Aon

Aon publishes case studies describing where it has engaged successfully with investees on sustainability themes and impact topics.

Aon discloses that alignment with the Paris Agreement and nature- and biodiversity-related impacts are among its engagement topics with investees.

Aon has a grievance mechanism accessible to all workers, external individuals and communities to raise human rights complaints or concerns. It also has a publicly available policy statement which shows it is committed to respecting the health and safety of workers. The investment consultant has a policy prohibiting bribery and corruption and discloses that the responsibility for its global tax strategy sits with the chief financial officer.

In terms of its approach to senior leadership accountability, Aon has an opportunity to assign responsibility for sustainability to the group’s highest governing body and link the remuneration of its executive and management teams to sustainability performance criteria. In terms of female representation in leadership positions, women are underrepresented on the board of directors where only three out of 12 board members are women. The investment consultant also has an opportunity to reach at least 40% female representation in senior leadership positions and disclose the total ratio of basic salary to men and women per employee category. Aon has an opportunity to describe its engagement approach on sustainability themes and impact topics with investees.

There is no evidence that Aon discloses a target to reach net-zero financed emissions by 2050 across its assets under management. The investment consultant has an opportunity to disclose key sectors or companies it has identified as priorities to engage with on climate issues. It could also disclose that it collectively engages with investees on the topic of alignment with the Paris Agreement. While the financial institution encourages its managers to set a 1.5°C-aligned strategy, it has an opportunity to make this a requirement. Furthermore, Aon could disclose the amount of its investment devoted to climate solutions. Besides investor engagement on the topic of nature and biodiversity, there is no further evidence that Aon is committed to minimising the negative impacts it has on nature and biodiversity.

There is no evidence that Aon has a publicly available policy statement committing it to respect human rights laid out in the UN Guiding Principles and the ILO declaration on fundamental rights at work. The investment consultant has an opportunity to describe a comprehensive process for identifying its human rights risks and impacts across all its activities, especially its investment activities. Aon has an opportunity to disclose the proportion of its total direct operations workforce for each employee category by age group, gender or another indicator of diversity. To provide transparency on financial inclusivity, the investment consultant has an opportunity to disclose the amount of investment directed towards low-income developing countries.