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NEW YORK - W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB), a $26 billion market cap insurance holding company with annual revenues exceeding $13.9 billion, announced Friday the appointment of Shadi Albert as president of Vela Insurance Services, effective immediately. Albert succeeds Arthur G. Davis, who will transition to the role of chairman of the business.
Albert joined Berkley in 2023 as president of Berkley Luxury Group. Prior to that, he served as executive vice president of strategy and business development at another major U.S. insurance group.
Davis, who has been with Vela since 2018, initially joined as senior vice president and chief underwriting officer before becoming president in 2019. In his new role as chairman, Davis will support the team through the leadership transition.
"We thank Art for his service and are grateful that he will assist in facilitating a smooth transition," said W. Robert Berkley, Jr., president and chief executive officer of W. R. Berkley Corporation, in a press release statement.
Vela Insurance Services specializes in Excess and Surplus Lines Casualty and Professional Liability insurance solutions across four market segments, providing services through a wholesale broker network.
W. R. Berkley Corporation, founded in 1967, operates as an insurance holding company with operations in two segments of the property casualty insurance business: Insurance and Reinsurance & Monoline Excess.
In other recent news, W.R. Berkley Corporation announced a special cash dividend of 50 cents per share, alongside a 12.5% increase in its regular quarterly dividend to 9 cents per share. These payments will be made on June 30, 2025, to stockholders of record as of June 23, 2025. Meanwhile, Truist Securities maintained its Buy rating on W.R. Berkley, although it lowered its earnings estimates due to factors such as tariff impacts and catastrophe losses. Truist’s revised estimates include a second-quarter earnings per share of $0.98 and a full-year forecast of $4.25. In contrast, Goldman Sachs downgraded W.R. Berkley from Buy to Neutral, citing concerns over the company’s reserve position and valuation, but raised the price target from $74.00 to $76.00. Additionally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods expressed a positive outlook by increasing the price target to $75.00 while maintaining a Market Perform rating, noting that the company’s reserves appear to support modest net quarterly releases. These developments reflect W.R. Berkley’s ongoing efforts to manage financial stability amid market challenges.
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