KPMG has appointed James Dimech DeBono as an associate partner in its financial risk management practice.
DeBono will be responsible for setting up a team to focus on supporting investment managers, funds and other financial institutions in the preparation of valuations of their portfolios.
The team will comprise quantitative finance and valuation professionals with advanced degrees in quantitative disciplines and significant practical experience in the analysis and valuation of portfolios of “hard-to-value” and illiquid securities.
DeBono trained as an accountant and has 19 years’ advisory experience.
He joins KPMG from Duff & Phelps, where he was managing director for four and a half years, leading the international financial engineering practice.
Prior to this, DeBono was at Ernst & Young for 11 years in London and New York.
Tom Brown, head of investment management at KPMG, says: “I am delighted to welcome James to KPMG. With his extensive consulting experience and in-depth knowledge of advising clients on their valuations, he is an important addition to our expanding team.
“We are aiming to establish KPMG as the premier valuation adviser in financial services – particularly as the demand for more transparency and the robustness in valuation is increasing. The added scrutiny by regulators and investors alike compounded by the issues around complexity and illiquidity, affect the investment industry globally. In other words, whether dealing with hedge funds, funds of funds, asset managers, sovereign wealth funds or administrators the valuation problem remains top of their agenda.”
