Aon  |  Financial Institutions Practice
Intellectual Property

Over the last 40 years, there has been a significant shift in the asset mix of the global economy, with USD 19 trillion1, or nearly 85% of the value of the S&P 500 now represented by intangible assets2. Investment in intellectual property (IP) has changed the global landscape across industries and regions.

Many companies, however, have been slow to adopt new approaches to managing and developing their IP and intangible asset portfolios in a manner that fully captures value.

  • More so than ever before, organizations are required to adapt and innovate to stay competitive. Financial institutions (FIs) are also no stranger to this trend and continue to innovate. In recent years, financial institutions have needed to accelerate their digitalization strategy and as a result, there has been a surge in patent filings globally. Since 2013, large FIs have filed over 2,679 patents3 to improve operational efficiency and standardize practices.
  • Increasing reliance on intangible assets for both financial institutions and their clients adds new layers of complexity to first- and third-party risks. Articulating the value of IP and protecting it becomes ever more critical.

A spotlight on cyber:


Incidents involving foreign threats to corporate networks concerning theft of core intellectual property, financial and payment card information, and other data assets are on the rise. By implementing privacy by design concepts, updating incident response plans, and examining data collection practices, financial institutions can take a proactive approach to managing cyber risks associated with IP.

Given the predominance of intangible assets when calculating the enterprise value of many high growth companies globally, there is a growing need to provide the capital markets with confidence in the valuations ascribed to this asset class.

A new solution4 is available to leverage IP assets to serve as collateral in an insurance-enabled debt structure for growth capital that is a non-dilutive form of financing.

A comprehensive approach to IP risk management can help protect a lender's interests in the IP that the borrower uses as collateral for the loan by:

  • Assessing and valuing IP assets
  • Leveraging a proprietary, industry-defining IP analytics platform
  • Using these insights to arrange insurance coverage


Intangible assets are the foundation of today's global economy, and access to innovative solutions can help financial institutions both protect and maximize the value of these important assets.

1 https://www.aon.com/risk-services/amats/intellectual-property-solutions.jsp
2 https://www.aon.com/risk-services/amats/intellectual-property-solutions.jsp
3 https://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-CIOB-9707#:~:text=Since%202013%20 large%20financial%20institutions,from%20the%20prior%20three%20years.&text=and%20The%20Wall%20Street%20 Journal,Trademark%20Office%20(see%20chart)
4 https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aon-announces-launch-of-new-solution-to-create-greater-access-to-capital-based-on-the-value-of-an-organizations-intellectual-property-portfolio-301146630.html