Aon Focuses on Accelerating Global Growth

CHICAGO and LONDON, Dec. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Aon Corporation (NYSE: AOC) today announced that it is increasing investment and focus on building growth across Aon. Grahame Chilton, Vice Chairman of Aon Group, will lead a multi-year effort to improve growth across all areas of Aon.

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In this role, Chilton will work directly with Greg Case, Group CEO and president and CEO of Aon Corporation, directly overseeing Aon's business-building and global growth initiatives. In this capacity Chilton has already been appointed as Chairman of Aon Specialty -- a major initiative to combine all of Aon's specialty businesses into one global unit. Aon Specialty encompasses over $1 billion in revenue, thousands of clients and colleagues around the world and represents one of the highest priority growth areas for Aon.

"I am very excited to be working with one of the foremost business builders of our time and certainly of our industry," said Case. "In addition to playing a vital leadership role in the integration and formation of the partnership between Aon and Benfield, Grahame will be a primary architect for Aon's growth platform."

Chilton commented, "In my 25 years of helping to build Benfield into the largest independent reinsurance broker, I have come to believe that the key to the long term success of any firm is a constant focus on revenue growth and building unmatched talent. As I make the transition from day-to-day management of Benfield to significant roles across Aon, with initial focus on the reinsurance and specialty insurance arenas, I am excited by the opportunity to work directly with Greg to help grow Aon's revenues at industry-leading levels. This will represent a new and exciting next stage in my career and I am proud to do that in partnership with Greg and his team."

About Aon

Aon Corporation (NYSE: AOC) is the leading global provider of risk management services, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, human capital and management consulting. Through its 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. For more information on Aon, log onto http://www.aon.com

     For further information, contact:     London                         Chicago     Reuben Aitchison               David Prosperi     +44 (0)20 7086 7201            312-381-2485     [email protected]     [email protected] 

SOURCE Aon Corporation

CONTACT: London, Reuben Aitchison, +44 (0)20 7086 7201, [email protected], or Chicago, David Prosperi, +1-312-381-2485, [email protected], both for Aon Corporation