Aon Acquires Ward Financial Group and Westfield Financial Corp.

On the heels on the Ward Financial Group’s release of its Ward’s 50, Aon Corp. announced it has acquired the firm and its parent company, Westfield Financial Corp., from Ohio Farmers Insurance Company.

Ward, a provider of benchmarking and best practices research studies for insurance companies in North America, will be integrated with Aon's McLagan Partners, an Aon Hewitt company and a performance/reward consulting and benchmarking firm for the financial services industry. McLagan works with global financial services firms worldwide, including investment, commercial and retail banks, securities firms, investment management organizations and hedge funds and views the insurance industry as a natural extension to its existing client base.

"This acquisition enables us to provide our leading performance/reward and benchmarking solutions to the full spectrum of financial services firms," said Brian Dunn, chairman of McLagan. "Using Aon's vast worldwide network, we expect to quickly become the leading pay and performance provider to the global insurance sector."

Ward has executed more than 1,500 benchmarking initiatives for approximately 350 insurance companies throughout North America, including more than half of all major U.S. property/casualty insurers. The firm most recently released its Ward's 50 top performing property/casualty and life/health insurers.

Current Ward President, Jeff Rieder, who recently provided insight into the list on INNTV doesn’t expect any changes to the Ward’s 50 program or core services to the industry. “Our primary goal right now is to ensure a smooth transition for our clients and ensure they don’t experience any changes to the services they receive today,” he told INN. “The key benefits to Ward are that it will help increase our U.S. footprint, and we intend to build on our success in the United States by leveraging McLagan’s operational platforms in regions such as the U.K., the Middle East and Asia to better our clients in the global insurance industry.

Rieder will continue to lead the group, reporting to Michael Burke, president of McLagan Partners. "Ward shares our focus on clients and our commitment to excellence. They will be a great fit with McLagan and Aon Hewitt," said Burke. "During the past two decades, Ward has developed a strong brand and established a significant leadership position in the insurance sector throughout North America. We intend to build on this success by leveraging McLagan's platform in Europe, the Middle East and Asia to better serve our clients in the global insurance industry. I welcome Jeff and his colleagues to the McLagan team."

Ward's employees are expected to transition to McLagan and remain in Cincinnati, Ward's current headquarters. "We are very excited to join McLagan and Aon," said Rieder. "They have an internationally recognized reputation for innovation with a singular focus on client service, and I know Ward's clients will benefit from access to a truly global network and all of the services and resources offered by Aon's leading brands."