Willis to exit wholesale business; Aon may follow suit as conflict of interest concerns loom.(News)(Willis Group Holdings Ltd.)

Business Insurance, February, 2005 by Martin, Sara

Byline: SALLY ROBERTS NEW YORK-Decisions last week by Aon Corp. and Willis Group Holdings Ltd. to divest their wholesale operations will remove any perceived conflicts of interest that may arise from the brokerages owning retail and wholesale operations, observers say. Although the wholesale industry has not been directly targeted by investigations of industry compensation practices and potential conflicts of interest, the general perception that such conflicts may exist in retail brokers owning wholesale units may be enough to spark such moves, they say.

London-based Willis said last Tuesday it is selling its New York-based Stewart Smith Group to Charlotte, N.C.-based American Wholesale Insurance Group, in a transaction that will allow Willis to focus on...

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