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PlanMaestro

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Interesting note on the Treasury coaxing demand out of institutional shareholders waiting for $29 again....

 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/steveschaefer/2012/05/07/treasury-sells-5b-of-aig-shares-at-30-50-raises-price-floor-for-remaining-stake/

 

Most important nugget:

 

"For Stirling, a key takeaway from the latest sale is that Treasury and AIG are coordinating their efforts, and that the Federal Reserve appears to be comfortable enough with the firm’s capital levels to allow for the hefty buybacks. Of even more importance is the price level at which the government sold shares."

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Back in at $31.12 this morning.

 

Perhaps as the Govt stake gets smaller the buyers will grow more confident and the last sales will be much larger.  Right now, people feel there is no rush because there are perhaps another 6 sales of this size yet to go.  But if they price the last $15 billion or so in a single offering, it will only be blue sky on the other side of it so it might sell briskly and at a higher offering price.

 

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we need more AIG asset sales to go through so it can buy back 15-20 billion more from the Treasury (hopefully at the 30 dollar range, but I bet it goes up every time, depending on the market).

 

Seems the case.  For existing shareholders it's tails I win, heads I win.

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from Yahoo AIG message board:

j0n_48195

Re: How many more sales for AIG to be %50 owner      7-May-12 12:17 pm   

The significance of this November is obvious. The feds are willing to sell at a discount (meager profit to cost) until then. That has suppressed the price for the past year and puts pressure on AIG to generate as much cash as possible to capture those shares. If they can retire another 600+ million by then, at an average price near $33, they should be able to pump book value up to $70 by the elections. With the current normalized 4% ROI that puts next years year's core earnings near $3/shr. With their prospect of raising core ROI to 6%, that raises earnings north of $4. More equity purchases will raise that further. There's no quick buck here, but the 3 year outlook looks awesome.

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Treasury now expects $5.8B instead of $5B.

This will take down the stake of treasury to 61%.

 

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. Treasury Department late Monday said it expects to receive an additional $750 million from its underwritten public offering of common stock in insurer American International Group Inc. AIG -3.02%  . The additional proceeds come from an exercise by underwriters of an over-allotment option to purchase about 24.6 million additional AIG common shares at $30.50 each. Treasury expects to tally overall proceeds from the offering of $5.8 billion, it said. Treasury's stake in AIG's outstanding shares will be cut to 61% from 70% as a result of the offering.

 

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/treasury-expects-58-bln-from-sale-of-aig-shares-2012-05-07?siteid=yhoof2

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Treasury now expects $5.8B instead of $5B.

This will take down the stake of treasury to 61%.

 

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. Treasury Department late Monday said it expects to receive an additional $750 million from its underwritten public offering of common stock in insurer American International Group Inc. AIG -3.02%  . The additional proceeds come from an exercise by underwriters of an over-allotment option to purchase about 24.6 million additional AIG common shares at $30.50 each. Treasury expects to tally overall proceeds from the offering of $5.8 billion, it said. Treasury's stake in AIG's outstanding shares will be cut to 61% from 70% as a result of the offering.

 

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/treasury-expects-58-bln-from-sale-of-aig-shares-2012-05-07?siteid=yhoof2

 

Looks like the ratcheting up of the "floor price" for the share offerings is working.

 

It seems people are expecting that the next offering will be above the $30.50 price.  Doesn't hurt that AIG keeps participating in these offerings, generating value for the non-government shareholders.

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GAO update

http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-574

http://www.gao.gov/assets/600/590677.pdf

 

Based on the $30.83 closing share price of AIG common stock on March 30, 2012, Treasury could recoup the total value of assistance extended to AIG and take in an additional $2.7 billion including dividends. The remaining assistance through Maiden Lane III will likely be repaid in full and net additional returns to the government. When all the assistance is considered, the amount the federal government ultimately takes in could exceed the total support extended to AIG by more than $15.1 billion. This analysis is primarily based on repayments and recoveries and market valuation of AIG’s stock and does not include estimates of subsidy costs associated with the assistance.

.....

 

 

Several indicators show that in 2011, AIG had positive net income and its insurance operations were stable and profitable. AIG had a net income for 2011 of $18.5 billion, primarily attributable to an income tax benefit and divested businesses. AIG’s operating cash flows declined in 2011, which was mostly due to cash payments covering several years of accrued interest and fees on the FRBNY revolving credit facility and reduction in cash flows from the absence of a full year of operating cash flows of foreign life subsidiaries that were sold during the year. Also, payments on catastrophic loss claims and asbestos liabilities reduced operating cash flows. The indicator on AIG’s quarterly insurance operating performance shows that AIG was profitable in most quarters and that investment income contributed considerably to that profitability, including several quarters when insurance underwriting by itself was not profitable. The sustainability of any positive trends in AIG’s operations will depend on how well it manages its business in the current economic environment. GAO will continue to monitor these issues.

 

 

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I know Berkowitz wasn't the first post-crisis manager to pound the table for AIG but he was certainly the most vocal when the idea of a recovered AIG was laughable to most.

 

Have any of the "household name" opinion makers given him credit for seeing the value early?

 

I'm thinking Cramer and Tilson, specifically.

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I know Berkowitz wasn't the first post-crisis manager to pound the table for AIG but he was certainly the most vocal when the idea of a recovered AIG was laughable to most.

 

Have any of the "household name" opinion makers given him credit for seeing the value early?

 

I'm thinking Cramer and Tilson, specifically.

 

Of course not. 

 

Bruce B will be right on MBI, BAC, AIG, and maybe even JOE.  And he won't get any credit for it among the household names until maybe the next time he's featured as a Morningstar fund manager of the year a couple years from now.  And at that point, they will refer to these years as the time he fell off, when in actuality, this is when he was setting his long term shareholders up for extreme outperformance.  I mean, even his former analysts appear to have thrown him under the bus for his position in financials. 

 

But this guy will just keep doing his thing -- that is, compounding wealth at an excellent rate.

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Gotta respect the guy for sticking to his guns. He is one of the ballsiest and decisive investors out there.

 

(I used to work for him)

 

I retract my comment about former analysts throwing Bruce B under the bus. ;D

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Gotta respect the guy for sticking to his guns. He is one of the ballsiest and decisive investors out there.

 

(I used to work for him)

 

I retract my comment about former analysts throwing Bruce B under the bus. ;D

 

Haha. His work ethic and pure, unbridled focus really is something.

 

He also has an impressive ability to turn an issue over in his mind in a few hundred different ways. What if A happened? Then B. What if Z happened? Then X. If B and X happen...lollapalooza!

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Haha. His work ethic and pure, unbridled focus really is something.

 

He also has an impressive ability to turn an issue over in his mind in a few hundred different ways. What if A happened? Then B. What if Z happened? Then X. If B and X happen...lollapalooza!

 

And I imagine that is not easy to work for him ... hehehe.

 

If BB takes a look at anything, it at least merits to go to the watchlist. He tends to be too early, but also tends to be right. Rule #1 indeed.

 

Does anyone remember BB investing in any wipeout or a company that over time got wiped-out? I imagine that there must be some, but considering that he often swings for the home run, and in financials of all places, that is truly a remarkable record.

 

 

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are there any bears (or at least not bulls) on AIG around?  I could use some considered views on the other side...

 

Not sure.  Even Cliff Gallant, the much touted financial sector analyst who testified to Congress that AIG might only be worth $6 per share (!), has changed his tune.

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Last year regarding his financial purchases Berkowitz said "in a year we'll know if I'm smart or dumb". This year he's saying he doesn't know why 1 revolution around the sun means anything.

 

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

 

He also says he wants people to tell him why he's wrong, but refuses to talk to Einhorn about JOE. What the??

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are there any bears (or at least not bulls) on AIG around?  I could use some considered views on the other side...

 

This isn't a direct answer to your question, but probably relevant.  Tilson's presentation had an interesting slide (#29), showing the responses to the following question:

 

Question to fund managers:

Have you considered an investment in AIG?

 

Answers:

“It might be a good investment but it could upset some

current and potential investors if we were to own AIG.”

Portfolio Manager, Major Mutual Fund, NY

 

“I would not want to be in a position to tell constituents we

lost money investing in AIG”

Investment Manager, Large Pension Fund, CA

 

“We so painfully owned it in the crisis, we could not own AIG again.”

FIG Analyst, Major Mutual Fund, MA

 

It can't be that easy to explain away why it is cheap, but that's probably some of it.

 

Personally I do have some concern about the book of business from 2008-2009.  The culture was so disrupted and chaotic that some real crap may have been written.  Just have to wait for it to season.

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