London, 2 October, 2013 – Aon Hewitt, the global talent, retirement and health solutions business of Aon plc (NYSE:AON), has announced that its global delegated consulting services now manage more than $40 billion of assets for clients around the world.
Aon Hewitt provides delegated services for 145 pension scheme sponsors worldwide, representing 220 schemes.  In the US, total assets under management now exceed $26 billion, up from $19 billion in October 2012. In the UK, Aon Hewitt currently provides delegated investment consulting services to 58 pension schemes from 40 scheme sponsors, representing over $9 billion (£5.5 billion), up from $6 billion (£4.1 billion) in October last year.
 
Delegated investment or fiduciary management as it is also known, involves the delegation by pension fund trustees of day-to-day investment decision-making and implementation to a third party, usually their investment consultant or an investment manager. As this significant growth in assets under management demonstrates, increasing numbers of trustees are appointing delegated providers because they need full-time, additional investment expertise to meet today’s challenges of investment complexity, market volatility and financial pressures.

Ian Bailey, co-head of Delegated Consulting Services at Aon Hewitt in the UK, said:
“Pension scheme trustees and sponsors continue to look for ways to manage their schemes more effectively in a period of rising volatility and stresses on funding. Aon Hewitt’s global depth and breadth, and its ability to tailor individual investment solutions, enables us to help our clients genuinely mitigate risk, control cost and execute dynamic investment policies.  These lead schemes to successful outcomes without being buried by demands for extra governance time, and trustees and sponsors are freed to look at the really important strategic issues.

"Reaching more than $40 billion in assets under management – which represents an increase of almost 40% over the last 12 months, demonstrates the confidence our clients have in allowing us to manage their pension schemes. Here in the UK, all our new clients have been won in competitive processes and we are proud that so many trustees have trusted us to look after their interests."

Media Contacts:    
Colin Mayes                                                         Giles Abbott
Aon Hewitt                                                            Capital MSL
 01372 733689                                                      020 7307 5340
colin.mayes@aonhewitt.com                                 giles.abbott@capitalmsl.com

Notes to Editors
All figures above as at 31 August 2013.

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Aon Hewitt Investment Consulting

Aon Hewitt Investment Consulting provides institutional investment advisory experience and knowledge to over $4 trillion assets throughout the world. Our services and advice cover alternative financing, compliance/operational due diligence, custody, delegated consulting, flight planning , global asset allocation, governance, liability management, manager research, risk management, risk modelling, risk settlement and transition etc. Our capability is founded on a large and diverse team of investment specialists who include former fund managers, investment bankers, economists and financial analysts among others.

About Aon Hewitt
Aon Hewitt empowers organisations and individuals to secure a better future through innovative talent, retirement and health solutions. We advise, design and execute a wide range of solutions that enable clients to cultivate talent to drive organisational and personal performance and growth, navigate retirement risk while providing new levels of financial security, and redefine health solutions for greater choice, affordability and wellness.  Aon Hewitt is the global leader in human resource solutions, with over 30,000 professionals in 90 countries serving more than 20,000 clients worldwide.  For more information on Aon Hewitt, please visit www.aonhewitt.com.

About Aon
Aon plc (NYSE: AON) is the leading global provider of risk management, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, and human resources solutions and outsourcing services. Through its more than 61,000 colleagues worldwide, Aon unites to empower results for clients in over 120 countries via innovative and effective risk and people solutions and through industry-leading global resources and technical expertise. Aon has been named repeatedly as the world's best broker, best insurance intermediary, reinsurance intermediary, captives manager and best employee benefits consulting firm by multiple industry sources. Visit www.aon.com for more information on Aon and www.aon.com/manchesterunited to learn about Aon's global partnership and shirt sponsorship with Manchester United.