Breaking: Andersen to Replace Zaffino as CEO of AIG on June 1

American International Group Inc. announced that Chair and CEO Peter Zaffino will transition to Executive Chair of AIG and retire as CEO by midyear and that industry veteran Eric Andersen will take on the CEO role.

AIG said Zaffino informed the board of his intention to retire from the CEO role without giving a time frame for the decision. In a media statement, AIG said that the board conducted a search to identify a highly qualified leader to continue driving AIG’s performance over the long term in alignment with the company’s comprehensive multi-year succession planning process, landing on Andersen.

Like Zaffino, who had a long career on the brokerage side of the business (at Marsh), Andersen joins AIG from a broker, Aon. At Aon, Andersen most recently was a member of the Aon Executive Committee and served as a strategic advisor to the company’s President and CEO. Over nearly three decades with Aon, Andersen held senior leadership roles including President of Aon, Chief Executive Officer of Aon Benfield, the world’s leading reinsurance intermediary, and CEO of Aon Risk Solutions Americas, with prior leadership positions spanning global account management and financial services.

During his time as President of Aon from 2020 through 2025, Andersen led global programs that achieved gains in operational efficiency, improved performance for clients and the firm, increased shareholder returns, and grew market value from $35 billion to $85 billion, AIG stated in the transition announcement.

Andersen will join AIG on February 16 and assume the role of President and CEO-elect, reporting to Zaffino until June 1, 2026, when he will join the board and assume the CEO role.

Reflecting on his tenure, Zaffino said, “I am incredibly proud of our colleagues and the extraordinary progress we have delivered…to make AIG a top industry performer. With significant support from the AIG board of directors, we have returned AIG to vastly improved profitability, significantly strengthened our balance sheet, and built tremendous financial flexibility.”

“These efforts have resulted in exceptional strategic, operational and financial performance, underpinned by our disciplined culture of underwriting excellence.” He expressed confidence that “now is the appropriate time to begin to transition leadership of the company,” noting AIG’s current “position of strength,” and said that Andersen is an accomplished and respected insurance executive with a deep understanding of AIG and the industry.

Zaffino is credited with turning around AIG since becoming CEO in March 2021. AIG noted that the company has delivered consecutive years of underwriting profitability from 2021 to 2025, and said that under Zaffino, AIG built a strong culture of underwriting excellence; divested non-core businesses; invested in future-focused enterprise initiatives; and modernized its end-to-end operations and technology infrastructure, including the strategic implementation of GenAI to provide better insight and enable growth.

John Rice, Lead Independent Director, expressed gratitude for Zaffino’s leadership and unwavering commitment to AIG. “Peter’s vision, tireless dedication and laser-focused execution have fundamentally reshaped AIG, restoring its reputation as a global leader and delivering outstanding value for clients, colleagues and shareholders,” Rice said in a media statement.

Rice also noted Andersen’s reputation and his accomplishments at Aon, calling him a deeply experienced and widely respected leader, known across the insurance industry for his integrity, strategic vision, and proven ability to drive shareholder value. “During his time at Aon, Eric reshaped the company’s business portfolio, implemented a new data and analytics strategy, and delivered strong operational improvements. The board is confident that he is the right executive to be the next CEO of AIG.”

For his part, Andersen said he is “energized by the opportunity to serve as AIG’s President and CEO-elect.”

“AIG is an iconic company with a strong foundation and strategically well positioned for the future,” he said.

The transition announcement comes after AIG scrapped the previously announced leadership appointment of former Lloyd’s CEO John Neal as President to lead AIG’s General Insurance operations. A year ago (in January 2025), Aon had announced that Neal would join the broker as CEO of Reinsurance and Chair of Climate Solutions. But midyear last year, AIG announced that Neal changed course and was slated to take an executive role at the carrier on Dec. 1.

Ahead of the Dec. 1 date, in mid-November, AIG announced that Neal would not take the role due to personal circumstances.

Meanwhile, at Aon, in March last year, Andersen transitioned from his prior role as president to serve as a senior adviser to Greg Case, CEO of Aon.

Source: AIG

Related articles: