Good morning, welcome to Marsh & McLennan Companies 2021 annual meeting of stockholders. I am Lucy Fato, the deputy general counsel and corporate secretary for the company. Before we begin, I'd like to go over a few reminders regarding today's meeting. First, today's meeting is being webcast, so I'd like to ask everyone in the room to please turn off cell phones and BlackBerry so we don't have interference with the broadcast. Second, please note that remarks made by management may include statements relating to future events or results, which are forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. A variety of factors could cause the company's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statement made today. Please refer to our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for additional information.
Finally, at the conclusion of today's meeting, Brian Duperrault will speak about the company, after which he will open up the floor to questions. I'd like to ask participants to limit themselves to two questions. Thank you in advance for your cooperation. Now I'd like to turn the meeting over to our independent chairman, Mr. Steve Hardis.
Thank you, Lucy. As Lucy said, I'm Steve Hardis, the independent chairman of Marsh & McLennan Companies. On behalf of the company, its directors, officers, welcome and thank you for coming to our annual meeting of stockholders. Before we officially begin the meeting, I want to offer a word of welcome to two new directors, Steve Mills and Lloyd Yates. Steve is the senior vice president and group executive, software and systems of IBM, where he's held various executive leadership positions since 1989. Steve, you want to? Lloyd Yates is the president and chief executive officer for Progress Energy Carolinas, a subsidiary of Progress Energy, Inc., where he, too, has held various leadership positions since 1998. The board will surely benefit from their extensive strategic and operational experience, as well as the perspectives they bring from the technology and energy sectors.
Now, before turning to today's agenda, I would like to introduce the company's other independent directors. I suspect this isn't necessary, but I'd ask you to hold your applause till the end. Zach Carter, a partner at the law firm of Dorsey & Whitney. Zach, you want to identify yourself? Oscar Fanjul, vice chairman of Omega Capital. Ed Hanway, former chairman and CEO of Cigna Corporation. Gwen King, president of Podium Pros. Lord Lang, a former member of the British Parliament. Bruce Nolop, former chief financial officer of E*TRADE FINANCIAL Corporation. Marc Oken, managing partner of Falfurrias Capital Partners and the former CFO of the Bank of America. Morton Schapiro, president of Northwestern University, and Adele Simmons, vice chair of Chicago Metropolis 2020 and president of the Global Philanthropy Partnership. Now you can applaud.
Here on the stage with me are Brian Duperrault, President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director, and you've met Lucy. There are other members of senior management here. I suspect Brian will introduce them. Also in attendance are Scott Coates and Joe Echevarria of Deloitte & Touche. They're our independent registered public accountants, and they are available for questions. Ask any questions. The fee I just heard was $20 million, so we get our money's worth. I hereby call the 2011 annual meeting of stockholders of Marsh & McLennan Companies to order. After proceeding with the formal part of the meeting, we will announce the preliminary voting results, and I'll have a comment on the dividend. Brian Duperrault will then, as you heard, speak about the company, following which he will open the floor to questions, and we would ask you to hold your questions until that time.
We have received affidavits confirming the distribution of the 2010 annual report, the 2011 notice of annual meeting and proxy statement, and voting instructions to stockholders of record on March 21st, 2011. These affidavits, together with copies of the materials delivered and the list of stockholders entitled to vote at the meeting, have been filed with the corporate secretary. The list of registered stockholders as of the record date for this meeting is available for inspection by any stockholder at the sign-in table. Representatives of Broadridge have been appointed to serve as inspector of elections for the meeting and have taken their inspector's oath. The inspectors have reported that 486 million shares, which represents 89% of the shares issued, outstanding, and entitled to vote, were represented at the beginning of the meeting.
This constitutes a majority of the outstanding shares entitled to vote, and therefore, a quorum is present for the transaction of business. The inspector's oath and the preliminary report of the inspectors has been filed with the corporate secretary. We are meeting today to vote on the matters described in the 2011 proxy statement. Voting will take place on these matters after they are presented to the meeting. We have not received notice of any other matter to be brought before the meeting in accordance with the notice requirements set forth in our bylaws. The first order of business is the election of 11 persons to serve as directors with terms expiring in 2012. As noted in the proxy statement, the company has a majority voting standard in the case of director elections that, like today's, are uncontested.
Accordingly, each nominee must receive a majority of the votes cast with respect to his or her nomination in order to gain re-election to the board. The board of directors has nominated Zachary Carter, Brian Duperrault, Oscar Fanjul, Ed Hanway, Lord Lang, Steve Mills, Bruce Nolop, Marc Oken, Morton Schapiro, Adele Simmons, and Lloyd Yates for re-election as directors to serve until 2012 annual meetings. No other nominations were submitted to the company. Each nominee is currently a member of the board. The second item on the agenda calls for stockholders to ratify the appointment of Deloitte & Touche as our independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31st, 2011, and the audit committee has approved this appointment.
The third item on the agenda asks stockholders to approve the Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. 2011 Incentive and Stock Award Plan, which is a consolidated equity incentive plan that will replace our two current equity incentive plans. The fourth item on the agenda, commonly known as a say-on-pay proposal, enables our stockholders to approve in a non-binding vote, the compensation of the company's named executive officers as disclosed in the 2011 proxy statement. The fifth item on the agenda enables our stockholders to indicate how frequently they believe we should conduct the advisory say-on-pay vote. The last item on the agenda is a stockholder proposal requesting that the board of directors undertake such steps as may be necessary to permit shareholders to act by written consent to the extent permitted by law.
Ms. Renee Zillingove is here on behalf of the proponents, William Steiner and Joseph Chiavetta, to introduce the proposal and make a brief supporting statement if she chooses. Ms. Zillingove, the floor is yours, and we would appreciate it if you could keep your statements four minutes or less.
Item six, stockholder proposal for shareholder action by written consent, sponsored by William Steiner of Paramount, New York. Resolved, shareholders request that the board of directors undertake such steps as may be necessary to permit written consent by shareholders entitled to cast the minimum number of votes that would be necessary to authorize the action at a meeting at which all shareholders entitled to vote thereon were present and voting. Taking action by written consent in lieu of a meeting is a means shareholders can use to raise important matters outside the normal annual meeting cycle. A study by Harvard University Professor Paul Gompers supports the concept that shareholder disempowering governance features, including restrictions on shareholder ability to act by written consent, are significantly related to reduced shareholder value. Please encourage our board to respond positively to this proposal in support of improved company performance.
Thank you very much. The polls are now open. Stockholders present who have already voted by proxy need not vote again unless they wish to change their vote. If you still have a proxy card, please give it to an inspector of elections. Will the inspectors please identify themselves? They're over to my left, your right. I don't see any. An inspector will furnish a ballot to any stockholder or stockholder representative who wishes to vote in person. Please raise your hand if you wish to vote in person, and we'll give you a ballot. Don't see any. The polls are now closed. Will the inspectors please collect any ballots? The preliminary tally based on the votes cast as of the start of the meeting show the following results.
With regard to item one, a majority of votes shares voted were voted in favor of each of the director nominees, and thus they have all been re-elected. For item two, a majority of the shares present or represented and entitled to vote have voted in favor. Thus, the appointment of Deloitte & Touche as our independent auditors for 2011 has been ratified. For item three, the total votes cast represented a majority of the votes entitled to vote, and a majority of shares voted were voted in favor. Thus, the Marsh & McLennan Companies' 2011 Incentive and Stock Award Plan has been approved. For item four, a majority of the shares present or represented and entitled to vote have voted in favor. Thus, the stockholders of Marsh & McLennan Companies have approved, on an advisory basis, the compensation of the company's named executive officers.
For item five, a majority of the shares present or represented and entitled to vote have voted for an annual advisory vote on the compensation of our named executive officers. Thus, an annual say-on-pay vote will be considered the advisory vote of the stockholders. Finally, for item six, the stockholder proposal regarding shareholder action by written consent. A majority of the shares present or represented and entitled to vote were not voted in favor of this proposal, and thus the proposal has not been approved. The inspector of elections will provide its final certified report of the vote following the meeting. That report will become a part of the record of this meeting and is not affected to affect the outcome of the voting announced today.
A summary of the outcome of the vote will be posted to our website, and details of the final voting results will be filed with the SEC on a Form 8-K within four business days. Before we adjourn the formal part of the annual meeting, I'd like to announce that at a board of directors meeting earlier this morning, the board increased the quarterly dividend and declared a dividend of $0.22 per share on outstanding common shares, payable on August 15th, 2011, to stockholders of record on 2011. That's the second increase we've had in about 12 months. With that, the formal part of Marsh & McLennan Companies' 2011 annual meeting is now adjourned, and I'm pleased to give the floor to Brian Duperreault. Thank you.
Well, thank you, Steve. Good morning, everyone. As always, it's a privilege to be here with our shareholders. Before I begin, I'd like to introduce our senior management team. I'll ask them to please stand as I call their names. We're joined here today by Group President and Chief Operating Officer, Dan Glaser, and our four operating company CEOs. First, Peter Zaffino of Marsh, Michele Burns of Mercer, Alex Moczarski of Guy Carpenter, and John Drzik of Oliver Wyman. We're also joined by a number of our management team who are here present. As most of you know, I joined the company over three years ago, and it has been an eventful three years. I'm very pleased to report that our performance and the story we have to tell gets more positive with each passing year.
In 2008, our task was to stabilize the business and fundamentally reconstruct an operating model that was headed in the wrong direction. In 2009, like so many others, we were forced to manage through a great recession. In 2010, after careful review, we made the decision to divest Kroll. This allowed us to dedicate our full energy and focus to our core risk and insurance services and consulting businesses. A focus that extends into 2011 and beyond, as we continue to execute on our growth strategy and work to realize our ambition to become one of the world's elite enterprises. Today, I'll spend a few minutes talking about where we've been, where we stand, and where we're going as a company. As I've already said, we have a very positive story, and I'm eager to share it with you.
Let's start with 2010, a very good year for the firm. Last year, we successfully executed our global growth strategy, streamlined and strengthened our portfolio of businesses, emerged from the global recession a stronger, more focused organization, and delivered strong financial results and improved returns to our shareholders. Marsh & McLennan's total return, with dividends reinvested, was about 28% in 2010, far outpacing the 15% total return for the S&P 500. Our primary goal was to grow across the enterprise, and I'm happy to report that we met this objective. Both of our operating segments produced strong underlying revenue growth. By combining revenue growth with disciplined expense management, Marsh & McLennan produced strong earnings growth. Overall, adjusted operating income last year grew to $1.5 billion from $1.3 billion in 2009, an increase of 14%.
In risk and insurance services space, Marsh's underlying revenue growth increased each quarter in 2010, and most encouraging, this growth was fueled primarily by new business development. Guy Carpenter also had a very good year, and we are especially pleased with the expansion of its international operations. Consulting operations, by their nature, are more sensitive to macroeconomic trends. Despite the prevailing headwinds, both Mercer and Oliver Wyman grew adjusted operating income in 2010. We also continued our acquisition strategy with the ongoing development of Marsh McLennan Agency, which serves the insurance needs of middle-market companies in the U.S. In the past 15 months, we've completed 10 acquisitions, adding $300 million in annualized revenue. On the consulting side, we've also made a number of strategic acquisitions to bolster our world-class portfolio of services.
We've had a lot to be proud of, and we could not have achieved any of this without the extraordinary efforts of our 52,000 colleagues worldwide. I thank them for their continued dedication to this great firm. While 2010 was a very good year for the company, our results reflect the latest chapter of a story that began several years ago when the real work began to stabilize the company and improve financial performance. This was particularly true in the risk and insurance services segment, where, as I mentioned earlier, we had to repair and rebuild a struggling business. Thanks to the efforts of a unified and committed leadership team and the talent and resiliency of our colleagues, things are very different today. Today, Marsh is vibrant. It's a vibrant and growing organization.
Including the first quarter of this year, Marsh has just marked its fourth consecutive quarter of growth, a notable achievement considering the insurance market conditions. The story is just as positive at Guy Carpenter, which has now produced nine consecutive quarters of revenue growth. In our consulting segment, our challenge the last two years was to effectively manage our businesses through the global recession. At the same time, we continued to invest in our capabilities to ensure we could capitalize on opportunities once the economic recovery began. Today, our consulting portfolio is stronger than ever and focused on growth. As we recently reported, Mercer generated underlying revenue growth for the third consecutive quarter. Oliver Wyman's underlying revenue growth was its strongest since 2007.
As I've mentioned in the past, our intention is to build Marsh & McLennan Companies into an elite business enterprise valued by our clients, our colleagues, and our shareholders. We've articulated a growth strategy for the firm that will help us realize this aspiration. The strategy is underpinned by four pillars designed to create exceptional value and superior returns. Our first pillar is consistent long-term growth. We will seek to achieve sustained growth in revenue and earnings per share. We are proud of our strong financial performance in 2010, and we plan to continue to grow our firm organically and through our ongoing acquisition strategy. Our second pillar is low capital requirements. Low capital usage will continue to be one of our company's key operating principles. We will not acquire or develop businesses that require significant capital investment. The sale of Kroll underscores this commitment.
Our third pillar is high cash generation. Maintaining earnings quality is fundamental to our future success, and we will seek to consistently generate significant cash to fund acquisitions, investments, and dividends. We made exceptional progress on this last year. A strong cash generation allowed us to de-lever our balance sheet by paying down $550 million in debt. With the authorization of our board of directors, initiate a share repurchase program in the fourth quarter. Additionally, as we announced earlier today, just now by the chairman, we have increased our quarterly dividend nearly 5% to $0.22 per share. Our fourth strategic pillar is to maintain a low-risk profile. We will continue to focus on minimizing and managing operational risk. We will support these strategic pillars in 2011 by continuing our work against a number of long-term targeted objectives.
As I've mentioned, our top priority for 2011 is profitable revenue growth across all our businesses. We plan to achieve this through a combination of organic growth and by expanding our capabilities in both risk and insurance and consulting. We will continue to de-risk the firm. We are in the process of rolling out a best-in-class code of conduct to all our colleagues, setting forth the very highest standards of business ethics and integrity. We realize that achieving our aspirations is impossible without a committed and motivated workforce. As such, colleague engagement remains a key internal priority. We believe that we can leverage our global scale to realize cost efficiencies and capitalize on adjacencies between our companies. We will continue to unlock potential value by working more effectively across our individual companies to weave the company together.
We will cultivate and operationalize a culture of innovation across the firm, bringing creative approaches and best-in-class thinking to the key strategic issues faced by our clients. Now, taken in the aggregate, I think it's fair to say that we are not the same company we were just a few short years ago. To illustrate this point, we have stopped referring to ourselves as MMC. We have returned to our historic roots by reinstituting the corporate name, Marsh & McLennan Companies. At first glance, this might appear to be a subtle change. But in returning to a venerable name from the past, we are conveying something new. Our new logo and visual identity for the firm represents a re-energized organization committed to growth.
We are confident that no other firm can match the breadth of our portfolio, the depth of our expertise, and the strength of our commitment to creating lasting partnerships with our clients. Through a highly focused approach that leverages our most important asset, our people, we will tell our story in the marketplace and reinforce our position as the preeminent global team of professional services companies. You've probably noticed a theme running through my remarks. As a company, we're focused on growth. Everything we've done in the last few years, everything we continue to do, is in support of our long-term growth aspirations and our commitment to delivering shareholder value. Now that we've put each of our businesses on an upward trajectory, I thought it was an opportune time to make changes to our leadership structure to build on the positive momentum that we have established.
As we announced last month, Dan Glaser, former CEO of Marsh, has been named Group President and Chief Operating Officer of Marsh & McLennan Companies. As I've mentioned many times, Dan has done a tremendous job at the helm of Marsh these past few years. He is a seasoned executive with 30 years experience in the insurance business, including senior management positions, both as a broker and as an underwriter. In his new role, Dan will have operational and strategic oversight of our four operating companies, as well as certain functional areas. We believe Dan's appointment will sharpen our focus as an organization and accelerate the company's progress towards revenue growth and profitability across all our businesses. Succeeding Dan Glaser as Marsh CEO is Peter Zaffino.
Looking back now, one of the best decisions I made when I joined Marsh & McLennan was to name Peter CEO of Guy Carpenter in early 2008. In just a few years, Peter has built and led a team that significantly improved performance, solidified Guy Carpenter's standing as one of the world's leading reinsurance intermediaries, and positioned the company as a broad-based risk advisor for the insurance industry. Building on the strong foundation that Dan created at Marsh, Peter will draw on his 20 years of experience in the insurance and reinsurance industry to bring the same vision, insight, and drive to his new role. Alex Moczarski now leads Guy Carpenter. Alex has been CEO of the international division of Marsh and was instrumental in building its substantial presence in markets throughout the world.
Under his leadership, Marsh's international operations have been a strong contributor to the company's performance over the past three years. With more than 30 years in the insurance industry, 18 years at Marsh, and before that with AIG, Alex has the experience and perspective needed to lead Guy Carpenter as it focuses on the enormous potential of international growth. We also believe that one of the ways we will achieve our growth objectives is to take a more systematic approach to commercializing innovation at the firm. Earlier this month, we named Ben Allen Chief Innovation Officer. In his newly created role, Ben will partner with leadership teams at our operating companies to create products and solutions that help drive growth for the firm as a whole.
We intend to make it easier for us to leverage these solutions on a global scale and to improve our speed to market for new products and services. This marks a return to the company for Ben, who had previously been President and Chief Executive Officer of Kroll. That we were able to enhance our management team and make these appointments from within, and in Ben's case, to welcome back a former colleague, truly underscores the breadth and depth of our leadership talent. This, of course, includes our colleagues within Mercer and Oliver Wyman, led by Michele and John, respectively. The entire senior management team will continue working together to drive performance across the enterprise. Before I conclude my remarks, I would like to acknowledge several changes to the Marsh & McLennan board of directors, beginning with the retirement today of Independent Chairman, Stephen Hardis.
Steve's leadership was critical in helping Marsh & McLennan Companies navigate the turbulent waters of the last several years, under his stewardship, we have emerged from these challenges a stronger company. We are well-positioned today to deliver exceptional value to our clients, colleagues, and shareholders. I would like to personally thank Steve for his leadership and guidance. We all owe him a debt of gratitude. We wish him the very best. Succeeding Steve as Independent Chairman is Lord Ian Lang. Ian Lang will undoubtedly provide outstanding leadership as the firm continues its journey toward becoming one of the world's elite growth enterprises. Additionally, I would like to recognize Gwen King, who also retires from the board of directors today after more than a decade of service.
In addition to her contributions as a director, Gwen has chaired the directors and governance committee, spearheading a complete transformation of our corporate governance practices. Gwen leaves quite a legacy. She will be missed. We also express our thanks to Leslie Budd Baker, who has retired from the board after five years of service. We have greatly benefited from Budd's skillful stewardship of the finance committee and many other contributions to the board. As we bid fond farewell to Steve and Budd and Gwen, we welcome our two newest directors to the board, Steve Mills and Lloyd Yates, who were introduced earlier, both of whom we know will make great contributions. I will close with this. For the last few years, including today, I have stood at this podium and updated you, our shareholders, on our progress and our plans.
I spent a lot of time talking about the past, about the challenges we had to overcome as an organization. I've talked about the measures we put in place to stabilize the firm, to correct some of the missteps of the past, and to manage through difficult market environments. Well, given our financial results in 2010, given the breadth and depth of our capabilities, given our scale and reach, our unmatched client roster, and our best-in-class talent, I don't think we'll have to talk about the past anymore. The narrative of Marsh & McLennan Companies has changed. Our narrative today is in the future. It's about performance, it's about growth, and it's about shareholder return, and it's a story I'm excited to tell. I once again thank our colleagues for their outstanding work, our clients for their continued trust, and our shareholders for recognizing the long-term value of our enterprise.
With that, I'd be happy to take your questions. Thank you.
Any questions from the audience? Looks like there are no questions.
Well, thank you very much, thanks for coming, we'll see you next year.