Navigators Hires Chief Actuary

RYE BROOK, NY, July 24, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Navigators Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NAVG) today announced the hiring of Mark A. Yunque as Chief Actuary and Senior Vice President of Navigators Management Company, Inc., its principal U.S. underwriting agency subsidiary. Mr. Yunque will be responsible for leading the global actuarial function, reporting to Ciro M. DeFalco, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

Mr. Yunque received a B.S. in Actuarial Science from The College of Insurance, an M.B.A. in Finance & Accounting from The University of Chicago, and is an Associate of the Casualty Actuarial Society (ACAS) and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries (MAAA). He most recently was Global Chief Actuary at Liberty International Underwriters, and has served in various other senior actuarial positions with GRE Insurance Group, Continental Insurance Companies, and Motors Insurance Corporation.

"We are excited to welcome Mark," commented Mr. DeFalco. "Mark brings proven leadership to the Navigators team as well as an exceptional breadth of experience in domestic and international specialty lines, and a deep skill set, which includes extensive economic capital modeling experience. His leadership of our actuarial team will deepen the partnership between our technical underwriting culture and our actuarial and risk functions."

The Navigators Group, Inc. is an international specialty insurance holding company with insurance company operations, underwriting management companies, and operations at Lloyd's of London. Headquartered in New York, Navigators has offices in major insurance centers in the United States, the United Kingdom and Continental Europe.

This press release may contain "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Whenever used in this release, the words "estimate," "expect," "believe," "may," "will," "intend," "continue," or similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. We cannot assure that results that we anticipate will be achieved, since results may differ materially because of known and unknown risks and uncertainties that we face. Please refer to Navigators' most recent Forms 10-K and 10-Q and its other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a description of Navigators' business and the important factors that may affect that business. Navigators undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement.

CONTACT: Business Inquiries:          Ciro M. DeFalco          914-933-6043                     Media Inquiries:          Taha Ebrahimi          914-933-6209          [email protected]www.navg.com

Source: The Navigators Group, Inc.