UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Before the

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Release No. 105156 / April 7, 2026

ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDING

File No. 3-21836

In the Matter of

Claire P. Shaughnessy,

Respondent.

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ORDER APPROVING PLAN OF

DISTRIBUTION

ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDING

File No. 3-21837

In the Matter of

Aon Investments USA Inc., fka

Aon Hewitt Investment Consulting,

Inc.,

Respondent.

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On January 25, 2024, the Commission issued two related Orders (collectively, the

“Orders”) against Claire P. Shaughnessy (“Shaughnessy”) 1 and Aon Investments USA Inc., fka

Aon Hewitt Investment Consulting, Inc. (“Aon”). 2

In their respective Orders, the Commission ordered Aon to pay disgorgement of

$495,098.50, prejudgment interest of $47,089.29 and a civil penalty of $1,000,000.00, and

Shaughnessy to pay a civil penalty of $30,000.00, to the Commission. In each of the Orders, the

Commission also created a Fair Fund pursuant to Section 308(a) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of

2002, so the funds collected can be distributed to harmed investors and ordered that the funds

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Order Instituting Administrative and Cease-and-Desist Proceedings, Pursuant to Sections 203(f) and 203(k) of the

Investment Advisers Act of 1940, Making Findings, and Imposing Remedial Sanctions and a Cease-and-Desist

Order, Advisers Act Rel. No. 6535 (Jan. 25, 2024), (Admin. Proc. File No. 3-21836).

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Corrected Order Instituting Administrative and Cease-and-Desist Proceedings, Pursuant to Sections 203(e) and

203(k) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, Making Findings, and Imposing Remedial Sanctions and a Ceaseand-Desist Order, Advisers Act Rel. No. 6536 (Jan. 25, 2024), (Admin. Proc. File No. 3-21837).

may be combined with any other distribution fund or fair fund arising out of the same facts that

are the subject of the Orders.

In accordance with the Orders, the $1,572,187.79 collected from Shaughnessy and Aon

has been combined (collectively, the “Fair Fund”) and deposited in a Commission-designated

account at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Any accrued interest will be added to the Fair

Fund. The assets of the Fair Fund are subject to the continuing jurisdiction and control of the

Commission.

On March 25, 2025, the Secretary, pursuant to delegated authority, published a Notice of

Proposed Plan and Opportunity for Comment 3 (“Notice”) and simultaneously posted the

Proposed Plan of Distribution (the “Proposed Plan”), for a 30 day period to allow comments

from the public, pursuant to Rule 1103 of the Commission’s Rules on Fair Fund and

Disgorgement Plans (the “Commission’s Rules”). The Notice advised all interested persons that

they may obtain a copy of the Proposed Plan from the Commission’s public website at

http://www.sec.gov/litigation/fairfundlist.htm or by submitting a written request to Keshia W.

Ellis, United States Securities and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street, NE, Washington, DC

20549-5876. All persons who desired to comment on the Proposed Plan could submit their

comments in writing, no later than April 25, 2025. The Commission received one comment

during the comment period (the “Comment Letter”).

After considering the comment received on the Proposed Plan, the Commission staff

recommends that the plan be amended to extend the Relevant Period.

After careful consideration, the Commission concludes that that Proposed Plan should be

approved as amended.

I.

A.

Public Comment on the Proposed Plan

By letter dated April 24, 2025, Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP (“Morgan Lewis”), the

law firm that represents PSERS, made four comments to the Proposed Plan, objecting to: (1) the

plan’s limitation of eligible losses to investment fees; (2) the definition of the Relevant Period;

(3) the dispute process set forth in the Plan; and (4) the calculation of Fees Paid in the Plan of

Allocation (Exhibit A to the Proposed Plan). The Commission considered the objections and

finds that the relevant period should be extended, which would give PSERS, the single harmed

client, the lesser of the total amount of investment advisory fees paid by the preliminary

Claimant to the Respondents during the Relevant Period, plus Reasonable Interest, calculated

pursuant to the Plan or the Net Available Fair Fund. Consequently, the other objections do not

need to be considered.

The Relevant Period is defined in the Proposed Plan as July 1, 2020 through March 31,

2021. The Comment Letter objected to Paragraph 2 of the Proposed Plan that would limit

recovery to “investment advisory fees that it paid between July 1, 2020, through March 31,

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Exchange Act Rel No. 102730 (Mar. 25, 2025).

2021.” Id. The Comment Letter states that PSERS believes that the Aon error began in

September 2019. Id. The Comment Letter also states that between October 1, 2019, and

December 15, 2023, PSERS paid a total of $2,836,223.78 to Aon. Id.

It is appropriate to extend the Relevant Period because the harm to PSERS caused by

Respondents’ misconduct and misrepresentations was not limited to the period of time of the risk

share return rate calculation and a longer Relevant Period is fair and reasonable. Therefore, the

Commission finds that the Relevant Period shall be extended from July 1, 2020, through March

31, 2021, to July 1, 2020, through to December 31, 2022. 4 A longer Relevant Period will result

in the single harmed client, PSERS, receiving the entirety of the Net Available Fair Fund.

As a result of extending the Relevant Period, the Plan of Allocation in the Plan of

Distribution (Exhibit B) has been edited to clarify that the single client will receive the lesser of

the advisory fees paid by the client plus reasonable interest (as defined by the plan) or the entire

Net Available Fair Fund. The Commission staff believes that aside from the change to the

Relevant Period, no additional changes need to be made, and the Plan is fair and reasonable.

B.

Approval of the Plan of Distribution

Accordingly, it is hereby ORDERED, pursuant to Rule 1104 of the Commission’s Rules,

that the Plan of Distribution is approved, and the approved Plan of Distribution shall be posted

simultaneously with this order on the Commission’s website at www.sec.gov.

By the Commission.

Vanessa A. Countryman

Secretary

The Commission also changed the term ‘investor’ to ‘client’ throughout the Aon Proposed Plan and Plan of

Allocation for accuracy.

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This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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