Duff & Phelps Corporation is a global advisor that protects, restores and maximizes value for clients in the areas of valuation, corporate finance, investigations, disputes, cybersecurity, compliance and regulatory matters, and other governance-related issues. It works with clients across diverse sectors, mitigating risk to assets, operations and people. With Kroll, a division of Duff & Phelps since 2018, the firm has nearly 3,500 professionals in 28 countries around the world.
The valuation practice helps its clients fulfil complex financial reporting and tax requirements by combining technical expertise, mastery of sophisticated valuation methodologies, industry knowledge, objectivity and independence. It closely monitors the regulatory landscape and are deeply involved in the development of valuation industry standards and best practices that impact its clients.
My internship at Duff and Phelps has helped me understand the basics of valuation. In my internship period, I have been working on varied assignments involving business enterprise valuations, purchase price allocations (PPAs), intellectual property valuations, impairment testing etc. I understood the importance of understanding the industry and economies of any entity for which the valuation is being undertaken. Also, how the interaction between the company and its clients (management) is a key to understand the business structure and business model of the clients company and other insights that are required while working for the client.
Among the varied opportunities I had received, I got to work on various financial models that are built to value an entity. While working on the said assignment I understood the interface of many research portals like capital IQ, emis etc.
I worked under the Vice President of Duff and Phelps, Ms. Ranjeetha Vasudeva, who has been a constant support during my internship days. I was always given a chance to understand the workings of the company with different clients, and how the whole process of the interaction with the clients worked.
Duff & Phelps, while conducting any valuation procedure, had a set of steps that were undertaken. Any client engagement would always begin with an engagement letter that would have the objective and the deliverables of Duff and Phelps to the client at the end of the engagement. It would also specify the basic details of what information the company would require from the client, the scope of the engagement and basic details like valuation date, fees Further the general deliverables would be a report giving the details of the valuation process, different methods used with the reason to adopt a particular method. The industry and economy overview etc.
With the project I had worked on the Income (DCF analysis) was the method adopted, therefore the report also included the reasons for the projections of revenue, EBITDA changes, the tax policy, Capital expenditure and depreciation changes and the cash and debt free working capital changes.
The client would also be sent an excel file showcasing the exact process and values used to reach the proposed valuation.
The client and company interaction were always said to be of prime importance.
This whole process of valuation has helped me learn insights on the intricate details that need to be taken care while performing a valuation procedure for any clients.
The following were the learnings from my internship of 10 months:
- Understanding the business and organizational structure of the organization in order to understand how the engine of the business actually works.
- Comprehending the way this organization is being able to provide standardized output to its clients across globe.
- Grasping the opportunity to understand the profile of the existing clients and how to interact with the same and build relations of this kind.
- Understanding the variety of services that Duff & Phelps provide to its clients.
- Being aware of the financial and economic aspect of the country
- Having knowledge of the current major organizations deals with respect to Mergers and acquisitions, disputes etc.
- Being aware of different financial valuation models and taxation structure.
