Aon retires Benfield, Risk Solutions brands, appoints co-presidents

Broker Aon is to retire its business unit brands Aon Risk Solutions and Aon Benfield, and create an integrated global operating committee, co-led by Eric Andersen and Michael O'Connor.

The company has appointed Andersen, CEO of Aon Benfield, and O'Connor, CEO of Aon Risk Solutions, as co-presidents, reporting to Aon's chief executive Greg Case, whose contract was recently extended by the board of directors until April of 2023.

The move follows the retirement of Aon Hewitt business unit brand in 2017 and is designed to increase the rate of innovation across the firm and make it easier for colleagues to work together to bring the best of Aon to clients, the company explained.

Aon previously announced a single profit and loss (P&L) structure, which is part of an ongoing effort to increase colleague connectivity and accelerate reinvestment in innovation that serves clients. That effort is overseen by Aon's global CFO Christa Davies, whose contract was also recently extended by the board of directors until April of 2023.

"Aon's evolution into a leading global professional services firm has been driven by the tireless efforts of colleagues to work across our portfolio to deliver the best advice and solutions to clients," said Case. "This announcement recognizes those efforts and takes steps to remove structural barriers so that we can innovate new sources of value and realize the full potential of our firm."

"The appointment of Mike and Eric as co-presidents reflects the enormous contributions that they have made to the ongoing success of our firm. Both have proven track records and have played critical leadership roles across Aon, ensuring that they understand the breadth of our capabilities and how to bring them together to best serve our clients," Case added.

Andersen commented: "As much success as Aon has enjoyed, I believe that we have only just begun to realize our potential. By working together more closely, we can create more value for clients and exciting new opportunities for colleagues."

O'Connor added: "Our new global operating committee has an opportunity to further unite the business in a way that makes the whole of Aon greater than the sum of its parts. In doing so, we can bring our best to clients and deliver on the full potential of our integrated firm."

Case said: "By almost any measure, Aon has never been stronger or better positioned in the marketplace. That strength comes from the depth of our senior leadership team. I'm grateful to them for their support of these decisions and for agreeing to take on additional responsibilities. Our other exceptional solution line leaders, Cary Grace, CEO of Retirement Solutions, and John Zern, CEO of Health Solutions, as well as our Chief Operations Officer, John Bruno, will each add substantially to their remit."

"Cary Grace will now be responsible for Global M&A Integration in addition to her global leadership of Retirement Solutions, reinforcing the importance of adding new capabilities to address emerging client need and John Zern will add to his global Health Solutions responsibilities by also becoming CEO of North America for Commercial Risk Solutions, further underscoring the opportunity we have to work together across solution lines to create client value," said Case.

"Now, more than ever, we believe that the insights we deliver through Data & Analytics are critical to unlocking the next wave of value for our clients and driving our long-term growth. That is why I have asked our Chief Operations Officer, John Bruno, to take on the additional role of CEO, Data & Analytic Services, and work closely with me and our CFO, Christa Davies, to enhance our current offerings and accelerate the commercialization of new data-driven, content solutions."

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