Revenue

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

Revenue from Contract with Customer [Abstract]

Revenue

Revenue

The core principle of the revenue recognition guidance is that an entity should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. To achieve that principle, the entity applies the following steps: identify the contract(s) with the customer, identify the performance obligations in the contract(s), determine the transaction price, allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract and recognize revenue when (or as) the entity satisfies a performance obligation. In accordance with the accounting guidance, a performance obligation is satisfied either at a “point in time” or “over time” depending on the nature of the product or service provided, and the specific terms of the contract with customers.

Other revenue included in the consolidated statements of income that is not from contracts with customers is less than 1% of total revenue, and therefore is not presented as a separate line item.

Risk and Insurance Services

Risk and Insurance Services revenue reflects compensation for brokerage and consulting services through commissions and fees. Commission rates and fees vary in amount and can depend upon a number of factors, including the type of insurance or reinsurance coverage provided, the particular insurer or reinsurer selected, and the capacity in which the broker acts and negotiates with clients. For the majority of the insurance and reinsurance brokerage arrangements, advice and services provided which culminate in the placement of an effective policy are considered a single performance obligation. Arrangements with clients may include the placement of a single policy, multiple policies or a combination of policy placements and other services. Consideration related to such "bundled arrangements" is allocated to the individual performance obligations based on their relative fair value. Revenue for policy placement is generally recognized on the policy effective date, at which point control over the services provided by the Company has transferred to the client and the client has accepted the services. In many cases, fee compensation may be negotiated in advance, based on the type of risk, coverage required and service provided by the Company and ultimately, the extent of the risk placed into the insurance market or retained by the client. The trends and comparisons of revenue from one period to the next can be affected by changes in premium rate levels, fluctuations in client risk retention and increases or decreases in the value of risks that have been insured, as well as new and lost business, and the volume of business from new and existing clients. For such arrangements, revenue is recognized using output measures, which correspond to the progress toward completing the performance obligation. Fees for non-risk transfer services provided to clients are recognized over time in the period the services are provided, using a proportional performance model, primarily based on input measures. These measures of progress provide a faithful depiction of the progress towards completion of the performance obligation.

Revenue related to reinsurance brokerage for excess of loss ("XOL") treaties is estimated based on contractually specified minimum or deposit premiums, and adjusted as additional evidence of the ultimate amount of brokerage is received. Revenue for quota share treaties is estimated based on indications of estimated premium income provided by the ceding insurer. The estimated brokerage revenue recognized for quota share treaties is constrained to an amount that is probable to not have a significant negative adjustment. The estimated revenue and the constraint are evaluated as additional evidence of the ultimate amount of underlying risks to be covered is received over the 12 to 18 months following the effective date of the placement.

In addition to commissions and fees from its clients, the Company also receives other compensation from insurance companies. This other insurer compensation includes, among other things, payments for consulting and analytics services provided to insurers, fees for administrative and other services provided to or on behalf of insurers (including services relating to the administration and management of quota shares, panels and other facilities in which insurers participate). The Company is also eligible for certain contingent commissions from insurers based on the attainment of specified metrics (i.e., volume and loss ratio measures) relating to Marsh's placements, particularly in Marsh & McLennan Agency ("MMA") and in parts of Marsh's international operations. Revenue for contingent commissions from insurers is estimated based on historical evidence of the achievement of the respective contingent metrics and recorded as the underlying policies that contribute to the achievement of the metric are placed. Due to the uncertainty of the amount of contingent consideration that will be received, the estimated revenue is constrained to an amount that is probable to not have a significant negative adjustment. Contingent consideration is generally received in the first quarter of the subsequent year.

A significant majority of the Company's Risk and Insurance Services revenue is for performance obligations recognized at a point in time. Marsh and Guy Carpenter also receive interest income on certain funds (such as premiums and claims proceeds) held in a fiduciary capacity for others.

Insurance brokerage commissions are generally invoiced on the policy effective date. Fee based arrangements generally include a percentage of the total fee due upon signing the arrangement, with additional fixed installments payable over the remainder of the year. Payment terms range from receipt of invoice up to 30 days from invoice date.

Reinsurance brokerage revenue is recognized on the effective date of the treaty. Payment terms depend on the type of reinsurance. For XOL treaties, brokerage revenue is typically collected in four installments during an annual treaty period based on a contractually specified minimum or deposit premium. For proportional or quota share treaties, brokerage is billed as underlying insured risks attach to the reinsurance treaty, generally over 12 to 18 months.

Consulting

The major component of revenue in the Consulting business is fees paid by clients for advice and services. Mercer, principally through its health line of business, also receives revenue in the form of commissions received from insurance companies for the placement of group (and occasionally individual) insurance contracts, primarily health, life and accident coverages. Revenue for Mercer’s investment management business and certain of Mercer’s defined benefit administration services consists principally of fees based on assets under delegated management or administration.

Consulting projects in Mercer’s wealth and career businesses, as well as consulting projects in Oliver Wyman Group, typically consist of a single performance obligation, which is recognized over time as control is transferred continuously to customers. Typically, revenue is recognized over time using an input measure of time expended to date relative to total estimated time to be incurred at project completion. Incurred hours represent services rendered and thereby faithfully depicts the transfer of control to the customer.

On a limited number of engagements, performance fees may also be earned for achieving certain prescribed performance criteria. Revenue for achievement is estimated and constrained to an amount that is probable to not have a significant negative adjustment.

A significant majority of fee revenues in the Consulting segment is recognized over time.

For consulting projects, Mercer generally invoices monthly in arrears with payment due within 30 days of the invoice date. Fees for delegated management services are either deducted from the net asset value of the fund or invoiced to the client on a monthly or quarterly basis in arrears. Oliver Wyman Group typically bills its clients 30-60 days in arrears with payment due upon receipt of the invoice.

Health brokerage and consulting services are components of both Marsh, which includes MMA, and Mercer, with approximately 60% of such revenues reported in Mercer. Health contracts typically involve a series of distinct services that are treated as a single performance obligation. Revenue for these services is recognized over time based on the amount of remuneration the Company expects to be entitled in exchange for these services. Payments for health brokerage and consulting services are typically paid monthly in arrears from carriers based on insured lives under the contract.

The following schedule disaggregates various components of the Company's revenue:

	For the Years Ended December 31,
	2020		2019		2018
Marsh:
EMEA	$	2,575	$	2,482	$	2,132
Asia Pacific	1,059		953		683
Latin America	424		460		400
Total International	4,058		3,895		3,215
U.S./Canada	4,537		4,119		3,662
Total Marsh	8,595		8,014		6,877
Guy Carpenter	1,696		1,480		1,286
Subtotal	10,291		9,494		8,163
Fiduciary interest income	46		105		65
Total Risk and Insurance Services	$	10,337	$	9,599	$	8,228
Mercer:
Wealth	$	2,348	$	2,369	$	2,185
Health	1,793		1,796		1,735
Career	787		856		812
Total Mercer	4,928		5,021		4,732
Oliver Wyman Group	2,048		2,122		2,047
Total Consulting	$	6,976	$	7,143	$	6,779

The following schedule provides contract assets and contract liabilities information from contracts with customers.

(In millions)	December 31, 2020		December 31, 2019		December 31, 2018
Contract assets	$	236	$	207	$	112
Contract liabilities	$	676	$	593	$	545

The Company records accounts receivable when the right to consideration is unconditional, subject only to the passage of time. Contract assets primarily relate to quota share reinsurance brokerage and contingent insurer revenue. The Company does not have the right to bill and collect revenue for quota share brokerage until the underlying policies written by the ceding insurer attach to the treaty. Estimated revenue related to achievement of volume or loss ratio metrics cannot be billed or collected until all related policy placements are completed and the contingency is resolved. The change in contract assets from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020 is primarily due to $311 million of additions during the period, partly offset by $284 million transferred to accounts receivables, as the rights to bill and collect became unconditional. The change in contract assets from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019 is primarily due to $437 million of additions during the period offset by $342 million transferred to accounts receivables. Contract assets are included in other current assets in the Company's consolidated balance sheets. Contract liabilities primarily relate to the advance consideration received from customers. Contract liabilities are included in current liabilities in the Company's consolidated balance sheets. The change in contract liabilities from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020 includes cash received for performance obligations not yet fulfilled of $615 million offset by revenue recognized in 2020 of $527 million that was included in the contract liability balance at the beginning of the year. The Company recognized revenue of $531 million in 2019 that was included in the contract liability balance at January 1, 2019.

The Company recognizes commission revenue from arrangements for a significant portion of its brokerage arrangements at a point in time at effective date of the underlying policy. Commission revenue is estimated using historical information about the risks to be covered over the policy period, some of which are dependent on variable factors such as number of employees covered, covered payroll, airline passenger miles flown, shipped tonnage of marine cargo and others. For the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company recorded a revenue reduction of $42 million for estimated commission revenue accounted for on a point in time basis. The reduction primarily relates to policy inception periods from the third quarter of 2019 through the second quarter of 2020.

The amount of revenue recognized in 2020 and 2019 from performance obligations satisfied in previous periods, mainly due to variable consideration from contracts with insurers, quota share business and consulting contracts previously considered constrained was $97 million and $79 million, respectively.

The Company applies the practical expedient and therefore does not disclose the value of unsatisfied performance obligations for (1) contracts with original contract terms of one year or less and (2) contracts where the Company has the right to invoice for services performed. The revenue expected to be recognized in future periods during the non-cancellable term of existing contracts greater than one year that is related to performance obligations that are unsatisfied or partially satisfied at the end of the reporting period is approximately $38 million for Marsh, $184 million for Mercer and $6 million for Oliver Wyman Group. The Company expects revenue in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 and beyond of $135 million, $64 million, $22 million, $6 million and $1 million, respectively, related to these performance obligations.

Costs to Obtain and Fulfill a Contract

The Company capitalizes the incremental costs to obtain contracts primarily related to commissions or sales bonus payments in both segments. These deferred costs are amortized over the expected life of the underlying customer relationships.

In Risk and Insurance Services, the Company capitalizes certain pre-placement costs that are considered fulfillment costs that meet the following criteria: these costs (1) relate directly to a contract, (2) enhance resources used to satisfy the Company’s performance obligation and (3) are expected to be recovered through revenue generated by the contract. These costs are amortized at a point in time when the associated revenue is recognized.

In Consulting, the Company incurs implementation costs necessary to facilitate the delivery of the contracted services. These costs are capitalized and amortized over the initial contract term plus expected renewal periods.

At December 31, 2020, the Company’s capitalized assets related to deferred implementation costs, costs to obtain and costs to fulfill were $29 million, $253 million and $296 million, respectively. At December 31, 2019, the Company's capitalized assets related to deferred implementation costs, costs to obtain and costs to fulfill were $30 million, $222 million, and $262 million, respectively. Costs to obtain and deferred implementation costs are primarily included in other assets and costs to fulfill are primarily included in other current assets in the Company's consolidated balance sheets. The Company recorded amortization of compensation and benefits expense of $1.3 billion and $1.2 billion for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively, related to these capitalized costs.

A significant portion of deferred costs to fulfill in Risk and Insurance Services is amortized within three to six months. Therefore, the deferral of the cost and its amortization often occur in the same annual period.

The Company has elected to use the practical expedient and recognizes the incremental costs of obtaining contracts as an expense when incurred if the amortization period of the assets is one year or less.