AIG KEEN TO KEEP NON-LIFE OPS IN ASIA

AIG’s Hong Kong and Southeast Asian non-life operations are not for sale, according to Leslie Mouat, regional president for AIG’s non-life business in Southeast Asia. “The financial crisis has certainly had some impact on the commercial side, but our non-life business remains exceptionally strong and profitable”, he said. However, Mr Mouat warned that premium growth for the Asian operations that remained under AIG’s control would come under pressure in 2009. “Our growth slowed in the fourth quarter and it is inevitable that in the current economic climate our premium growth will be under pressure”, he said. Mr Mouat claimed that AIG in Asia was seeing retention rates return to normal, although about $4.6m was lost from existing business during the height of the AIG crisis in late September and early October. Mr Mouat said that maintaining customer confidence was vital, and that “the fact that insurance assets in most Asian countries are tightly regulated by local authorities should reinforce customer confidence”. Meanwhile, AIG also wants to hold on to its 9.9% stake in Chinese insurer PICC P&C, according to PICC P&C chief executive Wang Yincheng. Mr Wang, speaking on the sidelines of the 21st Century Asian Finance Summit “As far as I know, AIG is unwilling to give up the stake and wants to keep it as part of its China strategy”. He noted that Ping An was likely to achieve sales of CNY100bn ($14.6bn) by the end of this year, making it the first Chinese insurer to pass this level.