By Matthew Beer, Founder and CEO, King Safety and Security (KSS). Updated November 2026.
The most important shift in protective security over the last decade has not been tactical. It has been organisational.
Informed clients are no longer just engaging close protection; they are building security functions that incorporate it.
From “who protects the Principal?” to “who owns the function?”
It is one of the biggest shifts I see in how family offices, private clients and corporates approach security. The conversation moves from “Who is protecting the Principal?” to “What does our security function look like, and who is accountable for it?”
Protection teams are relatively easy to procure. A governed security function is not, and it is the latter that delivers meaningful protection over time.
Where we start: structure, not headcount
When we take on a mandate, we do not begin with headcount. We begin with an assessment of the risk, and then with structure:
- Clear accountability. One lead who owns the whole picture and answers for it.
- Defined reporting lines. The family office, the board or the corporate security lead knows who reports what, to whom and how often.
- Decisions informed by intelligence. What is known about the threat, the locations and the Principal’s exposure shapes the arrangements, rather than habit or appearance. We explain why in Digital Protective Intelligence.
- Advance work as standard. Routes, venues, timings and contingencies are planned before every movement, not only the high-profile ones.
- Medical and travel risk capability. Built in from the start, rather than added after an incident.
- Governance and oversight. Regular review, so that the function keeps pace with changes in the family, the business and the threat.
Standards come first
Most importantly, we begin with standards. At KSS, operatives are not selected because they are available. They are selected against a defined benchmark through KSS’s proprietary Selection Day process, which assesses not only technical competence but judgement, communication, emotional intelligence, professionalism and performance under pressure. Even exceptional operatives can fail in the wrong environment, and disciplined selection combined with a mature governance framework is what prevents it.
A function the client does not have to manage
The objective is not simply to provide protection. It is to build a protective function that the Principal, family office or corporate security lead does not need to manage day to day, because accountability, standards and governance already exist.
That also changes the economics. A function sized to the actual risk, planned once and kept up to date, is usually better value than protection bought a day at a time. We set out typical costs in How Much Does Close Protection Cost in the UK?
What it looks like in practice
- For a family office, the function may be an outsourced Head of Security, a Residential Security Team, secure transport and monitoring of the family’s exposure, run under one lead. See Family Office Security.
- For a company, it brings the protection of senior executives at work, at home and on the move into one managed function, working with the security management the company already has. See Corporate and Executive Security.
- For a private client, it may be as simple as one accountable adviser, an assessment of the home and a plan for travel. The structure scales to the risk; it does not have to be large to be governed.
The real test of a security provider
That is the real test of a security provider. Not “how good are your operatives?” but:
- Can you build and govern a protective function?
- Who owns accountability and reporting?
- How are personnel selected, assessed and continually evaluated?
- Where does the intelligence picture live, and who is responsible for it?
- What is the escalation pathway when something goes wrong?
The most effective protection programmes are rarely defined by visible interventions. They are defined by consistent decision making, disciplined process, and problems resolved long before they reach the Principal.
The operative is important. The structure behind them is indispensable. That structure is the product. Everything else is simply its delivery mechanism.
Frequently asked questions
What is a managed security function?
An arrangement in which one accountable provider assesses a person’s, family’s or company’s risk, then designs, runs and reviews the protection they need across home, travel, work and online exposure, rather than supplying people on request.
Is a managed security function only for large family offices?
No. The structure scales to the risk. For some clients it is a full team; for others it is one accountable adviser, an assessment and a small number of planned services.
How is it different from hiring a close protection team?
A close protection team protects a person while it is deployed. A managed function also decides what protection is needed, owns the intelligence picture, sets the standards for the people involved and reviews the arrangements as circumstances change.
Can it work alongside our existing staff and providers?
Yes. A managed function should integrate with the security management, household staff and suppliers already in place, and make clear who is responsible for what.
Who is accountable in a KSS managed function?
A single KSS lead, who is the client’s point of contact and answers for the function as a whole.
Matthew Beer founded KSS in 2014 and has worked in protective security for more than twenty years, across UHNW households, family offices and corporate Principals in the UK, Canada and internationally.