nyse mkl industry insurance founded 1930 headquarters richmond virginia usa key people alan i. kirshner executive chairman anthony f. markel vice chairman steven a. markel vice chairman thomas s. gayner co chief executive officer richard r. whitt . iii co chief executive officer f. michael crowley president website www.markelcorp.com markel corporation nyse mkl is a holding company for insurance reinsurance and investment operations around the world . 1 headquartered in richmond virginia and founded in 1930 markel reports its ongoing underwriting operations in three segments and products originate from four insurance divisions and one reinsurance division . 2 through markel ventures they allocate capital to invest in opportunities outside of insurance . 3 contents 1 history 1.1 timeline 2 markel lines of business 2.1 insurance 2.1.1 markel specialty 2.1.2 markel global 2.1.3 markel wholesale 2.1.4 markel international 2.2 reinsurance 2.2.1 markel global reinsurance 2.3 ils management 2.3.1 markel catco 2.4 non insurance businesses 2.4.1 markel ventures 2.4.2 abbey protection plc united kingdom 3 office locations 4 companies 5 markel gayner asset management corp 6 further reading 7 references 8 regulatory filings history edit company founder samuel a. markel formed the mutual casualty association and established the mutual casualty company in norfolk virginia . the company headquarters later moved to richmond virginia . 4 sam markel s four sons lewis irvin stanley and milton joined the growing business in the 1930s and markel service inc. was created . 5 during this time markel was actively involved in efforts to develop safety and other standards aimed at legitimizing the growing bus and trucking industries . markel also assisted in passing the national motor carrier act of 1935 . 4 by the 1940s markel service inc. earned a national following and developed a reputation for industry leading claims adjusting and safety engineering . american fidelity & casualty a sister company covering fleets of trucks and buses also became the largest insurer of these risks in the usa . 4 in 1980 the company became an insurance carrier when essex insurance company was incorporated and licensed to write excess and surplus lines business . 6 in 1986 the markel corporation was listed on the nasdaq exchange with an ipo offered at 8.33 per share . the company s trading was moved to the nyse in 1997 . 7 markel gained access to specialty international markets in 2000 when terra nova holdings ltd. was acquired and the london office opened . 8 branch offices later opened in the uk europe asia pacific and canada . with a permanent capital investing approach markel ventures acquired amf bakery systems in 2005 and continued to acquire other varied and scalable businesses . 4 with the 3.1 billion acquisition of alterra capital holdings limited markel added two additional insurance divisions markel global and markel reinsurance . 9 in 2015 markel acquired bermuda based catco a specialist investment management business ; and markel ventures announced a majority interest in captech . 10 today the company is led by executive chairman alan i. kirshner 11 who is one of the authors of the markel style . timeline edit beginning in 1930 markel established markel service a separate company to handle direct and reinsurance of af & c. 4 in 1951 the company expanded into canada by founding markel service canada ltd. headquartered in toronto ontario . 4 in 1959 the national claims division of af & c became national claims service an independent adjuster that could be contracted by other insurance firms . the safety engineering division also began offering services to other firms . 4 the company later expanded beyond truck and bus companies led by the third generation of markels anthony vice chairman steve and gary . 4 in 1980 the company founded essex insurance company in delaware . essex began as a property insurance company in white bear lake minnesota but later moved to richmond virginia . 4 in 1985 prem watsa took control of markel financial holdings a canadian based trucking insurance company . near bankruptcy watsa determined it needed a capital injection . 4 in december 1986 markel corp. held its first ipo at 8.33 per share valuing the company at 15 million . shares traded on the nasdaq . 7 in 1987 markel reorganized markel financial holdings canada and renamed it fairfax financial holdings ltd. short for fair friendly acquisitions . 4 in december 1987 markel corp. acquired half of shand morahan & company an underwriter in deerfield illinois . 12 in december 1990 markel completed its acquisition of shand . as part of the shand acquisition markel corp. also acquired american underwriting managers an insurance underwriter in pewaukee wisconsin specializing in personal boat and motorcycle insurance . 12 in 1989 markel corp. acquired the rhulen agency of monticello new york . rhulen is a specialty insurer for children s summer camps and youth organizations . rhulen was later moved to richmond virginia and renamed markel insurance company . 4 in the spring of 1997 markel corp. trading moved to the nyse . 7 in january 2000 markel corp. founded markel southwest underwriters in scottsdale arizona after buying the arizona policies of acceptance insurance company . 13 in march 2000 markel corp. completed the acquisition of terra nova bermuda holdings ltd. 8 in october 2009 elliott special risks lp esr was purchased by markel international a london based specialty property and casualty insurer that runs the international operations of markel corp. 14 on may 10 2010 at the markel corp. annual meeting it was reported there would be a new management structure approved by the board . alan i. kirshner would remain chairman and chief executive officer while anthony f. markel and steven a. markel would still serve as vice chairman . reporting to them would be a three member office of the president . thomas s. gayner became president and chief investment officer while richard r. whitt iii and f. michael crowley became president and co chief operating officers . 15 in july 2010 markel corp. acquired aspen holdings inc. of omaha nebraska . 16 in april 2011 markel uk limited launched markel direct an online direct to customer distribution channel for specialist insurance . 17 on january 4 2012 markel corp. completed the acquisition of thompson insurance enterprises a privately held program administrator underwriting multi line industry focused insurance programs . 18 in february 2012 markel s camp insurance program joined forces with campdoc.com an electronic health record system for camps to help summer camps reduce risk and liability and to ensure the health and safety of kids while at camp . 19 in june 2012 markel direct expanded product range into charity and community group risks . in october 2012 markel purchased essentia insurance company . 20 on may 1 2013 markel corporation completed its acquisition of alterra capital holdings limited . 21 on december 17 2013 the essentia insurance company essentia was rated as a2 by moody s investor service . 22 in june 2016 it was announced that markel had joined the fortune 500 for the first time . 23 markel lines of business edit insurance edit markel specialty edit markel specialty provides property and casualty solutions for standard and hard to place risks to commercial customers and individuals for the insuring of camps ; child care centers ; horses and farms ; medical transportation motorcycle boat and atv owners ; museums and fine art collections ; pest control operators ; schools ; social service agencies ; and small businesses . 24 markel global edit this division offers excess liability professional liability property trade credit and marine coverage . markel global also includes markel s practice groups which provide insurance programs tailored to meet the needs to specific segments of the marketplace . 25 markel wholesale edit markel s wholesale division provides creative excess and surplus lines insurance solutions when coverage is not available from the standard market . distributed through regional wholesale brokers and surplus lines agents markel wholesale s products include contract binding data breach environmental & energy excess & umbrella general liability healthcare professional liability inland marine management liability ocean marine products liability professional liability property public entity railroad and transportation . 26 markel international edit headquartered in london markel international writes business across the uk europe canada latin america and asia pacific . their product portfolio includes equine and livestock marine and energy professional liability and trade credit coverage . they also write specialty coverage on a primary and reinsurance basis including products for accident & health casualty treaty reinsurance contingency property open market including manufacturing risks and property treaty reinsurance . 27 reinsurance edit markel global reinsurance edit based in bermuda markel global reinsurance provides property casualty and specialty reinsurance products to the broker market . 28 ils management edit markel catco edit also based in bermuda markel catco manages retrocessional and traditional reinsurance portfolios on behalf of financial institutions charities pension funds family offices and investment funds . 29 non insurance businesses edit markel ventures edit this line of business makes permanent investments in businesses outside of the specialty insurance marketplace . the goal is to build profitable enterprises that will endure as part of the broader markel corporation . 30 markel ventures companies include amf bakery systems richmond virginia 31 cotrell gainesville georgia 32 diamond healthcare corporation richmond virginia 33 eagle construction of va richmond virginia 34 ellicott dredges baltimore maryland 35 havco cape girardeau missouri 36 eagle partners richmond virginia 37 panel specialists temple texas 38 parkland ventures richmond virginia 39 partnermd richmond virginia 40 reading bakery systems reading pennsylvania 41 retaildata richmond virginia 42 solbern fairfield new jersey 43 tromp group netherlands 44 weldship bethlehem pennsylvania 45 captech richmond virginia 46 abbey protection plc united kingdom edit in 2014 markel completed its acquisition of abbey protection plc 47 a company that sells and underwrites insurance products that provide protection against legal expenses and other professional fees incurred by clients as a result of legal actions and hmrc investigations . office locations edit markel is headquartered in richmond virginia and globally holds 62 offices in 20 countries 48 companies edit essex insurance company shand morahan & company markel insurance company markel american insurance company investors underwriting managers inc. markel global reinsurance markel southwest underwriters markel international insurance company limited u.k. corifrance compagnie de reassurance d lle de france markel capital limited markel syndicate management limited markel syndicate 3000 markel uk ltd elliott special risks lp alterra markel gayner asset management corp edit markel s internal money management firm is markel gayner asset management corp. wikimedia commons has media related to markel building richmond . further reading edit markel corporation research report by richard m. rockwood markel scores big by playing small by meg green best s review stocks owned by markel gayner stocks own by markel gayner in his image an insurer with buffet like charm by jonathan r. laing markel goes direct but promises brokers e trade option markel uk launches the first phase of a multi distribution operation model with launch of markel direct references edit markelcorp.com official website https www.markelcorp.com about markel our business http secfilings.nasdaq.com edgar conv html % 2f2010 % 2f03 % 2f01 % 2f0001193125 10 044413 . html https www.markelcorp.com markel ventures who we are a b c d e f g h i j k l https www.markelcorp.com about markel history archived copy pdf . archived from the original pdf on december 22 2014 . retrieved december 22 2014 . http biz.yahoo.com ic 110 110853 . html a b c http www.thefreelibrary.com markel corporation announces its common stock has begun trading on ... a019493735 a b http online.wsj.com articles sb934807370107009765 http www.insurancejournal.com news national 2013 05 01 290329 . htm https www.markelcorp.com ebrochures markel at a glance https www.markelcorp.com about markel leadership a b https www.markelamerican.com about markel pages aboutmarkelamerican.aspx http connection.ebscohost.com c articles 4600037 acceptance insurance companies announces sale property casualty business http www.insurancejournal.com news international 2009 09 01 103428 . htm http www.bloomberg.com