SWEDEN – Aon Consulting says it has entered the Swedish pension consulting market – aiming to become market leader by 2007.

The new arm is headed by Mats Langensjo, formerly head of asset management at Goldman Sachs in the Nordic region and Ola Larson, former Nordic chief executive of Mercer Human Resource Consulting, Aon said.

“The next step is to become market leader in Sweden, at the latest 2007,” it said in a release.

“The Swedish market has seen too little development in the area of pensions, investments and employee benefits in recent years, and there is a great demand from customers for new innovative solutions, not least regarding compensation models, “ said Urban Schyberg, chief executive of Aon Sweden.

“Coupled with the successful recruitment of some of the most experience consultants in this field, the prospects look very promising for us.”

Aon will offer service for “implementation and managing of pension – and benefit plans for example through a web-based portal”.

“The loss of public trust for the insurance industry in Sweden opens up the opportunity for new players,” said Langensjo. “We will challenge the established companies in the field but also take advantage of the fact that we belong to one of the world’s leading insurance consulting groups.

The Swedish investment and pension consulting market is set for a dramatic change. Recently several new entrants to this field have emerged from non-traditional areas. Hedge fund managers such as Brummer & Partners as well as private bankers such as Hagströmer &Qviberg are supplying investment an pension advice.

Carnegie, the foremost player in the medium sized market segment, have lost its profitable consulting business to a new start-up Söderberg & Partners.

Langensjö told IPE that Aon is aiming for a comprehensive service targeted at pension funds, multi-nationals as well as county administrative boards. He Langesjö says that very few consultants ill be able to supply such a comprehensive service because most service providers have had very niched service offerings. Langensjö believes that Aon will have a decided advantage over competitors.

This new venture of Aon's seems to be just in time in Sweden - the venture has received  much interest both from prospective clients as well as other consultants.

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