NU Online News Service, Nov. 11, 3:16 p.m. EST

Andrew Appel, chief operating officer of Chicago-based brokerageAon, will be leaving the company at the end of the year.

Aon said that at the present time there are no plans to replaceMr. Appel. The company said Mr. Appel is leaving Aon "to pursueadditional challenges."

In announcing his departure, Aon said Mr. Appel had a "greatimpact in multiple roles across the firm over the past fiveyears.

These roles included serving as CEO of Aon Consulting and AonBenfield, and more recently as chief operating officer of Aon, saidGreg Case, Aon's president and chief executive officer.

He said that as chairman and CEO of Aon Consulting, "Andrew leda business that more than doubled in profitability, withsubstantially improved growth."

He also noted that as CEO of Aon Benfield, Mr. Appel had led theintegration of Aon Re Global and Benfield.

"More recently, as our chief operating officer, he co-led ourinternal team whose work allowed us to pursue our partnership withAon Hewitt," Mr. Case said.

"Andrew also played a significant role in developing our AonUnited growth strategy," he said.

Mr. Appel said, "I am thankful for the opportunity to haveworked with Greg and his team and to have been a part of all wehave accomplished together over the past five years. I leave Aon ata time when it is now the market leader in each of its threebusinesses. I will watch with confidence as the firm continues itssuccesses while I pursue new challenges in my career."