Larry Illion to Lead CNA Small Business Unit.

CHICAGO -- CNA Financial Corporation (NYSE:CNA) announced that Larry Illion has joined CNA insurance companies as senior vice president of CNA Small Business, a $650 million business operation.

Prior to joining CNA, Mr. Illion served Travelers Insurance Company - most recently, as president and chief executive officer for its Select Accounts Division. Under his leadership, the division became a more than $2 billion small commercial operation. Prior to his responsibilities with Travelers, Mr. Illion held various positions of increasing responsibility with Reliance Insurance Company.

"Larry's experience and results-oriented leadership are certain to aggressively build our Small Business book - an important part of CNA's overall business strategy," said Tony DePadua, senior vice president, CNA Commercial Segments.

Last year, CNA re-affirmed its commitment to agents in small business through products and services focused on 'Main Street' businesses. The CNA Small Business cache of offerings includes CNA Central, the transaction-based Web site that enables agents to quote and issue offerings online; the Sales & Service Center that services small business accounts on behalf of agents, and its Small Business Program unit that develops and supports partnerships with agents in profitable program segments.

CNA is the country's seventh largest commercial insurance writer and the 14th largest property and casualty company. CNA's insurance products include standard commercial lines, specialty lines, surety, marine and other property and casualty coverages. CNA's services include risk management, information services, underwriting, risk control and claims administration. For more information, please visit CNA at www.cna.com. CNA is a registered service mark, trade name and domain name of CNA Financial Corporation.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT 

This press release includes statements which relate to anticipated future events (forward-looking statements) rather than actual present conditions or historical events. You can identify forward-looking statements because generally they include words such as "believes", "expects", "intends", "anticipates", "estimates", and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements, by their nature, are subject to a variety of inherent risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results projected. Many of these risks and uncertainties cannot be controlled by CNA. For a detailed description of these risks and uncertainties please refer to CNA's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, available at www.cna.com.

Any forward-looking statements made in this press release are made by CNA as of the date of this press release. CNA does not have any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement contained in this press release, even if CNA's expectations or any related events, conditions or circumstances change.