The world has been in some kind of geopolitical turmoil for much of the past century, but perhaps it really is getting worse. With war in Ukraine, Palestine and Iran, and cartel violence in Mexico—just to name four regions among many—the Peace Research Institute Oslo estimates that the world is experiencing a surge in violence not seen since the Second World War.
In Canada, most of us are viewing this age of heightened conflict from a safe viewpoint. But for families who have a financial or personal presence in the world’s hotspots, safety and guardianship of people and assets become a top priority. What happens in the moment of an outbreak, and what can families do in advance to protect themselves?
Experts say it starts with having a plan that can be executed as soon as possible. Families and corporations engage crisis firms with regional and international expertise in listening, planning and executing when conflict breaks out and it’s time to move.
David Marsh, a regional security advisor with Hyperion Services, says that by the time instability escalates, you’re either running a plan or you’re behind.
“First, you need to have very clear, non-negotiable triggers for when you leave, not based on how it feels that day,” he says. “You decide in advance what changes your posture. That could be [the U.S.] State Department levels, loss of commercial flights, or certain infrastructure starting to shut down. If you’re trying to figure that out in real time, you will wait too long. That’s how people get stuck.”
There is always one person designated to make the decision. … It’s not a group discussion.
David Marsh, Hyperion Services
Marsh explains that part of the plan is knowing exactly how you’re getting out of each property.
“Not generally, but specifically,” he says. “Which airport you’re using, what your backup is if that airport is compromised, whether you’re flying commercial or charter, and who is physically moving you from the house to wherever you’re going. And those people and options need to be vetted ahead of time.”
The downside of a lack of planning is clear. Marsh recalls someone who evacuated from a danger zone quickly using a driver they didn’t really know, and the driver turned out to be tied to a human trafficking organ-harvesting network. By the time one of their representatives contacted the firm, it was no longer an evacuation, but a hostage rescue situation.
“Crisis environments attract bad actors,” Marsh says. “People are desperate, moving fast, and not thinking clearly. If you haven’t already vetted who you’re relying on, you’re exposing yourself to a completely different level of risk.”
That’s the active part of planning when assets or family find themselves in war zones. But what happens before conflict breaks out and evacuation is necessary? Ghonche Alavi, director, cyber, at Crisis24, says it’s usually a case-by-case scenario. Her firm has more than 250 analysts who spend their time looking at trends and conducting bespoke analysis for individual clients.
In some cases, the firm is looking at military movements, sentiment in the region and embassy actions. They’re in contact with local agents.
“On the cyber side, we’re looking at the state-sponsored and state sympathizers and those forums,” she says. “What are they saying? How are they discussing subjects? Is there a ramp-up in activity? Is there a ramp-up in attempted attacks? Those types of indicators are helpful.”
Dave Fox, director, Americas, crisis and security consulting at Crisis24, says resilience reviews are part of ensuring an organization can operate during a crisis.
“There’s a lot of similarity here with what we do with family offices,” he says. “You have to look holistically at the family office, their operations, the profile of the individuals, the profile of the family—understand, you know, culturally, what they’re comfortable with, understand where their assets are held and make them acutely aware of what are the risks here.”
That means doing threat and vulnerability assessments for ultra-high-net-worth individuals that look specifically at their profile. Fox says the firm assesses the risk, shows it to the client, and from there the client decides whether they have the tolerance to be in the region and to move when needed.
The ones who struggle assume they’ll figure it out in the moment.
David Marsh, Hyperion Services
“It’s a discussion, and it’s the same as we would do on the enterprise side,” Fox says. “You’re going to know your business as well as anyone.”
When there’s a plan, crisis firms are often aware of an escalating situation before the client does and are ready to pull the agreed-upon trigger. Marsh says that once one of those triggers is hit or close to it, they make contact with either the principal or the family office, while confirming everyone’s location and what their current situation looks like. There’s also the locking down of social media to prevent bad actors from knowing and acting upon information.
“There is always one person designated to make the decision, either the principal or someone they’ve assigned ahead of time for each of their properties,” Marsh says. “It’s not a group discussion. We give a clear recommendation based on timing and conditions, and they either confirm or adjust.”
Once that decision is made, everything shifts to execution. The assigned agents are already moving; vehicles are in place or being positioned. Air transport is confirmed, any medical needs for older family members are readied, and any cross-border co-ordination is sorted. Everything, ideally, falls into place, and no one is making frantic calls for cars or flights.
Fundamentally, if a family or organization is in a hotspot and needs to leave, it comes down to preparation. All three of our experts agreed: Leave nothing to chance. All parties—the crisis firm, the family, members of the family office—must know exactly who does what and at what time.
Marsh says that preparation can include having someone defined as the authority figure for property. “Every residence has an owner in the operational sense,” he adds. “Someone responsible for it, whether the family is there or not, with clear authority to act if conditions change.”
He also says that on the financial and operational side, it’s important to remove any points of failure. That means not relying on just one bank, one country, or one access point to move money, so that families can access funds quickly across borders. Travel documents are current and accessible, not buried somewhere individuals can’t get to when they need them.
“The ones who struggle assume they’ll figure it out in the moment,” Marsh explains. “And when something actually happens, they’re trying to understand the plan for the first time while everything around them is breaking down. That’s where things slow down, and that’s where risk builds.”
Renée Sylvestre-Williams has written for Canadian Family Offices for three years. She is a Toronto-based journalist and content strategist with more than 15 years covering personal finance, insurance, taxes and investment. She has written for the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail, WealthSimple, MoneySenseand The Walrus.She is a COPA winner, editor of The Budgette (a newsletter focused on finance for solo earners), and the author of the book The Singles Tax (January 2026).
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