March Meeting: Engagement Letters

The March Chapter Meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 21, 2012 at the Doubletree Guest Suites in Plymouth Meeting, PA. The Board of Directors will meet at 5:00 pm; all ASA members are welcome. The general meeting starts at 6:30. The guest speaker will be Brian P. Flaherty, Esq., a Member of the international law firm Cozen O’Connor.  Mr. Flaherty will talk about “Engagement Letters.”

Mr. O'Connor, who studied at Franklin and Marshall College and earned his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts and before the U.S. Supreme Court. He came to Cozen O'Connor from the Philadelphia firm of WolfBlock LLP, where he was a partner. Mr. Flaherty handles complex commercial cases, including litigation and disputes arising out of dissolutions of partnerships; complex contractual disputes; RICO and Securities Act litigation; product liability and insurance matters; and Orphans' Court litigation. He has also handled criminal matters. He is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Legal Ethics & Professional Responsibility Committee and active in the Philadelphia Bar Association, where he chairs the Professional Guidance Committee.

Mr. Flaherty's talk which will cover the "whys and wherefores" of engagement letters, what should be included, and what to do if the client sues. This is an important and interesting topic for all appraisers, so please register early for the meeting which qualifies for one hour of ASA Continuing Education Credit.

Dinner is $35 per person for members and guests. To pay online with your major credit card or PayPal go to the ASA Philadelphia Members Page, otherwise please make checks payable to ASA Philadelphia Chapter 35. Please RSVP by Monday, March 19, to Executive Secretary Joanne Paciello by mail to 8 Terrace Rd, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462, email, phone (610-277-1366) or fax (610-277-1366).

Business Valuation Seminar: April 2012

The Philadelphia Chapter of the American Society of Appraisers (ASA) will hold its annual Business Valuation Seminar at the Doubletree Guest Suites Hotel in Plymouth Meeting, PA on Friday, April 27, 2012.  The program includes sessions on size and liquidity premiums, marketability, Subchapter S corporation valuation, working with the IRS, and country risk implications for the cost of capital.

Michael A. Crain, ASA, a Principal of The Financial Valuation Group in Fort Lauderdale, FL will talk about "The State of Affairs on Size Premiums" from 8:30-10:00 am. The session will summarize studies on the size effect and discuss related return data from Morningstar and Duff & Phelps. Mr. Crain has a B.A. in accounting and an M.B.A. from Bellarmine University in Louisville, KY, and is performing doctoral research in finance at the University of Manchester's Business School in the U.K. A Chartered Financial Analyst(CFA) and a CPA certified in Business Valuation (ABV) by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), he has authored books and journal articles, winning the AICPA's Lawler Award for best article of the year.

Ashok Abbott, Associate Professor of Finance at West Virginia University, will discuss "Size and Liquidity Premiums" from 10:15 am to noon. He will present empirical research showing that in publicly traded markets, using data from 1926-2010, liquidity and size have both played a role in explaining asset returns, and the use of one does not preclude the other. Dr. Abbot earned his B.S. degree in physics at Punjab University, an M.A. in English Literature at Meerut University, and a Post Graduate Diploma in International Business at Bombay University; he went on to take M.B.A and Ph.D. degrees in Finance at Virginia Tech. A prolific author and frequent presenter at professional conferences, his teaching interests include corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, international finance and business strategy.

Michael Gregory, ASA, principal of the Roseville, MN firm of Michael Gregory Consulting LLC, will present "The IRS Job Aid on Discount for Lack of Marketability and Subchapter S Valuation Adjustments" from 1:00-2:00 pm. The presentation will explore the August 2011 IRS publication "Discounts for Lack of Marketability -- Job Aid for IRS Valuation Professionals," which Mr. Gregory helped develop before retiring from the IRS last year. Mr. Gregory's insights should help participants prepare their work product for income, gift and estate taxes more effectively.

Michael Gregory will also present "How to Work with the IRS" from 2:15-3:15 pm, drawing on his forthcoming book, How to Work with the IRS: Field Specialists and Revenue Agents (What I Learned that May Help You). Mr. Gregory will discuss the IRS' organization, rules of engagement, classification of estate and gift tax returns, and give best practice examples. The overview and advice should be helpful in dealing with the IRS and advising clients.

Mr. Gregory took his B.S. at Valparaiso University, his M.S. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and his M.B.A. in Finance at DePaul University. Before starting his own consultancy, he served the IRS as a Territory Manager, focusing on Subchapter S valuations, discounts for lack of marketability, reasonable compensation and appraiser penalties.  He serves on the ASA Business Valuation Committee, is a NACVA (National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts) Accredited Valuation Analyst, and has qualified as a Mediator with the Minnesota Supreme Court.

John Barton, ASA, President of the Lyndell, PA firm of Brandywine Valuation Consultants, LLC., will consider "The Effect of the Sovereign Debt Crisis on Country Risk and U.S. Cost of Capital" from 3:25-4:50 pm. The presentation will look at how the changing bond yields of Italy, Spain, France and Germany could affect the U.S. economy, including closely held U.S. businesses with overseas operations, and the macroeconomics of business valuation. Mr. Barton holds an MBA from LaSalle in Finance and Accounting, and is a specialist in the analysis of closely-held stock, preferred stock, intangible assets, and debt securities. He has taught business valuation courses for ASA, Big Four accounting firms, the IRS, and at Villanova University, and has appeared as an expert witness in PA, NJ, and FL courts and in US Federal District Court.

Program Schedule
Registration, Buffet Breakfast	8:00 am-8:30 am
Morning Session*	8:30 am-12:00 pm
Lunch (included)	12:00 pm-1:00 pm
Afternoon Session*	1:15 pm-4:50 pm

*Morning and Afternoon Sessions include Refreshment Break

 

Registration Fee
ASA Members – Early Registration*	$280
All others – Early Registration*	$300
ASA Members	$300
All others	$320

*Early Registration: Forms and payments submitted by March 23

Additional Information. The program qualifies for eight hours of Continuing Education Credit (CEC) for ASA members and for members of other professional organizations which recognize NASBA credit. A seminar brochure, including additional information, biographies of the presenters, a registration form, refund and cancellation policies is available in PDF format [100 KB]. For all other questions, including CEC eligibility for your organization, please contact the seminar organizer, Bob Haas at rhaasjr@rmha.com or (215) 887-6500, or Joanne Paciello at asaphiladelphia@verizon.net.

To pay online with your major credit card or PayPal go to the ASA Philadelphia Members Page, otherwise please make checks payable to ASA Philadelphia Chapter 35 and mail to Executive Secretary Joanne Paciello, 8 Terrace Road, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462.  Please note that seating capacity is limited.