Instructor Team

Kathleen has taught modeling and financial analysis to thousands of analysts and finance professionals on Wall Street, in the City of London, and other locations worldwide. Kathleen’s training experience includes founding The Adkins Group in 1984 to provide seminars in financial skills, presentation skills and management development. Kathleen authored Build Business Spreadsheets Using Excel 2000, 2nd Ed., and our popular workbook on constructing financial models, as well as AMT's Download & Go Excel Prep for Financial Modeling. Kathleen is a pilot and motor cyclist and has ridden cross country on her BMW motorbike. She is passionate about developing energy efficient housing and is just finishing her first building project.

Prior to joining Adkins, Matchett & Toy, Martin Andersen had four years of finance experience as an investment banker at JPMorgan and a research analyst at Citadel Investment Group. With a passion for teaching, Martin brings the classroom to life with real world examples drawn from practical experience in M&A, capital raising and equity investing in the consumer products and health care industries. Martin holds a BA in mathematics from Columbia University, and speaks Danish.

Prior to joining AMT, Edward worked for Goldman Sachs in London and New York, for their in-house product training team. During his time at Goldman, he traveled to different offices around the world training and advising investment banking and equity research analysts, as well as external clients on Goldman Sachs’ valuation methodologies. He was also a global technical advisor for the investment banking division.

Edward is very involved in content development on advanced modeling topics at AMT and has built many of our fully integrated LBO, M&A and DCF models. He also authored both the Modeling and Power Modeling midnight manuals which are crucial reference texts for all participants in our global training programs. In his four years with AMT, Edward has taught a broad range of basic and advanced subjects including accounting, financial modeling and equity valuation techniques. He has delivered Analyst and Associate programs worldwide for clients such as Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, UBS and many others. He has taught programs for M&A, Equity Research and Private Equity professionals in the U.S., Europe and in Asia. Edward holds a B.A. degree in economics from the University of Sussex.

Sophie Blanpain-Forder is an independent consultant with over 15 years experience at some major financial institutions. Sophie graduated with highest honours from L’Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris. On graduation she joined the Economics and Strategy team at Lehman Brothers. At Credit Suisse and Citibank she worked on equity strategy, quantitative stock selection tools and asset allocation. She worked at Morley Fund Management, one of the UK largest asset managers, where she was latterly head of equity research. Sophie specializes in training equity valuation, financial modeling and portfolio management. She is a retained speaker for the CFA institute

Annalisa has been covering financial institutions since 1997 when she started working as a consultant with the strategic consulting company Mitchell Madison Group. In 1998 Annalisa joined the financial institutions group of Deutsche Bank, where she participated in the origination and execution of several M&A transactions involving banks and insurance companies. Among other deals, she worked on bancassurance transactions in Spain, on the acquisition of Meie Vita and Meie Assicurazioni by Unipol in Italy, on the disposal of sub-prime mortgage provider Ocwen UK to RBS, and on the initial stages of the disposal by Arab Banking Corporation of Banco Atlantico to Sabadell. In 2002 Annalisa joined the financial training company BG Consulting to develop the financial institutions training practice. Since then she has designed and trained a full portfolio of courses on accounting, regulation, forecasting and valuation of both banks and insurance companies, continuously updating materials to cover all major accounting, Basel II and Solvency II developments and current events. Annalisa graduated in Economic and Social Sciences at Bocconi University in Italy and is a CFA charter holder.

Chris has been working with Adkins Matchett & Toy for over five years. Previously, he was an investment banking analyst and associate at JP Morgan in New York working in the Leveraged Finance area. He also managed the IB Training and Recruiting Programs there. Chris lives in LA with his beagle, Frank and practices yoga in his spare time.

Stefano has worked for Goldman Sachs in London, in the Advisory Group as well as in the Equity Research department, which gave him a solid first-hand experience of financial modeling and valuation. His involvement in numerous M&A transactions is the source of real life examples that he refers to when working with AMT's clients. Stefano is also a Visiting Lecturer at the CASS Business School in London, where he teaches Financial Statements Analysis to the students of the MSc Banking and International Finance. Stefano has a passion for teaching, and his style is enriched by his training in Neuro-Linguistic Programming and in Accelerated Learning. Fluent in English, Italian and Russian, Stefano holds a degree in Finance and is FSA registered.

Claire is a qualified Chartered Accountant and has been delivering training courses on accounting and banking since 1996. She has worked extensively with Ernst & Young’s partners and managers and their key clients to convert their accounting knowledge to International Financial Reporting standards between 2004 and 2006. She then joined Ernst & Young as a consultant to advise FTSE100 clients on technical aspects of UK and International Financial Reporting and to assist with the financial reporting aspects of M&A deals. Claire is an enthusiastic and engaging tutor who teaches and coaches on a number of AMT’s courses. She also trains the large accountancy students in the ICAEW examinations and provides general finance training for the management teams at various high street retailers.

Colin joined AMT in 2003 and prior to becoming an instructor was responsible for managing global sales through his role as senior account manager. He has extensive knowledge of the AMT training portfolio. Before joining AMT, Colin worked in technical roles within the Telecoms industry, completing his PhD in Physics. Colin has been instrumental in designing the structure of our entry level and continuing professional development training programs and is passionate about designing curricula that can add value to the business and a career path for participants.

Rob graduated from Oxford University in 1997 with a Masters degree in Physics. He joined Barclays in 1999, training as an accountant. After qualifying in 2001, Rob moved to Barclays Wealth, undertaking performance and risk analysis, providing input into asset allocation and portfolio construction.

In 2003, Rob joined Barclays Corporate Development, focusing on M&A transactions in the UK. He participated in several deals and origination projects covering asset and sales finance, insurance, retail and commercial banking, private equity funds and private banking.Rob has trained since early 2007, with specialising in accounting and financial analysis, company valuation, financial institutions, and modeling.

Rob is a passionate supporter of AFC Wimbledon.

James is a qualified Chartered Accountant with extensive Investment Banking and Financial training experience. After graduating from Cambridge University, James began his career with Arthur Anderson in Manchester where he spent four years in the Audit division, preparing and auditing financial statements for public and private UK companies.

He later joined HSBC Investment Bank in London and worked for two years in the Corporate Finance and Advisory division, assisting in origination and execution of M&A and corporate finance transactions.

Following HSBC, James joined Merrill Lynch International. Here he spent 5 years working in the Investment Banking division, on corporate finance transactions such as take-overs, equity and debt issues, capital structure analysis and corporate risk management.

James now provides training to graduates and banking professionals in the areas of Accounting, Corporate Finance, Capital Markets, Derivatives, Valuation, M&A and Financial Modelling.

Antony specializes in high end Excel and VBA training and has more than fifteen years of experience in training and designing learning programmes. Antony has worked at a diverse range of financial companies including ABN AMRO, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, The London Business School and Société Générale where he has supported and advised traders and analysts on best practice in Excel and VBA. He brings a passion and enthusiasm for his subject coupled with an emphasis on practical application. Antony manages the online and elearning activities of AMT including AMTO and Direct Testing and supports the AMT trainers on Excel and VBA issues. Out of work, Antony enjoys live music, cricket and time with his 3 children.

Alison has 12 years experience in the design and delivery of tailored financial learning programs for blue chip companies. Her delivery style is stimulating and challenging and she brings her subject to life by using anecdotes and topical business news to illustrate and explain key points. Alison qualified as a chartered accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers working in audit and corporate finance in London and Sydney. Alison also lecturers at Ashridge and Henley business schools; she is the author of Shareholder Value Explained, published by the Financial Times. Alison is a keen skier and darts player!

Stephen began his career in trading at JP Morgan after graduating from the ICMA Centre, Reading. He completed his graduate training program in New York where he was fortunate enough to have two of AMT's founding partners on the instructor team.

After two years at JP Morgan as a market-maker in Interest Rate Derivatives, Stephen moved to Morgan Stanley's Equity Trading department. While there he traded global equity portfolios on the Program Trading desk and helped to grow the rapidly expanding ETF trading business.

Stephen is looking forward to bringing his market experience and technical knowledge to AMT and helping to equip our clients for the challenging, but exciting times ahead.

Bob Jones has been a trainer and consultant for Fortune-500 clients and major investment banks for the past eighteen years. Bob conducts specialized courses in financial modeling and advanced Excel. He also has vast expertise teaching other Microsoft Office software, including Project. Bob’s personable style and attention to detail help students grasp the most complex issues and techniques of financial modeling. Bob was a two-time All American at Manhattan College and a member of the 1973 NCAA Championship Track Team. Bob's hobbies include deep sea fishing, boating, and collecting baseball memorabilia.

Yuliya draws her financial experience from Lehman Brothers Investment Banking division and Monitor Group MAST financial and strategic advisory services in London, New York and Moscow. Yuliya has covered a wide range of industries including healthcare, consumer, insurance, metals and mining, industrials, and oil and gas. Yuliya graduated from University of Pennsylvania with a triple degree in Finance, Accounting, and French Literature. She also holds a Masters in Political Science from the London School of Economics. In her spare time Yuliya enjoys writing, biking, and yoga.

Dr. Bridget Lyons teaches finance topics ranging from corporate finance and capital budgeting to investment analysis and financial modeling. Since 1995 she has been a member of the faculty of the John F. Welch College of Business at Sacred Heart University, where she is currently Chair of the Department of Economics & Finance and is the recipient of both teaching and research awards. Dr. Lyons has published in a number of journals including Strategic Finance, Journal of Cost Management and Journal of Business & Economic Studies and has developed Excel content for several finance texts. Her current research interests include valuation, performance metrics, and investigations into the appropriate adjustment to the discount rate for risky cash outflows. Bridget enjoys movies, travel and hiking with her two terriers.

Marisa brings ten years of investment banking and investing experience to Adkins Matchett & Toy. Marisa began her career at W.P. Carey & Co. LLC, a real-estate investment firm focused on sale-leaseback financing. After completing her MBA at Columbia Business School, she joined Lehman Brothers’ Communications & Media Group in New York where she gained extensive valuation and corporate deal experience including debt underwriting, equity underwriting, leveraged buyouts, mergers and acquisitions, and dispositions for companies in the telecom industry. After Lehman Brothers, Marisa joined Tudor Investment Corporation where she was responsible investing in emerging markets corporate and real estate fixed-income securities.

In 2009, Marisa followed her passion for working with people, and transitioned to the training and development industry. She served as a consultant and regular speaker in the area of career management to Columbia Business School’s MBA and Executive MBA programs. She has also presented to students at the Yale School of Management and is an alumnus speaker for the University of Wisconsin’s Alumni Association’s annual New York event. Marisa enjoys tennis, sailing, hiking and camping.

Kieran has taught globally on financial reporting issues since 1989. He currently teaches at a business school in the UK, and has introduced IFRS to the degree program there at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. He is a contributor to the IFRS Certificate and Diploma awards of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, where he is also currently an examiner as part of their professional qualification program. He originally qualified as an accountant in 1986, specializing in corporate investigations and recovery. His main interests are cricket, Brighton football club and indie music. He lives with his wife, two children, dog, cat, rabbit and guinea pigs in Manchester.

AMT's co-founder Alastair Matchett started his finance career at JP Morgan’s London advisory unit after attending the internationally renowned Morgan Finance Program in New York. In addition to working as investment banker, he also helped design and manage training for the bank. Alastair went on to manage a portfolio of private equity investments for Investors in Industry and negotiate equity financing for leveraged buyouts. Since co-founding AMT, Alastair has designed complete training programs for both analyst and associate entry classes for some of Wall Street’s major investment banks. Alastair is the author of AMT's Introduction to Accounting for Finance, widely known as Wall Street’s popular “green book” for new analysts and the Valuation Midnight Manual. Alastair loves to horse-ride and to trek the wilds when on holiday.

Peter is passionate about teaching and has been involved in training and coaching for over 9 years. He brings strong technical knowledge, holding both a Masters in Finance from the London Business School, and the CFA charter. He has held Series 7, 63, 66, 9, and 10 US security licenses. Before joining Adkins Matchett & Toy, Peter worked as a finance director at a small technology firm, a portfolio advisor at Charles Schwab & Co., and an investor relations consultant at Barclays. In his spare time, Peter enjoys rock climbing, golf, and travel.

Mary has been teaching bankers, all around the globe, for many years concentrating on accounting, financial modeling and valuation. Mary brings these subjects to life for finance professionals, both at entry level and for those with experience. Mary is an accountant by qualification and has co-authored Mergers and Acquisitions, published by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. She has also written both of the accounting Midnight Manuals published by AMT. Mary is an avid reader, plays tennis, skis and scuba dives in her spare time. She is currently learning to rollerblade the loop in Central Park.

German has more than fourteen years of experience in the US and internationally in the financial services and consulting industries. He worked as a senior consultant for Deloitte & Touche for five years after working as an auditor at the firm for two years. After earning his MBA from the J.L. Kellogg School of Management in 1999, German joined JPMorgan Chase where he worked in the Latin America structured finance team for more than three years. Afterwards, he joined WestLB in New York where he worked as an Executive Director and group head of credit risk management for Latin America and for North America in Metals and Mining, Infrastructure and Hospitality financing.

German developed his passion for teaching very early in his professional career at age 23 when he served as an Assistant Professor in the Accounting Department at his undergraduate alma matter. In 2009, he was invited to teach at the Academy of Business Leadership’s Summer Business Institute at the CSULA campus where he taught low-income, high-potential students in East Los Angeles a variety of business topics including finance, accounting and strategy. He also taught capital markets at the Building Outstanding Leaders Today program at the Academy’s headquarters in Los Angeles.

In addition to his MBA from Kellogg, German holds a B.S. in Accounting from the Universidad de la Republica in Uruguay. He is a native Spanish speaker and proficient in Portuguese.

Prior to joining AMT, Sheila worked with top Investment Banks in the Securitization market where she modeled various structured products. These products consisted of Mortgage Back Securities and Collateralized Debt Obligations. In conjunction with this, Sheila also taught bond modeling to incoming analysts and was deeply involved with the enhancement of structured finance training materials. Sheila received her B.S. in Information Technology Engineering from George Mason University. In her spare time she enjoys working out, teaching dance, skiing and traveling.

John specializes in equity analysis and valuation and has a decade of experience training investment bankers and fund managers. John has developed and led equity analysis courses for analysts and sales staff at the top investment banks in the UK and overseas. John is a qualified accountant and has taught towards the CFA charter and SII Diploma for many years. He brings a passion and enthusiasm for his subject coupled with an emphasis on practical application. To relax, John enjoys gardening, and swimming.

Connie became an Instructor in accounting and corporate finance technical courses in 2008 following eight years with the Deutsche Bank mergers and acquisitions team based in London and Sydney, Australia. Connie has extensive experience in leading projects with both corporate and private equity clients with a particular emphasis on consumer, retail and leisure sectors. Prior to investment banking Connie worked in corporate planning and analysis within Kraft Foods International and internal auditing at GrandMet (now merged to form Diageo).

Connie earned an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario in London Canada as well as a Bachelor of Commerce, Accounting from the University of Calgary.

Connie has trained at investment banking and private equity clients globally. She has lead broad programmes with course work including accounting (IFRS), financial statement analysis, financial modeling, credit analysis, valuation theory and practice, debt capacity and structuring, financial effects/accretion-dilution and transaction structuring, LBO analysis and IPO analysis. She particular enjoys leading fully integrated courses culminating with student presentations showing application of practical use of concepts.

Since joining AMT, Rama has taught a broad range of basic and advanced subjects; including accounting, modeling and valuation techniques. He has trained and coached both associates and analysts in the U.S. and Asia for clients such as, HSBC, CLSA, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers and Deutsche Bank. In addition to client training, Rama is responsible for launching and managing AMT’s Certified Investment Banking Analyst program in India. Prior to joining AMT, Rama was with Citigroup India where he worked in investment banking, both in analysis and in a training capacity. He also had previous experience at a US based hedge fund in India. Rama has a passion for teaching, and holds a masters degree in finance.

Rasna has financial services industry experience covering the Americas, UK and India. Prior to joining AMT, Rasna worked with Copal Partners, managing teams in delivering research, financial analytics and thematic studies whilst advising boutique Investment Banks, Private Equity firms and Corporations. Previous to this, Rasna was an Associate in the Investment Banking Division at Credit Suisse Securities where she covered the retail and consumer products companies focusing on M&A and capital raising. Earlier in her career, Rasna worked as a chip design engineer for 5 years.

Rasna graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering, Electronics and Telecommunications in India, and a Master of Business Administration from Cornell University in New York. Rasna is series 7 licensed. Rasna enjoys traveling, yoga and cooking.

As part of the AMT team, Silvia has been teaching and coaching analysts and bankers for six years. Her areas of expertise include accounting, finance and modeling. Silvia’s professional experience includes fixed income and equity analysis, and institutional sales. Currently, Silvia is pursuing a PhD in Organizational Management at Rutgers University. Her areas of interest include Innovation Networks, Knowledge Creation, Accumulation, and Transfer in the context of rapidly-changing technologies, and Organizational Transformation and Change. In her spare time, Silvia enjoys hiking, cross country skiing, cooking, and watching foreign films.

Prashanth brings eleven years of corporate finance experience to AMT. Most recently, he was a senior member of a middle market advisory firm, where he assisted clients with acquisitions and shareholder value analysis.

Earlier in his career, he held positions at various financial advisory firms and a "Big 4" valuation practice where he assisted both public and privately-held companies with acquisition and divestiture analysis, and valuations for recapitalizations, management buyouts, and joint ventures.

Prashanth has instructed analysts and associates in applied financial modeling and valuation for many prominent investment banks. Additionally, he is contributing author of “Business Valuation in Bankruptcy” (Wiley).

Prashanth earned a Masters in Business Administration from The George Washington University and a Bachelors of Science with high honors from Bangalore University.

Aasha has been teaching since 2000, initially lecturing in Accounting and Taxation at ATC Ltd, before moving on to lecturing across a wide variety of investment banking related topics at BPP plc. In particular, she taught towards the FSA regulatory exams in Regulations, Securities and Derivatives, and the Investment Management Certificate, as well as across all subject areas of the CFA level 1 exams. Aasha was awarded the CFA charter herself in 2005. In addition to her teaching responsibilities, she was head of IMC product at BPP and responsible developing course materials and liaising with the examining body. An experienced tutor, her students frequently comment on her ability to explain difficult concepts very clearly and her friendly professional style. Aasha gained a 2.1 in Natural Sciences (Biochemistry) at King's College, Cambridge University, and subsequently qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Arthur Andersen in London. Outside of work, Aasha is a Londoner through and through, with a multitude of interests including all aspects of health and fitness and a passion for modern art.

Deepali holds an MBA with Honors from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. She has about six years of experience in the financial services industry in Europe and Asia. In her last role she worked as an associate in the Investment Banking Division of Credit Suisse based in London. She has led analyses and developed models for M&A, leveraged buyouts, equity valuations for telecom and media clients across Europe, Russia, Middle East and Africa. She has also worked as credit rating analyst with JP Morgan and Standard and Poor's.

Winnie Sze joined AMT after 14 years as an investment banker with Royal Bank of Canada and UBS. Her broad experience included structuring credit swaps, managing a loan portfolio, and trading options on Eurodollar futures at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. A gifted instructor, Winnie was a member of the UBS internal education team, where she taught graduates through managing directors, and clients in corporate finance and global markets. She also taught one semester with the University of Chicago Graduate Program in Financial Engineering. Winnie is the proprietor of the London art gallery, August Art.

Dr. Norman Toy has taught financial math, capital markets, corporate finance and financial analysis at investment banks for over 30 years. A member of the faculty of Columbia Graduate School of Business, he teaches advanced corporate finance, and debt markets in the School’s Executive MBA Program. His experience also includes management posts at Columbia University’s Health Sciences Division and its College of Physicians and Surgeons, and he was also a director and principal of the financial counseling firm of Brownson, Rehmus & Foxworth, Inc. Dr. Toy’s research interests include capital markets, valuation and corporate finance. He is the author of articles on finance, marketing and statistics, and his books include Introduction to Financial Math, and Capital Markets Math, published by AMT. Norm likes to read, hike, exercise his two dogs, and keep track of two teenage sons.

Sue has been teaching finance for many years to a broad range of participants. She qualified as a Chartered Accountant in England and Wales and worked in London with Arthur Andersen as a specialist in private equity transactions. During her time there she designed and delivered Andersen business consulting courses which lead to her decision to teach full time. Sue has authored a study manual on financial management and control for Reed Business School. She is a killer squash player and also enjoys gardening for relaxation.

Andrea started her investment banking career with Lehman Brothers in London working on M&A execution across a variety of sectors (advising on energy/paper& packaging/pharmaceutical and technology transactions). She then joined the corporate finance department of the Bank of Bermuda advising on IPOs on the Bermudian stock exchange and structuring investments in reinsurance funds. Andrea went on to join BT Alex. Brown’s global M&A department focusing on cross-border transactions in the media and technology sector, mainly in their London office. In 1998 Andrea joined BG Consulting, a financial training company offering bespoke programs to investment banks and corporates where she developed and managed the valuation & modeling area. Andrea has designed graduate and associate programs for major investment banks and trained hundreds of bankers from intern to senior level. In addition, she provides courses in German to corporate and relationship bankers. Andrea qualified as a commercial banker in Germany prior to graduating from the Otto Beisheim School of Corporate Management (WHU) as a Diplomkauffrau (MBA equivalent).