NEW YORK (Reuters)—Bailed-out insurer AIG would like to keep its one-third stake in Asian insurer AIA Group Ltd. rather than selling it off starting later this year, CEO Robert Benmosche said Friday.

The surprise comments suggest New York-based American International Group Inc. is beginning to think less about asset sales and more about its future configuration as the company, once the world's largest insurer, recovers from $182 billion of government bailouts.

When AIG took AIA public last year in a blockbuster offering that raised $17.9 billion, it retained what amounted to a 33% stake.

That stake is housed in a separate entity in which the U.S. Treasury holds a preferred interest. Most observers assumed AIG would sell the AIA shares to buy out the Treasury.

But Mr. Benmosche said there could be alternatives—such as selling other assets—that would let AIG keep some of its stake, or at least delay selling it off for a few years.

"We can monetize that later this year, but part of the issue we are thinking about is strategically how we want to handle that asset," he told analysts on a conference call. "We are looking potentially at monetizing other assets that we have so that AIA might be sold much later on, if at all."

AIA, one of Asia's largest insurers by market value, has appreciated sharply since its IPO. The stock went public last October at $19.68 Hong Konk ($2.54) per share and closed Friday at $26.55 Hong Kong ($3.42), a gain of almost 35%. Over the same period, on an adjusted basis, AIG shares have lost 12.5%.

Breakup not in the cards

Selling off a stake in AIA was one of the linchpins of AIG's plans to repay the government. At one time, the company was to be broken up, but Mr. Benmosche refocused on keeping a core AIG centered around U.S. life insurer SunAmerica and global property insurer Chartis Inc.

Some, including former AIG Chairman Harvey Golub, have questioned the value of having two such disparate businesses in one holding company. But Mr. Benmosche on Friday again rejected the notion of a breakup.

"(When) you look at the company as a whole, we still believe that the sum of the parts are less than the whole and the company makes more sense as it is," combining its various units, he said.

AIG shares were volatile in early trading, falling more than 1% and rising more than 1% within the first 30 minutes of the session. At 10:15 a.m. the stock was up 0.7 percent at $31.02.

Late Thursday, AIG posted a loss from ongoing operations of more than $1 billion in the first quarter, mostly due to charges related to a recapitalization with the Treasury and New York Fed that closed in January. It also took a big hit from the March earthquake in Japan.

AIG shares have fallen sharply this year and are getting closer to $28.72, the point at which the Treasury breaks even on its 92% stake in the company.