Accor and Hilton also have a one-year expiration. SPG points used to expire after one year of inactivity as well.
From a hotel's perspective, I do understand the need to have points expire. Financially, points are a liability for the chain. And it is quite tricky to properly assess the value of points sitting in accounts that have been inactive for some time. Hence, there's some justification for point expiration.
It's my understanding award wallet is not without downsides. There have been reports that accounts (not necessarily IHG ones) have been locked because of award wallets bot-like account accesses. Award wallet may also present some legal (granting account access to a third party) and well as security issues (what if your award wallet account is hacked?).