Transaction Advisor

Required Education and Experience

1. Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Business, Accounting or equivalent education and/or work experience.
2. Minimum of eight years of experience working with U.S. based health & welfare and/or retirement plans, with a minimum of five years advising clients and/or management regarding benefit strategies.
3. Minimum of five years of experience advising buyer clients and/or management on employee benefit matters related to mergers and acquisitions, preferably private equity financial buyers.
4. Experience analyzing U.S. based employee benefit programs from a compliance perspective, evaluating financial statements and applying insight to program recommendations; and creating written reports, is desirable.
5. Related professional designations and certifications are desirable.

Required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

1. Knowledge of the M&A process, buyer and transaction types, role of advisors, and the due diligence process, with an emphasis on the employee benefit workstream.
2. Knowledge of the variety of the group healthcare products and funding mechanisms, group ancillary products, and retirement plan types available to small business and larger employers.
3. Strong analytical and reasoning skill set, including data analysis, research, critical thinking, creativity and communication skills with an attention to detail, demonstrating the ability to collect and examine large volumes of data to spot trends, draw inferences or conclusions in data observed/gaps, and make decisions, recommendations and/or projections based on findings. Ability to collect information and research topics for further understanding and/or recommendations and ability to explain findings and patterns observed.
4. Strong written and verbal communication skills to articulate thoughts clearly and succinctly. Demonstrated ability to communicate complex technical information and offer clear suggestions to non-benefit professionals either one-on-one or while speaking to a group.
5. Advanced organizational, planning, and time management skill set, demonstrating understanding of project workflow and keeping an eye on overall project while maintaining focus on details. Ability to anticipate resources needed, assemble resources, and alter plan based on resource availability and time constraints. Demonstrated ability to manage and prioritize tasks, time and workload are needed to meet time-sensitive deadlines.
6. Solid understanding of financial statements in relation to employee benefit concepts.
7. Advanced proficiency of MS Excel, including ability to analyze data using pivot tables, and MS Word.
8. Ability to operate comfortably in a dynamic, changing, and fast-paced environment.
9. Knowledge of group health plan underwriting, advanced understanding of U.S. federal laws and regulations to which employee benefit plans are subject (e.g. ERISA, COBRA, PPACA, and Internal Revenue Code), related controlled group provisions, state regulations applicable to insured group benefit products, and local ordinances impacting employer-sponsored programs, as well as familiarity with non-U.S. employee benefit programs, individual life and disability insurance products, and total reward strategies desirable.