RSS
|
 Oriane Cohen began her journey at Sciences Po, the institution known for shaping the French elite. While the academic structure felt rigid, it provided her with invaluable insights into political strategy, influence, and power dynamics. She then transitioned into journalism, reporting from Israel and the West Bank, one of the most intense geopolitical hotspots in the world. This experience provided her with a first-hand understanding of media influence, narrative control, and perception management. It was also where she began building a high-level network across political, tech, and business circles, learning to navigate conflict zones and decipher power structures beyond the headlines. Disillusioned with the industry, she left journalism and entered the world of intelligence and strategic advisory. This shift led her into HUMINT, influence operations, and high-stakes decision-making, deepening her expertise in understanding human behavior, negotiation, and covert influence. After years of working within structured organizations, she chose to create her own path. In 2024, she founded OC Strategic Advisory (OCSA) - a firm dedicated to helping bold, visionary leaders navigate complex decisions with intelligence-driven insights and strategic thinking. For decades, Family Offices have relied on traditional due diligence to protect themselves: financial audits, legal compliance, reputation checks, background reports. On paper, it looks solid. But in practice, it's no longer enough. Because the real threats don't show up on paper. They hide behind curated identities, strategic affiliations, and trust-based relationships. And without deeper investigation, those threats remain invisible, until it's too late. Most of the time, reasons for failure of good deals are not related to the contract or due diligence... It's often a "human" issue. When you're bringing someone new into your circle - an employee, partner, investor, or advisor - you must look beyond legal integrity... It's important to verify if this new person is aligned at a deeper human level: your values, your culture, your ideology. Misalignment on these dimensions can be profoundly damaging long-term. Business, at the end of the day, is ALL about the HUMAN MATCH... way before the numbers. The problem: due diligence hasn't evolved Traditional vetting looks backward. It tells you what someone has done: not what they're about to do. It answers legal questions, not strategic ones. And it's vulnerable to deception by design. Today's high-risk zones aren't necessarily legal: they're relational, geopolitical, narrative-based. Family Offices operating in complex ecosystems need more than compliance. A clean background check doesn't reveal that an advisor's spouse is lobbying for a foreign government, or that a board member is quietly aligned with a political bloc. A simple due diligence does not analyze the networks. Even though we know, that humans are social creatures and feel the need to "belong". They belong to networks, groups, communities, by affiliation, or by choice. And elite trust networks are porous. The more intimate the circle, the harder it becomes to question someone's influence. Affiliation, prestige, and longevity create blind spots. What's needed: strategic vetting Strategic vetting is an enhanced due diligence. It's about looking at influence the way intelligence professionals do: not as good or bad, but as active, layered, and fluid. First of all, strategic vetting as its name suggests is ... strategic. So it's not just a long report of 90 pages with all the information you can find on the target. You don't have time for this. When I proceed to one, I start by questioning the client: WHY do you need that background check? Because you want to merge? Because you'd like to associate? Because it's a future employee? The stakes are different, and this WHY will guide and orientate the way we gather intelligence. Because intelligence is very different from pure "information" or "data". It's a product that aims to provide ACTIONABLE insights for the decision maker. That's what it is about. Once we defined the goal, we can start the work. It integrates all the basics: criminal records, identity verification, education, companies etc. But it gets more in depth: social medias? Religious or political affiliation? Mapping the networks of influence? Understanding the psychology of your interlocutor and its communication style? We use various methodologies from intelligence work. We start with OSINT (open source intelligence). It responds to a rigorous methodology, not just a Google search. What's in the digital trace? Who's connected to whom? What narratives are they shaping or echoing? Depending on the profile, there might already be enough information to proceed to recommendations. But if we're talking about a discreet profile, sometimes, HUMINT (human intelligence) is necessary to corroborate the information gathered. What is it? It's the art of gathering intelligence from human sources. Discreetly, your service provider will activate a network of individuals to question someone loyalties, motivations, exposure to pressure. You know, the kind of things you won't read anywhere on the internet but that you need to be aware of before you associate with them. Once we have enough information: we corroborate it, we analyse it, we process it, and we transform it in actionable insights: a virtual profiling and strategic recommendations on how to communicate with this persons, how to mitigate the risks and potential red flags identified, and most importantly, on the long term it answers the question: is it a human match? Case study (anonymized) In 2022, a European Family Office was preparing to onboard a new operating partner for a strategic venture. On paper, everything looked impeccable: a spotless track record, high-level investors, and a polished public image. Traditional due diligence gave the green light. But strategic vetting told a different story. Through deeper intelligence gathering, we uncovered a behavioral pattern that wouldn't appear in any legal file: the individual was regularly consuming ketamine and cocaine. Common, perhaps, in some elite circles, but relevant nonetheless. Now, was this inherently good or bad? That's not the right question. Strategic vetting isn't about passing moral judgment: it's about surfacing the invisible risks so clients can make decisions with clarity. In this case, the individual was brilliant. Sharp, respected, and undeniably influential in his sector. So the question became: what would this mean operationally? And if the Family Office chose to proceed, how could we mitigate the exposure? We reframed the partnership terms around a clear security perimeter. He would act as a strategic brain (delivering insight and high-level guidance) but with tightly controlled access: only one point of contact, no involvement with internal teams, and absolutely no authority over finances or final decisions. This is what a real strategic vetting provides: not a binary "yes or no": but a layered understanding of the situation, and a tactical plan to minimize risk while preserving value. In the end, the family office moved forward with the partnership, eyes WIDE OPEN! Because yes, there were red flags. But there were also high-value opportunities. And with the right safeguards in place, the balance tilted in their favor. The "new due diligence" isn't about checking boxes. It's about decoding the invisible: the risks, the opportunities, the networks, the affiliations. And strategic vetting is a tool any family office should have in their toolbox, because the number of risks wealth owners face are not going to disappear. Here are just a few samples: Risk #1: Trust is NOT a strategy When you live in an insulated environment... protected, discreet, curated... you begin to rely on people. You have no other choice. Often a small group of them. That's natural. But it's also dangerous. Trust is necessary. But too much trust, especially when untested, becomes a liability. Take this real-world scenario: a Middle Eastern FO placed its confidence in a long-time advisor. For over a decade, he had been loyal, effective, embedded in the family's inner circle. But over time, his interests began to shift. Quietly, and without ill intent at first, he became aligned with political actors whose goals were no longer in sync with the family's. No betrayal. No dramatic scene. Just a slow drift of incentives. And when it became visible, the cost - strategic, reputational, and financial - was already high. That's what happens when trust is treated like truth. It's a slow, insidious and invisible process and when you realize it, it's already too late. But the truth is, there were some weak signals: that you did not see, or you chose to ignore. Risk #2: philanthropy is not neutral Philanthropy is often framed as generosity. But it's also visibility. And visibility is power, for you or for someone else. Beneath its altruistic surface, philanthropy is inherently political, rarely neutral, and frequently leveraged by external actors for strategic advantage. Family Offices engaging in philanthropic initiatives often enter complex geopolitical arenas. Their generosity, intentionally or unintentionally, creates influence, dependency, and obligations among beneficiaries, potentially aligning the family's legacy with broader political agendas. Every donation, every foundation, every strategic partnership opens a door. Sometimes that door leads to genuine impact. But sometimes it leads to alignment with political narratives you didn't choose. Imagine a situation where a FO funds an educational program abroad. What they do not realize is that their generosity can be used, diplomatically, as leverage. Suddenly, their name becomes a part of a larger story, one they never intended to be part of. The lesson? Even kindness can be weaponized. You need to know where the narrative is going before you join it. Risk #3: the network is not always your ally... Elite networks are built on relationships. But relationships are fluid, and influence doesn't always come with a warning label. Recently, we talk a lot about cybersecurity threats within FOs circles. I do not minimize their importance, but what's worth a good cybersecurity program if your inner circle is not curated? What if the threat was not always coming from the outside, but from the INSIDE? In the field of intelligence, network is a resource to gather information. Not through hacking, the malicious actor just needs to find the "weakest link". And this happens easily through proximity: a friend of a friend. A well-placed dinner. A bit of alcohol and the conversation starts, the loyal employees talks too much, innocently, out of trust... but often, this is how a leak could happen. When you're surrounded by people who seem to understand your world, it's easy to drop your guard. That's exactly when the breach happens. And by the time you realize your mistake, sometimes months has passed. In these circles, the threat isn't usually loud. It's quiet, slow, and friendly. What to do: upgrade your operating system So, how do you protect yourself in a world where appearances lie and influence is invisible? You start by upgrading your mindset and invest in strategic vetting! This isn't about paranoia. In the field of Human Intelligence (HUMINT) we call it healthy skepticism. It means approaching every situation, every person, every opportunity with a simple question: what don't I see? Here are the concrete tools I teach to clients navigating the Grey Zone:
Learn how to monitor how narratives move: online, in elite networks, in closed circles. Watch how stories are built, repeated, and distorted. If you're not tracking narratives, you're being tracked by one.
Trust is fluid. Reassess it often. Who are your advisors connected to? What are their secondary incentives? When did you last challenge their perspective? Their loyalties? Run red-team simulations. Test your own assumptions. Never confuse loyalty with alignment.
If everyone around you agrees with you, you're probably missing something. Deliberately seek contrarian views. Not to be combative, but to stay sharp. Cognitive flexibility is a key asset in unpredictable environments. In the intelligence world we call this role the "10th man". This principle is simple: in a room of 10 men, one, the 10th should adopt a contrarian argument for any problematic raised. Think of the worst cases scenarios. It's not an easy role to play, but having a tenth man, a person that forces you to look at your blind spots is a way to protect yourself.
Families are complex. Differences in generations, worldviews, or emotional loyalties can be exploited by outsiders. Name these dynamics internally, address them, before someone else names them for you.
Don't just ask, "is this donation impactful?" but ask, "Where does this position us politically or culturally?" Vet your philanthropic engagements with the same precision you'd apply to a merger.
This kind of strategic awareness isn't innate. It's a skill. A mindset. One you can develop. How do you onboard someone without compromising family dynamics? How do you lead a negotiation when the other side knows more than you do? How do you sense when a market or a person feels off, before the data confirms it? These are trainable skills. And they start at the top. The Grey Zone is permanent The Grey Zone where Family Offices operate is defined by ambiguity, narrative instability, and subtle manipulation. Navigating this terrain requires vigilance, disciplined methods, and clear-eyed analysis. Family Offices equipped with these strategies can transform vulnerabilities into strategic advantages, securing their legacy against hidden threats. The good news is: If you're aware of it, you're already ahead of most. Trust, yes. But only when combined with method. Verify, always. And when in doubt: recalibrate. | ||||
|
Horizons: Family Office & Investor Magazine
The Blind Spot In Due Diligence: Why Family Offices Need Strategic Vetting |
|
