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Robert Benmosche, chief executive of the bailed-out insurance company ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½, isn’t known to be shy. On a recent earnings conference call, a Goldman Sachs analyst baited him with a question: “If pre-crisis you were the 800-pound gorilla, how much do you think you weigh now, 200, 400, 700?”

Benmosche fired back: “I would say we are about 780 pounds, and on our way back.”

Despite his bravado, American International Group Inc. is hardly the giant it used to be. Its $69 billion market value is far below the $147 billion it commanded prior to the financial crisis. ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½’s reputation took a beating after the company teetered on the edge of bankruptcy in 2008 and had to be bailed out by the U.S. government.

ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½ has recovered from that nadir. Last month it laid the groundwork to start repaying the American taxpayer and the company has raised a stockpile of cash from selling assets. Since 2008, ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½ has sold 33 businesses and raised more than $57 billion in cash and securities.

A portion of those sales lifted ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½’s net income to $11.2 billion in the fourth quarter. The company doesn’t have much to sell any more and will have to rely on its core insurance businesses going forward. ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½ consists predominantly of two businesses: property and casualty insurer Chartis, and life insurer SunAmerican Financial Group.

The signs so far, aren’t that encouraging. Chartis just reported an operating loss of $4 billion in the fourth quarter, while SunAmerica’s income of $1 billion was $43 million lower than the previous year. Investors were especially surprised when the company announced an addition of $4.2 billion to loss reserves at Chartis.

“It raises questions,” said Cliff Gallant, analyst at Keefe Bruyette & Woods. “This is not the first reserve charge they’ve taken — they took one in the fourth quarter the previous year — it seems like they are having trouble getting their estimates right.”

Gallant said he’s even more worried that ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½ is adding to its loss reserves when rivals Travelers Cos. and Chubb Corp. are doing the opposite, taking money out of reserves because of lower expected losses.

ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½’s performance is also being closely watched by the U.S. government, which owns 92 percent of the company. In a few weeks, the government plans to start selling those shares. The sales could be in jeopardy if ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½’s performance falters.

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