Markel Group appoints Simon Wilson as CEO of Markel Insurance
Markel announced that Simon Wilson, currently President of Markel International, has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of the company’s three primary underwriting businesses – Markel Specialty, Markel International, and Markel Global Reinsurance – which will collectively be referred to as Markel Insurance. This leadership transition is part of a broader effort to sharpen the company’s customer focus by empowering each of their teams to serve the distinct needs of their respective markets—an approach that propelled Markel’s growth from a small U.S. insurer when it went public in 1986 to a global specialty insurance leader.
Wilson comes to the position with more than 20 years of experience scaling the operations of large specialty insurance organizations. He joined Markel in 2010 to spearhead international business development, and he was the primary architect of the expansion of Markel International beyond London, scaling operations in Europe, Canada, and Asia that collectively grew to $2.5 billion in annual gross written premium last year. In January 2020, Wilson was appointed Managing Executive of Global Strategy for Markel, where he directly supported all underwriting operations. Since he became President of Markel International in 2021, the division increased gross written premiums by nearly 40 percent and net underwriting profit by more than 250 percent. Prior to joining the company, Wilson led the Lloyd’s Asia platform in Singapore.
As a result of this leadership transition, Jeremy Noble will be leaving the company.
Alongside this leadership transition, the State National and Nephila leadership teams will continue to operate with a high degree of autonomy and they will now report directly into Markel Group, alongside Markel Insurance. These three businesses will continue to actively collaborate where opportunities exist in the marketplace.
“Simon is a proven leader with extensive insurance expertise, and his leadership approach aligns with both the Markel Style and our current needs. Markel’s growth has been impressive, but it also brought new challenges and unnecessary complexity, as confirmed by our ongoing Board-led business review. At times, we unintentionally made it harder for our people to serve our customers. I’m confident in Simon’s vision for growing this fortress of an insurance business through teams that are focused on serving the customers and markets that they know best. I’ve worked alongside Jeremy for more than 20 years and am immensely grateful for his relentless efforts on behalf of the business, in particular during the past few years as he worked to strengthen the foundation of our insurance operations.” – Tom Gayner, Chief Executive Officer of Markel Group.
“I am deeply honored by this opportunity. Markel is at its best when our leaders are given equal parts empowerment and accountability. Our work going forward will ensure that we make decisions as close to the customer as possible, reduce complexity, and restore our commitment to being a market leader in each of our pursuits.” – Simon Wilson.
