“We feel that comments going forward are more like guidance rather than the direction we're all working toward,” says Benmosche. “I do want you to understand we are committed to them, we're working hard to get there, and we'll get there as quickly as we can.

“When we get closer to 2015 you're going to ask us to be a little bit more specific and instead of an aspiration it becomes we will achieve something around this in this period of time,” he explained to analysts. “And that would be guidance, and that's what we're concerned about.”

AIG officials say P&C rate increases for global commercial lines were 3.4% and the North American market continues to lead rate improvement with a 5.5% rate increase in the third quarter. Improvements in P&C profits were driven by accident year loss ratio improvements and lower catastrophe costs, as well as the fact that AIG P&C operations didn't need to add reserves for insurance written in prior years.

U.S. casualty operations led with a 7.3 percent rate increase while U.S. financial lines increased 5.8% and U.S. property increased 9 percent, P&C CEO Peter Hancock said.

P&C net premiums written for grew 3 percent on a normalized basis. “This growth is consistent with our expectations for 2013, as we continue to be disciplined in our underwriting and opportunistic in our pricing actions,” Hancock said.

Hancock said AIG was consolidating its Japanese businesses, which comprises a large part of AIG's personal lines P&C business. Hancock said Japan is, “by far, the largest consumer operation we have,” and it is a “large and stable book-of-business, but it's not growing that fast, obviously, with the demographics in Japan as they are.”

He said the company is integrating its Fuji Fire and Marine with its AIU business, which will reduce overhead costs, as well as an integration of many capabilities which will improve the expense picture on the whole.