Markel Corporation has announced that it plans to combine its existing US insurance divisions, Assurance and Specialty, into a single division called Markel Specialty.
Effective April 1, 2020, the combined division will preserve the regional model used by Assurance, while adding two new overarching territories, East and West.
“This evolutionary change will make it even easier for our trading partners and customers to navigate Markel,” said Bryan Sanders, who will lead the newly created division as President, Markel Specialty.
“By combining our Assurance and Specialty divisions, it will position us to get closer to and more efficiently serve our customers with unmatched underwriting expertise and competitive, industry-leading products.”
Alongside this announcement, Markel announced the promotions of Wendy Houser and Sarah Gavlick to the newly created roles of Executive Territory Officers, effective immediately.
Most recently, Houser was Regional President for Assurance’s Mid South region, while Gavlick was Regional President for Assurance’s Northeast region.
In their new roles, both will oversee the existing regional, with Houser managing the West territory (which includes the Mid South, Midwest and West regions) and Gavlick managing the East territory (made up of the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions).
“Wendy and Sarah are proven leaders with deep industry understanding and expertise,” Sanders said. “They will help us leverage the power of the Markel platform and our regional structure to create the best customer experience in the industry.”
Additionally, Markel has promoted Alison Burgess to Regional President for the Northeast region and Daniel Kennedy to Regional President for the Mid South region, effective April 1.
Burgess currently serves as Senior Director of Underwriting and Production, Management and Professional Liability, for the Northeast region, while Kennedy is Managing Director, leading the sales team for Specialty’s Commercial group.
“Dan and Alison are exceptional leaders with considerable industry experience and knowledge, who also have a track record of developing high-performing teams,” Sanders added. “We are confident they will only build on the successful regional operations Sarah and Wendy established.”
