in 2005, Lars-Åke Severin, a native Swede, came to China to run a short- term project for a client. Severin, who is a former police officer in the Swedish Security Police Force and founder of the Close Protection Team for Her Royal Highness, the Crown Princess of Sweden, was acting CEO for a Swedish security consultancy firm at the time.

His time in China taught him something very important: to be successful, you need to have a deep understanding of two things that are closely related—the complex operational risks and the subtleties of the local business culture.

He saw right away the need for a new kind of risk and security partner that possessed the unique expertise to navigate both.