AOC Aon Corp.

LOS ANGELES, April 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Aon Corporation (NYSE: AOC), the leading provider of global risk management and consulting services, today announced that it has partnered with the recently launched OneWest Bank Group to serve the insurance and employee benefits needs of its business operations. The agreement enables OneWest to approach its solutions through the services of Aon's core strengths - risk management consulting, insurance brokerage and human capital benefits consulting. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20041215/CGW049LOGO) The partnership allows OneWest to leverage Aon's relationships with the marketplace through a complete financial services, property and casualty suite - pooling together its local insurance and employee benefits resources. As a result, OneWest will reduce dependency on its own capital. "By utilizing Aon's depth of resources and fact-based intelligence to seamlessly analyze the acquisition's total cost of risk, we were able to help this top-shelf group of investors meet its forecast, coverage goals and close the deal," stated Michael O'Connell, managing director of Aon Risk Services' financial institutions practice. A newly formed thrift holding company owned by a consortium of private investors such as J.C. Flowers & Co., Paulson & Co. and MSD Capital, OneWest Bank Group completed its acquisition of the banking operations of IndyMac Federal Bank from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation earlier this month. "We are thrilled to partner with a firm as committed to its customers as it is to its own growth," added Sam Cargill, chairman of Aon's southern California operations and managing principal of Aon Global - Americas. "As OneWest expands its retail branch network and grows as a major lender, Aon's national capabilities will be further engaged." "We intend to make OneWest synonymous with the kind of personalized, relationship-based banking customers should expect from a community bank with deep local roots," said OneWest Bank CEO Terry Laughlin. "There is a gap in the market for the type of banking services we will provide in the years ahead, and we will continue to benefit from key partners like Aon, which recognized our promise from the beginning." About OneWest Bank Group LLC OneWest Bank Group LLC, which wholly owns OneWest Bank, FSB, is a privately-held thrift holding company whose investors include Steven Mnuchin, entities advised by J.C. Flowers & Co. LLC, Paulson & Co., MSD Capital, L.P., Stone Point Capital LLC, SSP Offshore LLC and SILAR MCF-I LLC. OneWest Bank, FSB is a regional bank focused on delivering personalized, relationship-based banking to its customers. The bank has 33 retail branches in Southern California with approximately $6.4 billion in deposits and total assets of $16.0 billion, including a loan portfolio, a securities portfolio, a servicing platform with mortgage servicing rights (MSRs) representing an unpaid principal balance of $153.4 billion, and a reverse mortgage platform, Financial Freedom, with a reverse mortgage portfolio and MSRs representing an unpaid principal balance of $21.3 billion. OneWest is an FDIC-insured institution and funds deposited in the bank are insured up to the FDIC's insurance limit of $250,000 per depositor. Information about OneWest Bank can be found on the company's website at http://www.onewestbank.com/. 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 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 Contacts: Kelly Drinkwine, Aon, 312.381.2684, Paul Kranhold or Diane Henry, Sard Verbinnen & Co. for OneWest, 415.618.8750 Investor Contact: Scott Malchow, Aon, 312.381.3983, http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20041215/CGW049LOGO http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Aon Corporation CONTACT: Media, Kelly Drinkwine of Aon, +1-312-381-2684, ; or Paul Kranhold or Diane Henry, both of Sard Verbinnen & Co., +1-415-618-8750, for OneWest; or Investors, Scott Malchow of Aon, +1-312-381-3983, Web Site: http://www.onewestbank.com/ http://www.aon.com/

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