Markel co-CEO prepared to shed business as he pushes for rate increases

Markel co-CEO Richard Whitt, III is pushing for rate increases in the property market and is otherwise prepared to shed business.

“At Markel, we're seeking rate increases on all property business,” Whitt said during the insurer’s 2018 first quarter results conference call.

“On loss-free or better rated accounts the necessary increase is less. On loss impacted or relatively more aggressively rated accounts, we're going to need larger increases,” Whitt explained.

“The place where people are able to get the most price obviously is property, US property primarily,” Whitt said.

He also believes that rate increases are needed more broadly than just in property business. “We're actively seeking appropriate rate increases across all of our casualty and professional lines,” he said, noting that the market remains competitive.

“While we've made some progress on casualty and professional rates, there's still a lot of work to do,” he added.

The 2017 record catastrophe losses from disasters like hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria (HIM) had raised expectations that rates would increase significantly and were somewhat disappointed as achieved rate increases were perceived as rather moderate in the January 1 renewals.

“It was probably unreasonable to believe that the 2017 catastrophe losses would have an overnight impact to turn the rating environment,” Whitt said. “We will continue to push for adequate rates on all of our business and are prepared to write less if the price is not right”.

Specialty underwriter Markel posted a net loss of $174.8 million for the first quarter of 2018 after a net profit of $223.2 in the same period a year ago, driven by a change in accounting rules and foreign exchange losses.

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