HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AIG VALIC, a leader in retirement plan services for both non-profit and for-profit education, healthcare and government organizations, today announced that it has broadened the investment mandate of the VALIC Company I Social Awareness Fund available within its Portfolio Director® fixed and variable annuity to include socially responsible equity opportunities located around the world.

The newly named "Global Social Awareness Fund" is the first global investment offering of its kind available in a variable annuity. It provides VALIC clients with the opportunity to acquire worldwide exposure to equities while aligning their investment decisions with personal values and beliefs. It is one of four socially responsible funds VALIC offers in its variable annuity products.

"We have a longstanding commitment to provide our plan sponsors and their participants with access to an outstanding selection of socially responsible investment options," said Bruce R. Abrams, President and CEO of VALIC and the VALIC Retirement Services Company. "AIG VALIC clients who want to participate in both the U.S. and foreign equity markets - while aligning their social beliefs with their investments - now have the opportunity to do so through this unique fund option."

The Global Social Awareness Fund, as well as its domestic counterpart, the Socially Responsible Fund, are subadvised by AIG Investments. With more than $700 billion in assets under management and professional staff in 44 offices around the world, AIG Investments has been managing socially responsible investments since 1989. It currently manages more than $3 billion in socially responsible investment strategies across geographies and asset classes.

"AIG Investments believes that, as an investor, we must actively manage the risks and opportunities related to environmental, social and ethical trends," said Win J. Neuger, CEO of AIG Investments. "We look to achieve superior investment returns through this alignment of interests among ourselves, our clients and the world around us."

VALIC's newly expanded global fund will invest in the stocks of primarily large capitalization companies located in developed markets worldwide that meet social criteria established by the fund. This criteria includes screening out investment in companies that substantially engage in the manufacture or marketing of alcohol, tobacco, gambling, civilian firearms, military weapons or nuclear power. It will also avoid companies that have poor records concerning employee safety, environmental performance and labor relations. The fund's primary investment goal is long-term capital appreciation. Its performance benchmark is the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) World Index.

AIG VALIC is one of the leading retirement plan service providers in the United States. For more than half a century, it has specialized in providing retirement programs and related investment, recordkeeping and administrative services to employers and employees of for-profit and not-for-profit elementary and secondary education institutions, hospitals and healthcare organizations, higher education institutions and governmental entities. AIG VALIC serves 28,000 client groups and more than two million participants. AIG VALIC is the marketing name for the group of companies comprising VALIC Financial Advisors, Inc.; VALIC Retirement Services Company; and The Variable Annuity Life Insurance Company (VALIC); each of which is a subsidiary of American International Group, Inc.

American International Group, Inc. (AIG), world leaders in insurance and financial services, is the leading international insurance organization with operations in more than 130 countries and jurisdictions. AIG companies serve commercial, institutional and individual customers through the most extensive worldwide property-casualty and life insurance networks of any insurer. In addition, AIG companies are leading providers of retirement services, financial services and asset management around the world. AIG's common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, as well as the stock exchanges in Paris, Switzerland and Tokyo.

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Source: AIG VALIC

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