Aon Advantage Funds Launches New Investment Vehicle to Help Unlock Intellectual Property-Backed Lending

M&G commits $300 million to Aon Advantage Funds' strategy

CHICAGO, March 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Aon plc (NYSE: AON), a leading global professional services firm, today announced that Aon Advantage Funds LLC, an affiliated registered investment adviser of Aon, has launched a new investment vehicle that seeks to provide innovative growth companies, primarily in North America, with new ways to access capital based on the value of their intellectual property (IP). M&G Investments, a global asset manager through its Catalyst private assets strategy, has committed $300 million in capital to the new vehicle.

Aon has established itself as a leader in the IP-backed lending space. To date, Aon has supported more than $1 billion of financing in the market, through the services offered by its IP Solutions group and the lending strategies offered by Aon Advantage Funds.

"Aon Advantage Funds can help organizations protect and grow their business by matching capital with companies that have transformative technologies, enabling better capital decisions for emerging companies," said Matthew Farrar, managing partner and head of Aon Advantage Funds, LLC. "Working with M&G allows us to help create a more sustainable world by providing minimally or non-dilutive capital to innovative companies."

Catalyst is M&G's global strategy focused on innovation for impact, investing up to $5.6 billion into privately owned businesses working to create a more sustainable world. Catalyst's investment and strategic collaboration with Aon will help develop the firm's IP-backed investing strategy.

Through its commitment to Aon Advantage Funds, M&G is seeking to unlock the value of Aon's proprietary capabilities as leaders in the IP space. The mission of the fund is to pursue insured first lien IP-backed loans with equity-backed, innovation-led organizations, prioritizing opportunities with strong potential to help drive a positive impact for society through the application of their IP.

"We are looking forward to helping innovative technology businesses accelerate their development," said Thierry Masson, M&G head of Catalyst – Americas. "With Aon's IP Solutions, which help us understand the value of a business' intellectual property, and Aon's insurance brokerage service, we can offer financing solutions as innovative and unique as the technology companies benefiting from this capital."

Aon Advantage Funds' IP-backed lending strategy helps companies enhance the value of their IP portfolios, harnessing the power of an IP platform of almost 150 million global patents mapped to more than 7,000 markets. Aon Advantage Funds leverages the firm's deep knowledge and patented machine-learning technology to provide minimally or non-dilutive growth capital at scale to eligible IP-rich businesses. In 2022, Aon's IP Advantage Funds had access to more than $550 million in available capital.

In 2022, Aon was named one of Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies for its ground-breaking IP solutions. For more information about Aon's IP Solutions, please visit https://www.aon.com/intellectual-property/index.jsp.

About Aon
Aon plc (NYSE: AON) exists to shape decisions for the better — to protect and enrich the lives of people around the world. Our colleagues provide our clients in over 120 countries and sovereignties with advice and solutions that give them the clarity and confidence to make better decisions to protect and grow their business.

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About M&G Investments
M&G Investments is part of M&G plc, a savings and investment business which was formed in 2017 through the merger of Prudential plc's UK and Europe savings and insurance operation and M&G, its wholly owned international investment manager. M&G plc listed as an independent company on the London Stock Exchange in October 2019 and has over €400 billion of assets under management (as at 30 June 2022). M&G plc has customers in the UK, Europe, the Americas and Asia, including individual savers and investors, life insurance policy holders and pension scheme members.

For nearly nine decades M&G Investments has been helping its customers to prosper by putting investments to work, which in turn creates jobs, homes and vital infrastructure in the real economy. Its investment solutions span equities, fixed income, multi asset, cash, private debt, infrastructure and real estate.

M&G recognizes the importance of responsible investing and is a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI) and is a member of the Climate Bonds Initiative Partners Programme. M&G plc has committed to achieve net zero carbon emissions on its total book of assets under management and administration by 2050 and committed to reduce operational carbon emissions as a corporate entity to net zero by 2030.

Media Contacts
Aon
Michael V. Marinello+1 917 683 8610
[email protected]

M&G
Irene Chambers+44 (0)782 569 6815
[email protected]

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