Aon plc Class A 2026 Q3 Earnings Call

Please go ahead. Good morning, and thank you for attending our third quarter earnings call.

I am joined today by Nadin Virani, Interim CFO, Andy Marcell, Deputy CEO with responsibility for risk capital and human capital, and Anne Corona, CEO of North America. The presentation, which Nadin will reference during his remarks, is available on our website. Our outstanding third quarter results reflect continued momentum across the firm and reinforce high confidence in our Aon United strategy. We delivered 6% overall organic growth with 7% in risk capital and 5% in human capital, demonstrating broad-based strength across our solution lines. As we progress through the final year of our 3x3 Plan, our execution and ongoing investments in talent and technology are delivering differentiated value for clients, expanding our opportunity set, and creating long-term value for our shareholders.

Today, we want to emphasize three important drivers of our performance this past quarter and as we look to the future. First, the forces shaping client demand. Second, our Aon United operating structure with integrated risk capital and human capital capabilities. Third, our recently announced pending acquisition of USI, which together with NFP and Aon, establishes the premier U.S. middle market platform for clients. Let's start with the landscape for business decision-makers and what we are hearing from clients. Today's macroeconomic environment continues to be defined by volatility and complexity. Geopolitical uncertainty remains elevated. Economic conditions are uneven, and cyber threats continue to evolve. All while rapid technology innovation is creating new opportunities, reshaping business models and workforce strategies. These forces do not exist in isolation. They are deeply interconnected, making it more complicated than ever for businesses to understand their risks, build resilience, and grow.

In uncertain and challenging times, clients turn to Aon as a trusted partner to help them diagnose risk and people issues, design bespoke programs, and access capital solutions. With rapid technology change, the catalyst to deliver sustained client impact and greater value over the long term will be at the intersection of human expertise, proprietary data, and technology. Context will not accrue solely to AI models or to individuals, but rather to organizations with the technology and talent to build trusted, lasting client relationships. This is exactly where Aon is positioned, and it links directly to my second topic, how Aon continues to strengthen our capabilities to help clients make better decisions for their businesses and employees. Our Aon United strategy remains the foundation upon which we capture these opportunities.

By bringing together risk capital and human capital, supported by Aon Business Services, we connect data, analytics, expertise, and access to capital across our firm. This integrated approach is a key differentiator, allowing us to address client needs more comprehensively and deliver better advice and superior solutions. Our strategy is further accelerated by AI, as our analyzers and diagnostics lead to better insights that help us win more business, retain more clients, and create new revenue opportunities. We're also capturing productivity gains as we leverage our shared services platform and domain expertise to deliver faster, more relevant, and more actionable insights for clients. Importantly, this work continues to reinforce our Aon United advantage, which translates into stronger client results. A few examples highlight how this advantage is powering our momentum.

During the quarter, we were appointed as the lead broker for the reinsurance program of a new natural catastrophe program introduced by the Thai government to reduce the protection gap for natural disasters, particularly flood, a significant peril in Thailand. The program is executed by a consortium of local insurers through the Thai General Insurance Association and provides broad risk coverage, including flood, earthquake, and windstorm, to 30 million households in Thailand, the vast majority of which currently have no insurance. This work and impact demonstrates the relevance and strength of risk capital, connecting insurance and reinsurance, along with the national government to reduce the protection gap in a region where natural perils have profound impact for millions of people. Another example highlights our ability to broaden capital access and attract new capital pools.

Our partnership with a leading alternative asset manager shows how Aon combines proprietary data, analytics, and structuring expertise to deliver innovative capital solutions. Traditional insurance capital remains critically important, but the scale of emerging client needs increasingly requires us to connect risk with capital beyond the traditional insurance market. We have spoken previously about the $250 trillion of capital globally, and this is a clear, tangible example of our work to selectively bring these sources of capital to bear on behalf of clients. Our ability to quantify risk exposure and provide investors with the insight required to deploy capital with confidence will create additional capacity for clients and expand the universe of insurable risks. Which brings me to the third driver of our performance, especially as we look to the future, USI and the U.S. middle market opportunity.

Post-close, we could not be more excited about the opportunity to bring together USI team members and our colleagues at NFP and Aon to set a new standard of capability, expertise, and client service for the middle market. This important growing segment includes more than 200,000 companies and 48 million employees, representing an addressable market of more than $40 billion across commercial risk, health, and wealth. These businesses face the same interconnected forces as our largest clients, and they need full access to analytics, insights, and capital solutions required to protect and build their companies. Against this backdrop, our acquisition of USI, which we expect to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, represents an important step in the development of our global middle market strategy that builds directly on the successful foundation we established with NFP.

USI also gives us direct access to the fast-growing E&S market, expanding our ability to match capital with client need and provide greater capital access across all markets. With the addition of approximately $11 billion of P&C premium flow, we continue to enhance our middle market data footprint, further improving our Aon United advantage. Together, Aon, NFP, and USI will create the premier $6.5 billion U.S. middle market platform, combining deep local relationships and distribution with the full capabilities of USI, NFP, and Aon. Fundamentally, this strategy is all about being better and giving our colleagues greater content, capability, and market access to serve clients with increasing levels of distinction. In addition, we also outlined key initiatives that will capture $395 million of expected synergies, including connecting producers and client leaders to broader content and capability, optimizing premium placement for clients, expanding market access, and simplifying technology and operations.

Since the acquisition announcement, planning is well underway for the implementation of these initiatives with integration planning teams in place and clear work streams to bring USI, NFP, and Aon together at closing as one connected middle market platform. We look forward to welcoming Mike Sicard and the incredible team at USI to Aon as we build out this terrific growth opportunity. Overall, we have emphasized a few points. Taken together, our Q3 results and the progress we continue to make across our firm reinforce our confidence in the trajectory of our business and our ability to deliver on our strategic and financial commitments and prior standalone guidance. As the environment continues to evolve and the underlying drivers of client demand remain strong, organizations need better insights into their interconnected risk and people challenges.

They need broader and more innovative access to capital, and they need trusted partners who can combine data, analytics capabilities, and frontline expertise across markets and geographies. Aon United positions us to meet these needs. Our alignment across risk capital and human capital enabled by ABS is creating greater value for clients and accelerating momentum across the firm. Our investments in technology and AI are amplifying our expertise and strengthening how we serve clients. The announced acquisition of USI advances important growth pillars across the middle market and E&S. As we progress through the final year of the 3x3 Plan, we remain focused on disciplined execution and our overall growth agenda. To our more than 60,000 colleagues around the world, thank you. Thank you for your continued commitment to our clients, each other, and our Aon United strategy.

Your dedication drives our momentum and gives us confidence to continue to deliver for our clients, colleagues, and shareholders. Now let me turn the call over to Nadim.