** Shares of insurance bellwether Travelers TRV.N climb 3.7% to $248 premarket
** TRV posts Q4 record core income of $2.13 bln, or $9.15/shr, beating Wall Street expectation of $6.63/shr, according to estimates compiled by LSEG
** Q4 net written premiums rose 7% to $10.74 bln, driven by growth across all segments
** Meanwhile, net investment income of $955 mln pre-tax jumped 23% from a year earlier, thanks to higher earnings from fixed income investments and private equity partnership returns
** Q4 combined ratio came in at 83.2% compared with 85.8% a year earlier
** A ratio below 100% means the insurer earned more in premiums than it paid out in claims
** TRV stock jumped 26.5% in 2024
(Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru)
((ArasuKannagi.Basil@thomsonreuters.com;))