Global Financial Crisis a Key Driver in Market Conditions for Property, Casualty,...

Global Financial Crisis a Key Driver in Market Conditions for Property,
Casualty, and Directors' and Officers' Lines, Says Aon
Aon Analytics Inaugural Quarterly Market Overview and Quarterly D&O Pricing
Index summarize and forecast market trends

CHICAGO, Sept. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Aon Corporation (NYSE: AOC), the
leading global provider of risk management services, today released its U.S.
Quarterly Market Overview for Property, Casualty, and Directors' and Officers'
Lines. The inaugural report was generated by Aon Analytics to identify and
address trends in risk and insurance and to provide clients with data to
support informed decision-making in risk management.

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"In this difficult economic climate, it has never been more critical to an
organization's overall health and performance to have an effective risk
management program in place," said Warren Mula, chairman of U.S. retail for
Aon Risk Services. "With Aon's unmatched resources to deliver fact-based
insights, such as those found in this report, we are best-positioned to help
our clients better manage risks, overcome challenges and capture
opportunities."

Lambros Lambrou, head of Aon Analytics, added: "Aon has taken a unique
approach to maximize our market insights from the largest available source of
proprietary broker data. The U.S. Quarterly Market Overview complements the
firm's monthly reports in the ongoing effort to keep our clients abreast of
ever-changing market and economic conditions as well as raise awareness of the
practices of industry peers and competitors."

The U.S. Quarterly Market Overview is comprised of three main components -
property, casualty and D&O. Highlights from each section follow:
-- Property: Following a tumultuous 2008, the property market experienced
mild hardening during the first half of 2009 due to the global
financial
crisis and previous heavy property losses from natural catastrophe
events. Property schedules with little or no natural catastrophic
exposures remain competitive. Insureds should expect renewed
competition
and modest downward pressure on rates into 2010.
-- Casualty: The casualty market remains soft and competitive with low
rate
decreases resulting in lower premiums for many insureds. Primary
automobile experienced an average increase of less than one percent in
Q2 '09, the first increase in rate on any casualty line in several
years. Soft market conditions are expected to continue into 2010.
Carriers will be challenged to sustain growth in the coming years due
to
competition and decreasing margins.

-- D&O: The economic turmoil has worked itself through the banks,
insurance companies, investment management firms and hedge funds. In
the
financial institutions marketplace, rates are increasing
significantly,
capacity is shrinking and coverage terms are tightening. On the other
hand, the market for all other sectors continues to be extremely
competitive with rates trending down, ample capacity and the broadest
terms and conditions seen in years. Exceptions seen in the commercial
realm stem from industries rife with bankruptcies. Most insureds
should
expect to see continued stabilization of rates in the short term,
while
rates for financial institutions are expected to continue to increase.

A major dislocation of markets, radical reduction in capacity, terrorism event
or natural catastrophe may affect the forecasts.

In addition to the above insight found in the U.S. Quarterly Market Overview,
Aon's financial services group recently issued its Quarterly D&O Pricing
Index, which delves deeply into the trends seen year over year for this
essential line of coverage. The analysis finds that pricing increased 4.07
percent in the second quarter as compared with the second quarter of 2008.
Current rates in the S&P Financials sector (banks, diversified financial,
insurance and real estate) are up 14.77 percent while all other S&P sectors
(service, manufacturing, technology, etc.) were flat, marking the first time
in more than three years that rates did not decrease. D&O policies are
typically written for a 12-month period; thus, this year-over-year comparison
is a close approximation of renewal pricing and results.

"The delicate balance between the forces holding D&O prices down and the need
for rate increases could soon shift in the favor of underwriters," said
Michael D. Rice, II, national practice leader of Aon's financial services
group. "Fortunately for Aon's clients, pricing in the D&O marketplace
continues to remain at soft levels."

Methodology: Aon Analytics 2009 U.S. Q2 Quarterly Market Overview
This report on property, casualty, directors' and officers' lines is based on
data from Aon proprietary databases such as the Aon Global Risk Insight
Platform(SM). Results represent placement of commercial and large account
information from thousands of U.S. companies. Aon GRIP(SM) is the world's
leading global repository of global risk and insurance placement information
and provides fact-based insights into Aon's global premium flow. Aon Analytics
collected and tabulated the results, provided analysis and interpreted
findings.

To access the Aon Analytics 2009 U.S. Q2 Quarterly Market Overview for
Property, Casualty, Directors' and Officers' Lines, visit
http://www.aon.com/quarterlymarketoverview

To access Aon's Q2 D&O Pricing Index, visit
http://aon.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=63&item=359

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About Aon
Aon Corporation (NYSE: AOC) is the leading global provider of risk management
services, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, and human capital consulting.
Through its more than 37,000 colleagues worldwide, Aon readily delivers
distinctive client value via innovative and effective risk management and
workforce productivity solutions. Aon's industry-leading global resources and
technical expertise are delivered locally through more than 500 offices in
more than 120 countries. Named the world's best broker by Euromoney magazine's
2008 and 2009 Insurance Survey, Aon also ranked highest on Business
Insurance's listing of the world's largest insurance brokers based on
commercial retail, wholesale, reinsurance and personal lines brokerage
revenues in 2008. A.M. Best deemed Aon the number one insurance broker based
on brokerage revenues in 2007 and 2008, and Aon was voted best insurance
intermediary, best reinsurance intermediary and best employee benefits
consulting firm in 2007 and 2008 by the readers of Business Insurance. For
more information on Aon, log onto http://www.aon.com.

Media Contact
Kelly Drinkwine Cybil Rose
312.381.2684 312.755.3537
kelly_drinkwine@aon.com cybil.rose@kemperlesnik.com

SOURCE Aon Corporation

Kelly Drinkwine of Aon Corporation, +1-312-381-2684, kelly_drinkwine@aon.com;
or Cybil Rose, +1-312-755-3537, cybil.rose@kemperlesnik.com, for Aon
Corporation