Stewart Johnson

2.8.2026 | Culture World-renowned architect Louis I. Khan’s famous lecture titled “Silence and Light” is one of the “seminal texts of architectural thought”. In honour of the 125th anniversary of his birth, there will be a series of performances that bring together music, light, movement, and architecture in Tallinn’s St Nicholas Museum and Church, and in Kuressaare’s Episcopal Castle.

With roughly 54% of companies in the STOXX Europe 600 having reported Q2 results, the index is showing aggregate earnings growth of ~23% on a reported basis. This compares to 11.5% growth that analysts had projected as of the end of March. Sales growth is running at 9.8%, modestly ahead of the 4.3% pace expected three months earlier. The overall EPS surprise stands at 3.4%, with the sales surprise at 1.0%.

The Q2 2026 P&C earnings cycle read, on paper, like a good quarter. Combined ratios improved. Reserves released favorably. Investment income hit records. By the numbers institutional investors check first, casualty pricing looks fine. But combined ratios are backward looking. A capital-allocation decision is forward-looking. Chubb's decision to buy more reinsurance in a soft market could be the clearest signal of casualty rate inadequacy than any carrier's combined ratio disclosure this quarter.