AOC Aon Corp.

CHICAGO, July 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Aon Corporation (NYSE:AOC), the leading global provider of risk management services, today released its 2009 U.S. Food System, Agribusiness and Beverage Industry Report. The first annual report was generated by Aon Analytics to help Aon's clients in these industries remain abreast of emerging issues and learn how peers and competitors are managing risk, overcoming challenges and capturing opportunities. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20041215/CGW049LOGO) The analysis is comprised of three main components: -- Risk insights, where the top 10 risks faced by the food system, agribusiness and beverage industry are identified and examined and expertise on risk assessment and drivers is provided. -- Client insights, where industry-specific insight into choosing an insurer, working with markets, staffing a risk management department and using captives are among the areas discussed. -- Market insights, where coverage terms and conditions; carriers requested to quote; submit-to-quote, quote-to-bind and submit-to-bind ratios; top carriers in a competitive bid situation; changes in premium rates over the past year and the most common reasons for carriers not quoting and clients rejecting a carrier's quote are addressed. For example, risk professionals in the food system, agribusiness and beverage industries cited commodity price volatility, weather/natural disasters and product recall as the leading industry risks. In addition, the report finds that many firms are not prepared to deal with increasing regulation, such as tougher food safety laws proposed by the current U.S. administration, and that many companies do not have comprehensive risk management processes in place, opting instead to rely on senior management intuition and experience as a primary method for identifying major risks. "Companies in the U.S. food system are faced with more complex risks today than ever before, and it is vital for them to fully understand these exposures so they can make informed and insightful decisions," said Rick Shanks, national managing director of Aon's food system, agribusiness and beverage practice. "This report demonstrates our commitment to empowering our clients with fact-based insight and leveraging the size and scope of Aon's unmatched global network to generate industry-leading comprehensive analyses." With regard to insurance pricing, food system, agribusiness and beverage organizations have generally been experiencing rate decreases for casualty, property and directors' and officers' liability coverage. That said, property rates have shown some hardening in 2009 as a function of the market's realization of cumulative loss events and the overall economic slump. While this industry has largely enjoyed higher than average rate decreases for directors' and officers' liability coverage, the report forecasts a trend toward flat renewals or even slight increases over the next year. Aon's 2009 U.S. Food System, Agribusiness and Beverage Industry Report is based on data from Aon's 2009 Global Risk Management Survey, the Aon Global Risk Insight Platform(SM) and additional proprietary databases. Results shown in this report based on the Global Risk Management Survey represent 53 global responses from the agribusiness, food processing and distribution and beverages industry and are not limited to the United States. Aon GRIP(SM) is the world's leading global repository of global risk and insurance placement information and provides fact-based insights into Aon's global premium flow. Results shown in this report based on data from Aon GRIP represent placement information from the United States from November 2008 through mid-year 2009. Results shown in this report based on data from additional proprietary databases represent placement information from the United States between July 1, 2008, and June 30, 2009. With the support of additional Aon insurance and industry specialists, Aon Analytics collected and tabulated the results, provided analysis and interpreted findings. To access Aon's 2009 U.S. Food System, Agribusiness and Beverage Industry Report, visit http://www.aon.com/foodindustryreport. Follow Aon on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/aoncorp 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 and 2009 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 Cybil Rose 312.381.2684 312.755.3537 http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20041215/CGW049LOGO http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Aon Corporation CONTACT: Kelly Drinkwine of Aon Corporation, +1-312-381-2684, , or Cybil Rose, +1-312-755-3537, , for Aon Corporation Web Site: http://www.aon.com/

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