Insurance exchange traded funds (ETFs) were mixed in early trading today after insurer American International Group Inc. (AIG) announced larger-than-expected losses.
The company lost $7.81 billion, the second consecutive quarterly loss. The losses did send anxiety through the general markets, though, and sparked more concerns about the global financial system, reports Tim Paradis for the Associated Press.
AIG is the world’s largest insurer. It’s a component of both the iShares Dow Jones US Insurance (IAK, 16.1%) and KBW Insurance (KIE, 7.1%). Year-to-date, the funds are down 12.2% and 8.2% respectively.
Meanwhile, Citigroup (C) said today that it plans to shed $500 billion in assets and grow its revenue by 9%. That would bring the bank’s total assets down to $1.7 trillion, reports Madlen Read for the Associated Press. Growing the assets will include, in part, job cuts in addition to the 13,200 that have already taken place since last summer.
Citigroup is 5.9% of the Financial Select Sector SPDR (XLF), as well as 2% of the iShares S&P Global Financials (IXG). XLF is down 8..4% year-to-date, and IXG is down 5.8%.
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