Company:America International Group (AIG)

Founders: Cornelius Vander Starr

Industry: Insurance, Asset Administration, and Retirement Services

History:

In 1919, Cornelius Vander Starr started his own insurance agency in Shanghai, China. After a successful venture, Starr then expanded his company to the rest of Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and Latin America.

Starr’s holdings in the United States were not able to replicate the success he had in other parts of the world. So in 1962, he gave Maurice R. “Hank” Greenberg the management of his U.S. shares. Greenberg would then re-aim the company’s target market, shifting from private individuals to corporate holders. Unlike Starr, who preferred agents, Greenberg would tap brokers to market their services to avoid selling insurance at very low prices.

Starr would later name Greenberg his successor in 1968. In 1968, Greenberg announced that the company would go public.

AIG is now the world’s leader in the insurance industry and operates in more than 130 countries. Listed below are some of AIG’s holdings:

• International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC, 100% ownership) – the world’s largest aircraft lessor. Aircraft for lease include commercial airliners (Boeing 747, Airbus A319).
• 21st Century Insurance Company (100% ownership) – provides vehicular insurance for autos, trucks, motorcycles, as well as umbrella policies.
• American International Assurance (AIA, 100% ownership) – an insurance company with headquarters in Hong Kong and offices scattered throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
• People’s Insurance Company of China (PICC, 19.8% ownership) – China’s largest, state-owned insuring company. PICC provides all major insurance except for life insurance.

Companies under AIG provide services for commercial and financial institutions as well as private individuals through property and life insurance, retirement services, property leasing, and asset management. AIG has systematized schematics for asset administration that spans over real estate, alternative investments, and equities.

Leaders: Partial list of AIG Board of Directors

• Martin J. Sullivan, President and Chief Executive Officer of American International Group, Inc
• Stephen F. Bollenbach, CEO of Hilton Hotels Corporation
• Marshall A. Cohen, CEO of The Molson Companies Limited
• Martin S. Feldstein, CEO of National Bureau of Economic Research
• Stephen L. Hammerman, former Vice Chairman of Meryll Lynch & Co., Inc.
• Michael H. Sutton, Consultant and former Chief Accountant of the United States Securities and
  Exchange Commission
• Edmund S. W. Tse, Senior Vice Chairman for Life Insurance, American International Group, Inc.

Trivia:

In 2006, AIG signed with football team Manchester United as the latter’s main sponsor. The contract is worth ₤56.5 million for over four years.