Taking Stock

February 24, 2010

Lessons Learned in 20 Years of Serving the Commercial Insurance Industry

by Blake Stock, CEO

This month several of our employees reached a milestone that is truly extraordinary – 20 years of
continuous employment with Combined Group. I want to extend my heartfelt congratulations to:

• Doris Van Horn,
• Mark Van Horn,
• Ken Dahl and
• Scott Talley for achieving this remarkable feat!

Whether your interaction with our company puts you in direct contact with any of these people,
rest assured their contributions go a long way toward making your experience with our company more productive and enjoyable.

Doris handles our front desk reception, Ken is manager of our Nonsubscription department, and Scott helps us stay ahead of the industry in software advances in our Quantum Systems division. Mark is president of Quantum Systems. I extend my personal congratulations to each of these outstanding associates, along with the thanks of our entire staff.

Focus on Strengths Trumps Economic Adversity

We have relied heavily on the leadership of these four people – and all of the Combined staff – to emerge from the past two trying years. I think there is little doubt 2008 and 2009 go on record as two of the most challenging years for our industry.

It's a cliché to say this has been a character-building experience, but it happens to be the truth.

One of the biggest lessons we have learned is that difficult times make it even more important to maintain a focus on our core strengths – our agents and our employees. We have done that, and you have rewarded us for our efforts. For that we are humbled and grateful.

Lessons Learned

By definition, Combined Group is a business-to-business, or "B2B" company. Like you, and
everyone else, we are in the people business. No matter the titles and responsibilities, it's people who make decisions, not faceless corporations.

In the past 20 years we have learned some awfully good lessons about the best way to run our business. Several come to mind:

• Great business relationships are built by doing what's right for the customer, over and over.
• Repeat business is the best kind: it's more efficient and affirming, and it must be earned.
• Always look for ways to make it easier for customers to do business with you.
• Candor is essential; it gets more people involved, and it fosters clarity and inclusion, which encourages people to put their ideas forward.
• Different perspectives from employees and customers regarding the best ways to do business are not only welcome, they are vital.

New and Improved

The past several months have been extremely productive for Combined. We're pleased to now offer you expanded markets, coverages and services, including:

• Exclusive mono-line property program with Lloyd's London in QuoteExpress
• New Nonsubscriber trucking program with Employers Liability coverage
• Access to four new Excess & Surplus markets (Catlin, ICAT, Max Specialty, CNA E&S) for Middle Market Brokerage placements
• Adding 48 states to PremiumFinanceExpress
• Instant Phone Quotes for Professional Lines, Specialty Products and Multi-Line Products
• Addition of the Liberty markets of America First, Golden Eagle, Colorado Casualty,
  Peerless and Montgomery to RealTimeExpress and AgentDirectExpress

In October we moved into our new offices at 14785 Preston Road, Dallas, Texas. We’re quite proud of the new “digs.” You are always welcome to come by for a visit, and we hope to be seeing you soon. Very special thanks goes to Scott Talley for his tremendous efforts in making this a seamless event for you and for our staff.

The coming decade is certain to present opportunities and challenges. We realize that economies remain uncertain but we feel that we’re in a tremendously strong position. Our markets are strong, our innovation is expanding and our team is experienced and passionate to serve. We look forward to continuing our growth with you. And, as always, thank you for choosing Combined.

Thank you,

Blake