RICHMOND, Va., Dec. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Markel Corporation is pleased to announce the promotion of Henry Lopez to executive vice president for the Markel Midwest region. Paul Springman, president of Markel Corporation, announced that, "We are pleased that, in his new role, Henry Lopez will focus on sales, marketing, and broker development and growth strategies, areas in which he has a wealth of experience and a solid track record here at Markel." Mr. Lopez has been with Markel since 1995 and most recently was the vice president, director of business development for underwriting administration. He has also held a variety of leadership positions within Markel including assistant vice president, marketing services; vice president, marketing services; and vice president, underwriting administration. Markel also announced that Brad Kiscaden will serve as the chief administrative officer. He will also continue his current role as chief corporate actuary. He joined Markel in 1986 as an assistant actuarial analyst. He had held several positions within Markel including actuarial supervisor, assistant manager and actuarial manager. The Midwest region is one of five in the new structure of Markel Corporation's excess and surplus lines operations. Markel's new regional structure is an effort to improve customer service by getting closer to its agents, providing one point of contact, and offering a wider range of insurance products. Plans for the new structure will be implemented in early 2009. Markel Corporation markets and underwrites specialty insurance products and programs to a variety of niche markets. In each of these markets, the Company seeks to provide quality products and excellent customer service so that it can be a market leader. The financial goals of the Company are to earn consistent underwriting profits and superior investment returns to build shareholder value. For more information on the Markel Group of companies, please visit http://www.markelcorp.com/ DATASOURCE: Markel Corporation CONTACT: Letha E. Heaton, +1-847-572-6250, , or Miriam Balavender, +1-847-572-6286, , both of Markel Corporation Web Site: http://www.markelcorp.com/

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