Reporting on the proposed purchase of Hilb Rogal & Hobbs by Willis for about $2.1 billion got me thinking about who is the biggest broker in town these days. NU's crack art department was able to slip the funny foam finger onto the hand of Willis CEO Joe Plumeri, who definitely wants to put his firm on top someday. But while Willis will grow substantially with this deal, they'll remain a distant third to Aon and Marsh. Which one of those giants gets to claim the top spot is open to debate. Or is it?
Marsh doesn't seem to think so. In fact, a press release issued on June 10 still begins with the statement: "Marsh, the world's leading insurance broker and risk advisor…"
According to our calculations, Aon had total brokerage (retail and reinsurance) revenue of a little over $6 billion in 2007, and about $1.6 billion in this year's first quarter.
Marsh posted total brokerage revenue of $5.4 billion for 2007, and $1.5 billion for the first quarter.
(Willis, together with HRH, would have posted a total of $3.26 billion last year, and $975 million for the quarter. Not too shabby, but still a long way behind the duo at the top of the heap.)
I haven't heard Aon crowing, "We're Number One!" in any of their ads or marketing materials. Why is that? I would be screaming from the roof tops if I surpassed a long-time rival.
Marsh, still scrambling to recover from the bid-rigging scandal that cost them about $1 billion in contingency fee income, remains the 800-pound gorilla in the brokerage world, but is Aon weighing in at 850 pounds???
What do you folks think?
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