FPA DFW Chapter Meeting - Sept. 13

FPA DFW Chapter Meeting
Wednesday, September 13th

Online registration is now closed. We will accept walk-in registrations at the door.

Agenda

• 10:30 AM - 11:00 AM - Check in and networking for FPA DFW Chapter Meeting
• 11:00 AM  - 11:10 AM - Welcome, Announcements, Opening Remarks
• 11:10 AM - 11:20 AM - FPA Platinum Sponsor Spotlight - Guggenheim Investments
• 11:20 AM - 12:10 PM - Part I - Cybersecurity Readiness
• 12:10 PM - 12:50 PM - Lunch & Networking
• 12:50 PM - 1:00 PM - FPA Platinum Sponsor Spotlight - Avantax
• 1:00 PM - 1:50 PM - Part II - Mergers & Acquisitions 

CE Credits

The chapter meeting qualifies for 2 CFP and 2 CPA CE credits. You will be asked to sign in when you arrive in order to be eligible for credit. FPA DFW will report all credits to the CFP® Board following the event. Your credit can then be confirmed in the CFP Portal within 7 business days following the event.

Chapter Meeting Topics & Speakers

Part I - Cybersecurity Readiness: How Well Are You Aligned with the Latest Regulatory & Industry Standards?

Mark Madar
National Practice Leader/President - Risk Compliance Group

Maintaining a comprehensive cybersecurity program is necessary to address the evolving cyber threat landscape and increase requirements related to regulatory and industry standards.
It is critical to implement and maintain a suitable set of cybersecurity controls that include comprehensive policies, technical controls, incident response planning, employee training and testing.
These controls require more oversight, documentation and validation to demonstrate compliance objectives are being met by organizations. Learn about key areas to focus your continuing efforts to build out an ‘actionable’ cybersecurity program. We will discuss what controls are being addressed as part of the SEC cyber sweep examinations and proposed rules expected to be finalized shortly.

With over 30 years of corporate leadership and business consulting experience, Mark and his team has demonstrated significant abilities in supporting clients of all industries and business sizes with risk management services. Leveraging an extensive business background with compliance expertise, Mark has successfully managed the development and implementation of strategic cybersecurity compliance programs, facilitated risk assessments, policy and plan documentation support, tabletop exercises, and risk advisory support. He has a wide array of working experience with major, middle, and small markets. Industry experience includes financial services, legal, technology, healthcare, governmental, manufacturing, insurance, technology, non-profit, and other professional services organizations. Mark has extensive professional experience and a proven track record providing advisory services that provide actionable and practical deliverables that also align with industry standards and regulatory requirements. Active in the professional space, Mark is a recurring speaker on risk management topics including cybersecurity compliance and business continuity planning.

Part II - Mergers & Acquisitions: A Discussion of Why Deals Are Happening, the Types of Deal Structures and Valuation, and Best Practices for Both Buyers and Sellers

Michael Molnar, MSc, MBA, CFA, CPA, CIMA, CFM -
SVP - Finance, M&A & Succession Planning, Avantax

There is considerable amount of deal activity in the wealth management industry. While much is written on the topic every week, the trends and catalysts can be confusing and gaining practical understanding of best practices is often very challenging. This discussion will focus on a practical understanding of why deals are happening, details on the types of deal structures and valuation, and a discussion on the best practices of both sellers and buyers.

As an SVP in finance, Michael sits on the finance leadership team (FLT) as well as the senior leadership team (SLT) of the wealth management business. For the employee-based RIA segment, he leads the M&A team. For the independent broker-dealer segment, he leads the succession planning team. Note: Avantax is a publicly-traded wealth manager with ~$650million in revenue (ticker: AVTA). There are two operating segments: Avantax Wealth Management (the independent broker-dealer model) and Avantax Planning Partners (the employee-focused RIA model). Michael has had a 20+ year career throughout financial services. He launched a hedge fund, which peaked with a portfolio of ~$400 million and generated best-in-class returns during his tenure. He was a founding partner at an investment bank that was subsequently acquired by Nomura, the Japanese bank, for more than $100 million USD. And he was a former equity analyst at Goldman Sachs, where he started in special situations research where he focused on IPOs and secondaries for many companies owned by private equity. After that, he helped start the small and mid-cap research group and then became the first alternative energy analyst at the firm. Before Wall Street, he was a strategy consultant at Accenture and started his career as a CPA at Arthur Andersen. Michael received an MBA in finance from The University of Chicago, an MSc in decision science from The London School of Economics and a BS in accounting from Rutgers University. He is a CFA charterholder and is a former (now inactive) CPA (Certified Public Accountant), CMA (Certified Management Accountant) and CFM (Certified in Financial Management).