Aon plc (AON) Q3 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Good morning, and thank you for holding. Welcome to Aon PLC's third quarter 2026 conference call. At this time, all participants will be in a listen-only mode until the question-and-answer portion of today's call. To join the question queue, please press star 1 on your touchtone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. I would also like to remind all parties that this call is being recorded. If anyone has an objection, you may disconnect your line at this time. It is important to note that some of the comments in today's call may constitute certain statements that are forward-looking in nature, as defined by the Private Securities Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical For information concerning these risk factors, please refer to our earnings release for this quarter and to our most recent quarterly or annually SEC filings, all of which are available on our website. Now it is my pleasure to turn the call over to Greg Case, President and CEO of Aon PLC. Please go ahead.

GREG CASE- Good morning and thank you for attending our third quarter earnings call. I'm joined today by Nidin Bharani, Interim CFO, Andy Marcel, Deputy CEO with Responsibility for Risk Capital and Human Capital, and Ann Corona, CEO of North America. The presentation, which Nidin will reference during his remarks, is available on our website.

Our outstanding third quarter results reflect continued momentum across the firm and reinforce high confidence in our Aon United strategy.

We delivered 6% overall organic growth with 7% in risk capital and 5% in human capital, demonstrating broad-based strength across our solution lines. As we progress through the final year of our 3x3 plan, our execution and ongoing investments in talent and technology are delivering differentiated value for clients, expanding our opportunity set, and creating long-term value for our shareholders. Today, we want to emphasize three important drivers of our performance this past quarter and as we look to the future. First, the force is shaping client demand. Second, our Aon United operating structure with integrated risk capital and human capital capabilities. And third, our recently announced pending acquisition of USI, which together with NFP and Aon, establishes the premier U.S. middle market platform for clients. Let's start with the landscape for business decision makers and what we're hearing from clients. Today's macroeconomic environment continues to be defined by volatility and complexity. Geopolitical uncertainty remains elevated, economic conditions are uneven, and cyber threats continue to evolve. All while rapid technology innovation is creating new opportunities, reshaping business models, and workforce strategies. These forces don't exist in isolation. They're deeply interconnected, making it more complicated than ever for businesses to understand their risks, build resilience, and grow. In uncertain and challenging times, clients turn to A.M. as a trusted partner to help them diagnose risk and people issues, design bespoke programs, and access capital solutions. And with rapid technology change, the catalyst to deliver sustained client impact and greater value over the long term will be at the intersection of human expertise, proprietary data, and technology. Cassettes will not accrue solely to AI models or to individuals, but rather to organizations with the technology and talent to build trusted, lasting client relationships. This is exactly where Aon is positioned, and it links directly to my second topic, How Aon continues to strengthen our capabilities to help clients make better decisions for their businesses and employees. Our Aon United strategy remains the foundation upon which we capture these opportunities. By bringing together risk capital and human capital, supported by Aon Business Services, we connect data, analytics, expertise, and access to capital across our firm. This integrated approach is a key differentiator, allowing us to address client needs more comprehensively And deliver better advice and superior solutions. And our strategy is further accelerated by AI, as our analyzers and diagnostics lead to better insights that help us win more business, retain more clients, and create new revenue opportunities. We're also capturing productivity gains as we leverage our shared services platform and domain expertise to deliver faster, more relevant, and more actionable insights for clients. Importantly, this work continues to reinforce our Aon United advantage, which translates into stronger client results. A few examples highlight how this advantage is powering our momentum. During the quarter, we were appointed as the lead broker for the reinsurance program of a new natural catastrophe program introduced by the Thai government to reduce the protection gap for natural disasters, particularly flood, the significant peril in Thailand. The program This program is executed by a consortium of local insurers through the Thailand General Insurance Association and provides broad risk coverage, including flood, earthquake, and windstorm to 30 million households in Thailand, the vast majority of which currently have no insurance. This work and impact demonstrates the relevance and strength of risk capital, connecting insurance and reinsurance, along with the national government, to reduce the production gap in a region where natural perils have profound impact for millions of people. Another example highlights our ability to broaden capital access and attract new capital pools. Our partnership with a leading alternative asset manager shows how Aon combines proprietary data, analytics, and structuring expertise to deliver innovative capital solutions. Traditional insurance capital remains critically important, but the scale of emerging client needs increasingly requires us to connect risk with capital beyond the traditional insurance We have spoken previously about the $250 trillion of capital globally, and this is a clear, tangible example of our work to selectively bring these sources of capital to bear on behalf of clients. Our ability to quantify risk exposure and provide investors with the insight required to deploy capital with confidence will create additional capacity for clients and expand the universe of insurable risks, which brings me to the third driver of our performance, especially as we look to the future. USI and the U.S. middle market opportunity. Post-close, we could not be more excited about the opportunity to bring together USI team members and our colleagues at NFP and Aon to set a new standard of capability, expertise, and client service for the middle market. This important growing segment includes more than 200,000 companies and 48 million employees, representing an addressable market of more than $40 billion across commercial risk, health, and wealth. These businesses face the same interconnected forces as our largest clients, and they need full access to analytics, insights, and capital solutions required to protect and build their companies. Against this backdrop, our acquisition of USI, which we expect to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, represents an important step in the development of our global middle market strategy and builds directly on the successful foundation we established with NFP. USI also gives us direct access to the fast-growing E&S market, expanding our ability to match capital with client need, and provide greater capital access across all markets. And with the addition of approximately $11 billion of P&C premium flow, we continue to enhance our middle market data footprint, further improving our Aon United advantage. Together, Aon, NFP, and USI will create the premier 6.5 billion U.S. middle market platform combining deep local relationships and distribution with the full capabilities of USI, NFP, and Aon. Fundamentally, this strategy is all about being better and giving our colleagues greater content, capability, and market access to serve clients with increasing levels of distinction. In addition, we also outlined key initiatives that will capture 395 million of expected synergies, including connecting producers and client leaders to broader content and capability, optimizing premium placement for clients, expanding market access, and simplifying technology and operations. Since the acquisition announcement, planning is well underway for the implementation of these initiatives, with integration planning teams in place and clear work streams to bring USI, NFP, and Aon together at closing as one connected middle market platform. We look forward to welcoming Mike Sicard and the incredible team at USI to Aon as we build out this terrific growth opportunity. Overall, we have emphasized a few points. Taken together, our Q3 results and the progress we continue to make across our firm reinforce our confidence in the trajectory of our business and our ability to deliver on our strategic and financial commitments and prior stand-alone guidance. As the environment continues to evolve and the underlying derivers of client demand remain strong, organizations need better insights in their interconnected risk and people challenges. They need broader and more innovative access to capital, and they need trusted partners who can combine data, analytics, capabilities, and frontline expertise across markets and geographies. AI United positions us to meet these needs. Our alignment across risk capital and human capital, enabled by ABS, is creating greater value for clients and accelerating momentum across the firm. Our investments in technology and AI are amplifying our expertise and strengthening how we serve clients, and the announced acquisition of USI advances important growth pillars across the middle market and ENFs. As we progress through the final year of the 3x3 plan, we remain focused on discipline execution and our overall growth agenda to our more than 60,000 colleagues around the world. Thank you. Thank you for your continued commitment to our clients, each other, and our Aon United strategy. Your dedication drives our momentum and gives us confidence to continue to deliver for our clients, colleagues, and shareholders. Now let me turn the call over to Nadine. Nadine?

Thank you, Greg, and good morning, everyone. Our third quarter results once again demonstrate the strength and durability of a business built to deliver through the cycle. We achieved our highest organic revenue growth of the year so far, continued strong adjusted margin expansion, and drove double-digit adjusted EPS growth. Clear evidence of broad-based momentum across our solution lines and disciplined execution of our long-term strategy. Our client-centric organizational structure, Aon United, combined with continued investments in talent, data, analytics, and AI, positioned us well to create more value, innovate for our clients. We did 9 to 11 points of growth, now for 10 consecutive quarters. As we've announced, we plan to extend the Aon United advantage to the premier middle market platform that we're establishing with the pending acquisition of USI And building on the successful performance that enhances our ability to serve the growing middle market sector. Real revenue increased 3% to 4%. Adjusted operating income increased 5% to $1.1 billion. Adjusted operating margin expanded by 70 basis points to 20. And adjusted EPS grew 10%, created $1.1 billion. Into the details of these results, starting with organic revenue growth. Organic revenue growth was 6% delivering mid-single digits or greater. The organic revenue by meaningful continued strength quarter, demonstrating demand for specialized underwriting solutions for growth across our MGA and market conditions reflects the differentiated value we deliver through risk capital innovate and bring together more than continue to explore demand for our momentum in navigate rising health 2024.

If you'd like to ask a question, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line in the question queue. You may press star 2 if you'd like to remove your question from the queue. We ask that you each keep to one question and invite you to rejoin the queue for any additional questions. Thank you. Our first question comes from the line of Andrew Kliegerman with TD Cowan. Please proceed with your question.

Thanks, and good morning. As I think about Aon's exceptional organic growth for another consecutive quarter, broker facilities come to mind. I hear about Aon doing a $10 billion data center facility, a $2.5 billion energy facility, something with Blackstone and reinsurance. It just continues on. So my question is, what's the runway for data, not just data center, but facilities in general? Do you see that having a long runway at Aon and industry-wide for brokers? And then the second part of it is with Aon's history of innovation, more broadly, I know you touched on a few specifics in your opening remarks, Greg, but more broadly, are there other innovations that are having the kind of impact at Aon, like broker facilities?

Well, first of all, Andrew, thanks for the question. Appreciate it. And listen, a lot to unpack there in terms of sort of the overall line. First, let me, this whole area around the data centers and evolution and bringing capital in the industry, all these innovations are here. And before it's, Andrew, because of client need. We spent a huge amount of time understanding client need and how it's evolved and essentially structured the firm so we could respond to that. You're seeing that. I do want to emphasize, though, before we get into the detail, and I want to also say it's just been – it's awesome to have Andy and Ann on the call with Indy and I. You're going to get a chance to get even more frontline color. So I'm going to go to both of them in a second to get their response. But I would start with foundationally, Andrew. This is another strong quarter of growth, as you highlighted, across – and really think about the consensus from Q325 on top of a strong period. So this is growth on growth. And it really is, our team's excited about it, not because of the performance really, it's really about what you're describing. It's client momentum. And it really is client momentum that continues to build. And it's beyond a single area. These innovation pieces are just steps. They're components. They're not the overall answer. They're important, but they're real. The fundamentals of our progress and the momentum has really been much more broad-based. It reflects really this response to client need I described. And at a foundational level, it comes back to the work of the 3x3. Again, we listened to clients and years, you know, now for three years, broke down our firm and rebuilt it around alignment. We changed the organizational structure, risk capital and human capital, and AI business services, connected it in an aligned way, and then, frankly, have amplified it with AI. And this has really brought us to a place where we can respond. I mean, think about being able to sit across the table from, you know, a financial sponsor of operating capital and you've got risk capital, that means you've got commercial risk and reinsurance at the table, or a data center at the table, at cyber, you know, risk capital at the table. So all these things sort of contribute to these pieces. Our view fundamentally, Andrew, is demand is going up. More volatility, more complexity, and our ability to respond and meet client need is the opportunity. That's why we did AM Business Services. That's why we did risk capital. and human capital. That's why we invested in 3x3. But I was thinking, Andy, you know, provide some thoughts and views as you think about sort of the specifics on a couple of these areas. We'll cover them more in detail. And then, Anne, I think what the frontline field response has also been exciting to see because our colleagues are excited about this level of innovation. Andy, maybe over to you. Yeah, thanks, Greg.

I mean, our performance in commercial risk and reinsurance has been pretty broad-based, particularly our core P&C business has exceptional results. And in part, that's driven by The

commercial risk organic growth has been broad based on top of a very strong comp from the prior period. The full year delivered 7% organic growth on top of 7% last year. In North America, 7% organic growth over 10%. We're doing more, we're winning more, and we're keeping our clients for longer around the world. Our clients are sharing how our talent and technology are driving better outcomes for them. Just last month, we held our North American Client Council. This is a gathering of 50 of the largest global companies that are headquartered in the U.S., and the clients shared direct feedback, exceptionally positive direct feedback, that our analyzers and diagnostic tools are enabling them to make different and more effective risk transfer decisions. In fact, one client explained how they moved their cyber program to Aon because of our team and capabilities, and then had the confidence to restructure their program. Our AI-enabled tools are differentiated because they're built by Aon Business Services along with our colleagues in the business, and then we can continue to iterate them based on that direct client feedback. Bottom line is, it's working.

Got it. My follow-up question is around potential for divestitures. Just to confirm, Greg, you said USI was going to close in the fourth quarter. It sounds like everything's on track. But I think about NFP wealth, and you raised $2.7 billion from that divestiture. I wonder, are there places inside of Aon where, and obviously you're not going to point to anything specific on this question on the call, but are there areas where Aon could divest or would want to divest? What do you think about on that front?

Well, Andrew, appreciate the question. And as you step back and think about how we orient ourselves, again, we're looking across our company around, you know, the deployment of capital. We treat this, you know, this is sacred for us. And, you know, the approach we take is a pooled approach. And we're looking for return on invested capital. And we're looking across our firm at all aspects of the firm. And we'll always be doing this. So, you know, we've made many, many acquisitions, many divestitures to optimize return on capital overall. So anticipate we're doing that. You're exactly right on USI. Everything's proceeding exactly as planned. Fully anticipate closing in Q4, as we described, and fully anticipate sort of deploying capital in the most optimal way over time as we pay down the debt that is out there and sort of move forward, and we'll continue to look for these opportunities. But, Naden, anything else you'd add on that on the capital allocation side?

Yeah, I would, you know, I would say that just as you mentioned, we're always looking at opportunities to optimize the portfolio, but when it comes back to objectives and our returning access can enable that for us.

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, just as a reminder, please keep to one question each. Our next question comes from the line of Elise Greenspan with Wells Fargo. Please proceed with your question.

Hi, thanks. Good morning. My question Question is on the USI transaction. I just was hoping, you know, now that it's been a little bit since you announced the deal, could you just provide us, you know, hopefully more color on just the drivers of the revenue synergies? I know, you know, we previously touched on just the USI and like the wholesale component there and how that could be, you know, you know, could help drive the revenue synergies that you outlined. Can you just update on us, you know, since you announced the deal, the work that you've done, the confidence, you know, You know, that you potentially have in the revenue synergies and the wholesale piece, as well as anything else that you want to highlight that's going to drive the revenue synergies you're expecting with the transaction.

Absolutely, Lisa. Really appreciate it. Listen, I have to start with the foundation, though. You know, we're here around with USI and the middle market opportunity, at least because the foundation has been set by the three by three, by risk capital, human capital, ABS, and now acceleration with AI. That success and momentum has been tremendous, and you see it in the results today, but in addition to that, we saw the opportunity in the middle market to literally deliver a premier U.S. middle market platform, and this is building on, really building on the USI capability, NFP capability, Aon capability, and it's frankly about greater value for clients through our frontline leaders, through our producers, through our client leaders, and we saw it. We could see it. We proved it with NFP. It was so clear. And now with USI and that combination, it was 59 days ago, for those who were keeping track. We had high expectations then when we announced. Candidly, at least they're stronger now. We brought the team together. We've got the planning in place, fully in place for action on day one once we close. And really, I want to get Nadine to talk about the synergy capture overall, but specifically around revenue. But listen, And this opportunity for us builds on this foundational platform with another area of incremental, substantial growth in the middle market and in ENS and with the data footprint we've got now sort of in the middle market. So, you know, the expectation we have is high, and you should have high expectations on us as well. Let's talk the synergy capture again, and then we'll get some reactions from Anne and Andy as we see it out in the field.

Right. Yeah. So let's take a step back, and let me just explain. We've identified $395 million in EBITDA run rate synergies, and these come from 33 specific work streams that we've identified, 23 revenue work streams, and 10 cost work streams. If I start with the cost, that represents $280 million, 71% of the total synergies, and we have really high confidence in being able to achieve these because 90% of these are expected to be completed by 2028, And these are through our global capability centers, technology savings, and other efficiencies. This is a proven playbook for us. This is part of what we've been doing with the 3x3 strategy and the AVS platform that we've developed over the years. And the NFP integration provides the muscle memory and the recency effect of 29% direct placement.

I'm confident that we will deliver to the synergies that's been described, and we see potential for more. We've proven our ability to deliver on targeted synergies with the NFP combination, and we're excited to build on the success of the NFP Foundation and to learn from the USI team members. And we are truly thrilled to deliver better outcomes for our clients and our colleagues. It's about creating the premier middle market platform and bringing new content and capabilities to companies in the growing middle market.

Ed, you want to comment on some of the broken pieces?

Sure. Actually, we were at CIAV with a team on all the carriers, and the revenue opportunities that we identified are actually magnified from the feedback that we got from the carriers. We have a real clear line of sight.

Does that help on the lease?

That is. And then my second question, I wanted to pivot to reinsurance. You guys have seen strong growth there, and we've seen a little bit of a dispersion across the industry in just the organic growth trends. Even, you know, I know there was perhaps some, you know, one-time-ish revenue in the quarter, but even excluding that, you know, there's still positive, you know, in excess of the mid-single-digit target. So can you just give us a sense of what's been driving the reinsurance organic and how we should think about that trending into 2027 when it seems like, right, we'll probably see, you know, another round of double-digit price declines on the property cap side at 1-1.

Absolutely, and I appreciate the question. Listen, we have an incredible team with a long record of performance really over time. And I admire about the team. These guys, you know, this absolutely relentless pursuit of client impact, but they also are constantly looking around on innovation and new ideas and new solutions to bring to market. And so I want to get Andy to talk a little bit about sort of this history, but this idea around diversification and all the ways we can support and help clients really has sort of It played a significant role. Also, I just want to highlight the commercial risk result and the reinsurance result, both, really are a testament to risk capital. You know, we're literally putting content in the room that was different than it was before, analytics that are different and people that are different reinforcing and supporting each other, fully aligned. That means a different set of solutions for clients, better set of solutions. That shows up. The reinsurance capability shows up in reinsurance, and you're seeing it also shows up in commercial risk when you see it sort of in some of the bigger, more complex items that our clients are facing, you know, think data centers, et cetera. So it really is, you know, a unique combination that's come out of this alignment that we've worked so hard to create with risk capital, and you're, again, seated in reinsurance with a great group of leaders. And, you know, this is 7% on top of, I think, 8% in the prior year period, Andy. So this is, you know, pretty unique, good momentum, as we talked about before. But your thoughts on sort of what's happening under the hood here?

Yeah, thanks, Greg. I think the reinsurance story is, you know, it's a risk capital story, and it's a diversification investor day. And, you know, from a risk capital standpoint, you know, a global fact.

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Rob Cox with Goldman Sachs. Please proceed with your question.

Hey, good morning. Yeah, so when I think about the outcomes of Aon's strategy and all the innovative work in recent periods, a couple of those outcomes are this 100 basis points plus of organic contribution from talent and the really consistent 70 basis points plus of margin expansion, which goes back to the 2025 investor day, I believe. As we look through to 2027 and beyond, should we be thinking about those underlying drivers as sustainable underneath any impacts from USI and all the integration involved?

Yeah, Rob, thanks for the question. I'll start with an overview, then go to an aden on the specific mechanics here, and we might even get into a field view around sort of the credibility of all those comes back to clients and client reaction, and that's the fuel. The answer is it's not only sustainable. We believe we've got greater momentum against those objectives than ever before. And it's not magic, right? It literally is client demand, client needs going up. Our ability to respond has been shaped literally to their requests, what they're demanding, and we're seeing opportunity. And, you know, when we were attracting talent and building talent inside of Aon, but remember, it's not just it's talent with technology. It's the content, the capability around it. So none of this is bigger. This is all about better. Better in the middle market, better in large corporate, better in enterprise client. Because we've got a set of solutions that we've come together and developed over time, we also can not just innovate, but innovate at scale more quickly and more effectively. So all these things are literally the reason, the goal, the objective we had when we set out on A&M United, you know, over a decade ago, but really why we, you know, over three years ago dove in and said we've got to do better. We changed structure, risk capital, and human capital. That is alignment. That is reaction to the market. ABS absolutely towering in terms of its connectivity, but as Ann said, it wasn't in isolation. It was with the field. So, all these things came together to give us capability that has enabled our current performance and our view is the model we described at Investor Day is the model that literally you're seeing play out. But, Naden, thoughts?

Yeah, let me build on that. So, you know, our full year objective in terms of priority revenue generating hires was 4% to 8% for the full year. And we've achieved 4% year to date, so we're already at the – and it's not just about the – which is why we have a range. And so we're really pleased with the performance that we've seen. As I mentioned in my remarks, those terms are their contribution. And as we continue to bring on more cohorts, that's just going to build on top of each other. So it's not really just about, you know, one quarter or one year. It's a program that we book because they help you.

Thanks, Nadim, and attract and retain talent. The fee producer attention is higher than the pre-acquisition numbers, and the enthusiasm with which external candidates are reaching out is profound. The candidates are keen to join our winning team and to serve clients with our AI-enabled capabilities. It's the analyzers, the diagnostic tools. In addition to brokers and producers, we're attracting the best client leaders, and they are serving the most complex clients. Client leaders are joining from within the industry, but also we're attracting client leaders from outside the industry, from technology, manufacturing. We're joining integrated risk capital and human capital.

Okay, next question. Our next question comes from the line of Meyer Shields with KVW. Please proceed with your question.

Thanks so much. I was hoping to sort of look at the USI acquisition in the context of NSP. Specifically, I was hoping to give us a timeline for accelerating legacy NFT production and what the timeline, whether the timeline would be the same for USI when they have access to Aon's tools.

I love it, Meyer. Listen, we have long thought about this middle market opportunity. With ABS, we had the opportunity then to go in and really address it in a way that we felt could be powerful for clients, but also a creative for Aon and all the above that comes with it. But NFP proved it. We saw it. We could see it happen. By the way, it was the front line of NFP that made it happen. It was the producers, the client leaders, as they picked up. And by the way, we learned a huge amount from NFP. You know, hopefully they picked up a few things from Aon together, and together we're just stronger as we work together. And so we proved it. We learned a lot, though, in two plus years. We learned a lot. So not only do we see the opportunity now with USI at the table, with NFP, with Aon, together, and I want to emphasize this, together, a single platform that's going to make a difference, under the leadership of Mike Sicard, who's watched this for 20 years, been in this game, our view is that opportunity is even greater than we anticipated when we came in with NFP. Even greater. We've seen it. We've proved it. Now we've got all the capability around the table to make it happen. So, you know, listen, we have high expectations on what this might be and what it will play out to be. We're highly confident on the synergies, as Nadine described, but really the place we're most excited is the impact, you know, with our colleagues sitting across the table from clients around how they can help them succeed. So, you know, I think, again, the performance of, you know, NFP, we're not reporting it externally, is as strong as it's, you know, maybe the highest score it's been over the last, since they've joined, and we see that opportunity playing out in an even faster fashion over time together with the platform of USI.

That's exactly right. You know, we're really pleased with the NFP performance, a really, really strong.

Okay, Maya.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next question comes from the line of Bob Wang with Morgan Stanley. Please proceed with your question.

Good morning. I want to unpack a little bit about the sidecar initiatives you have. I know you mentioned about this a little bit earlier, but if we were to think about your proposed partnership with Blackstone on Cortina, with advancement in AI risk modeling, a higher yield environment that we're in today, And then just the amount of capital that is available to deploy. Do you foresee sort of like a proliferation of sidecars going forward, not just really gradually, but to the point where you could have private equity capital displace carrier capacity at a significant fashion going forward? And if that is the case, if you were to put your consulting hat on, what is the Aon's opportunity here going forward?

Well, I want to just start with a big emphasis here. This is really, this is not about the capital, it's about the clients. What we're responding to and what Andy's going to describe a little bit is around the innovation on analytics and content. If you've got analytics and content and capital can see a way to come in and make a return and be protected, you're going to attract capital. Our goal is to, you know, think about our $4.5 trillion, $5 trillion industry right now with absolutely cherished market partners to serve clients, and we're going to reinforce and support that capital pool. But that capital pool, you know, $4.5 trillion to $5 trillion doesn't, needs to grow over time, needs to be bigger over time. Imagine if it was twice the size and it was closer to $10 billion than $5 billion. We're talking about net creation, not a zero-sum game, net creation. So now you're talking about the ability to actually address data center issues, address cyber, address the evolving AI risk, address, I mean, think about the time catastrophe arrangement I described. This is a country now we're actually supporting, just like we did with Jamaica. So for us, this is really, Bob, about a much bigger industry that evolves over time, and the analytics is the way to unlock that. If they've got competence, then you can deploy new capital to do that. And by the way, this has been a history of our industry, and Andy should talk a little bit about how it's evolved over time. And so this is another step. By the way, not an easy one. The content and analytics required to move money, to move capital, to move someone else's balance sheet, to bet on our industry is a big deal. I mean, this is not easy to do. But when you can pull it off, you know, we are creating more capacity, more ability to serve client need, and this should not be a zero-sum game. It should be opportunity to really make a difference with clients in unique ways.

Thanks, Greg. I mean, our role as an intermediary is to bring, you know, choice to find durable, meaningful, quarterly choice, and we've done that historically 25 years. That is now where we're leading that in a category, but that now is beyond the U.S. and Japan. So we're helping clients with their needs, perhaps in relation to CapOn, but if you think of, you know, the side cards, and so this is the way the The capital is entering the business. We are partnered with that capital to solve the client needs, and it's great. Risk is elevated around the world. Prices are juncture, but risk is elevated, whether it's from technology. Over time, we anticipate the needs of our clients, whether it's creating.

Andy, you saw, Bob, the opportunity to do this was with the market. Even the example you highlighted, it's with market partners as well. So, I appreciate the question. Hopefully, that's good color and background for you.

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of David with Evercore ISI. Please proceed with your question.

Hey, thanks. Good morning. I was hoping you guys could talk a little bit about the construction growth in North America. It sounded like, you know, that may be moderated a little bit. I think last quarter you guys were talking about double-digit growth there, and this quarter I did not hear that. But at the same time, you spoke about a strong pipeline. So I was hoping maybe you could just unpack that a little bit and your outlook for contributions to growth from, you know, AI infrastructure, just given all the focus on that.

David, appreciate the question. And listen, I would just highlight, it's never about a single quarter, as you know, you've heard us talk about before, a truly trend over time. I would also highlight, you know, construction continues to be, you know, an incredibly important investment area for us, opportunity area for us. We've got a tremendous team sort of on this broad-based topic. And not just the construction, but also the operation over time, all that comes with this. We just see tremendous, tremendous opportunity. And I would say the pipeline looks strong, but I also want to emphasize, as I did at the beginning, the story you've seen in this quarter, you've seen in previous quarters, isn't just construction or data centers and all. It really is the broad-based story we're talking about. These are amplifiers of that, but maybe to then the specifics on the quarter, because David asked,

but then more broadly, Andy, how you're seeing this evolve over time. Yeah, let me start with just commenting on commercial risk overall. Here we are with the highs. It's always starting, and we actually have some remains in the mid-90s, and market impact overall continues to be slightly positive.

It's changing all the time, but we look at the pipeline and how it's expanded, the timing of a particular project, and that's happening. Thank you.

Our next question will be our final question this morning from Yaron Kinnar with Mizzuho Securities. Please proceed with your question.

Good morning. Thanks for allowing me on. My first question relates to margins. So when we adjust for the 50 basis points of restructuring cost saves and fiduciary income headwind of, I think, about 20 basis points by my calculation, The residual margin expansion was in the 30 to 40 basis point range. I'm curious why with 6% organic growth, that residual expansion wouldn't be higher. Is it that you're capitalizing on strong growth to increase platform investments, or are there other offsetting headwinds?

Yeah, let me take this one. So that's exactly right, right? If you think about the margin expansion that was actually created, it's well over 100 basis points. But we chose to invest into the business, which is how we ended up with this. It's all about creating.

Thank you. That concludes our question and answer session. I'll turn the floor back to Mr. Cates for final comments.

Thanks very much. Just want to thank everyone for joining the call this quarter and look forward to our discussion next quarter. Thanks so much.

Thank you. This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.