Subject: Re: Slightly OT: MKL for sale
mdtis as is the case in all cases it is best to ask the guy who's penning a decision what his situation is, thus what bias he may carry. Not to do so is simply a short cut that can be costly.

AJG (I have 62,500 shares of AJG) is my top position and Berk (25 A shares) is next. Markel was once my third largest position but other stocks have gained more in recent years. Anyway about 1%. Like Berkshire my initial investment (I inherited Berkshire...I bought Markel) was tiny in both. But time makes thing less tiny! LOL.

So selling Markel has these reasons/conditions for me:

I am bored with Markel, I don't like the culture AT ALL any longer.
Gayner has some things about him that I like (his awareness of his limits as a stock investor make him effective) and some things I detest.
He seems even childish to me at times.
Markel is embarrassing to me in its attempt to mimic Berkshire, its non insurance attempts to me are stupid.
All the good people I knew at Markel are gone.
Markel to me is nothing special and I do not enjoy following it.
And maybe most importantly, my wife a few years ago encouraged me to make some investment changes. I participate regularly on the COBF forums and my wife is often beside me while I pen my stuff there. She thinks it is excellent that I do that, I'm older than her and she thinks it keeps me thriving and alive...and making changes to the investment portfolio also makes me mentally active which she and I think is good. I have made personal friends on the COBF board, we eat meals together. I'd dealing with some awful health conditions right now which limit my interactions with those on the COBF forum in person however.

So the Markel thing is a small issue, yes very taxable. My wife owns Markel and will not sell hers. She does not ever look at her investments...ever. She is buy and hold and stays busy running book festivals and reading...and doing hiking trips with me, and other travels too.

I wrote this off-the-cuff quickly, no proof reading and it may not include everything I'm thinking...but obviously has some of it. Have a good day.