Risk-solutions revenue was up slightly to $2.053 billion from $2.05 billion in 2012's fourth quarter. Retail Brokerage organic revenue increased 3%, says Aon, “reflecting revenue growth in both the Americas and International businesses.”

For the year, net income attributable to shareholders was $1.1 billion, up from $993 million in 2012. Revenues increased to $11.8 billion compared to $11.5 billion the year before.

During the call, Case said he has seen “continued strong growth on the emerging markets side,” adding, “And so we're seeing very strong growth across Asia, across Latin America, with particularly very high growth and well into the double digits in a number of countries.” Even with the impact of the economic slowdown in these areas, Case said it's still a “very positive area of investment and development for us,” adding that “if it's great and it's a little less great, it's still in the great category.”

Case also spoke to challenges in the reinsurance market, noting that there are “some substantial headwinds when you think about some of the capital.” But he said Aon believes it is on track to grow its risk-solutions business, including the reinsurance business. He stressed the mix in services Aon provides to clients in this space, including through its investments in data and analytics. He said that “it's really just adding advice and some of the things that come with data and analytics to help [clients] think about their business overall, that's an increasing component.”

He also said Aon has been in a “leadership position” with respect to alternative capital in the area of cat bonds. He said that “since 2010 there have been, give or take, about 90, 93, 94 deals done over that period of time. We've been involved in over half of them.”