Marsh & McLennan Companies revealed research institute

Find out what the Asia Pacific Risk Center is focused on.

The Asia Pacific Risk Center (APRC) is Marsh & McLennan Companies’ (MMC) new research institute dedicated to analysing the key risks facing industries, governments, and societies in Asia, and identifying practical ways to build resilience and realise opportunity. The APRC helps decision makers address these risks through in-depth research and insight that combine MMC’s rigorous analytical approach to risk management with leading thinking from renowned research partners.

There are three key significant aspects of the APRC, namely, the expertise in risk they bring, the APAC focus, and BRINK Asia, their digital news platform.

"The outputs from the APRC are unique because we are able to draw upon the risk, strategy and local expertise of the entire global MMC network," Wolfram Hedrich, Executive Director of APRC said.

The complexity of emerging risks from key industries in finance, energy, infrastructure, and healthcare means that solutions need to involve a broad range of experts who are able to contribute both macro-level insights and in-depth local knowledge.

"Our MMC APRC contributors come from four different organisations - Marsh, Mercer, Guy Carpenter, and Oliver Wyman, who bring industry-leading risk expertise across insurance, reinsurance, human capital, and cross-industry consulting," Hedrich said.

The APRC is also able to leverage the global partnerships that are well-established with MMC’s Global Risk Center (GRC), such as with the World Economic Forum, the World Energy Council and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

"We will also collaborate with external organizations including industry, government, and academic partners to tailor the insights, ensuring that our research captures local nuances and pertinent trends, making it relevant to individual markets," Hedrich said.

Additionally, the APRC is focused on developing Asia-specific content to meet the unique challenges in Asia-Pacific.

For example, the team's first research report, Advancing into the Golden Years - Cost of Healthcare for Asia-Pacific’s Elderly covers 14 key markets in the region, providing a comprehensive and nuanced view of societal ageing across countries with great diversity in demographics and economic development. 

Real-time updates and insights on current affairs, political and economic movements are also critical to risk management.

"Therefore, together with our partner Atlantic Media Strategies, we have launched our digital news hub BRINK Asia, which publishes original risk-related articles by experts that offer practical, up-to-the-minute insights relevant to leaders on current and emerging risks," Hedrich said.

Hedrich recalled that the biggest obstacle they encountered while doing the project is the region's diversity.