BATON ROUGE, La. (July 24, 2006) -- Louisiana Workers' Compensation Corporation (LWCC) has been named to the prestigious 2006 Ward's 50 Group, a distinction that recognizes the 50 top performing property and casualty insurers in America.  LWCC was selected from among more than 3,000 property-casualty insurance companies nationwide and has received the award for five consecutive years.

"The insurance industry today faces tremendous challenges including market pressures, expense management, technology, rising claim costs, compliance, legislation and more," said Jeff Rieder, president of Ward Group, in a July 18 news release. "The best companies often do things differently in order to set themselves apart from the competition. In particular, these companies maintain efficient operating models, meet the needs of customers and successfully execute their strategy."

The objective of Ward's analysis is to recognize the 50 companies that have excelled at balancing safety, consistency and performance, and then to benchmark their performance with the industry overall. Ward Group is acknowledged as the leading authority on insurance industry benchmarking.

"The fact that LWCC is in the top 2 percent of our industry nationwide and is the only Louisiana company to achieve this distinction speaks volumes about how we're achieving our mission to become a world-class company," said Kristin Wall, LWCC's president and chief executive officer. "We continue to strive for ways to improve ourselves so that we can provide the very best service to our policyholders, injured workers and agents."

Comparative benchmarking among peer companies can be used to analyze an insurer's operation, including its operating expenses, its profitability by line of business, and other specific attributes.

Ward Group, a Cincinnati-based management consulting firm specializing in the insurance industry, released the names of its winners and an in-depth analysis on July 18. The information also will appear in a feature story in the July 24 issue of National Underwriter magazine.  A complete list of the Ward's 50 benchmark group is located on the firm's Web site at www.wardinc.com.

About LWCC

LWCC (www.lwcc.com) is a private, nonprofit mutual insurance company.  It is the largest writer of workers' compensation insurance in Louisiana, covering about 23,000 policyholders. The company carries an "A" (Excellent) rating from A.M. Best.

About Ward Group

Ward Group (www.wardinc.com) is a management consulting firm specializing in the insurance industry. The Cincinnati-based firm is committed to providing accurate results, consistent reporting and trusted analysis of company performance including benchmarking, operational consulting and information services.  Since 1991, the firm has empowered companies with the knowledge to capitalize on strengths and overcome obstacles through its unique information resources and analysis.