Aon completes hat-trick at The Australian Business Awards 2012

Aon’s Risk Maturity Index wins the award for innovation in the field of risk management, insurance and consulting.

SYDNEY, 31 July 2012 – Aon Australia has been awarded the 2012 Australian Business Award for Innovation for its Risk Maturity Index – in the field of risk management, insurance and consulting.

The award-winning global online tool was designed in partnership with The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. It harnesses the expertise of multiple areas of Aon (including Aon Risk Solutions, Aon Global Risk Consulting and Aon Hewitt), to help risk and finance leaders assess the maturity of their organisation’s risk management structure and empower them to implement the necessary improvements.

The concept for the Risk Maturity Index arose from Aon’s 2009 Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Survey where risk managers communicated a need for a more comprehensive tool to fully capture the scope and extent of risk they are responsible for tackling.

Data already gathered through the Index has also shown a statistically significant relationship between risk maturity ratings and financial performance; companies with more mature risk frameworks experience improved return on assets and stock performance. Aon expects the Index to evolve into an industry standard and a platform for insight on a global scale.

Speaking on the award win, Steve Nevett, Chairman, Pacific Region, Aon Risk Solutions said he was pleased with the continued recognition of Aon’s commitment to innovation, research and development.

“Receiving an Australian Business Award is an independent and respected endorsement of The Risk Maturity Index’s results to date,” said Nevett. “It also recognises the potential of the Index to provide globally-significant data which will become a risk management benchmark for business leaders in Australia and worldwide.”

This is the third year that Aon has received an Australian Business Award for Innovation, having won in 2011 with safe travel program, Aon WorldAware Solutions, and in 2010 with Aon’s Global Risk Insight Platform (Aon GRIPSM), an electronic tool tracking and giving insight on the global insurance market. It is also a second award win for Aon’s Risk Maturity Index, with its Innovation Award from Business Insurance magazine in the United States earlier this year.

Congratulating Aon, Ms Tara Johnston, Program Director, The Australian Business Awards said: “These types of accolades don’t come easily – they are underpinned by vision and leadership, both of which require a clear dedication to research and development.”

“Despite a challenging business environment locally and abroad, this year’s participants in The Australian Business Awards remain steadfast in their commitment to innovation and excellence,” Ms Johnston said.

“We’re proud to promote the models of business and product excellence in addition to highlighting contributions to the community and sustainability initiatives with these leading organisations and to publicly honour their achievements.”

Business award entries are separated by industry classification per award category. The Australian Business Award for Innovation recognises significant contributions by organisations to their industry sector through the introduction or improvement of an idea, method, technology, process or application resulting in an economic, environmental, educational and/or social benefit.

About Aon
Aon Corporation (NYSE:AON) is the leading global provider of risk management, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, and human resources solutions and outsourcing services. Through its more than 61,000 colleagues worldwide, Aon unites to empower results for clients in over 120 countries via innovative and effective risk and people solutions and through industry-leading global resources and technical expertise. Aon has been named repeatedly as the world's best broker, best insurance intermediary, reinsurance intermediary, captives manager and best employee benefits consulting firm by multiple industry sources. Visit http://www.aon.com for more information on Aon and http://www.aon.com/manchesterunited to learn about Aon's global partnership and shirt sponsorship with Manchester United.

About the Australian Business Awards
Now in their seventh year, The Australian Business Awards are a comprehensive national awards program conducted annually commencing each February. The awards honour organisations that demonstrate core values of business excellence, excellence of service, social and environmental contributions. They highlight the achievements of leading organisations with the private, public and non-profit sectors and are open to private or public companies, multinational subsidiaries, government and non-government organisations operating within Australia.
For more information, visit www.businessawards.com.au.