Marsh and McLennan Companies

Marsh and McLennan Companies (MMC) is a leading professional services firm with offices in more than 130 countries. Founded in 1905, MMC provides consulting, risk and financial advice to clients around the world. Its four main businesses, Marsh, Guy Carpenter, Mercer and Oliver Wyman, offer a comprehensive suite of services designed to help clients navigate risk and achieve financial objectives.

Marsh is the world’s leading insurance broker and risk advisor, helping organizations protect their people, property and reputations from the financial and operational risks of doing business. Guy Carpenter is a global leader in risk and capital management, providing innovative solutions for clients in the insurance and reinsurance industries. Mercer is a global leader in human resources and benefits consulting, helping employers design and manage their benefit programs to ensure employees are supported and engaged. Oliver Wyman is a global leader in management consulting, combining deep industry expertise with advanced analytics to help clients transform their organizations.

MMC’s global footprint and comprehensive portfolio of services enable it to deliver customized solutions to meet the unique needs of each individual client. By leveraging its deep industry knowledge and expertise, MMC helps clients anticipate, navigate and manage risk more effectively. As a result, MMC’s clients are better able to achieve their financial objectives and create long-term value for their stakeholders.

1871: The company was founded by Henry W. Marsh and Donald R. McLennan and is headquartered in New York, NY.

1889: Following the death of Robert A. Waller, Henry Marsh and another employee, Herbert J. Ulmann, bought a controlling interest in the firm, which they renamed Marsh, Ulmann and Company.

1900: McLennan had begun an insurance agency in partnership with L.B. Manley in Duluth, Minnesota,.

1901: Henry Marsh talked Charles Schwab, president of the United States Steel Corporation, into adopting such a scheme, with Marsh's company managing an appropriate fund to estimate potential risks to United States Steel. While Marsh was pursuing United States Steel, McLennan was mastering the intricacies of railroads, winning one line after another.

1904: When the two men merged their firms, the new company was the largest insurance agency in the world with annual premiums of US$3 million and it was only the beginning.

1906: Following the retirement of Daniel Burrows, the new firm became known as Marsh & McLennan (M&M). Burrows, Marsh & McLennan was formed by Henry W. Marsh and Donald R. McLennan in Chicago in 1905. It was renamed Marsh & McLennan in 1906.

1917: The year the United States entered World War I, M&M had established offices throughout the country.

1921: Guy Carpenter met Henry Marsh and Donald McLennan during a transatlantic crossing.

1923: The legal structure of the company was changed from a partnership to a corporation, Marsh & McLennan, Incorporated. The reinsurance firm Guy Carpenter & Company is acquired a year after its founding by Guy Carpenter.

1944: William Mercer was a young economist at Canada's Powell River Company, then one of the world's largest paper manufacturers.

1955: Following Seabury's retirement and Kennedy's death, Hermon Smith became the CEO and chairman.

1957: Cosgrove & Company, the West Coast's largest regional broker, was merged into Marsh & McLennan. Beginning of the year, when a stockholder died, retired, or turned 70 years old, his stock had to be sold back to the company.

1958: Given the growing complexity of the insurance business and his desire for company growth, Smith began to explore the idea of going public.

1968: M&M acquired Edwards George and Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and R.H. Squire of New York City.

1969: To administer its services more efficiently, Marsh & McLennan reorganized, and became known as MarLennan Corporation.

1970: The first of these, the Putnam Management Company, became part of M&M.

1973: John Regan, who became chief executive, was determined to transform the company into a global insurance force, and embarked on a policy of buying foreign brokerage firms in the world's major financial cities. In 1973 MarLennan acquired a 33.3 percent interest in the French insurance brokerage Faugere et Jutheau.

1980: Regan set his sights on C.T. Bowring, a large London brokerage firm.

1982: Insurance program management separated from the consulting activities of Mercer to become a separate company, later called Seabury & Smith.

1984: Alex Oliver and Bill Wyman saw that the landscape of business was about to change in fundamental ways.

1985: Lawrence J. Lasser took charge of the operation, reorganized, expanded its offerings, and subsequently produced stellar growth.

1990: In January the company completed its purchase of a majority stake in Gradmann & Holler, Germany's largest insurance broker.

1993: "Putnam's performance couldn't come at a better time," Ronald Fink wrote in the Financial World article. "Marsh's core business--property and casualty insurance brokerage--has been in a slump for over six years.

1996: Rival firm Aon Corporation bumps MMC from a position as a top insurance brokerage.

1997: And the company has consistently recorded double-digit earnings growth," wrote Judy Temes for Crain's New York Business. "But suddenly, being good isn't good enough. The company bought Johnson & Higgins and Sedgwick shortly after.

1999: MMC trimmed back its insurance-related purchases but planned for more acquisitions in the consulting area.

2000: In terms of numbers, revenue topped the $10 billion mark, and net income rose by 23 percent to $1.2 billion.

2003: It purchased the consultancy business Oliver, Wyman & Company and merged these with some of the consultancy businesses it already had from previous acquisitions, particularly the Mercer business under the brand name of Oliver Wyman.

2007: The company became Mercer.

2008: Mercer And Tesi Merge.

2010: Mercer announced in July that it had acquired Innovative Process Administration, LLC (IPA), a privately owned, health and benefits administration technology provider.

2011: Mercer announced in July that it signed a definitive agreement to acquire Ft.

2012: Mercer announced acquired Alicia Smith & Associates, a nationally-known Medicaid policy consulting firm based in Washington, DC, in January.

2013: Mercer announced in September that it had acquired Global Remuneration Solutions (Pty) Ltd. (GRS), a leading compensation and benefits survey data and rewards information provider headquartered in South Africa.

2014: In March, Mercer reached a definitive agreement to purchase Transition Assist, a retiree exchange specializing in helping retirees in employer-sponsored plans select Medicare supplemental health care insurance.

“We create peace of mind by passionately delivering exceptional employee benefits and risk management solutions, committed to providing world-class resources with a local touch. Serving our clients, colleagues, carriers, and communities. Acting with integrity and respect.”

“We work to secure better futures for all, creating meaningful change in areas like cyber risk, healthy societies, protection gaps and climate resilience.”