(The Insurer) – Having started 2025 as CEO at Lloyd’s, John Neal looks set to end the year without a job after Friday’s announcement that he will no longer be taking up the position of president of general insurance at AIG.
AIG’s announcement on Friday has raised more questions than answers. AIG cited personal circumstances as the reason behind the news but did not provide any further information.
Neal’s withdrawal means he has now been named to two senior roles in 2025, neither of which he has ultimately taken up.
On January 8, Neal was announced as CEO of global reinsurance and global chair of climate solutions at Aon.
The announcement brought to an end Aon’s prolonged search for a new reinsurance CEO. Andy Marcell had overseen the business in addition to his role as CEO of Risk Capital since May 2023.
In a subsequent interview with The Insurer, published on March 7, Marcell said Neal “ticked all the boxes” Aon was looking for to fill the reinsurance CEO position.
“You can’t really imagine anyone that could bring better tools to the party than John,” Marcell said at the time.
Neal officially exited his Lloyd’s role on May 30, ahead of his expected arrival at Aon on September 1.
But a twist in the story was to follow. On July 16, AIG announced that Neal would instead be joining as its president of general insurance, with effect from December 1. The move to Aon was off. Aon CEO Greg Case was among those to offer public congratulations. “We wish John Neal great success in his new role and look forward to working with him at AIG,” he said.
AIG chairman and CEO Peter Zaffino described Neal, whom he has known for 20 years, as “one of the most accomplished insurance executives in the industry”.
Neal had been widely expected to be Zaffino’s successor at the helm of AIG. The carrier’s statement on Friday suggests that Zaffino will continue to work with AIG’s board to determine a future organisational structure.
Friday’s statement raises several questions. How much has this unusual series of events cost Aon and AIG? What happens now in AIG’s succession planning? And why did Neal choose AIG over Aon in the first instance?
Missing out on both roles has also had a significant financial cost for Neal. His remuneration at Lloyd’s fell to 983,000 pounds ($1.29 million) in 2024, down 63.7% year on year from 2.71 million pounds in 2023, after he forfeited most available bonuses through his resignation to join Aon.
The AIG role was also set to be lucrative, with a base salary of $1.25 million and a total remuneration package of $17.2 million for his first year, as per an SEC filing on July 21.