The short answer
Yes. Corebridge Financial is a real, publicly traded United States insurance company, and it is the business that used to sit inside AIG as its life and retirement arm. The life insurance itself is issued by American General Life Insurance Company of Houston, Texas, and in New York by The United States Life Insurance Company in the City of New York, both wholly owned subsidiaries of Corebridge Financial, Inc. If a Corebridge letter turned up about a policy you remember buying from AIG or from American General, that is a rebrand rather than a stranger, and the insurer named on your contract has not changed.
Corebridge Financial, Inc. is a Delaware incorporated company with its headquarters campus in Houston, Texas, and its common stock has traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker CRBG since September 2022, which means its financial statements are filed publicly with the Securities and Exchange Commission every quarter.
Nothing changed except the name over the door
Almost everyone who searches this bought from AIG or from American General, and then one day the statements started arriving from a company called Corebridge. That is the whole story. In 2022 the life insurance and retirement business that had operated under the AIG umbrella was separated into a company of its own, named Corebridge Financial, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The brand on the envelope changed. The contract did not. Here is the detail that settles it for most people: your policy was almost certainly never issued by a company called AIG in the first place. Look at the front page of the contract and you will find American General Life Insurance Company of Houston, Texas, or, if you live in New York, The United States Life Insurance Company in the City of New York. Those are the companies that issued the coverage, and they are the same companies issuing it today. The second thing that unsettles people is the direction of the change. Usually a small name gets replaced by a bigger one you already know. This went the other way, and a name nobody had heard of showed up in place of one everybody had, which is more than enough to make a careful person check.
How to check it yourself in about a minute
You should never have to take our word for it, or the company's. Every one of these is free, public, and works for any insurer you ever want to look up.
- Look up the insurer, not the holding company. Search your state department of insurance licence lookup for the company printed on your contract, which is usually American General Life Insurance Company, or The United States Life Insurance Company in the City of New York for New York residents. The consumer portal at naic.org points you to the right state site. Corebridge Financial, Inc. is the parent that owns those insurers, so searching the parent name may return nothing even though everything is in order.
- Read the first page of the policy you already hold. The insurer named on your own contract is the company that owes the death benefit. Compare it to the insurer named on the new statement. If both say American General Life Insurance Company, you have already answered the question at your kitchen table, because a rebrand at the parent level does not amend a contract in force.
- Match the policy number, not the letterhead. Compare the policy number on the mail against a premium notice, a policy schedule or a bank draft description you already have. Letterhead and logos are easy to imitate. A policy number that lines up with your own records is the confirmation that actually counts.
- Follow the corporate paper trail yourself if you want to. Corebridge files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and those filings are free to read at sec.gov under the ticker CRBG. The annual report names American General Life Insurance Company, The Variable Annuity Life Insurance Company and The United States Life Insurance Company in the City of New York as subsidiaries, which is the public link between the new brand and the insurer on your paperwork.
- Reach the company through details you found yourself. If you want to speak to someone, use the contact route printed on your own policy documents or on the company website you navigated to directly, rather than anything printed on mail you were not expecting. That is sound practice with any sender, and it costs you nothing.
- Check financial strength independently. Insurer financial strength is rated by independent agencies and can be looked up free at ambest.com. That is a separate question from whether the company is licensed, and it is worth knowing both answers rather than one.
What is actually going on
- A separation is not a transfer of your policy. When a business unit is spun out into its own public company, the insurers inside it keep their charters, their reserves and their contracts. The death benefit, the premium, the cash value and the beneficiaries are set by the policy you signed, and none of them move because a parent company changed its name and its shareholders.
- American General is still the name that matters. Life insurance is issued by American General Life Insurance Company, Houston, Texas, except in New York, where it is issued by The United States Life Insurance Company in the City of New York. Both are wholly owned subsidiaries of Corebridge Financial, Inc. When you are verifying anything, use the insurer name, because that is the name regulators list.
- AIG is no longer the parent company. Corebridge has its own board, its own shareholders and its own reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and AIG no longer holds a majority of its stock. Who owns shares at the top of a group is a separate matter from who issued your contract and who supervises it, and the answer to that second question is still your own state.
- VALIC on a retirement statement is the same family. The Variable Annuity Life Insurance Company, known to a lot of teachers and public employees simply as VALIC, is a Corebridge subsidiary serving K-12 schools, higher education, healthcare and government employers. A household can hold a life policy and a workplace retirement account inside the same group, which is why the Corebridge name can appear twice on two very different statements.
- Your state regulates the policy either way. United States life insurers are licensed and supervised by the states they write in, and every state also runs a guaranty association that protects life insurance policyholders up to limits set by that state. That framework sits underneath your policy regardless of who owns the parent company this year.
Common questions
Is Corebridge Financial the same company as AIG?
Not any more, and that is the point of the change. Corebridge is the life insurance and retirement business that used to operate under AIG, separated into its own company and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2022. AIG no longer holds a majority of Corebridge stock, and Corebridge files its own reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The insurer that issued your policy has not changed.
My policy says American General but my statement says Corebridge. Which one is my insurance company?
American General Life Insurance Company is your insurance company. Corebridge Financial, Inc. is the parent that owns it. Both names are correct, and only one of them appears in your state licence lookup, which is the insurer name. That is the one to search when you want to confirm anything.
I searched "is Corebridge a scam" because I had never heard the name. Was I wrong to worry?
Not at all, and checking an unfamiliar name on your own paperwork is exactly the right instinct. The answer here is no. This is a real, publicly traded United States insurance company, and the unfamiliar name is the result of a 2022 rebrand rather than a sign that anything is wrong. Two minutes on your state licence lookup, searching American General Life Insurance Company, settles it for good.
Did the name change affect my death benefit or my premium?
No. Your death benefit, premium, cash value, riders and beneficiaries come from the contract you signed with the issuing insurer, and that insurer is the same company it always was. A parent company rebrand changes letterhead, logos and web addresses. It does not amend a policy already in force.
Why does my New York policy name The United States Life Insurance Company in the City of New York?
Because New York has its own licensing rules, and business written there goes through a New York domiciled insurer. The United States Life Insurance Company in the City of New York is the company that issues New York contracts, which is why its name rather than American General appears on your policy. Both companies sit inside Corebridge, and both are licensed insurers you can look up by name with your state.
Do I need to sign anything or reconfirm my policy because of the rebrand?
No. There is nothing to sign, no fee to pay and no account to reactivate. If a message asks you to confirm details, pay something or click a link to keep coverage in force, treat it the way you would treat any unexpected request, and check it against your own documents or through a contact route you looked up yourself. Real servicing notices never depend on you acting from the letter alone.
Should I keep a Corebridge policy I already have?
Often yes, and that is a genuinely good outcome. Coverage issued years ago was priced on the health you had then, and if your health has changed since, replacing it can cost more or may not be available on the same terms. Read your schedule, confirm the death benefit and the beneficiaries, and then decide. Plenty of these reviews end with leaving the policy exactly where it is.
How can I check that an insurance company is licensed in my state?
Every state runs a free public lookup through its department of insurance, and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners keeps a consumer portal at naic.org that points you to the right one. Search the insurer by name and you will see whether it is authorised to write business in your state. It takes about a minute and it works for any company, not just this one.
I got mail about a policy I do not remember buying. What should I do?
Do not ignore it, and do not act on the letter alone. Match the policy number on the letter against your own records first. If it matches something you hold, the mail is almost certainly a servicing notice or a rebrand notice. If nothing matches, contact the insurer using the details on your own statement or on the company website you looked up yourself, rather than a number printed on an unexpected letter. That habit protects you generally, whoever the sender is.
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This guide is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Licensing and company details change, so confirm anything important with your state department of insurance. Policy Review Center is a free comparison and referral service, not an insurance agency, insurer, or producer, and it connects you with independent licensed agents. Carrier names are used for reference only and do not imply any endorsement or affiliation.