RESTRICTED SHARE AGREEMENT

Exhibit 10.4

RESTRICTED SHARE AGREEMENT

This Restricted Share Agreement is made as of the <<DATE>>, between ARGO GROUP INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS, LTD. (the “Company”), and <<NAME>> (the “Participant”).

R E C I T A L S

A. The Company’s [2007 // 2014] Long-Term Incentive Plan (the “Plan”) provides for the granting of restricted share grants consisting of Common Shares of the Company.

B. Pursuant to the Plan, the administration of the Plan has been delegated to the Human Resources Committee of the Board of Directors of the Company (the “Committee”).

C. Pursuant to the Plan, the Committee has determined that it is in the best interest of the Company and its stockholders to make a restricted share grant to the Participant covering a defined amount of Common Shares (the “target grant” or “grant at target”) of the Company and has approved the execution of this Restricted Share Agreement (the “Agreement”) between the Company and the Participant, contingent upon achievement of performance goals and thresholds (the “Performance Matrix”), if any, set forth in Exhibit A hereto, as an inducement to remain in the employ of the Company and as an incentive for increased effort during such service, and has approved the execution of this Agreement between the Company and the Participant. The amount of the target grant may be adjusted upwards or downwards based on the criteria set forth in Exhibit A to determine the final amount of the award prior to issuance (the “adjusted grant”).

A G R E E M E N T

NOW, THEREFORE, the parties hereto agree as follows:

1. The Company hereby makes a restricted share grant to the Participant, on the terms and conditions hereinafter set forth, in the a target grant amount <<# GRANTED>>Common Shares (the “Shares”) of the Company, subject to the achievement of the performance matrix set forth in Exhibit A hereto, if any.

2. Participant shall not be deemed vested in or to have earned the Shares and shall not have any of the rights or privileges of a stockholder of the Company in respect of the Shares until such Shares have vested (such Shares being referred to as “Vested Shares”) as hereinafter provided. Until Shares become Vested Shares, the Company shall not issue certificates representing such Shares. The adjusted grant shall become Vested Shares according to the following schedule, provided that on each indicated date for vesting the Participant remains an employee of the Company or a subsidiary corporation (as defined in Section 424(f) of the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”)):

In the event that the Participant ceases for any reason (other than as indicated in Section 5 below) to be an employee of the Company or any subsidiary corporation of the Company prior to an indicated date for vesting, then all Shares which had not theretofore become Vested Shares shall automatically be forfeited and returned to the Company.

3. Notwithstanding the vesting [provisions // schedule] set forth in Section 2, all shares subject to this grant shall become [Vested Shares in full simultaneous with and contingent upon the occurrence of a Change in Control // immediately vested and exercisable if within twelve (12) months after the occurrence of a Change in Control, Participant’s employment is involuntarily terminated by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries for any reason other than Cause (as hereinafter defined) or Participant’s death or disability, or Participant’s voluntarily termination of his or her employment with the Company and all Subsidiaries for Good Reason within sixty (60) days after the occurrence of the event giving rise to such Good Reason]. For purposes of this Agreement, “Change in Control” shall have the meaning given to that term from time to time in the Plan.

4. Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the contrary, the Company shall have the right to repurchase Shares from the Participant by providing written notice to the Participant not less than ten (10) days prior to the date on which such Shares would otherwise become Vested Shares. The purchase price shall be paid in cash in an amount equal to the fair market value (as hereinafter defined) of the Shares to be repurchased on the date that such shares would otherwise become Vested Shares.

5. For purposes of this Agreement, the “fair market value” of a common share of the Company shall be determined by reference to the closing price of such share on the principal stock exchange on which the common shares of the Company are then listed or, if such shares are not listed on an exchange, by reference to the closing price (if a National Market Issue) or the mean between the bid and asked price (if other over-the-counter issue) of a share as supplied by the National Association of Securities Dealers through NASDAQ (or its successor in function), in each case as reported by The Wall Street Journal, on the applicable day, or if such day is not a business day, for the business day immediately preceding such date (or, if for any reason no such price is available, in such other manner as the Committee may deem appropriate to reflect the then fair market value thereof).

6. Notwithstanding the vesting provisions set forth in Section 2 of this Agreement, the Shares of the Participant shall become Vested Shares in full in the event that the Participant’s termination of employment is due to death or disability (within the meaning of Plan). In addition, for purposes of said Section 2, the employment of the Participant shall be deemed to continue during any leave of absence which has been authorized by the Company, unless the Committee makes a different or contrary determination.

7. No Shares shall be issued and delivered unless and until there shall have been full compliance with all applicable requirements of the United States Securities Act of 1933, all applicable listing requirements of any national securities exchange on which shares of the same class are then listed and any other requirements of law or of any regulatory bodies having jurisdiction over such issuance and delivery.

8. In connection with each vesting of Shares in accordance with this Agreement, or at any other time that the Company is required to make withholding under applicable tax law, the Company shall have the right to require Participant or Participant’s legal successor in interest to pay the Company the amount of taxes, if any, which the Company may be required to withhold with respect to such Shares. The Company shall have the right, without the Participant’s prior approval or direction, to satisfy such withholding tax by withholding all or any part of the Shares that would otherwise become Vested Shares, with any Shares so withheld to be valued at the fair market value of the Common Share on the date of such withholding. Any Shares withheld to satisfy this obligation will not exceed the minimum statutory withholding requirement. The Participant, with the consent of the Company, may satisfy such withholding tax (i) in cash or certified or cashier’s check payable to the order of the Company, or (ii) by having the Company withhold Shares that would otherwise become Vested Shares, with any Shares so withheld to be valued at the fair market value of the Common Share on the date of such withholding, or any combination thereof.

9. Shares that are the subject of this grant, and the rights and privileges pertaining thereto, shall not be transferred, assigned, pledged or hypothecated in any way, whether by operation of the law or otherwise, except by will or the laws of descent and distribution; provided, that the foregoing restriction on transfer shall cease to apply as and to the extent that the Shares become Vested Shares. Upon any attempt so to transfer, assign, pledge, hypothecate or otherwise dispose of Shares contrary to the provisions hereof, this Agreement and all rights and privileges contained herein shall immediately become null and void and of no further force or effect.

10. If the outstanding common shares of the Company are increased, decreased, changed into, or exchanged for a different number or kind of shares or securities of the Company through reorganization, recapitalization, reclassification, stock dividend, stock split or reverse stock split, or other similar transaction, an appropriate and proportionate adjustment (to be conclusively determined by the Committee) shall be made in the number and kind of securities subject to this Agreement.

Upon the dissolution or liquidation of the Company, or upon a reorganization, merger or consolidation of the Company with one or more corporations as a result of which the Company is not the surviving corporation, or upon the sale of substantially all the assets or more than 80% of the then outstanding stock of the Company to another corporation, this Agreement shall terminate (except to the extent shares have vested, including, without limitation, giving effect to the acceleration provisions of Section 3 hereof) unless express written provision be made in connection with such transaction for (i) the assumption of this Agreement or the substitution therefore of a new restricted share award covering the stock of a successor employer corporation, or a parent or subsidiary thereof, with appropriate adjustments as to number and kind of securities, such adjustments to be conclusively determined by the Committee; (ii) the continuance of the Plan by such successor corporation in which event this Agreement shall remain in full effect under the terms so provided; or (iii) the payment in cash or stock in lieu of and in complete satisfaction of the restricted stock award evidenced by this Agreement.

Adjustments under this Section 10 shall be made by the Committee, whose determination as to what adjustments shall be made, and the extent thereof shall be final, binding and conclusive. No fractional shares of stock shall be issued under the Plan on any such adjustment.

11. Neither the Participant nor any other person legally entitled to the benefits hereof shall be entitled to any of the rights or privileges of a stockholder of the Company in respect of any of the Shares unless and until a certificate or certificates representing such Shares shall have been actually issued and delivered to him.

12. Confidential Information.

a. The Company shall disclose to the Participant, or place the Participant in a position to have access to or develop, trade secrets or confidential information of the Company or its Affiliates (as defined below); and/or shall entrust the Participant with business opportunities of the Company or its Affiliates; and/or shall place the Participant in a position to develop business good will on behalf of the Company or its Affiliates.

b. The Participant acknowledges that during his employment with the Company he occupies a position of trust and confidence and agrees that he shall treat as confidential and shall not, without prior written authorization from the Company, directly or indirectly, disclose or make known to any person or use for his own benefit or gain, the methods, process or manner of accomplishing the business undertaken by the Company or its Affiliates, or any non-public information, plans, formulas, products, trade secrets, marketing or merchandising strategies, or confidential material or information and instructions, technical or otherwise, issued or published for the sole use of the Company, or information which is disclosed to the Participant or in any acquired by him during his employment with the Company, or any information concerning the present or future business, processes, or methods of operation of the Company or its Affiliates, or concerning improvement, inventions or know how relating to the same or any part thereof, it being the intent of the Company, with which intent the Participant hereby agrees, to restrict him from disseminating or using for his own benefit any information belonging directly or indirectly to the Company which is unpublished and not readily available to the general public (collectively, “Confidential Information”).

c. The confidentiality obligations set forth in (a) and (b) of this Section 12 shall apply during the Participant’s employment by the Company and indefinitely thereafter.

d. All information, ideas, concepts, improvements, discoveries, and inventions, whether patentable or not, that are conceived, made, developed or acquired by the Participant, individually or in conjunction with others, during the Participant’s employment with the Company (whether during business hours or otherwise and whether on the premises of the Company or an Affiliate or otherwise) that relate to the business, products or services of the Company or any Affiliate shall be disclosed to the Board and are and shall be the sole and exclusive property of the Company or such Affiliate. Moreover, all documents, drawings, memoranda, notes, records, files, correspondence, manuals, models, specifications, computer programs, e-mail, voice mail, electronic data bases, maps and all other writings and materials of any type embodying any such information, ideas, concepts, improvements, discoveries and inventions are and shall be the sole and exclusive property of the Company. Upon termination of the Participant’s employment for any reason, the Participant promptly shall deliver the same, and all copies thereof, to the Company.

e. If, during the Participant’s employment by the Company, the Participant creates any work of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression that is the subject matter of copyright (such as video tapes, written presentations, or acquisitions, computer programs, e-mail, voice mail, electronic data bases, drawings, maps, architectural renditions, models, manuals, brochures or the like) relating to the Company’s business, products or services, whether such work is created solely by the Participant or jointly with others (whether during business hours or otherwise and whether on the Company’s premises or otherwise), the Company shall be deemed the author of such work if the work is prepared by the Participant in the scope of the Participant’s employment.

13. Non-Solicitation

a. For the purposes of this Section, the following words have the following meanings:

i. “Affiliate” means, with respect to any individual or a corporation, partnership, trust, incorporated or unincorporated association, joint venture, limited liability company, joint stock company, government (or an agency or political subdivision thereof) or other entity of any kind (each a “person”), any other person that directly or indirectly controls or is controlled by or under common control with such person. For the purposes of this definition, “control” when used with respect to any person, means the possession, direct or indirect, of the power to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of such person, whether through the ownership of voting securities, by contract or otherwise; and the terms of “affiliated”, “controlling” and “controlled” have meanings correlated to the foregoing.

ii. “Company Services” means any services (including but not limited to technical and product support, technical advice, underwriting and customer services) supplied by the Company or its Affiliates in the specialty property and/or casualty insurance business.

iii. “Confidential Information” has the meaning ascribed thereto in Section 12.

iv. “Customer” means any person or firm or company or other organization whatsoever to whom or which the Company supplied Company Services during the Restricted Period and with whom or which, during the Restricted Period: (x) the Participant had material personal dealings pursuant to his employment, or (y) any employee who was under the direct or indirect supervision of the Participant had material personal dealings pursuant to his or her employment.

v. “Prospective Customer” means any person or firm or company or other organization whatsoever with whom or which the Company or its Affiliates shall have had negotiations or material discussions regarding the possible distribution, sale or supply of Company Services during the Restricted Period and with whom or which during such period: (x) the Participant shall have had material personal dealings pursuant to his employment, or (y) any employee who was under the direct or indirect supervision of the Participant shall have had material personal dealings pursuant to his or her employment, or (z) the Participant was directly responsible in a client management capacity on behalf of the Company.

vi. “Restricted Employee” means any person who on the date of the Participant’s termination of employment by the Company was at the level of director, manager, underwriter or salesperson with whom the Participant had material contact or dealings in the course of his employment during the Restricted Period;

vii. “Restricted Period” means the period of twelve months ending on the last day of the Participant’s employment with the Company or, in the event that no duties were assigned to the Participant, the twelve months immediately preceding the last day on which the Participant carried out any duties for the Company.

b. The Participant recognizes that, while performing his duties for the Company, he will have access to and come into contact with trade secrets and Confidential Information belonging to the Company and its Affiliates and will obtain personal knowledge of and influence over its or their customers and/or employees. The Participant therefore agrees that the restrictions set out in this Section 13 are reasonable and necessary to protect the legitimate business interests of the Company and its Affiliates both during and after the termination of his employment.

c. The Participant hereby undertakes with the Company that he shall not during his employment with the Company and for the period of twelve months after he ceases to be employed by the Company for any reason, whether the termination is by the Company, by the Participant, due to Disability, without the prior written consent of the Company, whether by himself, through his employers or employees or agents or otherwise, howsoever and whether on his own behalf or on behalf of any other person, firm, company or other organization directly or indirectly:

d. This Section 13 shall be for the benefit of the Company and each of its Affiliates and the Company reserves the right to assign the benefit of such provisions to any of its Affiliates, in addition such provisions also apply as though there were substituted for references to “the Company” references to each of its Affiliates in relation to which the Participant has in the course of his duties for the Company or by reason of rendering services to or holding office in such Affiliate: (x) acquired knowledge of its trade secrets or Confidential Information; or (y) had material personal dealings with its Customers or Prospective Customers; or (z) supervised directly or indirectly employees having material personal dealings with its Customers or Prospective Customers but so that references in this Section 13 to “the Company” shall for this purpose be deemed to be replaced by references to the relevant Affiliate. The obligations undertaken by the Participant pursuant to this Section 13 shall, with respect to each Affiliate of the Company, constitute a separate and distinct covenant and the invalidity or unenforceability of any such covenant shall not affect the validity or enforceability of the covenants in favor of any other Affiliate or the Company.

e. While the restrictions in this Section 13 (on which the Participant has had the opportunity to take independent advice, as the Participant hereby acknowledges) are considered by the parties to be reasonable in all the circumstances, it is agreed that if any such restrictions, by themselves, or taken together, shall be adjudged to go beyond what is reasonable in all the circumstances for the protection of the legitimate interests of the Company or its Affiliates but would be adjudged reasonable if part or parts of the wording thereof were deleted, the relevant restriction or restrictions shall apply with such deletion(s) as may be necessary to make it or them valid and effective.

14. The restricted share award granted hereby is subject to, and the Company and the Participant agree to be bound by, all of the terms and conditions of the Company’s [2007 // 2014] Long-Term Incentive Plan, as the same shall be amended from time to time in accordance with the terms thereof, but no such amendment shall adversely affect the Participant’s rights under this grant without the prior written consent of Participant. The terms of the Plan are incorporated into and form part of this Agreement.

15. Miscellaneous.

a. No Representations or Warranties. Neither the Company nor the Committee or any of their representatives or agents has made any representations or warranties to the Participant with respect to the income tax or other consequences of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, and the Participant is in no manner relying on the Company, the Committee or any of their representatives or agents for an assessment of such tax or other consequences.

b. No Employment Guarantee. Nothing in this Agreement nor in the Plan nor in the making of the Award shall confer on the Participant any right to or guarantee of continued employment with the Company or any of its subsidiaries or in any way limit the right of the Company or any of its subsidiaries to terminate the employment of the Participant at any time.

c. Necessary Acts. The Participant and the Company hereby agree to perform any further acts and to execute and deliver any documents which may be reasonably necessary to carry out the provisions of this Agreement.

d. Binding Effect; Applicable Law. This Agreement shall bind and inure to the benefit of the Company and its successors and assigns, and the Participant and any heir, legatee, or legal representative of the Participant. This Agreement shall be interpreted under and governed by and constructed in accordance with the laws of Texas.

e. Administration. The authority to manage and control the operation and administration of this Agreement shall be vested in the Committee, and the Committee shall have all powers with respect to this Agreement as it has with respect to the Plan. Any interpretation of the Agreement by the Committee and any decision made by it with respect to the Agreement are final and binding.