2nd UPDATE: Aon To Take Commissions Once Banned Under Spitzer
July 21 2010 - 3:03PM
Dow Jones News
Insurance broker Aon Corp. (AON) said Wednesday it will accept,
with some self-imposed restrictions, a form of compensation that
for a while was banned after former New York Attorney General Eliot
Spitzer mounted a campaign against the payments in 2004.
Aon joins rival Marsh & McLennan Cos. (MMC) in deciding to
accept contingent commissions, after New York's insurance regulator
allowed the practice earlier this year. The two firms, along with
smaller rival Willis Group Holdings PLC, had been banned from
accepting them for about five years.
Insurance brokers match the companies that buy insurance with
the sellers of the coverage; since the contingents were banned, the
three brokers have been paid only by the buyers for that service.
Smaller brokers such as Brown & Brown Inc. (BRO) have continued
to take the commissions from insurers, raising questions about
whether the ban created an uneven playing field for brokers. The
size of the commissions can be linked to factors including how
profitable the policy is for the insurance company.
Spitzer had argued the contingent payments amounted to secret
kickbacks, and the three companies agreed to stop accepting them in
2005 in a settlement with the New York Attorney General's office
that applied worldwide. Under an agreement reached with New York
regulators in February, the three leading brokers agreed to
disclose the fees to their clients as a condition for lifting of
the ban.
Marsh & McLennan said in March its large and middle-market
operations in the U.S. and Canada wouldn't take the payments, but
it would accept contingent commissions elsewhere.
Aon wasn't as specific in a statement released Wednesday.
"We have decided to accept various forms of compensation
available, which may include supplemental and/or contingent
commissions in the geographies and client segments globally where
appropriate and legally permissible," said Steve McGill, chairman
and chief executive of Aon Risk Solutions.
Willis has said the payments raise the question of whether the
broker is acting in the best interest of its clients, and launched
a website (clientsbeforecontingents.com) to argue against the
practice and promote the fact that its retail brokerage doesn't
take contingents.
The company issued a scathing statement after Aon's announcement
Wednesday, saying its rival was "retreating to a troublesome and
ambiguous position."
Aon's announcement "should come as a wake-up call to all risk
managers and buyers of insurance to re-evaluate whether their
broker really works for them, or the insurance carrier," Willis
said.
A brokerage that Willis acquired in 2008, Hilb Rogal &
Hobbs, was allowed, under an agreement with regulators at the time,
to accept the payments for three years. Willis spokesman Will
Thoretz said HRH was one year ahead of schedule in converting
clients to a different fee structure that compensates for the lost
contingent revenue.
In 2004, contingent commissions accounted for 2.5% of Aon's
revenue, compared with 9.7% for Marsh & McLennan and 3.1% for
Willis, according to data compiled by Citigroup analyst Keith
Walsh. Contingent revenue at Brown & Brown peaked at 6.3% in
2007 and dropped back to 4.9% last year, while contingents at
Willis were 1.5% of total revenue last year because of HRH.
-By Erik Holm, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2892;
erik.holm@dowjones.com
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