Liquidity Options: Planning Your ESOP

Jay joined Dana Investment Advisors in 2015, and is currently a Senior Vice President. Prior to joining Dana, he was an EVP/Treasurer with U.S. Fiduciary Services (USFS) from 2003 to 2015. USFS, a holding company consisted of two Institutional Trust Companies and Investment Advisory company with a niche to act and serve as an independent trustee to ESOPs. Jay graduated from Marquette University with a BS in Accounting in 1982, and went on to earn a MS and MBA from Marquette. Jay is a Certified Public Accountant, and is an active member of the AICPA, and WICPA including serving on WICPA Financial Services Committee.

Joe joined Dana Investment Advisors in December 1994 and is currently the Chief Investment Officer and a Portfolio Manager. Joe graduated from Northwestern University with a BA in Hu-manities in 1984. He earned an MBA in Finance and International Business from the Stern School of Business at New York University in 1991. Joe is a CFA® charterholder and a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of Milwaukee.

Aaron is the President and Founder of ESOP Partners. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) with over 20 years of experience in the ESOP industry. He has provided implementation and ongoing administration and consulting services to hundreds of ESOP companies, developed ESOP information systems, and audited qualified retirement plans. Aaron is also a Certified Pension Consultant (CPC), Qualified Pension Administrator (QPA), and Qualified 401(k) Administrator (QKA). His specialties include ESOP Feasibility studies, Plan design and implementation, Initial and second-stage transaction planning, structuring and management, Repurchase obligation forecasting and planning, Distribution policies, Corporate governance and fiduciary consulting services, Employee culture and communications, Executive compensation and incentive planning and Audit assistance.

Kyle A. Spader, CPA, CMA, CVA founded Acumen Advisory Services, LLC in 2016. Kyle spent more than a decade as an ESOP executive, internal and external ESOP board member, internal ESOP trustee and now serves as an external ESOP trustee providing both transactional and ongoing trustee services for more than 80 ESOP companies.

Tim is the President and Managing Partner of DeWitt Law Firm, which has over 130 attorneys and offices in Metro Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin and Minneapolis, MN. Tim’s law practice consists almost entirely of working with ESOP companies, including working with business owners to become ESOP-owned.