Murray Securus Wins 2nd Place in ESOP Communication
Murray Securus, formed in 2012 after the merger of Murray Risk Management and Insurance and The Securus Group, provides business solutions and advisor services in areas such as employee benefits, third-party administration, wealth management, risk and insurance.
Murray Securus not only provides ESOP advice, but is itself an employee-owned company; it made an entry for the Annual Awards for Communications Excellence at the 2013 meeting of the ESOP Association, and was honored with second place in the category of all U.S. businesses with fewer than 250 employees.
Being recognized as having the second-best implementation of ESOP communication in the country is the result of Murray’s dedication to practicing its effective approach internally as well as helping its ESOP company clients improve their practices.
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Acclaro Team Members Present at NCEO Conference
Acclaro Valuation Advisors is an leader in business interest and closely-held business valuation services. The company specializes in initial ESOP valuation as well as annual ESOP valuation reports; due to their experience in the field, Acclaro ESOP valuation advisors are sought speakers on employee ownership topics.
In April 2013, members of the Acclaro team attended and made presentations at the annual National Center for Employee Ownership conference. Aaron Pryor moderated a roundtable discussion at an experts’ luncheon, and Chris Best served as a co-presenter of a presentation on ESOP exit planning.
We are proud of our members’ involvement in the ESOP community and look forward to continued engagement in ESOP education and innovation.
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R.K. Schaaf Offers ESOP Web Solutions
R.K. Schaaf Associates, Inc. is one of the oldest ESOP companies in the country – Rainer Schaaf founded it in 1975, not long after ESOPs were first defined in federal law. However, since its inception, the firm has kept abreast of new technology to make ESOP administration easier and less intimidating.
For the extra convenience of its clients, R.K. Schaaf offers a cutting-edge web portal called MyESOPBenefits that allows them to store documents, keep ESOP records, transfer disclosure forms, fine-tune employee access to ESOP data, set up an easy communication hub for all ESOP plan participants and much more. All Schaaf web services are secure, confidential, and adhere to the strictest privacy standards.
The online tools and storage provided by Schaaf represent a quantum leap in terms of user-friendliness and efficiency, compared with paper-based ESOP record keeping and communication. With our powerful and secure web-based solutions, managing your company’s ESOP just got easier than you could have imagined.
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Katten Muchin Rosenman Ranked #3 Issuance Counsel in the USA
Financial firm Katten Muchin Rosenman, listed on ESOP Marketplace, has recently been awarded a top 5 ranking among US-based issuer counsel for asset-based and mortgage-based securities.
The publication Asset-Backed Alert released its annual list of issuer counsel rankings in the middle of February. Katten is pleased to report that the firm was ranked 3rd on the list, tying Kirkland & Ellis in the number of deals, and almost doubling the total dollar amount compared to the previous year, exceeding $20 billion in 2012.
In 2013, Katten looks forward to another bumper year for its issuance counsel business.
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First Bankers Trust Helps Town Refinance Bond
First Bankers Trust is based in Quincy City, Illinois, and recently helped the city save a significant sum by refinancing a construction loan that city authorities had taken out to build Oakley Lindsay Center, a major regional convention hub in the area between St. Louis, MO and Iowa City.
The convention center opened in 1995, at a cost of $8 million. This year, the city still had $825,000 in principal left to pay on the bond sold to finance construction, at 5.75% annual interest. First Bankers Trust refinanced the city’s loan at an annual interest rate of 1.2%, which promises to save the city over $72,000 over four years.
First Bankers Trust is proud to help its home town manage its budget in a more efficient manner.
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PTCFO Authors Articles On Corporate Governance
PTCFO, Inc., is a nationally known financial and management advisory firm that, for over 20 years, has established a reputation for deep knowledge of ESOPs, as well as competent crisis management, succession planning and corporate governance.
Among the articles PTCFO has contributed to this site, this one presents a comprehensive overview of the business life cycle, discussing the various stages in the life of a company from inception to death. As they grow and move away from their creative and free-wheeling beginnings, companies are forced to implement a scalable structure that will make an ever-larger business manageable. However, this structure can become overly conservative and bureaucratic, making it more difficult for the company to meet new challenges and adapt to changing circumstances, leading to stagnation and worse.
One of the specialties of PTCFO and its founder Jack Veale is finding ways for companies to reform their management in a way that will provide stability and a competent command structure, but at the same time retain flexibility and the capacity for change.
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ESOP Engagements by Acclaro Valuation Advisors
Acclaro Valuation Advisors, an independent valuation firm that specializes in ESOP company annual stock valuation services among many others, has inaugurated the year 2013 by giving joint presentations at the Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning, an annual conference on estate planning held in Orlando, Fla., in mid-January. The presentations introduced and discussed the ESOP as an attractive alternative estate planning tool for business owners.
On Feb. 7, Acclaro advisor Robert Hicks will speak at a seminar organized by The National Center for Employee Ownership in Phoenix, Arizona. His contribution will include a discussion of various ways to maximize the incentivizing potential of management compensation, as part of a day-long workshop on best practices for S-corp ESOPs.
Acclaro and ESOP Marketplace are proud to start the year with continuing contributions to both the theory and practice of ESOPs.
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Acclaro Valuation Advisor Aaron Pryor Listed on ESOPMarketplace
Aaron Pryor, expert ESOP valuation advisor and associate at industry leading valuation firm Acclaro, now has a professional listing on ESOP Marketplace. We are happy to feature Mr. Pryor on our site, as part of our attempt to create a highly quality-controlled listings of expert ESOP advisors.
Mr. Pryor’s expertise encompasses a variety of ESOP fields, such as ESOP feasibility study and valuation, consideration and fairness opinions, and exit planning.
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Robert Hicks, Jr.: ESOP Valuation Specialist with Acclaro
Valuation is a crucial step in the ESOP process, being necessary to determine accurate company share price and ESOP dividends. ESOP Marketplace is happy to add an expert valuation firm – Acclaro Valuation Advisors – to its company listings.
Robert Hicks is one the firm’s advisors with an individual listing featured on our site. Mr Hicks, a managing director at Acclaro, is a Certified Public Accountant who has provided valuation and consulting for privately owned businesses for over 20 years.
His overall experience in the financial services industry spans 35 years; in the employee ownership field, he’s an expert in ESOP feasibility study planning and execution, advisory services pertaining to management compensation, fairness, initial and annual ESOP valuations, fiduciary matters, financing and problem-solving.
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Glenn Ball, Acclaro Valuation Advisor, Listed on ESOP Marketplace
Glenn Ball is one of the ESOP experts at Acclaro Valuation Advisors we’re proud to feature in a personal listing on our site. Educated in political science and accounting, Mr. Ball has, since 2000, advised privately owned businesses on a range of issues, such as valuation, taxes and business accounting.
Mr. Ball’s expertise as an accountant and valuation advisor stands out, given that he is one of few appraisers who have worked extensively in the ESOP trustee field.
Any business looking for an experienced ESOP valuation advisor with a comprehensive and multi-faceted approach will benefit from Mr. Ball’s advice, and we’re happy to feature him on ESOP Marketplace.
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