Ace Insurance Makes New Senior Appointments

Ace Insurance Makes New Senior Management Appointments

Auckland – 31 January 2006 – ACE Insurance, a leader in the global insurance and reinsurance industry, has appointed Michael Poole to the position of Managing Director, following Scott Pickering’s appointment to CEO of ACE Insurance, South Africa.

Michael has held a number of senior positions with ACE Insurance, and its predecessor CIGNA Insurance New Zealand Limited. He was General Manager of ACE’s Thailand operation, before returning to New Zealand in April 2005 to take up the position of Northern Regional Manager. Michael was Southern Regional Manager at ACE in New Zealand from 1999-2001, when he moved to Australia to become Southern Region Casualty Manager and later State Manager for ACE’s Queensland operation.

Matthew Noy has been appointed to the position of Northern Regional Manager. Matthew has over 15 years experience in the insurance industry in both New Zealand and Australia. He joins the ACE team from Pacific Retail Services, where he was responsible for establishing and managing its insurance subsidiary, Simply Insurance New Zealand Ltd. Matthew has also held senior positions at Insurance Australia Group, Zurich Financial Services Australia, and QBE Insurance (International) Ltd and HIH Casualty & General Insurance (NZ) Ltd. He also spent much of his early career as an insurance broker.

Paul Venning, CEO ACE Australia and New Zealand said:

“Our New Zealand team has worked hard over the past year to make it easier for our brokers to do business with us. We have opened an office in Christchurch and established a Northern Region to meet the needs of the market in these areas. I have every confidence that Mike, and the New Zealand management team, will continue to develop our business by focusing on enhancing our product range and service delivery to ensure that we deliver the products and services that brokers and their clients want and expect.”

Scott Pickering, departing Managing Director of ACE New Zealand said:

“Our key focus in 2005 was to build stronger partnerships with our brokers. Mike has had a significant impact on our success in this regard. I am sure he will continue to champion the development of tools and processes which help us to enhance our service to our clients. Mike is supported by a fantastic team of people and I believe that ACE is well positioned for growth in 2006”.

The ACE Group of Companies is a global leader in insurance and reinsurance serving a diverse group of clients. Headed by ACE Limited (NYSE: ACE), a component of the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index, the ACE Group conducts its business on a worldwide basis with operating subsidiaries in more than 50 countries. ACE has been operating in New Zealand for six years although its roots here date back to the 1920’s. ACE offers broker-based corporate and commercial, property and casualty business, group personal accident and corporate travel products tailored to clients’ needs. New Zealand clients range from small businesses through to corporates and multinational concerns.

Additional information can be found at http://www.acelimited.com or at http://www.aceinsurance.co.nz

###

© Scoop Media