Relationships matter to Aon – company honors directors

The executives and employees of Aon Insurance Micronesia (Guam) Inc. were delighted at the opportunity to see outgoing directors William Thompson and George Baldwin at the company’s Christmas party on Guam.

Aon is all about relationships – not only within its group but also with its clients.

Aon has earned a reputation for the most responsive, client-focused insurance and consulting services.

That sort of focus has kept the group in business in Micronesia for 55 years and established its reputation as an industry leader.

On Nov. 18, Philip Clement, global chief marketing officer announced that Aon business units were named the “Readers Choice” by the readers of Business Insurance magazine.

“These awards are not based on reputation, resume or revenue,” Clement says. “They are based purely on the view of the readers of Business Insurance (our clients) as to which company provides the most value to their business. As an organization that takes great pride in delivering distinctive value to our clients, we should be very appreciative of these honors.”

As part of the magazine’s 5th annual Readers Choice awards program, Aon received the following awards:

Aon Risk Services – best retail brokerage with revenues greater than $250 million;
Aon Benfield – best reinsurance intermediary;
Aon Consulting – best employee benefit consultant;
Aon Global Insurance Managers – best captive manager (a new category in 2009).

In April, Euromoney magazine’s annual Insurance Survey named Aon the world’s No. 1 broker for the 2nd year in a row, and recently A.M. Best & Co., an international rating company, ranked Aon as the world’s largest brokerage firm, Based on 2008 brokerage revenues.

Those awards were far away in 1954.

That was the year New Zealand Insurance began insurance coverage on Guam, establishing a lineage in the islands through acquisition to Aon.

In 1968, the company began insurance coverage in the Northern Mariana Islands.

In 1996, the Aon group acquired Atkins Kroll Insurance, then the broker in the Mariana Islands for NZI.

When Aon looked to expand its risk services in 1998, it acquired the Baldwin Insurance book of business, bringing with it a significant number of local clients to whom relationships were also important. Today it trades as Aon Risk Services.

In 2004, world events overtook Aon in Micronesia, when Aviva left the region and withdrew its underwriting services. Aon looked no further than 120 miles away to Garapan, and formed a new relationship with Century Insurance in March of that year.

Rodney Rankin, regional director for Aon, says the relationship has proved successful for Aon as well as the Saipan property and casualty insurer. “This was a new beginning for both of us. Both organizations have benefited from this partnership, and so have our clients.”

The relationship was also a good fit because of the international business of the two groups. Aon was the first international broker to be granted a license in China. Century Insurance is part of the Century Group of Companies, one of the operating groups of Tan Holdings Corp. Luen Tai International Group Ltd. is the parent company of Tan Holdings and has significant holdings in China.

Chicago-based Aon has offices in 120 countries and about 36,000 employees, but the Aon office in the Marianas has a Web page on the Aon site just as every other location – and possibly the most fetching picture with its view of Two Lovers Point and the Philippines Sea.

But no matter how pretty the picture, it is Aon’s policy of client support and openness in its dealings that supports its reputation and maintains the confidence clients have in the group to manage all insurance needs.

Angie Zissis, Australia-based director of Aon, says company executives and employees live and work by the highest standards.

“Openness is one of our values. We as executives have come to live and breathe those values. It’s extremely important to have a value set and to live by those values, to emphasize to clients how Aon will deal with you and how you deal with Aon.”

The benefits of associating with a global giant can be manifold and surprising.

In 2010, Aon will partner with and sponsor the Manchester United soccer team. The pairing of the two top organizations is logical to executives of both the insurance giant and the football club.

Manchester United says “that it chose Aon because of the cultural fit between the two organizations, which emphasize teamwork and excellence.”

Aon is looking to build its brand and offerings on a global basis through the partnership, both to its corporate and other potential clients. Zissis says, “We are very well-known, but not to the man in the street.”

Will there be a chance for soccer fans in the region to meet any of the Man U players here in the Marianas, and perhaps get a few football tips?

Zissis says, “We just don’t know.”

Rankin is a bit more optimistic regarding the region’s important place in the scheme of things. “They won’t forget us.”