AIG - Mahony Partners

May

2015

Dick Fuld’s Unlikely Return

Financial Services, Taking & Managing Risk

Dick Fuld was never that skilled with the media when he was CEO of Lehman Brothers. Nearly seven years later, he still isn’t. (more…) Read More

Jan

2013

AIG and the Perils of Advertising

Advertising, Crisis, Financial Services, Marketing Strategy

Poor AIG. It was just starting to get its mojo back, launching a new ad campaign to thank taxpayers for rescuing the firm in the darkest days of the financial crisis. Then came the awkward news that it might sue taxpayers for driving too hard a bargain. Now the ad campaign seems dishonest and AIG is back in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Could this train wreck have been avoided? Read More

Dec

2012

Hank Greenberg Just Won’t Go Away

Crisis, Financial Services, Media

We suffering taxpayers were treated to some rare good news this week, when the U.S. Treasury sold the last of its holdings in AIG, earning a cool $23 billion profit. Not bad for a risky corporate turnaround. But there to rain on the parade was Hank Greenberg, the former CEO of the insurance giant, who has spent the past four years on a one-man crusade to turn bac... Read More

Mar

2012

Win Neuger’s Long Reign and Hasty Exit

Financial Services, Taking & Managing Risk

Win Neuger was hastily shown the door yesterday, ending his tenure as CEO of PineBridge Investments, the former asset management group at AIG. Neuger joined AIG from Bankers Trust Company in 1995. This news didn’t make many waves, but it’s odd in several ways. Neuger’s last day as CEO was yesterday, the same day the news was announced, which is an unusually quick exit for a CEO. David Jiang, formerly of Bank of New York Mellon, was named the new CEO. Neuger will serve as vice chairman. Sudden executive movements are generally discouraged in the asset management world becaus... Read More

Jan

2012

Does culture matter?

Crisis, Financial Services, Taking & Managing Risk

There’s long been a debate about whether a company’s culture makes any difference in how it performs. Culture often is derided as the “soft stuff” that is nice to have but not really essential to a company’s success. Indeed, Sandy Weill once famously quipped that culture was “something they put in yogurt.” (Of course, we know how things turned out at Citigroup.) Research by Professor Jim Heskett of the Harvard Business School has demonstrated the value of a strong corporate culture. He estimates that companies with effective cultures outperform their peers by as much as 30%. But there’s now evide... Read More