Executive Appointment Announced in Argo Surety

Dear Agents,

This is to inform you of another bold and important move by Argo Surety towards becoming a premier underwriter of standard and specialty surety bonds. Mark E. Farina has joined the Argo Surety team as Vice President - Commercial Surety.

Mark comes to Argo Surety from The Travelers Companies, Inc. where he was Managing Director of Commercial Surety for Metro New York. Over 22 years of industry experience enabled Mark to successfully manage one of the largest, most complex commercial surety operations in the country. He was responsible for underwriting, risk assessment and portfolio & price management of a diverse book of commercial surety accounts while managing a staff of underwriters and technical support personnel. Previously Mark held the position of Regional Manager, Commercial Surety for Aetna Bond/Travelers Bond in Philadelphia, PA.

We are thrilled about the role Mark will play at Argo Surety which will include establishing strong, mutually beneficial relationships with all major agents and brokers; utilizing a specialized approach for private equity, service contract and foreign domiciled companies; and recruiting, training and coaching top performers for our commercial surety team.

Mark will be based in our Edison, New Jersey office and can be contacted at the following:

Argo Surety's commercial surety business plan includes underwriting capacity up to $25 million for qualifying accounts and exposures.

About Argo Surety

Argo Surety is an underwriting entity within Argo Group US that offers a broad range of contract and commercial surety bonds on behalf of affiliated “A” rated surety companies to a diverse range of businesses and industries through carefully selected agents and brokers. It currently has licenses in 49 states and U.S. Treasury authority of $8.1 million. Argo Group US is a member of Argo Group International Holdings, Ltd. (NASDAQ: AGII), an international underwriter of specialty insurance and reinsurance products in niche areas of the property and casualty market with over $6 billion in assets and shareholders equity of $1.4 billion.

Please visit us at www.argosurety.com or to learn more about Argo Group International Holdings, Ltd., go to www.argolimited.com

We look forward to being of service to your and your clients. Please do not hesitate to call Mark or myself if there is anything we can assist you with.