Markel Insurance has appointed Doan Nguyen (pictured) as managing director of its specialty division in London. The move completes a restructuring of the company's London Market leadership, with three divisional MD roles filled since late 2025.
Nguyen joins from Allianz Commercial, where she most recently served as global head of portfolio solutions. Her 12-year tenure at Allianz also included roles as UK head of specialty and global head of specialty strategy. She brings more than 18 years of experience across claims, underwriting, strategy, and portfolio leadership.
Nguyen will lead Markel's specialty division across trade credit, political risk and surety, equine and livestock, international casualty, structured portfolio solutions, and political violence and terror. She reports to Rohan Davies, managing director - London Market at Markel International, and is based in London.
The appointment follows those of Dan McCarthy as managing director for marine, energy and construction, and Bhavik Desai as managing director for PFR and cyber. The three hires complete the divisional MD layer Markel set out to build when it reorganised its international operations into five distinct businesses in late 2025, with the London Market, encompassing marine and energy, PFR and cyber, and specialty, unified under a single leadership team.
The specialty grouping itself isn't new: Markel first brought these lines together in 2023 specifically to combine its longer-tail classes under one roof and give broking partners a single point of contact and greater scale across what had previously been more fragmented underwriting teams. Nguyen inherits that structure rather than building it from scratch, but her background is a departure from the underwriting-led leadership the division has had until now.
Her most recent role at Allianz centred on portfolio-level risk transfer structures rather than individual risk placement. That focus may shape how Markel approaches larger, structured mandates across its specialty book, particularly where clients are looking to package multiple lines or exposures into a single negotiated programme rather than placing each risk separately.
The lines in her remit are active areas of broker concern. UK company insolvencies reached 2,343 in May 2026, sustaining demand for trade credit cover, while late payment notifications to insurers have risen across several sectors in recent months.
"She joins at a time when brokers and clients are navigating an increasingly complex risk environment, from geopolitical instability to the continued evolution of data, technology and AI-related exposures," Davies said. "Her experience leading international portfolios and driving innovation will be hugely valuable as we continue to develop specialist solutions, strengthen broker relationships and grow with discipline."
Nguyen succeeds Tom Hillier, who was appointed chief underwriting officer for Markel International earlier this year.
Nguyen said she was looking forward to working across the division and the wider business "to build on the progress already made, support brokers and clients, and continue delivering strong underwriting, claims and portfolio performance."
Markel Insurance is the insurance operation within Markel Group Inc., listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Its London Market operation writes across multiple specialty and commercial lines through the Lloyd's and company markets.
