Aon is the latest group to exit the financial advice business. It has agreed to a management buyout led by Aon Hewitt Financial Advice managing director Jayson Walker.
Aon said it would exit the adviser channel “in a phased approach over the coming months.”
It said the new ownership model would allow Aon Hewitt Financial Advice to invest in the requirements of a specialised advice business and respond to the needs of the marketplace.
Aon Hewitt featured in evidence before the Hayne Royal Commission, which heard that 831 of its clients were put into high-fee super funds without their consent. The company said at the time that it was working with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission to agree on a remediation plan.
The Royal Commission said Aon Hewitt’s behaviour was part of a pattern of behaviour, where financial institutions worked to hang on to trailing commissions.
Aon will focus on its superannuation and investment product offerings.
“This decision has been reflected in Aon’s alliance with Equity Trustees and the merger of Executive Superannuation Fund with the Aon Master Trusts in 2017 to create a $5 billion superannuation partnership,” the company says.
London-based Aon was in the news earlier this year, with a report that it was making a takeover move against Willis Towers Watson.
The two companies are the world’s second and third largest insurance brokers. Aon later announced that it was not proceeding with an offer.
In April, Aon announced that it was selling its talent practice to executive search firm Spencer Stuart.
The company said the sale
would “help accelerate investment in core growth areas and improve the return
on invested capital for shareholders.”
