Brian Weisman, CFA
Verified Expert in Finance
Finance Expert
Brian is a chartered financial analyst (CFA) with nine years of experience working as an investment professional for hedge funds and two years as an investment banker for Barclays Capital. Brian started a hedge fund with a distressed and short-selling strategy. He taught M&A/LBO financial modeling at investment firms and banks. He's analyzed and helped execute multiple LBO/M&A/restructuring deals. His expertise touches nearly all of finance. Brian's started two tech companies and a hedge fund.
Career Highlights
Case Studies
Expertise
Work Experience
Fractional CFO, M&A/Fundraising/Valuation/Modeling/Restructuring Expert, Modeling Instructor
Freelance Clients
- Recommended $8.5 million (3.0% of EBITDA) SG&A cost reductions to globally restructure business units to CEO and CFO. Analyzed opportunities on behalf of business units and corporate functions to execute on tasked savings.
- Helped a private company make a successful acquisition. Led financial modeling, due diligence, and analysis for a $40 million EV bolt-on acquisition at 6.3x EBITDA. Analyzed unit economics of every product category.
- Created model and synergy action plan for 90% RIF of HQ supporting unsuccessful $130 million bid (10x EBITDA) on appliances division in bankruptcy because winning bid had strategic synergies to target's manufacturing segment.
- Taught modeling seminars encompassing M&A, LBOs, bankruptcy, three statements, and unit economics for 120 attendees, achieving a score of 95% and an NPS of 72. Clients included private equity, private credit, universities, and investment banks.
- Built a global cost-saving initiatives model to maximize teamwork and idea generation across 17 business units and five cost workstreams.
Founder and Portfolio Manager
Self-employed
- Led and negotiated a 5-month launch with a prime broker, an auditor, a fund administrator, legal counsel, and fundraising.
- Launched a hedge fund on July 29, 2020, by fully investing personal net worth plus capital from friends and family.
- Covered sectors such as tech, video game, consumer, auto, business services, power plants, fintech, and specialty consumer finance.
- Executed trades while analyzing and modeling four monthly ideas using a proprietary strategy with a pipeline of over 240 ideas.
- Prepared 20-page quarterly investor letters containing a performance recap, research insights, and market outlook.
- Bought Allied Esports equity to generate 85% in four months, resulting from its World Poker Tour segment divestiture.
- Purchased Vistra Energy equity and recycled it into warrants, generating over 100% in nine months as a deep-value SOTP trade that began in the summer of 2021.
- Analyzed and executed number one investment by shorting Tesla with 117% return using multi-year puts to minimize downside risk with catalysts such as -20% price cuts in China, rising competition, and falling factory utilization.
Research Analyst
Bardin Hill Investment Partners (formerly Halcyon, $10bn credit fund with $2bn hedge fund)
- Outperformed Standard & Poor's -4% return in 2018 by earning 30% on short ideas, such as CONN and SIG, from the subprime credit unwind.
- Generated 33% in two months from short-selling Signet Jewelers equity at $60.
- Investigated, modeled, and analyzed 40+ companies, which was more than any other 10-person team in 1.5 years.
- Drove through Bardin Hill’s 3+ month iterative executive committee from start to finish and deployed $40 million of capital across four top ideas after receiving approvals on investment proposals through a 5-person senior committee.
Vice President
Silverpeak Credit Partners ($10bn private equity firm with $300mm hedge fund)
- Outperformed Standard & Poor's 9% internal rate of return (IRR) by earning 18% IRR from 2016-2018, which grew assets under management by 500% to $300 million.
- Covered sectors such as casinos, consumer, tech, power plants, E&P, and oil refiners.
- Led Philadelphia Energy Solutions investment through a committee on the thesis of removing Carlyle's ability to extract $270 million from the oil refinery to the detriment of creditors through the bankruptcy process.
- Underwrote a thesis based on fixing fraudulent conveyance through bankruptcy and sum of the parts analysis to buy Caesars' 2nd lien debt at a 40% discount relative to its casino peers.
- Bought a first-lien Philadelphia Energy Solutions term loan to generate 29% in five months by buying at a multiple of 5x in bankruptcy.
- Purchased second-lien Caesars casino bonds to generate 68% in nine months by buying at a multiple of 5.6x in bankruptcy.
- Mentored three junior analysts on investigative due diligence, financial accounting, financial modeling, and analysis.
Investment Analyst
FrontFour Capital
- Covered sectors such as consumer/retail, media and telecom, E&P, power plants, and video games.
- Attracted the €30 billion company Vivendi to build a 26% stake after the Sohn Canada conference and meetings with Ubisoft's CEO to close the valuation gap.
- Bought Ubisoft equity to generate 100% in a year with $25 million in profit, which was the fund's top investment in 2015.
- Educated the Wall Street investment community on how to value UBI vs. US peers with product portfolio analysis, unit economics, and IFRS accounting nuances regarding capitalized vs. expensed research and development.
Investment Banking Analyst
Barclays Capital
- Helped execute a $4 billion debtor in possession for a $40 billion restructuring on TXU, originally one of the largest leveraged buyout (LBO) deals.
- Assisted in executing two $1 billion LBO deals, performing all the financial modeling, due diligence, and collaboration with private equity firms.
- Supported oil-and-gas and power companies to help raise high yield and levered loans and restructure their debts.
Education
Bachelor's Degree in Finance
New York University | Stern School of Business - New York, New York, United States
Certifications
Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)
CFA Institute
Skills
Finance
Corporate Finance, M&A Modeling, Valuation, Financial Modeling, Revenue & Expense Projections, Three-statement Modeling, Profit & Loss (P&L), Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Forecasting, Due Diligence, Equity Valuation, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), Equity Research, Market Research, Accounting, Cash Flow Forecasting, Debt Restructuring, Financial Restructuring, M&A (Buy-side), Fundraising, Consumer Lending, Pricing, Private Equity, Investment Memoranda, Comparable Company Analysis, Credit/Debt, Pricing Strategy, Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Financial Reporting, Project Finance, Intellectual Property Valuation, Private Equity Valuation, Fund Formation, Equity Raises, Debt Analysis, Budgeting, CFO, Internal Financial Reporting, M&A (Sell-side), Equity Research Analysis, Power Purchase Agreements (PPA), ROI, Balance Sheets, Cash Flow, Fund Management, Pre-revenue Valuation, Capital Raising, Seed Fundraising, Free Cash Flow (FCF)
Output Software
Microsoft Excel
Data & Analysis Software
Bloomberg
Industry Expertise
Public Companies, Renewable Energy, Early-stage Startups, Retail & Wholesale, Healthcare, Consumer Products, Venture Capital
Other
Portfolio Management, Financial Analysis, Restructuring, Leveraged Buyout (LBO), Corporate Development, Investment Research, Distressed/Special Situations, Business Strategy, Strategy, Business Models, Investment Analysis, M&A Due Diligence (Financial), Pitch Decks, Corporate Finance Consultant, Competitor Analysis & Profiling, Reorganization, Corporate Insolvency, Bankruptcy, Bankruptcy & Insolvency, Data, Financing, Investment Banking, Scenario Analysis, Unit Economics, Deal Structuring, Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL), Fintech Consultant, Investments, Business Process Optimization, SaaS, Communication, Business Process Analysis, Business Planning, Hedge Funds, Startup Consulting, Pitch Deck Consultant, Pricing Models, Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG), Investment Committee Advisory, Stock Analysis, Research, Data Research, Stock Market, Loans, Finance, Enterprise Software, Video Games, Hedge Funds, Business Evaluation, Deal Sourcing, Budget Modeling, Fundraising Strategy, Operating Models, Manufacturing, Equity Markets, Investor Presentations, Direct to Consumer (D2C), eCommerce, Marketplaces, Renewables, Leveraged Finance, Cash Flow Management, CAPEX, US GAAP, eCommerce Analysis, Fintech, Fractional CFO, Business Plan Consulting, Enterprise SaaS, Exit Strategy, Startups, Structured Finance, Legal Technology (Legaltech), Term Sheet Advisory, Financial Statements
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