HANNOVER, Germany, Feb. 1, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Hannover Re Group today announced that Rodman Fox, a highly experienced and accomplished insurance industry executive, has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of Clarendon Insurance Group, Hannover Re's wholly owned specialty insurance operation. Steven Najjar, who has served as Clarendon's Chief Executive Officer for the past 16 months, has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of Hannover Finance Inc.
"Rod is an energetic and dynamic leader with a proven track record of building successful insurance businesses, developing deep customer and industry relationships, and creating meaningful value for shareholders," said Wilhelm Zeller, Hannover Re Group's Chief Executive Officer. "Rod has more than 20 years of broad insurance experience, including being a principal architect in building both E.W. Blanch and Benfield's U.S. business. With a strong reputation for inspiring internal teams and an intimate knowledge of Clarendon, Rod is the ideal person to spearhead Clarendon's further growth and development."
Mr. Fox joins Clarendon from Benfield, a leading global reinsurance and risk intermediary, where he served as Chief Executive Officer of the company's U.S. operations, growing the business from approximately $20 million to $250 million in revenue over a five year tenure. Most recently, Fox helped launch the company's corporate risk insurance brokerage business. Prior to joining Benfield, Fox served as President and Chief Operating Officer of E.W. Blanch Co., a leading integrated risk management provider.
Zeller continued, "Rod joins Clarendon at a time when the property & casualty markets are very attractive, and we are committed to further refining our Clarendon platform and creating a powerful presence in niche specialty lines, which offer compelling growth opportunities. Steve Najjar has been instrumental in setting that course. We value Steve's continued insights and are pleased to have Rod on board."
Rod Fox stated, "Having worked closely with Clarendon for over 15 years, I believe in the immense potential that this organization offers. Today, Clarendon is a $2 billion company with roughly $1 billion of capital, strong parental support in Hannover Re, a market-leading core business of partnering with managing general agents, and clear momentum in its specialty initiatives. I am delighted to lead an organization with such tremendous upside and look forward to leveraging this platform to capitalize on the clear market opportunities that exist today."
Steve Najjar commented, "Serving as Clarendon's Chief Executive Officer over the past year and a half during this important transformational period has been very rewarding and I look forward to continuing to be actively involved in the business. That said, the company is now ready for its next phase of development, and I can think of no one better prepared than Rod to lead Clarendon's continued evolution."
Mr. Fox has served as a director of Benfield, E.W. Blanch Holdings, International Catastrophe Managers, the Broker Reinsurer Market Association and Catex International. He holds the CPCU designation and is a graduate of Middlebury College and the Executive Risk Management Program at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Hannover Re, with gross premiums of approximately EUR 10 billion, is one of the largest reinsurance groups in the world. It transacts all lines of property/casualty, life/health and financial/finite-risk reinsurance as well as specialty insurance. It maintains business relations with more than 5,000 insurance companies in about 150 countries. Its worldwide network consists of more than 100 subsidiaries, branch and representative offices in 18 countries. The rating agencies most relevant to the insurance industry have awarded Hannover Re very strong insurer financial strength ratings (Standard & Poor's AA -- "Very Strong" and A.M. Best A "Excellent").
Clarendon is a U.S. based Property & Casualty insurance company whose parent company is Hannover Re. Clarendon is comprised of Property & Casualty insurance companies writing non-commoditized short and mid-tail specialty insurance business and programs centered around unique customer and affinity groups. Clarendon's management and underwriting personnel have been serving customers' diverse needs for over ten years and this experience and continuity lends itself to accomplishing the company's objectives. This proven ability makes Clarendon attractive to General Agents, Reinsurers and Brokers. A.M. Best recently affirmed Clarendon Insurance Group's financial strength rating of A -- "Excellent" with a stable outlook.
Disclaimer: Some of the statements in this press release may be forward-looking statements or statements of future expectations based on currently available information. Such statements are naturally subject to risks and uncertainties. Factors such as the development of general economic conditions, future market conditions, unusual catastrophic loss events, changes in the capital markets and other circumstances may cause the actual events or results to be materially different from those anticipated by such statements. Hannover Re does not make any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness or updated status of such statements. Therefore, in no case whatsoever will Hannover Re and its affiliate companies be liable to anyone for any decision made or action taken in conjunction with the information and/or statements in this press release or for any related damages.