Markel Corp. News

What to Expect: WTW Spring Commercial Insurance Forecasts Mixed

In striking contrast to last year’s double-digit rate hikes for public directors and officers liability insurance and 100-200% jumps for cyber coverage, some buyers renewing those coverages this spring won’t see their insurance bills increase at all. And many will …

People Moves: WTW Bolsters Natural Resources Team With 5 Hires; Markel Promotes Pasik for Commercial Casualty

WTW Appoints 5 to North American Natural Resources Team Insurance broker WTW announced “a significant investment in its North American Natural Resources business” with the appointment of five industry leaders. Based in Houston, the new team members will bring expertise …

Markel Corp. Puts Retrocessional ILS Fund Manager Into Run-Off

Markel Corp. announced it is winding down Lodgepine Capital Management Ltd., its retrocessional insurance linked securities (ILS) fund manager, based in Bermuda. Markel launched Lodgepine in 2019, with product offerings focused on property catastrophe retrocessional investments. In 2021, Lodgepine wrote …

Markel Offers Accelerated Return of Capital to Investors in 2 CATCo Funds in Runoff

Markel Corp. and Markel CATCo Investment Management Ltd. (MCIM) announced the terms of a buy-out transaction that provides an accelerated return of substantially all the net asset value in Markel CATCo Reinsurance Fund Ltd. (the Private Fund) and CATCo Reinsurance …

Markel Estimates COVID-19 Losses of $325 Million

Diverging from strategies of some competitors, Markel Corp. established a big reserve for a chunk of its potential COVID-19 exposure for the entire year—putting up $325 million for direct potential losses. The holding company for specialty insurance and reinsurance, ILS …

Markel Corp. Chairman Kirshner to Retire Next May; Steven Markel to Succeed Him

Specialty insurer Markel Corp. announced that Alan I. Kirshner, the company’s executive chairman and chairman of the board, will retire as a director and officer of the company in May, 2020. Kirshner has been with Markel for 60 years, serving …

Markel International Sells Brazilian Insurance Business to Executive Team

Markel International, the London-based specialist insurer and subsidiary of Markel Corp., announced that it has sold its insurance operations in Brazil to its existing executive team. Markel Seguradora do Brasil, S.A. is authorized to operate in the direct insurance market …

Markel Hires Slade from Hamilton Capital as President of New ILS Fund, Lodgepine

Markel Corp. announced it has hired Brenton “Brent” Slade as president of Lodgepine Capital Management Ltd., its new retrocessional insurance linked securities (ILS) fund based in Bermuda. Slade comes to Lodgepine from Hamilton Capital Partners, where he had been senior …

Markel Puts CATCo into Run-Off and Launches New Retrocessional ILS Platform

Markel Corp. announced it is putting its Bermuda insurance linked securities unit, Markel CATCo, into run-off at the same time it announced it is launching a new retrocessional ILS fund platform, which will be ready to write business for the …

Ratings of Missouri’s Savers Property and Casualty Insurance Under Review

A.M. Best has placed under review with positive implications the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of B++ (Good) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings (Long-Term ICR) of “bbb+” of Savers Property and Casualty Insurance Co. (Savers) in Clayton, Missouri. The ratings …