OTHER MARKET NEWS

Professional Underwriters, a national program administrator for public entities, announced the addition of 50 coverage enhancements to its program for private and public schools. The enhancements pertain to the program's property, general liability and auto coverages. One of the changes broadens the

For more information, contact TomRuddy at (610) 458-6905 or visit www. professionalunderwriters.com.

* The AIG Cos. formed AIG Specialty Excess, an umbrella and excess casualty underwriting unit that will insure specialty and difficult-to-place classes of business, including construction, transportation, public entities and educational institutions.

Effective May 15, AIG Specialty Excess will respond to all in-force business, as well as new and renewal business currently handled by the C.V. Starr & Co. agency, a subsidiary of C.V. Starr & Co. Inc. AIG Specialty Excess will operate nationwide.

For more information, contact Todd German at (212) 458-5849, or e-mail AIGSpecialtyExcess@aig.com.

* Agency Specialty Product Network announced a relationship with Pacific Wholesale Insurance Brokers to provide agents and brokers with access to an independent wholesale broker with product portfolios for hard-to-place risks. PWIB handles condo wraps, product liability coverage, commercial general liability, marine coverage and earthquake, among other risks. ASPN is a unit of Aon Corp. and operates as a marketing arm for more than 30 provider companies, including insurance carriers, wholesalers, managing general underwriting and specialty operations.

For more information, visit www. askaspn.com or www.insurancespecialtygroup.com, or call ASPN at (877) 275-2776.

* Hannover Re announced the launch of Praetorian Financial Group. Praetorian will write selected specialty business currently managed by Clarendon Insurance Group, which also is owned by Hannover Re. Praetorian's main operating subsidiaries are Insurance Corp. of Hannover and Redland Insurance Co., both rated A- by A.M. Best, with a stable outlook, according to Hannover Re. Praetorian initially will use Hannover Re's surplus-lines capability, although it is in the process of forming its own surpluslines facility. Praetorian will focus on writing higher margin specialty risks. Its existing portfolio ranges from fine arts and mobile phones to select habitational risks and liability coverage for municipalities.

For more information, contact Michael Lyons at (212) 805-9811 or at mlyons@praetorianfinancial.com

* Hiscox PLC, a provider of specialty insurance based in the United Kingdom, announced the opening of Hiscox USA (www.hiscoxusa.com). The underwriting operation will offer coverage for small and midsize U.S. professional service businesses outside the Fortune 1000. Hiscox's office is located in Armonk, N.Y. The facility initially will offer professional indemnity insurance via brokers. Within six months it plans to also offer coverage for terrorism, technology, media, telecorn companies and fine art.

For more information, visit www.hisoxusa.com.