Frank Colombo, CFA, Finance Expert in New York, NY, United States
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Frank Colombo, CFA

Verified Expert  in Finance

Finance Expert

Location
New York, NY, United States
Toptal Member Since
November 13, 2019

As the global head of high yield research at UBS, Frank led a team of 21 analysts and was the lead analyst on over 40 new issues, raising over $6 billion. Currently, he is a founding partner of a new cannabis debt fund. As a freelancer, Frank enjoys helping a wide variety of clients with challenging capital raises, valuation, and financing strategy, leveraging his Stanford MBA and his extensive experience as an analyst and entrepreneur.

Financial ForecastingFinancial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)ValuationCredit AnalysisComparable Company AnalysisCapital MarketsFundraisingMergers & Acquisitions (M&A)Revenue & Expense Projections

Career Highlights

Partner | Chief Risk Officer
Aspen Finance, LLC
Managing Director, Head of Research
Seaport Group, LLC
Global Head of High Yield Research
UBS Warburg Dillon Read

Education Highlights

Master of Business Administration (MBA) Degree
Stanford University
Bachelor of Arts Degree (Summa Cum Laude)
University of Colorado Boulder

Certification Highlights

Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)
CFA Institute

Case Studies

Industry Expertise

Commercial & Residential ConstructionCapital MarketsTradingIndustrialsCannabisSteel Fabrication

Software Expertise

IBM SPSS

Other Expertise

Business StrategyCapital RaisingCredit AnalysisFinancial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)Valuation

Work Experience

Partner | Chief Risk Officer

2018 - PRESENT
Aspen Finance, LLC
  • Founded a closed-end debt fund, with an anticipated final size of $200 million, to lend money to cannabis companies.
  • Raised limited partner commitments for fund creation.
  • Authored lending policies, loan operations procedures, due diligence checklists, and model loan documents.
  • Approved all credit commitments as head of the commitment committee.
  • Monitored and designed mitigation strategies for all major fund risks including credit, derivatives, legal, and operational risks.
  • Supervised the construction and maintenance of financial projection models for all credits and monitor the performance of all portfolio investments.
  • Created a unique lending product that is tailored to the cannabis industry, incorporating short-term secured notes and detachable cashless-exercise warrants.
  • Built a dynamic fund model to analyze fund performance over a wide variety of debt and equity scenarios.
Focus areas: Cannabis, Lending, Risk Models, Funding Strategy, Fund Analysis, Corporate Finance, Credit Analysis, Credit Risk, Creativity, Risk Management, Due Diligence, Credit Policy

Adjunct Professor of Finance & Accounting

2014 - PRESENT
Concordia College
  • Designed the curriculum and taught advanced valuation and credit class for senior accounting and finance majors.
  • Instilled student competence in business strategy analysis techniques including SWOT, value chain, and Porter's 5 forces through the use of challenging Harvard cases.
  • Utilized relatable examples like Netflix, Tesla, and Facebook to explain financial statement analysis techniques including financial ratios and vertical and horizontal analysis as well as more advanced concepts like bankruptcy prediction and financial manipulation detection.
  • Developed students' skills in the construction of integrated 3-statement financial models for use in the analysis of credit ratings and debt repayment capacity.
  • Taught sophisticated DCF valuation modeling including adjustments to historical financial statements.
  • Cultivated skills in comparable company analysis for credit quality and valuation.
  • Created and taught advanced data analysis class covering regression, time series analysis, logistic regression, factor analysis, and cluster analysis: class projects emphasized the role of "big data" in modern marketing and operations analysis.
Focus areas: Credit Ratings, Business Strategy, Comparable Company Analysis, Logistic Regression, Factor Analysis, Clustering Algorithms, Valuation Multiples, Financial Statements, Regression Modeling, Statistics, Valuation, Pro Forma Financial Statements, Credit Analysis, DCF Valuation, Equity Valuation

Founder

2004 - PRESENT
FVC Consulting
  • Led all phases of due diligence for a private equity purchase of minerals mining company, including on-site interviewing of target management, construction of comprehensive LBO model, valuation analysis, capital structure design, and negotiation with bank lenders.
  • Researched, modeled, and valued wind turbine blade manufacturing IP.
  • Built a complex corporate projection model for major Canadian trade finance company that was used to procure financing for a management buyout of the business.
  • Conducted a comprehensive review of the office REIT industry with long and short trade ideas that were successfully implemented by a distressed debt hedge fund.
  • Supported professors of psychology and criminology with innovative statistical analysis leading to academic journal articles.
  • Aided doctoral students with statistical support for their PhD theses.
Focus areas: Comparable Company Analysis, Five-year Projections, Financial Forecasting, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Business Strategy, Credit Analysis, Due Diligence, Intellectual Property Valuation, Valuation

Managing Director, Head of Research

2001 - 2004
Seaport Group, LLC
  • Served as a founding member in charge of research during the startup and growth of a highly successful distressed debt trading firm.
  • Hired, trained, and supervised sophisticated distressed debt analysts.
  • Conducted credit research and valuation analysis on companies in a wide variety of industries.
  • Evaluated bankruptcy and restructuring plans and complex loan agreements for trade ideas.
  • Designed creative inter-capital-structure arbitrage trade ideas.
  • Authored widely read "Best Picks" publication with investment suggestions that outperformed the distressed debt market for two years running.
Focus areas: Trading, Comparable Company Analysis, Credit Analysis, Supervisory, Research Reports, Valuation, Research, Distressed Assets

Partner

2000 - 2001
Pandion Capital
  • Collaborated with a former fellow partner from Dillon Read to advise on challenging M&A transactions.
  • Conducted due diligence, valuation analysis, modeling, and negotiation of bank financing for a $900 million acquisition of a public petroleum marketing company.
  • Negotiated the valuation and terms and obtained financing for a $1.5 billion regional food company acquisition.
Focus areas: Structuring, Term Sheet Negotiations, Valuation, Debt Financing, Debt Structuring, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A)

Global Head of High Yield Research

1997 - 1999
UBS Warburg Dillon Read
  • Managed all high yield credit research and research publications worldwide.
  • Hired, trained, and supervised a staff of 21 high yield analysts in New York and London.
  • Participated as an active member of the high yield commitment committee.
  • Performed as the lead analyst on over 40 new high yield issues across a wide variety of industries.
  • Originated building product issues generating over $10 million in fees.
  • Upgraded research staff by adding seven new analysts in NY and London.
  • Built and maintained strong relationships with key buy-side portfolio managers and analysts.
  • Led in the design of rating agency and roadshow presentations for over 40 new debt issues.
  • Executed key role in restructuring negotiations as a member of two bankruptcy creditor committees.
Focus areas: Bankruptcy & Insolvency, Distressed Assets, Home Construction, Industrials, Modeling, Policy, Management, Valuation, Credit Policy, Capital Markets, Research, Trading, Supervisory, Credit Risk

Managing Director of Fixed Income and Credit Research

1995 - 1997
Dillon Read & Co., Inc.
  • Managed all fixed income and credit research and research publications.
  • Approved all high yield credit underwriting engagements as chief credit officer on the high yield commitment committee.
  • Performed a key role in building Dillon Read into a top-ten underwriter of high yield bonds.
  • Achieved excellent underwriting record in over 100 transactions.
  • Executed capital markets role in the structuring and marketing of high yield bond transactions.
  • Established strong relationships with high yield issuers and portfolio managers leading to increased underwriting and trading revenue.
Focus areas: Portfolio Optimization, Fixed Income Analysis, Capital Markets, Research Reports, Report Design, Debt Issuance, Valuation, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Supervisory, Research, Credit Analysis

Senior Vice President, High Yield Research

1992 - 1995
Dillon Read & Co., Inc.
  • Researched and authored reports on a wide variety of industries including healthcare, retail, industrials, energy, and building products.
  • Served as a senior analyst on over 40 new issues.
  • Built a respected analyst research group of five which concentrated on home building, energy, retail, airlines, and distressed debt sectors.
  • Contributed to making Dillon Read the #1 underwriter in homebuilding industry through widely followed research coverage.
Focus areas: Supervisory, Trading, Modeling, Research Reports, Valuation, Credit Analysis
1983 - 1985

Master of Business Administration (MBA) Degree in General Management

Stanford University - Palo Alto, CA, USA

1975 - 1979

Bachelor of Arts Degree (Summa Cum Laude) in Economics

University of Colorado Boulder - Boulder, CO, USA

SEPTEMBER 1991 - PRESENT

Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)

CFA Institute