CALGARY, April 28, 2005

Calgary-based Alpine Insurance & Financial has been named one of Canada's top forty Property & Casualty insurance brokers in 2004, according to the April 2005 issue of The Insurance Journal.

The Insurance Journal rankings are based on total Property and Casualty premiums. With $22,000,000 in premium volume in 2004, Alpine ranked Number 39 in Canada.

Alpine acquired three brokerages in 2004 to add to its flagship brokerage, Alpine Insurance Inc, in Canmore. Dadswell Forster in Lethbridge, Wiseman Coupland in Red Deer, and Garnet Dadswell in Edmonton joined the Alpine family last year, boosting the total number of branches to four, and the number of brokers to 33. An office in Calgary is planned for the second quarter of 2005.

Alpine's business model is to focus on the economic heartland of Alberta, taking advantage of the deep roots that the brokerages have with local businesses and positioning the company as "Albertans' choice".

"There is nobody else building an Alberta choice business model," says Alpine's President, Ken Hughes.

Hughes will also add financial services distribution to the insurance mix, working with his strategic partner, ING Insurance of Canada.

Hughes believes that insurance brokers must be more than order-takers. Brokers must understand the financial needs of their clients, knowledgably offer a wider range of products, and get out into their communities to know their market and clients.

"That is one of the defining characteristics of what I am doing differently," says Hughes.

Ken Hughes is the former Member of Parliament for Macleod riding in southern Alberta (1988-1993) and was the Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister (Jean Charest). He has extensive experience in international trade, sits on several corporate and volunteer boards, and is active in Southern Alberta's business communities.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
Ken Hughes: 403 777-3580