Matthew Lo
Verified Expert in Finance
Finance Expert
New York, NY, United States
Toptal member since April 13, 2021
An MIT and UPenn alumnus, Matthew has 15 years of experience at top finance firms and startups (Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley Capital Partners, etc.), working on over $10 billion of capital-raising, M&A, and investment projects. He has worked with clients such as PE firms KKR and The Carlyle Group and worked at three startups, including a unicorn funded by Softbank. He is currently working on a new startup and is always eager to help fellow entrepreneurs and small business owners.
Career Highlights
Education Highlights
Case Studies
Industry Expertise
- Security Products & Services
- Consumer Services
- Barber Shops & Beauty Salons
- Waste Treatment, Environmental Services & Recycling
- Finance
- Investment Banking
- Venture Capital & Private Equity
- Hospitality
Other Expertise
- Financial Forecasting
- Financial Modeling
- Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)
- Fundraising
- Leveraged Buyout Modeling
- Private Equity
- Valuation
Work Experience
Startup Consultant
FinAcct Consulting LLC
- Assisted clients with financial analysis and modeling projects.
- Performed financial analysis, including 3-statement models, cohort analysis, and CAC/LTV calculations. Assisted with financial reporting and pitch decks for a B2B marketplace whose investors include Kleiner Perkins, Tim Draper, and Y Combinator.
- Carried out financial analysis projects, including 3-statement modeling and future operating projections for a recruitment AI platform startup.
- Constructed a detailed, bottoms-up financial and operating model for a Unicorn Insurtech company, including five-year monthly projections built over 40 different product types and commission structures.
Part-time Instructor
Wall Street Prep
- Taught financial modeling and valuation skills at the largest financial modeling training firm in the US. Clients include leading investment banks, private equity firms, Wharton, Harvard Business School, Princeton, etc.
- Assisted with updating and revising a guide to investment banking and financial service industry interviews.
- Prepared content for an online certification program covering financial modeling and valuation.
Founder
The Emperor Card Group
- Founded a travel startup helping tourists have fantastic trips.
- Researched and created the business model and company strategy.
- Built financial models to project needed funds, profitability, and valuation.
- Created marketing materials for investors and partners.
- Pitched potential employees, partners, and investors.
Business Development and Head of Research | Business Strategy
HI Inc. (Tink Labs)
- Served as a member of the leadership team of a unicorn travel technology startup with 600 employees, funded by Softbank.
- Sourced and negotiated with potential partners and customers and assisted with fundraising.
- Provided research and analysis on the travel industry and potential new products and business lines.
Executive Director | TMT Investments
HNA Group (International) Company Limited
- Served as a senior investment professional in charge of sourcing, analyzing, and executing cross-border investments focusing on the technology, tourism, and financial services industries.
- Reported directly to the HNA chief investment officer and prepared investment reports for the group chairmen and CEO.
- Completed a $1.6 billion acquisition of the world’s second-largest airline catering company—Gategroup, Switzerland.
- Sourced Series B investment opportunity for a hotel management software company in the United States.
- Submitted approximately a $1.0 billion bid for the automated storage solutions company in Switzerland.
Co-founder | Corporate Development and Finance
Fast Gourmet Group (East China Franchisee for Dunkin’ Donuts)
- Performed multiple roles involving strategy, finance, location evaluation, and data analysis as a management team member for this startup food and beverage company founded by Valor Equity (Tesla, SpaceX).
- Evaluated and sourced all potential store locations, developed all store financial models and prepared investment memoranda for investors and the parent company.
- Oversaw the entire company's capital budgeting plans, covering over 100 staff, growing to over 300 by year-end 2015, and an annual budget of approximately RMB 26 million.
Investment Analyst (Summer)
Pine River Capital Management
- Interned for a hedge fund with $16.0 billion of assets that has won numerous awards, including Relative Value Hedge Fund Manager of the Year for 2012 and 2013 by Institutional Investor and many others.
- Focused on fundamental business analysis for Pan-Asian public equity opportunities; received a full-time offer as an investment analyst.
- Prepared investment memorandum, conducted due diligence, and directly reported to portfolio managers (ex-SAC and ex-Highbridge).
- Completed detailed financial models and company valuations for opportunities in the technology and consumer sectors.
Investment Associate
Metalmark Capital
- Evaluated and executed investments for a private equity firm with $4 billion of AUM, focusing on healthcare, financial services, and natural resources formerly known as Morgan Stanley Capital Partners (rebranded as Metalmark Capital).
- Handled all financial modeling of potential transactions for respective deal teams, including detailed bottoms-up models with five-year forecasted financial statements.
- Prepared and assisted in presenting investment memoranda and analysis to the internal investment committee and firm CEO.
- Collaborated with numerous chief financial officers, finance managers, lawyers, and accountants while performing acquisition due diligence and monitoring portfolio company performance.
Investment Banking Analyst
Credit Suisse
- Ranked top-tier among analysts globally and offered an early direct promotion (pre-MBA) to the associate.
- Handled all financial modeling of potential transactions for respective deal teams.
- Prepared memoranda to internal committees and presentations to clients for financing and M&A transactions.
Fixed Income Analyst
AIG Global Investment Group
- Served as the quantitative analyst for the fixed income portfolio of one of the largest global insurance companies.
- Analyzed AIG’s entire $50 billion structured products portfolio of asset-backed securities, mortgage pass-throughs, CMOs, and CMBS on systems including derivative solutions, yield book, and bond studio.
- Developed systems to analyze extremely large data sets, including AIG’s portfolio of over 8,000 positions, to monitor risk and profitability changes with duration, convexity, and weighted average life calculations.
Education
Master's Degree in Management
MIT Sloan - Boston, MA, USA
Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Business Administration
Tsinghua University - Beijing, China
Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering
University of Pennsylvania - Philadelphia, PA, USA
Skills
Finance
Financial Modeling, Valuation, Private Equity, Fundraising, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Three-statement Modeling, Leveraged Buyout Modeling, Comparable Company Analysis, Equity Research, Forecasting, P&L Forecasting, Budgeting, CFO, Investment Memoranda, Fund Management, Credit Analysis, Revenue & Expense Projections, Corporate Finance, M&A (Buy-side), Market Research, Profitability Analysis, Pricing, Financial Reporting, Debt, Cross-border M&A, Startup Funding, Fundamental Analysis, Seed Fundraising, Debt Structuring
Data & Analysis Software
Financial Data, Intuit QuickBooks
Industry Expertise
Venture Capital, Insurance Technology (Insurtech), Insurance, Apparel & Accessories, Early-stage Startups, Food & Beverage, Consumer Products
Geographic Expertise
United States
Other
Financial Forecasting, Financial Analysis, Market Sizing, Pitch Decks, Startups, Transaction Comparables, Excel Expert, Interim CFO, Small & Medium-sized Enterprises (SME), Business Analysis, Business Models, Growth Strategy, Investment Banking, Reporting, Consumer Services, Fintech, B2B, Investments, Benchmarking, Finance, Operating Models, Fixed Income, Modeling, Leveraged Buyout (LBO), FMCG, Portfolio Management, Software as a Service (SaaS), Fundraising Consultant, Strategy, Deal Structuring
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