On Feb. 6, 2007, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services affirmed its 'BBB-' counterparty credit rating on Markel Corp. In addition, Standard&Poor's affirmed its 'BB' preferred stock and preliminary 'BB+' subordinated debt ratings on Markel and revised the outlook to positive from stable. The positive outlook is based on continued improvements at Markel's London Insurance Market segment and improvements in property-catastrophe risk management since the hurricane season of 2005. Although Markel's core strength remains in North America, the London Insurance Market has made steady improvements in underwriting performance such that it has obtained underwriting profits for the past three quarters of 2006 and is expected to have strong underwriting profits for at least the next year. The improvements in
