Background
Chris Duncan contributes to the enterprise
risk management column of IRMI.com.
Chris Duncan is a partner with Mercer Health & Benefits. He has had a
varied career in both small entrepreneurial and large public companies, with
leadership positions in senior management, strategic planning, finance,
operations, benefits, risk management, and insurance and has served as a board
member in profit and not-for-profit entities.
His current role is as the Atlanta, Georgia, business leader for its Health
and Benefits brokerage and consulting business in Georgia and Alabama, as well
as the U.S. leader for Health and Benefits Acquisitions responsible for
pipeline development, evaluation of potential firms, and partnering with
functional areas for valuation, deal structure, negotiations, and
post-acquisition implementation. He is also a member of Mercer H&B's
Innovation Council responsible for new product development and serves on
MMC's Enterprise Risk Management Advisory Committee.
Prior to these current leadership roles, Mr. Duncan was the co-practice
leader for Mercer's Benefits Brokerage business in the United States and a
member of the U.S. National Management Team, providing strategic direction for
significant lines of business in addition to executive leadership sponsorship
and oversight for Health & Benefits' direction in benefits
administration and outsourcing, strategic partnerships and, voluntary
benefits.
His background includes COO/CFO of a regional P&C and benefits
brokerage, benefits, and administration firm; chief risk officer at Delta Air
Lines (risk management, insurance, passenger claims, internal audit, and
information security/privacy); and multiple senior risk
management/insurance/claims, finance, and strategic planning leadership
positions within PepsiCo companies of Frito-Lay and KFC. He started his career
as a property/casualty and acquisitions analyst at Ford Motor Company in
Detroit, Michigan, and learned from consultant positions with Coopers &
Lybrand and Towers Perrin early in his career.
Active in the community, he is a board member of "Open Hand"
(Atlanta-based meal delivery nonprofit delivering more than 1.5 million meals
annually in the Atlanta metro area to the disadvantaged, sick, and recovering
needy of the area) and board member of the American Geographical Society, the
nation's oldest professional geography organization, based in New York.
Active in his local church, he also does volunteer work with Missio Link
International in Romania on solutions for children at risk.
Mr. Duncan has a B.A. degree in business administration (marketing) and an
M.B.A. in finance and risk management, both from the University of Georgia, and
was named Alumnus of the Year (2003) for the Terry College of Business Risk
Management and Insurance Program, the University of Georgia. He also holds the
Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter designation.