Governance

March 30, 2026 10 mins

Governance

Strong governance is at the core of what we do as a firm. Our own model is built for transparency and trust, helping us bring our purpose to life and create value for our clients and colleagues.

Introduction
Board of Directors
Corporate Sustainability Steering Committee
Enterprise Risk Management Strategy
Ethics and Compliance
Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption
Governance Solutions for Clients
Related Information

Aon’s approach to governance and risk management focuses on:

Continued strong Board oversight of corporate sustainability and an enhanced, management-led corporate sustainability governance structure that together support effective decision making and long-term value creation.
Embedding Corporate Sustainability and ESG related risks into our enterprise risk management strategy, supported by strong oversight and governance, reflecting a holistic view of risk across Trade, Technology, Weather and Workforce.
Delivering trusted, innovative solutions to clients that help them navigate complexity, volatility and sustainability-related risks and opportunities.
Enhancing consistency and reducing risk through standardized operations, supported by our global Aon Business Services platform.
Driving accountability and transparency, through goals backed by metrics, Board and C-suite oversight of CS risks, opportunities, strategies, objectives and performance, and enhanced CS and climate-related disclosures informed by stakeholder feedback.

“Our approach is focused on linking governance, culture and purpose as a best practice,” said Darren Zeidel, executive vice president, general counsel, company secretary, and member of the CS SteerCo for Aon. “We combine strong organizational oversight with the flexibility, adaptability and resilience to meet the challenges brought by increasing volatility and the communication and behavior modeling that builds an ethical, values-driven culture. This is the foundation of better decision making.”

Board of Directors

Aon’s Board of Directors provides oversight related to Aon’s overall performance, strategic direction and performance, including management of the Company’s top risks and opportunities, including Aon’s sustainability efforts and people-related risks. The Board also reviews major initiatives and transactions and advises on key financial and business matters.

Our Board is focused on effective corporate governance to deliver long-term value for all stakeholders. Directors are elected annually and our Board engages in a thoughtful refreshment process, designed to ensure continuity, as well as increasing our expertise and insight into emerging risks. Since 2022, we have added five new independent Board members, who bring a variety of new perspectives and strong business acumen and experience.

Of the 13 directors on our Board, 12 directors are independent, including the Board chair. Our Board is comprised of members with a broad spectrum of backgrounds, experiences and expertise. Our Governance/Nominating Committee considers a number of demographic and other factors in seeking to develop a Board that, as a whole, reflects an appropriate mix of experiences, skills, qualifications and perspectives in the context of the needs of the Board.

Corporate Sustainability Steering Committee

At the management level, Aon’s Corporate Sustainability Steering Committee (CS SteerCo) is responsible for the development and execution of Aon’s corporate sustainability strategy, policies and programs. The Head of Strategic Finance and Corporate Sustainability serves as the chair of the committee, which is composed of senior leaders from across Aon. The Committee reports to the Board in support of the Board’s oversight function of Aon’s risks and opportunities, strategy, program and goals. The Chair of the CS SteerCo will periodically, and at least annually, report its activities to the Board and management.

The CS SteerCo can delegate certain duties and responsibilities to its two subcommittees: the Net-Zero Committee and Corporate Sustainability Working Group. The Net-Zero Committee is responsible for recommending targets and strategies to support Aon’s net-zero commitment as well as providing guidance on operational environmental issues and reporting. The Corporate Sustainability Working Group is responsible for executing strategy, drafting disclosure and commitments and managing ratings and stakeholder engagement with respect to Aon’s sustainability matters.

Enterprise Risk Management Strategy

Our corporate sustainability (CS) efforts are embedded across our business and risk management. Key CS risks identified in our enterprise risk assessment are incorporated into Aon’s ERM framework and are reviewed regularly. Aon’s Board of Directors reviews Aon’s CS strategy and, more generally, the Board (or through its committees) oversees the company’s sustainability risks and opportunities — including human capital management, governance, climate, executive compensation and data security and privacy, to name a few examples.

In 2025, the full Board (or its committees) reviewed people-related risks and opportunities, including colleague satisfaction and engagement survey results, hiring and talent pipeline, colleague wellbeing and succession planning. The full Board reviewed progress against Aon’s engagement and wellbeing strategy and initiatives and continued to review other key sustainability risks, strategy and progress toward sustainability targets, including but not limited to external commitments and governance of climate risks.

Ethics and Compliance

The Aon Code of Business Conduct represents our principles and shared values, setting standards for how we work with each other, our clients and our business partners. With the Aon Code of Business Conduct, we clearly communicate to every colleague the high expectations and requirements for how we conduct business. We also provide resources to colleagues so they are prepared to do the right thing in even the most challenging situations. Each year, all colleagues, officers and directors must certify they have read and understand the Aon Code of Business Conduct. Please see Aon’s Code of Business Conduct to learn more.

All suppliers are expected to adhere to Aon’s Code of Business Conduct and Supplier Code of Business Conduct. When choosing suppliers and other partners, we examine how they conduct themselves concerning engagement and wellbeing, human rights and environmental policies. With an emphasis on managing risk in our supply chain, this strategy helps ensure we establish trusted relationships with our suppliers who understand the unique needs of our stakeholders, the standards of our colleagues and the level of integrity our communities and clients expect.

We maintain an Ethics Helpline for applicants, colleagues and third parties to report in good faith potential violations of Aon’s Code of Business Conduct, policies and procedures or laws and regulations. We take all allegations seriously and have policies in place to prohibit retaliation. To help maintain confidentiality and impartiality, the Ethics Helpline is operated by an independent, third-party provider.

In 2025, Aon held its first Corporate Compliance & Ethics Week to highlight the vital role of ethical conduct and reinforce our commitment to the values that safeguard our reputation.

Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption

Our Global Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption Policy provides guidance and requirements to maintain Aon’s compliance with global anti-corruption laws, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the UK Bribery Act, Brazil’s Clean Companies Act and legislation enacted in accordance with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions. The policy also requires compliance with other applicable anti-corruption laws, including the federal, state and local laws of each country in which Aon operates.

Our reputation as a leading professional services firm is built on delivering distinctive value to clients and representing the highest levels of integrity, ethics and values. Aon’s Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption program provides guidance and requirements for conducting business in accordance with our high ethical and legal standards. All colleagues are required to complete mandatory training focused on our Code of Business Conduct and compliance policies, including Global Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption, Anti-Money Laundering, and Global Trade Restrictions, among other standards.

Governance Solutions for Clients

Strong governance enables better decision-making by creating the conditions for organizations to quickly adapt to change, reassess priorities and manage emerging risks. Aon equips business leaders with real-time insights and practical solutions to navigate an increasingly complex regulatory and stakeholder landscape, helping them identify material risks and make more informed decisions through enhanced governance and oversight over key risk factors.

Our Aon United strategy is designed to meet our clients’ needs by bringing together the full breadth of our firm’s CS expertise. Working across solution lines — with specialized expertise in Risk Capital and Human Capital — and applying industry-specific insights, we deliver tailored approaches grounded in a nuanced understanding of each client’s business. This integrated perspective helps organizations navigate complex conversations and deliver clear, relevant information so that critical stakeholders, including regulators, investors, employees and customers can achieve optimal outcomes.

The business environment is changing constantly, and with that comes new risks — and opportunities — that require companies and their boards to adapt and reprioritize in light of evolving regulatory requirements and stakeholder expectations consistent with the company’s strategy and risk appetite.

Laura Wanlass

Global Head of Corporate Governance and ESG Advisory, Aon.

“We bring together a team of experts to address those risks in an integrated, cohesive way, relying on data and analytics and decades of experience so our clients can make better business decisions that serve them not only today but over the long term.”

Reputation Advisory Services

Our reputation risks advisory solutions and tools provide leading approaches and analytics to help organizations identify, understand, and address the risks that can harm their reputation/brand. This end-to-end approach includes finding and evaluating the most significant reputation risks, quantifying their potential exposure and tactical approaches to both prevent and respond if an event occurs. We use innovative solutions to help organizations identify current and emerging reputation risk themes across business models, peers, industries and geographies. Our proprietary algorithm allows us to quantify the shareholder value of reputation risk. Aon also can create scenarios to understand and analyze the financial impacts of reputation risk on the balance sheet. Aon’s unique Value Recovery Index (VRI) allows an organization to self-assess its abilities against leading practices to successfully recover from a reputation crisis. Our consultants use a diverse set of capabilities to enable the organization to properly prepare for, manage and become operationally and enterprise-resilient. Our incident response solutions and services are also recognized for the strength of our vision, expertise, integrated approach and comprehensive capabilities spanning risk assessment, claims preparation and advocacy.
Executive and Board Advisory Services

We provide independent, evidence-based advice and decision support, helping boards evaluate trade-offs and options against their chosen strategy, risk appetite, and obligations. Our colleagues serve as formal advisors to senior leadership teams and boards of directors on current and emerging issues regarding governance and sustainability, human capital (including executive compensation), corporate governance, cyber, AI and related sub-topics. This includes presenting trends at quarterly board meetings, making recommendations on key decisions by using benchmark data, and leveraging our knowledge of the regulatory landscape and stakeholder expectations. Our consultants serve as dedicated advisors to audit, nominating, and governance and compensation/human capital committees of public and private company boards. We also offer director onboarding and ongoing education, as well as real-time tabletop exercises on cyber threats and other business continuity topics.