AOC Aon Corp.

Retains Her Role as Corporate Treasurer CHICAGO, Oct. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Aon announces that it has named Corporate Treasurer Diane Aigotti to the new position of Chief Risk Officer. Aigotti will work with business units around the world to identify, measure and manage key risks including: funding and liquidity risk, interest rate risk, foreign exchange risk, compliance risk, acquisition risk, property risk and professional liability risk. She will retain her role as Aon corporate treasurer, which includes overseeing Aon's financing, hedging and investments. She also supervises global acquisition and divestitures, including the disposition of several of Aon's major operating units. "We're excited to have someone of Diane's experience and background as Aon's first CRO," said Greg Case, Aon president and chief executive officer. "The magnitude, complexity and scrutiny of risk around the world is increasing. As Aon advises companies around the world on how to identify, mitigate and implement solutions to reduce risk, it's critical for Aon to remain in the best possible position to manage its own risks in this dynamic environment." "I am honored to be named to this role at a time when managing risk is so crucial to both Aon's and our client's futures," Aigotti said. Prior to coming to Aon, Aigotti served in Chicago city government. In 1995 she was named the city's budget director. After a stint with the University of Chicago Hospitals and Health System where she served as vice president of the office of Management and Budget, Aigotti came to Aon as its corporate treasurer in 2000. The chief risk officer (CRO) concept was created to help companies cope with a rapidly expanding array of business risks. As corporate risk managers began to experience a dramatic increase in the awareness of and focus on risk management by company senior executives and executive boards, companies concluded they needed to more professionally manage their risks. A CRO helps a company make better investment decisions, enhance standards of governance and reduce the cost of risk management overall. A CRO can also improve a company's relations with regulators, shareholders and customers. About Aon Aon Corporation (NYSE:AOC) ( http://www.aon.com/ ) is a leading provider of risk management services, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, human capital and management consulting, and specialty insurance underwriting. There are 46,000 employees working in Aon's 500 offices in more than 120 countries. Backed by broad resources, industry knowledge and technical expertise, Aon professionals help a wide range of clients develop effective risk management and workforce productivity solutions. This press release contains certain statements related to future results, or states our intentions, beliefs and expectations or predictions for the future 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 either historical or anticipated results depending on a variety of factors. Potential factors that could impact results include: general economic conditions in different countries in which we do business around the world, changes in global equity and fixed income markets that could affect the return on invested assets, fluctuations in exchange and interest rates that could influence revenue and expense, rating agency actions that could affect our ability to borrow funds, funding of our various pension plans, changes in the competitive environment, our ability to implement restructuring initiatives and other initiatives intended to yield cost savings, our ability to execute the stock repurchase program, our ability to consummate the pending sale of the Aon Warranty Group, changes in commercial property and casualty markets and commercial premium rates that could impact revenues, changes in revenues and earnings due to the elimination of contingent commissions, other uncertainties surrounding a new compensation model, the impact of investigations brought by state attorneys general, state insurance regulators, federal prosecutors, and federal regulators, the impact of class actions and individual lawsuits including client class actions, securities class actions, derivative actions, and ERISA class actions, the cost of resolution of other contingent liabilities and loss contingencies, and the difference in ultimate paid claims in our underwriting companies from actuarial estimates. Further information concerning the Company and its business, including factors that potentially could materially affect the Company's financial results, is contained in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Contact: Al Orendorff Aon Corporation 312-381-3153 312-381-0144, fax http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20041215/CGW049LOGO http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Aon Corporation CONTACT: Al Orendorff of Aon Corporation, +1-312-381-3153, fax, +1-312-381-0144, Web site: http://www.aon.com/

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