NEW YORK, July 13, 2009 - Richard Soja, Chubb Marine Underwriters, Sophia Phillips, The Hanover Insurance Group, and Peter Opinante, Swiss Re America, have all been re-elected to a second term as officers of The Inland Marine Underwriters Association (IMUA). The election took place at the IMUA’s 79th Annual Meeting in Tucson, AZ.

"I am extremely pleased to serve a second term as Chairman of the IMUA. It has been an unprecedented year for business in general and the insurance industry in particular, but throughout the bleak economic reports, the IMUA remains exceptionally strong. Our ability to continually provide value-added programs and services to our membership has only made IMUA stronger." said Mr. Soja in his acceptance remarks. He commended the 190 members in attendance for their participation in this year’s association’s annual event particularly "amidst such adverse times."

Mr. Soja recognized the work of the Regional Advisory and Technical Committees for their outstanding commitment in continuing to bring new and innovative educational programs to the IMUA. In particular he pointed to the Association’s Webinar and Gen X/ Gen Y Committees as a way for employees of member companies to connect with industry peers to learn more and thus become a more valuable professional.

Nicolas Creatore, AIU Holdings/Lexington, IMUA Nominating Committee Chair, also announced the election of the Board of Director’s Class of 2012 plus the representative to fill an opening in the 2011 class. Elected Board Members were:

Class of 2012:
Mr. Michael Berg, Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty
Mr. Patrick Carroll - General Reinsurance
Mr. Nicolas Creatore, AIU Holdings
Mr. David Drake, Zurich US
Ms. Melissa Hoffman, Liberty Mutual
Mr. Donald Keahon, OneBeacon Insurance

Mr. Jason Warden, The Hartford, was elected to fill a vacancy in the class of 2011 due to the retirement of the company’s representative.

IMUA is the national association for the commercial inland marine insurance industry. IMUA serves as an industry voice of its member companies representing approximately 90 percent of all commercial inland marine insurers and reinsurers in the U.S. The Association provides its members with comprehensive educational programs including research papers and bulletins, industry analysis and live/web seminars. IMUA was founded in 1930.