LONDON, 5 March 2009  As global companies demand ‘quick wins’ in the face of capital constraints and expected insurance premium increases, Aon Global Risk Consulting is launching a Cost Reduction Initiative for EMEA businesses to help drive down their total cost of risk.

Whilst every business will define its total cost of risk in its own way, all are ultimately aimed at measuring the fundamental cost that risk represents for a business and should include: the cost of retaining risk, the cost of transferring risk (through instruments such as insurance) and the expenses associated with risk management.

Aon’s new initiative aims at lowering the cost of risk and therefore promoting a more efficient use of capital by targeting:

· Short term cost reduction through insurance programme optimisation
· Liquidity release from historical self-insurance structures, such as captive insurance vehicles
· Loss prevention initiatives
· Accelerated claims closure
· Outsourcing of risk management services to Aon
· Development of metrics to measure and control the cost of risk.

Rory Moloney, head of Aon Global Risk Consulting in EMEA, said: “Increasingly we are being asked to support clients in realising ‘quick wins’ in the area of cost reduction or liquidity creation. To achieve this we have formed a cross discipline response team who use a holistic review process and transparent metrics to identify such opportunities.”

Charles Winter, head of risk finance at Aon Global Risk Consulting, added: “In a difficult economic climate, it becomes even more imperative to ensure that your risk management and risk financing strategies support the business by driving down the cost of risk both on a strategic and tactical basis.

“Re-aligning risk financing programmes with the business’s needs and eliminating inefficiencies can result in real cost savings. If, at the same time, improvements in loss prevention can be realised through, for example, the reduction of accident rates, the savings can be significant.”

Ends
For more information contact:
Alexandra Lewis
020 7882 0541
Alexandra.lewis@aon.co.uk
http://aon.mediaroom.com

About Aon
Aon Corporation (NYSE: AOC) is the leading global provider of risk management services, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, and human capital consulting. Through its more than 36,000 colleagues worldwide, Aon readily delivers distinctive client value via innovative and effective risk management and workforce productivity solutions. Our industry-leading global resources, technical expertise and industry knowledge are delivered locally through more than 500 offices in more than 120 countries. Aon was named the world's best broker by Euromoney magazine's 2008 Insurance Survey. In 2008, Aon ranked highest on the Business Insurance ranking of the world's largest insurance brokers based on commercial retail, wholesale, reinsurance and personal lines brokerage revenues. Aon also was ranked by A.M. Best as the number one insurance broker based on brokerage revenues in 2007 and 2008, and was voted best insurance intermediary, best reinsurance intermediary, and best employee benefits consulting firm in 2007 and 2008 by the readers of Business Insurance.  Sign up to receive Aon news alerts by email or RSS feed at: http://aon.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=58.

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