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American International Group will join a small select club next Thursday, April 8, when it becomes one of three new companies whose share price is used to calculate the Dow Jones Industrial average, “The Dow”.

The 30 companies tracked by the average are a widely select group that act as a bellweather in assessing the trend of the stock market. The last time Dow Jones made a change was in November 1999. This time it is dropping some old names – AT&T, Kodak and International Paper and, in addition to ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½, adding drug maker Pfizer and Verizon Commiunications.

ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½ certainly seems to belong in the index. Measured by capitalization – approximately $191 billion – it’s the largest insurance company in the world, and certainly one of the most solidly managed.

The stock market reacted positively to the news sending the company’s shares up 2.76 percent to close at $73.32.

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