Jeanne Schwartz of Assurant, Inc. Wins Bronze Stevie® Award in 2012 Stevie Awards for Women in Business

NEW YORK, Nov. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Assurant, a premier provider of specialty insurance, today announces Vice President of New Venture Commercialization Jeanne Schwartz has won a bronze Stevie® Award in the Female Executive of the Year - Business Products category for companies with more than 2,500 employees in the 9^th annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business.

The Stevie Awards for Women in Business are the world's top honors for female entrepreneurs, executives and the organizations they run. All individuals and organizations worldwide are eligible to submit nominations – public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small. The 2012 awards received entries from 17 nations and territories. More than 1,200 nominations from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted this year for consideration in a wide range of categories.  

"This Stevie Award is recognition I share with my Assurant colleagues who help protect people against risks every day," said Schwartz. "I am proud of what we do and our long-standing commitment to serve underserved markets and provide leading edge insurance products to meet the specialty insurance needs of consumers."

Schwartz was recognized for her passion, creativity and vision in helping to drive strategic growth at the company through the development and deployment of customer understanding and marketing capabilities. In her current role, Schwartz is responsible for taking new business ideas from the concept stage to rollout and managing the start-up phase. She recently led Assurant's entry into the renewable energy industry, helping to develop and launch Assurant's solar project insurance to help project developers secure financial funding for their solar installations. Launched in May 2012, Assurant Solar Project Insurance provides a bundle of property and liability insurance along with warranty management for commercial solar projects.

"I'm very pleased that we were able to conclude our tenth year of organizing Stevie Awards programs with a very successful Women in Business event," said Michael Gallagher, president and founder of the Stevie Awards. "This year's Stevie Award-winning women are the most accomplished, impressive group we've ever had.  Their stories of success will be an inspiration to women around the globe who dream of starting and growing a business and making a difference in the world."

Nicknamed the Stevies for the Greek word for "crowned," the awards were presented to winners during a dinner at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.

For more information about Assurant Solar Project Insurance, go to www.assurantsolar.com.  

About Assurant
Assurant is a premier provider of specialized insurance products and related services in North America and select worldwide markets. The four key businesses -- Assurant Solutions, Assurant Specialty Property, Assurant Health and Assurant Employee Benefits -- partner with clients who are leaders in their industries and build leadership positions in a number of specialty insurance market segments. Assurant provides debt protection administration; credit-related insurance; warranties and service contracts; pre-funded funeral insurance; solar project insurance; lender-placed homeowners insurance; manufactured housing homeowners insurance; individual health and small employer group health insurance; group dental insurance; group disability insurance; and group life insurance.

Assurant, a Fortune 500 company and a member of the S&P 500, is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AIZ. Assurant has approximately $28 billion in assets and $8 billion in annual revenue. Assurant has approximately 14,000 employees worldwide and is headquartered in New York's financial district. www.assurant.com.

About the Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in four programs: The International Business Awards, The American Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.  Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide.  Learn more about The Stevie Awards at www.StevieAwards.com.

SOURCE Assurant, Inc.