One challenge facing the new chief executive of Marsh, DanielGlaser, will be calls for a breakup of his corporate parent, Marsh& McLennan Companies, to maximize shareholder value and protectthe individual company's worth.

Toronto, Canada-based K.J. Harrison & Partners called lastweek for the breakup of New York-based MMC. The company is notmerely a casual observer, having held more than one million sharesof MMC's stock since 2004.

Jim Harrison, the chief executive officer of K.J. Harrison, saidin a statement that his company wants shareholders to vote on aresolution to separate Kroll (MMC's risk management subsidiary) andMercer (its benefits consulting arm) from the insurance brokerageservices of Marsh and reinsurance intermediary Guy Carpenter.

"In our view, holding companies are effective only when theydemonstrate that they can add value through excellence in capitalallocation and management selection and retention," said Mr.Harrison. "Marsh & McLennan is currently doing neither."

He said Marsh, "which was the gold standard" in the industry, isnow falling far behind Aon Corp. and Willis Group Holdings inprofitability.

The fact that the company has been unable to retain good people,and therefore is losing business to competitors, underscores itsinability to improve earnings, he said, contending that both Mercerand Kroll's earnings are being hurt by Marsh's poorperformance.

In an interview with National Underwriter, Mr. Harrison calledthe current combination inefficient, and said it would be better tobreak the firms up than try to replace current management.

While he did not know what the odds are of his proposal actuallygetting on the agenda of MMC's annual shareholder's meeting, hesaid that if there are enough shareholders who agree with hisfirm's sentiments--and he believes there are--then there is a goodpossibility it would come up for a vote.

"We wouldn't go through all this trouble if we did not thinkthis was a possibility," said Mr. Harrison.

In an e-mail, a representative with MMC said that "Marsh &McLennan's board always considers shareholder suggestions and isfully committed to enhancing shareholder value."