Hallmark Financial Services Inc 's

The property/casualty insurance market, our primary source of revenue, is highly competitive and, except for regulatory considerations, has very few barriers to entry. According to A.M. Best, there were 3,059 property/casualty insurance companies and 2,089 property/casualty insurance groups operating in North America as of July 13, 2015. Our Standard Commercial P&C operating unit competes with a variety of large national standard commercial lines carriers such as Liberty Mutual Group, Travelers Companies, Inc., Cincinnati Financial Corporation and The Hartford Financial Services Group, as well as numerous smaller regional companies. The primary competition for the occupational accident insurance product offered by our Standard Commercial P&C unit includes such carriers as Great American Insurance Group, One Beacon Insurance Company, North American Insurance Company and Service Lloyds. The primary competition for our MGA Commercial Products operating unit includes such carriers as Atlantic Casualty Insurance Company, Colony Insurance Company, National Casualty Company, National Liability & Fire Insurance Company, Nationwide Specialty Insurance Company, Northland Insurance Company, and Progressive County Mutual. Our Specialty Commercial operating unit considers its primary competition for our excess & umbrella and general liability insurance products to include such carriers as American International Group, Inc., First Mercury Insurance Company, Axis Insurance Company, XL Specialty Insurance, Navigators, and W.R. Berkley Corporation and, to a lesser extent, a number of national standard lines carriers such as Travelers Companies, Inc. and Liberty Mutual Group. The primary competitors for our general aviation insurance products produced by our Specialty Commercial operating unit are Phoenix Aviation Managers, Starr Aviation, Chartis, United States Specialty Insurance Company, W. Brown & Company, United States Aircraft Insurance Group, Global Aerospace and Allianz Aviation Managers. The primary competition for the medical professional liability insurance products produced by our Specialty Commercial operating unit are Admiral Insurance Company, Catlin Insurance Company, CNA Financial Corporation, Evanston Insurance Company, Kinsale Insurance Company, Lexington Insurance Company, ProAssurance Corporation, RSUI Group and TDC Companies. The primary competition for our primary/excess commercial property insurance products includes such carriers as ACE Westchester, Aspen Insurance, Axis Insurance Company, Endurance Specialty Holdings, Ltd., Liberty Insurance Underwriters and Markel Insurance Company. Although our Specialty Personal Lines operating unit competes with large national insurers such as Allstate Corporation, GEICO Corporation and Progressive Insurance Company, as a participant in the non-standard personal automobile marketplace its competition is most directly associated with numerous regional companies and managing general agencies. Our competitors include entities that have, or are affiliated with entities that have, greater financial and other resources than we have.