It said late Thursday Mark O'Dell's departure was "in no way related to the recent developments at AIG," whose Singapore subsidiary has been thronged by hundreds of anxious policyholders worried over the future of the parent company.
A statement from American International Assurance Company Limited (AIA) said O'Dell had resigned and taken immediate leave of absence from his position as executive vice-president and general manager of AIA Singapore.
"It is a personal decision that he has been planning for some time," the statement said.
Effective Friday, Kenneth Juneau will lead the company until a new general manager is found, the statement said. Juneau is executive vice president and senior regional life executive of AIA's regional office.
O'Dell resigned on the same day he took out a full-page newspaper advertisement to reassure AIA's customers about the company.
Despite short-term liquidity pressures at AIG, the Singapore unit is a "strong, well-positioned business," O'Dell wrote in the advertisement.
Local newspapers reported that O'Dell will join a rival company.
Attempts by AFP to reach him were unsuccessful. He has also resigned as president of the Life Insurance Association of Singapore, a member of staff there said.
Hundreds of customers lined up outside the AIA Singapore offices this week, hoping to terminate their policies or to seek answers after the US Federal Reserve announced a bailout of AIG.
On Friday the queues had gone, and only a few dozen people were inside the customer service area. A staff member said some were making inquiries, others hoped to cancel their policies, and some wanted to reinstate them.
The US government will give an unprecedented loan of up to 85 billion dollars to AIG in a bid to avert its collapse and a global financial calamity.
Singapore's de facto central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), said that apart from O'Dell there were no other changes in AIA Singapore's management.
"We are satisfied with the ability of the company to carry on business as usual and to meet new demands even when there are any changes in management," it said in a statement, adding that MAS's regulatory oversight was "rigorous".
But some customers were not impressed by the timing of O'Dell's departure.
"He should have been gracious enough to wait for this crisis to settle down," said Daniel Chan, 50, a college lecturer who said he was considering what to do with his policy. He said he was unlikely to cancel, partly because he trusted the local regulators.
Lynn Siew, another client making inquiries, said O'Dell's resignation "just added to the gloom. It was very irresponsible."
AIA in Singapore and Hong Kong said only a fraction of policyholders had cancelled, and announced measures to woo back their clients.
More than 1,200 customers, seeking to end their policies or get cash loans from the firm in case it went bankrupt, descended Wednesday on the office of the AIG subsidiary in downtown Taipei. The number fell sharply on Thursday.
In Brunei, there were no queues but some concerned policyholders wanted to terminate their agreements, the Borneo Bulletin reported Thursday.
Like other regional units of AIG, the Brunei subsidiary issued a statement saying the local business remained sound.
Analysts from Moody's Investors Services said in a report that AIG's core insurance operations are fundamentally solid, but subject to "substantial reputational risk" because of the recent market turmoil.
"It will take time to determine the extent to which recent events may have weakened the companies' standing in the market," Moody's said.
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