Expert Details
Financial Analysis, Financial Management, Investments and Modeling; Agribusiness
ID: 724277
California, USA
His experience in Risk Management includes two years as Director of Risk Management for a commodities trading company. He has also done risk analysis for large, publicly traded companies, private investment groups, and a member firm of the Chicago Board Options Exchange. The analysis and management of risks is one of the most poorly understood functions in corporate life, yet misunderstanding risk is a leading cause of poor corporate performance and can often result in disaster. Strategic planning and financial operations often gloss over risk, or take a rudimentary approach to identifying and analyzing risk. Only with a more thorough analysis and understanding can risk be managed adequately. Without that, companies are pretty much flying blind and counting on luck. The expert’s work in risk management goes back to hedging foreign currency fluctuations in the 1980s. It includes experience in the interest rate markets, commodities markets, and in hedging and derivatives. The methods and modeling of risk that he has learned over the years are very applicable to many other situations faced by corporations, so he works to bring risk considerations to the fore when the situation warrants it.
As an experienced finance executive, it was always his goal to understand business operations in order to improve their efficiency. He found there was usually a better way to do things. There were usually cost and revenue items that were overlooked or thought unimportant because no one ever gave them consideration. All too often, a corporation seeks to grow net revenues by growing operations without considering the effects of diminishing returns and the expense of expansion. Too rapid growth can drag a business down just as too little or no growth can. The key is to find the right balance of external growth and internal efficiency that maximizes the cost-benefit relationship and which takes into account the risks inherent in any strategic endeavor. His understanding of business operations is the beginning of finding that balance.
He has experience in all types of financial modeling techniques, and specializes in more advanced quantitative methods. These include monte carlo simulations, binary trees, and the use of genetic algorithms for optimization purposes. These methods are particularly useful with decision analysis situations.
He has written value-at-risk models, interest rate models, equity pricing models, asset allocation models, trading models, investment portfolio models for fixed income, equity, and derivative investments, and business simulation models. Financial modeling is much more than developing a five-year pro-formal balance sheet and income statement targeting a certain future goal. Any sort of model that yields a single result or relies on a linear extrapolation of the present is immediately suspect and of little practical value, strategically speaking. Financial modeling should result in a range of targets, some good and some bad, in order to give the decision-maker the information needed to make informed decisions. Different scenarios need to be assessed for the decision-making process to be well-informed. Best case/expected case/worst case scenarios are a bare minimum, but they are a good start. Too often, they are not even considered. More sophisticated scenario analysis is possible and desirable, and he has found it to be most valuable.
He has a life-long interest in agribusiness around which he’s been able to build significant experience. From rural development to ag finance, from commodities trading and risk management to real estate, he has extensive professional experience in the area. Also, he teaches agribusiness and mathematics at the Employer.
He has written strategic business plans for Fortune 500 companies, financial institutions, start-up businesses, established businesses seeking debt and equity investment, and for numerous health centers and health systems. "Corporate strategic planning" is perhaps the most overused term in the business consultant's lexicon. Over the years, he has seen companies pay exorbitant amounts for "strategic plans" that are little more than a series of bullet points in an overpriced PowerPoint presentation. Corporate strategic planning is a dynamic process that begins with the creation of a planning document that is comprehensive in its assessment of the company in question. Finance, operations, the market, risk, management, and governance are the obvious places to begin, but each company is different and a great deal of customization is usually required to create a useful strategic plan. More importantly, corporation must be dedicated to the dynamic process of strategic planning, to reviewing and re-writing the plan as internal and external situations change. The plan has very limited value if it is not revisited and reconsidered periodically. The corporate and market environment are not static, but too many strategic plans are.
He has worked on site, under contract, as an interim CFO and also as a Director of Financial Planning and Analysis.He has worked on the floor of a major financial exchange with traders, helping them develop new strategies, analyzing their trades, and managing the firm's portfolio of commodities, equities, and risk.He has written strategic business plans and financial analyses used by clients to approach investors in successful efforts to raise millions of dollars for capital projects and equipment.He has designed hedging strategies and other risk management strategies for large portfolios of assets. He has also set up businesses in equipment leasing and finance.
Education
Year | Degree | Subject | Institution |
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Year: 2000 | Degree: MBA | Subject: Finance | Institution: Johns Hopkins University |
Year: 2000 | Degree: Graduate Certificate | Subject: Investment Management | Institution: Johns Hopkins University |
Year: 1981 | Degree: BS in Foreign Service | Subject: International Affairs | Institution: Georgetown University |
Work History
Years | Employer | Title | Department |
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Years: 2006 to Present | Employer: Undisclosed | Title: Lecturer | Department: Business and Mathematics |
Responsibilities:He is a lecturer at the University's College of Agriculture and College of Science and Mathematics. He has also been a lecturer in the College of Business. He lectures in agribusiness finance, fixed income securities and markets, pre-calculus, and calculus. |
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Years | Employer | Title | Department |
Years: 2002 to Present | Employer: Undisclosed | Title: Director | Department: |
Responsibilities:He has served as a financial analysis and financial management consultant to businesses in investment management and trading, health care finance, education, and telecommunications. |
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Years | Employer | Title | Department |
Years: 2001 to 2005 | Employer: Johns Hopkins University | Title: Faculty Practitioner | Department: Carey School of Business |
Responsibilities:He was part-time faculty in the MBA program where he taught corporate finance, financial management, and mathematical finance. |
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Years | Employer | Title | Department |
Years: 2000 to 2002 | Employer: Atapco | Title: Director of Business Development | Department: |
Responsibilities:He was responsible for financial planning and analysis at a private investment company dealing in energy and real estate. He overhauled the firm's financial planning and analysis function, analyzed the investment portfolio and market risk. |
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Years | Employer | Title | Department |
Years: 1998 to 2000 | Employer: ACN Power, Inc. | Title: Director of Risk Management | Department: |
Responsibilities:He was responsible for directing the middle office of an energy and commodities trading company with oversight of analysts and traders. |
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Years | Employer | Title | Department |
Years: 1996 to 1998 | Employer: Camden Station International, Inc. | Title: Consultant | Department: |
Responsibilities:He ran his own consulting business, providing financial planning and portfolio management services to private clients. |
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Years | Employer | Title | Department |
Years: 1983 to 1996 | Employer: Interco | Title: Operations Manager | Department: |
Responsibilities:He was responsible for operations and project management of an international economic development business. |
Government Experience
Years | Agency | Role | Description |
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Years: 1983 to 1996 | Agency: Various | Role: Contractor | Description: His work at Interco was partly under contract to various agencies and deparments of the US Government, including DoD, DoS, USIA, and USAID. |
International Experience
Years | Country / Region | Summary |
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Years: 1983 to 1996 | Country / Region: Western Europe | Summary: He worked extensively in the countries of Western Europe managing projects in technology, finance, manufacturing, and infrastructure. |
Years: 1986 to 1996 | Country / Region: Eastern and Central Europe | Summary: He worked extensively in the countries of Eastern and Central Europe managing projects in technology, finance, manufacturing, and infrastructure. |
Additional Experience
Training / Seminars |
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He teaches graduate and undergraduate level courses in finance and mathematics. |
Vendor Selection |
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He has worked with vendors in software in setting up accounting and risk management systems. He has also worked in finance finding suitable financing for capital projects, preparing RFPs, evaluating responses, and negotiating and closing multi-million dollar deals. |
Other Relevant Experience |
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He has a broad background in financial management and financial analysis, including work in investment management, trading, and risk management. He has also written numerous strategic business plans and supporting financial analyses. He also has experience as a CFO and Director of Financial Analysis and Planning. |
Language Skills
Language | Proficiency |
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German | He can communicate well in German. |
French | He can communicate in French. |
Fields of Expertise
finance, financial planning, portfolio, investment management, commodity options, financial analysis, financial competence, financial forecasting, financial management, fixed income, fixed income securities, risk management, annuities, business operations, financial modeling, hedge fund, swap, asset allocation, agribusiness, corporate strategic planning, health care finance, corporate finance, debt, trading, leasing, lease, international affairs, annuity insurance, capital planning, balance sheet analysis, earnings analysis, asset management, business valuation, electricity trading, over-the-counter market, crude oil pricing model, natural gas pricing model, energy market development, natural gas market, electricity market, crude oil market analysis, natural gas market analysis, oil market forecasting, electricity price, natural gas price, energy market analysis, business strategy, strategic market planning, cost modeling, risk characterization, agricultural development, value analysis program management, economics, cost analysis, applied mathematics, cost-benefit analysis, strategic planning, United States Department of Agriculture, project planning, project management, economic analysis, earned-value system