The firm will announce today that it is realigning itself around two primary categories of client need – risk capital and human capital – as it continues long-standing efforts to break down internal barriers to collaboration.
Previously CEO of reinsurance solutions, Marcell will become CEO of risk capital. Lambrou – currently CEO of commercial risk – will move to become CEO of human capital, overseeing Aon’s health, wealth and talent capabilities. Both executives will continue to report to group president Eric Andersen.
Via its Aon United strategy, the company has long sought to bring together the full breadth of its capabilities to the same client base, and this latest realignment represents an attempt to push this further.
This follows other developments in recent years, including the creation of a single group operating committee, a single brand and a single P&L, as well as moves like the appointment of a single account executive for each client.
Aon said that the move is motivated by a belief that clients increasingly require integrated solutions to emerging challenges like climate change, workplace resilience and cyber risk that cut across its solution lines.
Aon CEO Greg Case said: “Our firm is continuously evolving to better serve clients, and this announcement is further proof of the progress we’ve made on our Aon United journey.”
On the risk side, Aon said that Marcell’s appointment signalled its intent to expand the application of traditional reinsurance solutions to its corporate client base, and would come alongside increased investment in predictive data modelling.
It added that Marcell would oversee the creation of an advanced risk analytics team staffed by data scientists and technologists from across commercial risk and reinsurance solutions.
These enhanced modelling capabilities would support solutions for clients in areas with developing needs, including climate change, intellectual property, cyber terrorism, and supply chain disruption, Aon said.
Marcell said: “Integrated oversight of our commercial risk and reinsurance solution lines will further strengthen our data and analytics capabilities and help us to innovate faster to create enhanced solutions for our clients.”
Aon said Lambrou will work with existing leaders in Aon’s health, wealth and talent teams to strengthen connections between the firm’s risk capital and human capital capabilities.
The change is also believed to be geared towards meeting client needs in a post-pandemic working environment where there is a need to navigate challenges such as managing distributed workforces, supporting employee wellbeing and winning the war for talent.
Lambrou said: “Leading organizations know that their people are their greatest asset. In a world of increasing complexity, volatility and interconnectivity, those organizations are prioritizing the alignment, retention and productivity of their people and looking for partners that can help them make better decisions about their most important assets.”
Aon has a long history of seeking to foster product innovation to address the insurance industry’s mounting client relevance problem, and has made it central to its strategy.
As an outgrowth of this agenda, Aon has sought to foster net new markets in areas such as intellectual property. It has also applied capabilities from one solution line to another – like a recent employee resilience bond arranged by its benefits team for a tech firm that would pay out to support staff disrupted by an earthquake.
The continuous model evolution, including the development of its integrated back office Aon Business Services, has also supported probably the biggest margin expansion story in the sector, with the group’s 33.2% adjusted operating margin in 2022 running 850 basis points ahead of rival Marsh McLennan. Some of the difference is down to business mix, with strategy consulting lower margin and reinsurance broking higher margin.
Aon will continue to report its performance to Wall Street across the four solution lines: commercial risk, reinsurance, health and wealth.
