Welcome to the latest review of our research portfolio, which continues to bring leading-edge science into our worlds of people, capital and risk management.
We started this 16th year with a name change: formerly Willis Research Network, we will now go by the name WTW Research Network, to better reflect the expansion of our research portfolio across all of WTW. The aim of the WTW Research Network remains to foster and integrate open science-based approaches to support clients and wider stakeholders to consider their risks and growth opportunities.
This involves a careful balance between embracing the complexity of science (to understand the challenge) whilst distilling and integrating the key insights in a simple and relevant way (to support decision-making).
2022 continues to show us a need for heightened awareness and understanding around people-related risks. The COVID-19 pandemic enters its third year of disruption, whilst conflict in Ukraine and an ensuing humanitarian crisis show the interconnectedness that impacts day-to-day life for people across the globe. Geopolitical risk research continues to be a key area of focus with partners including Oxford Analytica, the University of Cambridge, the American Enterprise Institute and more to follow.
Our established portfolio of research across the full spectrum of risks (natural hazards, people and technology, emerging risks, organizational resilience) continues to grow. It matches our evolving vision of current and future risks, our emphasis on organizational resilience to complement the traditional risk view, and the growing importance of ESG and sustainability (with a nod to the WTW Thinking Ahead Institute and its influential thought-leadership for investors). These three themes align with perspectives highlighted by our CEO Carl Hess in his vision statement at the beginning of the year.
Once again this year, to inject new perspectives into our research portfolio, the WTW Research Network invited its members (and potential new partners) to submit short collaborative research projects via our Challenge Fund program. It’s a chance to experiment with new ideas and try new methods to answer questions we are seeing, or address topics that may be underrepresented. In 2022 our new themes are: relationships with technology, and the influence of climate change on human health and wider societal impacts. We hope that you find the WTW Research Network review a useful summary of some of the work we have underway and our growing membership.
Our thanks to all our research partners, WTW Research Network team, clients and colleagues for last year’s progress, including colleagues at Gallagher Re with whom we continue to work closely on a number of these projects. We cannot think of a more pressing time to be harnessing the Network’s capabilities to support lives, livelihoods and assets in the volatile decade we are in.
Title | File Type | File Size |
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WTW Research Network Annual Review 2022 | 25 MB |