In Brief: AIG Chief Not Interested in Buying Banks

WASHINGTON - American International Group Inc. is interested in acquiring asset management organizations, but not banks or securities firms, its chairman and chief executive said at a mutual fund conference Thursday.

"Our model is not to be everything to everybody," Maurice R. Greenberg said at the Investment Company Institute's annual conference.

Asset management is attractive, he said, as populations age and retirement systems are opened up through privatization in many parts of the world.

Mr. Greenberg said he has been looking for companies that would provide universal life, variable annuities, mutual funds, or any combination of those products.

The company's goal is to increase its earnings by about 15% a year and asset management will help that, he said.

Last year AIG bought John McStay Investment Counsel of Dallas. Mr. Greenberg also said the company would be interested in acquiring minority stakes in small investment banking companies around the world.

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