Marsh & McLennan Companies history

In 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.

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

In 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.

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

In 1906, following the retirement of Daniel Burrows, the new firm became known as Marsh & McLennan (M&M).

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

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

In 1923 the legal structure of the company was changed from a partnership to a corporation, Marsh & McLennan, Incorporated.

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

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

In 1957 Cosgrove & Company, the West Coast's largest regional broker, was merged into Marsh & McLennan.

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

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

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

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

John Regan, who became chief executive in 1973, 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 1980 Regan set his sights on C.T. Bowring, a large London brokerage firm.

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

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

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

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

"Putnam's performance couldn't come at a better time," Ronald Fink wrote in a 1993 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 position as top insurance brokerage.

And the company has consistently recorded double-digit earnings growth," wrote Judy Temes for Crain's New York Business in 1997. "But suddenly, being good isn't good enough.

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

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

In 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.

The company became Mercer in 2007.

Mercer And Tesi Merge 2008

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

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

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

Mercer announced in September 2013 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.