American International Group is transferring part of its personal insurance business for upper middle market clients to Liberty Mutual’s Safeco Insurance and Heritage Insurance Holdings, a super-regional property/casualty carrier. The reason: a desire to focus more on high-net-worth clients.

“Building on the recent launch of Lloyd’s Syndicate 2019 and the refinement of [AIG Private Client Group’s] risk appetite, this agreement optimizes our portfolio and allows us to focus on our relationships with our high-net-worth clients and distribution partners, thereby strengthening our core value proposition,” Kathleen Zortman, president and chief executive officer of Private Client Group, AIG General Insurance, said in prepared remarks.

Plans call for starting the transition during the 2020 fourth quarter, subject to regulatory requirements in relevant jurisdictions.

Specifically, AIG said it will transition part of its personal insurance business that provides upper middle market clients with home, auto and umbrella insurance policies from AIG Private Client Group to Safeco and Heritage. The idea is that agents handling the business will be able to carry it over to either company.

By doing so, AIG Private Client Group can focus more on the high-net-worth segment, where the insurer said it “is a recognized market leader.”

Zortman said the goal is to provide “a seamless transition” for the affected business.

Boston-based Safeco Insurance sells personal automobile, homeowners and specialty products through a network of more than 10,000 independent insurance agencies throughout the United States and refers to itself as “the carrier champion of the independent agent.”

Heritage Insurance Holdings Inc. is a super-regional property/casualty insurance holding company. Through its insurance subsidiaries – Heritage Property & Casualty Insurance Company, Narragansett Bay Insurance Company and Zephyr Insurance Company – and a large network of experienced agents, the company writes over $950 million of consolidated gross personal and commercial residential premium across its multistate footprint.

Source: AIG