2020 Aon Impact Report

W e strive to be a powerful force for positive change helping to ensure a more sustainable future for our families, communities and clients. We’ve been on a journey, including a long-standing commitment to the Business Roundtable, to align our foundation and principles to the role we believe we play in helping our world thrive.

Aon is committed to implementing ESG best practices internally to promote corporate resiliency and sustainability and to prepare for the ongoing challenge we face in relation to emerging and long-tail risks. Moreover, we are committed to helping our clients do the same.

Environmental

We are committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2030 in alignment with Science Based Targets. We will accomplish that goal by reducing the environmental impact of our own operations – like a reduction in our real estate footprint and travel by leveraging virtual capabilities – and becoming a more resilient, sustainable organization. Our ESG Committee helps drive sustainable, environmentally conscious real estate and travel decisions and responsible supply-chain management practices.

Social

We are committed to building diverse and thriving teams with the brightest talent. We provide our colleagues with opportunities to grow and resources that support their wellbeing and journey to become the person they want to be in health, home, work and beyond. One of the ESG Committee’s core objectives is to develop a cohesive Inclusion and Diversity (I&D) strategy, in partnership with the newly formed I&D sub-committee of Aon’s Board of Directors and Aon’s Global Inclusive Leadership Council (GILC), with a focus on talent development and retention. We are also committed to supporting and collaborating with diverse partners from the communities where we live and work, as well as prioritizing philanthropic activities.

Governance

We are committed to acting with integrity and continuing to uphold our risk mitigation and governance practices with input from an independent and engaged Board, as well as ensuring comprehensive policies to support company values. We have processes in place to help ensure we uphold ethical standards and deliver long-term economic value. The ESG Committee partners with teams from across the firm to drive rigorous adherence to business conduct standards and transparency in our operations.

A t Aon, we believe businesses succeed when the communities they serve and the people they employ flourish. Our mission is to protect and enrich the lives of people and organizations around the world by shaping business decisions for the better.

As a global professional services firm, our 50,000 colleagues in 120 countries are focused on informing and advising our clients using data and analytics to deliver insights and solutions that reduce volatility and maximize business performance in the areas of risk, retirement and health—topics that are more important, and more interconnected, to the global economy than ever.

• 120—Countries in which we operate
• 50,000—Colleagues across the globe
• $11 Billion—2020 Revenue

Our Solutions

We work as an integrated team across solution lines and geographies to solve our client’s most pressing needs. We take a proactive approach to understand the client – their business, their people, their objectives – and respond with comprehensive solutions, tools and insights that represent Aon’s full suite of world-class capabilities.

Commercial Risk Solutions

We offer risk advisory, risk transfer and structured solutions that help organizations and individuals better identify, quantify and manage their exposure.

Reinsurance Solutions

We provide risk transfer, claims advocacy, and capital management solutions to help reinsurers reduce volatility and build more resilient businesses, governments and communities.

Retirement Solutions

We provide retirement, investment, and human capital solutions that help employers, fiduciaries, and investment officers manage risk and optimize results in a volatile market environment.

Health Solutions

Our Health Solutions team provides consulting, global benefits and exchange solutions that help clients mitigate rising healthcare costs and improve employee health and wellbeing.

Data & Analytics Services

We combine data, technology and advisory services, as well as human capital solutions, to develop insights that help clients reduce volatility and improve performance.

Driving a One Firm Vision

Across our firm, we are united in our passion to create a culture of opportunity for our colleagues and clients—driven by collaboration and innovation. To accomplish this, we believe that no individual person or piece of Aon is stronger than the whole. It takes the entire firm working together to deliver on our mission and drive sustainable impact for our colleagues, clients and communities.

Aon has gone through a significant evolution over the past decade. Along every step of the journey the voice of our clients has informed our direction and shaped our client leadership. This is the heart and center of Aon United—how we bring the best of our firm together to deliver our true potential.

The Aon United Blueprint is how we get there—how we deliver against our strategy to bring the best of the firm to our clients and to create an inclusive culture that improves the colleague experience.

Blending talent and capabilities, designing innovative technology-enabled solutions and operating models, streamlining and scaling best practices. Every decision, every new direction, every day our team is focused on delivering exceptional results—better. We are committed to the belief that we can always be better—find better ways of working together, produce better insights to shape better decisions, identify better solutions to serve clients, and create better paths forward to help our colleagues and communities thrive.

Taking Bold Steps to Establish a New Standard of Client Leadership

Our world is vulnerable to volatility and rapid economic and political fluctuations. We are also more interdependent, while facing risks that are increasingly interconnected and more severe.

Aon recognizes that to remain relevant, it is an imperative that innovation keep pace with the rapidly changing nature of client needs. We are living in unprecedented times as we deal with the immediate challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing risks associated with climate change, an aging population and the growing health/wealth gap. The pandemic has exposed the exact type of transformative challenges posed by long-tail risks—of any kind. Risks that were once thought of as rare are now becoming more common, and the impact and consequences of those risks grow more significant over time.

"We know that client need continues to outpace innovation, and it is an imperative to narrow that gap and reverse this trend. Today’s predictive models and existing solutions are not sufficient to meet tomorrow’s challenges. Our clients know it and are demanding more. That is why it is our intention to not only meet their needs but to also surpass all expectations."

– Greg Case, Aon CEO

Aon has a long history of listening to the priorities of our clients and evolving our capabilities to better address their needs. Our pending, once-in-a-generation, combination with Willis Towers Watson will further allow us to bridge the gap between lagging innovation and evolving client need. The combined firm will deliver deeper and distinctive client insights and advanced data and analytical capabilities leading to superior outcomes through new sources of capital and investment structures. We will be even better positioned to bring new innovations and solutions, at a pace not previously thought possible, to four specific areas of client need:

1. Navigating new forms of volatility
2. Building a resilient workforce
3. Rethinking access to capital
4. Addressing the underserved

Navigating New Forms of Volatility

The nature of living in an interconnected global community, driven in large measure by increasing growth in digital technology, means that we face new forms of risk on a regular basis. The pandemic, climate change, cyber security, the growing health and wealth gap are just some of the areas where Aon can apply predictive data and forward-looking algorithms to mitigate these long-tail risks that challenge all aspects of our global economy and society.

“Natural disaster events are a large source of potential budget volatility. Paired with the health crisis and economic impact of COVID-19, a major natural disaster or weather event puts even more pressure on the public sector.” Joe Monaghan, Aon Public Sector Partnerships"

In 2019, 409 natural disasters caused $232 billion in economic losses around the world, as well as over 10,000 deaths and the displacement of millions of people. This year, climate change continued its relentless march with 2020 coming in a mere hundredth of a degree cooler than 2016—the hottest year on record. Hurricanes, extreme heat events and wildfires require tremendous resources during a normal year, but during the pandemic, disaster mitigation was exponentially more difficult exposing the need to increase resilience in affected areas, as well as to close the “protection gap,” that portion of economic losses not covered by insurance.

Collaborating to Close the Protection Gap
In February 2020, Aon hosted its inaugural conference aimed at uniting leaders across to globe to strategize how to close the protection gap. In the last decade, natural catastrophes resulted in economic losses of USD2.98 trillion and insured losses of USD845 billion, creating a protection gap of 72%. The decade also highlighted the significant protection gap that persists in developing and emerging countries. For example, only 12 percent of economic losses in Asia were covered by insurance. In Latin America and Africa, virtually all losses were uninsured and local populations were entirely dependent on federal or international financial support for recovery. The development of new insurance solutions, such as parametric insurance, insurance risk pools, or catastrophe bonds are important new ways we can improve risk mitigation in the most vulnerable communities around the globe.

"The protection gap places an immense financial strain on governments, businesses, communities and individuals. Yet, financial impact is only one aspect of the toll these disasters inflict. We also must consider the profoundly troubling humanitarian and social impact – lives lost, communities compromised and businesses, as well as individual livelihoods, disrupted.” Greg Case, Aon CEO.

Building a Resilient Workforce

The last decade has seen a fundamental expansion of alternate work arrangements, prompting organizations to rethink their talent strategies. The challenges of adapting to a remote and dispersed workforce during the pandemic involved more than simply addressing how work gets done. During this unprecedented year – and with future trends in mind – Aon provided real solutions for workers that address this paradigm shift of where, how and when work gets done while taking into consideration the impact on employees’ wellbeing and personal lives.

• We employed digital technologies to ensure strong social and team connections. We cultivated strong “digital” leaders willing to embrace new tools and approaches to managing, communicating and motivating employees.
• We embraced a philosophy and options for continuous education and lifelong learning in support of creating a more resilient workforce.
• We created resources to better support employees including flexible benefits with increased choice, as well as solutions to support emotional, physical, financial and social wellbeing.

"A new era of workforce transformation is upon us, and it’s accelerated by COVID-19. To manage fundamental shifts of this nature, successful leaders need to think on the fly and focus on boosting the agility and resilience of their workforces." John McLaughlin, Chief Commercial Officer for Aon’s talent assessment practice

Rethinking Access to Capital

Risk management is all about matching risk with capital – a process that occurs through numerous channels, both on- and off-balance sheet for organizations. We are always looking at non-traditional forms of capital, from catastrophe bonds to intellectual property (IP). There is an incredible untapped potential to both derive capital from and protect IP, one of the most valuable assets any organization possesses. Historically, for this class of intangible assets, clients have not had the tools or established financial mechanisms to manage these assets (like trade secrets, patents and copyrights) in the same way that hard assets (like buildings and furniture) are managed, even though they are now driving a disproportionate amount of economic activity and value creation. But we are creating ground breaking solutions to change that dynamic.

Aon Structures First-of-its-Kind Insurance Policy Featuring Intellectual Property as Collateral
Aon crafted a unique solution for Indigo Ag, working in concert with a group of insurers including Markel Specialty and Hudson Structured Capital Management. This one-of-a-kind solution allowed Indigo Ag to put up their extensive portfolio of intellectual property (IP) as loan collateral. The deal marks a watershed rollout of Aon’s IP capital market solution, combining IP proprietary valuation technology with lenders and insurance markets.

“Aon leveraged an approach that articulated the value of our IP–making it a true capital asset–which allowed us to secure a significant amount of non-dilutive debt financing.” Jim Young, Indigo CFO

Addressing the Underserved

Although the world is more interconnected now than ever before, there are also many areas of our global markets and populations that are underserved due to market dynamics. As a result, Aon is creating more affordable and scalable products that provide unique and specialized solutions to a newer and wider range of clients.

Aon Partners with Doerscircle to Launch Insurance Plan for the Self-EmployedNearly half of the global population is comprised of freelance workers. Insurance is vital for these self-employed entrepreneurs, but legacy financial services have not traditionally met their unique needs. To fill this gap Aon teamed up with the entrepreneur-focused platform Doerscircle to launch insurance products for freelancers, entrepreneurs and startups. Initially offered in Asia, the policies include small business and inpatient health insurance, as well as cyber fraud and identity-theft protection.

"Doerscircle aims to challenge the status quo and reshape the world for Independent Doers - entrepreneurs, startuppers and freelancers. We strongly believe that insurance solutions should be accessible, relevant, easy to understand and transparent. We're thrilled that Aon has the same vision. We're confident that together we will set new standards in insurance offerings for Independent Doers." Helle Priess, Doerscircle Founder

Our colleagues are the cornerstone of Aon's success. Providing an engaging and rewarding colleague experience is a top priority for our firm. It is only through enabling our colleagues’ health, equity, wellbeing and development that we are able to deliver our mission—to deliver Aon United.

F ew events in our lifetime have had a greater impact than the COVID-19 pandemic. Seemingly overnight we found ourselves forced to adapt to a “new normal.” And in a matter of months, the pandemic dramatically changed how we live, work and interact with one another.

At Aon, we rejected the idea that we had to capitulate to the COVID-19 “new normal.” We made a conscious choice to view the pandemic as an opportunity for our firm and our colleagues to emerge stronger and more united. We began a focus on building resiliency and operating with greater clarity and intention.

 

D espite the volatility, uncertainty and stress the pandemic and events of social unrest brought to our lives in 2020, our colleagues stepped up in impressive ways. They showcased incredible dedication, ingenuity and resilience – giving their all to their teams and clients. We are proud that they represent Aon and are the reason why we are passionate about creating a culture of authenticity and opportunity – both professionally and personally. But none of that is possible without first ensuring that our colleagues were protected from the threats of the COVID-19 virus.

Our number one priority throughout the pandemic is to protect the health and wellbeing of our colleagues and their families.

We made the decision early on – aligned to our one firm mindset – that each and every colleague had a role to play in getting our firm through this challenging time. Aon United takes all 50,000 colleagues—and we stood together in the toughest of times to ensure we could emerge stronger as a firm.

“We committed that no one at Aon will lose their job because of COVID-19. Bringing the best of our firm to clients requires every single one of our colleagues and we are committed to an approach that allows all of us to continue supporting that mission – that’s the core premise of Aon United.”

– Greg Case, Aon CEO

Taking A Principles-Based Approach to Managing Through Crisis

When the COVID-19 outbreak grew to a global pandemic, we knew we had to act quickly and intentionally. We started by adopting a set of guiding principles to inform our decisions and actions throughout the pandemic:

1. Our priorities are our colleagues, clients and our firm. We always look to protect our colleagues’ needs. Our value to clients stems fully from the collective capabilities of our colleagues.
2. We are sober in our assessment of the landscape. We recognize the extraordinarily fluid nature of the business landscape and can make swift decisions that protect our operational flexibility.
3. We focus on the things we can control. We own our destiny—we wouldn’t want it any other way.

Aon Business Services Enables Rapid Response and Ongoing Connectivity

Aon Business Services (ABS) is the operational engine of our firm – bringing together Technology, Security, Operations, Analytics and Procurement into a single platform. ABS enables growth by bringing together teams, ideas and technology from within and across solution lines and geographies—driving greater connectivity and productivity for the firm. When faced with the sudden impact of COVID-19, our ABS capabilities and teams were instrumental in shaping Aon’s ability to quickly accommodate remote work requirements, make enterprise-wide decisions and devise real-time solutions to sustain the health of our firm and our colleagues.

Our investments in a modernized global infrastructure and common technology platform—powered by ABS capabilities—made it possible for Aon’s 50,000 colleagues to seamlessly move to a remote environment quickly to protect their health and continue to deliver on our promise to clients every day.

Moved 98% of colleagues from across 500 locations to virtual environments within 5 days.

ABS deployed a full complement of business and colleague-facing tools, resources and applications that allowed us to continue to operate at the highest levels. In addition, net-new technology capabilities and tools were introduced to enhance collaboration and increase cloud-based storage and security so colleagues could continue to uphold their commitments to clients from the safety of their homes.

• Our full complement of business and colleague facing applications, and all supporting technology infrastructure, continue to operate at our highest levels of availability
• Our Virtual Private Network (VPN) platform consistently supports ~46,000 concurrent connections per day
• Our colleague and client collaboration tools operated at a 600% increase in all reporting categories, including:
  • 19,000 calls hosted daily—over half with video
  • Over 850,000 interactions (messages, calls, spaces created) per day
  • ~100,000 participants and ~4,700 files shared per day
• Our cloud-based client contact center platform is allowing for 98% of our eligible contact center colleagues continue to work seamlessly from home while maintaining client service levels
• We have maintained 99.99% service availability for all the core infrastructure services and applications during this period

9 out of 10 colleagues feel they can provide effective client services in a remote environment

Addressing the Challenge of Work-Life Balance During a Pandemic

Early in 2020, it became clear that we were going to be coping with the pandemic for an extended period of time. That meant that our colleagues would be working remotely and facing unprecedented challenges for months, or even years. Many of our colleagues felt incredible pressure to support children, family and friends—all while keeping up with meetings, deadlines and deliverables at work. We knew we had to address the immediate and evolving needs of our colleagues in meaningful ways. Some benefits and resources, already in place, could be modified quickly, while others needed to be developed to fill the gaps.

• Expanded Benefits:
  In addition to existing benefits, we expanded our employee benefits in the U.S. to give colleagues access to an additional10 days of pandemic pay for colleagues who contracted the virus or needed to care of a family member who contracted the virus. Further, colleagues could receive 10 days of emergency pay for situations resulting from the secondary impacts of the pandemic. We also offered supplemental time off to allow colleagues an opportunity for a mental health break to reconnect with themselves and their families. In recognition of how hard our colleagues worked throughout 2020, we closed operations for a global holiday on July 6 and from November 27-30.
  
  We also offered:
  
  • Additional unpaid, job-protected pandemic leave up to three months, with three additional months possible
  • An option to change elections for voluntary benefits
  • Easier access to 401k funds to care for immediate needs and financial distress
  • A tutoring discount program and expanded support for back-up childcare

Similar expanded and additional benefits were made available in other geographies based on local conditions and practices.

• Partnering to Provide Pandemic Resources
  Our Global Emergency Operations Center, Global Security Services and Global Privacy Office partnered to build Aon’s COVID-19 Management Hub and Coronavirus Update Center providing colleagues up to date information.
  
  Aon’s Health Transformation Team and People Organization worked together to develop a “Working Parents Guide” available to colleagues in the US, as well as additional versions for a number of other geographies. The Guides offered tips and resources to help our working parents find solutions for managing work-life integration while navigating the demands of virtual schooling. Some of the topics in our Working Parents Guides include:
  
  
  • Five Essential Skills You Will Need in the Post-Pandemic World
  • Preparing You and Your Family to Return to School
  • Best Practices for Remote Schooling
  • Return to School Guide
• Colleagues helping Colleagues:
  • CEO Storytime is a Hit with Aon Australia Kids
    Aon parents across the enterprise have been hard pressed to keep their kids happy, focused and learning throughout the pandemic. Three of Aon’s CEOs, Rob De Souza, James Baum and Steven Gaffney, bravely jumped into the fray to participate in Storytime sessions sharing their favorite books with Aon kids, parents and colleagues across Australia.
  • Ireland Aon Center for Innovation and Analytics (ACIA) Taking Care of Teams
    When COVID-19 sent colleagues home to work remotely for an extended period, ACIA wanted to ensure that colleagues were taken care of and still felt connected. ACIA arranged care packages for the teams and also arranged a very well attended virtual Christmas party for kids and cocktail hours for colleagues to celebrate the holiday season.
  • Chelmsford Keeping Colleagues Entertained
    Mike Stephens, based in Chelmsford, is a semi-professional piano player, and he has been keeping some of the team entertained throughout lock down with his music videos! In addition to bringing smiles to colleagues faces, Mike put out a special video as a fundraiser for Little Havens Hospice—a small charity supported by the Aon Foundation. Like many charities in 2020, they struggled considerably with the impacts of the pandemic, but the Chelmsford office was able to help by raising an incredible £1600 on their behalf.

A Big “Thank You” From Aon China

At the beginning of the pandemic everyone was scrambling for reliable up-to-date information about the virus and searching for personal protective equipment (PPE) resources. Aon’s Global Emergency Operations Center (GEOC) and Business Continuity Planning (BCP) teams immediately began communicating across the Aon enterprise providing information and regular updates on the virus. Aon’s nearly 1,000 employees in China faced a dilemma when mask supplies became scarce. The GEOC quickly came to the rescue and shipped out 5,000 quality masks through Aon’s global sourcing network. Within a few days Aon China received the masks and could then more safely continue with their work and personal lives.

“We are so proud to be members of Aon, and to know we know we are not alone. To know Aon will be with us no matter when and what we need. Please accept a big THANK YOU from China!”

– Aon China & Aon-COFCO BCP Team

Preparing to Return to the Workspace

In anticipation of the day when we begin transitioning from our home offices back to the workspace, our Global Security Services team from within ABS began actively monitoring over 500 locations and tracking movements of 50,000 colleagues to develop a comprehensive “Return to Work” assessment tool to help manage safe office re-entry in compliance with all local and country guidelines—once we have workforce returning to the office. Teams across our enterprise are working together to prepare Aon offices for safe re-entry in accordance with social distancing requirements and have created protocols for phased office re-entry and wellness checks to ensure everyone’s safety, as well as their physical and emotional wellbeing.

Prior to any Aon office being considered for re-opening for colleagues to work, a risk assessment is completed to quantify and qualify associated risks at a country, state and county level. This includes data on infection spread, government response and posture, healthcare capabilities and infrastructure, and the political and security situation. This data is provided from a number of sources (World Health Organization, John Hopkins, Centers for Disease Control and other open sources) and is reconciled locally by the location’s Situation Response Team(s) and the Global Emergency Operations Center. We also have ensured that our approach is consistent with Aon’s peers, neighbors and the market.

E veryday our colleagues find new and flexible ways to work together with grace and tenacity—combining their strengths and devising solutions that give rise to a more resilient and united workforce. Aon is dedicated to helping them do it better. Particularly during a period that is challenging each individual in unique ways, we believe it is more important than ever to enable our colleagues to make the best choices for their changing personal circumstances and evolving stages in life, all the while supporting the various forms of wellbeing.

Embracing the New Better

Aon rallied to help our colleagues face challenges by exploring possibilities. In 2020, we created the New Better Leadership Toolkit to help us better manage this new environment as individuals and then to guide others so that—collectively—we evolve and grow into the New Better together. The Toolkit was designed to sharpen leadership skills while forging deeper and more personal connections by:

• Experimenting with how work gets done and encouraging colleagues to develop new habits that suit their unique working styles
• Learning new ways of collaborating, communicating and growing relationships between co-workers
• Strengthening leadership and people skills to become more engaging and effective

With over 3,500 page views, the New Better Toolkit is helping us stay on a path to becoming ever more adaptable, agile and resilient—together.

“I look around our firm and see our team choosing the New Better. Better ways of working together, better ways to serve our clients and a better path forward that includes all colleagues.”

– – Greg Case, Aon CEO

Promoting Mental Health and Wellbeing

It goes without saying that in the year of COVID-19 achieving even a modicum of wellbeing felt like a success. Wellbeing was a top priority for us this year and will continue to be going forward. We addressed the challenges of health head on by developing a more holistic approach to wellbeing with an emphasis on mental health.

Work-From-Home Work Best Practices to Support Our Colleagues

As we participated in industry-wide conversations on the impact of remote working on employees’ mental health, we heard the need for clear policies and boundaries. We developed a home-working policy and best practices covering simple measures such as maintaining a separate workspace, turning off work phones and email notifications at the end of the workday; and emphasizing the benefits of taking regular breaks.

“A home-work policy can provide guidance on how colleagues can take care of their mental and physical health by outlining the hours they’re expected to work and providing best practices around creating a division between work and home life.”

– Charles Alberts, Aon Employee Benefits, Head of Health Management

Mental-Health First Aid

In our Mental Health First Aiders (MHFAs) training program MHFAs learn to identify colleagues who may be coping with anxiety, depression and bereavement and guide them through the wide range of holistic benefits Aon offers from online resources and virtual doctors, to mindfulness workshops and employee assistance programs. In 2020 Aon’s MHFAs program provided training to 120 colleagues. The program – currently in the UK and Australia but expanding across North America in 2021 – heightened awareness and openness around mental health resulting in high attendance at webinars and workshops, as well as a significant number of resource downloads.

Colleagues Share Their Challenges and Successes

Perhaps one of the most moving and meaningful resources, created by Aon employees for Aon employees, was a video called “This is Me.” The video shared deeply personal stories from colleagues about how they overcame a range of physical, mental and emotional challenges. We salute the courageous employees who were willing to share their stories for the benefit of us all.

Speaker Series and Webinars Promoting Social Wellbeing

Our “Connecting Colleague Speaker Series” consisted of 22 UK-based sessions and four global sessions. Over 4,700 colleagues joined us live for the UK sessions, and over 1,000 colleagues watched the playbacks. A diverse group of speakers shared personal experiences and stories covering a range of topics including:

• Talking to kids about race
• Mental health and health issues in general
• Disability
• Career development
• Adoption
• Shared parental leave
• Gender and race issues
• Sustainability and responsible Investing
• Community volunteering
• How the lockdown and COVID-19 has changed how we work with clients, our teams and how we will work in the future

We also held a mental health week, which featured resources and informational sessions, and we launched a Global Inclusion Speaker Series focused on mental health and the impact of the pandemic. Aon Business Services (ABS) hosted financial and mental health webinars that drew over 1,200 and 2,000 live participants, respectively, and was further shared as a replay available to all 50,000 colleagues.

Tools and Resources to Better Manage Health

The Aon Well One® App was designed to help colleagues balance their emotional, physical, lifestyle and financial wellbeing. This year our colleagues adjusted to working and living differently. Many had to give up activities that kept them healthy and balanced in the past. Available to over 49,000 colleagues globally, the app allows colleagues to chart their overall wellbeing by tracking fitness activity and sleep, benefit from personalized online coaching, set goals, participate in challenges, read expert articles and interact socially. Well One captures data from other popular wearable devices and apps, helping colleagues measure and manage their health from one location, motivating them towards positive change and progress.

Since the launch in May, nearly 25% of colleagues participated in Well One, from 74 countries. 37% of participants set an active goal to improve their health in one or more categories with the most popular being nutrition, movement and lifestyle goals.

• 48% participation in Latin America
• 29% participation in APAC
• 23% participation in EMEA
• 19% participation in North America

In September, Aon hosted the Everything Counts challenge through the Well One app. Over 2,500 of our global population participated in this 40-day challenge.

Expert-Led, Data-Driven Health Strategy

The Well One app was piloted at Aon for its own colleagues, and given its great success, the app was scaled as an offering to clients so they too could partner with employees to help to reduce the risk to their employees’ health and wellbeing—and to their business. In addition to getting instant access to data-driven insights on employee population and benchmarking, clients can help create positive change and provide a supportive culture for employees.

In Addition to Deploying Well One Aon:

• Held 28 Wellbeing focused webinars, which are recorded and made available on-demand for colleagues
• Held 6 global colleague walks
• Colleagues can take care of their wellness needs with specialized apps – like GymPass Wellness in the US – offering guided meditation, therapy sessions and nutrition planning. Live classes and personal training provided colleagues with options to work out at home, or on-the-go via live-streamed classes, on-demand workouts and one-on-one sessions with certified trainers.
• Colleagues have access to live and on-demand mindfulness programs – including eM Life and Headspace – to improve physical health, emotional wellbeing, sleep, performance, energy and overall quality of life.
• We designed several work / life kits to help bridge the gap between work and home. They cover a full range of life experiences including:
  • Pregnancy and You
  • New Baby
  • Nursing Mom
  • Special Needs Parenting
  • Parenting Teens
  • Relationships
  • Eldercare Support

Wellbeing Ambassadors

Our local wellbeing teams provided much needed boots-on-the-ground support to identify specific health and wellbeing needs and devise solutions.

• 83% of in-office population have access to Wellbeing Ambassador
• 109 Wellbeing Ambassadors across 54 US Locations
• 110 Wellbeing Ambassadors across 36 countries

Fostering Professional Growth for Future Leaders

By providing opportunities for our people to continue learning and advancing in their careers, we support the development of the future leaders that our firm, clients and communities rely on. In 2020 our colleagues completed, on average, over 35 hours of skills-based training per person.

Leading Aon United—A Program for Leaders

Leading Aon United (LAU) is a workshop for leaders to help align mindsets to our one firm vision by giving them tools and abilities to rise to any occasion, have courageous conversations, deliver on client commitments and drive growth for our firm. The workshops consist of four, two-hour sessions, with post-session peer coaching and other activities. To deliver LAU workshops at scale, we asked LAU alumni for volunteers willing to be trained as facilitators. The response was heartwarming and a true testament to the impact of the workshops. Over 100 colleagues across all geographies, solution lines and functions responded. They have now been trained not only to deliver the message of Aon United, but also to model how to live our values and deliver on our Aon United Blueprint. In 2020 we deployed the LAU workshops virtually enabling us to reach more colleagues faster:

• We trained more than 100 facilitators across all regions, solution lines and functions
• We trained 35 colleagues as producers to manage the technology platform and virtual experience during each LAU session
• We delivered workshop content in English, Spanish, French, Italian, Mandarin, Japanese, Portuguese and Dutch
• We conducted 72 workshops in five months
• We equipped 4,200 colleagues with Leading Aon United tools and resources

Some LAU participants had this to say about their experience:

• "Thank you for offering this workshop. I found it valuable and am looking forward to staying connected with the colleagues I met from around the world."
• "I appreciate that not every firm undertakes this type of work."
• "I learned a lot, made some (hopefully) lifetime work friends and honestly have a better sense of balance between work and my personal life."

Enterprise Client Network Cohorts

The Enterprise Client Network (ECN) is Aon’s marquee client development program designed to create a consistent Client Promise-driven management process for Aon's enterprise clients. Participants in these small-group cohorts are selected by senior leadership to develop best practices to strengthen client relationships and implement our Delivering Aon United (DAU) initiative across the globe.

As Aon continues to expand DAU, ECN graduates will be asked to be client leaders globally and to mentor future ECN cohorts. In addition, this group will continue the journey by joining the ECN alumni network. The alumni gather quarterly to discuss current challenges and identify themes and patterns. Guided by their Steering Team,the ECN will incorporate and share best practices from successes around the firm to bring the best of Aon to our clients.

Over 150 high-potential colleagues completed phase one of the program in 2020. "I think every client-facing colleague should go through the ECN. It's the way of the future for us and allows for some really amazing outcomes for our clients."

– Kelly MacDonald, Aon Senior Vice President, Sales Leader Central Region, Commercial Risk Solutions

Building Aon IQ to Deliver on our Client Promise

The Aon Client Promise is steeped in our desire to provide every client we serve with a consistent, high-quality, high-value and engaging experience. Aon IQ is a foundational element to deliver our promise to clients. When our colleagues develop a full knowledge of the breadth and depth of Aon’s capabilities and methodologies they are better able to ensure a consistent and exceptional client experience.

There are several approaches to building Aon IQ. We launched the Aon IQ badge program and in 2020 we had 2,247 participants earn 3,295 badges. Our learning curriculum includes Aon Onboard, our suite of proprietary Signature Programs, Early Career Development Programs, Technical Skills and a blended learning series fully aligned to the Aon Impact Model.

While all trainings moved to a virtual environment in 2020, we never lost momentum. Over 1,500 colleagues attended 55 sessions through our Signature Programs and the Client Promise Academy. We even launched several new programs including Advance 4 / Elevate, Driving Logical Conversations and the 6 Critical Practices to Leading a Team.

• Focus on Continuous Improvement / Pay-for-Performance
  Aon emphasizes a culture of pay-for-performance by ensuring regular performance dialogues that lead to continuous improvement. Approximately 39,621 colleagues are eligible for performance and career development reviews, of which 94% were completed in 2020.
• Aon Impact Alumni Never Stop Teaching, Learning and Growing
  Participants in the Aon Impact program develop professional skills geared toward strengthening the Aon United mindset in alignment with the Aon Impact Model. Program graduates foster continued connections with other Impact Alumni and take initiative to seek opportunities to share their skills and learnings.
  
  “In June 2020, I kicked off a #wellnesschallenge in the Vancouver BC office. This has been a fun way to lead Aon United virtually—connecting colleagues and other Impact Alumni seeking support for their own and their teams' emotional, financial, physical and social wellbeing.” – David Wiebe, Administrative Operations Leader, Canada
  
  “In 2020, my team and I were tasked to lead Aon United by integrating our Rewards functions. We're proud of what we've accomplished so far, as we navigate our journey toward the "new better." Working virtually has allowed us to form great partnerships and continue to learn from one another while sharing our knowledge with others (including Impact Alumni). This is the true essence of Aon United.” – Rishab Manchanda, Manager, Rewards Solutions, India

W e believe an inclusive and diverse culture leads to stronger insights and outcomes for our firm. Embracing our differences is central to the Aon United Colleague Mission and an essential part of our ongoing commitment to the New Better. By creating a firm that is a place where all colleagues feel welcome, safe, valued and empowered—and delivers on our commitment to inclusion and diversity—we will continue to attract the best talent, create high-performing teams and deliver phenomenal results for our clients.

“Having a workplace where each of our colleagues feels valued and open to bring their authentic selves to work is essential to delivering results for our clients and our success as a firm.”

- Lisa Stevens, Aon Chief People Officer

Our Commitment to Human Rights

Aon is committed to upholding international standards on human rights. We support the principles contained within the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Labor Organization Core Conventions on Labor Standards. Aon acknowledges that companies, including providers of insurance and reinsurance brokerage and human resources solutions can potentially have an impact on human rights. Aon does not tolerate the use of forced labor or child labor and has zero tolerance for slavery or trafficking in human beings. Our commitment to human rights and addressing human rights risks is uncompromising. We devote significant time and resources to helping colleagues and people around the world understand their rights, protect their fundamental liberties and reach their full potential through training and education, charitable and pro-bono services, through business solutions and industry partnerships. “

Aon received a score of 100% for the fourteenth consecutive year on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's 2020 Corporate Equality Index (CEI). We are proud of our commitment to be a leader in our industry for diversity, equity and inclusion.

Championing Inclusivity Through Our Global Inclusive Leadership Council

In 2020, we announced a new series of actions advancing the firm’s commitment to an inclusive and diverse environment for its colleagues. Our Board of Directors formed the Inclusion and Diversity (I&D) sub-committee, whose responsibilities include oversight of Aon’s I&D strategy and initiatives and reviewing and monitoring the firm’s policies, practices and progress regarding inclusion, diversity and equal employment opportunity.

We also launched a Global Inclusive Leadership Council (GILC). The council’s charter is to take action to ensure that our processes, policies, procedures and people foster and enable equitable opportunities, access and advancement to all colleagues at Aon. The GILC recommends actions to be taken and instituted by the firm to move Aon to becoming a truly inclusive organization. Underpinned by clear communication and accountability measures, the council’s work focuses on five main areas:

• Education
• Representation
• Recruiting
• Promotion
• Environmental, Social and Governance

Progress against aspirations:

In 2020, we continued to make progress against advancing two key diversity goals— to achieve 20% representation of people of color in our North American region and to achieve 30% representation of women in senior leadership positions across our global enterprise.

"Our Inclusion and Diversity priorities allow us to question traditional mindsets and create a new better workforce for colleagues and clients." – Jennifer Bell, Co-Chair of the GILC and Regional Managing Director – Central Region US

Pledging Support for Inclusion and Diversity

Aon’s steadfast support for creating a culture of inclusion that promotes diversity in the workplace starts at the top. Our CEO is a signatory to several pledges that reiterate and affirm Aon’s commitment to inclusion and diversity:

• CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion Pledge
• UN LGBTI Standards of Business
• Chicago Network Equity Pledge
• Leaders for the Partnership for New York City Pledge

Trainings and Resources Promoting a Diverse Workplace

We make inclusion and diversity training available for colleagues at every level of the firm and required for leaders. Training topics include: “The Power of Inclusion,” “Recognizing and Managing Unconscious Bias” and “Unconscious Bias in Recruiting.”

Aon’s Ally Guide

What does it mean to be an ally? At Aon, becoming an ally is about showing up to support the liberation of oppressed and marginalized individuals and being active in the fight for equity and justice. Our version of “allyship” involves informing oneself about the issues our colleagues face, and being self-reflective about our personal actions, biases and privileges. We created the Ally Guide for colleagues to leverage to become a strong diversity, equity and inclusivity partner in the workplace. The Ally Guide, and its related resources and recordings, are important tools to help our colleagues build knowledge, learn new skills and model inclusive behaviors.

In 2020, the online Ally Guide was viewed over 13,000 times. We also launched a “Power of Inclusion” course that over 400 or our executives attended, and, over the course of the year, more than 33,712 colleagues completed Aon’s Unconscious Bias training.

“We must be vocal and bold in actions, to challenge racial injustice and support education around unbiased decisions.” - Christa Davies, Aon CFO

Increasing Diversity Through Recruiting

Part of our effort to foster a diverse workforce includes a focus on enhancing our existing relationships with historically Black colleges and universities including Howard University, Morehouse College and Spelman College. By recruiting a more diverse talent pool, we are able to access a broader range of talented individuals, which ultimately makes us a better firm.

• Growing Our Summer Intern Programs
  We’re always looking for ways to improve our recruiting and intern development programs. Aon Early Careers is our 10-week summer intern program dedicated to equipping students with an understanding of what it means to work in a fast-paced environment focused on exceeding client expectations. This year the Early Careers program shifted to a regional model to execute recruitment strategies at the local level. The switch to locally focused recruiting means that we can do a better job building closer relationships with local universities, partner organizations and business leaders.
  
  The Early Careers team successfully hosted final-round interviews in both New York City and Chicago. Due to the pandemic, we quickly implemented Panorama technology to improve the candidates’ virtual interviewing experience. Half of the candidates interviewed were from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds, resulting in a 7% increase in the racial and ethnic diversity of our 2020 intern class.
• Deepening Relationships with Professional Organizations
  We partner with more than 50 organizations to support our efforts at recruiting and hiring from communities that are often under-represented including:
  • International Association of Black Actuaries
  • National African American Insurance Association
  • American Corporate Partners (veterans)
  • The Posse Foundation
  • Ladders for Leaders
  • America Needs You
• Secured Handshake Technology
  The Handshake platform allows us to send targeted email campaigns directly to a more diverse group of students, increasing our reach and recruiting ability. Handshake offers robust search filters, making it easier to be proactive with direct engagement with underrepresented talent.

Recruiting in the Digital Age: Artificial Intelligence

In today’s highly competitive business environment, a diverse workforce is a key factor that can give an organization the edge. Winning clients, attracting talent or even securing funding to take a company public can depend on diversity. Aon has embraced Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help us evaluate candidates’ and employees’ skills, experience and other criteria while excluding elements in the hiring process that could incite bias.

Using AI models to predict or infer fair market pay reduces compensation bias in the workplace, creating a fairer pay environment. The technology can also be used to provide quality control to an organization’s talent assessment process. Leveraging Aon’s proprietary Artificial Intelligence Talent Assessment Solution helps take the risk and bias out of our hiring practices.

“Properly designed and used, AI and assessment technology can help underrepresented workers break through bias-driven professional ceilings and help organizations reap the benefits of diverse workforces.” - Richard Justenhoven, product development director for Aon’s Assessment Solutions

Aon’s Business Resource Groups are Helping to Bridging Gaps

Business Resource Groups (BRGs) are essential in helping to bridge opportunity gaps while creating spaces where individuality and differences thrive. Our BRGs are employee-led groups that collectively help us advance our work in diversity and inclusion. We have 15 BRG’s globally that focus on four key areas: professional development, recruitment, engagement and retention, and communities and clients.

Here are the general categories where our BRG’s focus their efforts:

• Black Professional Networks (BPN)
• Latinos Embracing Aon Diversity (LEAD)
• PRIDE Alliance
• Virtual Connections
• Empowering Abilities
• Gender IQ
• Aon Veterans United
• Aon LINK early career group
• Asian Pacific Islanders
• Mental Health
• Working Parents
• Generations
• Workability

Awards and Recognition

We work hard to deliver unparalleled service and solutions for our clients while upholding our commitment to create an inclusive culture for our colleagues. We’re proud of the recognition and acknowledgements our firm and our colleagues received in 2020 related to these specific areas. Here are some of the top awards and recognitions in 2020:

Financial Times: Diversity Leaders 2020- The Financial Times, a leading news source for the global business community, published its second annual Diversity Leaders ranking. The list is derived from a survey of more than 100,000 employees from 15,000 employers across Europe. The survey assesses employees’ perception of companies’ efforts to promote various aspects of diversity including gender balance, openness to all forms of sexual orientation, race and ethnicity, disability and age.

Working Mother: 100 Best Companies Award-We are honored to receive this recognition for the first time. The award is offered to those US employers providing the best benefits for families, from gender-neutral leave, gradual phase-back after parental leave, to accessible and affordable childcare.

HERoes Advocates: Top 50 Executive Advocate Role Models-The HERoes Advocates list celebrates 50 senior leaders who are authentic allies and advocates for women in business and who are dedicated to creating a more diverse and inclusive business environment. Aon’s CEO, Greg Case and Dom Christian, Global Chairman of Aon Reinsurance Solutions were honored to appear on the HERoes Advocates list in 2020 for their support of women in the workforce and their efforts to make work equitable for all women.

Aon CEO Greg Case puts a firm focus on gender equality, and has aimed to achieve a long-term goal of having 30% of senior roles, globally, be filled by women. He has also made it a priority for our global executive team leaders to sponsor female, or ethnic minority colleagues, to help create a strong network of future leaders. Greg was one of the first signatories of The Equity Pledge, which holds a commitment to working toward achieving gender equity in leadership roles by 2030.

OUTstanding Top 50 Ally Executives

Aon CEO, Greg Case made the list last year and this year he moved into the number one position! Published annually, the OUTstanding LGBT+ Role Model lists are a powerful reflection of the incredible achievements of LGBT+ people in the business community. Greg is a firm believer in setting the tone from the top and as such, regularly shares the message that inclusion and diversity is a powerful force and key business imperative. Greg takes personal responsibility for shaping a culture and environment where every person feels they can be their authentic self in the workplace.

Additional Awards and Recognitions of Note in 2020 Include:

• One of our Aon colleagues made the 2020 Notable LBGTQ Executives list
• Several Aon colleagues made the Business Insurance 2020 Women to Watch list
• Four colleagues received Insurance Business America-Rising Star Awards
• Aon was designated a 2020 Top 100 Stonewall Employer
• emPower and Yahoo Finance listed Greg Case, Aon CEO as one of the Top 100 Ethnic Minority Executives 2020
• Aon was honored as one of the 2020 Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality

Honoring Inclusivity and Diversity Throughout the Year

We are committed to fostering a workplace that supports and empowers people of all backgrounds and fosters equality across all areas of our firm. We take time throughout the year to celebrate equity, inclusivity and diversity in all its forms.

• June 23: Equality Exchange Webinar-This webinar drew over 1,300 participants with an esteemed panel of colleagues, contributed to a critical discussion about the systematic societal issues that affect them, as well as their communities, and uncover solutions to create a better environment. Under the unifying and transformational theme of Exposure, Education, Compassion and Empathy
• February: Project Charity-Aon works with Project Charity to promote mobility, diversity and inclusivity.
• March 8: International Women’s Day-Aon celebrated in more than 10 countries to hail the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women across the globe.
• March 31: Trans Day of Visibility-UK colleagues celebrated by hosting a virtual discussion on “How to Be a Trans Ally”
• June: Virtual Pride Month-We held 15 virtual Pride events with over 2000 colleagues participating across the globe—including, for the first time in Asia!
• June 19: Juneteenth-We honored Juneteenth, the oldest national event in the US celebrating the end of slavery. Our Black Professional Networks Business Resource Group hosted the townhall event attended by over 1,100 colleagues.
• July 14: International Non-binary Peoples’ Day-Aon partnered with AIG to host “People Behind the Labels—Exploring Gender Identity” event in support of our non-binary colleagues.
• September: “Diving In” to Support Diversity-Inclusion in the workplace is something to celebrate, not just at our firm, but throughout our industry. That’s why we support the annual Dive-In Festival, promoting diversity and inclusion in the insurance industry. The festival went virtual in 2020. Aon was a Gold Sponsor in 2019 and continued to support the event in 2020 as a Global Festival Partner.
• September / October: National Hispanic Heritage Month-September 15 through October 15 we observed National Hispanic Heritage Month.
• October: National Coming Out and LGBTQI History Month
• November 19: Memorial Pride DayThe Aon Chicago Pride Alliance and Aon’s greater New York Pride Alliance Business Resource Groups joined forces to honor the transgender lives lost in 2020.
• November 19th: International Men’s Day-Aon hosted webinars and published thought leadership in alignment with this year’s theme of “Better Health for Men and Boys.”
• November 20: Transgender Day of Remembrance-Aon’s Alliance Business Resource Groups came together to educate our community about transphobia while celebrating the accomplishments of transgendered individuals everywhere.
• December 1: World Aids Day-We celebrated this day around the world and dedicate ourselves to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic and honoring all those who have died of the disease.
• December 3: International Day of People with Disabilities-Aon commemorates IDPWD by raising awareness of disabilities and promoting the inclusion of persons with disabilities in all aspects of work and society.
• “Diving In” to Support Diversity Inclusion in the workplace is something to celebrate, not just at our firm, but throughout our industry. That’s why we support the annual Dive-In Festival, promoting diversity and inclusion in the insurance industry. The festival went virtual in 2020. Aon was a Gold Sponsor in 2019 and continued to support the event in 2020 as a Global Festival Partner.

The Diversity Project Charity

Aon is one of the founding members of the UK-based The Diversity Project Charity (TDPC). This grant-giving organization is dedicated to supporting regional charities focused on mobility, diversity and inclusivity. TDPC works with a range of businesses, trade associations and educational organizations to drive change, innovate and achieve sustainable and measurable impact on our communities. 2020 celebrated the launch of Mosaic, a new fundraising initiative that Aon helped support. The project involves the creation of a digital “mosaic” of professional and financial services companies collaborating to make a difference through funding and sharing individual initiatives.

Evolving to address client need is at the core of our Aon United strategy. It is a central tenant of our mission to help clients reduce volatility and maximize performance by adapting to challenges and capitalizing on new opportunities. Aon believes that when businesses thrive so do the people they employ and the communities they serve.

In 2020, our clients and communities needed us more than ever as they were forced to navigate the risks and uncertainties of the pandemic alongside the systemic racism and social unrest that surfaced on a global scale. The challenges caused by these events can affect every aspect of an organization – from people to the bottom line.

As business leaders and governments looked to quickly respond to the rapidly unfolding crises, Aon was positioned to help them make decisions about next steps in a fluid and uncertain environment where the longer-term horizon is still evolving. Aon stepped up to innovate new solutions, provide additional tools and resources and take bold steps to drive positive change.

W hen the pandemic hit, Aon was well prepared to quickly convert our 50,000-strong workforce to remote locations. Our leading technology platforms and security capabilities, as part of the Aon Business Services (ABS) operating model, positioned us with a competitive advantage when we were tested with unexpected variables that challenged in-office working. Being able to react and adapt quickly enabled us to stay connected to our clients, so we could support them when they needed us most—without skipping a beat. From there, we innovated in various ways creating net new products and solutions across our Aon United portfolio to help clients address emerging challenges resulting from COVID-19.

Aiding COVID-19 Planning and Preparedness

In a short amount of time, we built the COVID Rapid Response Center to help business leaders across the globe make better decisions and implement effective responses to the pandemic. The site provides access to Aon expert advice and offers a of myriad tools, resources, insights and strategies on:

• Protecting people and assets
• Maintaining, protecting and increasing revenue
• Managing costs
• Revising business strategy
• Understanding regional perspectives
• Considering industry-specific impacts
• Employer Rapid Response Toolkit
• Talent Impact Model
• Anti-COVID protocols
• Cost management
• Advice on event cancellation

We identified leaders across our lines of business to provide clients with immediate access to pandemic assistance. Our experts collaborated with clients to help them determine strategies for managing the pandemic’s impact on their businesses.

Aon produced the COVID-19 Response Toolkit to augment existing response plans and continuity strategies. The Toolkit provides information and guidance on risk exposures and human capital concerns.

Leveraging Pulse Survey Data to Help People Leaders Make Better Decisions

Human Resources (HR) leaders everywhere were faced with a need to make quick decisions, under pressure when navigating this year of disruption and change. From March through December, Aon’s Human Capital Solutions (HCS) business group launched a series of six global pulse surveys targeted at HR leaders and professionals. The surveys were designed to help companies make better decisions to safeguard employees and bolster their workforce planning. To garner valuable data points and insights, the surveys explored how companies are building and maintaining agility in the workforce, supporting their remote workers and how they’re managing and adjusting time-off policies.

HCS’s sixth HR pulse survey focused on preparing for the future while continuing to support employees through the pandemic. Survey topics included:

• Defining, managing and implementing the future of work
• Examining different approaches to remote and flexible work, both in the short- and long-term
• Identifying location-based pay strategies, including how companies are rethinking their practices as employees continue to work remotely and/or relocate
• Exploring total rewards programs and how companies adjust key strategies over time
• Understanding shifting workforce demographics and dynamics as accelerated by COVID-19
• Gathering early insight on vaccine protocols and requirements

Participation in the survey was complimentary and all participants received access to results via an online reporting tool. Each survey secured an average of 1,885 submissions. In addition to survey participant access, survey results have been viewed over 14,000 times by clients and members of the public since March 2020.

Creating Resources that Address Every Phase of the Pandemic

The initial arrival of a vaccine at the close of 2020 was certainly a bright spot for the year—bringing optimism for our future. But the pandemic is far from over. Given the nature of the virus, there will likely be waves and spikes in infections until most of the global population is vaccinated. What that means for enterprises with operations across multiple geographies is ongoing uncertainty and a need to remain resilient and flexible with business recovery strategies.

Aon developed resources that address all phases of COVID-19:

• Business Continuity Toolkit focuses on preparation and response
• Employer Best Practices for COVID-19 Screening details the impact of effective screening operations on business resiliency
• Business Recovery Toolkit provides best practices for recovery management, and critical policy and procedure considerations

These three resources enable organizations to strategize effectively across all phases of the pandemic enhancing their resilience and flexibility as they confront the challenges ahead.

Innovating to Aid Pandemic Response

Despite these difficult times, we have innovated to help clients unlock value in thoughtful and sustainable ways, so they could make informed decisions around managing volatility, retaining or transferring the appropriate risks for their situation, and maintaining proper cashflow during economic uncertainty.

Aon’s Global Risk Consulting Services (AGRC) team worked to develop a range of solutions to deliver analytic and consulting services to assist our clients with addressing some of their most pressing challenges.

CHALLENGE	SOLUTION
Valuations Challenge: With building and plant-asset values affected by currency fluctuations over the last few months, the need for valuations is increasing.	Aon valuers use aerial imagery programs, detailed phone interviews and COPE information in conjunction with our extensive costing database and analysis of current market trends to provide virtual valuations. Our valuers provide curbside and onsite inspection whenever possible.
Risk Control and Risk Management Challenge: Providing accurate risk information is critical. Conducting risk surveys and reports ensures that essential information is available for insurers making the decision to underwrite new risks with confidence.	Aon provides virtual surveys using mobile phones while working closely with clients to discuss site operations and the best way to survey, if the risk can be managed on-site. Risk Management projects are run remotely, using web conferencing technology.
Risk Profiling, Analytic Support and Business Interruption (BI) Challenge: Given the pandemic, clients need to understand how their risk profile has changed so that they don’t retain more risk than they can carry or be covered under a policy that doesn't match their risk profile.	Aon’s teams use remote risk profiling, limit/retention analysis and BI reviews for clients—often advising against reducing cover which can result in unintended gaps with dire consequences. Our Business Interruption Calculator assists clients in the quantification of declared values. Aon experts with their deep experience working across all BI options, ensure that an informed decision is made regarding the client's type and amount of risk transfer.
Claims Consulting Challenge: Our clients continue to suffer business interruption and property damage losses and are making claims under their Property Damage, Business Interruption policy. Clients in the small and medium enterprises space are more susceptible to risk following a major interruption, amplified by the current circumstances, making it crucial that Aon be their trusted risk advisor.	Our team developed a protocol for remote claims, giving us the ability to provide immediate support to clients for claim preparation. We use virtual platforms to maintain communication with stakeholders and video footage, inspection reports and relevant documentation—all shared through online platforms.

Working Across the Globe to Help Clients React and Adapt

• We worked with life-science companies implementing COVID-19 clinical trials to develop three layers of clinical-trial liability insurance within three days
• In collaboration with the insurance market, Aon created a bespoke insurance solution called the Health Emergency Liquidity Program (HELP). The program allows businesses to quickly access liquidity in a future epidemic risk crisis.
• Spain: We provided event cancellation insurance support to an Epidemiological Hospital Clinic in Barcelona
• England: We upgraded London’s e-trading system for online renewals
• Africa: Aon Minet Kenya unveiled an online portal to enable a digital experience
• Italy: Aon helped Enel, an Italian multinational utility, develop a first-of-its-kind insurance tool that guarantees support for employees who contract COVID-19 and require hospitalization. The policy guarantees benefits beyond those offered by all other insurance tools and forms of health care already available.

Stepping Up to Help a Client in a Time of Need

Many of our clients’ plans for 2020 were overturned when the pandemic hit. One client, a large financial services company, launched a project before the pandemic and wanted to see it through to fruition—especially since it involved creating a slate of resources designed to help others when an employee, or a loved one, passes away. An Aon colleague recognized the need and connected the client with Aon’s Strategic Advisory Communication group. The client needed to move at lightning speed to produce a survivor benefits guide and employee bereavement guide. These guides would be integrated into an existing program that assigns support specialists to help bereaved employees manage paperwork and benefits. Aon developed a “sprint guide” within 48 hours, and in two weeks had the full survivor guide and employee bereavement guide, as well as updates to the client’s employee benefits kit completed.

“The client turned to us in a time of need. And while the topic is sobering, I’m proud to say the client was happy with our work and trusts us as a partner.”

– Heather Tredup, Aon Partner, Strategic Advisory Communication.

Resources for Managing Mental Health During COVID-19

The landscape of employee benefits is ever evolving. That’s why we built an Employee Benefits Resources site that offers up-to-date information on both traditional benefit products and the latest, most innovative approaches to benefits.

Early in 2020, as we listened to our client’s concerns and participated in industry-wide conversations on the pandemic’s impact on employees’ mental health, we heard questions around to how best support employees during this time of uncertainty. Aon took the cue and worked hard to provide some answers.

We developed a series of articles, for our Employee Benefits Resources site, designed to help clients support their people on topics ranging from managing absenteeism and how to create a more agile workplace, to effective communications and how health and wellbeing benefits can provide additional support to employees including:

• 10 Ways COVID-19 Could Change Workplace Wellbeing
• 4 Key Areas Where Employers Can Provide Mental Health Support for Employees During COVID-19
• COVID-19 Outbreak: Supporting Employee Wellbeing
• Strengthening Employee Emotional Fitness
• A Health and Benefits EMEA Perspective
• Workforce Strategies
• Key Wellbeing Considerations for Employers

Mental Health First Aid Training for Clients

There is so much stigma at work and in life around mental health, no wonder people are often reluctant to share their personal struggles with depression, or other mental health issues. Many organizations are beginning to acknowledge and take action to support the mental health and holistic well-being of their employees. Human resources is on the frontline of dealing with these issues and their impact on the workplace. Many industries are already proactive in providing support and help through training, but how can businesses push the agenda further?

Aon has first-hand experience of rolling out a large-scale Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) program with hundreds of colleagues attending mindfulness workshops, resilience workshops, and Mental Health Awareness training for people leaders.

The course we designed for clients is relevant to individuals across different roles, managerial levels, company sizes and industries. The content is especially beneficial for those in:

• People management roles with direct reports
• Human Resources, or Work, Health and Safety committees
• Any workplace with employees currently affected by mental health issues

Aon’s approach helps employers implement a sound structure for MHFA in the workplace. The plan offers a strategy and action approach including measurement and data analysis. The plan ensures an employer understands how to estimate the cost of a campaign, and how to create a business case for investment. The plan offers three course options depending on employer needs, as well as guidance on how to establish MHFA roles.

Focusing on Employee Wellbeing During COVID-19

• World Mental Health Day-On October 10, 2020 Aon held an informative series of client-panel webinars and speakers covering topics such as Mental Health for All: Greater Investment—Greater Access and Mental Health and the Impact of a Global Pandemic. Seven Aon colleagues around the world shared their stories and personal experiences with mental health with over 500+ of our clients.
• Webinar Series-Aon Australia hosted a series of webinars highlighting strategies for enhancing mental wellbeing and empowering employers and individuals to find the support they need. The series kicked off with Managing Mental Health in a COVID-19 World.
• China’s “Healthiest Employer Award”-Aon China’s “Healthiest Employer Award” recognized seven companies that launched impressive initiatives benefitting the physical, emotional, financial, social and professional wellbeing of their employees. Additionally, 32 companies were recognized in specific categories for outstanding performance in pandemic employee support.
• Wellbeing for Home Series-Aon Australia initially created this webinar series for colleagues and then expanded the offering to clients. The series shares tips and tactics to help employees thrive in a work-from-home environment.
• Black Dog Partnership and Fundraising- The Aon Charitable Foundation (ACF) is committed to sharing Aon’s human, intellectual and financial resources across Australia. The ACF partners with the Black Dog Institute to prioritize the prevention of mental health illness amongst colleagues and family members. In 2020, Aon supported a fundraising event to benefit Black Dog in conjunction with the Kokoda Challenge. The Challenge this year was a virtual event. Anyone could sign up to get out, get active and accomplish personal hiking goals while also doing good for the community.

W e live in an interconnected world and know that every decision made creates a ripple-effect felt by businesses, industries and communities. Our commitment to delivering results for our clients and our colleagues extends to the communities where they live and work. Every year we strive to express our commitment to having a positive impact on our communities, near and far.

Few events in our lifetime have had greater impact worldwide on our communities than the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly every individual, family, and organization has been affected. It has changed the way we all live, how children go to school, how we work and interact with one another. The same way in which we rejected the “new normal” for our own firm—we strive to help our clients and communities do the same—charting a path to the “New Better” together.

Supporting Those on the Front Line: Our Commitment to Positive Community Impact

Aon’s global reach and deep bench of resources and talent meant that when the pandemic hit, we were able to come together quickly and effectively to make significant contributions in the fight to defeat COVID-19. Here’s a snapshot of how we responded in the communities where we live and work:

• UK: When the UK government asked for 250,000 volunteers to support the National Health Services efforts delivering food and medicine, driving patients to appointments and phoning the isolated, it only took 24 hours before 400,000 people signed up. Aon colleagues answered the call and joined this important effort to support their communities in combating fallout from the pandemic.
• Poland: Aon Krakow stepped up to help support the healthcare community during COVID-19. Aon’s Finance Engagement team raised money from colleagues to buy disinfection products for one of Krakow’s hospitals. Aon employees joined a collective of other volunteers who dedicated themselves to sewing over 44,000 masks for hospitals, clinics and social welfare organizations.
• Vietnam: Aon Vietnam donated hand sanitizer and automatic dispensers to the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases, Second Branch in Dong Anh and to the Ho Chi Minh City Branch.
• Spain: In 2020, we collaborated with Amadiba Association with the aim of helping them acquire personal protective equipment (PPE) to combat COVID-19 in residential centers in Ibiza and Mallorca.
• India: Since the beginning of the lockdown Aon Cares India joined forces with Responsenet.org to distribute relief packages in Delhi to hundreds of families and day-wage laborers.
• Hong Kong: Aon Hong Kong made a donation of $1,400 to Fu Hong Society to purchase face masks and hand sanitizer for 250 people with disabilities who need to physically attend work.

Aon Colleague Steps Up to Help Feed the Hungry in India

Day-wage laborers in India were severely impacted during the 2020 pandemic lockdown. With no income and no food, many migrant workers were stranded along the road as they tried to walk back to their homes. A group of restaurant owners, doctors, corporate professionals and NGOs came together, with support from the District Administration of Gurgaon, India, to feed the stranded migrant workers.

Aon employee, Tarun Kumar, Actuarial Manager for Healthcare and Benefits at Aon, showed up to help. Tarun joined the volunteers working tirelessly to cook over 3,000 meals a day. Cooking was one thing, but distributing the meals was an even bigger challenge. Volunteers distributed meals, with help from the District Administration of Gurgaon, to every nook and cranny of the city, while systematically following health protocols and taking hygienic measures. No one knew when it would end, but every volunteer committed to seeing the effort through until the lockdown was lifted.

When the need for additional finances threatened to upset the operation, Tarun didn’t take it sitting down. He reached out to Aon with a request for support. Aon and partner organization, Responsenet immediately came to the rescue providing the finances to allow the initiative to continue for the next two months.

“It was indeed a proud moment for me, that I, Tarun Kumar, work for an organization that is so willing to contribute towards community welfare.”

Taking a Proactive Approach to Plan for the Post Pandemic World: Work, Travel & Convene Coalitions

Several months into the pandemic Aon recognized a looming gap in preparedness when it came to post-pandemic life and the return to work. As part of our New Better initiative, we pioneered a global series of Work, Travel and Convene coalitions. The idea was for business and community leaders to come together to share insights, technology, challenges and recommendations. The knowledge trust from the coalition would lead to a first-of-its-kind study examining issues arising from the pandemic and setting a benchmark for foundational best practices, offering strategies aligned with state, regional and public health guidance to help businesses chart a path through and beyond the pandemic.

We launched our initial coalition in Chicago in June 2020, and then others were held in Australia, Germany, the Netherlands and Singapore, as well as Dublin, London, Madrid, New York and Tokyo.

"Our decision to convene these coalitions was driven by a need to build a collaborative roadmap to make better decisions in an increasingly complex world. Rather than accept the so-called new normal, this work leads our clients to define the new better on their own terms.”

– Greg Case, Aon CEO

The 10 coalitions formed across four continents included participation by more than 150 organizations and spanning more than 15 industries representing multinational organizations from the U.S, Europe and Asia. Key agenda topics include:

• Employee mental health and wellness are growing considerations for health, but also productivity. New communication and assessment tools are needed to maintain morale, growth and connection.
• The culture and cohesion of firms with remote workers is complicated but also creates opportunity.
• The resiliency of the workplace to support women and childcare were both topics that arose given the changing dynamic of both how and where our children are cared for and learn during the pandemic.
• Trust is crucial. In both directions. Will the workforce trust leaders to create a safe environment and a flexible work-from-home policy that builds on the productivity learnings of the shutdown? Will leaders trust their workforce to be productive when they are not in view because they are not in the office?
• What role does business play in the recovery? Cities are dependent on the office economy, so how does long-term work-from-home the health of cities and how will that impact the overall economy?

Nearly 89 percent of companies plan to enhance their wellbeing program to focus on their workforce's emotional and mental health wellbeing because of the pandemic. More than 84 percent of companies said they have strengthened their communications protocol to better react and respond to vendors, governments and employees during the pandemic. More than 87 percent of companies have deepened their partnership with key vendors to support the management process and coordination of a return to the workplace.

Through the coalitions, key themes have emerged by geography as participants identify priorities, build guidelines and best practices and chart the path forward:

• Australia: accelerating the ability to adapt to crisis, building a resilient workforce in or out of the office and addressing the underserved impacted by the economics of COVID-19.
• Dublin: workforce agility, mental health and wellbeing and the connection between innovation and collaboration.
• London: how to return to the workplace, the future of work and the importance of data in that future.
• The Netherlands: health and safety, building connectivity to balance attrition and improve productivity.
• Singapore: the agility of firms and employees, the importance of culture and the future of work.
• United States: the role of leadership and communication, the future of work and return to the workplace.

Along with coalition conversations, Aon performed a comprehensive quantitative diagnostic to address readiness, resilience and wellness as well as assess priorities as the pandemic evolved. To access the full report, "Helping Organizations Chart a Course to the New Better," please click here.

“While the global landscape continues to evolve – with new lockdowns being enforced in some geographies and a race for a vaccine – our findings also reveal that we have a long road ahead. But our work, and this report, is laying a solid foundation to change the dialogue and play a role in helping to shape the New Better.”

– Eric Andersen, Aon President

A t Aon, we believe that diversity starts with inclusion—and inclusion starts with intentional action. Those actions must reach beyond the walls of our own firm to have true, lasting impact that drives sustainable change within our communities.

We’ve taken steps to not only prioritize Inclusion and Diversity (I&D) as a key component of our workplace culture at Aon, but to ensure we are helping our clients do the same by providing access to diverse supplier partnerships and innovative products and services that help them address their own diversity, equity and inclusion agendas.

Changing the future starts now. Aon is committed to aiding underrepresented populations have better opportunities now to change the pipeline for the future.

Expanding Network of Diverse Suppliers at Aon

At Aon we view Supplier Diversity as a business strategy that enables innovation and economic growth. Our Supplier Diversity strategy takes a holistic approach to engaging partners in the marketplace. As a firm, we seek certified diverse suppliers to meet our internal procurement requirements while supporting efforts to develop our partnerships. As part of our client solutions, we support our business in identifying opportunities to work with diverse firms that are a complement to our core service offerings. We’re always striving to expand our supplier diversity with providers who understand our clients’ needs and can offer innovative solutions to help them. Through Aon Diversity Solutions (ADS), we’ve created a comprehensive supplier-diversity program to ensure we engage with a diverse set of suppliers—especially those historically under-utilized in our industry. ADS seeks out diverse professional services firms capable of supporting opportunities on local, regional and national levels to create long-term value for our partners, clients and communities.

During COVID-19, even while reducing our overall corporate spend to support our colleagues’ jobs, we remained committed to spending with diverse suppliers. Further, it became increasingly apparent that our diverse suppliers were demonstrating ingenuity and agility to help us face the crisis and adaptability to pivot services to support our business.

Our commitment statement is not just words but backed by the actions we’re taking every day as we look for new sources of value and innovation to better serve our clients. We view diversity as a business imperative to better shape our future.

• 5% of US addressable spend was with diverse suppliers in 2020
• Assisted in embedding diverse suppliers in 15 client engagements

"By taking intentional actions to diversify our supply base, we create long-term value for our clients and communities. This builds a more sustainable, agile and innovative supply chain while reflecting our shared values and the communities in which we operate.”

– Michael Benvenuto, Chief Procurement Officer at Aon

Supporting Supplier Diversity

Our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Procurement Officer have signed a commitment to develop valuable relationships with businesses that are minority-owned, woman-owned, disadvantaged-owned, LGBT-owned, veteran-owned, small, HUB Zone, and differently abled or disability owned business enterprises and providing maximum practicable opportunities for suppliers that can offer quality, innovative, competitive, and cost-effective products and services.

Our commitment is to include small and diverse suppliers in our strategic sourcing efforts to meet regulatory, client, and business requirements. We adhere to this commitment by integrating supplier diversity into our business strategies, making good faith efforts to include diverse suppliers in sourcing activities, and improving spending levels as appropriate with diverse suppliers. To accomplish this, we encourage program managers and business leaders to work closely with Aon’s Procurement team to identify and integrate qualified small and diverse businesses to our supplier base so that they are provided with meaningful opportunities to compete for our business.

We recognize that purchasing goods and services from qualified or certified small and diverse suppliers is truly one of the ways we can support small businesses in the local communities where we live and work. We believe that supporting small and diverse businesses results in the continuous improvement of our supply chain, the expansion of our markets, and the overall economic success of our customers, suppliers, and communities. This effort makes our company stronger and demonstrates our corporate social responsibility and commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion excellence.

Relying on a Diverse Supplier in a Moment of Need

When Aon’s in-house print-shop was forced to shut down in response to COVID-19, we knew we needed to figure out another solution—and fast—since our now remote workers could no longer access printer services. The ADS team identified a commercial printer, MOTR GRAFX, a minority-owned enterprise and valued partner. MOTR GRAFX moved quickly to ramp up production, minimizing interruptions to delivering time-sensitive, insurance collateral for clients.

Identifying a Diverse Partner on Behalf of a Client

When longstanding client, Merck, approached Aon with an interest in being paired with a diverse supplier, ADS took this request in earnest and played a significant role with not only fulfilling our client’s need, but also in strengthening our overall relationship. The ADS team identified value-add scopes of work to segment with a diversity partner who could execute meaningful work and be an integral part of the service team.

In this instance, Aon matched Merck with Insurance Clerk, an MBE independent insurance agency which crafts Employee Benefit and Risk Management solutions. In October 2020, this partnership contributed to Merck’s winning of the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) Corporation of the Year award.

Recognition of Success in Supplier Diversity

• Chicago Minority Spend Diversity Council-Awarded for promoting diverse suppliers to foster competition, drive innovation and promote economic growth.
• Minority Business News USA-Diversity Champion of Success recognition.
• Eastern Minority Supplier Development Council’s “Paving the Way” Choice Award-Shelly Brown, leader of Aon Diversity Solutions, received the award in recognition of his leadership in championing diverse suppliers.
• Women’s Enterprise Magazine’s “Champion of Supplier Success”-Robert Simpson, a business development executive in Aon Diversity Solutions, was recognized as a “champion” for “outstanding performance, superior dedication and a positive attitude that helped companies and suppliers face the challenges of a most tumultuous year.”

Investing in Diverse Workforce Development

One Million Careers for Black Americans in Ten Years

Today, the unemployment rate among Black Americans is higher than any other race or ethnic group. At the same time, the economic gap for Black Americans is large and growing. Aon – as a founding member – joined the challenge laid down by OneTen, a coalition of leading executives committed to seeing one million Black Americans, in 10 years, hired into family-sustaining jobs with opportunities for advancement. The aim of the OneTen coalition is to connect employers with employees of color to bridge the diversity divide and ensure that talented Black employees get the same opportunities as their Caucasian counterparts.

Expanding Apprenticeship Programs to Bridge Gap the Between Education and Employment

Recruiting, hiring and — often most difficult in entry-level positions — retaining employees with the right skills can be difficult. From the perspective of some prospective workers, the cost of college creates either a barrier to entry to certain careers or student loan debt that impairs a healthy financial future.

Apprenticeship programs help build a talent pipeline of highly skilled and diverse professionals, while providing apprentices with advanced education and work experience. By removing some of the traditional barriers to entry-level employment, Aon can contribute to local workforce development and diversity—ultimately strengthening workforce resilience.

Aon's Apprenticeship program provides opportunities for diverse professionals to develop vital skills in the workplace while earning as they learn. Apprentices are offered permanent positions with competitive salaries, benefits and financial support for the cost of education. Aon provides apprenticeships across the firm's solution lines and corporate functions, including areas such as human resources and information technology.

Aon’s two-year Apprenticeship Program is a route into a permanent role that traditionally required a college degree by providing motivated, high-potential individuals with the required training (on the job and in the classroom), professional skills development, mentorship and experiential learning to bridge the gap.

In 2020, Aon announced that the firm is expanding the Apprenticeship program with an investment of $30 million over the next five years. Aon will lead the formation of new local Apprentice Networks in six additional cities across the United States, building on the proven approach of existing programs in the Chicago area and London. With this expansion, Aon leads the development of a nationwide network of employers to create 10,000 apprenticeships across the United States by 2030. Aon will initiate the Apprenticeship program expansion with a starting class of more than 100 apprentices in 2021 in the metropolitan areas of Chicago, Houston, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

Apprenticeship by the Numbers:

Applying Innovation to Improve Gender Gap in Inventorship and Patent Portfolios

While women represent nearly half the labor force, they are still underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and can face barriers throughout their careers due to systemic bias. This issue is especially prevalent in inventorship: women are inventors on patents only 10% of the time. More than ever, companies are being scrutinized internally and externally to improve gender equity and eradicate systems and practices that perpetuate systemic bias.

With our expertise in Intellectual Property Solutions (IPS) and Human Capital Solutions (HCS), we are uniquely positioned to provide clients with a data-based, innovative solution. Using robust, curated datasets and Aon-developed metrics, we offer clients insights on how to improve gender and racial diversity in their patent portfolios and in their inventorship processes from both a Human Capital and IP Solutions perspective. We can also use quantitative measurements to help firms build out SEC human capital reporting requirements. The result is a solution which creates a positive social impact, while helping our clients meet their diversity, equity and inclusion objectives.

Committing to Inclusive Cultures – Aon Risk Reward Challenge

Golf is an excellent analogy of real-time analysis of risk versus reward. Every shot a golfer takes requires weighing options and choosing the best tool. We’ve partnered with the PGA Tour, the LPGA and the Ryder Cup to create the Aon Risk Reward Challenge showcasing the link between peak performance and keen decision making. The Challenge takes the top two scores from every participating event a player competes in all season. The players who do the best job of navigating the challenge win the Aon Trophy and take home $1,000,000 prize. Our investment in equal prize money across the Tours reflects on our commitment to building inclusive cultures in every discipline we touch.

“An equal prize across both the LPGA Tour and the PGA TOUR is a key aspect of the Aon Risk Reward Challenge. These players face the same challenges each week, so there is no reason not to be rewarded equally.”

– Eric Andersen, Aon President

Going the Extra Mile to Make a Difference in Our Neighborhoods

Minneapolis Fights Racism

In response to protests following the tragic death of George Floyd, Aon Minneapolis’ colleagues held a food drive to benefit Community Emergency Service, a longtime Aon partner. Colleagues donated more than 1,200 pounds of food staples and hygiene products.

London Connects LGBT Community

Aon London’s Pride network supported Opening Doors London (ODL), an organization that creates social connections and engagements for the elder-LGBT+ community to fight the isolation this population often faces.

Pre-pandemic, Aon UK held regular movie nights for ODL members. In 2020, the film showings were cancelled due to social distancing requirements and instead, the group used a portion of their budget on Christmas gifts. Aon worked with ODL to identify and deliver the gifts to LGBT individuals in their homes.

After receiving his Christmas package, one ODL member said, "I'm having the most marvellous Christmas, if you knew what I’ve been through… I am really humbled. Genuinely, my heart is so grateful."

To keep pace with today’s fast-moving world, Aon is accelerating innovation to help colleagues, clients and communities be better prepared to tackle the most pressing challenges facing society today. We strive to lead by example—by applying our expertise and capabilities in ways that exert a positive and sustainable impact on the world we share. In 2020, the pandemic heightened the significance of long-tail risks, showcasing the need for business and communities to be better prepared for the future.

I n a survey Aon conducted with C-suite leaders and senior executives examining preparedness for future threats, the results indicated a desire to emerge stronger than before the pandemic by increasing readiness to face risk, by keeping an eye on the competition and by not overreacting. The strongest companies placed the pandemic in the same tier of risk as threats to their brand or changes in their workforce. Innovating toward a “New Better” starts with understanding the systemic challenges, coming threats and growing opportunities that companies will face in the future—above and beyond the pandemic.

"COVID-19 has fundamentally reordered the priorities of leading organizations around the world, highlighting the need for building a roadmap to make better decisions in an increasingly complex world. Rather than accept the so-called new normal, organizations must define the new better on their own terms."

Greg Case, Aon CEO

O ur clients trust us with their most complex and sensitive challenges. We are committed to honoring their trust by upholding the highest standards of integrity. Our unwavering commitment to ethics, human rights and fair business practices is the touchstone for all our interactions whether with colleagues, clients or the communities in which we work and live. As an industry leader, we hold a mirror up to ourselves to accurately reflect the foundations upon which we have built our business and manage our own risk with excellence.

As a firm that helps clients manage and mitigate all forms of risk, including risks associated specifically to their ESG efforts, we are able to bring those learnings and that expertise to our own business-related efforts with strong corporate governance.

“Integrity is Aon’s core value and the guiding principle for our decisions and actions in the workplace. Aon’s commitment to uphold high ethical standards is an important part of our history and culture. In today’s competitive and rapidly changing business climate, doing the right thing has never been more important.”

– Darren Zeidel, Aon General Counsel

The Aon Code of Business Conduct is Aon’s public declaration of what we stand for. The Code is our guiding light that enables us to hold fast to the foundation of ethics and integrity that helped us earn our trusted reputation.

Aon ensures that our high expectations and requirements for how we conduct business are clear to every colleague. We provide training and resources to prepare our colleagues to do the right thing in even the most challenging situations. Our colleagues complete annual certification and training on our Code of Business Conduct and must certify they have received, read and understood the Code.

Aon is also clear and transparent in upholding the same Business Code of Conduct standards with our suppliers, and other relevant third-parties.

Our Ethics Helpline

The Ethics Helpline is a way to report in good faith possible violations of Aon's Code of Business Conduct, Aon policies and procedures, or laws and regulations. Those who contact the Ethics Helpline can remain anonymous if they choose, where permitted by local law. The Ethics Helpline does not utilize Caller ID and does not track IP addresses used for on-line forms. Reporters who choose to provide their names will have their identities protected to the extent possible and allowed by law. Aon takes all allegations seriously and prohibits retaliation for reporting concerns.

As part of Aon’s Global Compliance Program, colleagues are periodically required to complete compliance certifications (e.g., annual Code of Business Conduct certification), annual conflicts disclosure questionnaires, designated training programs, or satisfy other compliance-related requirements.

Designated compliance training is required annually with a focus on key risks, including:

• Antitrust and Fair Competition Law
• Conflicts of interest
• Privacy
• Harassment/discrimination
• Protection of confidential information
• Compliance with all laws and regulations applicable to conduct of our business
• Anti-Bribery/Anti-Corruption
• Drug Free Workplace Acknowledgement
• Privacy & Data Protection
• Client Gift and Entertainment Training
• GDPR Fundamentals
• Trade Restrictions
• Personal and Business Conflicts of Interest
• Training for a Harassment-Free Workplace
• Fair Compensation/Antitrust
• Anti-money Laundering and Combating Terrorist Financing
• Communicating with Government Entities or Officials
• Cross-Border Business
• Disclosure and Transparency
• Complying with HIPAA

Corporate Governance Practices

We see every project, client and interaction as an opportunity to demonstrate integrity and bolster our reputation as a firm that leads by example. We are in the business of better decisions, and that starts with an unwavering foundation of acting with honesty and responsibility. At Aon, we have clear and comprehensive corporate governance practices that reflect our commitment to ensuring that our firm is managed ethically, and with excellence driven by our objective of delivering value to our clients, colleagues, communities and shareholders.

Risk Mitigation Through Board Oversight

Risk is inherent in every business, and how a company manages risk is a major determinant of their success. Our risk management program covers a range of material risks to Aon, including strategic, operational, financial, compliance, human capital management, social and reputational risks.

Our Board of Directors oversees Aon’s risk management program and allocates certain oversight responsibilities to its committees and sub-committees, as appropriate. Management carries out the daily processes, controls and practices of our risk management program, many of which are embedded in our operations. In addition, as part of our enterprise risk management process, management identifies, assesses, prioritizes and develops mitigation plans for Aon’s top material risks.

Additional information on Aon’s corporate governance and risk management can be found in the Aon Proxy Statement and related disclosures.

Our Commitment to Responsible Investment

Aon’s position as one of the world’s leading providers of investment advice and solutions offers us an expansive view and wealth of experience when dealing with the most crucial economic and investment risks and opportunities facing institutional investors.

Responsible Investment, which encompasses the integration of environmental, social and governance risk in investment decisions, investing for impact, mission-related investing and socially responsible investment and divestment techniques, has become mission critical to our clients globally. We help them consider, evaluate and integrate pre-financial ESG factors and climate change scenarios into their investment decisions to provide more sustainable long-term results and manage risk, and also help when an investor wishes to align their organizational values with their investments.

Managing Investments for Maximum Sustainability

Aon integrates ESG considerations into everything we do, providing ESG ratings on recommended investment funds, climate change scenarios for asset allocation planning, and dashboards to pull it all together.

Whether driven by regulatory demands or the desire to enhance the sustainability of their portfolios, investors increasingly need to know how their investment funds and portfolio managers evaluate and integrate ESG data into the investment decision-making process.

In 2020, Aon developed the ESG Investment Portfolio Dashboard to provide clients with a detailed overview of the ESG integration of their portfolio including:

• Aon’s proprietary fund-level ESG ratings
• Aon’s proprietary expanded fund-level ESG commentary
• The investment manager’s Principles for Responsible Investing standing (current and prior year, where available)
• A portfolio-level MSCI ESG snapshot
• Carbon intensity data
• An ESG modeler to see how changes to allocations impact carbon intensity and ESG exposure

Doing Good and Doing Well—Aon Global Impact Fund

Impact Investing plays an increasingly important role in progressing toward a more equitable and sustainable world. The Aon Global Impact Fund, launched in 2020, invests in a range of companies that are working toward providing prosperity for economies, communities and our planet.

Launched in the UK, the Fund’s objective is to generate capital appreciation over the long-term while facilitating positive impacts on society.

The Aon Global Impact Fund aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to illustrate the connection between portfolio exposure and key goals such as sustainable communities, empowering women and girls, biodiversity, global warming and more. The SDGs serve as a blueprint for transforming the world by ending poverty, safeguarding the planet, and ensuring prosperity for all by 2030. In recognition of the international and interconnected nature of social and environmental challenges, the SDGs provide a useful framework against which to measure investment impact.

• $320,000,000 of assets in the Aon Global Impact Fund
• $6.5 billion invested globally in the low-carbon Aon Factor Service

“Our clients are increasingly looking to have the best of both worlds for their investments – positive financial returns and positive change for our society and environment. Our Global Impact Fund enables just that. It invests in companies that create real value in terms of financial performance, people and the planet. Impact investing is not only investing with a conscience, but also a compelling financial choice that has proven to generate excellent returns even in the toughest of market conditions”.

Geri McMahon, Head of Responsible Investment Solutions at Aon UK

Commitments to Responsible Investment

Aon has always had an eye towards Responsible Investment (RI). We have publicly available Responsible Investment and Stewardship policies and a strong track record of demonstrating our commitment to responsible investing:

• A global signatory to the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). We were the first investment consulting firm to make a global commitment to follow the Principles. To ensure our client-facing and research colleagues had a firm foundation in RI, we sent nearly 500 Aon investment colleagues through the Trustee Training Program by the PRI Academy.
• Participants in the original 2005 Paris Workshop, which launched the process leading to the Principles for Responsible Investment.
• A member (and current chair) of the Investment Leaders Group, an initiative that brings together academic research from the University of Cambridge and corporate leadership, including Aon, to advance the practice of responsible investment.
• A global thought leader, publishing Aon’s Global Perspectives on Responsible Investing and developing a wealth of educational materials and opportunities to exchange ideas through Aon’s Responsible Investment Network.
• Innovators developing responsible investing solutions, from low carbon approaches, to impact investing.
• Climate change scenario analysis is readily available to clients in the US, UK and Canada allowing clients to make strategic asset allocation decisions based on four possible environmental scenarios.
• Innovators applying behavioral science to responsible investment decision-making. We developed the unique Responsible Investment ViewPoints methodology to establish and understand investor beliefs around ESG opportunities and risks.

LEARN MORE: We’re here to empower impact investing. Download Aon’s responsible investment policy.

A t Aon, we recognize our role in contributing to a clean and healthy environment. Through our Environmental Policy, we have established a range of controls to help ensure our operations are responsibly managed and reduce the risk of adversely impacting the environment, biodiversity and ecosystems. Our Aon Business Services (ABS) operating platform has been instrumental in helping us achieve our environmental goals. The leading infrastructure and technology capabilities of ABS have enabled Aon to reduce our physical office space, move on-premise data-centers to the cloud, develop alternative communication solutions that allow us to limit air travel and implemented tools that are delivering real results when it comes to cutting back on consuming natural resources.

We set long-term environmental goals to improve our performance and reduce our carbon emissions. We adopt achievable objectives and set action plans for their completion in relation to our areas of significant environmental impact. Above all, we are transparent with our progress towards environmental goals, as required by local regulations or other initiatives which we follow.

Aon Commits to Achieving Net-Zero Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 2030 in alignment with Science Based Targets

By reducing the environmental impact of our operations and becoming a more resilient, sustainable organization, Aon has set an aggressive target to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 in alignment with Science Based Targets.

We have identified and managed our internal climate risk using several frameworks including the Global Reporting Initiative, the Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board. We have aligned ESG efforts throughout our firm to facilitate our transition to net-zero. Our efforts focus on four key areas:

• Continuing our sustainable sourcing strategy
• Driving energy efficiency across our real estate portfolio and technology
• Reducing business travel
• Transitioning to renewable energy

Reducing Greenhouse Gas and Carbon Emissions

Man-made climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing the world today, which is why Aon is committed to reducing our greenhouse gas and carbon emissions. To date we have achieved a 60%+ reduction in greenhouse gas emissions since 2015.

CO2e tonnes per employee:

• 2016: 1.75
• 2017: 1.36
• 2018: 1.04
• 2019: 1.06
• 2020: 1.02

Taking Action Toward Sustainable Procurement

Aon is focusing on driving sustainable procurement practices to support our resiliency and climate goals. There are many levers within procurement that help reduce our environmental impact, including the steps we’ve taken to digitalize our supply chain and operations:

Leveraging Technology to Reduce Paper Waste:

• DocuSign: Our large-scale deployment of DocuSign increased usage by 144%, saving 65K+ hours annually. By using DocuSign, we saved:
  • 10,928,295 sheets of paper
  • 446,129 kilograms of carbon emissions averted
  • 4,426,384 liters of water conserved
  • 189,325 liters of petrol saved
  • 29,246 kilograms waste eliminated
• Electronic Invoicing and Purchase Orders: In 2020, we processed 21,000+ invoices and 36000+ purchase orders electronically. We saved:
  • 3M liters of oil
  • 3.1M kg of CO2e
  • 1.3M liters of water
• Transitioned to Badge Printing Switch: While we printed much less this year, with our switch to badge printing in over 15 countries we saved:
  • Nearly 490,000 Pounds of CO2e saved with reduction in pages printed
  • 6,400+ Pounds of waste saved with reduction in pages printed
  • 1.5M+ Gallons of water saved with reduction in pages printed

As founding members of ClimateWise, an insurance industry-led organization, we chaired a European Bank for Reconstruction and Development working group focused on physical climate risk. The result was a major report titled “Advancing TCFD (Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures) Guidance on Physical Climate Risks and Opportunities.”

Annual Reporting to the Carbon Disclosure Project

Aon submits annually to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and has signed on to support the Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). Each year Aon continues to improve on the range and quality of our emissions reporting. 2020 emissions reduction highlights include:

• 4,395 metric tonnes total scope 1 single use consumption emissions - Scope 1 emissions are direct emissions from owned and/or managed sources.
• 46,828 metric tonnes total scope 2 emissions - Scope 2 covers indirect emissions from electricity, steam, heating and cooling.
• 12,977 metric tonnes total scope 3 emissions - Scope 3 primarily includes emissions from Aon's travel.

Aon has already begun the switch to 100% renewable electricity in the Netherlands and Italy. We are expanding the move to renewable energy in Ireland, UK and Spain, putting EMEA’s usage of renewable energy at 21% in 2020 and growing.

Greg Case, Aon’s CEO, joined a group of CEOs who employ more than 2 million people in the United States and union leaders who represent 12.5 million workers in signing the United For The Paris Agreement to collectively stand by the conviction that a commitment to staying in the Paris Agreement is foundational to driving progress on addressing climate change in order to protect economic health, jobs, and the competitiveness of the U.S. – and its workforce – in the global marketplace.

Reducing our Environmental Impact in Our Operations and Facilities

We’ve achieved ISO 14001 certification for larger office buildings in Chicago, London, Singapore and Spain. Eighteen percent of Aon’s occupied square footage is in a LEED or BREEAM certified space. Aon performed a program of extensive building optimisation in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This active management of buildings and engagement with landlords played a significant part in delivering the overall carbon reduction of 43% compared to 2019.

We tracked 55 building optimization projects with total carbon emissions reductions of 278 tonnes. Some of those projects include:

• Heating and cooling optimization for holiday and operating hours
• Kitchen energy usage optimization and new waste stations in London to separate recyclables, compostables and garbage
• Installation of additional energy monitoring equipment and upgrade of heating and cooling systems at key locations
• Insulation improvements to reduce heating and cooling losses
• Continued LED lighting upgrades
• Water metering and flow temperature controls
• Additional actions to reduce waste such as London implementing coffee and sugar dispensers to reduce single use consumption

Our Commitments to Sustainability

• Aon works with the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board Alliance to participate in a multi-stakeholder forum with the goal of creating a common language, disclosures and discourse around sustainability issues focused on finance:
• We are Founding Member and Chair of ClimateWise. As part of the Centre for Sustainable Finance in the UK, ClimateWise is uniquely positioned to bring together insurance industry organizations, academics and global sustainability leaders to respond to the risks and opportunities of climate change.
• We are a signatory to the UN’s Principles for Sustainable Insurance and the UN Principles for Responsible Investing and are represented on the PSI Board. The Board works to develop frameworks for the insurance industry addressing ESG risks and opportunities.

Helping Clients Navigate the Transition and Increase their Climate Change IQ

The transition to net-zero is a complex, global challenge. There is tremendous opportunity for Aon, and our industry in general, around creating innovative new solutions and services that support our clients’ efforts in achieving their sustainability goals. The world is facing a monumental challenge regarding increased volatility as we collectively strive to address the impact of climate change today, and in the future. Our ability to reduce transition risk related to climate-change volatility over time is substantial.

Aon is committed to helping our clients and our industry navigate the volatility and transition risk that comes with the bold moves necessary to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. We will do this by offering new insights and innovations that will drive the evolution required to support our clients and our industry, as we work together to preserve our civilization’s greatest asset—planet Earth.

• New Zealand Post Group – Building Resiliency:
  Aon undertook a climate change impact assessment project with New Zealand Post (NZ Post) to identify potential climate-related risks and opportunities. Following the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework, we helped NZ Post understand the potential impacts of climate stressors on NZ Post’s business with a focus on the physical assets and key operations within the NZ Post backbone parcel network. Included in the analysis were the impacts to the key lifelines that the network relies on to function such as air, sea and road transport, fuel and electricity. The project will assist NZ Post with preparing a Climate Risk Disclosures report in accordance with the TCFD framework. The assessment results will also enable NZ Post to develop a strategic climate change adaptation/mitigation plan with a focus on their high-risk sites. Next steps include a more detailed site-specific assessment of potential risk mitigation options.
• Assessing Climate Change Risk:
  A major Aon client in Australia, Suncorp Group, wanted assistance quantifying their physical risk to climate change across Australia and New Zealand for their insurance and banking portfolios. This exercise helped with a public disclosure on physical risk to align with the Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosure (TCFD) requirements. Aon projected change to all extreme weather perils for Australia and New Zealand across a range of future climate scenarios. Aon also explored how potential future changes in the built environment, as well improvements made to local building codes or density, may impact on property damage in the coming decades. Read on for further details: https://www.suncorpgroup.com.au/corporate-responsibility/sustainable-growth/climate-change
  
  Another major Aon client in Australia, QBE Group, also wanted assistance quantifying their physical risk to climate change across Australia. In a similar exercise, Aon projected change to all extreme weather perils for Australia across a range of future climate scenarios. This exercise helped with a public disclosure on physical risk. View QBE’s 2020 Annual Report for further detail: https://www.qbe.com/investor-relations/reports-presentations
  
  These examples of physical risk quantification are consistent with the underlying climate projections that are recommended for use locally by the Climate Measurement Standards Initiative (CMSI). This initiative (led by QBE Group in Australia) involved local climate scientists as well as the local insurance industry to provide local guidance around climate science. Aon was an active member of the CMSI Science committee. Read on for further details: https://www.cmsi.org.au/reports

Collaborating to Close the Protection Gap

The global protection gap is the difference between total economic losses and what’s covered by insurers. In 2020, economic losses from natural disasters were estimated at $268 billion, with only $97 billion of those being insured, creating a global protection gap of $171 billion, or 64%. As climate change further influences the behavior of weather events, the need for new climate resilience and mitigation strategies to close the protection gap is becoming increasingly relevant and important to our communities.

Aon brought together leaders across private and public sectors for its inaugural "Collaborating to Close the Protection Gap" conference in London. The event is designed to generate discussion on how the global finance and insurance industry can work more effectively with governments and humanitarian and non-governmental organizations. As losses from natural catastrophes continue to reach record levels, the goal is to close the gap between the insured and uninsured to protect global communities and build scalable solutions.

You can read more about lessons learned in 2020, the increasing importance of climate change modeling, and how the risk industry is leading the way in rebuilding communities in Aon’s Weather, Climate & Catastrophe Insight: 2020 Annual Report.

"The protection gap places an immense financial strain on governments, businesses, communities and individuals. Yet, financial impact is only one aspect of the toll these disasters inflict. We also must consider the profoundly troubling humanitarian and social impact – lives lost, communities compromised and businesses, as well as individual livelihoods, disrupted.”

– Greg Case, Aon CEO

Together, We Can Make a Difference

The risks of climate change are real. Often it seems like an impossible, overwhelming challenge to imagine how we can reverse the effects of greenhouse gas emissions enough to make a quantifiable difference to our planet’s atmosphere. But we can do this. One step at a time. Small acts add up to meaningful results when we all work together. How can it happen? Click here to find out.

Managing the Volatility of Weather: Our Solution

Parametric insurance is an innovative solution that both complements and fills the protection gaps in traditional insurance programs. As such, Aon’s Innovation & Solutions team is positioning itself at the forefront of evolving market dynamics to offer clients non-traditional protection that represents the ‘insurance of tomorrow’.

The world is experiencing an exponential growth in harnessed data, which should allow insurance companies to offer more tailored and targeted client solutions than ever before. However, very few have seized the opportunity. In the last three years alone, we have seen record-breaking extreme weather events, such as hurricanes, changing seasonality, and increases in temperature and rainfall—all contributing to greater volatility globally.

In response, we help businesses find increasingly tailored solutions which allow them to manage the financial impact of adverse weather on revenues and costs. The Aon Innovation and Solutions team proactively seeks new avenues for insurability through partnerships with cutting edge data, analytics, technology and InsurTech providers. We have over 10 years of experience in the parametric market, having placed over $300 million of parametric Property Damage Business Interruption (PDBI) cover in 2020. Our parametric PDBI solution applies data and analytics to make the claims process transparent and efficient—with claims automatically paid out on an agreed upon value when a pre-defined trigger is reached. It also gives clients access to alternative capital and structures, allowing for bespoke design to respond to their own pressing needs.

I n an increasingly virtual world, further impacted by digital acceleration resulting from the pandemic, it is more important than ever to safeguard the precious elements that drive value for an organization—no matter what size or industry. With more people working virtually than ever in our history, cyber-attacks reached historic levels in 2020. At Aon, we applied our leading capabilities and expertise – across cyber and intellectual property solutions – to both protect data within our organization and to assist clients with protecting their own assets and data during this volatile time.

With an eye towards solving unmet needs of our clients, we provided a number of net new innovative solutions in 2020 to better protect un-insured and under-insured risks and asset classes at a time when valuation and liquidity are key indicators of an organization’s overall health and determining factors for how well prepared they can be for the future.

"Aon is committed to helping clients navigate an increasingly complex world. Intangible assets are the foundation of today's global economy, and Aon is innovating first-generation solutions to help companies both protect and maximize the value of these important assets."

– Greg Case, Aon CEO

Aon’s Global Privacy Policy

Aon has implemented reasonable physical, technical and administrative security standards to protect personal information from loss, misuse, alteration or destruction. Our Global Privacy Policy elaborates on Aon’s approach to collecting, storing, transferring and using sensitive information. We conduct internal audit reviews; our dedicated Global Privacy Team provides enterprise-wide privacy and data protection, as well as legal and compliance advice in partnership with Aon's Global Security Services organization.

Privacy and Security Training for our Colleagues

Our colleagues are required to take trainings on protecting information. Courses include:

• Privacy and Data Protection
• GDPR Fundamentals General Data Protection Regulation
• Complying with HIPAA
• And a range of other trainings

Aon’s Third-Party Security

Strategy is all about ensuring that our third-party providers have proven security protocols and technology in place that meet our highest standards.

Aon Wins Secured Environment Award

Aon UK received the prestigious Secured Environments award for The Aon Centre, our global headquarters, housed in the iconic Leadenhall Building in London. The award recognizes Aon’s success at maximizing the safety of our colleagues and visitors. We underwent a thorough audit of our security management approach which included independent consultation with management, security officers and other colleagues. Aon’s is one of only two landmark buildings in the City of London to hold the Secured Environments designation.

“This award, not only demonstrates the focus and commitment on security from the very senior management level within our firm, but it also reflects the continual time, effort and energy that my security management team dedicates to ensure we maintain appropriate levels of security to protect our people, property and information.”

Kevin Allchorne, Regional Head of Global Protection Services, UK, EMEA & APAC at Aon

Helping Clients Address Cyber and Data Protection Risks

Cyber and data protection are more important now than ever given the acceleration of the digital era and the transformation to remote work resulting from the pandemic. Cyber risk is one of the top business challenges facing organizations—particularly from insider threats. However, many companies have not fully assessed those risks and may not be well prepared for a cyber incident.

In 2020, Aon expanded its award-winning CyQu (cyber-quotient) risk assessment evaluation platform to reflect the impact of remote work exposure specifically because of the increase in remote work. Aon’s CyQu is an automated, self-assessment platform where businesses complete a survey and receive a score that considers the firm’s existing cyber security and potential exposure risk. The generated CyQu report will outline clear, actionable remediation strategies and recommendations to help strengthen cyber resilience and cultivate a data-driven risk management strategy—helping to unlock risk mitigation and transfer options for clients in a market that lacks capacity and viable solutions today.

“Our decision to expand the CyQu product is demonstrative of Aon’s proven ability to quickly assess and respond to business’ evolving needs with innovative and relevant solutions. While the risks of remote working have come to the forefront during the pandemic, we have long seen a trend towards businesses’ promoting flexible working practices. We are pleased to offer a product that helps our clients manage both the immediate and long-term impacts of changing working practices.”

– Richard Hanlon, CCO, Aon’s Cyber Solutions EMEA

Innovating to Better Protect Unsecured Assets

Given the rise of interest in crypto assets, the demand for insurance is not far behind. With insurance comes legitimacy, and hopefully investor confidence, leading to increased growth and adoption. Aon recently announced coverage for crypto-asset custodians for up to $500 million. The policy is a partnership with GK8—a cybersecurity company offering high-security custodian technology for managing and safeguarding digital assets. GK8 provides the cybersecurity expertise that bolsters Aon’s underwriting.

Aon Intellectual Property Solutions

Intellectual property (IP) is a unique asset class—representing nearly 85% of the value of the S&P 500. Aon’s Intellectual Property Solutions helps clients protect and maximize one of their most valuable assets—their intellectual property. We use our slate of unique analytical tools to provide a comprehensive approach to intellectual property strategy, valuation and risk management across our clients’ portfolios.

The Cutting Edge of Innovation—Using an IP Portfolio to Leverage Value

"Aon is helping to provide innovative growth companies with a path to non-dilutive growth capital that preserves the ownership and value for their founders and early investors.”

– Lewis Lee, CEO, Aon's IP solutions

IP value is not well understood in capital markets. While IP may be the most important asset a company owns, current accounting standards typically do not allow internally developed IP to be explicitly valued as part of a company's balance sheet. This accounting treatment, and historic lack of creditable valuation methodologies, results in most growth companies turning to dilutive equity to finance their growth.

Aon's IP Solutions group is a global leader in assessing and valuing IP assets, leveraging their proprietary, industry-defining IP analytics platform. Aon's Commercial Risk Solutions can arrange insurance coverage with industry-leading insurers to help protect a lender's interests in the IP that a borrower uses as collateral for a loan.

In 2020, Aon launched its Quality of Intellectual Property (QoIP) Solution to help companies garner higher transaction value by defining the quality of the seller's IP portfolio in M&A and capital markets. QoIP is the latest in a series of ground-breaking offerings Aon has introduced to help clients create, leverage and actualize IP value. The solution is designed to value IP more clearly in both sale transactions and financing situations, including venture capital and private equity investments. The QoIP solution provides clients with reporting that:

• Catalogues the IP portfolio, including patents, trade secrets and trademark/brand assets
• Highlights core technologies that are protected by patents and trade secrets
• Identifies competitive advantages enabled by the IP
• Defines IP coverage of existing and future revenue streams
• Benchmarks IP coverage and quality against competitor portfolios

A on supports organizations around the world through financial contributions, volunteer efforts and philanthropy. We bring what’s uniquely Aon to our community investments – our people, our expertise and insight. We work to mitigate risk and improve the health and quality of life for people and communities large and small, urban and rural.

We’re also helping clients and communities build resilience to prepare for the various changes and challenges that emerged this year—that we see as opportunities to get better in the future. Whether it be adapting to accommodate a more agile workforce or finding innovative ways to improve wellbeing or infrastructure in communities—we believe we can play a significant role in making the world we live in a better place for the long-term.

Aon’s Charitable Giving

The Aon Foundation offers U.S. colleagues a matching gift program. The maximum amount matched is $1,000 per employee per calendar year. In the U.S. in 2020, colleagues supported more than 1,800 organizations with $1.3M of personal contributions and an additional $860,000 of matching funds from the Aon Foundation.

Promoting Global Community Engagement

Encouraging Volunteerism

• Aon debuted a new Volunteer Time Off Day in 2020 for colleagues to volunteer in whatever manner they choose.
• Aon held 2020 Virtual Aon United Days for Communities, with 13 colleague events over four days. In previous years these were in-person events across the globe, but this year we transitioned to 100% virtual engagement. Colleagues were encouraged to engage in virtual volunteering and support community relief efforts.

Community Engagement in EMEA

Poland: Poland has long battled air pollution. Aon has worked in collaboration with other companies and NGO’s for on the “Business vs. Smog’ program. In the fall of 2020, an Aon colleague, Patrycja took part in a third annual anti-smog workshop aimed at helping students learn about and understand about the health impact of air pollution what they can do to minimize the negative impact. Patrycja, in partnership with other Aon colleagues, held educational sessions for over 450 students. Bringing our total impact to educating nearly 1,000 students to help create change from the bottom up.

Spain:

• Symposium 2020: The Aon Spain Foundation dedicated their annual Symposium to promoting discussion, research and results aimed at building resilience to Covid-19 and future pandemics. The Symposium was held November 2020 at the Spanish Red Cross headquarters in Madrid.
• Reforestation Efforts: In 2020, Aon Spain participated in planting native trees to help reforest degraded areas around Madrid. This was part of a larger program involving forest recovery and ecosystem restoration that Aon has supported.
• PRodis Foundation: Aon Spain partnered with the PRodis Foundation on an initiative providing students and classrooms with laptops for young people with intellectual disabilities during COVID-19.

United Kingdom:

• Aon UK Charitable Foundation: Each year colleagues across the UK come together to support Aon UK Charitable Foundation partners through fundraising activities in our offices. Due to the pandemic, a new approach was needed this past year. Community Champions devised a virtual ‘Donate Your Day' appeal for Cancer Research UK, asking colleagues to donate some, or all the money they would have spent if they were at the office, for items such as:
  • Travel
  • Hot/cold drinks
  • Breakfast and lunch
  • Drinks and food for after work socials
  At the end of the event, colleagues raised £5147.00 to contribute to research and support for families impacted by cancer.
• upReach: A group of colleagues partnered with upReach, an organization that helps disadvantaged students across the UK realize their potential, to provide mentoring for local students. At the end of the year, our colleagues organized a three-day virtual work experience event, inviting 30 students from the upReach program to participate in a series of online workshops.The three-day program was delivered by 20 Aon colleagues, who volunteered their time to organize and facilitate workshops designed to provide insights into our industry, share their career journeys, build practical skills such as interviewing, and share top tips on how to get on to the career ladder.

Community Engagement in Asia/Pacific

South Africa:

• African Reclaimers Organization: The people colloquially referred to as “Dustbin Diggers” and “Waste Pickers” are the incredibly hardworking men and women who have been the backbone of the South African recycling and reclaiming industry for decades. When COVID-19 hit, Aon colleague Lorin Leuci stepped up to help feed starving Recyclers by supporting the grassroots African Reclaimers Organization in their efforts to distribute food to over 3,000 Recyclers. She also joined a community team dedicated to ensuring that the Recyclers got a warm, home-cooked meal on dustbin collection day each week.

  “Never has there been a more critical time to rise up and help those who need us the most. I can’t begin to put into words how much I get back when I give out and inspire others around me to act. It lights me up and makes me shine!”

  – Aon Colleague, Lorin Leuci

• Aon Botswana: When COVID-19 hit Botswana, the country went into a seven-week lockdown and the government called on the private sector for assistance. Aon Botswana answered the call by donating food, toiletries, sanitizer and cleaning supplies to provide immediate relief to more than 1,000 people in need. A second donation followed, providing rice, oil, maize meals, pasta and beans to over 800 people in the Boteti region.
  
  Additionally, the Aon Botswana Social Club personally raised funds to create and distribute 60 food packages.

  "Aon is the largest broker in Botswana, with the highest number of citizen employees. We understand just how important it is for business to be actively involved with and invested in the wellbeing of our communities."

  – Barnabas Mavuma, Managing Director of Aon Botswana

Australia:

• Conservation Volunteer: Aon colleagues signed up to take part in Conservation Volunteer Australia's (CVA) new virtual Wildlife Monitoring Project. Aon is an official CVA partner and colleagues were invited to join the online monitoring project and take part in an exclusive virtual workshop in November 2020. The initiative was deigned to open a digital window to the secret lives of endangered wildlife. Volunteers monitored species such as bandicoots and koalas, allowing scientists to track the movements and behaviors of endangered species in their natural habitats.
• Drought Angels: Large swathes of eastern Australia have been in drought for periods of one to seven years, devastating the landscape, the economy, the lives of rural people and causing severe bushfires. Our colleagues, clients and industry partners came together to provide relief for Australians suffering under drought. At the Aon United Leadership & Growth Conference earlier in 2020, we featured Drought Angels as a charity partner. We raised an incredible AUD$130,000 through a charity auction and partner commitments. The funds went towards Drought Angels’ initiatives providing emergency packs, fresh fruit and vegetables, and prepaid VISA cards to farmers and their families.

New Zealand: With only about 68,000 kiwi – a flightless bird that represents a national symbol of New Zealand – left in New Zealand, 2% of unmanaged kiwi are lost every year. Aon is a proud sponsor of The National Kiwi Hatchery Aotearoa by funding much needed infrastructure to support kiwi population growth, on-going pest control and kiwi monitoring.

Hong Kong: Aon Hong Kong donated 53 computers to Caritas, a charity that refurbishes computers and gives them to disadvantaged youth to help them pursue their online education.

Singapore: In the fall of 2020, Aon gave back to a local community in Singapore by partnering with clients and colleagues to “pay it forward” with mooncakes. Aon presented an option to participate in the annual mid-autumn mooncake festival with a twist. Mooncakes are a Chinese baked delicacy shared at the fall festival between family and friends. Aon suggested that instead of purchasing mooncakes, clients and colleagues could donate mooncake funds to charity. The bid was a success and Aon raised SGD 9,650 donated to a range of charities.

“This year’s Pay It Forward initiative is yet another example of our unbeatable Aon United spirit. There is no better way to celebrate the festive season during these challenging times than by inspiring each other and working hand-in-hand with our clients to serve our community.”

– Andrew Minnitt, CEO, Aon Singapore

Aon Fiji Provides Support to Local School

The island of Fiji has faced extreme health and economic challenges due to COVID-19. When the pandemic hit the island of Fiji and disrupted critical food services for the community's children, our Aon-Fiji colleagues took action.

The John Wesley Primary School is located near informal settlements, where parents have either been laid off, or had reduced work hours due to decreased tourism. Students are at risk of hunger from food scarcity. According to one Aon colleague, “The parents of most students cannot afford to send their child to school with lunches, so we decided as a staff of Aon Fiji that we would do lunches and also provide school supplies for some of the needy children here at John Wesley.”

Aon Fiji colleagues banded together to prepare lunches for students and provide them with packs containing sorely needed school supplies. Today Aon provides 150 stationery packs for Early Childhood students and 80 lunch packs for students without the resources to bring lunch to school. This community work is part of how the Fiji office celebrated Aon United Day—an annual event with global participation from Aon colleagues. For a low cost and a bit of teamwork, Aon Fiji colleagues discovered they can make a big difference in community members' lives.

Community Engagement in North America

United States:

• One of Aon’s early career partners, Posse identifies, recruits and trains individuals with extraordinary leadership potential. In January, Aon hosted a Winter Career Fair for Posse Scholars at the Aon Center in Chicago that included a professional development workshop and opportunity to practice networking and job exploration through a mini-career fair with 16 other companies.
• One in four households in the U.S. experienced food insecurity this past year. Aon colleagues across the U.S. stepped up with individual outreach, office drives and campaigns to provide hunger relief. Colleagues donated to more than 110 food banks and meal programs including Feeding America and local affiliate food banks, bringing more than $200,000 in donations and matching funds and thousands of pounds of donated goods into our communities.
• In response to protests following the tragic death of George Floyd, Aon Minneapolis colleagues held a food drive to benefit Community Emergency Service, a longtime partner. Colleagues donated more than 1,200 pounds of food staples and hygiene products.

Partnerships and Volunteer Efforts that Strengthen and Sustain Communities Across the U.S.

Aon’s U.S. national partners continue to fulfill their missions in the face of escalating need, complexity and uncertainty. These are our signature corporate partners:

• American Corporate Partners (ACP): With an economy ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic, the challenge for veterans transitioning to private sector careers is even greater. Since 2010, Aon has partnered with ACP to provide mentors and career guidance to military service members. In 10 years of partnership, Aon colleagues have mentored 463 veterans and ACP has received grants totaling $500,000 from the Aon Foundation.
• American Heart Association (AHA):Aon is a strong believer and dedicated partner to the American Heart Association. The life-saving work of the AHA is more important than ever amid our current global health crisis. Sharing in the AHA’s commitment to promote healthier lifestyles and create more vital communities, Aon has contributed more than $2.1M to the AHA in the past decade, including more than $300,000 in colleague matching funds for colleague donations. We leverage American Heart Association resources to promote workplace wellbeing for our colleagues by hosting a range of virtual events including:
  • Blood pressure monitoring
  • Women’s cardiac health lunch and learns
  • Healthy cooking demos
  We also invest in American Heart Association education, prevention and research programs by sponsoring local events. Aon sponsored 20 events throughout 2020, including virtual Heart Walks – in Chicago, IL; Denver, CO; Honolulu, HI; Jackson, MS; Orange County, CA; St. Louis, MO; Tampa Bay, FL – and CycleNation, Hard Hats With Heart, Heart Ball and Go Red events.
• Red Cross: Our longstanding partnership with the Red Cross helps them reach the scene of a disaster quickly and prepare communities before disaster strikes. In 2020, a year with the greatest number of billion-dollar disasters to ever strike the U.S. in a single year, the Red Cross helped people impacted by hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, earthquakes and home fires while implementing COVID-19 safety measures. Every year, the Aon Foundation grants $500,000 to support Red Cross humanitarian work. When combined with investments in local Red Cross chapters, Aon support totals more than $6.6M since 2010. In 2020 Aon also supported the Australian Red Cross by committing to matching employee donations for bushfire relief.


As part of the launch of our Weather, Climate, and Catastrophe Insight: 2020 Annual Report, we spotlighted the tireless humanitarian work of the Red Cross in the face of natural catastrophes and encouraged colleagues and viewers of the report to donate or volunteer with the Red Cross.

Aon also maintains significant Red Cross partnerships in the U.S., UK, Spain and Australia.

• United Way: The pandemic further compounded the existing health and economic disparities of lower-wage earners and people of color; the vulnerability of those already hungry, homeless or developmentally compromised; the isolation of the elderly; and the safety concerns of those experiencing domestic violence. The United Way plays a critical role in short-term and long-term relief, recovery and rebuilding efforts. Through the generosity of Aon colleagues and matching funds from the Aon Foundation, Aon brought more than $640,000 to communities in need in 2020.

Hurricane Laura Rapid Response from Aon: As the storm made its way through the Gulf, Aon’s Global Rapid Response and Claims Management team began communicating directly with our many clients who owned property in the path of the storm. When the storm hit, our drone team was on the ground in Lake Charles, Louisiana and in the surrounding areas hardest hit by the storm. Our consultants quickly began visiting sites and surveying damage at several of the firm’s more than 30 commercial clients in the region that were directly affected by the storm. For more on our timely response to this crisis, click here.

Global Pro Bono and CSR Initiatives

The Aon Law and Compliance Department’s Global Pro Bono and Corporate Social Responsibility program represents the interests of disadvantaged individuals and underserved organizations and communities around the world. The program focuses its efforts where Aon colleagues live, and Aon businesses operate. Our legal teams deliver direct legal advice at in-person and online legal clinics and through full-representation cases.

In Chicago, colleagues help individuals in the criminal justice system achieve a much-deserved second chance, simultaneously combating systemic racial inequality. In London, colleagues routinely serve at local law centers often addressing a broad array of legal requests ranging from consumer debt and housing to education and welfare rights. In other instances, Aon Law and Compliance colleagues fully represent individual clients in asylum cases or military benefits applications.

Additionally, Aon legal teams participate in collaborative pro bono projects where our colleagues advise non-profit organizations on commercial contracting, data privacy, governance, risk management and other legal needs. Aon’s Law and Compliance teams have advised local and regional charities seeking to create fit and healthy communities and charities assisting entrepreneurial refugees pursuing their own business ventures. In other cases, our colleagues have advised multi-national organizations supporting disaster relief and public health efforts, as well as a global non-profit organization whose mission is to investigate and advocate for human rights issues in over 100 jurisdictions around the world.

Aon’s Law and Compliance Team Expands its Work in Communities Across the World
Despite the pandemic, our Global Law and Compliance team hosted its inaugural Celebrate: Pro Bono and CSR event. This two-week event invited all Law and Compliance colleagues globally to engage in new opportunities in pro bono and corporate social responsibility activities to benefit disadvantaged and under-served communities around the world. During the event, the team participated in a wide variety of activities such as staffing a virtual elder help desk to give advice and assist senior citizens on their civil law matters, to distributing solar electrification and medical equipment to remote parts of India. In total, the team dedicated 1,155 hours to 25 partners across 37 events around the world as part of the event.

Aon Pro Bono and CSR: Focus on India

In India, our Celebrate: Pro Bono and CSR activities were supported by our partner, Responsenet, and concentrated on three important areas:

• Menstrual Hygiene Workshop for Young Girls & Women—It may be a normal part of life for most women, but in India menstrual hygiene has long been considered taboo which has compromised and impacted the health of young girls and women. Our workshop focused on providing participants with accurate information regarding the science behind menstruation.
• Access to Safe Drinking Water and Awareness Program—Safe drinking water and improved sanitation are basic human necessities, fundamental to health, growth and development. Yet, a large proportion of people in India live without access to these services. The program’s objective was to provide 50 households in Hariahera village with access to clean and safe drinking water. We also promoted the importance of hygienic water practices and behaviors regarding safety, availability and sustainability of drinking water.
• Eye Check-Up Camp for Senior Citizens—The poor economic status of elderly people in India’s rural and urban areas and the inaccessibility to eye care facilities leads to deteriorating eye health. The program’s objective was to provide better vision to 250 underserved seniors in an area in New Delhi, as well as to identify those with cataracts to provide surgery to restore their eyesight. We also screened for other causes of vision impairment and treated minor ailments or provided referrals to hospitals for further treatment.

A Mission to Provide Energy and Healthcare in Meghalaya, India

Aon and Global Himalayan Expedition (GHE) share a mission to provide energy and healthcare access to the remotest regions of the Himalayas. Aon and GHE partnered on two projects, one with a goal of bringing solar electrification to several regional villages in Meghalaya, a state in Northeastern India, and another to support a primary healthcare center with solar electrification and updated medical equipment.

The Purakhasia Primary Healthcare Center barely had 1.5 hours of electricity a day and was dependent on primitive equipment for patient treatment and diagnoses. The nearest hospital from the PHC is 3.5 hours away and clinic is often unable to support villagers with basic healthcare needs due to inadequate equipment.

Aon volunteers installed a microgrid for the health center with 16 solar panels of 440W each with an AC inverter to run the medical equipment. The smart microgrid works in tandem with the main grid and maintains the necessary voltage for medical equipment. In addition to the solar array, upgraded medical equipment included a patient vital-sign monitor, digital oxygen ventilator, autoclave sterilizer, biochemistry analyzer, baby warmer, fetal detector, hand sanitizers and refrigerator. The impact of these improvements means a reduction in infant mortality, improved critical healthcare, greater patient turnout and higher immunization rates.

In the second case, the remote villages of the South Garo Hills in Meghalaya did not have any access to basic electricity and were dependent on burning fossil fuels for their lighting needs. Aon and GHE provided the villages with solar arrays to bring electrification to the entire community. A community bank account and a maintenance agreement were also set up to ensure the maintenance and upkeep of the Solar Grids.

Letter of Appreciation from a Grateful Deputy Commissioner in Meghalaya
“The solar electrification for the PHC will enable more than 83 villages and 20,000 people access to good quality healthcare, complete with the necessary medical equipment. Meghalaya has the third highest infant mortality rate in India, and it is the need of the hour to strengthen the healthcare infrastructure so that we can save precious lives. The Solar Electrification of the Adinggre village was a most needed intervention since the households have been living without access to electricity and end up burning fossil fuels for their lighting needs. I strongly back such CSR Initiatives taken by companies like Aon. They go a long way in really serving the needs of the most deserving communities…we appreciate your partnership with GHE to provide development access to remote far flung communities of the region.”

Pinnacle Signature Program Participants Embrace Fundraising Challenges

Our Pinnacle Signature Program provides an opportunity for select leaders to further develop their executive education and take part in challenging projects over 18 months. In addition to capitalizing on professional development opportunities, many Pinnacle cohorts take on fundraising challenges. One of the latest groups to go through the Pinnacle program, known as the P5 cohort, just surpassed Pinnacle fundraising records by raising more than $110,000 for charity. This group also developed a reusable fundraising infrastructure that can be implemented in future Pinnacle programs to organize efforts across the globe. Led by Rishi Mehra, Chief Financial Officer Asia, P5 identified charities in the U.S., UK and Asia that support the Pinnacle social mission to help uplift under-served and under-represented sectors in our communities. Through hosting a variety of charity dinners and an impressive stair-climb event, the group raised money from clients, colleagues, families and friends. The organizations P5 chose to support include:

• The VIDYA School which empowers vulnerable and underprivileged youth and adults in communities in India through education, practical and vocational skills training, IT literacy and English proficiency. Aon funded their efforts with over $10,000 in 2020.
• Uydan Care which brings light to the lives of those from underserved communities by working to empower vulnerable children, women and youth through access to housing, higher education and vocational training.
• Seizing Every Opportunity (SEO) programs close the academic and career opportunity gap for young people from underserved and/or underrepresented communities. SEO scholars mentor students and have an impressive 90% college graduation rate.
• Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust which works with communities and young people from disadvantaged and underrepresented backgrounds, helping to transform lives and create a society in which everyone, regardless of their background, can flourish.

Building an Agile Workforce Today to Prepare for Tomorrow’s Challenges

Against the backdrop of a global pandemic, calls for greater diversity and inclusion, and unprecedented technology disruption, businesses large and small can play a major role in addressing the challenges and opportunities our world faces. However, companies must first create workforces prepared to withstand future disruptions and stresses.

The path to getting there requires using data intelligently to balance people risk with optimizing people spend, while also empowering workforce agility and resilience.

Aon’s Human Capital Solutions (HCS) business published a guidebook in 2020 – Accelerate Your Workforce into the Future – to help clients discover how to build a more agile and resilient workforce to ensure their business can thrive in an increasingly complex world, which starts by driving better people decisions.

Our HCS business is helping clients address these top three priorities in the changing world of work:

Manage people-related risks
Anticipate and mitigate workforce challenges and address systemic issues.

Optimize your people spend and investments
Balance people costs with strategic workforce planning.

Empower workforce agility and resilience
Navigate digital transformation and disruption.

Siemen’s Embraces Aon's AI technology to Positive Effect:

To better adapt to a rapidly changing market, Siemens, one of the largest industrial manufacturing companies in the world, realized it needed to rethink its products and services relative to the types of positions required for the company to meet evolving market requirements. Siemens began by defining the skills and behavior sets that employees would need to drive the company's future success. These characteristics became the Siemens Mindset Model. The Model allowed Siemens to develop a range of talent assessments designed to deliver an accurate picture of potential candidates' skills, competencies and fit. Together, Siemen’s and Aon developed interview guides summarizing the assessment scores. Aon mapped the assessments to Siemen’s Mindset Model to measure abilities, preferences etc. Siemens then conducted an in-house study to ensure that the assessments were effective. The results of the study proved candidate performance can be accurately predicted, giving the company confidence in the talent decisions it makes. The role of Aon’s AI approach in making better hiring decisions helped Siemens revamp its hiring process to better prepare the firm for the future.

A Worldwide Investment Bank Moves to a More Agile Business Model:

Financial services consumers have high expectations for products that meet their needs in real time. A worldwide investment bank wanted to remain competitive by changing the way its technology team worked to be able to swiftly bring new products and services to market. The bank knew it needed to transition to an agile business model with a skilled and responsive workforce built for today's fast-paced financial environment and demanding consumer. They turned to Aon for help.

The bank’s challenge was to develop an effective program that delivered an exemplary employee experience. Aon stepped in to build a strategic development center to help identify current employees who possessed the skills and abilities to adapt to roles in the new agile model. Creating an employee-centric communications campaign to drive engagement and ensure clarity for the bank's leadership on key objectives. The results speak for themselves: 92% of employees participated in training actions or assessments with positive results. The outcomes proved that leveraging the power of predictive talent analytics can lead to an agile more flexible workforce.

2 020 was an unprecedented year that presented a number of never before seen challenges. Aon embraced these challenges by acting with integrity, accelerating innovation and addressing increased volatility with enhanced ingenuity. We protected our colleagues and built a more resilient workforce by delivering work-from-home solutions and mental health options, which in turn helped them as they strove to meet the evolving and increased needs of our clients.

It cannot be overstated how grateful we are for the resilience and dedication our colleagues demonstrated this year—truly showcasing the power of Aon United. Despite having to navigate a myriad of challenges from the pandemic, severe weather, natural disasters and social unrest, colleagues showed up for one another with tenacity and grace to uphold our commitments to clients when and where they needed us most.

Aon took bold steps in 2020 to further our commitment to drive positive change. We continue to implement ESG best practices internally to promote corporate resiliency and sustainability and to prepare for the ongoing challenge we face in relation to emerging or long-tail risks—and helping our clients and communities do the same.

We are poised to meet 2021 head on, standing by our colleagues, clients and communities. We are helping them lay the foundation and be better prepared for a brighter future, where—together—we will achieve positive lasting impact in the “New Better”.