AIG Names Pair From Brunswick Group to Social Media, Communications Roles
January 11, 2018 by David Pilla
NEW YORK – American International Group Inc. has named two Brunswick Group executives as new senior members of its corporate communications team.
Jim Wells is joining the company as global head of digital and social media, and Daniel O’Donnell is joining as head of corporate communications. Both report to Cindy Leggett-Flynn, AIG’s chief communications officer, the group said in a statement.
Leggett-Flynn said in a statement Wells and O’Donnell each “bring deep expertise and experience to their respective roles, and they will play a critical part in effectively telling our story and supporting our leadership team in realizing their vision for AIG’s next chapter.”
Wells will help the company “effectively leverage digital and social channels and provide best-in-class strategic support to AIG’s global communications network,” the group said. He was previously a director at Brunswick Group in New York, where he was a senior leader on the digital team. AIG said Wells has “a strong track record of advising clients on how to use content to influence media coverage, build and defend reputation and drive business results.”
Before joining Brunswick, Wells was a senior vice president at Weber Shandwick, where he counseled companies on their digital programs. He also helped to develop Mediaco, Weber Shandwick’s brand publishing offer. Earlier, he advised pharmaceutical brands on how to operate in social media while controlling for all legal and regulatory risks.
O’Donnell’s responsibilities will include corporate reputation, public affairs and financial communications.
At Brunswick, he advised clients on communications strategies for business-critical legal and financial situations, along with corporate positioning efforts, AIG said.
His clients included “leading global companies” across the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia-Pacific regions, and his work “spanned some of the highest profile crisis and litigation matters” and mergers and acquisitions transactions in recent years, AIG said. Earlier in his career, he worked with several financial institutions and trade organizations to address financial regulatory reforms.
The most recent among a number of high-profile appointments by AIG was that of Tom Bolt, a former Lloyd’s executive, who was named chief underwriting officer, general insurance (Best’s News Service, Dec. 5, 2017). AIG said at the time that Bolt will be responsible for developing a global framework for underwriting standards, authority and structure “that is aligned with AIG’s overall risk appetite.”
Underwriting entities of American International Group Inc. have current Best’s Financial Strength Ratings of A (Excellent).
Shares of American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) were trading at $61.21 on the afternoon of Jan 10, up 0.34% from the previous close.
(By David Pilla, news editor, BestWeek: David.Pilla@ambest.com)