New York, New York and Hamilton, Bermuda - February 10, 2003 - ACE Limited (NYSE:ACE), NIB Capital, Peter D. Hancock, Roberto G. Mendoza and Robert C. Merton today announced the formation of Integrated Finance Limited (IFL).
The mission of IFL is to create a specialized investment bank providing strategic advice and implementing integrated solutions for its clients. IFL's core value proposition is to offer a unique combination of objective, strategic advice and associated risk-taking based on modern financial technology without bias as to product, market, institution or industry. IFL intends to invest its own capital as a principal to assist in the implementation of solutions on behalf of clients.
Each of IFL's shareholders believes that an integrated advisory and risk-taking business can provide superior service to its clients and excess risk-adjusted returns to its shareholders. The company intends to build trust by acting transparently with clients, investors, creditors and employees and by adhering to the highest ethical standards.
Brian Duperreault, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ACE Limited, said, "ACE will use its investment in IFL to enhance its ability to provide a broad range of risk-transfer services to current and prospective clients. This represents a high growth and value opportunity for ACE, given the increasing convergence of banking, insurance and securities markets."
Michael Enthoven, Chairman of NIB Capital, said, "NIB Capital believes that IFL's business model broadens the scope of more traditional approaches to corporate finance, capital markets and pension finance issues by the effective use of modern financial technology. In this respect, NIB Capital expects our partnership with IFL to strengthen substantially NIB Capital's strategic position in selected markets."
IFL will have offices in New York, London and Tokyo. Each of Messrs. Hancock, Mendoza and Merton will be directors of IFL and will be joined by Brian Duperreault, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ACE Limited; Dominic J. Frederico, President and Chief Operating Officer of ACE Limited; Timothy Boroughs, President of ACE Asset Management; Antoine L.V. Dijkstra, Managing Director of NIB Capital; Eugene B. Shanks, Jr., Independent Director on behalf of NIB Capital; and Jurgen B.J. Stegmann, Managing Director of NIB Capital.
Roberto Mendoza and Peter Hancock, formerly Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer of J.P. Morgan & Co. Inc., respectively, and Robert Merton, Nobel Prize-winning Professor at the Harvard Business School, stated:
"IFL represents an exciting combination of functional finance theory and Wall Street experience. In bringing these two elements together, we hope to create a new approach to investment banking and corporate finance providing complete client advisory services on a fully transparent basis. We look forward to building and growing this firm."
The ACE Group of Companies provides insurance and reinsurance for a diverse group of clients. The company conducts its business on a global basis with operating subsidiaries in nearly 50 countries. Additional information can be found at
www.acelimited.com.
NIB Capital is a merchant bank headquartered in The Hague, which provides a broad range of wholesale financing, advisory, capital market and private equity services to international clients. NIB Capital is an ABP and PGGM company and NIB Capital Bank has long-term ratings of AA-/Aa3. Additional information can be found at
www.nibcapital.com.
For more information, please contact Beth Burrus at (917) 849-8499 or email at
bburrus@ifltd.com. or by mail at 630 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10111.