About 10 months after American International Group Inc. (NYSE:AIG) put its broker-dealer business, AIG Advisor Group, on the block, new CEO Robert Benmosche has decided he wants to keep it.
Benmosche announced to AIG's 6,000 advisers in a letter that he wants to keep the three broker-dealers: Royal Alliance of New York, FSC
Securities of Atlanta and SagePoint Advisors of Phoenix, and AIG Retirement Services, according to Investment News.
"Bob,
who is credited with the revitalization and restructuring of MetLife in
the latter part of the 90s, not only has a deep understanding and
experience in our business, he sees it as core to the future of AIG
Retirement Services," said the letter, which was signed by Larry Roth,
president and CEO of the Advisor Group, and each broker-dealer's CEO.
The business was expected to sell for about $200 million, and apparently two private equity firms, Lightyear Capital LLC and
Lovell Minnick Partners LLC, had emerged as final bidders. However, there was apparently some concern that the valuation could drop because the business has lost 14% of it advisers since February. So the real question is ... did valuation prompt Benmosche to switch tracks, or is he trading in former CEO Edward Liddy's Project Destination liquidation strategy for one of his own? - Maria Woehr
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