Willis, part of global advisory firm WTW, has appointed Daphne Duan (pictured) as director of Strategic Risk Consulting (SRC) for Asia.
The announcement was made on June 30, with Duan set to lead the region’s SRC operations from Singapore.
In her new position, Duan will manage the delivery of strategic risk advisory and insurance optimisation services to multinational and large-scale enterprises across Asia.
The SRC function operates within Willis’ engineering, risk and analytics team and is designed to support clients with specialised consulting, including captive strategy and complex risk analysis.
Duan will work closely with teams across the firm’s risk consulting, actuarial, and engineering units to deliver coordinated services tailored to evolving client needs.
Duan joins from Marsh Asia, where she headed its specialty and quantitative risk analytics practice. Her earlier roles include leading reserving teams at AXA Partners and Argo Group in London.
A UK-qualified actuary with two decades of experience in reserving and analytics, Duan has worked in both the UK and Singapore markets.
The leadership change aligns with Willis’ broader focus on reputational and enterprise risk, as outlined in its latest Reputational Risk Readiness Survey for 2024/25.
Findings from the global survey, which polled 500 senior executives, indicate growing concern over reputational threats.
Cyber incidents were cited by 65% of respondents as a top reputational risk, compared with 52% in 2023.
Environmental issues also rose, mentioned by 64%, up from last year’s 52%.
Increased attention was also given to governance and social impact concerns, highlighted by 56% and 47% of executives, respectively.
These results reflect ongoing shifts in stakeholder expectations and regulatory environments across multiple regions, including Asia.
While a majority of businesses indicated preparedness to address reputational risk, the survey revealed limitations in forecasting financial implications.
Although 94% reported having reserves to manage reputational events, only 11% said they possess strong modelling capabilities to quantify potential losses.
This marks a continued decline in confidence, with 64% rating their modelling ability as moderate, a drop from 74% in 2023 and 87% in 2022.
Despite the modelling gap, organisations appear to be investing in crisis planning.
Eighty-seven percent of those surveyed said they have a formal crisis response team, and 91% conduct annual communication drills.
David Bennett, head of reputational risk management for direct and facultative at Willis, observed a disconnect between preparedness and financial forecasting.
“The results of the survey show that while crisis response teams are more robust than ever, modelling capabilities still lag,” he said. “In today’s unpredictable environment, the ability to anticipate and assess costs and liabilities is becoming increasingly critical.”
Garret Gaughan, managing director for direct and facultative, noted that a growing number of firms are managing reputation more like a traditional risk category.
“Leading businesses are managing reputation as an operational and financial risk, and have moved away from viewing it as a branding exercise,” he said. “To build resilience, companies should develop strong risk management processes, including sentiment tracking and risk intelligence.”
