One of billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s biggest insurance bets just landed a role at the center of a global crisis.
Chubb, the Zurich-headquartered insurance giant in which Berkshire Hathaway has built a massive position, has been named the lead underwriter for a U.S. government program to insure commercial ships navigating the Strait of Hormuz.
With oil prices spiking and tanker crews refusing to sail near a war zone, Washington needs a private-sector partner with real firepower. It chose Chubb (CB).
For Buffett’s followers, it’s a reminder of why Berkshire quietly accumulated 34.2 million shares of Chubb, according to CNBC. It’s a stake worth roughly $11 billion at current prices, before publicly disclosing the position.
Valued at a market cap of $126 billion, Chubb offers a dividend yield of more than 1% in March 2026.
Over the past decade, the Warren Buffett stock has returned 219% to shareholders after adjusting for dividend reinvestments.
Chubb offers a growing dividend yield
Chubb has raised its annual dividend from $1.19 per share in 2010 to $3.88 in 2026, data from Fiscal.ai indicate.
Chubb (CB) dividend snapshot
- Annual dividend per share: $3.88
- Dividend yield: Approximately 1.2% (based on recent share price near $323)
- 10-year dividend growth rate: About 3.8% annually
- Payout ratio: Approximately 15% of earnings (very conservative)
- Ex-dividend frequency: Quarterly
The payout ratio tells an important story. Chubb returns cash to shareholders, but it doesn’t stretch the balance sheet to do so.
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With a payout ratio well below 20%, the company keeps the vast majority of its earnings to compound on the balance sheet, the kind of discipline Buffett has always admired.
In Q4 2025 alone, Berkshire-held Chubb returned$1.5 billion to shareholders through dividends and buybacks. For the full year, that figure was $4.9 billion, roughly half of core operating income.
Analysts forecast the dividend stock to raise the annual dividend to $4.6 per share in 2027.
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Chubb steps in where few insurers can
- The U.S. International Development Finance Corp. (DFC) is backstopping roughly $20 billion in potential damages on a rolling basis.
- Chubb will serve as the front-line insurer for shippers, handling everything from hull and machinery coverage to cargo and environmental damage, while the DFC provides the reinsurance layer behind it.
- Roughly 15 million barrels of oil move through the Strait each day, along with another five million barrels of other oil products.
Source: A CNBC report
That flow has effectively stalled, and Brent crude has already climbed above $100 a barrel.
Chubb Chairman and CEO Evan Greenberg commented in a statement to CNBC.
The DFC may also bring additional insurers into the program beyond Chubb as the situation develops.
Berkshire’s Chubb bet looks smarter by the day
This is not the kind of role that any insurer can step into. It requires global reach, deep engineering and underwriting expertise, and enough balance-sheet strength to absorb worst-case scenarios. Chubb has all three.
The company operates across six segments, from North America commercial and personal property and casualty (P&C) insurance to overseas general insurance, global reinsurance, agriculture, and life insurance.
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It writes coverage in 53 countries and is the top crop insurer in America. It also calls itself the number-one direct marketer of accident and health insurance in Asia.
Financially, Chubb just finished one of the best years in its history. For the full year 2025, the company posted the following numbers.
- Core operating income of nearly $10 billion or $24.79 per share, up about 9% year-over-year
- P&C underwriting income of $6.5 billion, up 11.6%, with a record-low combined ratio of 85.7%
- Adjusted net investment income of nearly $7 billion, up 9%
- Total company net premium growth of more than 6.5%
- Per-share tangible book value growth of 25.7%
Berkshire first disclosed its Chubb stake in mid-2024, after confidentiality agreements with regulators expired. By then, Buffett had already built a position worth more than $6 billion, Reuters reported. It has grown considerably since.
The Hormuz assignment is a high-profile moment for a company that tends to let its results do the talking.
It also raises Chubb’s visibility at a time when global risk is accelerating, and the insurer behind Berkshire’s quiet multi-billion-dollar bet is suddenly front-page news.
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