Deloitte China’s Joanna Wong: Structural enhancements requiring regulatory support, collaboration vital to sustainable insurance systems

She explores strategic perspectives on the future of insurance in Asia, especially in health and protection insurance.

Asian insurers today are navigating complex market shifts such as new distribution models and evolving regulatory frameworks, amidst a strong demand across the region brought by expanding middle-class populations and increasing awareness of financial protection. As industry players work more closely to strengthen health insurance systems and improve access to coverage, expertise from key figures like Deloitte China’s Insurance Sector Leader Joanna Wong becomes critical.

Wong, who is also a member of the firm’s Global Insurance Leadership Team, holds over two decades of experience advising insurers, reinsurers, and public sector stakeholders across the Asia Pacific. She has played a critical role in guiding organisations through strategic transformation, innovation, and market entry. She has also recently been active in health insurance advisory, where she has helped both the private and public sectors in driving the health payer and provider developmental efforts in the region.

In her capacity as one of the esteemed judges for the Insurance Asia Awards 2026, she discusses how insurers can strategically respond to Asia’s diversity, demographic changes, and healthcare challenges whilst contributing to sustainable insurance ecosystems and public policy goals.

How has working across multiple Asia Pacific markets shaped your understanding of regional insurance needs and opportunities?

Working across the diverse Asian markets based in Hong Kong as a regional hub has reinforced that whilst common demographics and economic trends exist, the pathways to insurance penetration and product adoption vary significantly. In the mature markets, for example, the focus is on innovation, digital and AI engagement, and addressing longevity and medical inflation pressures. Meanwhile, in the emerging markets, the priorities remain financial inclusion, basic protection coverage, and fostering trust in insurance as a value-adding service. This experience has highlighted the importance of segmented strategies, which require insurers to leverage regional trends, such as ageing and digitisation, whilst customising distribution models, product design, and customer education to local market specificities.

With Asia being a highly diverse region, how should insurers balance regional scalability with local market nuances?

Striking an optimal balance requires a "glo-cal" strategy where standardising core capabilities at the regional level, whilst allowing flexibility for local customisations, is an option. Insurers can build scalable platforms in areas such as data analytics and core systems, enabling efficiency and consistency. However, product design, distribution, and customer engagement may be locally relevant.

Is there anything that you think should be changed to ensure long-term sustainability of health insurance systems in Asian markets?

Yes, several structural enhancements requiring regulatory support and collaboration of the health ecosystem are vital in my view. Firstly, the risk pooling and universal coverage model will help expand risk pooling through public-private partnerships. This can help reduce financial vulnerability and improve access. Second, a shift from treatment-centric to prevention-orientated care models can reduce long-term costs. Insurers can effectively incentivise healthy behaviours through preventive care integrations such as wellness programmes and wearables integrations. Third, data sharing and interoperability via establishing a secure and compliant data exchange framework across the health ecosystem will optimise not only care coordination but also underwriting precision. Finally, for the low- to middle-class populations, targeted subsidies or tiered pricing may help improve care access without compromising the commercial feasibility for insurers.

How should insurers adapt their health and protection products to meet the needs of ageing populations in Asia?

We have the fastest ageing population compared to other regions in history. As such, insurers must respond with lifecycle-aligned solutions, such as long-term care insurance, chronic disease management, retirement-linked protection, and care ecosystem partnerships. Further, our distribution approach should also evolve to ensure that we can address retirement planning with empathy and cultural sensitivity.

What role can insurers play in supporting governments’ broader social and economic policy objectives?

Insurers can play several roles to support financial inclusion, health system support, economic stability, and resilience against disasters. There have been many successful private-public partnerships across Asia where the insurance industry has been able to serve as enablers of public policies by leveraging our expertise, capital, and certainly customer reach.

As a judge for the Insurance Asia Awards 2026, what capabilities do you value most when evaluating insurance leaders or innovative solutions?

I would look for an impact on the innovation and sustainability of the solutions, rather than just technological novelty. This means that real transformative impacts on customer outcomes and business resilience are important points for consideration.