O’Connor leaves Aon; Andersen named sole president
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Aon PLC announced more senior management changes Monday, with Michael O’Connor leaving the brokerage and Eric Andersen being named the single president of the firm.
The executives had operated as co-presidents of the brokerage, both reporting to CEO Greg Case, since 2018.
Liam Caffrey, CEO of Affinity, also is leaving Aon after eight years at the firm, Aon announced in a statement.
In addition, John Bruno, Chicago-based CEO of data and analytic services, was named to the additional role of chief operating officer, and Aon announced plans to install four regional CEOs.
The announcement comes shortly after Aon completed a restructuring plan that began in 2017 after the sale of its outsourcing business. According to its 2019 10-K filed earlier this month with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the plan was completed on Dec. 31, 2019, and resulted in cumulative costs of $1.43 billion over three years, including $619 million for staff cuts with 5,832 jobs eliminated.
Mr. Andersen, who is based in New York and joined Aon in 1998, will lead an internal and external search to appoint regional CEOs for North America; Latin America; Europe, the Middle East and Africa region; and Asia/Pacific, Aon said in the statement.
“Regional leadership teams will work across solution lines,” the statement said.
The exit of Mr. O’Connor, who joined Aon from management consultant McKinsey & Co. in 2008, is the most high-profile of several senior departures over the past year, including Tom Fitzgerald, who left as chief executive of Aon broking last January and reemerged at QBE North America last month, and John Zern, former CEO of global health solutions and CEO of North America commercial risk and health solutions, and Cary Grace, CEO of retirement solutions and head of M&A integration, who both left in October.
An Aon spokesman declined to give more information on Mr. O’Connor’s departure.
Mr. Caffrey joined Aon, also from McKinsey, in 2012 as chief financial officer for Americas and was named CEO of its Affinity business in 2018.
