NU Online News Service, may 17, 2:30 p.m.EDT

Ironshore Inc. said it is entering the personal lines market tounderwrite a high value homeowners program for properties valued atmore than $1 million.

The program will be offered in partnership with Hull &Company Inc., a wholesale insurance intermediary.

Ironshore Property's new High Value Homeowners product will belaunched in Florida with other selected states to follow in theupcoming months, the company said.

Mr. Daniel Olmsted, vice president of Ironshore, will lead theinitiative, reporting to John Murphy, Head of Global Property.

Shaun Kelly, Ironshore's chief executive officer of U.S.Operations, noted that Ironshore's entry into the personal linessector is a new direction for "leveraging what we view asopportunities in the marketplace and helping to drive our continuedgrowth strategy."

He added, "Partnering with our colleagues at Hull & Companyto introduce this program in Florida marks our initial foray intothe high-value homeowners market."

Prior to joining Ironshore, Mr. Olmsted served as president ofprivate risk services at ACE, and also was president of personallines for Atlantic Mutual.

Mike Riordan, president of Hull & Company, said, "Hull &Company prides itself on working with the best companies in theinsurance industry."

He added, "We believe this new relationship with Ironshore willoffer a premier high-value program, enabling our retail agencycustomers to meet their clients' specialty homeowner insuranceneeds."

Ironshore provides broker-sourced specialty commercial propertyand casualty coverages for risks located throughout the world.Through its platform in Bermuda, including Iron-Starr Excess,Ironshore writes property and excess casualty insurance for globalcommercial risks.

The Ironshore group of insurance companies is rated "A-minus"(Excellent) by A.M. Best with a Financial Size Category of ClassXI. Syndicate 4000 operates within Lloyd's where the market ratingis "A" (Excellent) by A.M. Best and "A-plus" (Strong) from bothStandard & Poor's and Fitch. For more information, visitwww.ironshore.com.

Hull & Company Inc. is a wholesale insurance intermediaryproviding specialty products and unique solutions to theindependent agency system. Headquartered in Florida, Hull &Company has more than 600 employees in 30 locations spanning 18states nationwide. Hull & Company is a subsidiary of Brown& Brown Inc. For information, visit www.hullco.com.