Projects

FMA’s financial modelling projects have varied both in type of financial model and client sector. These models can be transactional and/or operational with recurrent use, sometimes with considerable lifetimes.  Each financial model is developed iteratively with the client on a custom basis. We understand the importance of listening to the client and tailoring our approach accordingly – the models we develop belong to you, not us.

FMA project window

Financial Planning & Analysis & Management Reporting

FMA has supported senior management teams in numerous ways. Typically, FMA have developed month-to-month reporting and forecasting models that interface with an accounts’ system. Projects have included a forex broker’s quarterly board pack and analysis for corporate strategy, a corporate planning model for an engineering group and a regulatory and strategic planning model for Network Rail. We typically use MS Excel with VBA and SQL to develop tools to provide data analysis to clients, historic and/or forecast, as well as financial models that utilise monthly trial balances.

Fund & Asset Management Models

Some of the biggest modelling challenges come when managing portfolios of assets, all with individual project models.  FMA has extensive experience of working with fund managers and asset management departments in valuation, forecasting and monitoring of their portfolios. We have developed innovative automated technical solutions to aligning common assumptions, re-running and importing from asset level models – whoever they are built or controlled by. We have also worked with a range of fund managers to develop fund models that accurately reflect their LPA or investor agreements – calculating management fees, investor waterfalls, preferred return & carried interest hurdles on a current and projected basis.

There are now around £8bn of assets under management using FMA models.

Transaction Models

Whether a transaction is a merger or acquisition, FMA have developed financial models to assist clients’ due diligence and assess a business’s valuation. Sectors and clients have varied considerably from the acquisition of an insurer’s back-office operations, the disposal of a business unit in the waste metals’ sector to the MBO of a travel agency business. FMA have supported acquirors, vendors, corporate advisers, intermediaries, and Private Equity with the development of bespoke financial models. These will usually involve FMA in the due diligence process, analysing specific revenue and cost drivers along with associated profiles and balance sheet assumptions.

Project Finance Models

An area that depends upon a robust financial model is project finance. FMA has considerable experience in this arena whether it be the review of a ferry service financial model, the development of an overseas generic road development and tariff model and the acquisition of a multi-asset property portfolio. Supporting a project’s parties, a model will likely include a development phase followed by operations over a several years and include debt servicing ratios along with other quantitative analysis.

Specialist Analysis & Visualisation

As well as more traditional financial models, FMA has often been asked to deliver specialist analysis – utilising our finance, accounting and mathematics backgrounds.  This work has  included a running pattern optimisation model for a gas fired power plant, power market analysis, ID authentication and pay system option analysis.