Aug. 27 (Bloomberg) -- American International Group Inc., the insurer bailed out by the U.S., gained for an eighth straight day, reaching the highest since November on speculation the company may benefit from improved relations with former Chief Executive Officer Maurice “Hank” Greenberg.

Robert Benmosche, named this month as AIG’s fifth CEO in four years, told Reuters he contacted Greenberg after taking the job. Greenberg led AIG for almost four decades, building it into the world’s largest insurer, before being forced out in 2005. AIG’s market value, which was more than $100 billion under Greenberg, tripled this month to about $6.4 billion.

“I want to get the benefit of his criticisms or his support,” Benmosche said, according to Reuters, which cited an interview with the executive in Croatia where he has a home. “The world may choose to vilify him. I think of him as having had some problems, but he can help us with the solutions.”

Benmosche needs to retain customers and employees to maintain the value of assets the company is trying to sell to repay loans within the $182.5 billion bailout that was required to prop up the New York-based company after bad bets tied to subprime mortgages. He told Bloomberg last week he will sell units “only at the right time at the right price.”

AIG advanced $10.15, or 27 percent, to $47.84 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, the biggest gain in three weeks. The insurer’s stock hasn’t increased for as many straight days since May 2007. Christina Pretto, an AIG spokeswoman, declined to comment on the share move. Beth Dozier, a spokeswoman for Greenberg, had no immediate comment.

Quarterly Profit

The insurer posted its first quarterly profit since 2007 on Aug. 7 on narrowing investment losses and a rebound in the value of some derivatives. AIG earned $121 million from hedge funds in the second quarter after the holdings cost the insurer $2 billion in the nine months ended March 31.

Greenberg, who controls the largest privately held stake in the insurer, has said AIG’s best chance to repay the government is to rebuild the company, the approach Benmosche told employees he will take. Greenberg had said Benmosche’s predecessor, Edward Liddy, was unqualified for the job.

“Some, who had been there before, shouldn’t have been put in that spot,” Greenberg told Reuters. “In my judgment, they did not have the breadth, intellect or experience necessary. Bob has all of that,” he said about Benmosche.

Benmosche was previously CEO of MetLife Inc., the largest U.S. life insurer. Liddy had been CEO of Allstate Corp., the biggest publicly traded U.S. home and auto insurer.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jamie McGee in New York at Jmcgee8@bloomberg.net; Hugh Son in New York at hson1@bloomberg.net;

Last Updated: August 27, 2009 16:07 EDT