A major American insurance corporation based in New York City, AIG was established in 1919 by Cornelius Vander Starr. Starr has set up an insurance agency in Shanghai, China. Starr was the first Westerner in Shanghai to sell insurance to the Chinese. He expanded his business to Asia, Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East. It has its European Headquarter (HQ) in Croydon, London, England and its Asian HQ in Hong Kong, China.
AIG in 2001 witnessed the largest acquisition in its history. On August 29, AIG acquired American General Corporation a leader in the US life insurance, retirement savings and consumer finance market. American General enhances our leadership in areas of core strategic importance, and its businesses and culture are highly compatible with those of AIG. AIG is now the second largest life insurer and the number one provider of both fixed and variable annuities in the US.
With the integration of American General, AIG is well-balanced between life and general insurance and also between domestic and international operations. A key component of the acquisitions is the Variable Annuity Life Insurance Company (VALIC) which provides savings products to more than million accounts of employees of not-for-profit institutions. The acquisition brings AIG a valuable new distribution channel.
According to the 2007, Forbes Global 2000 list AIG ranks sixth-largest company in the world. AIG has four principal business segments which include General Insurance, Life Insurance and Retirement Services, Financial Services and Asset Management. |
