What to Know About Allison Cooper’s Adaptable Approach to Managing AIG’s Financial Lines Business in North America

The future of the 2024 financial lines market is shaping up to have its fair share of obstacles. Here’s what AIG’s Allison Cooper has in her playbook.
By: | November 13, 2023

When it comes the current state of the financial lines market, industry professionals are forecasting a challenging year in 2024, especially in the rate and pricing environment. But with Allison Cooper at the helm of AIG’s North America Financial Lines, 2024 shouldn’t feel as daunting.  

The challenges are certainly there, as Cooper mentioned: “Economic conditions, geopolitical tensions, changes in capital markets, and technological, regulatory, and social change all materially affect our business.”  

But Cooper and her team have a well-constructed plan to address these risks.  

“We need to be nimble in our portfolio management strategies to ensure the right business mix in areas of long-term profitability while growing attractive businesses,” she said.  

To do this, Cooper and AIG have prepared themselves to be adaptable as the market challenge tides ebb and flow, while also leveraging technology and data to put their best efforts forward for their clients.  

“We will continuously reposition our portfolio through active underwriting strategies and prudent capital deployment,” she said.  

 “We [also plan to] introduce improved technology to support our underwriting teams and make doing business with AIG easier and more intuitive for clients.”  

While working diligently to combat the already present risks, Cooper is also maintaining a birds’ eye view of the risks that are surely to come to fruition in 2024. By combining forces and “deploying teams that are experts in advancements such as intellectual property, digital ledger technology, and AI,” Cooper said she and her team will “deepen their understanding of emerging risk issues [while] creating innovative insurance products for clients.” 

The use of loss data is also going to prove to be a valuable tool in Cooper’s arsenal, both in terms of predicting and preventing possible risk and in diversification.  

She said, “We collect and analyze loss data to evaluate potential exposures, which enables us to better predict losses for the benefit of AIG as well as our clients in the form of risk mitigation.  We are also able to use this information to target attractive businesses and further diversify our portfolio.”  

Internally, Cooper has dedicated the same amount of intention to how AIG’s internal operations will respond to the market challenges.  

“We have established a culture of collaboration and underwriting excellence at AIG, at the heart of which is a continuous feedback loop among underwriting, actuarial and claims,” she said.  

Though the outlook appears to have its hurdles, Cooper is confident in her team and the capabilities that AIG is employing for its clients.  

“Financial lines is one of the most dynamic businesses in commercial insurance as its risk landscape is continually evolving,” Cooper said.  

“Navigating these changes requires agility and adaptability, strategic thoughtfulness, and conviction in execution, and we are building a stronger foundation for the future of financial lines.” &


Allison Cooper has been selected as a 2024 Risk & Insurance® Executive to Watch. To see the other executives selected this year, visit here.

Emma Brenner is a staff writer with Risk & Insurance. She can be reached at [email protected].

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