Maria Umbach, Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Individual

Markets

Andrea Csaszar, Vice President, Group Operations

Larry Hazzard, Vice President of Product and Marketing, Berkshire Life

    NEW YORK, June 7 /PRNewswire/ -- The Guardian Life Insurance Company of
 America (Guardian) today announced that Maria Umbach has joined its
 Individual Markets Division as Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer.
 Umbach joins Guardian from Prudential Financial where she served as Vice
 President, Life Insurance Product Marketing.
     As Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Individual Markets, Ms.
 Umbach is responsible for driving the growth of Guardian's life insurance
 business. Umbach will assume leadership over Individual Markets' products,
 marketing, and sales support strategy.
     "We are pleased to welcome Maria to our team," said Dave Allen, senior
 vice president, Individual Markets for Guardian. "With more than 20 years
 of experience in the insurance industry, Maria's diverse background and
 industry knowledge will be an asset to Guardian's Individual Markets
 division."
     Umbach is a member of The Association for Advanced Life Underwriting
 (AALU), The National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors
 (NAIFA) as well as the Society of Financial Service Professionals and Women
 in Insurance and Financial Services (WIFS). She holds both FLMI and CLU
 designations and Series 6 and 26 licenses.
     Andrea Csaszar has also joined Guardian as Vice President of Group
 Operations. Formerly of Prudential Financial where she served as Vice
 President, Operations and Systems, Csaszar brings extensive managerial and
 operations experience to her new post at Guardian. Csaszar will be
 responsible for all aspects of Guardian's Group Operations division.
     "Andrea's hire is part of our ongoing efforts to grow our Group
 business," said Rone Baldwin, executive vice president, Group Insurance.
 "Her extensive background in operations provides skilled leadership as we
 continue to deliver high quality, best-in-class products and services to
 brokers, small to midsize business owners, their employees and the
 communities that we serve."
     Additionally, Larry Hazzard has joined Berkshire Life Insurance Company
 of America (Berkshire), a wholly owned subsidiary of The Guardian Life
 Insurance Company of America (Guardian), as Vice President of Product and
 Marketing. Hazzard comes to Guardian from MassMutual where he served as
 Vice President, U.S. Insurance Group Product Portfolio Strategy and Life
 Marketing.
     In his new role, Hazzard is responsible for directing product research,
 development and sales support for all Berkshire product lines. Hazzard will
 also serve as head of Multi-life Disability Insurance and Long Term Care
 Insurance.
     "Larry brings a wealth of high-level marketing experience and is an
 invaluable addition to our leadership team as we continue to build our
 flagship Individual Disability Insurance, Multi-life and Long Term Care
 Insurance lines of business," said Joan Bancroft, president of Berkshire.
     About Guardian
     Founded in 1860, The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, New
 York, NY (Guardian) is one of the largest mutual life insurance companies
 in the United States. As of December 31, 2006, Guardian and its
 subsidiaries had $39.5 billion in assets (on a consolidated statutory
 basis). With more than 5,000 employees and 3,000 financial representatives,
 as well as more than 80 agencies nationwide, Guardian and its subsidiaries
 protect individuals, businesses, and their employees with life, disability,
 health, long-term care, and dental insurance products, and offer 401(k),
 annuities and other financial products and trust services. More information
 about Guardian can be obtained at: www.guardianlife.com.
     *Photos available upon request.
 
 

SOURCE The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America