Our History

ACE was established in 1985 by 34 founding sponsors to provide hard-to-find excess liability and directors and officers coverage.

Since then, ACE has evolved from a monoline excess insurer owned by its policyholders to a global publicly traded insurance company and one of the world's leading providers of commercial property and casualty insurance.

Scroll down to see some of the milestones in ACE's history or explore the ACE interactive timeline.

2013

• ACE acquires Mexican personal lines insurer ABA Seguros.
• ACE acquires Mexican surety lines company Fianzas Monterrey.

2012

• ACE acquires 80% of general and personal lines insurer Asuransi Jaya Proteksi in Indonesia.
• ACE opens an office in Ukraine.

2011

• ACE acquires New York Life’s Korea and Hong Kong operations.
• ACE acquires agribusiness insurer Penn Millers.
• ACE acquires general insurer Rio Guayas in Ecuador.

2010

• ACE acquires the crop insurance provider Rain and Hail Insurance Service, Inc.
• ACE acquires Jerneh Insurance Berhad, a provider of comprehensive general insurance in Malaysia.
• ACE celebrates its 25th anniversary.

2009

• ACE opens an office in Turkey.
• Brazil reinsurance acquires licenses and begins operations.
• ACE Life begins operations in Indonesia.

2008

• ACE Limited moves its place of incorporation from the Cayman Islands to Zurich, Switzerland.
• ACE nearly doubles its Accident & Health business with the purchase of Combined Insurance Company of America for $2.56 billion.
• ACE acquires the high-net-worth personal lines business of the Atlantic Companies.
• ACE opens offices in Panama.

2007

• Evan G. Greenberg is elected Chairman of the Board of Directors of ACE Limited.
• ACE opens a non-life insurance branch in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
• ACE opens offices in Hungary and the Czech Republic and begins insurance operations in Bahrain and Peru.

2006

• ACE enters the U.S. life reinsurance market with the acquisition of Hart Life Insurance Company.
• Brian Duperreault, ACE Chairman, retires from the company.
• ACE sells three run-off reinsurance subsidiaries to Randall & Quilter Investment Holdings Limited, an international insurance management firm.
• ACE opens an office in South Africa.

2005

• ACE receives regulatory approvals to begin providing life insurance in China and Vietnam and commercial property and casualty insurance in Poland and Russia.
• ACE observes its 20th anniversary by hosting a Global Day of Service, during which more than 5,000 employees in 30 countries participate in community service projects.

2004

• Evan G. Greenberg becomes President and Chief Executive Officer of ACE Limited.
• Assured Guaranty Ltd. initial public offering is completed on April 28, 2004.

2003

• ACE announces the formation of ACE Captive Solutions to provide solutions across the multiple ACE product lines to the captive community.
• ACE Limited forms ACE Risk Management International to address the risk financing needs of major corporations.
• ACE Financial Solutions Europe and ACE Financial Reinsurance Europe are created to provide customized, non-traditional finite insurance and reinsurance products to European customers.
• ACE Guaranty Re changes its name to ACE Guaranty Corp.

2002

• ACE and Huatai Insurance Company of China announce a strategic partnership that will allow both companies to jointly develop new products and services for delivery nationally in China.
• ACE Bermuda and Freisenbruch-Meyer Group partner to form a new Bermudian insurance company—Freisenbruch-Meyer Insurance Services Ltd. (FMISL)—to write insurance coverage for the domestic Bermuda market.
• ACE European Group opens its new headquarters in London, England.

2001

• ACE Limited changes its ticker symbol on the New York Stock Exchange from ACL to ACE.
• Sovereign Risk Insurance Ltd., a subsidiary of ACE Bermuda is elected to the International Union of Credit and Investment Insurers (the Berne Union) as one of only three private sector political risk insurers to be eligible and approved.

2000

• In a partnership with Egypt-based Commercial International Investment Company (CIIC), ACE International acquires a 51 percent shareholding in Egyptian American Insurance Company (EAIC).

1999

• ACE acquires the global property and casualty business of CIGNA Corporation for $3.45 billion, making ACE one of only a handful of truly international property and casualty insurance companies. With this acquisition, ACE inherits the rich history of the pioneering Insurance Company of North America (INA), which wrote its first policy in 1792.
• ACE acquires Capital Re Corporation, a company providing specialty reinsurance for financial guaranty insurance and other financial risks.

1998

• ACE acquires U.S.-based Westchester Fire Insurance Company; ACE USA is formed.
• ACE acquires CAT Limited, a property catastrophe reinsurance concern, and integrates it as part of ACE Tempest Re.
• ACE Global Markets acquires Lloyd’s-based Tarquin Limited. ACE now manages approximately 9.3 percent of the total underwriting capacity at Lloyd’s.
• ACE Global Markets is formed in London from ACE’s existing operations at Lloyd’s.

1997

• ACE Bermuda forms Sovereign Risk Insurance Ltd. a specialized Bermuda-based political risk insurance and reinsurance underwriter, with strategic partners XL Insurance Company, Ltd. and Risk Capital Re.
• ACE European Markets is incorporated and licensed in Ireland to underwrite all classes of non-life insurance in the European Union.

1996

• ACE acquires Tempest Re, now ACE Tempest Re, a leading Bermuda-based catastrophe reinsurance company.
• ACE acquires London-based Lloyd’s managing agency Ockham Worldwide and the balance of Methuen Underwriting.

1995

• Financial Lines—now ACE Financial Solutions International (ACE FSI)—joins ACE Bermuda’s expanding product lines, providing strategic and alternative risk products.

1994

• Brian Duperreault is named Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of ACE Limited.

1993

• ACE Limited successfully completes its initial public offering and is authorized for listing and trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
• Expansion of ACE Bermuda’s product lines begins with the purchase of Corporate Officers & Directors Assurance Ltd. (CODA), a specialist D&O underwriter.

1990

• Walter Scott becomes Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer.

1987

• ACE Bermudaassumes management of CODA.

1986

• ACE opens its first office in Hamilton, Bermuda, with six full-time employees.

1985

• John Cox is appointed ACE’s first Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer.
• ACE Bermuda writes its first official insurance policy.
• ACE Limited and its Bermuda insurance subsidiary are incorporated in the Cayman Islands and establish headquarters in Hamilton, Bermuda.