Aon Founder Pat Ryan Set To Resign As CEO OHalleran passes on top spot, replacement sought
Aon chief executive and founder Patrick Ryan announced last week that he will resign his post once a successor is appointed.
In the surprise announcement, the 67-year-old executive said he would remain as chairman of the board of the Chicago-area-based insurance brokerage. Andrew McKenna, head of the board's governance committee, will head the recruitment effort for the CEO post.
At the same time, Michael D. O'Halleran, 54, president and chief operating officer, has removed himself from consideration for the top post. He will give up his current posts to serve as senior vice president of the company.
Morgan Stanley analyst Vinay Saqi said Mr. O'Hallerans move indicates Aon will look for an outsider for the top job. "The moves are not likely to come as a huge surprise to investors, although they could cause some volatility in the stock," Mr. Saqi said in a note to investors.
He also asserted that Aon's credibility has suffered of late due to the fact that its operating performance has lagged its peers by a wide margin. "After announcing that the company would look to achieve 20 percent pretax margins in that business in 2005, management recently noted that the goal would be difficult to reach, given slowing revenue growth," Mr. Saqi wrote. "We guess that trends likely remained difficult in the third quarter."
Since 1990, Mr. Ryan has led Aon to the number-two position in the insurance brokerage field, just behind New York-based Marsh McLennan Companies.
Reproduced from National Underwriter Edition, October 1, 2004. Copyright 2004 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.
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