NEW YORK (Bloomberg) -- American International Group Inc., the world's largest insurer, hired Philip Jacobs of GE Insurance Solutions to replace Peter Lathrop as director of taxes.

Jacobs, 45, will start in July and report to Chief Financial Officer Steven Bensinger, New York-based AIG said in a statement today. He is currently global tax director for the General Electric Co. unit and spent ten years at Ernst & Young LLP, AIG said. Lathrop, 63, is retiring, the statement said.

Shares of AIG fell 80 cents to $63.39 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock has risen 22 percent in the past year compared with a 16 percent gain in the KBW Insurance Index.