Exhibit 99.1
Tower Group, Inc. Appoints William W. Fox, Jr. to Board of Directors
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 7, 2006--Tower Group, Inc.
(NASDAQ: TWGP) today announced that Mr. William W. Fox, Jr., who has
more than 40 years of experience in the insurance and reinsurance
industry, has been appointed to the company's Board of Directors. Mr.
Fox replaces Mr. Gregory T. Doyle, who resigned to join the Board of
Directors of CastlePoint Holdings, Ltd., a Bermuda-based holding
company that Tower Group has sponsored.
Mr. Fox, age 64, was most recently the President of Balis & Co.,
Inc. ("Balis"), now a subsidiary of Guy Carpenter & Co. engaged in the
reinsurance business. Mr. Fox was employed by Balis from 1962 through
1988, and again from 1992 through May, 1999. In 1967, Balis was
acquired by Marsh & McLennan Companies and integrated with its
reinsurance brokerage division, Guy Carpenter. Mr. Fox had a number of
positions at Balis, including senior casualty reinsurance broker, and
was President from 1985 through 1988 and again, from 1992 through
1999. Mr. Fox also served as a member of Guy Carpenter's Executive
Committee, as a member of Guy Carpenter's Board of Directors, and as a
Managing Director of J&H, Marsh & McLennan. While at Balis, between
1992 and 1999, Mr. Fox also was the Chief Executive Officer of Excess
Reinsurance Company.
In 1988, Mr. Fox founded PW Reinsurance Management Company ("PW
Group"), as a joint venture with Providence Washington Insurance
Company ("Providence") to underwrite reinsurance on behalf of
Providence. Mr. Fox was a Senior Vice President of Providence from
1988 to 1989, where he served on the Management Committee and was
responsible for selecting and overseeing reinsurance intermediaries.
In 1989, the Baloise Insurance Group of Basel, Switzerland acquired
Providence and appointed Mr. Fox President of the PW Group, where he
was instrumental in Providence's acquisition of Colorado Casualty
Company.
Mr. Fox also served as a Director on the Boards of Insurance
Services Offices, Legal Mutual Insurance Society of Maryland, Penn
Mutual Insurance Group and Green Tree Perpetual Insurance Company. Mr.
Fox is a member of the CPCU Society and holds a Pennsylvania Property
and Casualty Broker's License. Mr. Fox has also been certified as an
arbitrator by ARIAS-US, and currently serves as a party-appointed
arbitrator or umpire on reinsurance disputes.
Mr. Michael H. Lee, Chairman, President and Chief Executive
Officer of Tower, stated, "William Fox has a long and distinguished
background in the insurance industry as a senior reinsurance
executive. His expertise should be a tremendous benefit to the Board
and our company especially as we enter into a strategic relationship
with CastlePoint Holdings, Ltd., a Bermuda-based holding company that
Tower has sponsored."
About Tower Group, Inc.
Tower Group, Inc., headquartered in New York City, offers property
and casualty insurance products and services through its insurance
company and insurance service subsidiaries. Its two insurance company
subsidiaries are Tower Insurance Company of New York which is rated A-
(Excellent) by A.M. Best Company and offers commercial insurance
products to small to medium-size businesses and personal insurance
products to individuals and Tower National Insurance Company which is
also rated A- (Excellent) by A.M. Best Company. Its insurance services
subsidiary, Tower Risk Management, acts as a managing general agency,
adjusts claims and negotiates reinsurance terms on behalf of other
insurance companies.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a
"safe harbor" for forward-looking statements. This release or any
other written or oral statements made by or on behalf of the Company
may include forward-looking statements that reflect the Company's
current views with respect to future events and financial performance.
All statements other than statements of historical fact included in
this release are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking
terminology such as "may," "will," "plan," "expect," "intend,"
"estimate," "anticipate," "believe" or "continue" or their negative or
variations or similar terminology. All forward-looking statements
address matters that involve risks and uncertainties. Accordingly,
there are or will be important factors that could cause our actual
results to differ materially from those indicated in these statements.
We believe that these factors include but are not limited to
ineffectiveness or obsolescence of our business strategy due to
changes in current or future market conditions; increased competition
on the basis of pricing, capacity, coverage terms or other factors;
greater frequency or severity of claims and loss activity, including
as a result of natural or man-made catastrophic events, than our
underwriting, reserving or investment practices anticipate based on
historical experience or industry data; the effects of acts of
terrorism or war; developments in the world's financial and capital
markets that adversely affect the performance of our investments;
changes in regulations or laws applicable to us, our subsidiaries,
brokers or customers; changes in the level of demand for our insurance
and reinsurance products and services, including new products and
services; changes in the availability, cost or quality of reinsurance
and failure of our reinsurers to pay claims timely or at all; loss of
the services of any of our executive officers or other key personnel;
the effects of mergers, acquisitions and divestitures; changes in
rating agency policies or practices; changes in legal theories of
liability under our insurance policies; changes in accounting policies
or practices; and changes in general economic conditions, including
inflation and other factors. Forward-looking statements speak only as
of the date on which they are made, and the Company undertakes no
obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statement,
whether as a result of new information, future developments or
otherwise.
For more information visit Tower's website at
http://www.twrgrp.com/.
CONTACT: Tower Group, Inc.
Thomas Song, 212-655-4789
tsong@twrgrp.com
or
Makovsky + Company
Gene Marbach, 212-508-9600
gmarbach@makovsky.com