AIG Plans to Name Brian Duperreault as Next CEO
May 10 2017 - 11:51PM
Dow Jones News
By Joann S. Lublin and Leslie Scism
American International Group Inc. plans to name Brian
Duperreault -- a onetime lieutenant to former CEO Maurice R. "Hank"
Greenberg -- as the firm's chief executive officer, with an
announcement expected as soon as Thursday, according to people
familiar with the matter.
Mr. Duperreault, 70 years old, is the founder and CEO of
Bermuda-based Hamilton Insurance Group Ltd. Mr. Duperreault and AIG
are working out final details of his employment contract but are
very close to final agreement, according to the people.
"He is going to get the job," said one of the people
familiar.
AIG has faced a tumultuous six months. Just a few weeks after
the firm posted disappointing fourth-quarter results, CEO Peter
Hancock in March said he would resign from the insurance giant
after less than three years at the helm. Many board members were
unhappy about setbacks in the company's plan for boosting
profitability, while several also feared a potential fight with AIG
shareholder and activist investor Carl Icahn.
Mr. Hancock agreed to stay until a successor was found.
Representatives for AIG and Mr. Duperreault declined to
comment.
Mr. Duperreault spent just over two decades at AIG before
leaving to run three other companies. His resume includes a widely
praised turnaround a decade ago of consulting and
insurance-brokerage firm Marsh & McLennan Cos.
In returning to AIG, Mr. Duperreault will face the challenge of
improving its financial results at a time of fierce industry
competition. The insurance conglomerate has paid off a nearly $185
billion U.S. government bailout extended during the global markets
meltdown of 2008, but had to sell many of its businesses to repay
taxpayers. AIG's profit margins have notably lagged behind many of
the insurer's rivals since its near collapse.
AIG executives are carrying out a two-year strategic plan
unveiled in January 2016 -- in response to pressure from Mr. Icahn.
Many goals are on track to be achieved, such as cutting costs and
returning $25 billion to investors, through dividends and share
buybacks, analysts have said.
AIG board members don't expect their new leader to change the
current strategic direction at the giant insurer, the people
familiar said.
Mr. Duperreault was at AIG in the years when Mr. Greenberg was
transforming it from a mediocre property-casualty insurer into a
powerhouse with financial-services operations that spanned the
globe.
The hiring of Mr. Duperreault will mark the second time AIG has
recruited a chief executive past normal retirement age. Robert
Benmosche was 65 when he left retirement to run the insurer in
2009.
The Bermuda-born Mr. Duperreault, a mathematics major at Saint
Joseph's University in Philadelphia, had joined AIG's actuarial
department in the early 1970s and rose through the ranks to become
one of its most senior executives.
As Mr. Duperreault gained authority in running operations, many
industry colleagues and Wall Street analysts said he was a
potential successor to his boss -- though at the time Mr. Greenberg
had no intention of stepping aside. Instead, Mr. Duperreault became
one of many AIG executives to depart for leadership roles
elsewhere.
He left in 1994 to run ACE Ltd., a then-Bermuda-based specialty
insurer with large corporate clients.
Mr. Duperreault expanded the niche company into a diversified
insurer with the 1999 acquisition of Cigna Corp.'s U.S. and
international property-casualty operations. The company since has
acquired Chubb and is known as Chubb Ltd.
Mr. Duperreault retired from ACE in 2004 but then was recruited
in 2008 to become CEO of Marsh & McLennan.
The New York firm was under pressure to consider a breakup by
shareholders who were frustrated with its performance. Mr.
Duperreault cut costs, strengthened the management team and
acquired smaller firms to bolster growth, including to better serve
smaller U.S. companies, among other moves.
He left Marsh in 2012, and the following year, back in Bermuda,
he established Hamilton with principals of hedge fund Two Sigma
Securities. Last year, Hamilton teamed with AIG and Two Sigma on a
joint venture to sell insurance online to small businesses, using
advanced data analytics.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 10, 2017 23:36 ET (03:36 GMT)
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