American International Group has appointed John G. Rice as chair of its board of directors, the insurer announced on 2 September 2026, with the change taking effect on 15 September. Rice, who had served as AIG lead independent director, steps up to lead the board of one of the largest commercial and personal insurance organisations in the world.
The appointment moves AIG to an independent, non-executive chair, separating the roles of board chair and chief executive. Peter Zaffino continues to lead the company as chief executive while transitioning out of his executive chair responsibilities. The board described the change as an orderly evolution of its leadership structure and pointed to Rice long record in global industry as the basis for the decision.
Rice brings decades of international operating experience to the role. Before joining the AIG board he spent a long career at General Electric, where he rose to vice chairman and ran some of the group largest global businesses, including extended assignments building operations across Asia and the emerging markets. That experience of running large, capital intensive and internationally spread businesses maps onto AIG own footprint, which spans property and casualty insurance for corporate and individual clients across dozens of countries.
The move comes as AIG continues to reshape itself into a more focused underwriting business following several years of restructuring, portfolio simplification and the separation of its life and retirement operations. An independent board chair is a governance step many large listed insurers and financial institutions have adopted, on the view that it sharpens oversight and clarifies the line between the board supervisory role and the executive team running of the company.
For AIG investors, the significance lies less in a single individual than in the signal that settled, independent board leadership sends during a period of strategic focus. Rice familiarity with the company, built up as lead independent director, is intended to make the handover seamless, and the phased effective date gave the board time to complete the transition in an orderly way.
AIG is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Rice assumed the role of chair with effect from 15 September 2026.
Insurance boards have faced rising expectations on oversight in recent years, from capital strength and reserving to the governance of risk, technology and climate exposure. A chair with hands on experience of running complex global operations can bring a practical lens to those debates, testing management on execution as well as strategy. For AIG, which has worked to simplify its structure and sharpen its underwriting focus, having an independent chair who knows the company from the inside is intended to support that agenda while keeping the board firmly in its supervisory role.
