BASKING RIDGE, N.J. and OMAHA, Neb., Dec 09, 2008 -- Hooper Holmes (NYSE Alternext US:HH) today announced that Marcus A. Mears has been appointed President of the Company's Omaha, Nebraska based Underwriting Solutions division, the largest and only national provider of services to insurance underwriters.
Mr. Mears has held several senior executive positions in the insurance industry over the past 20 years. His experience has provided him with in-depth knowledge of the distribution of insurance products and services, including business development, sales and marketing, and strategic distribution planning.
Roy Bubbs, President and CEO of Hooper Holmes, commented, "Our underwriting customers are faced with a number of challenges including generating new business for their companies, shortening approval times, and lowering their costs. In addition, our customers have been faced with a shortage of veteran underwriters which is why it was essential for us to find the right person to lead this division and meet our customers' needs. We believe that Marc's experience and industry knowledge will complement our team of former chief underwriters and professionals from the life and reinsurance markets. We are confident that our Underwriting Solutions division will continue to see further improvements and growth under Marc's leadership."
Mr. Mears has most recently been consulting within the insurance industry. Earlier in 2008 he was Senior Vice President in charge of strategic planning, value creation, sales and marketing and operational elements of the Independent Producer Business Unit at Mutual of Omaha. Prior to that, he was Senior Vice President of Senior Market and Employee Benefit Divisions at KMG America. Earlier in his career he was an Executive Director at Protective Life, and Vice President of Marketing & Sales at American General Corporation, Pacific Guardian Life and Alexander Hamilton Life.
Mr. Mears received his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Law from Western State University and his JD from Western State University College of Law.
About Hooper Holmes
Hooper Holmes is the leader in collecting personal health data and transforming it into useful information, enabling customers to take actions that manage or reduce their risks and expenses. As the leading provider of risk assessment services for the insurance industry, Hooper Holmes provides insurers with the widest range of medical exam, data collection, laboratory testing and underwriting services in the industry.
With presence in over 250 markets and a network of thousands of examiners, Hooper Holmes can arrange a medical exam anywhere in the U.S. and deliver the results to its customers. Each year we arrange more medical exams than any other company and process 3.8 million specimens in our laboratory. We provide a complete service for wellness, disease management, and managed care companies including scheduling support, fulfillment of supplies, blood collection kits, medical screenings, lab testing and data transmission. We underwrite 300,000 cases annually and complete more than two million telephone interviews.
This press release contains "forward-looking" statements, as such term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on the Company's current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements are our ability to successfully implement our business strategy; uncertainty as to our working capital requirements over the next 12 to 24 months; our ability to maintain compliance with the financial covenants in our credit facility; our expectations regarding our operating cash flows; and the rate of life insurance application activity. Additional information about these and other factors that could affect the Company's business is set forth in the Company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 17, 2008. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law.