High-net-worth individuals face several threats to their security. Their significant wealth makes them prime targets for scams and hackers and sometimes puts them in physical jeopardy.
Protection is therefore essential. The best security advisers can pre-empt these issues on behalf of their clients, ensuring they are equipped to address them before they surface. They carry out discreet assessments before they travel and on the places they will visit.
As well as the security threats HNWs can face, maintaining a strong intelligence and investigation capability is an important part of identifying and addressing more direct challenges, both as a private individual and as a businessperson.
The best advisers can help a client to develop a full intelligence and investigations strategy to help tackle these issues before they evolve into larger problems.
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Security, intelligence & investigations advisers for HNW individuals: names to know
Andrew Wordsworth – Top Recommended
Firm: Raedas
Andrew Wordsworth, co-founder of Raedas, is recognised as a trailblazer in contentious investigations and is the go-to expert for high-net-worth clients, family offices, and high-profile individuals.
Wordsworth excels in tracing and recovering assets and has overseen numerous investigations for banks, governments, and corporations across the Middle East, Russia, and Latin America.
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Read Andrew Wordsworth’s full profile at Spears500.com
Kate Bright – Top Recommended
Firm: UMBRA International Group
Kate Bright is the founder and CEO of UMBRA, a leading security firm specialising in ‘invisible security’ and a ‘secure lifestyle’ for high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients.
With over 25 years of experience, UMBRA offers holistic security services, including staff provision and vetting, crisis management, and advisory support.
Read Kate Bright’s full profile at Spears500.com
Lucy Burnford – Recommended
Firm: coc00n cyber
Lucy Burnford is the CEO of coc00n, a cybersecurity firm based in London founded in 2022 that protects high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals from cyber attacks using risk profiling and creating bespoke security solutions.
The team has over 30 years of experience, with a background at GCHQ and the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre whose clients include high-value individuals and organisations dealing with high-risk information and data.
Read Lucy Burnford’s full profile at Spears500.com
Shires Crichton – Top Recommended
Firm: Amba Defence
Shires Crichton, CEO of Amba Defence, has more than 15 years’ experience in security arrangements for high-risk individuals, high-net-worth clients, and corporate entities.
The company provides security audits, defence planning, security hardware planning, counterintelligence, IT security, and staff vetting for individual clients.
They also offer security planning for a portfolio of clients and work in an advisory role to UHNW households, private family offices, banks, and law firms.
Read Shires Crichton’s full profile at Spears500.com
Philip Grindell – Top Recommended
Firm: Defuse
When Philip Grindell retired from the police in 2019, he set up Defuse to safeguard high-profile individuals and corporations from physical, reputational, and psychological harm.
He was responsible for protecting British MPs after the death of Jo Cox. His team includes researchers and analysts from counterterrorism and British Intelligence, and actively recruits from GCHQ and police protection units.
Grindell combines protective intelligence, behavioural science, and rigorous data analysis to keep his clients safe.
Read Philip Grindell’s full profile at Spears500.com
Damian Ozenbrook – Recommended
Firm: Blue Square Global
Former paratrooper Damian Ozenbrook has more than 15 years’ experience in complex fraud investigations, asset recovery, and global litigation. He founded boutique intelligence and investigation firm Blue Square Global in 2007 that provides intelligence-led solutions to private clients and family offices with a focus on supporting cross-border litigation, investigations, and disputes.
Read Damian Ozenbrook’s full profile at Spears500.com
John Pendleton – Recommended
Firm: Blackstone Consultancy
With three decades of experience in the Metropolitan Police, where he worked in counterterrorism and protection roles, John Pendleton is considered one of the UK’s leading experts on the protection of people, places, and events. He holds the highest level of UK security clearance and played a key role in leading the government’s response to the Salisbury poisoning in 2018.
Read John Pendleton’s full profile at Spears500.com
David Allison – Top Recommended
Firm: Octaga Security Services
Former SAS soldier David Allison founded Octaga Security Services in 2001 to address the lack of competency in the security sector. With a team of specialist field experts, Octaga aims to redefine industry standards and provide world-standard regulatory systems.
Read David Allison’s full profile at Spears500.com
Wesley Bull – Top Recommended
Firm: Sentinel Resource Group (SRG)
Wesley Bull, is CEO and founder of Sentinel Resource Group (SRG), a security and risk advisory firm specialising in providing security risk intelligence, threat assessments, and investigations to corporate and private clients.
Read Wesley Bull’s full profile at Spears500.com
Nick Doyle – Top Recommended
Firm: Kroll
Kroll managing director Nick Doyle has extensive experience working with financial institutions and law firms, having completed over 750 assignments in more than 75 countries. He specialises in resilience and crisis management, providing advice on business continuity preparedness and risk management.
Read Nick Doyle’s full profile at Spears500.com
Methodology
In selecting and ranking the best security, intelligence & investigations advisers for HNW individuals, the Spear’s Research Unit conducts extensive research of the market, including interviews with well-informed observers, industry insiders and of course the advisers themselves. These take place both face-to-face, and on video and telephone calls. Candidates for inclusion are asked to fill in a form to provide data and a description of their work and client base. In finalising its selections and rankings, the Spear’s Research Unit employs a proprietary methodology that includes a weighted scoring system. This takes into account factors including an adviser’s standing, reputation, client base, recommendations and testimonials, the firm they represent, their level of engagement with the process and certain industry-specific criteria.
Best security, intelligence & investigations advisers for HNW individuals: the complete list
Find out more
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