AIG keeps focus on local growth
It’s official – AIG intends to remain as a significant player in the Australian insurance market, and its aggressive strategy of moving into new market segments is being retained.
In a statement on Saturday morning (Australian time) US Government-appointed Chairman and CEO Edward Liddy announced the group’s intention to “refocus the company on its core property and casualty insurance businesses, generate sufficient liquidity to repay the outstanding balance of its loan from the Federal Reserve Bank and address its capital structure”.
Mr Liddy says AIG has “a number of remarkable businesses with leading market positions and significant competitive advantages that could not be recreated today”.
AIG Australia CEO Chris Townsend says the statement confirms “AIG Australia, as part of the foreign general insurance operations of AIG, is a core business”.
“We are a strong, well-capitalised company protecting hundreds of thousands of individual customers and businesses in Australia and we’re here to stay.
“I want to assure our customers and broker partners that these recent decisions have strengthened even further our desire and promise to underwrite complex risks.
Despite an expectation in a new Credit Suisse report that AIG Australia may have lost its appetite for aggressively chasing new clients in new market segments, a spokesman told insuranceNEWS.com.au today the company’s local five-year growth plan will “absolutely” be adhered to.
“We intend to continue pushing further into the broader market, including the SME market,” he said. “We haven’t moved away from our growth plans at all.”
Apart from announcing his intention to retain AIG’s US and foreign general insurance businesses and to retain a continuing interest in foreign life insurance operations, Mr Liddy said on Saturday that AIG “is exploring divestiture opportunities for its remaining high-quality businesses and assets”.
“Our goal is to emerge from this process as a smaller but more nimble company that is solidly profitable and has good long-term growth prospects.”
In a statement on Saturday morning (Australian time) US Government-appointed Chairman and CEO Edward Liddy announced the group’s intention to “refocus the company on its core property and casualty insurance businesses, generate sufficient liquidity to repay the outstanding balance of its loan from the Federal Reserve Bank and address its capital structure”.
Mr Liddy says AIG has “a number of remarkable businesses with leading market positions and significant competitive advantages that could not be recreated today”.
AIG Australia CEO Chris Townsend says the statement confirms “AIG Australia, as part of the foreign general insurance operations of AIG, is a core business”.
“We are a strong, well-capitalised company protecting hundreds of thousands of individual customers and businesses in Australia and we’re here to stay.
“I want to assure our customers and broker partners that these recent decisions have strengthened even further our desire and promise to underwrite complex risks.
Despite an expectation in a new Credit Suisse report that AIG Australia may have lost its appetite for aggressively chasing new clients in new market segments, a spokesman told insuranceNEWS.com.au today the company’s local five-year growth plan will “absolutely” be adhered to.
“We intend to continue pushing further into the broader market, including the SME market,” he said. “We haven’t moved away from our growth plans at all.”
Apart from announcing his intention to retain AIG’s US and foreign general insurance businesses and to retain a continuing interest in foreign life insurance operations, Mr Liddy said on Saturday that AIG “is exploring divestiture opportunities for its remaining high-quality businesses and assets”.
“Our goal is to emerge from this process as a smaller but more nimble company that is solidly profitable and has good long-term growth prospects.”