Business: Markel Group is a holding company comprised of different businesses and investments. Its segments include Specialty Insurance, Investing and Markel Ventures. The Markel Ventures segment consists of controlling interests in a diverse portfolio of businesses that operate in various industries. While fixing the core business is always the first step, even with an improved and efficient insurance business, Markel would still have a valuation overhang in the form of its Ventures business. Moreover, the last time Markel traded at 2.5 times book value was before it launched its Ventures business.

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Persons: Jana, Barry Rosenstein, Rosenstein, Markel, Nephila, Ken Squire Organizations: Markel, Specialty Insurance, Markel Ventures, Insurance, Berkshire Hathaway, Dow Jones U.S . Property, Markel Corp, Ventures, Investments, Tokio Marine, Zurich Insurance, Arch, 13D Monitor, 13D Locations: Berkshire, Boston