Everybody’s been making money from AIG except its shareholders

AIG shares have lost 1.6 percent since the day of the U.S. government rescue, compared with a 98 percent gain in the S&P 500 Index. In the same period, Wall Street banks led by Morgan Stanley have collected an estimated $740 million in fees for helping the insurer sell assets, according to consulting firm Freeman & Co. AIG doled out about $10 billion to the conglomerate owned by Buffett to offset insurance risks, and the insurer’s executive merry-go-round has cost tens of millions of dollars in exit packages for departing top employees.

“It’s been a trying time to be an AIG shareholder for a number of reasons,” said Rob Haines, an analyst at CreditSights Inc. in New York. “AIG has made some really tough choices, which have been painful in the near term.”