CHICAGO -- SymphonyIRI Group Inc., a global leader in solutions and services for consumer, retail and healthcare companies, has announced that Andrew Appel has joined the company as president and chief executive officer.
Appel, who also joins SymphonyIRI's board of directors, succeeds John G. Freeland, who moves into a new interim role as executive vice chairman and will remain on the board of directors until his retirement later in 2012.
"We are extremely pleased to have Andrew join SymphonyIRI to lead this next phase of our growth," said Lawrence Benjamin, chairman of SymphonyIRI. "He brings to SymphonyIRI a strong track record leading global professional service organizations and deep experience in technology and operational excellence."
Appel has held a number of senior leadership positions for Chicago-based professional service firms. As chief operating officer at Aon, Appel developed and implemented a successful revenue growth plan for the company. He also led the team responsible for the $5 billion acquisition of Hewitt, solidifying Aon's leading position in human resource consulting and outsourcing. Prior to this, Appel was CEO of two of the firm's three global divisions: Aon Consulting, a leading benefits and human resources consulting firm, and Aon Benfield, the world's largest reinsurance broker. Under his leadership, the divisions achieved operational excellence and improved financial results.
Prior to joining Aon, Appel was a senior partner at McKinsey & Co., where during a 15-year career, he advised leading global financial institutions on a wide array of operational, strategic and organizational issues. Appel joins SymphonyIRI from Accretive Health, where he was senior vice president of revenue operations.
SymphonyIRI Group is a global leader in solutions and services for the consumer packaged goods (CPG), retail and healthcare industries.
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