2008 REVENUE: $1.57 billion

EMPLOYEES: 4,150

Aon Benfield's intellectual capital, innovation, ideas and tools all are factors that distinguish it from other reinsurance intermediaries, says Andrew M. Appel, chief executive officer of the Chicago-based Aon Corp. unit.

“We have 450-plus people in (Aon Benfield) analytics, which is probably the largest group of people focused on the impact of the insurance market and how it performs and how insurance products behave, and how insurance companies ought to think about risk,” said Mr. Appel.

Aon Benfield was named best reinsurance intermediary in the BI Readers Choice Awards. Predecessor Aon Re Global was named best in the three prior years.

“We have the deepest portfolio of the largest leading brokers and practitioners,” beginning with Executive Chairman Michael D. O'Halleran and including “many other hundreds of leading professionals with 20-plus years in the business,” Mr. Appel said.

Also significant, he said, is Aon Benfield's “unparalleled access to other reinsurance markets all over the world. We are, at this point, the only truly global reinsurance broker, with our international business two or three times the size” of the next-largest, which “gives us an unprecedented network of professionals to serve our clients.”

He said a highlight of the past year was the successful integration of Aon Re and Aon's $1.75 billion acquisition of Benfield Group Ltd.

“We have enjoyed many successes as a company in 2009, and we are extremely pleased at the way we are positioned as we move towards 2010,” Mr. O'Halleran said in a statement.

“This year has seen us launch more than 20 new innovative solutions and research reports that are redefining both the industry and our clients' expectations. In 2009, we continued to provide access to the most appropriate and effective risk transfer solutions to help our clients optimize their use of capital, in order that they can react to any new business opportunities that come their way,” he said.