Exhibit 99







                                              CONTACT:
                                              Dennis Milewski, (860) 722-5567

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

                    HSB GROUP UNITES ALL INSURANCE OPERATIONS
                              UNDER NORMAND MERCIER

HARTFORD, Conn., June 16, 2000 -- HSB Group, Inc. (NYSE-HSB) announced today the
unification of all insurance operations under Normand Mercier.  Mercier has been
appointed to the newly  created  position of chief global  insurance  officer of
HSB.

This action  combines all of HSB Group's  commercial  and large account  special
risk insurance businesses worldwide.

"Norm is a strong and disciplined  manager with the energy and broad  experience
to lead our  global  insurance  business,"  said  Richard  H.  Booth,  chairman,
president and chief executive officer of HSB Group.  "Under his leadership,  our
U.S. commercial operations have continued their strong growth and profitability.
He is  extraordinarily  competent  and driven to improve the  profitability  and
competitive position of our insurance businesses."

"We have a number of key  goals in  unifying  our  insurance  operations,"  said
Mercier.  "First and foremost is to maximize the  profitability and productivity
of our global insurance business.  We also see opportunities to better align our
people with the needs of our customers and more fully leverage HSB's engineering
skills to prevent or reduce loss."

Mercier will lead the U.S.  commercial  division of HSB which provides equipment
breakdown  insurance  to more than one million  businesses  and the U.S.  energy
division  of HSB that  insures  power  generation  facilities  and  select  oil,
chemical  and gas  industries.  He will also  manage HSB  Engineering  Insurance
Limited,  headquartered in London,  that insures industries in 90 countries,  as
well as The  Boiler  Inspection  and  Insurance  Company  of  Canada  and  other
insurance subsidiaries.

Mercier most recently was senior vice president of HSB Group, Inc.,  responsible
for the U.S. commercial insurance operations,  a position he assumed in November
1998.  Prior to joining HSB Group,  Mercier was president and general manager of
The Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company of Canada (BI&I).

Under his guidance,  BI&I  consistently  produced strong  underwriting  results,
while growing revenues and achieving productivity gains.

Mercier, a native of Canada, is a fellow, with honors of the Insurance Institute
of Canada  and holds a  bachelor's  of science  degree  from the  University  of
Montreal.

HSB Group,  Inc., the parent company of The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and
Insurance  Company,  is a  global  provider  of  specialty  insurance  products,
engineering  services  and  management  consulting.  The  Hartford  Steam Boiler
Inspection and Insurance  Company was founded in 1866 to provide loss prevention
service and insurance to businesses, industries and institutions.

This news release contains forward-looking  statements within the meaning of the
Private  Securities  Litigation  Reform  Act  of  1995,  that  are  management's
estimates,  assumptions  and  projections  and  are  not  guarantees  of  future
performance.  Forward-looking  statements  involve  known and unknown  risks and
uncertainties.  These and other important factors,  including those mentioned in
various  Securities and Exchange  Commission  filings made  periodically  by the
company,  may cause the  company's  actual  results  and  performance  to differ
materially. Investors and prospective investors should read this news release in
conjunction  with the  company's  most  recent  Form  10-K,  Form 10-Q and other
documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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