ACE USA yesterday announced the establishment of two new product divisions, Warranty and E&O, during the opening day of the RIMS Conference here in San Diego.

ACE Limited chairman, president and CEO Brian Duperreault said: "It's good to get the ACE name out but it's also good very specifically for ACE USA.'' Mr. Duperreault was reviewing the new ACE USA booth and noted "we said when we acquired ACE USA that it would be a platform for us to grow and establish new products. We've added three new people to run the units for us. We've gone from two to five product offerings very quickly. I think we will do some more.'' ACE USA President and CEO Dennis Reding said that the Warranty Division will be led by Marc Vivori in the company's headquarters in Atlanta and Rosemarie Rogers will oversee the development of E&O in ACE USA's newly-established New York office.

Mr. Reding said: "E&O will complement our existing products very well and be useful for our clients in terms of the range of other products. There's a lot of capacity and a lot of competition. We're still building the structure and putting the capabilities in place. The market will dictate the amount of premium we write. If it looks profitable we will expand. We will offer it nation-wide in all US states and it really depends on the types and classes of business we will go after in the E&O lines, more of the smaller and mid-size accounts rather than the jumbo acocunts. In warranty we will do a combination of areas including auto and black and white which involves appliances. That's another area where we have the expertise. We think that's an attractive marketplace. As with E&O we're moving cautiuosly and slowly. It would be the warranties on products like automobiles new and used and appliances like TV's and CD players where we could be offering extended warranties at purchase.

"This business moves on relationships. We have some qualified people. We also bring the financial strength and long-term stability of the ACE group behind us. We should be able to establish long-term relationships and dislodge other players in the marketplace.'' Brian Duperreault BUSINESS BUC