Avoiding Surprises Confidentiality is a cornerstone of mediation. But, how “confidential” is mediation? In this article, Nancy Yeend, a nationally recognized mediator, discusses the impact of the Uniform Mediation Act (UMA) and the various exceptions and levels of protection afforded to mediators and parties to a mediation. ...

In 2014, a study by Chicago United documented a lack of diversity in leadership roles within American companies noting that more than 75 percent of executives are white.  This fact should be of concern to big businesses because diversity in leadership roles has real benefits including better customer relationships, increased employee creativity, and improved quality of work.  In this article, by Peter Gomez ...

A recent survey of investment professionals in the CFA Institute reports investor concerns about the use of different accounting standards and rules for SMEs under IFRS and private companies under GAAP.  Karolina Grabowicz, a financial analyst with Mercer Capital, reports how the use of different standards adds complexity and costs to financial reporting.  Issues also arise over the loss of information due ...

Disputes Defensible Best Practices (Part 2 in a 3-Part Series) In this second part of a three part series, the author looks at examples of how potential catastrophes have been avoided or reversed by employing a comprehensive policy audit. He then focuses on what is needed to make a policy audit dispute defensible. ...

Practice Pointers from the Field How can a credentialed valuation analyst compete with a low-cost provider of valuation services performed by a professional lacking a business valuation credential? In this article, the author shares how he has succeeded conveying the value of using a credentialed and qualified business appraiser. ...

Investors, analysts, and pundits remain highly optimistic on the Financial Technology (“FinTech”) sector driven by factors such as technology advancement and evolution, evolving consumer behavior and expectations for digital delivery of financial services, and regulatory response to the financial crisis.  Mercer Capital examines valuation multiples within the FinTech industry over time to see whether public ...

High account balances is an often overlooked risk related to sequence of returns especially for investors within five years of their retirement.  Ron Surz, target-date fund expert and ThinkAdvisor contributor, warns that most target-date investors are in grave peril. Read more about why sequence of returns is so risky in this article at ThinkAdvisor. ...

In Economic Substance Analyses Valuation analysts and other financial advisers are often called on to perform economic substance analyses in federal income tax challenges. In these cases, the Internal Revenue Service challenges a tax deduction or loss related to a taxpayer transaction by applying the so-called economic substance doctrine. This doctrine allows the Service to disallow a taxpayer transaction i ...

Forecasting “But-For” Revenue for Lost Profits In this article, the author provides a brief discussion of each major approach considered in an economic damages engagement and then discusses circumstances in which multivariate analysis could provide the greatest benefit in formulating a comprehensive damage model. ...

This blog discusses the four-step process for providing fair value marks for venture capital fund investments in pre-public companies: 1) examining the most recent financing round economics, 2) adjusting valuation inputs to the measurement date, 3) measuring fair value, and 4) reconciling  and testing for reasonableness.   Sujan Rajbhandary, vice president in Mercer Capital’s Financial Reporting Valuation G ...

Scenario planning, an effective decision-making tool under uncertainty, is underutilized by organizations primarily due to deep-seated cognitive biases that exist.  Drew Erdmann, Bernardo Sichel, and Luk Yeung of McKinsey & Company tell managers how to address these common biases and provide guidance along with a practice cheat sheet on the dos and don’ts of scenario planning. Read more on scenario plan ...

Dispute Defensible Best Practices (Part 1 of 3) TIn this first part of a three part series, the author suggests that while there are many articles about how to properly analyze a life insurance policy to determine its value, the critical analysis that is needed is not to ascertain value, but to determine viability. Professional advisors involved in buy-sell and exit and succession planning will want to foll ...

Healthcare Valuation Considerations when Valuing Outpatient Services With healthcare evolving, how can practitioners project the future benefit stream related to outpatient services? In this article, the authors discuss the use of hypothetical and extraordinary assumptions. They argue that use of these assumptions requires careful consideration as they can have a significant effect on value. In addition, th ...

In this post, Samantha L. Albert, senior financial analyst with Mercer Capital, talks about the FASB’s Simplification Initiative which is designed to make small changes to GAAP that will reduce costs and complexity, while maintaining or improving the usefulness of financial statements. One potential change announced on May 21, 2015 is to ASC Topic 805. The FASB has proposed modifying standards related to ho ...

Cram Down Interest Rates (Part II of II) In this two-part series the author provides as overview of the issues confronted by courts and financial experts involved in a commercial real estate (CRE) bankruptcy. Read the first part in this series here. In this second part, the author continues the discussion regarding how a financial expert may go about to determine the appropriate interest rate for the underl ...

Conducting Due Diligence on the Expert and Setting Expectations of the Expert Witness in a Litigation Engagement One of the risks of doing business today is getting involved in business disputes. Disputes take many forms. Disputes can be resolved through negotiation, mediation, arbitration, or litigation. Business disputes are frequently complex and the parties involved are sophisticated and motivated to su ...

M&A is an infrequent occurrence among business development companies (BDCs). “Under the external management model, the opportunity for material cost savings is limited, and prices at or near NAV indicate that investors assign little ‘franchise’ value to the lending and origination platforms.” Travis W. Harms, of Mercer Capital’s Financial Reporting Valuation Group, discusses the recent acquisition of MCG Ca ...

Cram Down Interest Rates (Part I of II) In this two-part series the author provides an overview of the issues confronted by courts and financial experts involved in a commercial real estate (CRE) bankruptcy. In this first part, the author discusses how a financial expert may go about to determine the appropriate interest rate for the underlying claims and analyze the CRE market. In the second part of this s ...

Assessing Solvency, Fraudulent Transfers, and Liability When Distributions are Made to Minority Shareholders The recent U.S. Tax Court case of Kardash v Commissioner, T.C. Memo, 2015–51 provides guidance regarding transferee liability and underscores how valuations are used to determine when and if a subject company is insolvent. The case also summarizes a number of defenses used (and rejected) to counter a ...

Fairness opinions are offered by financial advisors, primarily, investment bankers on behalf of the Board of Directors who rely on them when considering a significant corporate event. The fairness opinion says that the impending transaction is fair from a financial point of view of the subject company’s stakeholders. As Jeff K. Davis, Managing Director of Mercer Capital’s Financial Institutions Group, expla ...