Aon Ireland appoints Cork native as Head of its Wealth business

AON, a leading global professional services firm, has announced Mairead O’Mahony as Head of Wealth Solutions at Aon in Ireland, ensuring that the company’s retirement and investment services are best positioned to unlock value and capital for clients.

A Cork native, Mairead O’Mahony will lead the wealth solutions business and join Aon’s local leadership team in Ireland. As head of Wealth Solutions, she will be responsible for expanding on the solutions and capabilities that Aon offers to help businesses to create a more secure future for their workforces and stakeholders.

A key priority for Ms O’Mahony will be to help Ireland’s employers to navigate the new reforms to the pensions framework in Ireland. With the transposition of the EU’s IORP II Directive and the expected introduction of an auto-enrolment retirement savings scheme, businesses will face new regulatory requirements and responsibilities.

Aon Ireland employs a team of more than 750 who provide innovative solutions, advice, and analytics to help an increasing number of organisations in the private and public sectors protect and grow their business.

The company has four main solution lines in Ireland (Commercial Risk Solutions, Health Solutions, Wealth Solutions, and Human Capital Solutions), and five shared service functions.

Ms O’Mahony joins Aon from Mercer Ireland. She had been the company’s Chief Commercial Officer since 2019 where she helped to drive the growth of the business. O’Mahony has close to 20 years of experience within the pensions industry in Ireland. During that time, she developed a strong track record in business leadership and change management. O’Mahony is a qualified actuary.

Ms O’Mahony, Head of Wealth Solutions at Aon Ireland, said: “I’m delighted to be joining Aon Ireland at what is a critical time in the transformation of Ireland’s pension landscape.

“With new regulations imposing additional governance, communication, and compliance obligations, we are seeing a significant shift in the way employers and trustees are thinking about their Defined Benefit (DB) and Defined Contribution (DC) pension schemes.

“Individual pension savers will benefit from these changes; through increased security of their pension savings, and ultimately greater levels of confidence in their financial futures. The introduction of auto-enrolment in 2024 will also be a significant milestone and one which businesses must start preparing for.

“My priority in the coming months will be to help employers and trustees to harness the opportunities brought about by these changes. This includes supporting those schemes that need to make changes to comply with the new regulations, as well as those who will choose to move towards master trust pension schemes. For many employers, master trusts will prove to be the best vehicle to support their employees' future financial security.

“I’m confident that our team of retirement and investment experts here at Aon Ireland can help business leaders comprehensively review their existing pension arrangements and to deliver the best possible outcomes for their employees and their businesses.

“By combining best thinking across our business, we can deliver solutions for our clients that remove the complexities and enable better financial decision making.”

In welcoming the appointment, Rachael Ingle, CEO of Aon Ireland, said: “Driven by major demographic shifts, regulatory change, and an uncertain economic outlook, the retirement and investment landscape is becoming increasingly complex.”

More information about Aon Ireland is available at www.aon.com/ireland/.