Recommendations
My advice regarding investing in shares of Aon:
I feel this is a well managed company, the somewhat recent creation of the three business unit structure by CEO Case's pursuit of acquisitions of Benfield and Hewitt, and subsequent effort to gel cultures by sponsoring Manchester United soccer team seems very well planned and executed. The stock markets seem to agree.
I also see futher opportunity for expansion by acquistion or organic growth into new sectors. The management team that executed the Benfield and Hewitt deals is mostly still in place at Aon, and with their experience should be well setup to successfully compete in new fields. The very recent purchase of cyber security firm Stroz Friedberg in October 2016 is a great example of this.
I would warn however, that with the dramatic growth in the stock price of Aon since 2010 or so, and with the large size of the firm, there is a significant risk of their financials flattening and the market share price experiencing a reversion to the mean at the end of acquisiton activity. It will be difficult to keep getting progressively larger for an indefinite time, so at some time this is likely to happen.
My advice regarding seeking new employment at Aon:
I think this would be a great fit for someone who is just starting out in their post-college career. A market leading firm such as Aon has the resources to adequately train new hires, and offer lots of opportunity for advancement in those lower levels of the organization.
For someone with mid-level experience, a large firms such as this may not offer as much opportunity for advancement into the upper levels of management as quickly as smaller firms might.
I feel this is a well managed company, the somewhat recent creation of the three business unit structure by CEO Case's pursuit of acquisitions of Benfield and Hewitt, and subsequent effort to gel cultures by sponsoring Manchester United soccer team seems very well planned and executed. The stock markets seem to agree.
I also see futher opportunity for expansion by acquistion or organic growth into new sectors. The management team that executed the Benfield and Hewitt deals is mostly still in place at Aon, and with their experience should be well setup to successfully compete in new fields. The very recent purchase of cyber security firm Stroz Friedberg in October 2016 is a great example of this.
I would warn however, that with the dramatic growth in the stock price of Aon since 2010 or so, and with the large size of the firm, there is a significant risk of their financials flattening and the market share price experiencing a reversion to the mean at the end of acquisiton activity. It will be difficult to keep getting progressively larger for an indefinite time, so at some time this is likely to happen.
My advice regarding seeking new employment at Aon:
I think this would be a great fit for someone who is just starting out in their post-college career. A market leading firm such as Aon has the resources to adequately train new hires, and offer lots of opportunity for advancement in those lower levels of the organization.
For someone with mid-level experience, a large firms such as this may not offer as much opportunity for advancement into the upper levels of management as quickly as smaller firms might.