American International Group has signalled the dark days of the global financial crisis are behind it by today rebranding to AIG Australia, dropping the Chartis Australia brand and adopting a new global slogan.

“It feels good because we’re going back to what we’ve been for 80 years,” CEO Noel Condon told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“It marks a return, but not a return to the old AIG. I think we’ll stand for different things in the future.”

The AIG brand was changed to Chartis in 2009 following the US Government bailout of the parent company in the global financial crisis. The move was made because of fears the AIG name was “toxic” to consumers, but AIG says the company found brokers and customers preferred the former name.

“The message is that we’re back, we’re ambitious, we’re keen to get on with it, but also that we have changed as a result of the ‘near death experience’,” Mr Condon said. “I’d like to think we’re going to be a more compassionate AIG in the future.”

The new group global tag line is “Bring on tomorrow”, which he says signals a sense of optimism in the future. The old-new AIG brand has been gradually reintroduced around the world since November.

The company employs 400 people in Australia, and Mr Condon says the business survived not only because of the US Government’s relief package but also due to the support of brokers and customers in Australia, which gave staff the confidence to stay with the business.

He says that internally there is excitement about the new name, and externally the response from brokers and clients has been “very encouraging – we’ll never forget it”.

The updated logo shows the traditional white capital letters in a dark-blue box replaced by light-blue capital letters on a white background in a framed, light-blue box.

AIG President and CEO Robert Benmosche, who led the move back to the old brand, says the new logo “reflects a rebuilt and forward-looking AIG – contemporary, dynamic, transparent and revitalised”.