American International Group announced Tuesday that its board of directors has named Peter D. Hancock as President and Chief Executive Officer, AIG, effective September 1.

Hancock, who currently serves as Executive Vice President, AIG, and Chief Executive Officer of AIG Property Casualty will succeed Robert H. Benmosche, who currently is AIG President and Chief Executive Officer.

The news comes less than a month after the Wall Street Journal reported that AIG’s board had narrowed its choices for Benmosche’s successor down to Hancock and Jay Wintrob, who leads AIG’s life-insurance and retirement division.

Also effective September 1, Hancock will join AIG’s board of directors, and Benmosche is expected to resign from the board, assuming an advisory role at AIG. In his new capacity, Benmosche will advise the CEO and continue to be involved in AIG’s internal leadership development programs, as well as mentor and coach AIG managers.

Hancock, 55, joined AIG in 2010 and was named Chief Executive Officer of AIG Property Casualty in March 2011, when the division was reorganized into two major global groups: Commercial and Consumer.

Previously, he had served as Executive Vice President, Finance, Risk, and Investments, AIG.

AIG notes that Hancock has spent his entire career in financial services:

• He spent 20 years at J.P. Morgan, where he established the Global Derivatives Group, ran the Global Fixed Income business and Global Credit portfolio, and served as the firm’s Chief Financial Officer and Chief Risk Officer.
• He co-founded and served as President of Integrated Finance Limited, an advisory firm specializing in strategic risk management, asset management, and innovative pension solutions.
• He joined AIG from KeyCorp, where he was Vice Chairman, responsible for Key National Banking.

Hancock is also a member of the Board of the Japan Society and a member of the International Advisory Board of BritishAmerican Business.

Raised in Hong Kong, Hancock later attended Oxford University, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in politics, philosophy, and economics.

He is a William Pitt Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge.

In a statement released Tuesday, AIG’s Chairman Robert S. Miller said: “As AIG enters a time of great change and opportunity, we are confident that Peter Hancock is uniquely qualified to lead the company and its employees to future success.

“Peter’s deep experience in financial services, including as a strong risk manager; his understanding of the AIG enterprise and the insurance business as a whole; his success in revitalizing AIG’s property casualty business; and his strong leadership and inclusive relationship skills position him perfectly to lead the company to an even more prosperous future.”

Miller highlighted Hancock’s “tireless focus on creating sustainable value via a strategy that achieves the right balance between growth, profitability, and risk,” saying that this focus has fueled “a shift to more high value business, better loss ratios, stronger risk management practices, and a stabilization of reserves in AIG’s property casualty segment.”

Miller also expressed his gratitude and appreciation to Benmosche. “Under Bob’s incomparable leadership and vision, AIG has achieved remarkable, and at times, unthinkable, milestones and successes,” he said, referencing Benmosche’s efforts to transform AIG—along the way, “fully repaying the $182 billion of government support AIG received in 2008, plus a profit of $22.7 billion, the largest turnaround in the history of corporate America; divesting non-core assets; streamlining global operations under clear reporting lines; and finding smart opportunities to grow AIG’s business.”

Source: American International Group