Presenter Spotlight: 2020 ASA International Conference – Business Valuation Sessions

ASA International Conference is the leading event for the global valuation profession. Backed by nearly a century of continued success, the Conference attracts thought leaders, practitioners, allied professionals, vendor partners, government agency personnel and more from all parts of the world. This paramount event provides an experience unlike other appraisal conferences, offering timely content for all appraisal professionals spanning Business Valuation, Personal Property, Machinery & Equipment, Real Property, Gems & Jewelry as well as Appraisal Review & Management.

This year’s hybrid format will be available both live and virtually, allowing attendees to learn and connect in their preferred environment. Join us on-site in Las Vegas or from the comfort of your home or office – the choice is yours! Both formats will allow you to explore the latest ideas, trends and best practices with leading presenters and interact and engage with fellow professionals.

Don’t miss theses industry experts presenting our Business Valuation sessions*:

Matthew R. Crow, ASA, CFA is the President of Mercer Capital and has been with Mercer Capital for over 25 years. Mr. Crow’s practice area focuses on valuation and corporate finance issues for investment management firms with a broad experience in valuing insurance, real estate investment ventures, and technology companies. Mr. Crow has been a designated member of ASA since 1996, and recently served on the Business Valuation Committee of the ASA.

Arlene Ashcraft, ASA, CFA, is Managing Principal at Columbia Financial Advisors, Inc. She has over 15 years of experience in valuing businesses, specializing in ESOP valuation and financial advisory services, estate and gift tax valuations, and appraisal assignments for litigation support purposes. Ms. Ashcraft has been a designated member of ASA for over a decade and an active volunteer with numerous leadership positions; most notably as serving as Secretary of the Business Valuation Committee, past Vice Chair of the Board of Examiners, Business Valuation and as President of the Portland, OR Chapter.

Jay E. Fishman, FASA, is a Managing Director of Financial Research Associates and has been actively engaged in the appraisal profession since 1974.  He specializes in the valuations of business enterprises and their intangible assets.  Mr. Fishman has co-authored several books, including the Guide to Business Valuations, Standards of Value, A Consensus View Q&A Guide to Financial Valuation and The Business Valuation Bench Book.  He has taught courses on business valuation to several renowned businesses internationally, most notably to the Internal Revenue Service. In 2020, ASA recognized his outstanding services in the Society and contributions to the appraisal profession and gave him their Lifetime Achievement Award.

Kenneth J. Pia, Jr. CPA, ABV, ASA, MCBA is partner and the leader of National Matrimonial and Business Valuation groups at Marcum LLP. With more than 30 years of professional business valuation and litigation support experience. Mr. Pia is Chair of the ASA’s Business Valuation Committee, is a member of the National Business Valuation Education Committee and teaches nationally for the ASA’s accreditation program. Mr. Pia is also a charter member of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers Foundation’s Forensic & Business Valuation Division and was recently named to the American Academy for Certified Financial Litigators Advisory Board for New York and Connecticut.

Bruce A. Johnson, ASA is an elected member of the ASA’s Board of Governors, ex-officio member of the ASA Business Valuation Committee, course developer for the ASA’s BV203 course on discounts and premiums, member of the ASA Marketing Subcommittee and chairman of the 2017 ASA Advanced BV Conference. Mr. Johnson is a member of the Texas A&M Department of Finance Advisory Council and has been published on a wide range of valuation topics in several journals.  He is also a contributing author for PPC’s Guide to Business Valuation, Pratt’s Valuing a Business and Partnership Profiles’ Comprehensive Guide for the Valuation of Family Limited Partnerships.

Bethany Harms is a senior staff in the Valuation Services group at Crowe LLP. She has over 5 years of experience in performing valuations for business advisory, tax reporting, and financial reporting purposes. Ms. Harms has completed the Introduction to Business Valuation, Market Approach, Income Approach, and Asset Approach principal of valuation courses with the American Society of Appraisers; and is a volunteer with Junior Achievement.

Adam Newman, CPA, ABV is a Principal at Crowe LLP. He has over 20 years of experience in providing valuation services in financial reporting, tax reporting, and litigation matters.  Mr. Newman’s practice focuses on the valuation of closely-held businesses, purchase price allocations, valuing complex financial instruments, custom modeling with Monte Carlo simulation, and calculation of economic damages in commercial litigation and personal injury matters.

Vanessa Claiborne, ASA, is President & CEO of Chaffee & Associates, Inc. She has over three decades of experience in accounting and valuation, with a focus in business valuation services primarily for estate and gift taxes, Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), GAAP fair value reporting, financial reporting, corporate planning, business interruption claims, litigation support including expert testimony, exit planning, and shareholder transactions and restructuring. Ms. Claiborne has been a designated member of ASA for 27 years, and an active volunteer, most notably serving as President for the ASA New Orleans Chapter and Regional Governor for the ASA Board of Governors.

Nene Gianfala is a Vice President of the Valuation Advisory group with 14 years of experience in accounting, corporate finance, and business valuations. Nene performs intellectual property and intangible asset valuations for purchase price allocations, impairment testing, internal intangible asset management, portfolio valuation, and litigation support. Ms. Gianfala also provides business valuation services for estate, gift and income tax planning, financial reporting, corporate planning, employee stock ownership plans, and litigation.

Aarti Karande, is senior manager at Deloitte Transactions and Business Analytics LLP. She has over 15 years of experience in business enterprises and equity instrument valuations, specializing in ASC 718 stock option and complex securities valuations including development of model input assumptions, selection of valuation models and valuation of employee incentive awards for compliance and compensation planning purposes for public and private companies across a variety of industries.  Ms. Karande is a candidate member of ASA.

Mark Penny, ASA, BV/IA, ARM/BV, is Managing Director of Hempstead & Co., LLC. He has over three decades of experience as an appraiser of corporate securities and has performed valuations for a wide range of business, including: manufacturing companies, communications firms, various professional practices, small businesses, and agricultural enterprises. Mr. Penny also is a qualified expert witness and lecturer. He has been a designated member of ASA for over 34 years, an active volunteer, most notably serving as International President.

Jack Young ASA, ARM, CPA is President of NorcalValuation.com. He has nearly 20 years of valuation experience specializing in machinery & equipment and appraisal review for litigation support. Mr. Young has served as an expert witness in state and federal court as well as testifying before many tax appeals boards. He has been a designated member of ASA for 12 years and an active volunteer with numerous leadership positions, including ASA NorCal chapter past president, MTS and ARM course developer and ARM instructor. He currently serves as the ARM Committee Past Chair and ARM E-Journal Editor.

Michael A. Gregory, ASA, CVA, is a Qualified Mediator with the Minnesota Supreme Court and the founder of Michael Gregory Consulting, LLC. He has over 25 years of experience in business valuation specializing in federal tax issues. Mr. Gregory has been a designated member of ASA for 16 years, and he has served on the Business Valuation Committee.

Brian Dies, ASA is an expert in the financial analysis of complex transactions, business valuations and commercial disputes. Mr. Dies specialty is clearly and concisely explaining these complex financial topics to corporate leaders and their counsel, as well as to arbitrators, judges, and juries. In addition to serving as a Principal at Hoffman Alvary, Mr. Dies is also an Instructor at the Harvard University Extension School,  teaching Business Valuation at the graduate level.

Carla Nunes, CFA is a Managing Director in the Duff & Phelps Office of Professional Practice, specializing in technical guidance on a variety of valuation, financial reporting and tax issues. She is also the Global Leader of Duff & Phelps’ Valuation Digital Solutions group, which produces cost of capital thought leadership content and data housed in the Cost of Capital Navigator. Ms. Nunes was part of the Valuation Advisory Services unit, performing engagements primarily for financial reporting and tax purposes at Duff & Phelps and its predecessor firms, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Standard & Poor’s.

James Harrington, ASA is a Director at Duff & Phelps LLC. He is an experienced and accomplished business communications expert, specializing in valuation research and reports. In his present role, he provides technical support on client engagements involving cost of capital and business valuation matters and is a leading contributor to his firm’s efforts in the development of studies, surveys, online content and tools and valuation models.

Jan Marek, CFA, ASA leads the area of financial analysis and applied research. Prior to joining EVI, Jan was a partner in Deloitte, leading the valuation and financial modelling team for Central Europe. At the beginning of his career, he worked as a management consultant, portfolio manager and broker on the Prague Stock Exchange. He has more than 20 years of experience in valuation of companies and other assets, litigation, financial modelling, transfer pricing, competition economics, and other financial analyses in Europe, Asia, America and Africa.

Ronald Seigneur, ASA is Managing Partner of Seigneur Gustafson LLP, based in Lakewood CO, where he is responsible for financial forensics, business and intellectual property valuation, practice management consulting and exit & succession planning services. He is co-author of Financial Valuations: Applications and Models, published by John Wiley & Sons, Reasonable Compensation: Applications and Analysis for Management, Valuation and Tax, published by Business Valuation Resources, The Cannabis Industry Accounting and Appraisal Guide and Financial Expert Guide for Family Law Judges and Attorneys – Colorado Edition, published by LuLu. Ron is an adjunct professor at the University of Denver and Daniels College of Business where he teaches business appraisal classes as well as a fellow of the College of Law Practice Management.  

Nicholas Parseghian, ASA is a director in the Advisory and Consulting Practice group and a member of the Business Valuation and Litigation Support team in the Boston office of Marcum LLP. Mr. Parseghian has 12 years of experience providing business valuation and litigation support services to clients across an array of industries with extensive experience providing valuation support in matters related to minority-interest buyouts, strategic and transaction planning, and valuation analyses for tax and financial reporting purposes. He is an Accredited Senior Appraiser (ASA) of the American Society of Appraisers, designated in Business Valuation.

Andrew Proctor is a Managing Director at Houlihan Lokey, Inc.  He has over 25 years of experience providing valuation and related advisory services.  Mr. Proctor focuses on serving hedge funds, private equity funds, sovereign wealth funds, and other institutional investors, as well as corporate clients and family offices.  In addition to his expertise in valuing business enterprises and related equity and debt securities, he also specializes in the valuation of alternative asset managers—both management and carry vehicles.

Antonella Puca, CFA, CPA/ABV, CEIV is a Senior Director at Alvarez and Marsal Valuation Services, LLC. Mrs. Puca has more than 20 years of experience in servicing VC and PE funds and their investment managers, including valuation of their portfolio companies, complex securities and carry vehicles. Mrs. Puca currently serves on the Business Valuation Committee of the AICPA. She has served as a member of the AIMA Research Committee and an executive board member of the CFA Society of New York. Mrs. Puca is the author of Early Stage Valuation (Wiley: 2020) and a frequent presenter and author on valuation and alternative investment topics.

Joseph Thompson, ASA, is a Principal at The Griffing Group. He has approximately 20 years of experience as a professional in the finance industry and has performed valuation and damages analyses for purposes of commercial litigation, estate and gift taxation, employee stock ownership plan compliance, and purchase price allocation. Additionally, he has been retained to provide expert witness testimony for plaintiffs and defendants in a number of jurisdictions. Mr. Thompson also serves as an adjunct professor at DePaul University.  Mr. Thompson has been a designated member of ASA for 11 years.

David Neuzil is a Manager at The Griffing Group. He has more than a decade of experience in financial services covering a wide range of industries, including software, technology, financial services, energy, heavy manufacturing, communications, retail, distribution, real estate, food services and others. In his present role, he provides valuation and damages analyses for purposes of commercial litigation, estate and gift taxation, employee stock ownership plan compliance, and marital dissolution. Additionally, Mr. Neuzil has provided expert witness testimony in the Supreme Court of the State of New York.

Kellie Adkins, ASA is an Advisory Services Valuation Principal at Crowe LLP.  Ms. Adkins has 15 years of experience in valuation of businesses, and intangible assets for financial reporting, tax reporting, and business planning purposes. She currently is one of three technical reviewers for the Crowe Valuation group.  Outside of Crowe, Ms. Adkins also serves on the North Texas Women’s Energy Network (WEN) board and leads the WEN Downtown Dallas mentor circle.

Vincent Covrig, PhD, CFA, is a principal in the Crowe LLP advisory services group specializing in providing financial transaction valuations. Mr. Covrig has over 15 years of experience in the valuing of compensation awards, preferred stock, contingent considerations, embedded derivatives and debt valuation. He has presented at ASA and NACVA conferences, teaches classes at the California State University, and has published more than a dozen papers in top academic and practitioner journals.

Corley Thomas, ASA, is a Managing Director at HDH Advisors, LLC. He has over 12 years of experience in business valuation and appraisal, specializing in ESOPs and transaction consulting engagements. Mr. Thomas’ experience focuses in providing a wide variety of valuation and transaction support consulting services for purposes of financial reporting; income tax planning; contemplated mergers and acquisitions; and general business planning. He has significant experience in performing equity and enterprise valuations, debt valuations, and complex deal structure consulting.

Todd Fries, ASA, CFA, is a partner at The BVA Group.  He has over 20 years of experience in valuing business, business interests, complex securities and intangible assets across a broad range of industries for financial reporting, tax, transaction advisory, ESOP administration and litigation support.  Mr. Fries specializes in private-equity related valuations as well as providing valuations in the context of partner buy-outs and disputes.  Mr. Fries has been a designated member of ASA for 14 of years.

Roger Grabowski, FASA, is Managing Director at Duff & Phelps. He has over 40 years of experience in valuation services, and has directed valuations of businesses, interests in businesses, intellectual property, intangible assets, real property and machinery and equipment, as well as been recognized in various courts as an expert on matters of solvency, the value of closely held businesses and business interests, valuation and amortization of intangible assets and other valuation issues. Mr. Grabowski has been a designated member of ASA for 44 years.

Daren Mesrobian, ABV, is a Partner of Holthouse Carlin & Van Trigt LLP, and leads the firm’s Valuation Advisory Services practice. He has over 13 years of valuation and financial advisory experience and has addressed complex tax valuation matters for businesses in all phases of the business cycle. While his industry experience is broad, he has a specialization in food, beverage and agricultural businesses. Mr. Mesrobian holds the ABV designation and is a candidate with the ASA; having been an active board member of the ASA’s Los Angeles Chapter.

Joshua Lefcowitz, CPA, ABV, CFF, CVA, CFE, ASA is the Lead Partner of the Valuation and Litigation Support Services group at Cohen & Company and has more than 20 years of experience providing valuation and forensic accounting services. He has extensive expertise across a wide range of industries, specializing in transaction advisory services. Mr. Lefcowitz is experienced in providing litigation support services related to valuation matters and forensic accounting, and was one of only 15 Accredited Senior Appraisers to complete the American Society of Appraiser’s Inaugural Multidisciplinary Advanced Education in Healthcare Valuation Program.

Joe Brennan is a Senior Associate in the Valuation Services group at Cohen & Company, with a primary focus on assisting the firm’s cryptoasset clients. Mr. Brennan collaborates with cryptoasset fund managers and executive teams to identify, analyze, and solve unique valuation challenges clients face in this burgeoning new asset class. Prior to joining Cohen, he acquired additional valuation experience while issuing fairness opinions for both buy-side and sell-side transactions for Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), including annual valuation updates for ESOP-owned companies with annual EBITDA ranging from $500,000 to $120 million.

Tim Stuhlreyer, ASA, CPA is a managing director in PwC’s Transaction Services Valuation practice with more than 14 years of experience in the valuation of businesses and intangible assets. He has consulted with clients on valuation issues around buy-side, sell-side, tax and financial reporting purposes and has completed numerous engagements for tax planning and purchase price allocations/impairment tests. Mr. Stuhlreyer is a Vice Chair of the Houston CPA Society’s Energy Committee and is actively involved in the ASA’s Houston Energy Valuation Conference.

Seenu Akunuri is a Principal in PwC’s Deals practice in Houston, TX. As the leader for PwC’s US Energy and Mining Valuation practice, Mr. Akunuri specializes in complex valuation issues around mergers, acquisitions, global tax restructuring, re-domiciliation of assets, divestitures, and other domestic, global and cross-border transactions. He has presented and published thought leadership topics impacting the energy and mining industries, is a contributing author to the valuation chapter of Professional Development Institute and PwC’s Petroleum Accounting textbook and has co-authored thought leadership articles on various valuation topics.

Kathy Nalepka, ABV is a Manager at Crowe LLP. She has over 5 years of experience performing valuations for a variety of purposes, including estate and gift planning, purchase price allocation, goodwill impairment analysis, potential transactions, ESOP administration, and more. Ms. Nalepka has provided valuation services in a wide range of industries with experience in valuing closely held businesses and business interests as well as intangible assets; such as trade names, franchise agreements, technology, and customer relationships in connection with mergers and acquisitions.

Ian Long, CFA is a Manager at Crowe LLP and has over 6 years of experience and has primarily been engaged with middle market clients and private equity firms for a variety of purposes including: estate and gift planning, purchase price allocation, goodwill impairment analysis, potential transactions, shareholder disputes and ESOPs. In addition to his valuation work, Ian has served as a buy-side and sell-side advisor for clients in Crowe’s outsourced corporate development practice, assisting clients through the M&A process.

Anna Mazover, MBA, ABV, is a Managing Director at KPMG LLP.  She has over 15 years of experience in valuation of businesses, intangible assets, and inventory for financial reporting, tax reporting, and management planning purposes. Ms. Mazover focuses on assisting clients with valuations in connection with purchase price allocation, goodwill impairment testing, fresh start accounting, asset or legal entity transfers, tax restructuring, as well as corporate and strategic planning.

Margaret Ross, CPA, is a Manager at KPMG LLP.  She has over 6 years of experience in valuation of businesses, intangible assets, and inventory for financial reporting, tax reporting, and management planning purposes. Ms. Ross focuses on assisting clients with valuations in connection with purchase price allocation, goodwill impairment testing, asset or legal entity transfers, tax restructuring, as well as corporate and strategic planning.

Karl Schwabauer, CPA, CFF, CVA is a senior member of the Business Advisory Services Team at Rosenfield & Co.  He has over 22 years of experience providing expert valuation, economic damages, and forensic accounting services for litigation and disputes, as well as extensive experience providing valuation and accounting services for non‐litigation.  Mr. Schwabauer has been actively involved in CPE and CLE training for numerous groups, accounting and consulting firms, law firms and bar associations.

Drew Dorweiler, ASA, FCBV, FRICS, CPA, ABV, CVA, CBA, CFE, MBA, is Managing Director at IJW & Co., Ltd. He has over 36 years of experience in business valuation, litigation support and transaction advisory, specializing in the business of sports. Mr. Dorweiler has been a designated member of ASA for 25 years, and an active volunteer with numerous leadership positions, including most notably serving as a Vice President of the Eastern Canada Chapter from 2001-2012 and a Trustee of The Appraisal Foundation from 2013-2018.

*Presenters subject to change, please visit www.appraisers.org/asaic21 for latest line up.

Register now at appraisers.org/asaic21 or (800) 272-8258.