reports.

Bermuda-based ACE Ltd. will identify its insurance and reinsurance products and services, together with its worldwide operations, under a new brand at the start of the new year.

A completely integrated marketing communications plan, including brand identity, advertising, media relations and interactive media will be rolled out in January.

ACE Insurance Co., Ltd. president and CEO Dominic Frederico said that the launch of a global ACE brand marked another milestone in the development of the company.

Just since last year ACE has established a major presence in the US market, opened an office in Dublin to target business in the European Union, formed one of the largest catastrophe reinsurers in the world and became the largest provider of capital in the Lloyd's market.

"We have a physical presence in the world's major insurance and reinsurance markets,'' Mr. Frederico said, "with plans to continue our expansion. We felt it was time to unify these operations under a common banner.'' In defining the global ACE brand, the insurer focused on the company's original and on-going business objective of providing solutions for clients where there previously were none.

"ACE was founded to meet unmet needs,'' said Mr. Frederico. "That's what we still do, but we have even greater capabilities through the ACE Group of Companies. We wanted to make sure that our brand position focused on our clients' needs rather than tout the company's attributes.

"Through extensive research and market analysis, we realised that we had an ideal opportunity to differentiate ACE from its competitors.

"The key findings of the research indicate that ACE has an excellent reputation among the brokers, risk managers and insureds with whom we currently do business. But we are expanding into new markets and new cultures and we decided that we needed a brand platform that will differentiate us from the competition and carry us through the continued growth that we expect to experience for some time to come.

"So we are building our integrated communications programme on this promise: we secure the success of our clients by making their earnings secure.

"In the final analysis, this is the ultimate benefit that we offer to our clients and this will differentiate and define the ACE brand.

"Our brand position is unique; no other company has actually made it a platform upon which to build its communications strategy.

"We feel that ACE's commitment to profitable underwriting, its standards for excellence and its talented staff add up to the right combination to consistently deliver on this brand promise.

"We want our clients to be able to view any of our individual offices around the world as an entryway to the full range of ACE services and people wherever they are located.'' ACE believes a unified identity and brand message will communicate to clients the scope of ACE's commitment to the markets it serves.

The initiative comes after an exhaustive effort from company personnel, including top executives who even considered a name change.

Said Mr. Frederico, "ACE is a common name. But we know that we are an uncommon company. And rather than change the name, which research confirmed has great equity among our current client base, we decided to use strategic communications and creative development to establish the ACE brand worldwide.

"We will, however, be changing the names of two of the ACE companies so that the application of the brand is consistent throughout the ACE Group: ACE Insurance Co., Ltd. will be called ACE Bermuda and ACE London at Lloyd's will be called ACE at Lloyd's.

"Tempest Re will adopt the new ACE logo and eventually its name will migrate to ACE Re. The ACE London Representative Office, which markets ACE Bermuda products to Europe and other parts of the world, will be called the ACE International Representative Office, to better represent the activities of that part of our organisation.'' The company has already begun to incorporate the new ACE brand, including the company's new logo, into the company's web site at www.ace.bm.

The site will be completely redeveloped by the spring of 1999 with interactive features for brokers, risk managers, insureds, analysts and the media. A new advertising campaign will be launched in January.

The brand will also be showcased during the ACE Group's sponsorship of the Senior PGA Tour event in Naples, Florida in February on ESPN.

THE ACE BRAND -- Ace Insurance Co., Ltd. president and CEO, Dominic Frederico, yesterday announced planned changes at the leading Bermuda insurer during a Press conference at the ACE Building on Pitts Bay Road.