|
Letter from the President
Happy Holidays! On behalf of all my associates at Markel, let me wish you and your families a very happy and healthy holiday season. As we reflect each year on our successes and the gratitude we all share to be part of such a great business, let us all take time out to remember those less fortunate and find ways to share our good fortunes by giving back to our communities. Let us all take time to remember our troops whose sacrifices help us enjoy the freedom that we have in our great country.
By now you have seen the exciting news changing our name from Investors Underwriting Managers to Markel Underwriting Managers (MUM). With the recognition of our ten year anniversary with the Markel Group, we felt the timing was right for the change. Markel is synonymous for financial strength, stability and consistency in the industry and that is what IUM has stood for over the last decade. The name recognition now gives us the clear and distinct alliance with a premier organization whose 75+ year success is unprecedented in our business. Our associates are proud of our new name and excited about the new opportunities that it will bring with your help.
Please note that we are changing the name only...nothing else. Our customized product solutions and superior service will not change. We will continue to listen to your needs and work collaboratively with you to create comprehensive product solutions.
Markel is having a fantastic year, with some special thanks to Mother Nature. We are excited about the great results so far in 2006, but are not pausing to celebrate. We continue to maintain focus on underwriting discipline and pricing.
As we reflect on our year, I want to thank you again for your feedback. All of this communication has made our respective franchise better and allowed us to help our market flourish. Keep it up and let's continue to expand our partnership! Please note that our new website is www.markelunderwriters.com
We sincerely thank all of our producers for their support in helping us to build a successful and thriving organization. We would not be where we are today without your dedication, insight and vision. We thank you very much for your efforts and hard work on our behalf. Happy Holidays and may the New Year bring you health, prosperity and happiness with MUM!
Glen E. Curley, CPCU, ARe
President and Chief Operating Officer
Markel Underwriting Managers, Inc.
gcurley@markelcorp.com
732-450-8725
Excess & Umbrella Division
 With your support the Excess & Umbrella Division has enjoyed a great 2006. We are ahead of our plan in terms of revenue and profitability and look forward to continued growth in 2007. With the industry enjoying fantastic results thus far in 2006 and surplus growing, we recognize that the market will become more challenging. Nevertheless, we firmly believe there are still good opportunities available.
We recently expanded our presence in the Midwest with the hiring of Doris Pacelli as Vice President. Doris joins us with over 20 years of experience in the surplus lines industry and will reside and work in the Chicago area. In addition to underwriting excess and umbrella business, Doris will work closely with other IUM product lines to develop those relationships and expand those products where appropriate. Doris will also be working with our sister companies to seek out cross marketing synergies and tap into the expertise available throughout the Markel organization.
Besides Doris our underwriting staff includes Rob Caballero, Ruben Delgado, Barb Luther and Joe Cardoso in our Red Bank office and Brenda Azim, Tiffany Fann, Kim Fincher and Temeka Bryant in Atlanta. We plan to add additional underwriting staff in 2007.
Construction risks currently are and will continue to be a large part of our book. Although residential spending may be slowing, growth in public spending is forecasted to rise. Overall, the size of the construction industry will continue to grow and will exceed $1.1 trillion in 2006. In fact, the U.S. construction economy is now almost equal to the entire gross domestic product of China, the world’s seventh largest economy.
While we will continue to be a market in the construction segment, we have a number of initiatives to enable us to diversify and more fully serve your needs. Examples include the following:
· Increasing our writings in the public entity arena. Our focus will be municipalities with populations under 100,000, although larger risks will also be entertained.
· Developing efficient, user-friendly technology to enable us to underwrite umbrella business for accounts with premiums generally below $25,000. We believe this segment will complement and give balance to our overall book. Kim Fincher in our Atlanta office is leading this initiative. We will keep you all advised of our progress.
Lastly, we are always looking for niches in the marketplace, whether a class of business or an expansion of coverage. If you have ideas or specific needs we would be more than willing to discuss creative approaches and solutions.
We thank you for your continued support and look forward to profitable growth in 2007.
Mike Vought
Excess & Umbrella Division
VP-Department Manager
Mvought@markelcorp.com
732-391-8847
And the Winner is…
As you may have noticed, we have changed the name of our newsletter to reflect our recent company name change.
In response to a contest conducted by the Marketing Department, Sonya Pearson from our Claims Division submitted the winning name-MUM’s the Word!
Sonya, thank you for your creativity and thanks to everyone who participated in the contest.
Dana Kolmer
Marketing Division
dkolmer@markelcorp.com
732-450-8730
2006 Associate of the Year
We are pleased to announce that Fern Calascibetta, Technical Administrator, has been recognized as Markel Underwriting Managers, Inc.’s 2006 Associate of the Year.
Fern brought teamwork to the Environmental Division when she joined in 2003. As supervisor of the underwriting assistants, Fern consistently exceeds expectations. She is organized and confident. She is a strong team leader and team player. Fern’s influence upon the divison has certainly contributed to the success of that division. We would like to thank and congratulate Fern for her leadership, knowledge and commitment to MUM!
Mark Brown
Environmental Division
VP- Department Manager
mbrown@markelcorp.com
732-450-8766
|