Message from MMC Chairman Jeff Greenberg: "Based on current information, there were approximately 1,900 people from MMC's businesses who worked in or were visiting the towers of the World Trade Center. We are saddened beyond words that 313 people from MMC are missing and that two others are confirmed dead, including one who was aboard a hijacked aircraft. We are deeply grateful for all those who are safe.
"To the best of our knowledge all of our colleagues from 2 World Trade Center, who were located on floors 48 through 54, were safely evacuated. In this building were Guy Carpenter's headquarters and smaller groups from Mercer, Seabury & Smith and MMC Enterprise Risk. Our colleagues who are missing were all in 1 World Trade Center, where Marsh and Guy Carpenter occupied floors 93 through 100 - where the first aircraft hit the building.
"Since last Tuesday, we have been working around the clock using every possible means to help our employees and their families and friends cope with this extraordinary trauma. At a 24-hour call center, MMC volunteers have been gathering information about employees who were in the towers, and we have counseling available at our worldwide headquarters in midtown Manhattan. Last week, we opened a Family Assistance Center at the Millennium Hotel in midtown Manhattan to provide support and information for families. We are establishing a foundation, which will be funded by the company and will accept contributions from employees and friends, to honor those lost and benefit their families. A memorial event in New York is being planned.
"I want you to know that MMC is financially and operationally strong, all areas of our businesses are operating effectively. Most of the operations that were affected by last week's events are part of Marsh, our risk and insurance and reinsurance services business. Mercer, our consulting business had a unit at 2 World Trade Center. Boston-based Putnam Investments, MMC's investment management subsidiary, was not directly affected. We implemented longstanding disaster recovery plans. And through the dedicated efforts of our staff, we have restored all essential functions of our businesses.
"The 88 people who worked for Mercer Consulting in 2 World Trade Center were relocated to its headquarters in midtown Manhattan, and all computer processing applications have been restored.
"Guy Carpenter, Marsh's reinsurance intermediary, was headquartered at 2 World Trade Center. Its staff has been relocated to MMC's headquarters at 1166 Avenue of the Americas and other nearby locations. As a result of Guy Carpenter's use of documentation imaging since 1995, more than 25 million documents are not affected, with only one day of data lost, which is being reconstructed. All systems related to client information and claims handling are processed outside the New York area and have been reconnected to systems in New York.
"Marsh serves clients from its offices around the world, but Marsh's center for information technology and finance support services was in 1 World Trade Center where we suffered most of our losses. The computer systems that were destroyed by the impact were backed up at secure offsite locations. The minor amounts of lost data are being reconstructed. Through the tireless work of our staff, we have been able to restore Marsh's systems using Putnam's information technology facilities in Andover, Massachusetts and Marsh's processing centers in Rochester, New York and Des Moines, Iowa. As of today, all of Marsh's systems are up and running."