Geopolitical Strategist, CQS (UK) LLP
Neil served as a Royal Navy Logistics Officer from the Arctic to the South China Seas, the Gulf and Indian Ocean. Sub-specialising as a naval barrister, after 9/11 he focused on international law and was the legal adviser to senior UK and NATO Maritime Commanders, and from 2002 the UK Chief of Joint Operations for military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Maritime Security, Counter-Proliferation and global Freedom of Navigation Operations. A former Head of Royal Navy Legal Services, he was on UK delegations to the Major Maritime Powers Conference, G7, and the Proliferation Security Initiative. As a Visiting Fellow at St Antony’s College, Oxford he taught international law and researched the strategic lessons of Somali Piracy, before being appointed Head of the Royal Navy’s Strategy and International Staff, leading engagement on the development of UK national policy for the Arctic and relations with 20 Navies from the Americas to Asia. His last Navy role was in the UK Cabinet Office as Director, Defence and Security on the team which developed a national strategy for long term UK engagement with the Gulf States.
Neil has been Geopolitical Strategist at CQS since January 2016, providing in-house forecasting on global geopolitics to inform investment decisions and the pricing of risk.