American International Group (AIG) has elected Thomas Stoddard as an independent director, with the insurance group folding a veteran financier into its boardroom days before a long-flagged change at the top.
Stoddard's appointment takes effect on June 1, 2026.
The incoming director brings more than 35 years of senior leadership experience across insurance, asset management and investment banking. He most recently served as vice chairman of global investment banking at Bank of America.
Stoddard joins the AIG board on the same day Eric Andersen succeeds Peter Zaffino as chief executive, completing a succession that the insurance group has been signalling to the market for months.
The handover follows AIG's FY2025 results, which showed a net profit of $3.1 billion, against a net loss of $1.4 billion the year before. General insurance underwriting results improved by 22% to $2.3 billion.
Zaffino tied the appointment to AIG's ongoing strategic agenda, pointing to Stoddard's grounding in property and casualty insurance and capital markets.
"Tom's deep expertise in property and casualty insurance and capital markets, together with his longstanding knowledge of AIG will be a very strong asset to our Board as we continue executing AIG's strategic priorities and building on AIG's momentum for the long term," Zaffino said.
That momentum has carried into 2026. First-quarter underwriting income rose nearly 220% to $774 million, while the combined ratio strengthened to 87.3% from 95.8% a year earlier.
Net premiums written climbed 24% to $5.6 billion, adjusted earnings per share rose 80% to $2.11, and core operating return on equity reached 12.2%.
Stoddard's résumé in the insurance sector runs deep. He was previously group chief financial officer at British insurer Aviva plc, and later took the same role at Athora Ltd., a European life insurance business established by Apollo Global Management.
Earlier, he was senior managing director and head of the global financial institutions group at Blackstone, where his advisory work covered AIG and other international financial institutions.
John Rice, AIG's lead independent director, said Stoddard's record across financial services and the insurance industry would feed into the board's oversight role.
"We look forward to leveraging his deep expertise in corporate governance and across the financial sector as we support AIG's focus on delivering sustainable, long-term value for shareholders," Rice said.
Stoddard, for his part, framed the seat as the continuation of a long working relationship with AIG.
"The impressive work that led to AIG's incredible transformation and the company's positioning as a global market leader with a strong track record of outstanding performance is a compelling vision for the future that I look forward to supporting," he said.
He currently sits on the board of Prudential Financial, Inc. He holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Swarthmore College, where he was a McCabe Scholar, and a JD from the University of Chicago Law School.
