A new fund for schools worth up to $850,000 is to be set up by insurance giants ACE in memory of company executive Madeline Joell, who died last month.

And ACE CEO Brian Duperreault said the fund for academic excellence was a fitting tribute to Ms Joell, the firm's vice-president for marketing when she died of a burst blood vessel in the brain.

He added: "Setting up the fund had been one of the projects Ms Joell had been working on before her death.'' The new fund -- The Madeline Joell Nest Egg Fund -- will offer grants of up to $50,000 over five years to each public primary school, with the aim of boosting performance in language, maths and science.

Mr Duperreault said: "We had an idea to develop a fund like this and she was one of the group who came up with this idea -- it was something which was very close to her heart.

"Madeline was a member of ACE's Sponsorship Committee, which is a group we established to vet the applications that we receive from sponsorship from sporting, community cultural and civic groups...

"It seems most appropriate that this initiative is now dedicated to Madeline's memory.'' Mr. Duperreault said: "Seventy-five per cent of our employees at the ACE companies in Bermuda are Bermudian.

"It's important to us as a global company with headquarters here that the workforce from which we draw our employee base is the best it can be.

"We're confident that the Madeline Joell Nest Egg Fund will help in the achievement of that objective.'' The fund will offer grants of up to $10,000 a year for special projects in each of the Island's 17 public primary schools, with a ceiling of $50,000 over five years for each individual school -- a potential maximum of $850,000.

The new fund will be launched under the banner of ACE's new ad campaign -- Setting Your Future Free.

Applications for grants from the fund can be made by any principal or teacher in a public primary school who submits a business plan for academic excellence.

At the end of last year, ACE Limited had around $8.8 billion in assets and approximately $3.9 billion in equity.