week, is looking around for new acquisitions in the US.

In an interview with Reuters news agency, XL chief executive officer Brian O'Hara said he was looking at deals in the reinsurance and primary casualty insurance sectors.

However, he seemed keen to distance himself from competitor ACE Ltd. which has also been on an acquisition hunt, the last being the agreement to purchase the property and casualty business of US-based Cigna Corp. for $3.45 billion.

While not directly referring to ACE, Mr. O'Hara said he was not interested in taking on a large property and casualty insurer with a troubled past and a backlog of unprofitable business.

"We don't want to be turnaround artists,'' Mr. O'Hara told Reuters. "We're not fixer-uppers.'' In making the deal with Cigna, ACE also purchased Brandywine Holdings Corp., which the company formed in 1995 as a run-off operation for troublesome asbestos and environmental claims.

ACE has since made a deal with National Indemnity, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, which has put in place $1.25 billion worth of protection against any adverse development at Brandywine.

Mr. O'Hara said he sees ACE and XL as taking different paths now that ACE had taken on the Cigna business. There were reports on Bloomberg that at the time of the ACE and Cigna negotiations, XL had also expressed an interest in bidding for the business.

He told Reuters XL will only do friendly deals. Reuters said the market has speculated that potential takeover targets include NAC Re Corp., Everest Reinsurance Holdings Inc., Trenwick Group Inc., and Chartwell Re Corp.

Mr. O'Hara said the company is also expanding its product lines and capital management efforts, and will introduce a new risk management software product soon. XL is also working on a new venture similar to its relationship with Pareto partners, a London-based investment management partnership, which advises XL on its foreign exchange protection business.