Allstate has hired the former head of American International Group’s life companies to oversee its life insurance and retirement products division.

Matthew Winter

Northbrook, Ill.-based Allstate announced that Matthew Winter, 52, will become the new president and CEO for Allstate Financial, effective Oct. 26. He succeeds George Rubenson, who assumed the interim CEO role in December 2008 in addition to his responsibilities as president of Allstate’s property-casualty division, where he will remain once Winter joins the company.

Winter will serve as a member of the corporation’s senior management team, reporting to Allstate Chairman Thomas J. Wilson.

Wilson noted Winter’s “outstanding track record of success, experience and leadership” as key assets in bringing him to Allstate.

“He has the intellectual capacity, creativity and enthusiasm to drive our vision of reinventing protection and retirement,” Wilson said in a statement.

Winter comes to Allstate from AIG, where he serves as a vice chairman and served for three years as president and CEO for AIG American General Domestic Life Cos. Prior to his tenure at AIG, Winter was executive vice president at Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance. Prior to joining the insurance industry, Winter spent more than 12 years on active duty with the U.S. Army.

In a statement, the incoming president and CEO for Allstate Financial said he was “very pleased to be joining such a high caliber, high energy management team, and I am excited about the tremendous opportunity ahead.”

“Middle-income Americans are overlooked and underserved when it comes to financial services,” Winter said. “Allstate’s strong brand and network of Allstate agents across the country give Allstate Financial a unique opportunity to help these hard-working consumers protect their families and prepare for retirement.”