(Bloomberg) — Ace Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Evan Greenberg said the insurer's formula for integrating companies gives him confidence that he can handle risks in emerging markets, even as he faulted Brazilian leaders for “lousy” economic policies.
The insurer relies on what Greenberg called a “cookbook” to guide risk-management, compliance and auditing decisions as it grows through acquisitions, he said. The Zurich-based insurer plans to buy Itau Unibanco Holding SA's high-risk insurance business in a Brazil deal announced July 4 for about $685 million, and also expanded in nations such as Mexico and Thailand.
“You grow where the opportunity is and where the need is the greatest,” Greenberg said today on a conference call. “Of course there is risk around this.”
Greenberg was responding to a remark from Cliff Gallant, an analyst at Nomura Holdings Inc., that it seems like it would be difficult to “execute on those deals long-term” in Brazil and Thailand. The CEO was asked separately in the call about the prospects for Brazil's economy, and responded that he was thinking about the long term when he made the Itau deal.
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