Aon's Investment Consulting Group Surpasses $1 Billion

(September 1, 2010) — Aon Corp’s Implemented Investment Consulting group, which the company launched less than a year ago, now has more than $1 billion in assets under management for its US clients.

“We saw the opportunity to help clients develop a de-risking strategy to ensure the sustainability of their defined benefit plan, or for many sponsors, the termination of their plan to remove the risk from the corporate balance sheet,” said Aon Consulting’s CEO Kathryn Hayley in a statement. “In large part, the success of this group can be attributed to a differentiated approach, which not only includes risk mitigation, but also the development and execution of a pension plan exit strategy through a truly independent platform.”

The company, which offers insurance and other risk management services, is buying human resources specialist Hewitt Associates Inc. for $4.9 billion in cash and stock, according to a release. The deal, announced last month, will nearly triple the size of its consulting business and dramatically expand its global push into human resources consulting.

Aon is ranked as the world’s largest insurance broker. However, its consulting business follows rival Marsh & McLennan Co., whose subsidiaries include Mercer and Oliver Wyman Group.