American International Group, Inc. (AIG) has one of the most important and recognizable histories in the insurance industry. Its life insurance operations grew over decades through global expansion, major acquisitions, and corporate restructuring. That history eventually led to the creation of the independent company now known as Corebridge Financial.
The company's roots go back to December 19, 1919, when Cornelius Vander Starr founded American Asiatic Underwriters in Shanghai, China. It began as a general insurance agency.
In 1921, Starr expanded into life insurance by forming Asia Life Insurance Company.
During the 1920s and 1930s, the business expanded throughout Southeast Asia and the Philippines. In 1926, Starr established American International Underwriters in New York City to handle business in the United States.
As World War II approached, Starr moved the company's headquarters to New York in 1939. That shift moved the center of operations from Shanghai to the United States and set the stage for future growth.
AIG's modern corporate structure developed under Maurice "Hank" Greenberg. He joined the company in 1960 and became chief executive officer in 1967.
Under his leadership, American International Group, Inc. was organized as the umbrella company for Starr's growing insurance operations. AIG went public in 1969 and entered a long period of aggressive expansion.
A major turning point came in 2001, when AIG acquired American General Corporation for approximately $18 billion. At the time, it was one of the largest insurance acquisitions in history.
That deal significantly strengthened AIG's life insurance and annuity business in the United States. It brought American General Life Insurance Company, originally founded in 1926, into the AIG organization. It also gave AIG a stronger domestic distribution network and a much larger presence in the middle-market life insurance space.
Following the 2008 financial crisis, AIG received a U.S. government bailout totaling about $182 billion. The company later repaid that assistance in full, and the government ultimately exited with a profit by 2012.
After the crisis, AIG spent years simplifying its business and reducing risk.
In 2022, AIG formally rebranded its Life and Retirement division as Corebridge Financial. The goal was to separate the life insurance, annuity, and retirement business from AIG's property and casualty operations.
By 2024, AIG had largely deconsolidated Corebridge through public offerings.
More recently, Corebridge announced an all-stock merger with Equitable Holdings that is expected to close by the end of 2026. If completed, the combined organization is expected to oversee more than $1.5 trillion in assets under management.
Today, American General Life Insurance Company, often referred to as AGL, serves as the primary issuing company for many of Corebridge Financial's life insurance and annuity products in the United States outside New York.
This distinction is important.
Corebridge is the consumer-facing brand, while American General Life is often the legal insurance company behind the policy.
That means the policy obligations and claims-paying responsibility generally rest with the issuing company, not simply the marketing brand.
Although the public branding has shifted from AIG to Corebridge, American General Life remains a wholly owned subsidiary of Corebridge Financial, Inc. It continues to maintain its own statutory filings and financial ratings.
Corebridge, through American General and related entities, offers a broad range of financial products and services.
Corebridge's life insurance lineup includes:
Term life insurance, including Select-a-Term
Universal life insurance
Indexed universal life insurance
Variable universal life insurance
Its annuity offerings include:
Fixed annuities
Power Series index annuities
Polaris variable annuities
MarketLock registered index-linked annuities
Corebridge also provides:
Group retirement plans, including services historically associated with VALIC
Institutional retirement solutions, including pension risk transfer services
As of early 2026, Corebridge Financial's primary life insurance subsidiaries, including American General Life, maintain strong financial ratings.
S&P Global: AA- with Stable outlook
A.M. Best: A (Excellent) with Positive outlook
Moody's: A2 with Stable outlook
Fitch: A+ with Stable outlook
The history of AIG's life insurance business is a story of expansion, acquisition, crisis, recovery, and reinvention.
What began in Shanghai in 1919 eventually became one of the most significant life and retirement platforms in the United States. The 2001 acquisition of American General was a major milestone in that journey. The later transition to Corebridge Financial marked the next stage of that evolution.
Today, even though many consumers see the Corebridge name, American General Life remains one of the key legal and operational foundations behind the company's life insurance and annuity business.
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