Hello, and welcome to the 2022 Annual Meeting of Shareholders of Aon. It is now my pleasure to turn today's meeting over to Lester Knight, Chairman of the company's Board of Directors. Mr. Knight, the floor is yours.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I am Lester B. Knight, Chairman of Aon's Board of Directors. At this time, it's my pleasure to welcome you to Aon's 2022 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, which is being held in Dublin, Ireland. We also have shareholders joining us virtually through our meeting center website. In accordance with the notice of meeting, given that it is now past 9:00 A.M., local Dublin time, I'm informed that there is a quorum present, and I declare that the annual general meeting is open. There are five items of business today on today's agenda on which a vote will be taken. These agenda items are set forth in the proxy material sent to shareholders on or about April 29th, 2022.
Furthermore, we are formally laying before the meeting for consideration by the shareholders the company's statutory financial statements under Irish law for the fiscal year ended December 31st, 2021. We will also present a review of Aon's 2021 affairs. Copies of these statutory financial statements have been mailed to shareholders of record and are also available in hard copy form at the meeting venue, as well as on the financial reports section of our website. There's no requirement under Irish law that these financial statements be approved by the shareholders, and we're not seeking any such approval at today's meeting. There'll be an opportunity for shareholders to ask questions. Shareholders attending in person in Dublin can ask questions by raising their hand during the question and answer period.
Those attending virtually can submit their questions at any time by clicking the message icon on the meeting center website. I'm joined in Dublin by Aon's CEO, Greg Case. The other members of our Board of Directors are either with us in Dublin or participating virtually and are available to answer any shareholder questions. Now it's my pleasure to introduce Darren Zeidel, the company's secretary, who will provide the secretary's report.
Thank you, Lester. Notice of this annual general meeting, together with Aon's proxy statement and annual reports for the year ended December 31st, 2021, were made available beginning April 29th, 2022 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on April 14, 2022. Aon has appointed Abby Cowart of Computershare as Inspector of Election for the voting at the annual general meeting. In accordance with our articles of association, voting today will be done by way of a poll on each of the resolutions put to the meeting. This is seen as best practice as it gives all shareholders the opportunity to participate in the decision-making of the company and have their votes recorded.
Based on a preliminary report from the Inspector of Election of the 212,673,907 shares entitled to vote at the meeting, approximately 91% of the total voting rights of the shareholders entitled to vote are present in person or by proxy at this meeting. As a result, I will declare that a quorum is present, and we will proceed with the meeting. Now I would like to turn the meeting over to Greg Case.
Thank you, Darren. On behalf of the management team, we'd like to thank our shareholders for their continued support as well as our board of directors. 2021 was one of the strongest years in our firm's history. It's all thanks to our colleagues and everything they've done for clients, for colleagues, and for each other. Our performance in 2021 is a direct result of our Aon United strategy, both in how we've come together as a firm and in how we're building our existing solutions and capabilities to address our clients' biggest challenges. Our 2021 performance positions us for further growth, innovation, and acceleration of our strategy in 2022 and beyond. As we look forward, we believe that our Aon United strategy will continue to help clients make better decisions to protect and grow their business.
The platform and track record that we've systematically built gives us strong conviction that our confidence in our ability to drive further value for our clients, colleagues, society, and shareholders. It's now my pleasure to turn the meeting over to our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Christa Davies, who will now provide a financial review of 2021. Christa?
Thanks so much, Greg. Our strong 2021 financial results reflect continued progress, momentum, and discipline throughout the firm. We delivered strong results against all of our four key financial metrics, organic revenue growth, margin expansion, earnings per share, and free cash flow. These results continue to demonstrate the momentum and strength of our Aon United strategy, building on a decade of exceptional performance. Now I'd like to turn the meeting back to Lester.
Thank you, Christa and Greg, for the update. Now we're ready to take your questions. Please direct any questions to Greg, Christa, me, or any other members of the board of directors. Any shareholders who wish to ask a question should please raise your hand if you are attending in person in Dublin. If you are attending virtually, please enter your question online via our meeting website. Please give your name or the name of the person you represent and ask your question. I kindly remind you that questions must be confined to the business of this meeting. There being no questions, I'd now like to return the meeting back to Darren for resolutions to be considered at today's annual general meeting.
Thank you very much. The following individuals have been nominated for election as directors of the company, and each votes for election by way of a separate ordinary resolution of the company. Lester B. Knight, Gregory C. Case, Jin-Yong Cai, Jeffrey C. Campbell, Fulvio Conti, Cheryl A. Francis, J. Michael Losh, Richard C. Notebaert, Gloria Santona, Byron O. Spruell, Carolyn Y. Woo. There are four additional matters scheduled to be acted upon at this meeting. In accordance with the recommendation of the Board of Directors, I move the following proposals for approval. Ordinary resolution, advisory vote to approve the compensation of the named executive officers as set forth in Aon's proxy. Ordinary resolution, the ratification of the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as Aon's independent registered public accounting firm for the year ending December 31st, 2022.
Ordinary resolution, the reappointment of Ernst & Young Chartered Accountants and statutory auditor under Irish law, will hold office until the conclusion of the next annual general meeting. As an ordinary resolution, the authorization of the Board of Directors or the audit committee of the Board of Directors to determine the remuneration of Ernst & Young Chartered Accountants, in its capacity as statutory auditor under Irish law. Full text of each of the resolutions is set forth in the proxy statement. Required by our articles of association, the vote will be taken on a poll. As a result, each person represented in person or by proxy is entitled to one vote for every Class A Ordinary Share held. The voting standard required for each resolution to pass is set forth in Aon's proxy statement. I'll now turn the meeting back to Lester Knight.
We will now conduct the official business of the meeting. It's now 9:09 A.M., local Dublin time. I formally propose that each of the resolutions set out in the notice of meeting are put to the meeting, and I declare the polls open for voting on all the resolutions. Let me spend a moment reviewing the voting procedures. Proxy statements and proxy voting cards were sent to all shareholders prior to this meeting. Those of you who returned proxies prior to this meeting authorized the persons named in the proxy to vote on all proposals coming before the meeting. Similarly, if you granted your proxy over the telephone or internet, you do not need to vote during the meeting. Any shareholder attending physically in person who has not submitted a proxy or who wishes to change his or her vote, please stand and you will be given a ballot.
All ballots are in. I now declare the polls closed. The inspector of election has requested to tabulate the proxies and ballots and report the final voting results to the company secretary. Darren will announce the provisional results as soon as possible. Please join me in thanking the directors for all the time and effort they devote on behalf of Aon and its shareholders. In particular, I'd like to recognize General Myers for 16 years of dedicated service to the company. It's been a privilege to work alongside General Myers since he joined the board in 2006. I would also like to thank Greg and Christa Davies and their management team for their efforts on behalf of Aon and its shareholders. Now I'd like to ask Darren to report the provisional voting results.
Following a review of proxies received and tabulated, each nominee for election as director received a majority of the votes cast at this meeting. In addition, each of the other proposed resolutions has been approved as required. These results are provisional. The inspector of election will furnish a written report of the final vote count, which will be attached as an exhibit to the minutes of this meeting, reported in a filing by Aon with the Securities and Exchange Commission and made available on the company's website. I'll now turn the meeting back to Lester for closing remarks.
Thank you, Darren. That now concludes the business of the meeting. I would like to express our sincere appreciation to all those shareholders who attended the annual general meeting and to those who submitted proxies. I now declare this meeting closed. Thank you.
This concludes the meeting. You may now disconnect.