it also is training Bermudians -- providing them with valuable international work experience.

Flying more than half-way across the world to Seoul, Korea meant Carlos Lee would miss his tenth wedding anniversary, but the vice president of finance at Tempest Re (a division of ACE), said the training the journey afforded him "was the kind of thing you don't want to pass up''.

Bermudians Mr. Lee and Allison Towlson were joined by ten other Ace employees from around the world as part of ACE's Action Learning Programme. The group was charged with analysing the viability of the company's Korea outfit.

Ace became a truly global company after it acquired Cigna P&C in July 1999.

Cigna held offices in over 50 countries throughout the world and kept operations in those offices very local.

"When ACE acquired Cigna P&C we acquired a real franchise,'' an ACE spokesperson said. "They're local companies staffed by local people doing local business.'' Mr. Lee and Mrs. Towlson said they found themselves immersed in a totally different culture in Korea and admitted that despite researching the company before hand, they still met with surprises when they arrived.

"It was surprising how little we knew about Korea,'' Mr. Lee said, "the experience really opened our eyes to a whole new world.'' After three weeks of intensive investigation into the local operation, the team of twelve presented their findings to Kingsley Schubert, president of ACE International.

"He was so impressed that he implemented some of the recommendations immediately,'' Mr. Lee said.

"Korea is going through a complete de-regulation of the insurance industry right now,'' said Mrs. Towlson. "Our findings on the company were that Korea is a viable market and we suggested opportunities they should look for in that market.'' The opportunity also served as leadership training for Mr. Lee and Mrs.

Towlson who are being shaped by the company for top management roles.

"Our leadership skills were assessed by our colleagues and superiors before we left Bermuda,'' Mrs. Towlson said. "We received the results when we were in Korea.'' The pair agreed that the importance of teamwork was the most valuable tool they acquired.

"We carried out our work with the assistance of two facilitators,'' Mrs.

Towlson said. "They assisted us and directed us to think a certain way to work as a team and conduct business by leadership.

"They both commented that they had never experienced such a diverse group as ourselves, work so well together,'' she added.

"We had people from Taiwan, Singapore, Ecuador, South Africa, the US and Britain in our group,'' Mr. Lee said, "and they represented a variety of backgrounds and ages. We had people who were in insurance, law, information technology, and accounting and they ranged in age from 26 to 45,'' he added.

"The experience was also valuable for networking purposes and I am still in touch with other members in the group.'' Mr. Lee is a vice president with Tempest Re. and Mrs. Towlson is an assistant vice president of excess liability with ACE Insurance.