Employee Benefits

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

The following table provides the components of the net periodic (benefit) cost recognized in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income for Aon’s significant U.K., U.S., and other major pension plans, which are located in the Netherlands and Canada. Service cost is reported in Compensation and benefits and all other components are reported in Other income (expense) as follows (in millions):



	Three Months Ended September 30
	U.K.						U.S.						Other
	2019			2018			2019			2018			2019			2018
Service cost	$	—		$	—		$	—		$	—		$	—		$	—
Interest cost	26			26			27			24			6			6
Expected return on plan assets, net of administration expenses	(46		)	(46		)	(34		)	(36		)	(9		)	(11		)
Amortization of prior-service cost	—			1			1			—			—			—
Amortization of net actuarial loss	7			6			13			15			3			3
Net periodic (benefit) cost	(13		)	(13		)	7			3			—			(2		)
Loss on pension settlement	—			9			—			—			—			—
Total net periodic (benefit) cost	$	(13	)	$	(4	)	$	7		$	3		$	—		$	(2	)



	Nine Months Ended September 30
	U.K.						U.S.						Other
	2019			2018			2019			2018			2019			2018
Service cost	$	—		$	—		$	—		$	—		$	—		$	—
Interest cost	81			84			81			74			20			20
Expected return on plan assets, net of administration expenses	(143		)	(147		)	(102		)	(108		)	(29		)	(34		)
Amortization of prior-service cost	1			1			2			1			—			—
Amortization of net actuarial loss	22			21			40			45			9			9
Net periodic (benefit) cost	(39		)	(41		)	21			12			—			(5		)
Loss on pension settlement	—			32			—			—			—			—
Total net periodic (benefit) cost	$	(39	)	$	(9	)	$	21		$	12		$	—		$	(5	)

In March 2017, the Company approved a plan to offer a voluntary one-time lump sum payment option to certain eligible employees of the Company’s U.K. pension plans that, if accepted, would settle the Company’s pension obligations to them. The lump sum cash payment offer closed during 2018. For the nine months ended September 30, 2018, lump sum payments from plan assets of £125 million ($164 million using September 30, 2018 exchange rates) were paid. As a result of this settlement, the Company remeasured the assets and liabilities of the U.K. pension plan during the third quarter of 2018, which in aggregate resulted in a reduction to the projected benefit obligation of £108 million ($143 million using September 30, 2018 exchange rates), as well as a non-cash settlement charge of £7 million ($9 million using average September 30, 2018 exchange rates) in the third quarter of 2018 and £24 million ($32 million using average exchange rates) for the nine months ended September 30, 2018.

Contributions

The Company expects to make total cash contributions of approximately $80 million, $46 million, and $19 million, based on exchange rates as of December 31, 2018, to its significant U.K., U.S., and other major pension plans, respectively, during 2019. The following table summarizes contributions made to the Company’s significant pension plans (in millions):



	Three Months Ended September 30				Nine Months Ended September 30
	2019		2018		2019		2018
Contributions to U.K. pension plans	$	19	$	27	$	65	$	75
Contributions to U.S. pension plans ⁽¹⁾	7		108		30		133
Contributions to other major pension plans	3		3		13		14
Total contributions	$	29	$	138	$	108	$	222

(1)

Includes the Company’s contribution to the qualified U.S. pension plan of $100 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, which allowed the pension contribution tax deduction to be taken at the 2017 federal tax rate of 35%.