Ventiv Technology

3 2 | 360º Aon eSolutions approach would have been to create and distribute more than 30 compact discs annually, all carefully proofed so that the details on each pertained only to a single specific portfolio firm. Additional emails or CDs would be needed for updates or corrections. Special group meetings or calls would likely be needed to address q u e s t i o n s f r o m a l l t h e s e s e p a r a t e communications. And Catterton's management would need to maintain a small library to keep track of everything. Aon's Stamford, Conn., team, Marty Weidman and Ken Chan, hit upon a much better, value- added approach: an AonLine website. Once Weidman and Chan collected all the hundreds of individual binders, invoices, policies and applications, they placed them within individual, secure AonLine "Rooms." Each portfolio company was then able to view only its own private online room of information. Marty controlled access by authorizing each individual financial officer to access his or her own unique, clearly named AonLine Room. The architecture also allowed all Catterton users (in the portfolio companies as well as from Catterton management) to see a shared room that housed material they had in common, including contact names, claims reporting procedures and overall program structure. The Aon team conducted two brief conference calls to introduce portfolio company executives to AonLine. Executives could log in to AonLine at their convenience to view or download their private insurance materials, or use AonLine to email questions back to Aon about specific files or their programs. Their data was now locked in an online repository, organized by year and topic, and off their minds until they needed it. Catterton management could view or download any of the materials they wished, but without the security restrictions applied to the portfolio companies. In AonLine, Catterton now has a centralized, fully stocked online insurance library. New files are added annually, each organized privately by company, term and topic. AonLine is expandable, of course, for new portfolio companies as they are added. "We are pleased with the continued proactive initiatives by the Aon account management team," said David Heidecorn, partner with Catterton Partners. "AonLine is yet another value-added tool to help our portfolio companies remain current with their insurance activities and allow them to deploy risk management strategies in coordination with Aon." With ownership interests in up to 30 separate portfolio companies at any one time, secure organization and management of important portfolio company documents is extremely important. "When I joined Catterton Partners two years ago, the effective organization of portfolio company documentation, including managing reams of insurance documents, was high on my to-do list," said David McPherson, Catterton Partners' chief legal officer. Among the important, diverse insurance documents needing to be organized were: » Renewals (historical and planning data) » Policy terms and conditions, including: » Binders » Policy wordings » Coverage discussions » Auditor's year-end questions » Invoicing and payment documentation » Claims history (raw files and subsequent claims discussions) These documents needed to be centralized and made easily available to management, yet remain strictly private for each individual portfolio company. In addition, all Catterton users wanted references to procedures and explanations of the overall insurance placements. "We looked at various ways to facilitate access and workflow for Catterton and executives of all our portfolio companies," McPherson said, "but we could not find the ideal solution." One approach would have required sending periodic emails containing sensitive files to each of the more than 30 financial executives (with copies to Catterton management). Another Catterton Partners is a leading consumer-focused private equity firm, with more than $2.5 billion currently under management and a 22-year track record of success in building high-growth companies. Catterton provides equity capital to small to middle market consumer companies, primarily in North America, who are well positioned for attractive growth. The company's investments have included such premium brands as Outback Steakhouse, Kettle Foods, Restoration Hardware, Frederic Fekkai, O.N.E. (One Natural Experience) beverages and Nature's Variety pet food.

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