Charles Hecker, Senior Partner, Global Risk Analysis

Charles is responsible for shaping Control Risks’ thought leadership on geopolitics, global security, political risk and their impact on international business. Charles speaks at industry, policy and academic conferences and represents the company’s work to the international media.

Charles oversees Control Risks’ global political risk output and has lead responsibility for the company’s annual flagship publication, RiskMap. In this capacity, he works with our regional heads of analysis. Charles also contributes to the content and production of Control Risks’ research services, including our subscription offerings and white papers.

Charles is additionally on the steering committee of Control Risks’ joint venture with Oxford Economics, a world leader in macroeconomic forecasting. Our joint venture offers consulting services in political and economic risk, and will soon offer an online subscription service.

Prior to assuming his current role, Charles was Director, Europe & Africa, Corporate Investigations. In this capacity, Charles supervised Control Risks’ investigations activities across one of the company’s largest regions. These included due diligence, business intelligence, problem-solving, and anti-fraud/anti-corruption services. Charles oversaw more than 100 professionals and staff across the region, covering offices in London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Moscow, Lagos and Johannesburg. He took this position after several years as the general manager of Control Risks’ Moscow office and director of its business in Russia and the CIS.

Prior to joining Control Risks, Charles was a reporter for The Moscow Times, an English-language daily newspaper in Russia. Charles also worked as a reporter for The Miami Herald in Florida, where he was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, US journalism’s highest award.

Charles has an honours BA in Russian and Soviet Studies from the University of Pennsylvania. He also has an MA in Soviet Studies from the Russian Research Center at Harvard University. He speaks fluent Russian and is proficient in French and Spanish.