By Isha Marathe

April 28 - (The Insurer) - Distinguished Programs has hired Miguel Ferreira and Brian Peters from Intact to lead its new commercial surety program, which is backed by a subsidiary of Core Specialty Insurance Holdings.

The commercial surety division will offer customized bonding solutions for a wide range of industries.

Ferreira is former senior vice president of commercial surety at Intact and Peters is former senior underwriter of surety at Intact.

Ferreira, who will be president of the program, has over 25 years of experience in the industry. Before his nearly 13-year tenure at Intact, he held roles at Ace USA and Marsh.

Peters has nearly two decades of experience in the industry. Before Intact, he held roles at OneBeacon Insurance Group, Willis Towers Watson and Sports Authority.

Steve Sitterly, chief operating officer at Distinguished, said Ferreira is a "standout leader in the surety industry with the experience, vision, and relationships to build a top-tier commercial surety operation."

The new commercial surety division will be backed by American Surety, a wholly owned subsidiary of Core Specialty, which also supports Distinguished’s contract surety unit.

The surety program complements Distinguished’s portfolio of specialty insurance offerings, which includes programs for fine art and collectibles, environmental, real estate, community associations, hospitality, restaurants, executive lines and inland marine.

Earlier in April, Distinguished Programs launched a business owner’s policy program for restaurants, with the new offering backed by capacity from an unnamed A-plus XV rated admitted carrier.