CRO Chief Risk Officer, Andrew Chan FCA with Stanley Ng, Projects, Hong Kong Shanghai Hotels at Carlyle & Co. Club
This week, CRO Chief Risk Officer, Andrew Chan FCA caught up with former colleague, Stanley Ng, Projects, Hong Kong Shanghai Hotels (Owners and Operators of Peninsula Hotels) at the beautiful harbour view setting of Carlyle & Co. Club.
What started as a catch-up quickly turned into a focused discussion on project risk — one of the most underestimated areas in corporate leadership.
Projects rarely fail solely on technical grounds. More often, they suffer from unmanaged uncertainty: scope creep, stakeholder misalignment, supply-chain issues, and operational friction. These are rarely true surprises. They are risks that were either identified too late or not owned clearly enough.
A few practical takeaways stood out:
• Risk ownership must sit with decision-makers, not just risk specialists.
• Front-end risk conversations create disproportionate value — once capital is committed, course correction becomes expensive.
• In complex environments like hospitality and real estate, seasoned judgment still matters as much as data.
• Lessons only create value when they are institutionalised into better processes and clearer escalation.
The broader point remains: risk professionals add the most value when they act as growth partners rather than gatekeepers — helping leaders protect the downside while enabling ambitious delivery.
In project environments, the quality of the early risk conversation often determines the outcome.
At CRO Chief Risk Officer, we believe in hosting events at exclusive private locations including Private Clubs like Carlyle & Co. We look forward collaborating and partnering with Stanley for future events at the Club.
Support our continuous journey for more value-added CRO Chief Risk Officer roles in Hong Kong and Asia by joining as a Global Risk Advocate (Individual / Corporate memberships available) for more great events and partnerships!
Comments