About AIA
The American International Assurance Company, Limited (AIA) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the New York-based American International Group, Inc. (AIG).
The insurer we know today as AIA, was founded by the late Cornelius Vander Starr as INTASCO (International Assurance Company, Limited). The company was incorporated in Hong Kong, and began operations in Shanghai on April 14, 1931.
Business was disrupted when the Japanese occupied Shanghai at the beginning World War II. The Company closed its offices in Southeast Asia until after the war. When the fighting ended in 1945, INTASCO was back in Shanghai less than two weeks after the Japanese surrender.
In 1947, the regional headquarters was transferred to Hong Kong. A year later, INTASCO changed its name to American International Assurance Company, Limited. Today, AIA stands as the number one life insurer in Southeast Asia.