Local knowledge.
Global reach.
Our team has delivered high-quality, bespoke research to clients from across industries over many years. Members of our team have worked in investment banking, law, journalism, government and consulting, putting diverse skills and knowledge at the service of our clients.
Our Senior Team
Sean oversees the firm’s strategy and global operations. Throughout his career, he has advised clients on complex risk issues with particular focus on integrity matters. Sean previously lived in Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai and was Managing Director and a member of the Executive Committee at a global risk advisory firm. He helped to oversee the rapid growth of that business, leading to its successful sale and integration into a global financial data and technology company. Earlier in his career, Sean worked at the Brookings Institution and Williams & Connolly LLP in Washington, DC. He is a graduate of the London School of Economics and the University of Virginia.
Chris heads the EMEA region for Barbican. He was previously the head of EMEA for a global business intelligence firm. Before this he spent eight years at Goldman Sachs, where he was an Executive Director in the firm’s Business Intelligence Group. His work involved identifying and advising on legal, compliance and reputational risk, primarily on capital markets and private equity transactions. He had a particular focus on sanctions and corruption issues. Earlier, Chris was a manager for a global risk consultancy, where he worked in Shanghai, Hong Kong, and London on due diligence matters and investigations into fraud and corruption.
Natalie specializes in due diligence for clients across Asia who are investing both inside and outside the region. With more than fifteen years of industry experience at two global firms, she has led projects all over the world, including in unusual and frontier jurisdictions. She also manages Barbican’s research methodology and training of researchers. Natalie is a Certified Fraud Examiner and holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Modern History from the University of Oxford. She speaks fluent Cantonese and French.
Yanhong leads much of Barbican’s work across Greater China, Japan and Korea. Her specialism is in complex strategic work for hedge funds. She also has extensive due diligence experience, where her clients are primarily private equity firms and large corporates. In her previous work, Yanhong headed the Beijing and Tokyo offices of a global risk firm. Yanhong holds a Master’s degree from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. She is Chinese but grew up in Japan and is fluent in Japanese as well as Chinese.
Tom heads Barbican’s Americas business. He oversees the company’s growth and key client relationships in both North and South America. Tom has extensive experience managing complex cross-border investigations and business intelligence projects for leading hedge funds, investment banks and corporate clients. Prior to Barbican, he worked for nine years at a business intelligence firm, both in the United States and China. He lived in China for more than a decade and is fluent in Mandarin. He holds an MBA from Johns Hopkins' Carey School of Business and undergraduate degrees from Indiana University. He is a Certified Fraud Examiner.
Susan heads Barbican’s business in China, where she manages complex due diligence, business intelligence research, fraud and conflict-of-interest investigations for domestic Chinese and overseas clients. Prior to joining Barbican, Susan was the Shanghai office head for a global business intelligence firm for 11 years, where she built up and led a team of 40 investigators and analysts. Susan holds a bachelor’s degree from Shanghai International Studies University, and is fluent in Mandarin Chinese, English, and Shanghainese.
Jack has 35 years’ experience in risk advisory and investigations. Following an early career in UK law enforcement and in the charitable sector fighting the endangered species trade, Jack moved to Asia where he conducted undercover operations against major counterfeiting syndicates. In due course Jack became head of Kroll’s operations in Hong Kong, and in 2011 co-founded Blackpeak, which became a highly successful global research and investigations firm. Blackpeak was acquired in 2019, and Jack worked closely with the new owners for four years, heading a broad risk advisory division which contained multiple brands and services.
Chris has worked in international risk advisory and investigations for more than 20 years and co-founded Blackpeak with Barbican Executive Chairman, Jack Clode in 2011. Prior to that Chris worked alongside Jack at Kroll in Hong Kong and Singapore. Chris was formerly Asian Editor for Euromoney and a contributing editor for Asiamoney. He began his career as a stockbroker, and later an investment banker, working in the UK and Asia with leading financial institutions such as Warburg, BNP Paribas Peregrine and Crosby. Chris has been a member of the Secretariat for the Asian Corporate Governance Association since 2003. He has lived in Asia, principally in Hong Kong and Singapore, for the past 30 years.
Daniel leads Barbican's EMEA research team. He was previously a senior manager for seven years at a boutique London business intelligence firm, where he focused on complex due diligence assignments, often in high-risk jurisdictions and sectors, for investment banks and hedge funds. He was also responsible for recruiting, training and managing a team of 20 analysts. Daniel's work has been global, but he has particular experience in the Middle East region. Prior to this, Daniel began his career in the UK civil service, spending seven years in various analytical and assessment roles. He has a Master's degree from the University of St Andrews and a Bachelor's from the University of Bristol.
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