Top insurance brokers, No. 2: Aon

2025 brokerage revenue: $16.99B
Percent increase: 10.4%

Investments in producers, technology and analytics helped drive growth at Aon in 2025 despite softer insurance pricing.

The brokerage achieved mid-single-digit organic growth during the year, and continued to expand through acquisitions, particularly in the middle market.

Like other publicly traded brokerages, Aon’s stock fell early in 2026 amid concerns that artificial intelligence could eventually disintermediate the insurance buying process — concerns that company executives and analysts say are overstated. 

Aon reported $16.99 billion in brokerage revenue in 2025, up 10.4% from a year earlier. Gross revenue rose to $17.18 billion from $15.70 billion and Aon maintained its position as the world’s second-largest insurance brokerage.

Analysts said Aon’s performance benefited from aggressive producer recruitment that began several years ago.

“What we saw … was a steadily increasing contribution from these new hires,” said Meyer Shields, managing director at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in Baltimore.

Although property insurance pricing weakened during the year, Aon’s expanded sales force and broad capabilities helped offset market headwinds, he said.

Aon’s fundamentals have held up better than many competitors, said J. Paul Newsome Jr., Minneapolis-based managing director at Piper Sandler & Co. 

“I think some of it is execution,” Mr. Newsome said. “Some of it is the timing of when they did new hires.”

The improvement marks a turnaround, when Aon’s organic growth lagged some peers, following the fallout from its abandoned bid to buy Willis Towers Watson.

Greg Case, Aon’s president and CEO, points to the company’s “3×3” plan as a key driver of growth. Announced in 2023, the initiative is designed to accelerate integration across the firm’s operations by organizing them around “risk capital” and “human capital.”

The strategy also includes investments in Aon business services, the firm’s technology and data platform, and expanded use of enterprise client leaders overseeing major accounts.

“We literally broke down this firm and restructured it around risk capital and human capital, because we can deliver more of an integrated set of pieces of content to our clients,” he said.

Mr. Case said Aon has invested $1.3 billion in the initiative and embedded artificial intelligence capabilities throughout a growing suite of analytical tools.

The brokerage has developed property, casualty and cyber risk analyzers that help clients evaluate exposures and insurance purchasing decisions.

Investor concerns that artificial intelligence could eventually reduce the role of intermediaries have weighed on brokerage valuations, including Aon’s.

“AI is not a strategy. You have a strategy. AI enables and modifies and accelerates a strategy, and we have literally built our firm to do just that,” Mr. Case said.

Investors’ disintermediation concerns are likely overstated, Mr. Shields said.

“We’re actually very unlikely to see a whole lot of insurance buyers opt to go without an adviser,” he said, citing the complexity of commercial insurance programs.

Commercial insurance has historically proven resistant to direct distribution models despite significant technology investments by insurers, Mr. Newsome said.

Acquisition activity also remained a contributor to growth for Aon.

It continued to expand through acquisitions completed through NFP, the middle-market brokerage it acquired in 2024, and other deals.

At the same time, Aon continued reshaping parts of its portfolio. Earlier this year, it sold NFP’s wealth management business.

“We are absolutely focused on maximizing the application of capital in areas where we think we can have the biggest difference,” Mr. Case said.

The brokerage also made several senior leadership changes over the past few months.

Anne Corona was named CEO of North America, while Joe Peiser assumed expanded responsibilities leading Aon’s risk capital operations. In addition, the brokerage announced several leadership changes in its global operations.

Analysts say the brokerage sector faces a more challenging environment than in recent years, as insurance pricing moderates and acquisition opportunities become less attractive.

“I don’t think the world’s falling apart for the brokers, but I definitely think it’s just not as good an environment as it was,” Mr. Newsome said.

Aon reported double-digit revenue growth in its commercial risk operations during the first quarter despite moderating property insurance pricing.