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Revenue | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2018
Revenue from Contract with Customer [Abstract] |
Revenue | Revenue 2018 - Under the New Revenue Recognition Standard In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued new accounting guidance related to revenue from contracts with customers. The core principle of the 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. The Company adopted the new guidance effective January 1, 2018, using the modified retrospective method, which applies the new guidance beginning in the year of adoption, with the cumulative effect of initially applying the guidance recognized as an adjustment to retained earnings at January 1, 2018. The Company elected to apply the modified retrospective method to all contracts. The comparative financial information included herein has not been restated and continues to be reported under the legacy accounting standards that were in effect for those periods. In the first quarter of 2018, the Company recorded an increase to the opening balance of retained earnings of $364 million to reflect the cumulative effect of adopting this revenue standard. Other revenue included in the consolidated statements of income that is not from contracts with customers is approximately 1% of total revenue, and therefore is not presented as a separate line item. As discussed in more detail below, the adoption of this new revenue standard shifted income among quarters from historical patterns, but did not have a significant year-over-year impact on annual revenue. 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 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 monthly or quarterly basis in arrears. Oliver Wyman typically bills its clients 30-60 days in arrears with payment expected within 30 days upon receipt of the invoice. Health brokerage and consulting services are components of both Marsh, which includes MMA, and Mercer, with approximately 70% 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:
|  | Twelve Months Ended December 31,
|  | 2018 |  |  | 2017 |
Marsh: |  |  |  |
EMEA |  | $ | 2,132 |  |  | $ | 2,033 |
Asia Pacific |  | 683 |  |  | 645 |
Latin America |  | 400 |  |  | 404 |
Total International |  | 3,215 |  |  | 3,082 |
U.S./Canada |  | 3,662 |  |  | 3,322 |
Total Marsh |  | 6,877 |  |  | 6,404 |
Guy Carpenter |  | 1,286 |  |  | 1,187 |
Subtotal |  | 8,163 |  |  | 7,591 |
Fiduciary interest income |  | 65 |  |  | 39 |
Total Risk and Insurance Services |  | $ | 8,228 |  |  | $ | 7,630 |
Mercer: |  |  |  |
Defined Benefit Consulting & Administration |  | $ | 1,279 |  |  | $ | 1,381 |
Investment Management & Related Services |  | 906 |  |  | 767 |
Total Wealth |  | 2,185 |  |  | 2,148 |
Health |  | 1,735 |  |  | 1,648 |
Career |  | 812 |  |  | 732 |
Total Mercer |  | 4,732 |  |  | 4,528 |
Oliver Wyman |  | 2,047 |  |  | 1,916 |
Total Consulting |  | $ | 6,779 |  |  | $ | 6,444 |
Note: The 2017 information is prior to the adoption of ASC 606. The following schedule provides contract assets and contract liabilities information from contracts with customers.
(In millions) |  | December 31, 2018 | January 1, 2018
Contract Assets |  | $ | 112 |  | $ | 128 |
Contract Liabilities |  | $ | 545 |  | $ | 583 |
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 contingent insurer 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, 2018 to December 31, 2018 is primarily due to $331 million of additions during the period offset by $347 million transferred to accounts receivables, as the rights to bill and collect became unconditional. Contract assets are included in other current assets in the Company's consolidated balance sheet. Contract liabilities primarily relate to the advance consideration received from customers. Contract liabilities are included in current liabilities in the Company's consolidated balance sheet. Revenue recognized in 2018 that was included in the contract liability balance at the beginning of the year was $582 million. The amount of revenue recognized in 2018 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 $51 million. 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 $32 million for Marsh, $486 million for Mercer and $2 million for Oliver Wyman. The Company expects revenue in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 and beyond of $221 million, $141 million, $86 million, $53 million and $19 million, respectively, related to these performance obligations.
Costs to Obtain and Fulfill a Contract Under the new standard, certain costs to obtain or fulfill a contract that were previously expensed as incurred have been capitalized. The Company capitalized 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, 2018, the Company’s capitalized assets related to deferred implementation costs, costs to obtain and costs to fulfill were $41 million, $206 million and $227 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 sheet. The Company recorded amortization of compensation and benefits expense of $998 million in the year ended December 31, 2018 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. 2017 - Revenue Recognized Under Guidance in Effect Prior to 2018 Risk and Insurance Services revenue includes insurance commissions, fees for services rendered and interest income on certain fiduciary funds. Insurance commissions and fees for risk transfer services generally were recorded as of the effective date of the applicable policies or, in certain cases (primarily in the Company's reinsurance broking operations), as of the effective date or billing date, whichever is later. A reserve for policy cancellation was provided based on historic and current data on cancellations. Consideration for fee arrangements covering multiple insurance placements, the provision of risk management and/or other services was allocated to all deliverables on the basis of the relative selling prices. Fees for non-risk transfer services provided to clients are recognized over the period in which the services are provided, using a proportional performance model. Fees resulting from achievement of certain performance thresholds are recorded when such levels are attained and such fees are not subject to forfeiture. In the Consulting segment, the adoption of the new revenue standard did not have a significant impact on the timing of revenue recognition in either the quarters or the year-over-year annual period. See Note 1 for further discussion on the impact the new revenue recognition standard has on the Company's consolidated statements of income when comparing the 2018 financial information versus 2017.

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- Definition The entire disclosure of revenue from contract with customer to transfer good or service and to transfer nonfinancial asset. Includes, but is not limited to, disaggregation of revenue, credit loss recognized from contract with customer, judgment and change in judgment related to contract with customer, and asset recognized from cost incurred to obtain or fulfill contract with customer. Excludes insurance and lease contracts. + References Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 606 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/topic&trid=49130388 Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 235 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/topic&trid=2122369 + Details
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