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Release Date: September 15, 2011 City of San Antonio Communications Office: 207-7234 Argo Group invests in downtown San Antonio economy The City of San Antonio and Argo Group (NasdaqGS: AGII) announced today the international insurance underwriter plans to relocate the headquarters of Argo Group US Inc. and all of its other San Antonio operations located near the airport to the IBC Centre downtown on 175 E. Houston Street by June 30, 2012. The move will retain in excess of 200 full-time jobs for the local economy. "The City applauds Argo's decision to keep more than 200 corporate jobs in San Antonio and bolster our efforts to continue revitalizing business activity along the Houston Street corridor and downtown," said Mayor Julián Castro. "This great news keeps our community moving forward toward the SA2020 target of increasing employment downtown by 25 percent." Argo Group jobs in San Antonio include U.S. corporate headquarters executives and staff, professional underwriting, claims, actuarial, finance and IT personnel, support staff and numerous full-time contractors who work at its location. The company anticipates increasing the number of jobs it maintains in San Antonio to approximately 300 or more over the coming years. "San Antonio has been our home base in the U.S. for the past ten years and we've been committed to this community on many levels. However, as our company has grown, our employee base in the U.S. is now spread throughout 17 offices in 12 states. In planning for our current and future needs, it made sense for us to assess our options in terms of the best location to continue expanding our nationwide support and headquarters operations," said Argo Group Chief Executive Officer Mark E. Watson III. "I’m very pleased that we've been able to work with the City of San Antonio to find a solution that will allow us to retain and leverage our great workforce here in a way that also contributes to the economic development of our downtown area." Argo Group (formerly known as Argonaut Group) first moved its U.S. corporate headquarters from Menlo Park, California to San Antonio in 2001. The company and its subsidiaries are leading providers of specialty commercial insurance products to businesses, not-for-profit organizations and public entities throughout the U.S. "Argo's announcement to keep their US corporate headquarters in San Antonio further validates our economic development strategy to help local businesses stay and expand in our city," said City Manager Sheryl Sculley. "Furthermore, these are the types of high-wage professional jobs we need, to sustain a strong economy for the future." About Argo Group International Holdings, Ltd. Argo Group International Holdings, Ltd. (NasdaqGS: AGII), headquartered in Bermuda, is an international underwriter of specialty insurance and reinsurance products in the property and casualty market. Argo Group offers a full line of products and services designed to meet the unique coverage and claims handling needs of businesses in four primary segments: Excess & Surplus Lines, Commercial Specialty, International Specialty and Syndicate 1200. Argo Group's insurance subsidiaries are A. M. Best-rated 'A (Excellent) (third highest rating out of 16 rating classifications) with a stable outlook, and Argo's U.S. insurance subsidiaries are Standard and Poor's-rated 'A-' (Strong) with a stable outlook. More information on Argo Group and its subsidiaries is available at www.argolimited.com. |
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