12 13 THE BUSINESS TIMES / WEEKEND / JUNE 29-30, 2019 THE BUSINESS TIMES / WEEKEND / JUNE 29-30, 2019 THE RAFFLES CONVERSATION THE RAFFLES CONVERSATION

health, and data and analytic services. Mr Ander- sure that they’re doing the right thing by their to insurance companies and ask if they would in- sen handles the geographies of Europe, Middle employees but also (so) that they have a MICHAEL J sure this group. East and Africa, and Latin America, and the solu- highly-engaged, productive workforce”. O’CONNOR More recently, Aon developed an analytical tion areas of retirement and reinsurance. Caring for one’s employees is part of caring Co-president platform for employee health plans. Years of cli- TEAM PLAYER Despite this split in portfolios, the co-presid- for the company’s own health, after all. Aon’s ent data were used to build an algorithm that Aon plc ents “operate as truly a partnership”, says Mr solutions are not just about helping companies helps clients optimise their self-insured health O’Connor. “In some small way, hopefully our col- operate, but also “win in the war for talent”, he Born in Long Island, US programmes. “What used to be done through leagues see that as the way we expect all our col- adds. in 1968 hours and hours and hours in an office is now leagues to work across the world. Which is: true In the 2019 edition of its annual global risk done in seconds in front of our client on a com- partnership.” management survey, Aon found that many top EDUCATION puter,” says Mr O’Connor. risks remain uninsurable. These include increas- Bachelor’s in Accountancy Furthermore, the algorithm also draws upon TO THE CORE Having an impact ing competition and economic slowdown, from Mendoza College an employee perception database. This means Mr O’Connor was born in 1968 on Long Island, ranked among the top five worldwide, and of Business, University of that clients are able to not just optimise their New York, to parents who were “great believers named the top and fourth risks respectively by Notre Dame health plans around costs, but also see how MBA from Mendoza College in education”. After graduating from the Univer- respondents in Asia. changes to the programme would affect employ- of Business, University of sity of Notre Dame with a degree in account- But for other big risks – such as cyber attacks ees across different socioeconomic factors. Notre Dame Aon co-president Michael O’Connor talks about the professional services firm’s “Aon United” philosophy ancy, he joined former Big Five accounting firm or data breaches, ranked seventh in Asia and The platform was developed by Aon’s “team Doctor of Jurisprudence from in the field” along with their team in its Singa- which emphasises collaboration across different business areas and geographies. BY JANICE HENG Arthur Andersen in 1991. The firm met a sticky sixth worldwide – Aon has stepped up to serve. University of Chicago end about a decade later, due to its involvement To provide truly effective service, however, pore innovation centre, demonstrating how the in the 2001 Enron scandal. But its significance has required the acquisition of new capabilities. CAREER HIGHLIGHTS latter is not “an island unto itself”, says Mr for Mr O’Connor is a happier one: it was there Take cyber risks, for instance. “A few years 1991 Joined Arthur Andersen O’Connor. that he met his future wife. ago we looked and said, we had great brokerage 1997 Joined McKinsey & Aon has about 850 people in Singapore, in- After some three-odd years in Arthur Ander- capability, great risk capabilities around it, but Company cluding more than 100 in the global innovation sen, Mr O’Connor decided to “go back to school” the reality is we didn’t have enough technical 2008 Joined Aon as centre, which focuses on data and analytics. – specifically, law school. Yet along the way, as capability,” explains Mr O’Connor. Chief Operating Officer The firm’s global presence is one strength of Aon Risk Solutions he studied corporate law and worked at law Aon found the answer in Stroz Friedberg, an which it taps in its own efforts to attract and re- 2013–2018 Chief Executive firms during his degree at the University of expert provider of cybersecurity solutions, in- tain talent. “We want to create an environment Officer of Aon Risk Solutions where people feel developed and challenged,” Chicago, he realised his true interests lay else- cident response and recovery, and acquired the Since 2018 Co-President says Mr O’Connor, adding that Aon has the abil- where. “Ultimately for me, what really was inter- firm in 2016. The combination of Stroz Fried- of Aon ity to “create tremendous opportunities for esting was the underlying business,” he says. So berg’s technical capabilities and Aon’s risk man- people to learn”: both by learning from the cli- instead of going into legal practice after obtain- agement capabilities would make the overall ents they serve, and by working in different loca- ing his law degree, he joined management con- team more effective in both serving clients and tions across the world. sulting giant McKinsey & Company in 1997. “It working with insurance companies, explains Mr was a great training ground,” he remembers; a O’Connor. Busy schedule place to “see how great businesses worked”. It was a similar story in the area of IP, where He himself, of course, does his fair share of jet- There, once more, a theme from his past was the risks and issues have changed greatly in re- ting about. His travel schedule has been about underscored: “One of the things that became ap- cent times. Forty years ago, firms’ stock market the same for the last decade, he reckons: spend- parent was largely it came down to how the capitalisation was largely tied to tangible assets ing three out of every four weeks away from team operated. ...One of the things that was true such as plant, property, and equipment; today, home. in every one of the high-performing organisa- intangible assets are key, says Mr O’Connor. His family is based in Chicago, where his tions I saw is that they had fantastic teams.” “What we saw over the last few years was that wife is now a full-time mum – “She’s now got the One organisation that he noticed was Aon, the insurance industry was not doing enough, much-tougher job” – to their 12-year-old daugh- when he was serving it in his McKinsey role and we ourselves – as an adviser to clients – ter and 10-year-old son. from 2006 to 2008 and thus “got to have an in- were not doing enough. “I try to do everything I can to optimise time side look at how Aon was developing as a firm”. “So we stepped back and said: ‘What’s re- at home. So I count nights at home as one of my “For me, I was very fortunate to be able to get quired here?’ Again, our answer to that was that objective functions, which is how can I actually connected with Aon, be able to actually work we need more technical capability.” maximise nights at home,” he says – an object- with some of the team as an adviser from the Last year, Aon IP Solutions was formed, incor- ive function being a mathematical expression of porating the acquisition of IP consulting busi- outside, and then ultimately get the opportun- a business target. ness 601West and appointing the latter’s ity to join the firm.” But his busy schedule is a necessary part of “So it was a two- or three-year job interview,” co-founder Lewis Lee as the chief executive of- his role in Aon: “We have the belief that as a lead- he sums up with a laugh. ficer of the new group. Also joining Aon IP Solu- ership team we have to be in front of our col- Besides gaining insight into the firm’s work- tions were Stroz Friedberg’s IP team and mem- leagues, in front of our clients, and in front of ings, he saw “enormous potential to be able to bers of Aon’s merger and acquisitions team, our partners. have more impact with clients”, he adds. “That’s who had worked with clients on transactions in- “If you look at the businesses we’re in, in a what got me excited about joining Aon.” volving the buying and selling of IP. professional services environment where we’re Having unity, he adds, is for the sake of “a Summing up the significance of Aon IP Solu- “I look at my actually providing advice, counsel and solu- single cause”: serving clients. Though Aon is tions’ formation, Mr O’Connor says: “We have tions to clients, you need to spend time face to able to transact solutions for its clients, the role now the technical capability to truly understand role and face,” he points out. it plays is still largely that of an adviser, helping IP, to assess the strength of that IP, to be able to responsibility “What I do or what Eric does or Greg (Case, clients to identify and understand the risks they value it, and ultimately be able to work with in- Aon chief executive officer) does is interesting; BT PHOTO: YEN MENG JIIN are facing, assess and quantify the impact of surance markets to transfer some of that risk.” as to make sure what’s most important is what our colleagues such risks on their businesses, and take action In addition to strengthening its team with re- that we’re as are doing every day with clients.” O the uninitiated, distance running may not seem like a team That spirit has carried on to his career at Aon, where he has both indi- to transfer or mitigate them. “There’s more risk gard to specific industry areas, Aon has been supportive as His visits to Aon’s various offices – including sport. But in the university context, say, the seemingly solitary vidual and collective responsibilities as one of its two co-presidents. today than there ever has been.” Traditional building capabilities in the broader field of data its Singapore one, where our interview is taking pursuit can be fuelled by camaraderie, says Michael O’Connor, “As a professional services firm, a competitive priority, an imperative for risks persist while new risks are emerging, from analytics, with such skills applicable across its we can be to our place – help him “basically figure out what (he) co-president of global professional services firm Aon plc and col- us, is how do we actually connect our team better,” he says. The firm’s “Aon pandemics and cyber attacks to intellectual many solution areas. can do to make the environment more effective, T lege-era track star. United” philosophy emphasises collaboration across different business areas team, to allow property (IP) issues. “We’re a big believer that this industry has to the team stronger”. “In my former life I was a two-time All-American in track,” he shares, refer- and geographies. It’s no small task, given that the firm has been built up And while the layman might assume that be built on data and analytics. Fact-based in- them to be as It comes back, as always, to the Aon United ring to the distinction conferred to amateur student athletes who are among through some 450 acquisitions over the last few decades, with 50,000 people growing longevity and medical advances are sight that leads to action is absolutely what we effective as they concept and the centrality of the team: “I look at the top in their event. across 120 countries. positive developments, these trends do mean believe has to be done.” my role and responsibility as to make sure that Yes, some of that involved focusing on individual excellence, he grants. Yet Aon’s identity is far from fragmented. In the past year, Aon has moved that companies face increasing risks in the area Aon has been on a data drive for a while, can be with we’re as supportive as we can be to our team, to “But I think for myself, in my college days, it really was the success of the to a single brand for all its offerings, in a decision that was “hard to believe” in of health. As workers live and work for longer, though its efforts have grown more sophistic- clients. So my allow them to be as effective as they can be with team that got me most excited.” their industry, says Mr O’Connor. The company also moved to a single the incidence of sickness rises, Mr O’Connor ated as it gains capabilities. Take, first, an ex- job is, how can clients. Back when he was at the University of Notre Dame, its athletics pro- profit-and-loss statement and a global operating committee. points out. Healthcare costs are also rising in ample from several years ago, when Aon tapped “So my job is, how can I make the team be gramme was ranked third in the country. “(It) opened my eyes to the oppor- Then there is the co-president arrangement, in place since May 2018. “Eric tandem with medical improvements. the historical data of over 6,000 clients to under- I make the more successful.” tunities of being part of a team, being a contributor to try and actually accom- and I embody the spirit of Aon United,” says Mr O’Connor, referring to fellow In areas such as healthcare and retirement, stand that group’s collective risks – their collect- team be more plish something,” he sums up. “To me it was about: ‘How can I be the best co-president Eric Andersen. Mr O’Connor focuses on the markets of North Aon advises its clients on the appropriate bene- ive exposure to natural catastrophes, say. Using [email protected] player that I can be?’ And then: ‘How can I be the best teammate?’” America and Asia-Pacific, as well as the business areas of commercial risk, fits and plans to offer employees, “both to make those calculations, Aon was able to take the data successful.” @JaniceHengBT