Joel Hirsch, public sector insurance industry veteran, To lead new public entity unit at Aegis General Insurance Agency

WASHINGTON, April 8, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Joel Hirsch, who has built an unparalleled leadership reputation in underwriting insurance coverages for all types of public sector entities, has been named president of Allied Public Risk, a new division at Aegis General Insurance Agency, a subsidiary of K2 Insurance Services, LLC, Bob Kimmel, K2 president, announced today.

"We are very fortunate to have Joel join our team to lead this new underwriting platform at Aegis," Kimmel said. "Virtually no one in the industry is more experienced than he in developing specialized insurance programs to meet the needs of local governments and special service districts in the United States.

"He will assemble a team of experienced underwriters in offices across the country, and lead our efforts to build a strong national franchise in insurance for the public sector," he added.

Public entities to be targeted by Allied Public Risk will include counties, cities, towns, villages and other political subdivisions, as well as park districts, water districts and similar administrative entities.

Hirsch said that Allied Public Risk will be aligned with a major multinational insurance company to provide a market for all categories of public entities, "from the smallest to the largest," he explained. "We are assembling our team of experienced underwriters in regional offices around the country to provide a unique underwriting facility."  

Hirsch added that Allied Public Risk will offer a broad range of insurance coverages to the public sector, including general liability, commercial auto, property, police professional coverage, public officials' liability, employment practices liability, inland marine and cyber liability coverages.

"With an A XV financial strength rating, we're confident we will be able to compete successfully in all areas of the public entity insurance market," Hirsch said.

Hirsch most recently was senior vice president and chief operating officer at American Public Risk, an underwriting facility he organized where he developed a package insurance program tailored to small and mid-sized public sector risks. 

Prior to that, he was president of Arrowhead Public Risk, a division of Arrowhead General Insurance Agency, which he formed in 2000 to provide commercial package insurance products to tax-supported public entities.

He brings a wealth of experience to Allied Public Risk, having held senior executive positions with Executive Risk Insurance Company, Chubb & Son and Aon Specialty Group.

Aegis General Insurance Agency is a unit of K2 Insurance Services, LLC, a group of specialty insurance operations that also includes Aegis Insurance Company, Midwestern Insurance Alliance, Mission Select Insurance Services and Vikco Insurance Services Inc. K2 generated approximately $165 million in gross written premiums in 2013. Additional information is available at www.k2ins.com.

K2 was formed with the backing of private equity fund Endeavour Capital, based in Portland, Ore.  Additional information is available at www.endeavourcapital.com.

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SOURCE K2 Insurance Services, LLC