ACE Ltd. announces 2006 financial guidelines

ACE Limited (NYSE: ACE) has announced some key financial guidelines for its group of companies for the full year 2006.”Property and casualty net earned premium growth is expected to average 6% to 8% for the full year,” ACE announced in a press release. “Earned premium growth is expected to be slower in early quarters and accelerate as the year progresses.”Also, the property and casualty combined ratio is expected to range between 88% and 90%, according to the ACE release. This “includes $400 million for catastrophe-related losses for both insurance and reinsurance exposures,” the company says.Total investment income is expected to range between US$1.45 billion and $1.5 billion, the company reported. “The company’s expectation is based upon estimated positive operating cash flow of approximately $4 billion and an expected increase in average portfolio yield to 5% over the course of the year.” Interest expense and preferred dividends are expected to be approximately $210 million, while the effective tax rate is projected to be between 22% and 24%.ACE also announced it will be filing a shelf registration in the near future. The shelf replaces the previous capacity used in connection with the October common stock offering. The company has no plans to use the new shelf at this time.