Insurance Giant Forms Independent Broker-Dealer

By Staff Writer

February 01, 2005 at 07:00 PM

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NU Online News Service, Feb. 1, 2005, 8:12 p.m. EST

The AIG Advisor Group, Phoenix, plans to combine 3 of its brokerages into a new entity, AIG Financial Advisors Inc.[@@]

The new unit will be an independent broker-dealer comprising registered representatives from the AIG brokerage firms SunAmerica Securities Inc., Sentra Securities Corp. and Spelman & Company Inc.

The AIG Advisor Group, the marketing name for the broker-dealer subsidiaries of American International Group Inc., New York, expects to launch the new corporate entity in the second quarter.

The new unit would help the company build a stronger brand identity in the independent broker-dealer industry, says James Cannon, president of AIG Financial Advisors.

"We also recognize that the client's relationship is with their financial advisor, not the broker-dealer," says Cannon. "Therefore, independent financial advisors affiliated with our broker-dealer can choose to adopt the AIG Financial Advisors name, use the name of their own entity or both."

Cannon says AIG surveys of financial advisors show they want the flexibility to use either their own names or that of their broker-dealers when dealing with clients.

The AIG Advisor Group has a network of 7,000 independent financial professionals and includes Advantage Capital Corp., AIG Financial Advisors Inc., FSC Securities Corp. and Royal Alliance Associates Inc.

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