The new name was adopted on 1 November 2009, following a decision by New York-headquartered AIG to transfer its global property-casualty and general insurance operations to AIU Holdings under a Special Purpose Vehicle - Chartis Inc, to separate the insurance services from AIG's wealth management business.
At a meeting to announce a new insurance cover by then AIG Uganda in Kampala last month, Wanjohi told the firm's customers that, all policies that had been issued under the old name would “remain valid and continue to be underwritten by Chartis,” until they renew them. But new policies would be issued under the Chartis brand.
The rebranding of the insurance giant closely follows that of HITS Telecom by France Telecom's Orange Uganda, Celtel by Zain, Commercial Microfinance (CMF) by Global Trust Bank, in the last 18 months.
