Aon Newsletter 07-03-2011_engl:Layout 1.qxd

March 2011
RiskToday
NEWSLETTER
News and information for our business partners
Aon symposium on supply
chain risk management
Losses due to business interruption and disruptions in
the supply chain have long been a major risk for companies. The saying “prevention is better than cure” still
holds true today. Business continuity management and
planning for emergencies help to ensure that a company will be able to survive.
Aon symposium on
supply chain risk management
7 April 2011
1:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
ConventionPoint
of the SIX Swiss Exchange, Zurich
Benefit from informative presentations
on theory and practice:
– Risk identification “think the unthinkable
Leo Monse, Swiss Re, Vice President
Property & Speciality
– A business interruption: now
what? Prevention is better than
cure: Solution approaches
Marisa Prater, Aon Global Risk
Consulting, CCO,
and
Anne-Christine Fischer, Aon Global
Risk Consulting, Head Enterprise Risk
Management Germany
– Risk transfer? An overview of insurance solutions
Tanja Jung, Aon (Schweiz) AG, Group
Manager Broking Property, Marine,
Art
– Business continuity planning at
gategroup – Practical experience
Christian Leder, Gate Gourmet,
Group Director Risk & Insurance
Management
– Summary
Martin Vögeli, Aon (Schweiz) AG,
CEO
– followed by a reception
If you have not received an invitation
and would like to attend, please write
to:
[email protected]
Dear Clients,
Dear Business Partners
Aon Hewitt represents the merger of
two strong and successful brands, Aon
Consulting and Hewitt.
Aon Hewitt is the global leader in HR
consulting and outsourcing.
In Switzerland, Aon Hewitt is a consultant for eighty per cent of the firms in
the Swiss Market Index (SMI).
The merger has seen Aon double its
business activities in Switzerland and
the company now employs around
350 staff. It is Switzerland’s no. 1 firm
for risk management, insurance broking and HR consulting.
The merger has opened up new possibilities for you, our clients. Would you
like to know what these opportunities
are for your company? Simply set up
an appointment with your Aon contact person to find out more about the
potential in store for you.
Sincerely,
Martin Vögeli
Country Manager Switzerland
[email protected]
Marcel Abegg, Aon Risk Solutions
[email protected]
Publishing information
Aon RiskToday
NEWSLETTER
News and information for our
business partners.
Appears 3x a year.
PUBLISHER
Aon (Schweiz) AG
EDITORIAL ADDRESS
Aon (Schweiz) AG
Priscilla Troxler
Bederstrasse 66, P O Box
CH-8027 Zurich
DESIGN
Dieter W Joos, Zürich
1
Save
the date
The services of Aon Hewitt
at a glance
Aon Hewitt is a global leader in HR consulting and outsourcing. It has the
required know-how to solve complex
issues in the area of occupational pensions and human resources.
Aon Hewitt works across the world with
large companies as well as small and
medium-sized firms in the design, communication and implementation of HR
strategies. Action areas include occupational pension plans, compensation
concepts and total rewards, and the
management of performance, talent,
investments, health and change.
funds as well as for the actuarial valuation and administration of pension
funds. For companies that do not have
their own pension fund we can help
find the right collective or cooperative
foundation.
Aon Hewitt has 29,000 employees in 90
countries. In Switzerland there are
approximately 200 employees working
for you at our locations in Berne,
Geneva, Neuchâtel, Nyon and Zurich.
Aon
KidsKick
DAY
Paola Bregolisse, Aon Hewitt
[email protected]
Aon Hewitt is the leading provider of
strategic consulting services for pension
Management
change at Aon
Hewitt Switzerland
The Swiss operations of Aon Hewitt will
have a new managing director starting
1 July 2011. Werner Hertzog, currently
director of the Swiss federal government’s PUBLICA pension fund, will take
over the position from Daniel Thomann,
who will become the new head of
Central Europe (Germany, Austria and
Switzerland) at Aon Hewitt while also
continuing as a pension fund expert in
Switzerland.
Werner Hertzog has more than 10 years
of experience in management positions,
both in the insurance sector as well as
with public pension funds. The mathematics graduate took over as head of
PUBLICA in 2004 and successfully transformed the federal government’s pension fund into an efficient, client-focused operation.
Paola Bregolisse, Aon Hewitt
[email protected]
New address of
AIM Switzerland
We would like to welcome you to our
new and modern offices. Since 21 February 2011 our new visiting address is:
Aon Insurance Managers
(Switzerland) AG
Schochenmühlestrasse 2, 1st floor
CH-6340 Baar
The first Aon KidsKickDay will take place
on Thursday 18 August 2011 from 9.30
a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Stade de Suisse in
Bern.
Your children, grandchildren and godchildren between the ages of seven and
12 can take part in football training with
Jörg Stiel, former goalkeeper for the
Swiss national team, and other giants of
Swiss football.
The Aon KidsKickDay will be a day full of
fascinating football, fun and fair play.
and our new mail address is:
Aon Insurance Managers
(Switzerland) AG
Schochenmühlestrasse 2, PO Box 159
CH-6341 Baar
E-mail addresses and phone and fax
numbers remain unaltered.
Aon Insurance Managers (Switzerland)
AG is the leading captive manager in
Switzerland with a market share of 55 %.
The portfolio consists of captives with
parents of all industry sectors from
Europe, Latin America and Asia.
An international team of experienced
(re-)insurance technicians, chartered
accountants and finance experts deliver
state-of-the-art services to meet the
complex demands of modern captive
management.
In order to motivate the kids to do their
best in the training, all children participating will get a free original
Manchester United FC kit.
Aon is the principal
Manchester United FC.
sponsor
of
You will receive a detailed program with
information on registration at the end of
May.
Save the date now and order your invitation with the details from
Priscilla Troxler, [email protected],
phone 044 925 22 05.
You are welcome to bring guests.
Priscilla Troxler, Aon Risk Solutions
[email protected]
Thomas Overtveld, Managing Director
Aon Insurance Managers
(Switzerland) AG
[email protected]
RiskToday Newsletter, March 2011
2
Impact of the financial crisis on the
Captive Industry
The financial crisis had a major impact
on all sectors of the global economy, in
particular on the banking sector. Profits
of many insurance companies also
shrank substantially. The captive industry, however, has grown in many domiciles despite the ongoing soft conditions
in the various insurance markets.
Generally speaking, we can see that the
captive industry has been coping with
the financial crisis very well. This fact
applies to various domiciles such as US
onshore domiciles which have numerous new licensees, the Middle East
which has introduced the captive business in three of its financial centres and
Switzerland which is becoming more
and more a leading international insurance market.
Captives as an opportunistic tool
In the past, the number of the of captives grew due to the premium level
increasing because of the hardening
market conditions, if covers for certain
risk groups were not available or very
limited or for the sake of tax optimization. As a result, captives were used as an
opportunistic tool.
Strategic use and long-term view
In the meantime, the use of captives has
changed considerably, which is particularly noticeable due to the financial crisis. Self-insurance vehicles are increasingly used as strategic tools by extending the captive use in spite of the prevailing soft market conditions. Captives
provide cover for various lines of business such as Product Recall, Employee
Benefits or other long-tail business
which match the long-term risk management strategy of their parent corporations.
Corporations know their risks well and
therefore want to have a tailored risk
management by means of their captive.
The view has become more long-term
and more strategic. This also entails
positive financial consequences. As a
result, captives are changing from a cost
centre to a profit centre within the
group. Furthermore, the responsibility
for the self-insurance vehicles is more
and more shared by the CFO and the
CRO in order to use them as a financial
planning tool efficiently and profitably.
the financial crisis above average is their
conservative investment policy. Captives mainly invest in bonds with high
security, which has proven savvy.
Development in Switzerland
The number of captives under the
supervision of the FINMA has been relatively stable for some time. There are
several reasons for this. Since 2006,
more stringent capitalisation requirements (vis-à-vis those of the EU domiciles) under the Swiss Solvency Test (SST)
have been in place. This caused some
smaller captives to have to stop their
activities for financial reasons. On the
other hand, some captives grew due to
M&A of their parents. Furthermore not
all captives are captured as captives
because some self-insurance vehicles
under the FINMA regime possess a reinsurance licence for strategic reasons.
The above mentioned developments
and reasons show that in general captives have successfully gone through the
financial crisis. Presumably Switzerland
may develop further as a captive domicile, which is not only due to the classic
domicile features such as economic and
political stability, central geographical
situation, availability of know-how and
capital etc, but also due to the fact
other domiciles are substantially increasing their level of regulation.
Samuel Knoepfel,
Aon Insurance Managers
[email protected]
Many captives managed by Aon Captive
and Insurance Management Switzerland included additional lines of business in their insurance programme. Our
clients are continually considering further expansion of the insurance programme of their captives. As in other
domiciles, the focus is on Employee
Benefits and long-tail business so as to
serve the long-term goals and the tailored risk management strategy of the
corporations.
A further reason why captives with
Swiss domiciles have been mastering
RiskToday Newsletter, March 2011
3
Aon’s Political Risk Map 2011
In many countries companies are facing the possibility of some governments
defaulting on their payments. Although the global economy is slowly recovering,
companies are exposed to greater political risks internationally, as can be seen
clearly in Aon’s world political risk map for 2011.
Political risks in 211 countries
and territories
Aon assesses political risk (two additional countries have been added since last
year) while also evaluating the level of
other risks, such as currency inconvertibility and transfer risk, risks of strikes,
riots and civil unrest, war, default by
governments, political interference, and
weak points in supply chains as well as
legal and regulatory risks.
Independent assessment
Online and interactive
The results of the analysis are shown on
Aon's 2011 political risk map, which we
compiled in collaboration with Oxford
Analytica, an international consultancy
company.
Aon offers initial assistance in making
assessments of potential losses and
determining the impact of political risks
on internationally oriented companies,
so they can ensure their survival, growth
and profitability.
Oxford Analytica collects the study
results from a worldwide network, allowing it to independently evaluate geopolitical risks. More than 1,000 experts
are involved, including leading lecturers
from Oxford University and major
research institutions around the world.
A key challenge currently facing companies is the possibility that governments
may not meet their payments.
Would you like to receive the Aon political risk map 2012 automatically in paper
form? If so, please send an e-mail to:
[email protected].
Iris Mall, Aon Risk Solutions
[email protected]
You can view the interactive political risk map 2011 immediately via this link:
http://www.aon.com/risk-services/political-risk-map2/map/Interactive_Risk_Map/2011_Political_Risk_Map/index.html
NORDPOLARMEER
GRÖNLAND
Laptewsee
Karasee
Beaufortsee
r
Ostsibirische See
Barentssee
N o r we g i s c h e S e e
Davisstraße
EN
Alaska (USA)
Godthåb
ED
ISLAND
RUSSLAND
H
W
FINNLAND
EN
SC
Reykjavik
RW
EG
Anchorage
Helsinki
Oslo
N
O
Hudson Bay
Stockholm
Nordsee
ESTLAND
Riga
DÄNEMARK Kopenhagen
Kaliningrad
(Russland)
GROSS- NIEDERLANDE
BRITANNIEN
IRLAND
Dublin
Berlin
UNGARN
ITALIEN
Belgrad
KROATIEN
PORTUGAL
Tunis
Gibraltar (Brit.)
Ceuta (Sp)
New Orleans
Aschchabad
LIBANON
Zypern
PALÄSTINA
ISRAEL Tel Aviv
Kairo
ÄGYPTEN
El Aaiun
WESTSAHARA
( Marokko)
Caymaninseln (Brit.)
Karibische See
San José
COSTA RICA
KAP VERDE
Caracas
Panama
GAMBIA
VENEZUELA
Georgetown
SURINAM
SIERRA LEONE
FRANZÖSISCH-GUAYANA
Cayenne
Quito
Mumbai
Hanoi
HONGKONG
MACAO
Vientiane
Rangoon
GUAM
LAOS
THAILAN D
Südchinesches
Meer
Bangkok
Golf von Bengalen
DSCHIBUTI
KAMBODSCHA
VIETNAM
Phnom Penh
PHILIPPINEN
MIKRONESIEN
KIRIBATI
MALEDIVEN Colombo
PALAU
SAO TOME & PRINCIPE
UGAN DA
INDISCHER OZEAN
Mogadischu
DEMOKRATISCHE REPUBLIK
KONGO
Kampala
Libreville
GABUN
N AURU
Kuala Lumpur
SINGAPUR
KENIA
Nairobi
Kigali
SEYCHELLEN
Bujumbura
Brazzaville
KONGO
Cabinda (Angola)
BRUNEI
MALAYSIA
Bangui
Jaunde
Daressalam
BURUNDI
Jakarta
TANSANIA
SALOMONEN
Dili
MALAWI
Luanda
PAPUANEUGUINEA
INDONESIEN
RUANDA
Kinshasa
BRASILIEN
Ascension (Brit.)
Manila
SRI LANKA
ÄTHIOPIEN
KAMERUN
TOGO
Fortaleza
BURMA (MYANMAR)
Arabisches Meer
PAZIFISCHER OZEAN
TAIWAN
Dacca
Kolkata
Addis Abeba
ÄQUATORIALGUINEA
ECUADOR
PERU
Taipeh
BANGLADESCH
INDIEN
SOMALIA
Accra
Abidjan
GHANA
GHANA
Karatschi
Sana
ZENTRALAFRIKANISCHE
REPUBLIK
Lomé
LIBERIA
ELFENBEINKÜSTE
GalapagosInseln (Ecuador)
BHUTAN
Thimphu
Abu Dhabi
N'Djamena
NIGERIA
Monrovia
Ostchinesisches
Meer
Kathmandu
r Gol f
JEMEN
SUDAN
Shanghai
NEPAL
Delhi
che
BENIN
Conakry
Freetown
Paramaribo
Bogotá
KOLUMBIEN
Niamey
BURKINA
FASO
GUINEA BISSAU
GUYANA
PANAMA
Bamako
Bissau
GUIN EA
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
Khartum
TSCHAD
Dakar
Banjul
GRENADA
Managua
ERITREA
NIGER
r
ee
Guadeloupe (Fr)
DOMINICA
ST. LUCIA
Niederländische
ST. VINCENT
BARBADOS
Antillen (NL)
Tegucigalpa
San Salvador
NICARAGUA
MALI
Nouakchott
SENEGAL
&
NEVIS
HONDURAS
Guatemala
GUATEMALA
EL SALVADOR
PUERTO RICO (USA)
JUNGFERNINSELN (USA)
ANTIGUA & BARBUDA
Santo
Domingo ST. KITTS
Port-auPrince
s is
PAKISTAN
KATAR
Riyadh
sM
Rote
JAMAIKA
Pe
r
BAHRAIN
MAURETANIEN
DOMINIKANISCHE REP.
Kingston
BELIZE
Tokio
Osaka
Islamabad
VEREINIGTE
SAUDI- ARABISCHE EMIRATEMaskat
ARABIEN
OMAN
Dschidda
Mekka
Japanisches
Meer
JAPAN
CHINA
Kabul
Wuhan
KUWAIT
JORDANIEN
ALGERIEN
HAITI
Belmopan
Seoul
AFGHANISTAN
IRAK
BAHAMAS
Mexiko-Stadt
Pyongyang
SÜDKOREA
IRAN
Bagdad
Havanna
Guadalajara
Peking
TADSCHIKISTAN
Teheran
Beirut
Damaskus
Amman
KUBA
Port Moresby
OSTTIMOR
Honiara
KOMOREN
TUVALU
ANGOLA
Lima
Salvador
SAMBIA
BOLIVIEN
PAZIFISCHER OZEAN
Brasilia
Timorsee
Lilongwe
Darwin
FIDSCHI
Lusaka
La Paz
VANUATU
St. Helena (Brit.)
MOSAMBIK
Harare
SIMBABWE
Antananarivo
MAURITIUS
MADAGASKAR
Rio de Janeiro
PARAGUAY
BOTSWANA
Windhuk
São Paulo
Asunción
ATLANTISCHER OZEAN
N AMIBIA
Réunion (Fr)
Neukaledonien (Fr)
Gaborone
Pretoria
Maputo
AUSTRALIEN
Johannesburg
Brisbane
SWASILAND
SÜDAFRIKA
URUGUAY
LESOTHO
E
Santiago
CHIL
Hawaii (USA)
Wladiwostok
KIRGISISTAN
NORDKOREA
Dusanbe
LYBIEN
ATLANTISCHER OZEAN
Miami
Taschkent
TURKMENISTAN
Baku
TÜRKEI
SYRIEN
itte
lme
er
Tripolis
Kanaren (Sp)
Golf von Mexiko
Athen
MALTA
M
TUNESIEN
Rabat
MAROKKO
USBEKISTAN
ASERBAIDSCHAN
Ankara
GRIECHENLAND
Alma Ata
ALBANIEN
Algier
Melilla (Sp)
Madeira (Port)
Bermuda (Brit.)
Bishkek
MAZEDONIEN
MONTENEGRO
Azoren (Port.)
Dallas
MEXIKO
ARMENIEN
BOSNIEN-HERZEGOWINA
SERBIEN
Los Angeles
Houston
BULGARIEN
GEORGIEN
Rom
VATIKAN
Madrid
SPANIEN
Lissabon
Schwarzes
Meer
Sarajevo
SAN MARINO
ANDORRA
New York
Ulan Bator
MONGOLEI
MOLDAWIEN
Bukarest
r
M ee
Boston
Chicago
V E R E I N I G T E S T A A T E N
Washington, D.C.
V O N A M E R I K A
KASACHSTAN
RUMÄNIEN
SLOWENIEN
s
sche
Ka spi
SCHWEIZ
MON ACO
San Francisco
UKRAINE Kiew
SLOWAKEI
LIECHTENSTEIN ÖSTERREICH
Toronto
Ochotskisches Meer
Nowosibirsk
Warschau
Prag
TSCHECHIEN
LUXEMBURG
FRANKREICH Bern
Montréal
Ottawa
Moskau
Minsk
WEISSRUSSLAND
BELGIEN DEUTSCHLAND
Paris
Seattle
Beringmeer
LETTLAND
LITAUEN
Vilnius
POLEN
London
K A N A D A
Vancouver
St Petersburg
Tallinn
Kapstadt
Buenos Aires
ARGENTINIEN
Country risks
Montevideo
Symbols illustrating
major risks
Perth
Sydney
Canberra
Adelaide
Low to medium
risk
Falklandinseln (Brit.)
Südantillenmeer
Medium risk
Medium to
high risk
High risk
Very high risk
RiskToday Newsletter, March 2011
Tasmansee
Auckland
Melbourne
Low risk
CURRENCY TRANSFER:
NEUSEELAND
Wellington
WAR:
Christchurch
STRIKE, RIOTS, CIVIL
UNREST, TERRORISM:
DEFAULT
BY GOVERNMENTS:
LAW AND ORDER:
ANTARKTISCHER OZEAN
POLITICAL INTERFERENCE:
WEAK POINTS
IN SUPPLY CHAINS:
4
Public private partnership PPP
in Switzerland
PPP signifies the cooperation between public bodies, such as cities or cantons, and
private companies in carrying out tasks for the public good, such as the supply of
water, education and infrastructure.
PPP projects are currently very common
in many countries. They are seen as an
alternative procurement method for
governments and a new way for them
to fulfil their public duties more efficiently and effectively by making use of
private resources. Only recently have
these types of projects become popular
in Switzerland. One reason for this is the
fact that cantons and municipalities are
in good financial shape, and secondly,
many politicians are not keen to get
involved in such projects.
Neumatt – the cantonal
administration centre in
Burgdorf
The development of this project has garnered a lot of attention, as it is a sort of
pioneer for Switzerland’s development
going forward. The cantonal administration centre Neumatt Burgdorf is Switzerland’s first genuine PPP project. For the
realisation of this project, Aon was able
to provide support for the area of risk
management and insurance to the consortium of its clients Royal BAM Group
together with Marti Bauunternehmungen.
An administration centre is being built
on the grounds of the Zeughaus in
Burgdorf . Once completed, it will inclu-
de space for the cantonal police, the
courts, tax administration, professional
and educational counselling services,
debt enforcement and bankruptcy, a
maintenance centre and a regional jail
with place for 110 inmates. Construction on the PPP project began in the
third quarter of 2009 with a budget of
about 150 million francs. The centre is
set to be handed over to the canton in
March 2012.
For the first 25 years after the handover,
the management of the building will be
handled by Zeughaus PPP AG. For its
services the private partner will receive
16.7 million francs annually from the
canton. According to local government
officials, this type of model is unique in
Switzerland, and the building department says it will save taxpayers about 10
per cent.
The agreement
The unusually extensive contract agreement has received special acclaim. It
was quite complex and by Swiss standards rather different, as it deals with
the many dependencies among the
various parties to the agreement. All
possible occurrences, eventualities and
their consequences were regulated.
The insurance solution
As the project was put out for bids, the
bidding consortia were required to
include an insurance concept in the
agreement for the construction and
operational phase. The concept had to
include insurance for the type and size
of the project, taking into account the
overall view of the existing risks as well
as the interests of the canton, consortium and banks. These interests were at
times at cross purposes, and had to be
coordinated through intensive negotiations. From the canton’s point of view,
for example, it would have been desirable to have the most important aspects
of the insurance in the name of the canton so that, in the case of a claim, the
canton would have as much control as
possible over compensation and procedures. This concept was called for in the
bid, but for the very reason the canton
wanted this, the lender banks were
against it. With assistance from Aon, a
solution was found that included an
insurance policy in which all participants had equal rights.
The final coverage was worked out by
Aon in cooperation with colleagues
from England and was implemented in
this form for the first time in Switzerland
with local insurance companies.
A practical guide for PPP
To push ahead with developing other
PPP projects in Switzerland and to boost
their efficiency, the PPP Association of
Switzerland started to draft a practical
guide in mid 2010, under the project
head Urs Bolz. The experience gained by
all parties involved in the Burgdorf project will be put together in a reference
guide and made available to the public.
The practical guide will be ready from
mid 2011. It can also be obtained from
Aon.
Lutz Krepper, Aon Risk Solutions
[email protected]
RiskToday Newsletter, March 2011
5
Innovative insurance models for
expatriates
Yet again, Aon (Suisse) SA’s healthcare division is showing its skill at exploiting
international niche markets. International programmes with global coverage and
the best specialists enable you to offer your valuable employees the same sort of
insurance protection wherever they’re working.
Important questions
Are you a major international or multinational company? Do you operate
branches in far-flung countries or send
your staff to work there?
What happens when someone working
abroad, far from their family and the
sort of medical facilities they’re used to,
falls ill or has an accident? Do they have
the best possible protection? Are all the
costs of their treatment and repatriation
taken care of? Does the patient have
access to the best care and the best doctors? Are you confident that ALL your
staff benefits from the SAME cover and
care, no matter where in the world
they’re employed?
Aon offers individual solutions …
Unique international programmes with
global coverage and the best specialists
enable you to offer your valuable
employees uniform insurance protection wherever they’re working. Throughout the world, Aon’s insurance solutions are tailored to YOUR needs. Its unique, worldwide network – Aon has a
presence in 120 countries – makes sure
of that. While insurance claims are processed locally, the programme as a
whole is completely transparent and
run from Switzerland.
It provides you with efficient monitoring
tools like AonLine, which enable you to
have an overview of health insurance
cover, anywhere in the world, in real
time, at any time.
insurance solution with international
coverage makes heavy demands of any
insurer’s expertise: local healthcare
know-how, constant tracking of individual dossiers, pro-active searching
through every class for the best guarantees at the best price, validating insurance benefits in every area covered. These
are issues that only a select few experts
in each field are capable of dealing with.
us to offer global solutions for your
employees, whether they’re living in
Switzerland or working abroad.
Our healthcare department has fourteen staff, who answer questions from
anywhere in Switzerland in six languages. They devise and coordinate programmes that get the best insurers and
assistors working together. Meanwhile,
our in-house Aon Healthcare ServiceLine
deals with the processing of insurance
claims. Our Healthcare platform enables
Gaston Vallet, Aon Risk Services
[email protected]
Anytime, anywhere, Aon is right there
beside you. We offer an unequalled geographical presence, first-class services,
global coverage and keep a constant eye
on your health risks, all over the world.
… anywhere in the world
There are a few dozen really big international insurance companies. There are
also lots of assistors. We have chosen the
best of them as partners. We work with
them to devise reliable solutions for you
and the staff you deploy internationally.
Designing a simple, but at the same
time comprehensive and robust health
RiskToday Newsletter, March 2011
6
Financial instruments improve and
protect the balance sheet
In today’s economy, financial instruments have become an essential part of the life
of a company. The recent global economic turbulence has shown that a crisis can
be triggered not just by overheated production and sectors or misguided market
estimates, but by special financial instruments and currency risks.
The importance of financial
instruments is increasing
everywhere
Until recently, business was mainly
about selling a good or service that was
produced for its actual utility. The success of this product or service depended
on the client’s perception of how
good the quality and service
were. Nowadays the fate of
a company is guided
and influenced by
the sourcing and securing of capital, the
financing possibilities that exist for
expanding markets and the ratings of
banks and agencies. No differences are
made between a listed company and a
small family-owned company. A com-
pany’s key performance indicators, as
well as those for the economy in general, and the perception of these figures,
nowadays hold sway over the ups and
downs of a company.
Exploiting synergies
The number of employees who
deal with financial issues in
a company has grown
much faster than the
RiskToday Newsletter, March 2011
7
Aon in
Switzerland
Aon (Schweiz) AG
Zurich
Phone +41 44 925 22 11
Aon (Suisse) SA
Geneva
Phone +41 22 827 07 00
Aon (Svizzera) SA
Lugano
Phone +41 91 912 53 11
Aon Hewitt
Berne
Phone +41 31 340 20 00
number of employees in production or
sales. Despite the concentrated efforts
of controlling, accounting and reporting, the possibilities that exist for putting in place a plan that suits the individual needs and security of a company
are rarely exploited. The reason for this
is that in a company various departments are responsible for financial services. In fact, the bigger the company,
the less the possibilities for synergies are
exploited. In addition, there is often
insufficient communication and action
between the operational and administrative units regarding the fast-moving
changes in the market place, so that the
financing and security mechanisms do
not work well together.
Products such as IT-based receivables
management, information sourcing and
analysis, securing credit, political risks,
and short- and long-term corporate
financing are instruments that are often
poorly harmonised with each other.
A sparring partner is needed
To ensure that such products are used
efficiently, companies are hiring Aon
Credit International (ACI) as an external
specialist and sparring partner. ACI is
the world’s largest broker for protecting
accounts receivables and a consultant
for financing solutions. ACI ascertains a
company’s individual needs and coordinates the various sub-sectors with each
other. In addition, ACI provides information about ongoing changes in the market as well as within the company. We
continuously work together with the
company in this regard, and we monitor
product harmonisation.
This service offers the advantage that
there is continuity in times of crisis and
that compliance guidelines are observed and the company can safely conduct its operations. When the economy
is in good shape, we help a company to
expand its market more aggressively
and in a targeted fashion and to boost
its ratings for positioning itself with
banks and investors. The result is that
the company can again focus on its core
business.
If you are looking for this continuity,
security and improvement in your
balance sheet, and consequently productive growth with and through financial instruments as well, ACI Switzerland
would be pleased to meet with you for a
strategy meeting with no obligation on
your part.
Frank von Seth, Aon Credit International
Insurance Broker
[email protected]
RiskToday Newsletter, March 2011
Aon Hewitt
Zurich
Lagerstrasse
Phone +41 44 298 12 11
Bederstrasse
Phone +41 44 925 22 11
Aon Hewitt
Neuchâtel
Phone +41 32 732 31 11
Aon Hewitt
Nyon
Phone +41 22 363 65 11
Aon Hewitt
Geneva
Phone +41 22 827 07 00
Aon Global Risk Consulting
Basel
Phone +41 61 206 06 66
Aon Re (Switzerland) Ltd
Basel
Phone +41 61 206 06 06
Aon Insurance Managers
(Switzerland) AG
Baar
Phone +41 41 727 20 40
Aon Insurance Managers
(Liechtenstein) AG
Vaduz
Phone +423 235 02 50
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