Vengroff Partners With Aon to Provide Trade Credit Insurance and Financing to Small and Mid-Market Companies

Los Angeles and Chicago — Vengroff, Williams & Associates, Inc. (VWA), the global domain leader for Order to Cash Business Process Outsourcing, today announced a strategic alliance with Aon (NYSE:AON), the leading global provider of risk management services, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, and human capital consulting. The partnership enables small and mid-market businesses to facilitate effective  risk mitigation via a broad, web-based platform, resulting in loosened working capital and a reduction in days sales outstanding (DSO). 

In today’s economic climate, finance departments are under significant pressure to reduce costs, increase working capital through improved receivables performance and control credit risks. VWA and Aon have come together to offer the iFaaS (finance as a service) Product Suite, an affordable set of outsourced solutions designed to achieve these critical objectives. The combination of VWA’s notable proficiency in providing finance and accounting BPO solutions to secure improvements in working capital and Aon’s expertise in innovative and cost-effective solutions in trade credit insurance, trade finance and political risk assessment and insurance creates a seamless credit finance outsource model that provides businesses with the necessary trade finance tools required to recognize profitability.  

The iFaaS suite is an exclusive VWA offering – a web-based Software-as-a Service finance and accounting outsourcing product developed specifically for small to mid-market enterprises across all verticals. iFaaS leverages the servicing component of VWA’s Source MPO platform to provide standardized process and controls with quality of delivery, a flexible business model, workforce and reduced costs for process improvement by eliminating excess capital expenditures. Aon’s global reach provides worldwide trade credit insurance to assist companies in assessing and mitigating bad debt. Through the cost-effective availability of insurance, credit management resources can be focused on priority receivables, thus reducing the time spent on managing an entire portfolio of customers.

According to Mark Vengroff, CEO of VWA, “We are pleased to be partnering with Aon to allow small to mid-market companies to improve working capital by providing a solution which lowers the cost of managing credit and securitizing a large and valuable asset. VWA and Aon will manage and insure accounts receivable – therefore allowing banks to lend against secured domestic or export receivables.”

Previously, this model has traditionally been made available to enterprise corporations. Now with iFaaS, VWA and Aon are providing a vehicle by which small to mid-size companies can leverage assets and increase working capital, underwritten by A-rated trade credit insurers.

“As availability and cost of credit insurance become more difficult in today’s economic environment, the iFaas partnership allows small to mid-market companies to acquire trade credit insurance at more competitive pricing by increasing their purchasing power and spreading the risk to make portfolios more attractive to underwriters,” stated Peter Jordan, director of Aon’s trade credit practice. “Smaller portfolios associated with mid-market companies are consolidated and the risk is spread over multiple industries as well as multiple buyers. The efficient and reliable management of receivables under VWA’s iFaaS platform provides insurance underwriters with a differentiator that result in additional leverage.”

About Vengroff, Williams & Associates, Inc.
VWA is the global domain expert for optimizing working capital through Order to Cash Business Process Outsourcing. We provide a full range of solutions and reporting tools to help their clients achieve significant financial and operational benefits that create working capital efficiency and significantly influence the outcome of their businesses.

Founded in 1963, with over $23 billion dollars under management and 3,000 global customers, VWA strategically designs BPO solutions with an emphasis on technology innovation and partnership to drive ROI across the entire order to cash cycle to maximize working capital.

Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, VWA collaborates with Fortune 1000 companies such as Ford Motor Company, Federal Express, Kodak, Microsoft, Yamaha and others to assist in becoming solid businesses with working capital management performance defined. With extensive industry expertise in F&A outsourcing, VWA provides a broad and evolving spectrum of service offerings including O2C, starting with Third Party Collections, Deduction Management, Dispute Management, Subrogation, Credit Risk Mitigation Services and EIPP.

Named a Top 21 enterprise-level FAO service provider by FAO Today Magazine and to the Global Services Top 10 in the FAO Category and Top 50 in the enterprise FAO space in the BlackBook of Outsourcing, to learn more about the award-winning Vengroff, Williams and Associates, please visit www.vwainc.com or telephone (866) 393-4892.

About Aon
Aon Corporation (NYSE: AON) is the leading global provider of risk management services, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, and human capital consulting. Through its more than 36,000 colleagues worldwide, Aon readily delivers distinctive client value via innovative and effective risk management and workforce productivity solutions. Aon’s industry-leading global resources and technical expertise are delivered locally through more than 500 offices in more than 120 countries.

Named the world’s best broker by Euromoney magazine’s 2008 and 2009 Insurance Survey, Aon also ranked highest on Business Insurance’s listing of the world’s largest insurance brokers based on commercial retail, wholesale, reinsurance and personal lines brokerage revenues in 2008 and 2009. A.M. Best deemed Aon the number one insurance broker based on brokerage revenues in 2007, 2008 and 2009, and Aon was voted best insurance intermediary, best reinsurance intermediary and best employee benefits consulting firm in 2007, 2008 and 2009 by the readers of Business Insurance.

Aon Trade Credit is the world’s largest credit and political risk broker, with over 350 professionals in 33 countries. ATC specializes in domestic and export credit insurance and political risk assessment and risk transfer solutions. Aon’s Political Risk Audit provides a unique analysis of the specific risks of operating overseas. The Aon Political Risk Map is an annual benchmark of global political risks. For more information on Aon, log on to http://www.aon.com.