Markel Insurance has made two appointments to its Marine & Energy Liability underwriting team in London. Josephine Stroud becomes head of energy liability, and Jenny McFarlane joins as senior underwriter. The hires follow the launch of Markel's Marine Transportation business, which brings together Hull & Hull War, MECO, Marine & Energy Liabilities, and Transport & Logistics. The unit is led by Grant Smith. Stroud has more than 18 years' experience in liability broking and underwriting, most recently at AXA XL. She will underwrite multi-line, cross-class facilities alongside Rhys O'Neill, head of marine liability. McFarlane joins from Tokio Marine HCC International, with more than eight years' experience in the field. She will help develop new wordings and drive broker engagement.

Markel Insurance has launched its Chemical, Oil & Gas related Energy Property offering for small to midsize US-domiciled businesses. The new CORE product provides tailored cover for property damage, business interruption, and equipment breakdown, with protection against natural catastrophe exposures including flood, windstorm, and earthquake, offering limits up to $50 million. Candice Walker has been appointed Head of First-Party Energy to lead the new offering's development. Walker brings over 20 years of property insurance experience and has been with Markel since 2015. Michael McClain joins as Senior Underwriter – Energy, reporting to Walker from Texas. McClain previously served as Manager of Technical Operations at Tomorrow RNG, an Enbridge subsidiary, and held senior roles at Aethon Energy managing multimillion-dollar oil and gas infrastructure projects. The offering strengthens Markel's US First-Party Energy proposition across chemical, oil, gas, and broader energy sectors.

Markel Group reported Q2 revenue of $4.02 billion, beating analyst estimates but remaining flat year-on-year. However, adjusted earnings per share of $19.79 missed expectations by 35.3%, falling short of the $30.57 consensus. The profit shortfall stemmed from a $205 million reserve charge related to a credit loss in the State National business — the first such loss in over 40 years. CEO Thomas Gayner attributed this to "a unique and unfortunate confluence of events". Despite the charge, core insurance operations showed improvement, with a combined ratio in the low 90s and 10% growth in continuing business lines. Markel is investing heavily in artificial intelligence to enhance underwriting efficiency. The company launched Cortex, a new unit for hard-to-place casualty risks, and deployed AI tools across six business lines. The insurer repurchased $237 million in shares during the quarter, funded by earnings.