Without government support, the company would be on its last breath of life. What is a “star” private investor doing taking a 24.3% stake in a company that has little or no value except to the US government?
When they were in trouble I wanted them to survive for the sake of the 116,000 employees. Since then, they have undercut my quotes, forgotten all underwriting guidelines, ingnored claims history, and softened further the already soft market. Sour grapes? You betcha!
Besides being “told” your information, have you bothered to READ up on what is really going on? The problem was not with the insurance side of AIG so please get your facts straight before posting ignorant comments about AIG.
Attention Early Bird: AIG is not undercutting prices. FYI, the market is soft and everyone’s prices are going down.
AIG Employee: We the taxpayers saved your job. I doubt if it happens again, so you had better focus on making an underwriting profit to support whomever you blame for the AIG debacle.
Some of you guys just refuse to either understand or admit that the insurance organizations owned by AIG were never in danger, other than perhaps having to be sold to pay off the parent company’s debts, which is still not out of the question.
The bottom line is, nothing much has changed for the P&C companies. They still have to operate and conduct business with the end objective being profitability, which is getting harder and harder for every company, not just those owned by AIG.
Thse same companies were probably pricing you out of contention before the bailout, but now you think they should not try to compete against you because their parent company got a bailout. You were all salivating at the prospect of the companies just dissolving into thin air and their millions of premium dollars just flowing into your books. It just foesn’t work that way boys and girls!
We could all pay off all our debts if we got the sweetheart deal AIG. We are not whining we have a consensus of how unprofessional AIG has been acting.
I hate to tell AIG Employee #2, but you are misguided on your information or have been drinking too much of Benmosche’s Zinfandel.
First, the company posted a combined ratio of 102% that is well above what other competitors in the business of insurance have put forth. It looks like you won’t be underwriting for that much longer.
Second, the company has increased its loss reserves as the claims keep rolling in. The company has been forced to raise rates dramatically or exit unprofitable lines of business (which they are doing now).
Third, the company is still facing class action suits in several states regarding its exposure base for worker’s compensation policies.
With all this, how can you say the insurance operations are strong? I guess you are like the other AIG employee who said the company was going to be free and clear very soon.
It seems many people at AIG are drinking too much of Benmosche’s Zinfandel.
I think that any objective observer of the scene for the past several years knows – or certainly should know – that AIG and its executives were accused of “cooking” the books which made the group look profitable when they wanted that, and unprofitable when they wanted that, to help them make huge profits on their buying and selling of AIG shares. Shame Spitzer (for whom I have no affection whatever) fell from grace – or a lot of AIG people might have gone to prison. We all need to face facts and not allow prejudices to blind us to what happened.
AIG employee #2 is perfectly correct. AIG has always been the major player in large commercial exposures, and done it very well and I might add at a profit. The insurance operations were always profitible.
AIG made a lot of things possible for industry because they are visionaries and very smart people.
Credit swaps suck and that move largely pushed by one person, when faced with the economic meltdown, that by the way was the result of poor underwriting in the loan departments of liberal Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, was in the perfect storm. Fannie and Freddie are still hemoraging money and the greedy (*^&^ards running it left with millions in their pockets.
Look at AIG’s underwriting reports on file at the department and all the way through the debacle until now they have been profitible.
So, next time you get your butt kicked by AIG, instead of *****ing and moaning, get a contract, if you can compete in their market.
You are pretty funny insurance professor, but you are misguided about the profitability of the insurance operations of AIG.
The combined ratio is well above 100 when competitors are well below this. Also, the company is shedding unprofitable business that they have been constantly underpricing. In addition, the company faces class action lawsuits in certain states (ex. South Carolina) for their worker’s compensation insurance underwriting practices.
When you make reference to their large capacity and ability to do large and out of the box deals–you are right. But you are not alone in this market as there are competitors such as ACE, Liberty, Zurich, Allianz, etc that can match the capacity and underwriting capacity that the insurance operations that AIG has.
This problem goes well beyond the simple credit swap debacle at AIG financial products.
I think it is time you pulled out your books and read a little more professor.
I have to admit that the legal and financial mess of what is now AIG is tough for me to fully understand.
I do understand that AIG’s Chartis operation is running at a 102% combined ratio when other major players such as Chubb, ACE and travelers are all running in the upper 80’s. Can’t pay back the government if your insurance operations are costing you money.
But this guy, who is much smarter than me, seems to have a logical summary of where AIG stands overall.
You do not have anything concrete in any of your statements. Your comments are rubbish. Of course I have info to back-up EVERYTHING that I am saying. If you would bother to read everything posted out there via the internet, then you would already know. You just choose not to believe it! So, get back to work!
In the clear soon? HAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHA. Wow and I thought the president was ignorant. Holy jebus. $100b in the hole and losing money but don’t worry…everything will be A-OK.
You people really have your heads up your a$$es over there.
Without government support, the company would be on its last breath of life. What is a “star” private investor doing taking a 24.3% stake in a company that has little or no value except to the US government?
What I was told is that AIG will write anything at anytime and that is why we must keep them around.
They will never pay us back.
When they were in trouble I wanted them to survive for the sake of the 116,000 employees. Since then, they have undercut my quotes, forgotten all underwriting guidelines, ingnored claims history, and softened further the already soft market. Sour grapes? You betcha!
You all want some cheese to go with that whine? Really?! AIG has already paid a lot of the money back and will soon be in the clear.
Besides being “told” your information, have you bothered to READ up on what is really going on? The problem was not with the insurance side of AIG so please get your facts straight before posting ignorant comments about AIG.
Attention Early Bird: AIG is not undercutting prices. FYI, the market is soft and everyone’s prices are going down.
AIG Employee: We the taxpayers saved your job. I doubt if it happens again, so you had better focus on making an underwriting profit to support whomever you blame for the AIG debacle.
Some of you guys just refuse to either understand or admit that the insurance organizations owned by AIG were never in danger, other than perhaps having to be sold to pay off the parent company’s debts, which is still not out of the question.
The bottom line is, nothing much has changed for the P&C companies. They still have to operate and conduct business with the end objective being profitability, which is getting harder and harder for every company, not just those owned by AIG.
Thse same companies were probably pricing you out of contention before the bailout, but now you think they should not try to compete against you because their parent company got a bailout. You were all salivating at the prospect of the companies just dissolving into thin air and their millions of premium dollars just flowing into your books. It just foesn’t work that way boys and girls!
Thank you Phoenix, now I understand! I also bestow upon you the following certification:
“SAKU” (source of all knowledge and understanding)
We could all pay off all our debts if we got the sweetheart deal AIG. We are not whining we have a consensus of how unprofessional AIG has been acting.
I hate to tell AIG Employee #2, but you are misguided on your information or have been drinking too much of Benmosche’s Zinfandel.
First, the company posted a combined ratio of 102% that is well above what other competitors in the business of insurance have put forth. It looks like you won’t be underwriting for that much longer.
Second, the company has increased its loss reserves as the claims keep rolling in. The company has been forced to raise rates dramatically or exit unprofitable lines of business (which they are doing now).
Third, the company is still facing class action suits in several states regarding its exposure base for worker’s compensation policies.
With all this, how can you say the insurance operations are strong? I guess you are like the other AIG employee who said the company was going to be free and clear very soon.
It seems many people at AIG are drinking too much of Benmosche’s Zinfandel.
I think that any objective observer of the scene for the past several years knows – or certainly should know – that AIG and its executives were accused of “cooking” the books which made the group look profitable when they wanted that, and unprofitable when they wanted that, to help them make huge profits on their buying and selling of AIG shares. Shame Spitzer (for whom I have no affection whatever) fell from grace – or a lot of AIG people might have gone to prison. We all need to face facts and not allow prejudices to blind us to what happened.
AIG employee #2 is perfectly correct. AIG has always been the major player in large commercial exposures, and done it very well and I might add at a profit. The insurance operations were always profitible.
AIG made a lot of things possible for industry because they are visionaries and very smart people.
Credit swaps suck and that move largely pushed by one person, when faced with the economic meltdown, that by the way was the result of poor underwriting in the loan departments of liberal Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, was in the perfect storm. Fannie and Freddie are still hemoraging money and the greedy (*^&^ards running it left with millions in their pockets.
Look at AIG’s underwriting reports on file at the department and all the way through the debacle until now they have been profitible.
So, next time you get your butt kicked by AIG, instead of *****ing and moaning, get a contract, if you can compete in their market.
You are pretty funny insurance professor, but you are misguided about the profitability of the insurance operations of AIG.
The combined ratio is well above 100 when competitors are well below this. Also, the company is shedding unprofitable business that they have been constantly underpricing. In addition, the company faces class action lawsuits in certain states (ex. South Carolina) for their worker’s compensation insurance underwriting practices.
When you make reference to their large capacity and ability to do large and out of the box deals–you are right. But you are not alone in this market as there are competitors such as ACE, Liberty, Zurich, Allianz, etc that can match the capacity and underwriting capacity that the insurance operations that AIG has.
This problem goes well beyond the simple credit swap debacle at AIG financial products.
I think it is time you pulled out your books and read a little more professor.
No, you didn’t save MY job! It was not the insurance side of AIG that had the issue so get your facts straight!
Read my comments Employee #2. Apparently, you’ve drunk too much of the Kool Aid going around the office.
Do you have anything to back up your point of view like I do?
I have to admit that the legal and financial mess of what is now AIG is tough for me to fully understand.
I do understand that AIG’s Chartis operation is running at a 102% combined ratio when other major players such as Chubb, ACE and travelers are all running in the upper 80’s. Can’t pay back the government if your insurance operations are costing you money.
But this guy, who is much smarter than me, seems to have a logical summary of where AIG stands overall.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/220680-aig-earnings-recap-will-u-s-taxpayers-ever-be-repaid?source=yahoo
He boils it down for dummies like me. AIG can’t pay back all of the $ the US government has given them. As always, the US taxpayer pays the freight!!
Cujo:
You do not have anything concrete in any of your statements. Your comments are rubbish. Of course I have info to back-up EVERYTHING that I am saying. If you would bother to read everything posted out there via the internet, then you would already know. You just choose not to believe it! So, get back to work!
In the clear soon? HAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHA. Wow and I thought the president was ignorant. Holy jebus. $100b in the hole and losing money but don’t worry…everything will be A-OK.
You people really have your heads up your a$$es over there.