Edward Liddy, the new chief executive of American International Group Inc. (AIG), said in an interview Thursday that he hopes to keep intact as many of the company's largest insurance operations as possible in a publicly traded company, after selling assets to pay back a federal loan in a government rescue.

"There will be a company at the end of this," he said. "It'll be smaller; it'll be a lot nimbler." He added, "My game plan is not to liquidate."

Liddy, 62 years old, who previously ran insurer Allstate Corp. (ALL), called AIG's insurance businesses "powerful." He described the international and domestic property-casualty operations as a "keeper." Referring to those, along with the international and domestic life insurance and related operations, he said: "I'd like to keep as many of them as I possibly can."

Still, Liddy, who took the helm of the company this week, said he has yet to determine exactly which businesses he considers core to the company. He said he had "at most a four-week timeframe" for making those determinations and possibly would announce some deals in that period.

"I want to emerge from this with a set of core assets that are fit to fight."

The asset sales will be used to pay back whatever AIG borrows from the federal government. Under a deal struck this week to stave off potential bankruptcy, the government agreed to lend AIG up to $85 billion, and in exchange can effectively control 80% of the company's stock. The deal is subject to shareholder approval, AIG said in a regulatory filing Thursday.

In anticipation of asset sales, state insurance regulators have set up a committee to review deals. New York state's insurance superintendent, Eric Dinallo, who chairs the committee, says he already has received calls from "interested buyers," describing them as "top-tier companies."

Liddy said he talked with Dinallo on Thursday. "I view this as a partnership," Liddy said.

States typically have oversight over transactions involving insurers they regulate, but the committee will aim to streamline the process. A proposal is expected to be advanced on Friday that would join U.S. efforts with those of international regulators, which could ease global deal-making.

Among the committee's aims will be to make sure the buyers are able to protect policyholders and thus soothe any concerns they may have. The regulators, Dinallo says, will also rule on whether AIG gets a fair price for units it sells, so that the sales are better able to withstand any possible future challenges by creditors.

Liddy, is also on the boards of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) and Boeing Co. (BA), which has as one of its major customers AIG's aircraft leasing unit, International Lease Finance Corp.

The head of ILFC, Steven Udvar-Hazy, who is also a major AIG shareholder, is expected to lead an effort to try to buy the unit.

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By Liam Pleven Of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL