The Name’s Been Changed, the Crooks Are Still the Same

From those enlightened financiers at AIG comes this groundbreaking announcement. Their retirement fund group is no longer AIG, it is now, wait for it, VALIC. Isn’t that a pickle company? Appropriate somehow:

Possibly, and this is entirely idle speculation on our parts but, the fancy public relations firms the zombie insurer retained are known for running focus groups. Perhaps the feedback concluded that somehow the AIG name was a turnoff to people looking for a place to store their remaining life savings?

“We believe this decision is timely,” the brochure goes on, adding that with its return to its more venerable brand it restores a name “that has represented more than a half a century of helping people plan for and enjoy a secure retirement”* and also sounds vaguely like the pickle brand, possibly to convey a sense of “preservation.”

Oh, and the asterisk in the Talking Points Memo story references this kind of prudent security for which VALIC is famous:

*With the occasional class-action lawsuit alleging an elaborate scheme that bilked millions from the pension funds of public school teachers. But really, who hasn’t been isn’t in that business? 

The Beast Who Slumbers read the entire insipid press release  , and one phrase set off alarm bells for this First Stater:

“Our company exceeds the capital reserves required by the Texas Department of Insurance”.

Pardon ‘bulo his ignorance but (a) since when has Texas become known as the country’s most diligent regulator; and (b) aren’t reduced capital reserve requirements an industry goal that has been embraced by Karen Weldin Stewart?

Nothing about this smells good to El Somnambulo.