LONDON, 13 July 2005 - Aon Limited, a leading insurance broker, risk management and human capital consultant has strengthened its professional risks operation in Birmingham, Bristol and Manchester in response to a 70% growth in business over the last three years.

The new appointments will strengthen Aon’s ability to negotiate competitive insurance premiums and offer risk management advice to solicitors, accountants, architects, consulting engineers, surveyors and other professionals in the Midlands, South West, North and Wales. Aon is continuing to build their relationships in the market and achieve wide coverage for clients in today's litigious environment.  

Commenting on the new servicing and sales roles, Patrick Hearn, Director, said: “By increasing our regional presence where our competitors have been reducing the size of their teams, we can continue to offer wide coverage at a competitive premiums. The broking expertise and sector knowledge of our strengthened team will also help local professionals to be more risk-aware in a constantly changing legislative environment.”

• Karen Brown has been appointed as Associate Director due to her strong technical skills and negotiating ability. An Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute and previously with brokers Hayes Parsons and Alexander Forbes, Karen brings over 25 years’ experience in insurance, including broking in the London market. Karen will strengthen the team through her specialist knowledge of insurance for accountants. Bristol
• Kevin Palmer joins as Client Manager with an excellent grasp of the Professional Indemnity process from a claims point of view. At his former employers, SecureMove Property Services, Kevin administered hidden defects indemnity policies. Outside of work, Kevin plays for the English Paintball Team. Bristol
• Ed Varley joins the team as a Client Manager.  He benefits the team through his previous PI underwriting experience gained at Royal & SunAlliance and, most recently, at brokers SBJ where he dealt with a variety of indemnity requests from professionals and direct affinity groups. Bristol
• During Fiona Ward and Natasha Johnstone’s four and two years respectively at Aon in an administrative position, they have worked towards building their technical knowledge and have now been promoted to Assistant Client Managers.  Fiona and Natasha will be using their skills to strengthen the team’s client service offerings. Bristol & Manchester
• Ryan Senior has been promoted to Associate Director after four years at Aon. Ryan is responsible for client management and new business, in addition to overseeing Quality Assurance on a national basis. With 18 years of commercial insurance experience, he has specialised in professional indemnity for the last 8 years. Bristol
• Nam Qureshi joins as Client Manager, bringing technical skills and negotiating ability.  With over 20 years of commercial insurance experience, Nam previously worked at brokers Layton Blackham. Birmingham
• James Frost, after five years at Aon, has progressed into a business development role.  James will use his client-facing experience to understand the insurance requirements of local professionals. Birmingham
• Development Executive, Ben Waterton, will take a solutions-driven approach to the challenges that face the industry. Focusing on solicitors, accountants, architects, surveyors and engineers, Ben’s innovative marketing will highlight solutions and develop relationships with these professions. Ben has 11 years of industry experience and joins Aon from brokers Marsh. Bristol
• Helen Mortonson has been appointed as Client Manager due to her specialist knowledge of the solicitors and surveyors Professional Indemnity market. Helen brings to the role excellent communication skills, an analytical approach and a morale-boosting attitude. Previously at HSBC Insurance Brokers, Helen headed up a team of five in an account handling role where she built relationships with both clients and underwriters. Manchester
• Client Manager, Simon Ong, moves to Manchester from the Aon office in Wickford, where he gained an extensive knowledge of broking Professional Indemnity for solicitors and legal advice centers. Simon has achieved the accolade of Aon Professional Risk’s Golf Day Winner. Manchester
• Gwyneth McShane joins as Assistant Client Manager with over 25 years’ experience in the insurance industry.  With an ability to identify and facilitate client needs, Gwyneth will also use her training experience from brokers Marsh to develop the skills of new starters and implement a new working practice project. Manchester

Note to Editors:

About Aon
Aon Corporation ( http://www.aon.com ) is a leading provider of risk management services, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, human capital and management consulting, and specialty insurance underwriting. There are 47,000 employees working in Aon's 500 offices in more than 120 countries. Backed by broad resources, industry knowledge and technical expertise, Aon professionals help a wide range of clients develop effective risk management and workforce productivity solutions.

Aon Professional Risks
Aon Professional Risks is the specialist professional risks division for Aon in the UK. APR is located in London, Montreal and New York, with eight regional offices in the UK including Bristol.

Major products include professional indemnity, crime insurance, directors & officers liability, counter terrorism and political risk, kidnap and ransom, pension fund trustee liability, and employee practice liability. In addition, advisory services include risk financing programmes, captives & risk purchasing groups, operational & holistic risk, finite risk transfer, capital markets, actuarial & premium funding analysis, premium computation allocation systems and database services.

Aon Professional Risks currently places professional indemnity insurance for over 11,000 professional businesses in the UK.  The clients we represent include some of the world’s top banks, insurance companies, investment managers and the largest global accounting firms.  Aon is the largest intermediary for solicitors in the UK.

Over 650 dedicated professional indemnity staff provide the resource of a world-class organisation committed to meeting your needs.

This press release contains certain statements related to future results, or states our intentions, beliefs and expectations or predictions for the future which are forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from either historical or anticipated results depending on a variety of factors. Potential factors that could impact results include: general economic conditions in different countries in which we do business around the world, changes in global equity and fixed income markets that could affect the return on invested assets, fluctuations in exchange and interest rates that could influence revenue and expense, rating agency actions that could affect our ability to borrow funds, funding of our various pension plans, changes in the competitive environment, changes in commercial property and casualty markets and commercial premium rates that could impact revenues, changes in revenues and earnings due to the elimination of contingent commissions, other uncertainties surrounding a new compensation model, the impact of regulatory investigations brought by state attorneys general and state insurance regulators related to our compensation arrangements with underwriters and related issues, the impact of class actions and individual lawsuits including client class actions, securities class actions, derivative actions, and ERISA class actions, the cost of resolution of other contingent liabilities and loss contingencies, and the difference in ultimate paid claims in our underwriting companies from actuarial estimates.  Further information concerning the Company and its business, including factors that potentially could materially affect the Company’s financial results, is contained in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

 


 

Aon Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority in respect of insurance mediation activities only.