Aon Launches Political Risk Management Service; New Tool Performs Customized Financial Analysis of Political Risk Exposures

Business Wire, August 7, 2001

Business Editors

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 7, 2001

Aon Corporation (NYSE:AOC) has launched a Political Risk Exposure Profile (PREP) service that provides customized financial analysis of political threats to a company's global operations.

"Our survey of the Fortune 1000 revealed that most companies lack a satisfactory means of assessing and evaluating exposure to political risks," said John Minor, senior vice president of Aon Trade Credit. "Our new service is intended to provide risk managers and chief executives better tools to manage these risks."

According to Minor, Aon's political risk assessment service is based on a proprietary software database. It combines client data on worldwide business activities with country risk information and data on the financial costs of political risk. The system produces in-depth financial reports on the client's political risk exposures, taking into account both country- and firm-specific factors to help clients manage these risks effectively.

"Our new service translates the complexities of international political risk into the financial language of business," said Sam Wilkin, country risk advisor. "Political risks can impact firms in many ways, including preventing the repatriation of profits from an investment, disrupting the operations of overseas suppliers or forcing the payment of unfairly called standby letters of credit. The system takes all of these types of exposures into account. Its analysis reflects the business activity details that are so important in determining risk levels."

According to Wilkin, the new service is the first of its kind. "To our knowledge, this is the only political risk analysis tool to produce results that are not only customized to the client's specific exposures, but are also global in scope and expressed using financial measures."

Aon Corporation (www.aon.com) is a holding company that is comprised of a family of insurance brokerage, consulting and insurance underwriting subsidiaries. Aon's common stock is listed on the New York, Chicago, Frankfurt and London stock exchanges.

This press release may contain certain statements relating to future results, which are forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical results or those anticipated, depending on a variety of factors such as general economic conditions in different countries around the world, fluctuations in global equity and fixed income markets, changes in commercial property and casualty premium rates, the competitive environment, the actual cost of resolution of contingent liabilities, the final form of the business transformation plan, the ultimate cost and timing of the implementation thereof, the actual cost savings and other benefits resulting therefrom, whether the Company ultimately implements the proposed spin-off of its underwriting operations, and the timing and terms associated therewith. Further information concerning the Company and its business, including factors that potentially could materially affect the Company's financial results are contained in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.