Senior executives leave Aon amid restructuring; new growth strategy unveiled

Senior executives John Zern, CEO of health solutions and North America, commercial risk, and Cary Grace, CEO of retirement solutions and head of M&A integration, are leaving re/insurance broker Aon to pursue new opportunities.

The announcement comes as part of Aon's major restructuring drive to increase collaboration across solution lines, improve sales effectiveness, strengthen segmentation strategy, and enhance value for its clients.

Called 'Aon United', the company's new growth strategy includes plans of setting up a common standard for client leadership and creating a client service hubs to support back and middle-office services across the firm.

As part of the initiative, the firm will also establish a common model for its shared services, including marketing & communications, human resources, legal and finance, to ensure operational connectivity across solution lines.

Meanwhile, Zern and Grace will be replaced by Aon co-presidents, with Michael O’Connor overseeing health solutions and Eric Andersen taking on responsibility for retirement solutions.

"The actions we are announcing today to accelerate Aon United are a direct reflection of the continued momentum we are seeing with clients, our ability to deliver industry-leading innovation and our continued progress towards delivering on our goal of mid-single digit organic growth or greater over the long-term," said Greg Case, CEO of Aon.

“When we bring the best of the firm to clients, we are unbeatable. These steps are designed to make it easier for each of our 50,000 colleagues in 120 countries around the world to deliver Aon United every day,” Case added.

Case concluded: “John and Cary leave a lasting and positive imprint on our firm and I am very grateful for their efforts. As we move forward, we will all benefit from their leadership and the strong teams they have built.”