McLagan Partners (Aon)

What McLagan Partners (Aon) does

McLagan Partners is a compensation consulting and benchmarking firm focused on the financial services industry, founded in 1966 and headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. The firm operates today as a wholly-owned division within Aon plc's Human Capital Analytics capability following Aon's 2010 acquisition of Hewitt Associates, which had previously acquired McLagan in 2009. Its core product is the Radford McLagan Compensation Database, a proprietary compensation benchmarking dataset that has been combined with the Radford survey business (covering technology and life sciences) to create a unified database spanning multiple industries.

The underlying technology is a proprietary compensation survey and benchmarking database platform that aggregates market pay data from participating organizations across multiple verticals, including financial institutions, technology/media/communications, and professional/business services. The business generates revenue primarily through recurring subscription-based access to the compensation database, supplemented by advisory consulting engagements delivered through Aon's broader Human Capital practice. The go-to-market model is sales-led and enterprise-focused, with direct engagement between Aon's human capital consultants and HR, compensation, and total rewards leaders at large financial institutions and other corporate buyers. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed, consistent with enterprise benchmarking and consulting norms.

Distribution is handled through Aon's global sales infrastructure and marketing channels, including Aon's regional Insights Series events in Asia Pacific, the Pacific, and the UK. McLagan operates as part of Aon's globally distributed network serving North America, EMEA, Asia Pacific, and Latin America. Because McLagan is not a separately reported segment of Aon plc, its standalone revenue is not publicly disclosed, and granular financial performance, customer churn, or headcount-specific to McLagan is not separately available.

Name

McLagan Partners (Aon)

Legal name

Aon plc

Website

https://mclagan.aon.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

1982

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

McLagan Partners is a compensation consulting and benchmarking firm serving primarily financial institutions, operating as a division within Aon plc's Human Capital Analytics capability and monetizing access to its proprietary Radford McLagan Compensation Database via subscriptions and consulting engagements.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Stamford

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Compensation Database Subscriptions: McLagan Partners provides compensation survey data and benchmarking services to organizations, operating as part of Aon's Human Capital Analytics practice. The business generates revenue through subscription-based access to compensation databases and consulting services.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

McLagan Partners provides compensation survey data, benchmarking, and consulting services to organizations, primarily serving financial institutions through the Radford McLagan Compensation Database. The firm delivers market intelligence on pay levels, executive compensation, and pay equity for HR and compensation decision-makers. It operates as a division within Aon's Human Capital Analytics capability, combining proprietary benchmarking data with consulting expertise.

Product overview

McLagan Partners (Aon) offers the Radford McLagan Compensation Database as its primary product offering under Aon's Human Capital Analytics division. This is a single, unified database service that provides compensation benchmarking and market intelligence data. The product is designed to help organizations benchmark compensation, understand market pay trends, and make data-driven decisions about employee rewards. It operates as part of Aon's broader Human Capital Analytics capabilities which also include health and benefits analytics, talent and rewards consulting, and workforce planning solutions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Radford McLagan Compensation Database: A comprehensive compensation survey database covering technology, life sciences, and financial services industries.

Products and services

• Radford McLagan Compensation Database A comprehensive global compensation database providing market data and benchmarking for technology, financial services, and other industries to help organizations make informed pay decisions.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Willis Towers Watson (WTW): Global professional services firm with a dedicated Rewards & Talent practice offering compensation surveys, benchmarking, and rewards consulting. Closest direct competitor to McLagan, particularly in financial services compensation data.
• Mercer (Marsh McLennan): Major HR consulting subsidiary of Marsh McLennan offering compensation benchmarking surveys and rewards consulting across industries, including a dedicated financial services practice that directly competes with McLagan.
• Korn Ferry Hay Group: Global organizational consulting firm whose Hay Group division delivers compensation benchmarking, job evaluation, and rewards design services directly competing with McLagan's consulting offerings.
• PayScale: Cloud-based compensation data and software company providing salary benchmarking, pay ranges, and HR-reported salary databases; an alternative subscription-based data source overlapping with McLagan's database offering.
• Salary.com: Long-standing compensation data, salary benchmarking, and HR software vendor serving enterprise HR teams; competes directly with McLagan on subscription-based compensation market data offerings.
• ERI Economic Research Institute: Provider of salary survey databases, compensation software, and executive compensation analytics; a niche but established competitor in the subscription compensation benchmarking segment.

Emerging players

• Pave: Tech-enabled compensation benchmarking and total rewards platform serving primarily technology and growth-stage companies. Represents the new generation of self-serve, modern alternatives to traditional survey-based benchmarking offered by McLagan.
• Carta (Total Comp): Cap table management platform with a growing total compensation benchmarking product, particularly strong in private/venture-backed company compensation data — adjacent to but increasingly overlapping with McLagan's Radford dataset.
• Levels.fyi: Tech-sector compensation comparison platform that has become a go-to benchmarking source for technology and engineering roles, emerging as a partial substitute for Radford survey data among tech employers.

Broad incumbents

• Aon plc (parent): The parent organization and broader professional services platform housing McLagan. Provides scale, distribution, and cross-sell infrastructure but also represents the corporate context within which McLagan operates.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/mclagan_global
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/aonplc
• Facebookfacebook.com/AonPlc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mclagan
• Instagraminstagram.com/aonplc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about McLagan Partners (Aon)