MR. DUSZAK TO SERVE ON THE AUDIT COMMITTEE OF THE
BOARD
George Town, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, April 5, 2005 – United
America Indemnity, Ltd. (NASDAQ: INDM) today announced that it has
appointed Richard L. Duszak, Robert A. Lear and Dr. M. Moshe Porat
to its Board of Directors effective April 1, 2005. Mr. Duszak, a
Certified Public Accountant, was also appointed to serve on the
Audit committee of the Board of Directors.
Mr. Duszak retired from full-time employment as an audit partner
in January 2000 after more than 36 years with the public accounting
firm of KPMG LLP. He currently chairs The CEO Group, an organization
of chief executive officers that functions as an advisory board. In
March 2004, Mr. Duszak assumed the role of Chief Financial Officer
of Pine Environmental Services, Inc., a privately owned company
offering environmental monitoring, sampling and safety equipment.
From 2003 to January 2005, Mr. Duszak was a director of Penn-America
Group, Inc. He was also a member of the Penn-America Group, Inc.'s
Audit and Compensation Committees and the Chairman of the Nominating
and Corporate Governance Committee.
Mr. Duszak holds a B.S. degree (Magna Cum Laude) from LaSalle
University. He has been engaged in numerous community activities
with an emphasis on health related issues. He has qualified as an
expert witness in accounting and financial matters in numerous
jurisdictions.
Mr. Lear has been President and Chief Executive Officer of Penn
Independent Corporation since September 1996 and previously served
as Executive Vice President, Finance. He was Vice President, Finance
and Chief Financial Officer of Penn-America Group, Inc. from July
1993 until March 1995 and served as a director from 1993 to January
2005. Mr. Lear has been a director of PIC Holdings, Inc. since
October 1997. He was a director of Dynasil Corporation of America
from February 1998 to June 2003.
Mr. Lear holds a B.S. degree in accounting from Penn State
University. He served from July 2002 to June 2004 on Penn State's
Alumni Association Council as an ex-officio member and is currently
Immediate Past President of Penn State Abington Alumni Society
Board. Prior to joining Penn Independent, Lear had more than 15
years of public accounting experience, specializing in the insurance
industry. He has been a certified public accountant since 1972. Lear
is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public
Accountants and the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public
Accountants. Fox Paine & Company nominated Mr. Lear for election
as a director pursuant to its rights under a Shareholders
Agreement.
Dr. Porat has been the Dean of the Temple University School of
Business and Management since August 1996; and previously was the
Joseph E. Boettner Professor and Chairman of the Risk Management,
Insurance and Actuarial Science Department at the Temple University
School of Business and Management for eight years.
Prior to joining Temple University, Dr. Porat was the Deputy
General Manager of IHUD Insurance Agencies Ltd., an international
insurance brokerage firm. Dr. Porat serves on the boards of the Penn
Economy League, the Philadelphia Workforce Investment Board, the
America-Israel Chamber of Commerce and the Master High Charter
School, all privately owned and/or not-for-profit organizations.
Previously, Dr. Porat was a director of Penn-America Group, Inc. He
was also a member of Penn-America Group, Inc.'s Audit and Nominating
and Corporate Governance Committees and was the Chairman of the
Compensation Committee.
“Our new directors bring extensive financial, administrative, and
insurance industry experience to the board,” said Saul Fox, Chairman
of United America Indemnity. “They are superb intellects and
leaders, and we look forward to their expertise and counsel as we
position United America Indemnity for future growth and success.”
Mr. Fox is also Chief Executive of San Francisco-based Fox Paine
& Company, LLC, whose affiliated private equity funds acquired a
controlling interest in United America (then named United National
Group, Ltd.) in September 2003 and remain the largest shareholder in
United America Indemnity.
United America Indemnity also announced that Angelos J. Dassios,
a director resigned from the board effective March 31, 2005. Mr.
Dassios served as a director since September 2003, and had been
nominated for election as a director by Fox Paine & Company
pursuant to its rights under its Shareholders Agreement.
About United America Indemnity, Ltd.:
United America Indemnity, through its wholly-owned operating
subsidiaries which include United National Group, Penn-America
Group, Inc. and Penn Independent Corporation, is one of the leading
specialty property and casualty insurers in the industry as well as
a significant originator of and placement agent for specialty
property and casualty insurance coverage. United America Indemnity
is a holding company formed under the laws of the Cayman Islands and
its U.S. insurance subsidiaries are either licensed or authorized to
write surplus lines or specialty admitted business in all states.
With a combined operating history of more than one century, United
America Indemnity's underwriting network includes approximately 135
professional general agents and its focus centers on self-generated
proprietary products, niche programs and brokered lines. Its
non-U.S. operations consist of recently formed Barbados-based and
Bermuda-based insurance companies.
About Fox Paine:
Fox Paine & Company, LLC manages investment funds in excess
of $1.5 billion that provide equity capital for management buyouts,
going private transactions, and company expansion and growth
programs. Fox Paine engages exclusively in friendly transactions
developed in cooperation with a company's management, board of
directors, and shareholders. The Fox Paine funds are managed on
behalf of over 50 leading United States and international financial
institutions, including public pension systems, Fortune 100
corporate pension plans, major life and property & casualty
insurance companies, money center and super regional commercial
banks, investment banking firms, and university endowments.
Safe Harbor Statement
This release contains forward-looking information about United
America Indemnity and the operations of United America Indemnity
that is intended to be covered by the safe harbor for
forward-looking statements provided by the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are
statements that are not historical facts. These statements can be
identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as
"believe," "expect," "may," "will," "should," "project," "plan,"
"seek," "intend," or "anticipate" or the negative thereof or
comparable terminology, and include discussions of strategy,
financial projections and estimates and their underlying
assumptions, statements regarding plans, objectives, expectations or
consequences of the transactions, and statements about the future
performance, operations, products and services of the companies.
The business and operations of United America Indemnity is and
will be subject to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other
factors. Consequently, actual results and experience may materially
differ from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Such
risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual
results and experience to differ from those projected include, but
are not limited to, the following: (1) the ineffectiveness of United
America Indemnity's business strategy due to changes in current or
future market conditions; (2) the effects of competitors' pricing
policies, and of changes in laws and regulations on competition,
including industry consolidation and development of competing
financial products; (3) greater frequency or severity of claims and
loss activity than United America Indemnity's underwriting,
reserving or investment practices have anticipated; (4) decreased
level of demand for United America Indemnity's insurance products or
increased competition due to an increase in capacity of property and
casualty insurers; (5) risks inherent in establishing loss and loss
adjustment expense reserves; (6) uncertainties relating to the
financial ratings of United America Indemnity's insurance
subsidiaries; (7) uncertainties arising from the cyclical nature of
United America Indemnity's business; (8) changes in United America
Indemnity's relationships with, and the capacity of, its general
agents; (9) the risk that United America Indemnity's reinsurers may
not be able to fulfill obligations; and (10) uncertainties relating
to governmental and regulatory policies. The foregoing review of
important factors should be read in conjunction with the other
cautionary statements that are included in United America
Indemnity's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended
December 31, 2004, as well as in the materials filed and to be filed
with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). United
America Indemnity does not make any commitment to revise or update
any forward-looking statements in order to reflect events or
circumstances occurring or existing after the date any
forward-looking statement is made.
Contact:
Richard S. March
General Counsel
United America
Indemnity, Ltd.
Phone:
610-660-6816