Minneapolis, MN September 23, 2004 - John B. Collins Associates, Inc., one of the world’s leading reinsurance intermediaries, today announced that Mike Larson has joined the firm as Senior Vice President / Chief Actuary in their Minneapolis headquarters.In his new role, Mr. Larson will be responsible for the management and continued development of Collins Property and Casualty actuarial practice. He brings more than 17 years of insurance industry experience to the company after most recently serving in a senior actuarial leadership capacity with St. Paul Travelers. Mr. Larson earned a B.

Mike is an outstanding senior addition to our group,” said Dan Bilot, Senior Vice President, Analytical Services. “He brings a wealth of experience and actuarial expertise to Collins which we’ll tap into to further enhance the breadth and depth of the services we provide to our clients.”"We’re very pleased to have Mike come on board to help us continue our growth,” said Pat Denzer, President and CEO of Collins Associates. “The expansion of our Analytical Services group enables us to better serve the needs of our expanding client base.”About Collins AssociatesJohn B.

Associates is one of the largest reinsurance intermediaries in the world, and consistently ranks among the fastest growing. The privately-held company provides reinsurance and risk transfer assistance along with associated analytical services including catastrophe modeling, dynamic financial analysis and actuarial services. Collins Associates is a leader in the property & casualty, life/accident & health and agriculture/crop reinsurance segments. The company operates eight offices across the U.S., in addition to London and Bermuda.