AIG in one paragraph
AIG is an insurance group with roughly 25 billion USD of annual gross written premiums concentrated in commercial property and casualty lines, operating in around 70 countries and territories with the bulk of underwriting risk sitting on US Gulf and East Coast property exposure. The quarterly cash dividend is currently 0.40 USD per share, paid four times a year, which is reflected as a cash adjustment on every AIG CFD held over the ex-date. The stock trades on the NYSE between roughly 60 and 85 USD per share, with single-session moves of 5 to 8 percent on major catastrophe news. At LHFX you trade AIG as a CFD on MetaTrader 5 with leverage capped at 1:20, a flat 3 USD per side commission, STP/ECN execution, and settlement in USD.
What AIG actually does
Strip the corporate history away and AIG is a balance sheet that collects insurance premiums up front, invests the float in bonds and other yielding assets, and pays claims out the back end when accidents, lawsuits, and storms happen. The trick of the business is to charge enough premium so that claims plus expenses come in below the premium dollar collected, while also earning a respectable yield on the float held in between. That combination is what underwriters call making money on both sides of the equation.
The firm sells insurance in about seventy markets, but the centre of gravity is large commercial cover sold to corporations, public bodies, and complex risks: directors and officers, financial lines, casualty, specialty property, and aviation. Personal insurance still exists inside the General Insurance segment but it is much smaller than the commercial book and shrinking as a share of the mix.
The second business, Life and Retirement, was carved out under the Corebridge Financial brand and floated on the NYSE in 2022 as CRBG. AIG continues to sell down its remaining stake in that company through secondary offerings. Each tranche that goes out the door brings AIG closer to being a pure property and casualty pure-play, which is also the reason the simplification story is the dominant equity narrative for the stock.
Why the segment math matters. AIG is not a bank. Earnings are driven by underwriting margins, catastrophe losses, and bond-portfolio yields, not by net interest margin or loan growth. The single largest input to a given quarter is the Atlantic hurricane season between June 1 and November 30. Over multi-year windows AIG correlation with the major US bank stocks is meaningfully lower than the banks have with each other, which is the structural reason it sits on every financials screener yet behaves nothing like JPM, BAC, or GS.
How AIG makes money, segment by segment
Two reporting lines drive the share price. General Insurance is the engine. The CRBG stake is the slowly disappearing legacy item. AIG discloses revenue and underwriting results by segment each quarter, and the analytical lens that matters when sizing a position around a print is the combined ratio inside General Insurance.
| Segment | What is written in this line | Revenue share | What to watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Insurance | Commercial property and casualty: directors and officers, financial lines, casualty, specialty property, aviation, plus a smaller personal book | ~25 billion USD gross written premium | Combined ratio (below 100 is profitable underwriting), catastrophe loss disclosures, net investment income on the float |
| Corebridge Financial stake (CRBG) | Life insurance and retirement products operated as a separately listed company since the 2022 IPO | Residual ownership, no longer fully consolidated | Announced secondary placements (dilutive on the day they price), capital returns from CRBG, any guidance on a final exit timeline |
| Other operations | Holding company expenses, run-off books, corporate items | Small residual | Reserve adjustments on prior-year accident years, which can swing quarterly earnings either way |
Trading AIG means taking a view on a commercial property and casualty engine where the underwriting cycle and the catastrophe load are the two variables that move the multiple. The CRBG stake is a slow-motion exit that incrementally tidies up the story rather than driving the earnings power. The quarter the General Insurance combined ratio worsens by more than a couple of points is the quarter the multiple compresses, regardless of what CRBG has done.
Four prints a year, all after the bell
AIG has reported earnings on a stable cadence for years. The reaction trade has been driven mostly by catastrophe load and General Insurance combined ratio, not by surprises on the headline EPS number. The full-year and Q4 print lands in mid-February. Q1 reports in late April or early May. Q2 lands in late July or early August and delivers the first read on the early hurricane season. Q3 in late October or early November carries the bulk of the Atlantic hurricane season loss data.
The buy-side reads the print in a fixed order. First, the General Insurance accident-year combined ratio ex-catastrophes, which is the cleanest read on underwriting discipline before storms. Second, the catastrophe load itself for the quarter and any reserve adjustments on prior-year accident years. Third, net investment income on the float, which compounds the long-end rate story over multiple quarters. Fourth, any qualitative commentary on the commercial pricing cycle and renewal rate trajectory. Fifth, an update on CRBG stake reduction and capital return plans.
AIG normally publishes after the US cash close, so the first opportunity to trade the reaction on an AIG CFD at LHFX is the following NYSE open. Overnight positions held into the print are exposed to gap risk in either direction. A miss on combined ratio of even a couple of points moves the stock several percent. Across the last several years the share price has averaged 4 to 6 percent absolute moves on print, with the largest gaps driven by hurricane-quarter catastrophe loads and forward pricing commentary.
Worked example, sizing into a print
Account balance 4,200 USD. AIG quoted at 72.50 USD. Target a 0.5 percent risk budget on a single trade, which is 21 USD of risk before the stop is hit. A 0.10-lot AIG CFD is 10 shares of notional exposure, so position notional is 725 USD. At 1:20 leverage the margin used is 36.25 USD, under 1 percent of the account. Round-trip commission on 0.10 lots is 6 USD in total. Size the stop at a 2 percent adverse move to 71.05 USD: that move on 10 shares is 14.50 USD plus 6 USD round-trip commission, total worst case 20.50 USD, which fits inside the 21 USD risk budget. A 2 percent run in your favour to 73.95 USD nets 8.50 USD after commission. The asymmetry between stop and target is the variable you control by where you place each one, not by the leverage itself.
What moves AIG share price
Five catalysts dominate the AIG tape. The first one is the reason this stock does not behave like a bank.
The Atlantic hurricane season
Between June 1 and November 30 every year, the National Hurricane Center publishes advisories on tropical systems forming in the Atlantic basin. AIG underwrites a meaningful amount of US Gulf and East Coast commercial property cover, so a Category 3 or higher landfall in a populated area can deliver a multi-billion-dollar catastrophe charge to a single quarter. The share price routinely moves 4 to 8 percent on the day a major landfall becomes likely, and another 3 to 5 percent when the loss number is booked on the earnings call.
The commercial property and casualty pricing cycle
Commercial insurance pricing moves in long, slow waves. Since 2019 the industry has been in a hard market, meaning annual rate increases on most lines. As long as that holds, AIG underwriting margins improve. The first quarter where renewal rate increases slow materially is the quarter the market starts to fear a softening cycle, and the multiple compresses faster than the operating numbers actually deteriorate because investors price the turn in advance.
The level of long-end interest rates
AIG holds a large investment portfolio backing policy reserves. When the Federal Reserve and the long end of the Treasury curve hold yields higher, new money coming into that portfolio is reinvested at better rates, which lifts net investment income line by line over the following quarters. The opposite is also true: a sharp drop in rates is a slow drag, not an instant one, and it shows up across several quarters of guidance.
CRBG stake sales
Each announced secondary offering of CRBG shares is technically dilutive on the day it is priced because some of the float increases. The market has consistently treated these placements as progress on simplification, so the immediate price reaction is mixed and the medium-term reaction is positive when proceeds are recycled into AIG buybacks rather than retained on the balance sheet.
Quarterly earnings
Reported in the last two weeks of January, April, July, and October, normally after the regular session closes. The line items that re-rate the stock are the General Insurance accident-year combined ratio ex-catastrophes, the catastrophe load itself, and net investment income. A miss on combined ratio of even a couple of points moves the stock several percent in either direction.
When AIG trades
AIG is listed on the NYSE and follows the standard US cash-equity timetable. Pre-market, regular session, and post-market each carry distinct liquidity and price-discovery characteristics, but only one of the three is available as an LHFX CFD. That asymmetry matters because every quarterly earnings reaction lands in the post-market window.
Pre-market on cash equity
4:00 AM to 9:30 AM ET. The window where overnight insurance industry headlines, hurricane track updates published by the National Hurricane Center, and broker upgrades or downgrades reprice the stock. Spreads are wide and depth is thin. Not available as an LHFX CFD.
Regular session
9:30 AM to 4:00 PM ET, Monday through Friday. The full-liquidity window with tight spreads, deep order books, and clean order routing. Typical intraday range on AIG runs around 1 to 2 percent on a normal day, widening to 4 to 8 percent on major catastrophe headlines and 3 to 6 percent on earnings-reaction days.
After-hours on cash equity
4:00 PM to 8:00 PM ET. Where the four quarterly earnings releases land. The first twenty minutes after the press release are the cleanest read on the print, with aggressive repricing on thin liquidity. Not available as an LHFX CFD, so the after-hours move shows up at the next morning open.
AIG CFD hours at LHFX
Regular NYSE session only: 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM ET, Monday through Friday. In UTC that is 14:30 to 21:00 during US winter and 13:30 to 20:00 during US summer. Earnings prints fall outside the LHFX window, so the CFD reopens the next morning at whatever the cash-equity after-hours market has already priced in. NYSE public holidays are also closed on the AIG CFD.
Carrying an AIG CFD position over an earnings print or an active tropical storm threat means accepting the full overnight gap with no opportunity to flatten in real time. Stop losses cannot fill across a closed market. Either size to the gap, or close the position before the bell.
AIG CFD vs registered share vs options
A Contract for Difference settles in cash on the price move of the underlying. A share of AIG common stock makes you a partial owner of the corporation. AIG-listed options give you the right to buy or sell shares at a fixed strike. The three are not the same product and the differences matter when picking which one to use. With a CFD you can go short as easily as you can go long, you can use up to 1:20 leverage at LHFX, and you settle in USD against the bid and ask of the NYSE price. You receive a dividend adjustment in cash on the ex-date when long, and pay it when short. You do not appear on the AIG shareholder register, you do not get to vote at the annual meeting, and you are not eligible for any tax voucher attached to a dividend payment.
| Product | What you own | Income treatment | Leverage available | Cost structure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AIG CFD at LHFX | A contract on the price move, no underlying share | Cash adjustment on the ex-date (long credit, short debit) to mirror the dividend | Up to 1:20 | Raw NYSE spread plus 3 USD per side commission, overnight swap on held positions |
| Registered AIG share | Direct ownership on the AIG shareholder register with voting rights | Cash dividend paid quarterly at 0.40 USD per share, with tax voucher attached | Reg T margin in a margin account, none in a cash account | Broker commission and bid-ask, no swap, custody and transfer fees may apply |
| AIG listed options | Right to buy (call) or sell (put) AIG at a fixed strike before expiry | No dividend; cash dividends are factored into option pricing curves | Embedded leverage via premium paid up front | Per-contract fees plus premium, time value erodes each day until expiry |
Pick the CFD for short-dated directional trades around hurricane events, earnings prints, or CRBG placement windows where leverage and the ability to short matter. Pick the registered share for multi-year ownership and the quarterly 0.40 USD per share dividend. Pick options when you want a defined-risk way to position for a known binary catalyst such as a Category 4 landfall window or a major secondary offering pricing.
Trading AIG at LHFX
LHFX offers AIG as a Contract for Difference inside MetaTrader 5 with STP/ECN execution and no dealing-desk intervention. Specifications are visible inside MT5 by right-clicking AIG in Market Watch and opening Specification. Account base currency is converted at the prevailing rate; AIG itself settles in USD. The visible cost has two pieces: the raw NYSE spread plus a flat 3 USD per side commission.
Up to 1:20 on AIG CFDs. The cap is set deliberately tight for single-name US equities because hurricane events and earnings gaps can swallow several percent of margin in a single morning open. Most experienced traders run effective leverage well below the cap, often 1:5 or lower during hurricane season.
3 USD per side, 6 USD round-trip per standard lot. Quoted as a flat fee on top of the raw spread rather than embedded inside it, so the published bid and ask reflect the underlying NYSE market quote.
MetaTrader 5 on Windows, Mac, web, iOS, and Android. LHFX is a direct MetaQuotes licensee, so AIG appears in the same Market Watch as forex pairs, indices, commodities, and crypto CFDs without any separate platform installation.
STP/ECN routing. Orders are passed straight through to aggregated US equity liquidity rather than internalised against a dealing desk. There is no broker position taken against your fill.
Regular NYSE session only: 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM ET Monday through Friday. Pre-market and after-hours moves on the cash-equity book are reflected when the CFD reopens at the next regular-session start. NYSE holidays are closed.
Variable raw NYSE spread, tightest mid-session. Spreads widen on the open, the close, and around scheduled releases such as earnings or major hurricane advisories that move the broader insurance sector.
All AIG CFD P&L is settled in US dollars on the trading account. If your base currency is EUR, GBP, or another supported wallet, the result is converted at the prevailing rate at close-out.
A worked sizing example
Account balance 4,200 USD and AIG quoted at 72.50 USD. A 0.10 lot AIG CFD is 10 shares of notional, total notional 725 USD. Margin posted at the 1:20 cap is 36.25 USD, under 1 percent of the account. A 2 percent adverse move from 72.50 USD to 71.05 USD is a 14.50 USD loss, plus 6 USD round-trip commission, total worst case 20.50 USD, which fits inside a 21 USD risk budget (0.5 percent of the account). A 2 percent run in your favour to 73.95 USD produces 14.50 USD gross, less 6 USD commission, for 8.50 USD net. Size from the dollar value of the move you can absorb, not from the available margin cap.
For live spread snapshots, contract size, swap, and dividend treatment, see the AIG instrument page. For the full commission breakdown across instrument groups, see spreads and fees, and for the leverage policy by asset class see leverage.
Risks of trading AIG
On top of normal equity-CFD risk, AIG carries two structural exposures that have produced several of its largest single-session moves in the last decade. Treat them as standing inputs to position sizing rather than as tail events to ignore.
Concentrated catastrophe exposure
AIG underwrites large commercial property accounts on the US Gulf and East Coast, which means a single severe hurricane making landfall in a high-value area can deliver a multi-billion dollar single-quarter charge. The market price reacts in two waves: the first on the day the storm track becomes credible, and the second when the catastrophe loss number is booked at the next earnings release. Each wave has been a 4 to 8 percent move on multiple occasions over the past decade. Leverage at 1:20 turns that into an 80 to 160 percent move on margin.
Commercial pricing cycle turn
Since 2019 the property and casualty industry has been in a hard market, with renewal rates rising every year. That tailwind has been the single biggest reason AIG combined ratios have improved. The moment that cycle turns, AIG suffers along with the rest of the industry, and the multiple compresses faster than the operating numbers actually deteriorate because investors price the turn in advance.
Earnings-window overnight gap risk
AIG normally publishes results after the regular-session close. LHFX CFDs do not trade after-hours. A position held over the print is exposed to the full overnight reaction with no opportunity to flatten until the next morning open. Stops cannot fill across a closed market. Recent prints have produced 4 to 6 percent single-morning gaps when combined ratio or catastrophe loads surprised.
Leverage compounds both directions
At the 1:20 cap, a 5 percent adverse move on a fully sized AIG position wipes the deposited margin on that trade. Hurricane and earnings windows alone can produce moves above that threshold. Size from the dollar value of the move you can absorb, not from the available margin cap. Effective leverage of 1:5 or lower is the working norm on single-name US equities, and even lower than that during active hurricane season.
Risk disclosure: CFDs are complex instruments and carry a high risk of losing money rapidly because of leverage. The majority of retail accounts lose money trading CFDs. Make sure you understand how CFDs work and that you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. Never trade with capital you cannot afford to lose.