Evan Greenberg: Clients Know ACE Is Honorable

By Michael Ha

NU Online News Service, Oct. 27, 4:15 p.m. EDT? ACE Ltd. Chief Executive Evan Greenberg said today that his company is not "distracted" by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's bid-rigging investigation and that most Ace customers know that his company is "honorable, well-intentioned and driven to serve them."[@@]

Mr. Greenberg, speaking during an analysts conference call, declined to specify how much premiums the insurer won through Placement Service Agreements. Mr. Spitzer in a civil suit has alleged that the fees involved in those agreements were in essence kickbacks paid to reward the Marsh Inc. brokerage for rigging bids and sending business Ace's way at inflated rates.

"I don't want to go into the question of how much premiums we had?frankly I don't have that answer. I don't want to go down that path," said Mr. Greenberg.

He also said Ace didn't have a different standard of profitability for businesses from Marsh or businesses won through Placement Service Agreements.

When asked whether he has seen or expects a customer backlash from the bid-rigging probe, Mr. Greenberg said he is not going to be "arrogant enough to say that there won't be any customers who will be disturbed by what they see."

But, he said, "I think our customers in the main know that we are honorable, well-intentioned and driven to serve them, and if there have been any aberrant behavior, illegal, improper or otherwise, I believe it is restricted to a very small number within our organization. I believe our customers will understand that."

Mr. Greenberg also chuckled at a question posed by Goldman Sachs analyst Tom Cholnoky, who asked whether the millions of dollars in Placement Service Agreements that usually go to brokers could now be added to the company's income beginning next year. "You caught me flat-footed," Mr. Greenberg said.

He added, "I am going to punt on that one right now." He hinted the issue could be addressed when Ace gives the 2005 earnings guidance during the next earnings call towards the end of the year. But he suggested those Placement Service Agreements dollars would not simply be added to the income.

When asked, "Does that imply that you think brokers will get it one way or another?" he said, "Brokers are a clever animal?don't underestimate them."

Last year, Ace paid $61 million in PSA compensation globally. Out of this $61 million, roughly $38.5 million was paid to Marsh globally, and of this, $21.5 million was in the United States. But last week, the company said it is ending such payment arrangements.

Regarding the impact that Mr. Spitzer's bid-rigging investigation and the end of contingency-fee payments could have on the insurance sector, he said he wouldn't be surprised if there was a movement among brokers to try to push up commissions on the front-end. But, there could also be more competition among brokers which could push down commissions.

Mr. Greenberg addressed these issues prior to discussing the ACE quarterly results in the conference call. For the third quarter, ACE reported a $3 million net loss as the after-tax charge of $406 million from hurricane and typhoon losses took their toll. In comparison, ACE had net income of $355 million during the year-ago quarter.

Bermuda-based ACE has been in the public spotlight as one of the four insurers named Mr. Spitzer's lawsuit against Marsh Inc. brokerage parent, Marsh & McLennan.

"You are all aware of the lawsuit filed by the New York AG against Marsh Mac and Marsh Inc.," said Mr. Greenberg. "Ace is one of several companies referenced in the lawsuit but was not named as a defendant. The Attorney General's investigation is ongoing?we've been cooperating with the AG's office since its investigation began several months ago, and we will continue to fully cooperate."

Mr. Greenberg also said Ace's independent internal investigation led by Mary Jo White, the former Manhattan U.S. Attorney now with the Debevoise & Plimpton law firm, is moving ahead as planned.

To date, Ace has identified instances of improper conduct in one unit of Ace U.S.A., the excess-casualty unit, Mr. Greenberg said.

"One employee in that unit has pleaded guilty to a criminal misdemeanor in connection with bid-rigging activities. Because the investigations are continuing, I am not going to comment further at this time.

"We just don't have all the facts yet?but we are gathering the facts as quickly as possible, and we will act upon them as necessary."

"Bid-rigging is a clearly illegal conduct. But past that, I am not going to speculate as to how the industry practices would be affected by the Attorney General's investigation," Mr. Greenberg said. He added that, "we as an industry and as a company are just at the beginning of this dialogue with the New York AG and regulators."

Regarding the Ace third-quarter results, the company said that without storm losses and excluding one-time items, it would have earned $437 million, better than the $339 million posted a year ago.

Ace's combined ratio for the quarter was 105.2, compared with 89.6 the year before.

Gross premiums written during the third quarter were $3.98 billion, up from $3.45 billion last year. "It was a difficult financial quarter for the property-casualty industry and ACE was no exception. This was perhaps the most expensive quarter in the industry's history for natural catastrophes," Mr. Greenberg said. He added that he was satisfied with the quarterly results considering these unprecedented catastrophe events.

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Evan Greenberg: Clients Know ACE Is Honorable

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