Oliver Wyman and Mercer combine for $7.1 billion in consulting revenues

Marsh & McLennan has reported 2019 revenues of $16.7 billion, including $7.1 billion in consulting fees courtesy of Mercer and Oliver Wyman.

Marsh & McLennan – parent of Marsh, Mercer, Oliver Wyman and Guy Carpenter – has achieved revenues of $16.7 billion for its 2019 financial year till the end of December, with $7.1 billion brought in by its consulting units Oliver Wyman and Mercer. In addition to breaking the $7 billion barrier combined, human capital firm Mercer has pushed above the $5 billion mark, with management consultancy Oliver Wyman contributing $2.1 billion.

“2019 was a remarkable year for Marsh & McLennan,” said President and CEO Dan Glaser. “We completed the acquisition of JLT, the largest deal in our history, while delivering strong financial results and managing the global integration. MMC is well positioned. Our talent, capabilities, expertise and leadership has never been stronger. Nearly all our teams are now sitting together. And more and more, we are in the market working as one.

The figures represent a total rise in revenues of 11 percent on the year previous, with Mercer and Oliver Wyman up by respectively 2 percent and 6 percent on an underlying basis. Oliver Wyman however reported a year-on-year drop in revenues for the fourth quarter, as had been expected, in part due to its financial services business in Asia. “There was really nothing significant that happened,” stated Oliver Wyman CEO Scott McDonald in an earnings call.

“We did see a modest, but what feels very much like a temporary slowdown in a couple of markets in Q4,” explained McDonald, further citing ordinary quarter-to-quarter project movement and a 7 percent rise in the previous Q4 for the comparatively weak results. “So broadly, the business was strong across sectors, but both Europe and Asia showed some weakness, primarily in the financial services business… But that feels like it was temporary.”

McDonald further added that the last quarter results hadn’t altered the management consultancy’s medium-term expectations, with the firm planning for mid-to-high single-digit growth over time – driven by solid current demand across regions and sectors. Recently, Oliver Wyman made seven partnership promotions in Asia, amid 36 new additions worldwide. The firm has regional offices in Singapore, Greater China, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan.

Oliver Wyman is one of the region and world’s premier strategy and management firms, competing in the next bracket following the MBB. According to a patchwork of sources, McKinsey’s global revenues stand at above $10 billion, while Boston Consulting Group last year reported its fifth consecutive year of double-digit growth to $7.5 billion. Bain & Company’s income was pegged by Forbes at $4.3 billion to the end of 2018.

Mercer meanwhile is billed as the world’s largest human capital consultancy, with its global assets under management recently having exceeded the $300 billion mark. The company, which last year welcomed Martine Ferland as its new CEO (along with a string of new CEO’s across Asia), operates along three lines – wealth, health and career, with the former accounting for ~$2.4 billion of the firm’s revenues in 2019. Health was second in line with $1.8 billion.