December 29, 2004
SureTec Increases Capital by $ 4 Million
HOUSTON, TEXAS (December 29, 2004)
SureTec Insurance Company (“SureTec”), a Texas
domiciled insurance company specializing in surety bonds,
announced today that it had received a $4,000,000 capital contribution
from its parent company, SureTec Financial Corp.(“SFC”).
John Knox, Jr., Chairman, reported, “This additional capital will increase
our U.S. Treasury limit and should support continued
confidence by our strategic partners, regulators, and
rating agencies. A.M. Best recognized our strength several years
ago by assigning an initial rating of A-(Excellent). This additional
capital will also allow us to continue our profitable
growth with low operating leverage.”
Excellent support from SureTec’s strong group of professional agents has
provided superior operating results for the company. A major shareholder
and strategic partner, HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc.
(NYSE: HCC), through its insurance subsidiaries, rated
AA by S&P, and A+(Superior) by A.M. Best, provides
SureTec with the ability to write bonds outside of Texas and with cosurety
support, when needed. Information about HCC, an international insurance
holding company, is available at
www.hcch.com.
Bob Cave, SureTec’s Chief Underwriting Officer, added, “Even with our
increased Treasury limit, we will continue to focus on smaller
contractors with single contracts under $5,000,000 and
aggregate bonded work programs under $10,000,000. This
is the market segment we know best. This is where we will
continue our focus.”
Frost Bank’s Insurance Lending Division has extended SFC a new credit
facility. Steve Nelson, SureTec’s Executive Vice
President, noted, “HCC and Frost are publicly traded
companies headquartered in Texas and, like SureTec, are firmly
committed to Texas business. We are proud to have the support of these
fine Texas-based institutions. We also appreciate the
support from our Texas producers and will continue to
provide them with a competitive and responsive surety
market.”
SureTec, through independent insurance agents and professional surety bond
producers, specializes in underwriting contract surety, commercial
surety, and related financial products, primarily in
the State of Texas.
Additional information is available at
http://www.suretec.com
John Knox, Jr.,
Chairman
SureTec Insurance Company
(713) 812-0800
jknox@suretec.com
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