AIG Australia renewals weather the storm
Most clients appear to have stuck by AIG Australia despite the recent financial turmoil of its US parent, with the insurer recording a 93% retention rate during October.
CEO Chris Townsend told insuranceNEWS.com.au AIG Australia has slipped a maximum of two percentage points from typical levels of renewal custom.
“Normally we’d expect 94-95%,” he said. “That’s hardly haemorrhaging. And we’ve offset that with very good new business flows.
“September was a record for small and medium business, and a record month for our leisure travel business.”
Mr Townsend is confident any fear about the company’s future in the local market has now subsided.
“AIG Australia is definitely here to stay,” he said. “We have been on the front foot talking to clients through brokers in town hall events, and we’ve done a significant number of one-on-one visits.”
Mr Townsend told insuranceNEWS.com.au AIG Australia will stick to its core tenets of service quality and underwriting discipline as it seeks to build market share.
“We will build on the underwriting integrity that made us a great property and casualty company,” he said. “We have got to stick to our knitting.
“We accept that our brand has been somewhat tarnished, and two or three years down the track we don’t want sub-standard underwriting to come back to haunt us.”
US regulators this month warned AIG’s competitors against overstating the company’s financial position, but Mr Townsend says brokers and competing insurers in Australia have been “respectful and professional” in their conduct.
CEO Chris Townsend told insuranceNEWS.com.au AIG Australia has slipped a maximum of two percentage points from typical levels of renewal custom.
“Normally we’d expect 94-95%,” he said. “That’s hardly haemorrhaging. And we’ve offset that with very good new business flows.
“September was a record for small and medium business, and a record month for our leisure travel business.”
Mr Townsend is confident any fear about the company’s future in the local market has now subsided.
“AIG Australia is definitely here to stay,” he said. “We have been on the front foot talking to clients through brokers in town hall events, and we’ve done a significant number of one-on-one visits.”
Mr Townsend told insuranceNEWS.com.au AIG Australia will stick to its core tenets of service quality and underwriting discipline as it seeks to build market share.
“We will build on the underwriting integrity that made us a great property and casualty company,” he said. “We have got to stick to our knitting.
“We accept that our brand has been somewhat tarnished, and two or three years down the track we don’t want sub-standard underwriting to come back to haunt us.”
US regulators this month warned AIG’s competitors against overstating the company’s financial position, but Mr Townsend says brokers and competing insurers in Australia have been “respectful and professional” in their conduct.