ACE INA Holdings, Inc. said today that media reports, claiming that ACE INA Holdings or any of its related companies wrote a policy on a slave, are false and inaccurate. Some media reports have inaccurately portrayed a report issued by the State of California on May 1, 2002 regarding insurance policies on slaves.
ACE found that its predecessor companies wrote very few life policies and did not write or carry any life insurance policy written on the life of a slave. ACE disclosed to the State of California that the one policy in question found in its records was written by another insurance company that is not a part of ACE INA's historic family. In the State of California report, ACE's name appears under the "submitted" column, meaning it submitted the information to the State. But none of ACE's predecessor companies wrote or issued this policy. This important distinction has been misconstrued in some media reports.
It has also been reported that ACE owns Aetna Inc. This is not correct. The company known today as Aetna Inc. is not in any way affiliated with ACE or any of its subsidiary companies.
In compliance with the State of California's Slave Era Insurance statute, ACE has undertaken a thorough review of its company archives, which includes the historic records of Aetna Fire, a separate and distinct company from the company known today as Aetna Inc. Although predecessor companies of ACE wrote very few life policies, upon full examination of its records dating back to the 18th century, ACE found those predecessor companies did not write or carry any life insurance policy written on the life of a slave.
ACE has also compared its marine insurance records against those of known slave vessels and determined that it did not write or carry any policies on known slave vessels.
ACE INA Holdings, Inc., whose ultimate parent is ACE Limited (NYSE: ACE), provides insurance and reinsurance products and services through operating subsidiaries for a diverse group of clients around the world. Additional information can be found at www.ace-ina.com.