(Bloomberg) — The leadership transition at insurer AmericanInternational Group Inc. is like switching generals after winning awar, Chairman Steve Miller said today.

“We're changing generals as we move from wartime to peacetime,”Miller, 72, said today in an interview with Bloomberg Television'sBetty Liu.

Peter Hancock, 56, yesterday replaced Robert Benmosche, whodeparted after five years as chief executive officer of NewYork-based AIG. Benmosche, 70, started at the insurer less than ayear after the firm's 2008 taxpayer bailout, which swelled to$182.3 billion. AIG finished repaying the rescue in 2012.

Miller said today that he learned from Benmosche “the power ofgreat leadership, even in the most disastrous ofcircumstances.”

AIG in June announced Benmosche's plans to depart. Around thattime, the prognosis for the CEO's cancer had worsened, hasteninghis decision to step down, Benmosche told Liu on Aug. 24. As CEO,Benmosche oversaw divestitures of foreign insurance units and AIG'splane-leasing business, helping focus the firm on sales ofproperty-casualty coverage globally and life and retirementproducts in the U.S.

In a memo today, Hancock said AIG is sticking with thatstrategy, while making some changes to how it evaluates employeeperformance. Hancock most recently led AIG's property-casualtyunit, where he emphasized profitability over growth, scaling backfrom some less-lucrative coverage such as workers' compensation.He's pushing to expand in consumer lines such as car insurance andtravel and health policies.

'Modest changes'

Among AIG's priorities are a “focus on customers, sustainablegrowth and profitability,” and making the company more efficient,Hancock wrote in the memo. “We are staying the course with thedirection and strategy we have pursued for the past severalyears.”

Hancock joined AIG in 2010 as a top aide to Benmosche after astint at Cleveland-based KeyCorp. Earlier in his career, Hancockspent two decades at J.P. Morgan & Co., rising to chieffinancial officer. At the lender, he played a key role in thecreation of credit derivatives and developed a reputation as astudent of risk. He left the bank in 2000, shortly before it wasacquired by Chase Manhattan Corp.

Hancock said in the memo that he plans to make “modest changes”to AIG's performance-ratings process to make it more flexible. Hesaid he's working to do a better job of incorporating team resultsinto performance reviews.

“Like many large companies, we suffer from a culture whereoperating within a silo is the norm,” Hancock wrote. “We need to domore to reward high-performing teams and team dynamics.”

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