Conflicts run deep at Aon.

AON Corp.; ENDURANCE Specialty Holdings Ltd.

This article reports that Aon Corp. and others have sworn off "contingent commissions" that create incentives to steer clients to insurers who pay those fees to brokers. Conflicts of interest in the insurance brokerage business go beyond activities already publicly identified as under scrutiny by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. Spitzer also reportedly is looking into whether Aon favored insurers who hired it as a broker for reinsurance — policies insurance companies buy to limit their own risk. But Aon has other ties that can put its interests at odds with those of its clients. on's 16% stake in Bermuda-based reinsurer Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd. gives it an incentive to place client premiums with Endurance; another reinsurer may offer the customer a better deal. Aon is Endurance's largest source of business, responsible for one-third of its $1.07 billion in premiums during the first six months of this year.