What is a cash flow waterfall?

A cash flow waterfall is a bar chart that walks from operating cash flow through capital expenditure to free cash flow, then shows how the remaining cash is allocated — acquisitions, buybacks, dividends, debt, and other financing — ending at the net change in cash. Each step is colour-coded: green bars add to the running total, red bars subtract.

How does Marsh & McLennan Companies (MRSH) spend its free cash flow?

For TTM through Q2 2026, Marsh & McLennan Companies generated $5.08B of operating cash flow and $4.77B of free cash flow — a free cash flow margin of 93.9% of operating cash flow. The waterfall breaks down how the remaining cash was allocated across investing and financing activities.

How much did Marsh & McLennan Companies (MRSH) return via buybacks and dividends?

The waterfall shows buybacks (share repurchases) and dividends paid as separate steps in the financing section. Together these represent Marsh & McLennan Companies's shareholder returns for TTM through Q2 2026. You can compare these against free cash flow to assess the capital-return payout ratio.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (MRSH) Cash Flow Waterfall

Operating CF

$5.08B

Capex

-$311M

Free Cash Flow

$4.77B

FCF Margin

+93.9%

Cash flow waterfall for Marsh & McLennan Companies (MRSH) — TTM through Q2 2026

Free cash flow: $4.77B

Cash flow breakdown for Marsh & McLennan Companies (MRSH) — TTM through Q2 2026

Line item	Amount	Running total
Operating Cash Flow	$5.08B	$5.08B
Capital Expenditure	-$311M	$4.77B
Free Cash Flow	$4.77B	$4.77B
Acquisitions	-$1.02B	$3.75B
Other Investing	$316M	$4.06B
Share Buybacks	-$2.74B	$1.32B
Dividends Paid	-$1.77B	-$446M
Net Debt Change	$250M	-$196M
Other Financing	$772M	$576M
Forex Effect	-$221M	$355M
Net Cash Increase	$355M	$355M

Operating Cash Flow$5.08B
Capital Expenditure-$311M
Free Cash Flow$4.77B
Acquisitions-$1.02B
Other Investing$316M
Share Buybacks-$2.74B
Dividends Paid-$1.77B
Net Debt Change$250M
Other Financing$772M
Forex Effect-$221M
Net Cash Increase$355M

Want to see what drove the FCF change?Free Cash Flow Bridge

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