Markel announces Bryan Sanders will retire by December 31, 2024, and related leadership appointments

• President of Markel Specialty, Sanders has spent 42 years in the industry
• Effective December 1, the following appointments will be made 
  • Alex Martin will become President, Markel Specialty
  • Brian Costanzo is named Chief Financial Officer, Markel
  • Guenter Kryszon is named Chief Underwriting Officer, Markel Specialty; Ryan Oosterheert is named Chief Operations Officer, Markel Specialty

RICHMOND, Va., Oct. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Markel, the insurance operations within Markel Group Inc. (NYSE: MKL), announced today that Bryan Sanders, President of its Markel Specialty division, plans to retire by December 31, 2024. Effective December 1, 2023, Sanders will transition to the role of Chairman, Markel Specialty, and Alex Martin, currently Markel's Chief Financial Officer, will become President, Markel Specialty, reporting to Bob Cox, President, Global Insurance Operations. Brian Costanzo, currently senior vice president and Chief Accounting Officer for Markel Group Inc., will become Chief Financial Officer of Markel, reporting to Jeremy Noble, President, Markel.

"Bryan Sanders is retiring after a highly successful insurance career spanning four-plus decades, during which he has led several major initiatives that have transformed our US and Bermuda operations to best meet the needs of our clients," said Jeremy Noble. "Thanks to Bryan's leadership and the extensive industry relationships he has built, and with a strong team in place led by Alex Martin, Markel Specialty is well positioned to continue to build on our solid brand and reputation, as well as deliver against our long-term profitable growth ambitions."

Sanders, who joined Markel in 2013 as part of the Alterra Capital Holdings, Ltd. acquisition, has more than 42 years in the insurance industry. Before assuming his current position in 2020, he served as President of Markel Wholesale from 2014 to 2017, and President of Markel Assurance from 2018 to 2020.

"Serving as President of Markel Specialty has been an honor, and I am committed to working with Alex and the Markel Specialty leadership team to achieve a seamless transition as we continue to execute on our strategic priorities and plans," Bryan Sanders said. "I look forward to helping the team build on our progress so far, including our strong industry relationships and our outstanding positioning in the marketplace."

Martin has been with Markel for 17 years and has held management positions in operations, underwriting, business development, strategy and finance. He has extensive experience in leading transformation and building high-performing teams, including achieving operational efficiency and process improvement while leveraging technology, harnessing data and improving executional capabilities.

"Bryan Sanders and his team have built an incredible franchise in the marketplace, and I'm committed to working with him to achieve a seamless transition," Alex Martin said. "I leave the Finance function in good hands with Brian Costanzo and the Finance leadership team. Brian is extremely well qualified to take the Finance function forward at Markel. I look forward to working with my colleagues across Markel Specialty as we add value to our clients by delivering exceptional products and first-class service."

Costanzo has been with Markel for 14 years. He has held a variety of leadership roles within Finance and has played a key role in leading strategic efforts within Finance in regard to operational efficiency, actuarial transformation, technology and data.

Additionally within Markel Specialty, Guenter Kryszon has been named Chief Underwriting Officer and Ryan Oosterheert has been named Chief Operations Officer. Both will report to Martin.

Kryszon has been with Markel since 2019 and brings extensive experience driving growth and profitability through initiatives relating to portfolio optimization, climate change and environmental, social and governance matters. As Chief Underwriting Officer for Markel Specialty, he will lead and direct overall underwriting strategy and operations and product development across all product lines within Markel Specialty.

Oosterheert, who has been with Markel since 2019, brings more than 20 years of industry experience across underwriting and product management, strategy and operations. She has led Markel's global strategy team and has played an integral role in working across the organization on strategy, data, technology and operations efforts.

"We are grateful to Bryan Sanders for his many contributions, including his support for developing an outstanding leadership team at Markel—one that reflects the strength of our people-powered culture," Jeremy Noble added. "This thoughtful and intentional transition speaks to the depth of talent within Markel. With an exceptional set of leaders across our business, I am extremely optimistic that we will further strengthen our position in the marketplace, as well as execute on our continued transformation as we build the leading global specialty insurer."

About Markel
We are Markel, a leading global specialty insurer with a truly people-first approach. As the insurance operations within the Markel Group Inc. (NYSE: MKL), we operate the Markel Specialty, Markel International, and Markel Global Reinsurance divisions, as well as State National, our portfolio protection and program services operations, and Nephila, our insurance-linked securities operations. Our broad array of capabilities and expertise allow us to create intelligent solutions for the most complex risk management needs. However, it is our people—and the deep, valued relationships they develop with colleagues, brokers and clients—that differentiates us worldwide.

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SOURCE Markel