Standard&Poor's Ratings Services' ratings on Markel Corp. reflect the company's strong competitive position in the excess and surplus and specialty lines of business, as well as its strong capital, operating performance relative to peers', financial flexibility, and liquidity. Although the company experienced lower operating performance associated with above-normal catastrophe losses in fiscal 2011, Markel has historically reported underwriting results that were in-line with its unique business segments and industry peers. It has established consistent conservative loss-reserve adequacy, leading to substantial redundancies during the past eight years. We recognize Markel's higher expense ratio structure versus its peers', which is offset by its consistently lower loss ratios even during catastrophe event years. Markel's higher concentration of nonadmitted-based insurance, its significant
