Former McKinsey consultant welcomed as agent of change, fresh outsider

By michael ha

Aon Corp.'s recently appointed chief executive officer, Gregory Case, is envisioning his new firm in the image of his former employer–management consulting giant McKinsey & Company–vowing to help the troubled brokerage embrace a more advice-based approach in its client relationships and put less emphasis on just product sales.

In an interview with National Underwriter soon after taking over the top job from Patrick Ryan, Mr. Case expressed his plans to bring what he learned at McKinsey to Aon, turning Aon into a firm that clients would turn to not just for buying insurance but for “indispensable advice and consulting on the insurance industry.”

He said he sees an opportunity at Aon “to build advice more systematically into how we deal with clients…to build client relationships into more of an advice-based approach, to think more completely about their risk needs.”

“Both McKinsey and Aon are advice-based businesses. Both require a client-leadership focus in which value gets added at the client level. We shouldn't just focus on product sale,” he added.

Mr. Case billed himself as a “client-service driven” executive and emphasized that is how he will approach his new job leading the world's second-largest broker.

“Client-service has been ingrained in my history back from McKinsey and before. Our game plans and actions moving forward will be judged in many respects by how well we serve our clients,” he said. His approach will likely prove to be useful in light of recent probes and Aon's settlement with regulators in March concerning allegations of steering business to insurers that paid the most contingent commissions.

“I am eagerly looking forward to a chance to help write the next chapter in this institution, in an industry that is going through a lot of turmoil,” Mr. Case told NU.

At the same time, Mr. Case will also maintain some management continuity at Aon, with the broker's longtime boss Mr. Ryan continuing to serve as executive chairman of Aon's board of directors. Indeed, Mr. Case said one of his demands when he was offered the CEO post was to keep Mr. Ryan as the firm's chairman. He said he feels “very fortunate to be following in the footsteps of Pat Ryan.”

Mr. Ryan–the 67-year-old industry icon who led Aon and its predecessor, Ryan Insurance, for the past 40 years–has said publicly he is excited to focus solely on client relationships and developing new opportunities as he continues to serve as executive chairman. The change came six months after Chicago-based Aon first announced that it had begun a search process for a CEO on Sept. 30, 2004.

“I have a lot of respect and admiration for Aon, its leadership, its people, its clients,” said Mr. Case. “I am very excited to be fully dedicated and devoted to this organization.”

The appointment of Mr. Case, 42, also represents youth taking the lead at Aon, which has been under Mr. Ryan's guidance for the last four decades. However, he also brings a wealth of experience to his new job.

Mr. Case, who spent 17 years at McKinsey–a management consulting firm with 11,500 employees–most recently led the firm's financial services practice. He also served as head of McKinsey's global insurance practice and was the youngest member of the firm's 25-person shareholders operating committee, where he focused on client relationships.

Regarding his credentials, Mr. Case told NU he “built and led two major practices at McKinsey–in the global insurance business and North American financial services business. What I bring to the table is a proven record of building businesses inside a professional-services firm.”

While Mr. Case has just joined Aon, he already has some familiarity with the broker, because McKinsey has been advising Aon in a consulting arrangement for the past several months. At the same time, coming onboard as an outsider has certain benefits, Mr. Case added. “What I bring to complement Aon's existing management team is a new point of view. I am an outsider who is excited about the franchise and excited to start working with the Aon team,” he said.

Indeed, analysts told NU that Mr. Case appears to be a solid choice for Aon. Observers added he is also a timely pick–a relatively low-profile executive with a fresh perspective who can effectively oversee changes in a competitive environment and implement reforms as mandated by Aon's recent regulatory settlement.

If there is one concern, however, it is that Mr. Case lacks operational management experience on the scale of Aon, which has some 48,000 employees around the world. (This concern briefly surfaced during Mr. Case's first analyst conference call last month, when the only question asked, by Credit Suisse First Boston analyst Charles Gates, was about Mr. Case's background and how many employees he had managed during his tenure at McKinsey.)

“Mr. Case is very young and relatively inexperienced when it comes to corporate management,” noted Fitch Ratings insurance analyst Gretchen Roetzer. However, she added, “Aon was looking for a fresh view–a fresh start with no conflicts from the new CEO–and Mr. Case brings that. I was also expecting someone from outside. Aon very clearly wanted someone fresh in the current [New York Attorney General] Spitzer environment.”

An A.M. Best Company senior analyst, Joseph Zazzera, added that “at this point, we are going to have to wait and see how Mr. Case does in his position, but given his consulting experience in global insurance practice and financial service practices, he brings a lot to the table for Aon.”

Analysts noted that Mr. Case's entry into Aon follows a turbulent period at the firm and the industry at large. In March, Aon agreed to pay $190 million in restitution to policyholders over a three-year period and adopt a number of operational reforms to settle probes by three states–New York, Connecticut and Illinois–regarding allegations of fraud and anti-competitive practices, especially involving controversial contingent commission arrangements.

The settlement also prompted Mr. Ryan to issue a formal apology, which noted that the contingent commission arrangements–now abandoned at Aon–created “conflicts of interest,” and that Aon “took advantage of those conflicts.” (See NU, March 14.)

Mark Patterson, an analyst at NWQ Investment Management in Los Angeles–Aon's second-largest stakeholder, with more than 29.2 million Aon shares–noted in expressing his approval of the new CEO that Mr. Case is a “good fit” for Aon as the brokerage embarks on strategic changes in the aftermath of regulatory probes.

“I think that given what's going on in the industry and recent changes that were brought on by regulatory investigations into the broker group, it's a very good time to have a change–to have a new leader from outside,” Mr. Patterson told NU.

“He's relatively unknown in the sense that he is new to actually running an insurance business, but I believe Mr. Case is quite an appropriate choice considering where Aon is at and its change of the business model–a new environment absent contingent commissions,” Mr. Patterson added. “Mr. Case appears to have a client-focused, strategic approach that is quite applicable at this time. I believe he's up to the challenge.”

Flag: Face Value

Gregory Case At A Glance

o Age: 42

o Became Aon's new president and CEO on April 4, 2005.

o Succeeded: Patrick Ryan, 67, who remains as Aon's executive chairman

o Previous experience: Spent 17 years at management consulting giant McKinsey & Co., most recently leading its financial-services practice. Also led the firm's global insurance practice and was the youngest member of McKinsey's 25-person shareholders operating committee, where he focused on client relationships.

“I see an opportunity at Aon to build advice more systematically into how we deal with clients…to build client relationships into more of an advice-based approach, to think more completely about their risk needs.”

Gregory Case, Aon CEO

Flag: On The Money

Pay $cale For Aon's New CEO

In one aspect, Aon's new CEO, Gregory Case, is already outperforming the firm's longtime boss, Patrick Ryan. Here is the skinny on how Mr. Case comes out on top when it comes to salaries:

o Salary: According to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Mr. Case's salary is $1.5 million per year in a five-year contract–higher than what was offered to Mr. Ryan, who received a $1.1 million salary in 2003, the year with the most recent public information.

o Bonus: Mr. Case will get an annual bonus in the range of $1.875 million to $3.75 million, and he received stock options on one million Aon shares and a one-time restricted-stock grant of 125,000 shares.

o Net Worth: Mr. Case still has a ways to go before catching up with Mr. Ryan on a net-worth basis. Mr. Ryan–who founded Aon's predecessor, Ryan Insurance, 40 years ago–owns close to 23 million Aon shares, currently worth more than $510 million.

Special Reports /

New Aon CEO Vows To Take A More Advice-Based Approach

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