Sept 18 (Reuters) - Insurer American International Group

named industry veteran Keith Walsh as its executive vice

president and chief financial officer on Wednesday, effective

Oct. 21 this year.

Walsh has over two decades of experience in finance

leadership and had earlier served as the CFO of Marsh, a unit of

Marsh McLennan ( MMC ).

He had also worked as an equity research analyst at Citi for

14 years, where he covered the insurance sector, including

property and casualty underwriters, insurance brokers, asset

managers and small- and mid-cap life insurers.

The move comes at a time when insurers have benefited from a

revival in spending on policies despite rising premiums and

their income from investments has been fueled by a strong U.S.

equity market.

Walsh would be based in New York and will lead the

commercial insurer's global finance organization, the company

said.

"Keith is a highly accomplished executive with deep

financial expertise and significant investor experience in the

financial services sector, particularly the insurance industry,"

Peter Zaffino, chairman and CEO of AIG, said in a statement.

Walsh will report to Zaffino, who joined the firm in

2017 as global chief operating officer. He will succeed Sabra

Purtill, who has served as AIG's CFO since 2023.

Purtill initially joined AIG in 2019 as deputy CFO.

Three years later, AIG spun-off its life and retirement business

into CoreBridge Financial ( CRBG ), due to pressure from

activist investors.

She left to serve as the chief investment officer of

CoreBridge and rejoined the insurer in June last year as its

finance chief.

Shares of the company have gained nearly 8%

year-to-date.