Aon Consulting Enters into a Definitive Agreement to Acquire J.P. Morgan Compensation and Benefit Strategies Division of J.P. Morgan Retirement Plan Services, LLC

CHICAGO, March 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Aon Consulting, the global benefits and human capital consulting business of Aon Corporation, today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire J.P. Morgan Compensation and Benefit Strategies, a division of J.P. Morgan Retirement Plan Services, LLC.

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J.P. Morgan Compensation and Benefit Strategies is a leading provider of compensation, retirement and health care actuarial services, with significant expertise in compliance, financial modeling and other key actuarial-based solutions related to employee benefits plan designs.

"Aon continues to invest in the industry's best talent and innovative solutions to serve clients with distinction," said Kathryn Hayley, CEO of Aon Consulting.  "The combination of exceptional talent joining our firm and a strong client base makes this acquisition an ideal strategic fit for Aon Consulting."

Through this deal, Aon Consulting enhances its benefits consulting intellectual capital in key areas, including pension actuarial and advisory services.  This expertise extends nationwide, with offices in 13 markets, such as New York, Boston, Chicago, St. Louis, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

"With this acquisition, we strengthen our geographic presence in key markets, adding approximately 150 new colleagues nationwide with deep technical knowledge, complementing our global team in providing employee benefit program solutions and services in areas such as complex union negotiations, benefit reimbursements for government contracts, and benefit issues unique to law firms and other professional services firms," said Hayley.  "This will be a seamless transition for current J.P. Morgan Compensation and Benefit Strategies clients, and will open up new opportunities and arenas of expertise for them and our existing Aon Consulting clients."

The transaction is expected to close by March 31, 2010.  Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

About Aon Consulting

Aon Consulting is among the top global human capital consulting firms, with more than 6,300 professionals in 229 offices worldwide. The firm works with organizations to improve business performance and shape the workplace of the future through employee benefits, talent management and rewards strategies and solutions. Aon Consulting was named the best employee benefit consulting firm by the readers of Business Insurance magazine in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. For more information on Aon Consulting, please visit http://www.aon.com/human-capital-consulting.

About Aon

Aon Corporation (NYSE: AON) 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. Aon's industry-leading global resources and technical expertise are delivered locally through more than 500 offices in more than 120 countries. Named the world's best broker by Euromoney  magazine's 2008 and 2009 Insurance Survey, Aon also ranked highest on Business Insurance's listing of the world's largest insurance brokers based on commercial retail, wholesale, reinsurance and personal lines brokerage revenues in 2008 and 2009. A.M. Best deemed Aon the number one insurance broker based on brokerage revenues in 2007, 2008, and 2009, and Aon was voted best insurance intermediary, best reinsurance intermediary and best employee benefits consulting firm in 2007, 2008 and 2009 by the readers of Business Insurance. For more information on Aon, log onto http://www.aon.com.

About J.P. Morgan Retirement Plan Services

J.P. Morgan Retirement Plan Services provides fully bundled defined contribution and defined benefit services for some of the nation's largest retirement plans.  The firm provides recordkeeping for over 850 plans and more than 1.7 million retirement plan participants, as of December 31, 2009. The firm is the seventh-largest defined contribution recordkeeper ranked by 401(k) assets under administration, as of December 31, 2008 (source: PlanSponsor June 2009). Through a direct offering and alliances with other best-in-class providers, J.P. Morgan Retirement Plan Services integrates services for defined contribution, defined benefit, deferred compensation and stock-based compensation plans. J.P. Morgan Retirement Plan Services employs more than 1,000 people and is a subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase & Co.  

SOURCE Aon Corporation