San Francisco, 14 July 2009

Jansen & Hastings, a market-leading MGA, has expanded its existing specialty program business with the addition of a new national MGA platform to be headed by Jim Parsons. Jim joins JHI as Senior Vice President and Underwriting Division Manager.

Mr. Parsons was appointed to Jansen & Hastings to develop a national capability to provide agents with a broad scope of classes including General Liability, Inland Marine, Ocean Marine, Excess and umbrella, Garage and Environmental risks. The business is centered on a technology platform which provides online ratings, quotation and binding. This broadened product offering and national capability will strengthen the Jansen & Hastings team and complement its market-leading specialist capabilities in residential construction and healthcare.

"We welcome Jim to our team and are very enthusiastic about this unique opportunity to offer clients a centralized national platform with cutting-edge technology," said Kevin Hastings, managing director of Jansen & Hastings. "We are highly service oriented and recognize that our success will depend on our ability to provide a smooth and efficient offering to a high number of clients. Jim has strong, long-term relationships with carriers, experience with a wide-range of diverse classes to provide our clients with seamless service."

"I am very pleased to be joining Jansen & Hastings," said Mr. Parsons. "I have long-standing relationships with the Jansen & Hastings team, a strong track record with a range of carriers and a commitment to service excellence. I believe that, together, we can create a market-leading national capability with the best technology and service for clients." Jim will work alongside Janet Beaver, JHI Senior Vice President, based in San Francisco.

Mr. Parsons has 28 years of experience in the insurance industry, many of them developing and leading national MGA capabilities. Before joining Jansen & Hastings, Mr. Parsons was at AmWINS for more than five years, where he set up and headed the company’s national MGA business. Prior to that, Mr. Parsons was a senior vice president and a branch manager at American E&S.