MSF Advisory Board

Marshall Adkins heads the award-winning Raymond James energy research team and focuses specifically on oilfield services and products. Prior to joining Raymond James in 1995, he spent nearly a decade in the oilfield services industry as an engineer, project manager, and financial analyst. Mr. Adkins began his career with BJ Services before spending several years with an advanced oilfield technology firm. Upon leaving the oilfield nearly 25 years ago, he helped start the Raymond James energy equity research group. With over two dozen energy professionals Raymond James has one of the largest equity research efforts in the investment business. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in petroleum engineering and an M.B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin.

Newt  Barineau  is the President&  CEO of  Radney Management  &  Investments,  Inc.  (RMI),  a national  real  estate  developer  specializing  in  the  acquisition,  rehabilitation,  development  and management  of affordable  multifamily housing properties. In  this  capacity,  he  maintains sole responsibility for the financial performance and operations of 13 properties representing approximately $28 million in annual revenue in five states. Mr. Barineau is a Certified Property Manager (CPM) as designated by the Institute of Real Estate Management.

 

Prior  to  RMI,  Mr.  Barineau served  as Vice  President  of  Bellmeade  Capital  Partners, LLC,  a private  equity  firm focused  on  creating  and  developing  enterprises  through  the  consolidation  of existing  companies  in selected  industries. At  Bellemeade,  he  focused  on  the structuring and financing of corporate transactions, development   of business   plans   and   identifying and quantifying cost   synergies   and   revenue   enhancement   opportunities. Specific   consolidation transactions  included  those  in  the logistics, promotional  products,  packaging  and  chemical industries.Mr. Barineau’s career began at Caterpillar, Inc. where he worked for a wholly-owned subsidiary which  provided  advanced  warehousing,  transportation,  inventory  management,  information systems  and  logistics  consulting  services  to  corporate  clients,  most  of  which  were  Fortune  500 companies.  

 

Mr.  Barineau  holds  an  MBA  degree  from  the  University  of  Texas  at Austin (McCombs) with a concentration in Finance graduating in 1997 with highest honors.While at McCombs he served on the UT MBA Investment Fund.   Mr. Barineau graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1988 with a  BS  degree  in  Engineering  Science  and  Economics.He  graduated  from  The  Woodberry Forest School (Orange, Virginia) in 1984.He is married (27 years; Wife -Shelley) and has four children (ages 14–22).

Ashley Baum is the Director of Special Opportunities in the Investment Management Division for the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (“TRS”). She heads a 8-person cross-asset team she founded in 2013 to opportunistically deploy capital in areas the Trust might otherwise miss. She also serves on the Management Committee. Her team partners internally and with external hedge fund, public equity and credit relationships; approximately 55% of the portfolio is available for single-name or thematic co- investment. Ashley joined the Investment Division of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (“TRS”) in October 2007 in External Private Markets, focusing on private equity, real asset, and special situation/credit investments. Ms. Baum transitioned into the Investment Executive Division from 2010 to 2013 where she served as Chief of Staff to then-CIO Britt Harris. She also led TRS’ 2014 Strategic Asset Allocation Study.

Before joining TRS, she worked as a Senior Associate in Transaction Services in San Francisco for PricewaterhouseCoopers. Ashley began her career in accounting policy research as a Postgraduate Technical Assistant at the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”). Ms. Baum has a BBA in Business Honors and Accounting and an MPA in Accounting, both with Highest Honors, from the University of Texas at Austin. She is a CFA charterholder and holds her CPA license in Texas.

Lee Beckelman works with Smart Sand, Inc. as CFO.

Dan Cardone is currently Director of Finance & Corporate Development at Ironwood Midstream Energy Partners. He previously was Associate Director at Scotiabank (2014-2020) and focused on corporate and asset valuations, the evaluation of merger and acquisition opportunities, capital market analysis and company research.

Prior to joining Scotiabank, Mr. Cardone worked as an Investment Banking Associate at Citigroup as part of the energy coverage team, working on debt, equity and M&A for energy companies around the world. Prior to working at Citigroup, Mr. Cardone was a consultant with PwC, focusing on financial and operational process improvements for a wide range of companies.

Mr. Cardone graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a Bachelor of Science and Business Administration and the University of Texas McCombs School of Business with a Masters of Business Administration.

Stephanie Chesnick works for EY as Principal - Transaction Advisory Services.

Jacob is an investment analyst at Pennybacker Capital, a real estate private equity firm headquartered in Austin, TX.

Jacob earned his MSF degree from McCombs in 2018, serving as a member of the Student Executive Committee during his time in the program. He also holds an economics degree from Texas A&M University.

Mr. Cooper is President and CEO of Oilfield Water Logistics, LLC (“OWL”), a water infrastructure and management company serving the energy industry, and Managing Director of Owl Investments. OWL was founded in 2014 with Natural Gas Partners, and currently operates 24 facilities with over 100 miles of high capacity pipelines and 700,000 acres of surface use agreements across five states with a primary focus in the Permian Basin. Prior to OWL, Mr. Cooper was CEO and founder of Oilfield Water Lines, LP, which sold substantially all of its assets in the Eagle Ford Shale to NGL Energy Partners (NYSE: NGL) in 2013. Mr. Cooper previously co-founded investment firm Eastern Partners and was CFO of Charis Partners, the initial oilfield water platform for Nuverra Environmental Solutions. Mr. Cooper began his investment career at private equity firm Olympus Real Estate Partners, the real estate affiliate of Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst, following work as a consultant at Ernst & Young. Mr. Cooper received a BBA in Finance and BA in Political Science from Southern Methodist University, and an MBA from The University of Texas at Austin. Mr. Cooper is a member of the Advisory Council for the McCombs School of Business Master of Science in Finance Program and is a member of the Leadership Circle for SMU’s Cox School of Business Folsom Institute. He also serves on the North Texas Advisory Board for The Trust for Public Land. Mr. Cooper lives in Dallas with the wife and three children.

Michael B. Cox is Vice Chairman of the Seabury Advisory Group, Seabury’s holding company for all of its advisory practices and is Global Head of Seabury’s Corporate Advisory practice. Mr. Cox joined the Seabury as a partner Seabury’s principal advisory practice in April 1998. He has over 30 years of corporate and advisory experience covering corporate recovery, cash management, business planning and crisis management. At Seabury, Mr. Cox has advised numerous airline clients on a variety of projects, including airline treasury, corporate finance, and airline restructuring. In addition, Mr. Cox has been qualified as an industry expert in various commercial disputes involving aircraft leasing matters, airline valuations and business plans for the passenger and cargo sector.

Mr. Cox received his M.B.A. in Finance and Accounting from the University of Texas, Austin and his B.B.A in Business Management from Texas A&M University where he graduated magna cum laude. Mr. Cox is a FINRA registered representative with the Series 7, 79 and 63 designations.

Drew Cozby is the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of WildFire Energy, LLC since May 2019. Mr. Cozby served as CFO and EVP of WildHorse Resource Development Corporation (NYSE:WRD) and WildHorse Resources II from September 2016 until February 2019. Previously, Mr. Cozby served as SVP and CFO of Memorial Resource Development (NASDAQ:MRD) from November 2014 until it was acquired by Range Resources in September 2016, VP and CFO of MRD from April 2014 to November 2014 and VP, Finance of MRD’s predecessor from April 2011 to June 2014. Mr. Cozby also served as the VP and CFO of Memorial Production Partners (NASDAQ:MEMP) from February 2012 to July 2014. From February 2011 to April 2011, Mr. Cozby served as SVP and CFO of Energy Maintenance Services (EMS Global). Prior to that, he was CFO of Greystone Oil & Gas and Greystone Drilling from May 2006 to December 2010. From 2000 to May 2006, Mr. Cozby was Director of Finance for Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) and held various corporate finance positions with its affiliates GulfTerra Energy Partners (NYSE:GTM), El Paso Corporation (NYSE:EP) and El Paso Energy Partners (NYSE:EPN). Prior to that, Mr. Cozby held positions with J.P. Morgan from 1998 to 2000. Mr. Cozby holds a B.B.A. in finance from the University of Texas and an M.B.A. in finance from the University of Houston. He is also a graduate of Texas Tech University School of Law (J.D.), the University of Houston Law Center (LL.M., energy and natural resources law) and Harvard Business School (advanced management program). Further, Mr. Cozby currently serves on the Advisory Council for the Master of Science in Finance program for the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin.

Mr. Farrimond concentrates his practice primarily in the area of banking and finance, commercial real estate, and corporate and general business law. He has represented numerous banking and financial institutions in the areas of construction and mortgage lending, commercial loans, asset-based lending transactions, residential loans, workouts, restructures and foreclosures. Mr. Farrimond also devotes much time to real estate development, as well as the negotiation and drafting of commercial leases. He has been active in the organization of numerous partnerships and joint ventures for the acquisition and development of various real estate projects, and has handled transactions involving the purchase and sale of real estate, both improved and unimproved, throughout Texas.

In the commercial law area, Mr. Farrimond’s experience includes initial incorporations, shareholders’ agreements, partnership and joint venture agreements, mergers and acquisitions, contracts, corporate planning and formation, and compliance with Uniform Commercial Code requirements. He is experienced in the negotiation of business related disputes including the enforcement of mechanics’ and material mens’ liens, landlord/tenant matters, creditors’ rights and a variety of contractual and real estate disputes.

Brad Glover is Chief Financial Officer of Crystaphase Products, Inc. Located in Houston, TX Crystaphase provides petroleum refineries with reactor performance products and solutions to help purify feedstocks, extend production cycles and reduce risks.

Prior to Crystaphase, Brad was a Director in the Energy Investment Banking Group for Deutsche Bank in Houston for nine years where he focused on the oilfield services and refinery sectors. During his time at Deutsche Bank he helped lead several mergers & acquisitions and debt and equity capital transactions.

Brad received his B.B.A. in finance from The University of Texas – Austin and an M.B.A. from Rice University.

William Griffin currently works at Texas Capital Bank as EVP.

Prior to this, Mr. Griffin served as Managing Director and Market Executive at U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management. In this role he lead a team of dedicated private client professionals serving the Houston Metropolitan area, Louisiana, Arkansas, the Texas Gulf Coast and the Rio Grande Valley markets. William and his team served high and ultra high net worth individuals and their families as well as business owners operating in a broad range of industries.

Prior to his current role, Mr. Griffin was the South Texas Market Executive for Global Commercial Banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Prior to that, he worked as a Senior Client Manager in Houston for Bank of America, a position he held from 1990 to 2007. As a senior client manager, he worked with public and private companies in accessing bank products and the capital markets – helping to grow the investment banking platform at Bank of America.

Mr. Griffin received his BBA and MBA from The University of Texas at Austin. Active in the Houston community, Mr. Griffin is a Trustee of the Houston Grand Opera and he was the honorary chair of the 2015 Art on the Avenue event. He has also been active in a number of other organizations including, the March of Dimes, United Way, St. John’s School and is involved with the Houston Center for Literacy. He is also a member of the Children’s Museum Board and is on the Advisory Council of the Masters of Science in Finance program at the University of Texas at Austin. Mr. Griffin served for three years on the Board of the Houston Ballet.

Chris Halaska recently joined Avalon as Chief Investment Officer in August 2020. In this capacity, Mr. Halaska oversees the investment platform for the firm’s $9 billion in Assets Under Advisement for High Net worth and Institutional Clients. He is a member of the firm’s Operating Committee, Management Committee and Investment Committee, which he chairs.

 

Prior to Avalon, Mr. Halaska served for 8 years as the Chief Investment Officer of Memorial Hermann Health System. As CIO, Mr. Halaska was responsible for the investment management of the System’s $5 billion of investments across various pools of capital, overseeing asset allocation, portfolio management, risk management and manager selection activities of the investment team. During his tenure the AUM of the long-term investment pool increased by 140% due in large part to the transformation of the asset allocation from 85% cash and fixed income to a diversified portfolio with a long-term investment horizon and growth orientation. All of the portfolios that Mr. Halaska oversaw at Memorial Hermann have outperformed its benchmarks.

 

Before his career at Memorial Hermann, Mr. Halaska worked as an investment banker with J.P. Morgan for 12 years. In this capacity he led capital markets transactions and strategic advisory engagements for some of the largest healthcare systems, academic medical centers, and specialty hospitals across the country. His areas of expertise included taxable and tax-exempt bonds, derivatives, portfolio hedging and asset-liability modeling.

 

Mr. Halaska currently serves on several Investment Committees including the Ex-Student’s Association for the University of Texas, the Stanzel Family Foundation and Columbia Lloyd’s Insurance Company. In addition, he has served as a guest lecturer on Institutional Investments at the Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University. He was named “40 under 40” by aiCIO and selected as a top Healthcare CIO by both Institutional Investor and Trusted Insight. Mr. Halaska received both a BBA in Finance and a MBA from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin.

 

Mr. Huffstetler serves as Head of Capital Markets Origination at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. The Capital Markets Origination team includes the debt, equity and financial risk management capital markets origination efforts supporting the needs of SunTrust clients. Mark’s team is comprised of Equity Origination, Syndicated & Leveraged Finance, Investment Grade Debt Capital Markets, Tax-Exempt Finance, Financial Risk Management and Ratings Advisory Services.

Mark’s teams are responsible for providing product-specific idea generation in coordination with SunTrust’s banking coverage teams and for working together to provide client-centric, industry-focused advice. The team has capital raising expertise in the equity and equity-linked markets, syndicated loan market, and public and private bond markets (high yield, investment grade and tax exempt). In addition to capital raising the teams provide capital structure advice through Ratings Advisory Services and Liability Management and provide risk management advice and execution on rates, currency and commodity-related risk management products. The Capital Markets Origination team supports the SunTrust client base including corporate and private equity clients across the credit spectrum and across all industry sectors.

Mark joined SunTrust Robinson Humphrey in March 2006 from Bank of America, where he spent the majority of his 16 years there in Syndicated Finance structuring a variety of transactions across the credit spectrum and across industry sectors. Mark’s experience includes leveraged and non-leveraged transactions for large corporate, middle market, asset based, and project finance clients in all industries, with a specific focus on the Energy sector for a portion of his career.

Mark received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta. Mark and his wife, Rachel, have three children and reside in Atlanta, Georgia.

Ashley Ilardo is a Senior Associate at Dimension Fund Advisors. She earned her Undergraduate Degree in Mathematics and Economics from Adelphi University in 2015, and her Masters of Science in Finance from the University of Texas at Austin in 2016. 

Ashley Ilardo
Senior Associate
Dimensional Fund Advisors 


Work contact:
5123064742
Ashley.ilardo@dimensional.com
6300 bee cave road building one Austin TX 78746

Matthew Jachimiak works for Durbin Bennett as CIO.

Charles Jennings joined Main Street in May 2017 as a Senior Analyst in our Middle Market investment group. Charles graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2012 with a B.A. – Economics degree, with a concentration in Finance, and from the University of Texas in 2013 with Masters of Science in Finance. Charles started his career in the finance group of BHP Petroleum, prior to joining Main Street.

Robert Karicod is a Partner and the Chief Financial Officer of Sixth Street Partners, a global investment firm. Prior to joining Sixth Street, Mr. Karicod was a Partner and Managing Director of Cerberus Capital Management in New York, where he was responsible for many of the Federation departments of that firm. Prior to joining Cerberus, Mr. Karicod was most recently a Senior Manager at Ernst & Young where he worked over a decade in a variety of service lines and locations, including the core audit practice, National Accounting Professional Practice, and primarily Transaction Advisory Services. During his time at Ernst & Young, Mr. Karicod spent two years as an expatriate in New Delhi to grow the country’s financial due diligence practice.

Mr. Karicod is a graduate of the Professional Program in Accounting at the University of Texas at Austin, where he concurrently received an M.P.A. and B.B.A. in Accounting.

Mr. Kennedy has more than twenty-one years of professional experience in which he has provided financial consulting services to energy and resources clients, and serves as the US and the Americas Valuation and Modeling Services Leader and the Global Valuation Services Leader for the Oil and Gas practice.

 

He has performed a variety of valuation engagements for mergers and acquisitions, restructuring and reorganization, financing, gift and estate tax planning, litigation support, and financial reporting and tax compliance.

 

Mr. Kennedy has performed valuation studies and financial advisory engagements for clients in the following energy and resource sectors: exploration and production, natural gas transmission, distribution, storage, gathering, fractionation, processing, and liquefied natural gas (LNG); refining; crude and refined product transmission; chemical and petrochemical; retail fuel marketing; oilfield services; and mining (coal and other mineral resources).

 

In connection with these studies, Mr. Kennedy has valued closely-held common stock (on a controlling and minority basis), preferred stock, derivative securities, debt instruments, partnership interests, inventories, tangible assets, proprietary technology, and a wide variety of other intangible assets. In addition to valuation experience, Mr. Kennedy has performed a variety of other financial consulting projects including buy-side and sell-side transaction advice and analyses of business plans for start-up companies.

 

Mr. Kennedy has served as an expert witness regarding valuation matters related to oil and gas assets. Mr. Kennedy has also presented on numerous occasions in front of the Internal Revenue Service, Australian Taxation Office, and other domestic and international regulatory bodies regarding valuation matters related to oil and gas assets.

 

Mr. Kennedy is also a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and sits on the Advisory Council for the University of Texas’ (UT) Masters of Finance (MSF) Program. He also regularly guest teaches classes pertaining to oil and gas valuation issues in UT’s PhD, MBA, and MSF programs.

Kevin Kershisnik joined Vision Ridge Partners as an associate in 2018. Kevin was previously an investment associate focused on energy deals for the private equity team of the Blackstone Group in New York. He began his career as an investment banking analyst for Credit Suisse’s Global Energy Group advising on M&A and capital market transactions across the energy sector. A native of Denver, Kevin holds a B.S. in Environmental Sciences, Magna Cum Laude from the University of Notre Dame and a M.S. Finance degree from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin.”

Jill W. Lampert is Chief Financial and Administrative Officer of NGP, a premier investment franchise in the natural resources industry.  Founded in 1988, NGP has aggregate cumulative capital of over $20 billion and has invested in over 360 transactions in energy and natural resources. She is a member of the Firm’s Executive Committee and the Investment Committee. Since taking her current position in 2010, NGP has significantly grown its capital commitments. To support this growth, Ms. Lampert has built out the infrastructure to support the increased number of investors and entities and associated  complexities  as  well  as  the demands  for  enhanced  reporting  from  both investors and regulators. 

 

In her role, Ms. Lampert oversees financial reporting, tax, accounting oversight as well  as  all  other  administrative  functions including technology,  marketing,  human  resources,  and support operations. From  2007  through  2010,  Ms.  Lampert served  as  Chief  Financial  Officer  and  Founding  Member  of NGP  Midstream  and  Resources  where  she  was  responsible  for  creating  and  managing  a  private  equity platform  including  legal  documentation,  tax  planning, investor communication, financial reporting and accounting  oversight.  Ms. Lampert  has  held  other  financial,  accounting  and  operational  roles  since beginning her career at Arthur Andersen. Ms. Lampert has also been involved with many non-profit organizations and is a founding board member of  the  Global  Adaptation  Institute -now  the  Notre  Dame  Global  Adaptation  Index  (ND-GAIN) and The Birthday Party Project. 

She currently serves on the University of Texas McCombs MSF Advisory Board, the Risk Committee  of the  Parish  Episcopal School,  and  the  Finance  Committee  for  the  Temple  Emanu-El Endowment.  She has served on the board  of Rebellion Energy, a Tulsa based E&P Company, the Chief Financial Officer of Vantage Energy Acquisition Corporation(NASDAQ: VEAC) a special purpose acquisition company sponsored by NGPas well as served as an advisor to the Naveen Jindal School of Management at the University of Texas at Dallas and as the chair of the Temple Emanu-El Audit Committee. Ms. Lampert is actively involved in several financial, private equity and energy organizations, and she is a frequent panelist and lecturer at industry functions.

 

Ms. Lampert was awarded as“Oil and Gas Investor’s 25 Most InfluentialWomen in Energyin 2019”by Oil and Gas Investor Magazine,“2018 CFO of the Year for an Upstream Company”by DCEO Magazine and “2012 CFO of the Year” by the Dallas Business Journal. Ms. Lampert is a Certified Public Accountant and earned her B.B.A. in Accounting from The University of Texas at Austin.

 

Ms. Lampert resides in Dallas with her husband and three children.

Beth Lawrence has been with J.P. Morgan for 30 years, and is a Managing Director and head of the Global Corporate Banking Natural Resources Team which includes our Oil & Gas, Chemicals and Metals and Mining clients. In addition to her leadership role, she personally covers the Global Corporate Banking relationships for J.P. Morgan’s top twenty-five Oil & Gas clients within the Global Investment Bank. Prior to moving to J.P. Morgan Houston in 1996, Beth was based in Chase Puerto Rico managing the U.S. Multinational group in the Caribbean and Central America. She is an International Relations graduate of Tulane University, and is Series 24, 7 & 63 licensed. In addition to being a member of the Advisory Counsel for the University of Texas Master of Science-Finance Program and Dean’s Associate Member of UT McCombs Leadership Society, Beth is a senior sponsor of the J.P. Morgan Investment Banking Women’s Network, the J.P. Morgan Global Women’s Interactive Network, as well as a leader of the UT MBA recruiting team.

Larry Manning is a Senior Managing Director in FTI Consulting’s Corporate Finance & Restructuring segment. Mr. Manning has 19 years of experience in financial consulting and advisory services, of which 13 years has been with FTI Consulting. Mr. Manning has represented public and private companies and lenders across numerous industries including exploration and production, energy services, power, engineering and construction, chemicals, food and beverage, financial services, manufacturing and mining. Mr. Manning’s experience includes performing strategic assessments, developing business plans, effectuating financings and re-financings, executing asset sales (in- and out-of-court), leading multi-party negotiations, implementing performance improvement and cost savings initiatives, standing up carve-outs, leading contingency planning, and performing collateral reviews. Mr. Manning frequently serves in titled and untitled interim management roles at public and private companies, including Chief Financial Office (CFO), Treasurer, and Director of FP&A. Most recently, Mr. Manning finalized a six month engagement as CFO at an Energy Capital Partners portfolio company that provides last-mile proppant logistics and terminal services. During his tenure as CFO, he finalized the 2018 annual audit, successfully obtained an amended credit agreement, developed a comprehensive cash flow forecast, rolled out a revised Board of Directors reporting package, initiated a sales and use tax audit, revamped the finance department (accounting, finance, and treasury), and assisted with the recruitment of the permeant CFO.

 

Last year, Mr. Manning completed a 12-month engagement where he acted as the financial advisor to Chicago Bridge & Iron, a publiclytraded engineering and construction company with $7 billion in revenue and 26,000 employees. The engagement included developing a comprehensive strategic alternatives assessment, developing a long-term business plan and cash flow forecast, contingency planning (Chapter 11), negotiating amendments across the capital structure, and implementing annual cost savings of $100 million. End result of the engagement was the closing a $6 billion combination with McDermott International. Mr. Manning also recently led a business transformation engagement related to the optimization of a 6,000-piece yellow iron fleet for a $1+ billion mid-stream company. The findings addressed, quantified, and developed an implementation strategy for capturing a $20 million annual EBITDA improvement.

 

Additional non-confidential engagements include Pacific Drilling, Willbros, Henkels & McCoy, Breitburn, Dune Energy, Endeavour Int., Energy XXI, AgroFresh, Hostess Brands, Lineage Power, a North Sea E&P, a Columbian E&P, Milagro Oil & Gas, Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, Gulf Coast Energy, Seegrid, TXCO Resources, Stanford Financial, Reichmann Petroleum, Entergy New Orleans and Washington Mutual. Prior to joining FTI Consulting, Mr. Manning was with Greenwich Associates, where he specialized in advising corporate and investment banks on performance improvement initiatives, strategy formulation, pre-merger due diligence, and post-merger integration. Mr. Manning holds a B.S. in Finance from the University of Connecticut and an M.B.A. in Energy Finance from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas. He is currently on the Advisory Board of the University of Texas Master of Science in Finance Program and is a Certified Turnaround Professional, Certified Insolvency & Restructuring Advisor, and a Certified Treasury Professional.

 

Kevin McDonough works for VMG Health as Managing Director.

Brad Morgan

  President

Brad is co-founder and President of Platform Partners, a Houston-based private investment company. Platform invests in a range of industries and seeks to partner with proven managers to build industry leading companies. Platform is structured as a perpetual investment company with a permanent capital base. Its investors include family offices, successful executives and select institutions. At Platform, Brad is responsible for sourcing, evaluating and executing investment opportunities and management of portfolio investments. He serves on the Board of Directors of several Platform-backed companies and assists in the strategic direction and growth of those businesses.

 

Prior to joining Platform, Brad was Vice President of The CapStreet Group, a private equity firm that invests in middle market companies, primarily in Texas. He began his career in investment banking with Credit Suisse First Boston working in the Financial Sponsors / Leveraged Finance Group in New York.

 

Brad is active with several organizations, including the Children’s Museum of Houston, where he serves as President of the Board of Directors, and The Kinkaid School, where he serves on the Advancement Committee and is the former President of the Alumni Association Board. He is also a member of the Greater Houston Community Foundation NextGen Impact Fund, the American Enterprise Institute Enterprise Club and previously served on The University of Texas 1883 Council. Brad graduated Phi Beta Kappa from The University of Texas in 2000 with a BA in the Plan II Honors Program and a BBA in finance.

 

Ryan Moss is a Partner at Perella Weinberg Partners, a leading independent financial services firm. Established in 2006, the firm provides advisory and asset management services to a global client base, including corporations, institutions and governments. Mr. Moss works in the advisory division of Perella Weinberg focusing on the energy industry.

Prior to joining Perella Weinberg in 2013, Mr. Moss worked for Morgan Stanley’s Investment Banking Division in Houston. Mr. Moss joined Morgan Stanley in 2006 to co-found the midstream coverage effort. Over time Mr. Moss’s responsibilities at Morgan Stanley expanded to also include coverage of the U.S. Super- majors and Large Cap Independents. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley in 2006, Mr. Moss worked in UBS Investment Bank's Energy Group.

Prior to business school Mr. Moss was a consultant with E&Y Kenneth Leventhal. As a consultant Mr. Moss focused on the Real Estate sector, primarily advising financial institutions in the U.S and Japan on the acquisition and disposition of distressed asset portfolios.

Kyle O’Donnell is an Assistant Vice President with Wells Fargo. He works as an associate portfolio manager in the Corporate Bank’s Consumer & Retail group based in Dallas. Prior to entering the banking industry, Kyle spent three years as a business journalist. Kyle holds a B.A. in Economics and History from the University of Notre Dame (2009), an M.M.C. from Arizona State University (2013), and an M.S. Finance degree from the University of Texas at Austin (2015).

Clas Olsson is chief investment officer (CIO) of Invesco's International Growth Investment Management Unit and a senior portfolio manager with the Invesco International Growth team. Mr. Olsson is a lead portfolio manager on the Invesco International Growth strategy and the Invesco European Growth strategy.

Mr. Olsson began his investment management career in 1994 as an investment officer and portfolio analyst specializing in international equities with Invesco. He was promoted to portfolio manager in 1997 and assumed his current role as a senior portfolio manager in 1999 and CIO in 2009. Prior to joining Invesco, Mr. Olsson was a communications officer in the Royal Swedish Navy.

A native of Vasteras, Sweden, Mr. Olsson became a commissioned naval officer at the Royal Swedish Naval Academy in 1988 and earned a BBA degree in 1994 from The University of Texas at Austin

Austin Parker is an Analyst in Goldman Sach’s Merchant Banking Division. Mr. Parker focuses on multifamily real estate investments and asset management. Acquisition and asset management duties include coverage of all U.S. markets and multifamily real estate strategies. 

Prior to joining Goldman Sachs in 2019, Mr. Parker worked for Ernst and Young’s (EY) Transaction Real Estate group in Dallas, Texas. While at EY, Mr. Parker focused on providing consulting and real estate valuation services to a wide range of commercial and leading real estate firms.

In 2017, Mr. Parker graduated from the Master of Science in Finance (MSF) program at the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to the MSF program, Mr. Parker received a B.A. - Economics degree from the University of Texas at Austin.

 

Mr. Petersen joined Cadence Bank in 2011 and manages the Midstream and Specialty Services Group. Prior to joining Cadence Bank, he spent over 25 years in energy and banking. He has held leadership and business development roles starting with Texas Commerce Bank, Enron, Wachovia Bank and Regions Bank.

Mr. Petersen has held leadership roles and/or been an active member of several community organizations including American Leadership Forum, Second Saturday, River Oaks Baptist School, Kids Hope USA, University of Texas Health Science Center Leaders of Tomorrow Council, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Houston Texas Exes, Habitat for Humanity, Southside Place Park Association and Southwest YMCA.

Randy received a Bachelor of Arts in Finance from The University of Texas at Austin. He and his wife, Kim, have three children.

Andrea Petro is a Managing Director of the Principal Finance Group at Waterfall Asset Management. Waterfall is an investment advisor focused on High Yield Asset Backed Securities and loan investments. Ms. Petro has over 30 years of structured credit experience. She established the Lender Finance Division of Wells Fargo Capital Finance in 2000 to exclusively provide financing for specialty finance companies. Prior to joining Wells Fargo, Andrea was Senior Vice President, National Marketing Manager of the Financial Servicing Funding Division of Transamerica Business Credit.

Andrea earned her bachelor of arts degree from Kent State University and her master of business administration degree from The University of Texas at Austin. She is a past president of the Commercial Finance Association and serves as member of the board of directors of the Association. Andrea is a member of the Advisory Council of the Texas Master of Science Finance Program at The University of Texas at Austin and is an active member of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association and the International Factoring Association.

Cameron Cofield is a financial analyst for the Energy Financial Services Group within BOK Financial, providing a variety of commercial and investment banking services to the Upstream and Midstream Sectors of the Energy Industry. Primary responsibilities include underwriting a reserve-based loan portfolio, facilitating discussions between the credit team and clients, and risk monitoring.

Prior to joining BOKF, Cameron earned her BBA in Marketing from Southern Methodist University (2015), and her Masters of Science in Finance from the University of Texas at Austin (2016). Cameron currently serves as the chair of the Young Professionals Board for Depelchin Children’s Center in Houston and as a mentor for the Big Brothers Big Sisters 2.0 program.  

Mr. Sarvadi joined Texas Capital Bank in June 2013 as President of the Bank’s Houston Region, with primary responsibility for Houston Corporate Banking and the Bank’s National efforts around Asset-Based Lending and Branded Retail/Franchise Finance. Prior to joining Texas Capital Bank, he spent 24 years with JPMorgan Chase (“JPMC”) and predecessor firms, working in and leading teams in the firm’s Commercial, Corporate, and Investment Banking lines of business. John’s responsibilities at JPMC included Managing Director of Corporate Client Banking, SVP/Division Manager Houston Middle Market Banking Group, Group Head Chase Franchise and Beverage Finance, and Managing Director of JPMorgan’s Franchise Systems Finance Group. John’s background includes extensive experience with corporate/leveraged finance, capital markets, and client/sales management responsibilities, working with companies ranging from privately-held, entrepreneurially-run businesses, to large and mid-sized public companies.

Mr. Sarvadi has served on various community and civic Boards most recently with Covenant House Texas, Memorial Hermann Health System (Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital and Investment Committees), and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Houston.

John received a B.B.A. (’88) in Finance/Business Honors and an M.B.A. (’89) in Finance from the University of Texas at Austin. He and his wife, Lisa, have three children – Ben (20 – Junior, UT Liberal Arts Honors - Economics), George (18 – incoming Freshman, UT Liberal Arts Honors - Economics), and Katherine (15). In his leisure time, he enjoys golf, hunting and fishing, and traveling with his family.

David Scott is the head of Energy and Infrastructure Portfolio Valuation at Duff & Phelps and global co-leader of Duff & Phelps’
Energy & Mining Group. David has worked throughout the Alternative Asset Advisory, Financial Reporting, Transaction Opinion and
Dispute Consulting practices within Duff & Phelps and has more than 18 years of experience in the energy industry and 16 years
with Duff & Phelps.
David’s professional experience includes valuation of business enterprises, equity and debt interests, various fixed and intangible
assets associated with businesses, portfolio analysis, transactional analysis, allocation of purchase price and litigation support
purposes. David has managed a range of engagement types, including valuation of minority and control equity interests for various
purposes, portfolio valuation assurance, ESOPs, corporate planning, recapitalizations and arbitrations and litigations. A significant

amount of David’s experience in the valuation of business enterprises and equity and debt interests has focused on the valuation of illiquid securities of private equity, hedge funds, fund of fund investors, pensions and endowments. He specializes in valuations of portfolios of illiquid interests held by alternative investors and has valued management fees and carried interest for private equity management entities.

David’s private equity and hedge fund experience includes the quarterly valuation of private loans, including senior secured and
subordinated debt, convertible preferred and common equity, warrants and other derivatives, and limited partner and general
partner interests.
David authored the Energy Valuation section of PEI's Private Equity Valuation "Definitive Guide to Valuing Investments Fairly", by
D&P (2014).
David specializes in the energy and infrastructure sectors, focused on upstream, midstream and downstream oil and gas, nuclear,
fossil, renewable power, transmission & distribution, and utility sectors. David has extensive experience in advising and assisting
clients within the energy industry with the application of Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 820 - Fair Value Measurements,
ASC 805 - Business Combinations and ASC 350 - Goodwill and Other Intangibles. David's power industry experience includes the
valuation of combined cycle, simple cycle, coal/lignite and nuclear power plants as well as several types of renewable assets.

David's oil and gas expertise includes the valuation of world-wide upstream, midstream and downstream assets in various stages of development.

David also has extensive experience in economic forecast modeling and has teamed with various analytics and market forecast
consultants on numerous engagements. He has performed engagements in numerous locations throughout North America, Africa,
Asia, Australia, Central America, Europe, and South America.
Prior to joining Duff & Phelps, David was an analyst with El Paso Merchant Energy Company. David received a B.S. with the
highest distinction in finance, with significant coursework in economics, from University of Oklahoma. He also received a B.A. in
political science from the University of Oklahoma.

Kenna Garinger is Division Finance Manager with DaVita Inc. She previously served as Commercial Banking Relationship Manager at Bank of Texas in Houston. Prior to her current role, Ms. Garinger was a Credit Specialist for the Commercial Group and completed the Bank’s Accelerated Career Track rotational program. 

Ms. Garinger earned both her B.S. in Public Relations (2014) as well as her M.S. in Finance (2015) from The University of Texas. 

Jeff Susman is Executive Vice President of BBVA Compass, a Sunbelt based bank with branches in Texas, Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Colorado, and New Mexico. He serves as the Director of Wholesale Credit Risk Management and is responsible for BBVA’s more than $70 Billion wholesale loan portfolio in the US. Jeff’s department is responsible for (i) underwriting and approving extensions of credit to the Bank’s Wholesale clients, (ii) developing and maintaining loan policies, underwriting guidelines, and risk analysis tools, and (iii) managing the workout unit. Jeff is a voting member of the Bank’s credit approval committees, its US Risk Management Committee, and various other risk management committees.

Prior to joining BBVA Compass in 2009, Jeff worked for Bank of America and its predecessor banks beginning in 1988. He served in the Corporate & Investment Banking department in various roles including client management, corporate lending, and loan syndications. Transaction types included syndicated credit facilities, leveraged buyouts, and complex construction financings. Industries covered included energy & power, retail, lodging, gaming, media, and technology.

Jeff serves on the Associate Board of the Edwin L. Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University where he mentors MBA candidates, and he was a founding board member of SPARK!, a Dallas-based non-profit organization whose mission is ignite the spark of creativity inherent in all children. Jeff earned a Bachelor of Arts from the College of Natural Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Business Administration from the Edwin L. Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University.

Randall L. Walker is the Houston Region Chief Executive Officer for Bank of Texas, where he has served since 2004. A native Houstonian, Walker began his banking career in 1984 and has an extensive background which includes developing and directing business strategies for the Houston market, building out bank-wide products and services to meet the needs of clients, and developing an extensive team of commercial lenders and business bankers.

Previously, Walker served in multiple leadership positions including Senior Vice President of Commercial and Corporate Banking for Amegy Bank in Houston and Senior Vice President and Regional Market Manager for Bank of America in Austin.

Actively involved in the community, Walker currently serves on the Board of Directors and chairs the Finance Committee for Covenant House Texas, and serves on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee for the Houston Exponential. He is a loyal member of the Board of Directors for the American Heart Association and also served as Men in Red Chair for the American Heart Association. Past involvement has also included serving as a Campaign Vice-Chair for the United Way of Greater Houston.

Walker earned his Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin and is a member of the advisory council for the Master of Science in Finance program at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin

Mark L. Zyla is a Managing Director of Zyla Valuation Advisors, LLC, an Atlanta Georgia based valuation and litigation consultancy firm.

Mark received a BBA degree in Finance from the University of Texas at Austin and an MBA degree with a concentration in Finance from Georgia State University. Mark also completed the Mergers and Acquisitions Program at the Aresty Institute of The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Valuation Program at the Graduate School of Business at Harvard University. He is a Certified Public Accountant, Accredited in Business Valuation (“CPA/ABV”), Certified in Financial Forensics (“CFF”) by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (“AICPA”), a Chartered Financial Analyst (“CFA”), and an Accredited Senior Appraiser with the American Society of Appraisers certified in Business Valuation (“ASA”).

Mark is the Chairman of the Standards Review Board of the International Valuation Standards Council. Mark recently served on the AICPA’s Forensic and Valuation Services Executive Committee. Mark is a member of the Business Valuations Committee of the ASA where he also serves as a member of the Business Valuation Standards and Technical Issues subcommittees. Mark is on the Advisory Council of the Master of Science in Finance program at the University of Texas at Austin. In 2013, Mark was inducted into the AICPA Business Valuation Hall of Fame.

Mark is a frequent presenter and author on valuation issues. He has served on the faculty of the Federal Judicial Center and the National Judicial College teaching business valuation concepts to judges. Mark is author of Fair Value Measurement: Practical Guidance and Implementation 3rd ed. published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (2019). Mark is also the author of the course, “Fair Value Accounting: A Critical New Skill for All CPAs” published by the AICPA. Mark is also coauthor of several portfolios related to Fair Value Measurement published by Bloomberg BNA.