American International Group is adding more firepower to its financial services arsenal as it zeroes in on the mass affluent retirement market.
Changing its focus to annuities, mutual fund products and retirement planning, AIG is rebranding its employee-distributed American General Life Insurance Co. as AIG Financial Network.
The move is part of a shift of emphasis from life insurance "to a more well-rounded protection and retirement planning approach," says John Deremo, chief distribution officer, life insurance, for AIG Financial Distributors. The new AIG platform aims to add approximately 600 net new advisors over the next five years to boost its total number of employee representatives to 2000 by 2019, according to Deremo. While experienced producers will be the primary recruiting target, a new training facility will also be built in Nashville, Tenn., as the company pursues younger recruits and college graduates.
AIG Financial Network will not conflict with AIG's independent broker-dealer network, Advisor Group, says Deremo. Those advisors, he notes, are independents who tend to target high-net-worth clients with at least $250,000 in investable assets. Financial Network advisors, by contrast, will be AIG employees targeting the "huge segments of uninsured" in the mass affluent market, Deremo says.
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