.