Profile: Joseph Cassano

Martin Sullivan, chief executive officer of insurance giant AIG, says writedowns the company has been forced to make on assets linked to the US housing market are “manageable.” “The effectiveness of our risk management efforts will show through in our results,” he adds, sending shares up more than 4 percent to $58.15. Joseph Cassano, head of the company unit that sells derivatives known as credit default swaps, says the value of such contracts declined by $1.1 billion in the first two months of the fourth quarter. [Bloomberg, 9/16/2008] Cassano’s statement is inaccurate, and AIG will later reveal the loss is close to $5 billion (see February 11, 2008).

Joseph Cassano, head of the financial products unit at troubled insurance giant AIG, will leave the company, Chief Executive Officer Martin Sullivan says in a statement. Cassano’s unit was responsible for a recently announced $11.1 billion writedown due to credit default swaps (see October-December 2007), and he is stepping down with the company’s consent. Cassano had co-founded the unit in 1987 and built it into a business providing guarantees on more than $500 billion of assets at the end of 2007, including $61.4 billion in securities tied to subprime mortgages. At the same time, AIG says it has $14.5 billion to $19.5 billion in “excess capital.” [Bloomberg, 9/16/2008]