The 2019 EY Homebuilder CFO and Tax Director Roundtablescsgexternal.ey.com/homebuilder.ey.com/source/speaker bios.pdfRay is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, and

The 2019 EY Homebuilder CFO and Tax Director Roundtables Speakers 5–6 May 2019

The 2019 EY Homebuilder CFO and Tax Director Roundtables — speakers 1

Speakers

Ray Beeman Washington Council Ernst & Young

Ray Beeman is Co-leader of Ernst & Young LLP’s Washington Council Ernst & Young practice, providing clients with strategic advice and representation on issues and developments involving tax and budget policy. Prior to joining the firm, Ray was Tax Counsel and Special Advisor for Tax Reform with the US House Committee on Ways and Means, helping guide the development of the Tax Reform Act of 2014, a comprehensive tax reform plan proposed by then-Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI). Ray also has served in Congress as Legislation Counsel for the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT), where he was involved in several tax legislative proposals that were passed by Congress and signed into law by the President, including the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004. In addition, Ray played a significant role with the JCT in the ratification of income tax treaties by the US Senate and the development of tax policy reports to Congress relating to tax simplification and the investigation of Enron Corporation. These reports included several tax legislative recommendations that later were enacted into law. Ray began his Washington career with the National Tax Department of Ernst & Young LLP, where he was a member of the Financial Services Industry practice group. He has taught Taxation of Debt Instruments as an adjunct member of the faculty at the Georgetown University Law Center. Ray is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, and received a JD from the Pepperdine University School of Law as well as an LLM in Taxation from the Boston University School of Law. He is a member of the State Bar of California and the District of Columbia Bar.


Speakers

Todd Carper Ernst & Young LLP

Todd Carper serves as Ernst & Young LLP’s Indirect/State and Local Tax (SALT) Market Leader for the Orange County and San Diego markets, focusing on multistate income and franchise tax, credits and incentives, sales and use tax, property tax, employment tax, medical device excise tax, value-added tax and global trade. He has significant experience in multistate income and franchise tax strategic planning, controversy, structuring, lookback reviews, corporate reorganizations and acquisitions, bankruptcy issues, and SALT-related tax accounting and risk advisory services. Todd serves both public and private multistate and multinational clients in a variety of industries, including technology, manufacturing, engineering, health and life sciences, real estate, and retail and consumer products. Todd also serves as the Area Director of Income/Franchise Tax (ADIFT) for the West Region SALT practice, responsible for teaming with the firm’s National Tax Department, driving key income and franchise tax initiatives and implementing leading practices throughout the West Region SALT practice. He previously served as the firm’s Orange County Office Tax Partner in Charge. Todd holds a BA from the University of Southern California and a JD from Loyola Law School of Los Angeles. He has been a frequent speaker on state and local tax topics for the annual EY Executive Tax Update, Tax Director Roundtables, Tax Executives Institute meetings, and the Annual Meeting of the California State Bar and California Tax Policy Conference. Todd has been published multiple times in the Journal of Multistate Taxation. In addition, he is an adjunct professor of State & Local Tax at Chapman University School of Law in Orange, California.


Speakers

Ken Gear Leading Builders of America, Inc.

Since 2008, Ken Gear has served as CEO of Leading Builders of America (LBA), a Washington, DC, trade association representing many of the largest homebuilders in the nation. LBA’s

Twenty members build approximately 33% of all new homes in the United States. Ken serves as the primary voice of major homebuilders before Congress, the executive branch and all federal agencies. This work keeps Ken focused on a variety of issues, including tax reform, mortgage finance, land use, environmental legislation and labor law. He regularly offers testimony before Congress and federal agencies and has been covered by numerous national media outlets.

Before joining LBA, he served as Vice President and Counsel for Pulte Homes, where he managed Pulte’s outreach to Congress and federal agencies as well as state legislators in 27 states. He also served as Chairman of the High Production Home Builders Council, which managed industry-wide lobbying efforts for some of the largest homebuilders in the country.

Before working for Pulte Homes, Ken served as Vice President of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and as Senior Counsel and Director of Federal Government Affairs for Sears and Sears National Bank. He was responsible for consumer credit and finance issues, employment law and tax legislation. Earlier in his career, Ken served as General Counsel for the Retailers Association of Massachusetts.

Ken began his career working as a committee staffer in the Massachusetts State Legislature. He received his undergraduate degree in Finance and Economics from Suffolk University and his law degree from Suffolk University Law School in Boston. He currently serves as Vice President of the Suffolk University Law School Alumni Board.


Speakers

Steve Glenn Plant Prefab

Steve Glenn is the founder and CEO of Plant Prefab, Inc. Plant Prefab, www.plantprefab.com, is the first prefabricated home factory in the nation dedicated to sustainable construction, materials, processes and operations. Plant manufactures custom and single/multifamily homes that are high-quality, healthy and durable. With their patented building system, Plant delivers low cost homes in half the time and with less waste than traditional site-based contractors. Plant models are fully customizable and available to individuals, developers and architects. Plant recently completed a major financing round which included Amazon, their first investment in a home builder, Obvious Ventures, who led the Seed Round and others. The company operates out of 62,000 sf facility in Rialto, California. Plant’s Design Studio, LivingHomes (www.livinghomes.net), is a designer and developer of modern, prefabricated homes that combine world-class architecture with an unparalleled commitment to healthy and sustainable construction. The first LivingHome, designed by Ray Kappe, FAIA, was installed in eight hours. It became the first home ever to receive a LEED for Home Platinum rating. Twenty-eight LivingHomes have been or will soon be certified LEED Platinum and one LEED Gold, making the company one of the most experienced designers of homes at the highest level of LEED certification. LivingHomes have garnered significant industry recognition including the AIA’s top sustainable award, Architizer’s Jury and People Choice Awards, Green Builder Magazine’s Home of Year, Business 2.0 “World’s 11 Coolest Products”, Business Week’s “Architectural Wonders of the World” and the Sustainable Quality Awards Grand Prize. LivingHomes are available in standard or customized configurations to builders, developers and individuals. The company, with team partners Brooks + Scarpa and Community Corporation, recently won a $1m grant from Los Angeles County to develop a homeless housing solution. In addition to design, LivingHomes its own project in Atwater Village, Los Angeles (all seven single family homes were certified LEED Platinum) and has worked with Make It Right on affordable housing projects in New Orleans and the Ft. Peck Indian Reservation in Montana. Previously, Glenn worked with the William Jefferson Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative (CHAI) and managed the development of a $220 million program in Mozambique, the first program CHAI launched in Africa. Glenn is founder and former Chairman and CEO of PeopleLink, a leading provider of enterprise ecommunity solutions, which raised $35 million from AT&T Ventures, GE, Goldman Sachs, idealab and others. Glenn was a founding partner of idealab, a business incubation firm that raised $1 billion and that founded or invested in a number of successful companies including GoTo/Overture (OVER), NetZero/United Online (UNTD), CitySearch (TMCS), Tickets.com (TKTS), eToys and CarsDirect. Glenn worked for Walt Disney Imagineering as co-director of the Virtual Reality Studio. Glenn co-founded Clearview Software, which was sold to Apple Computer where Glenn later served as a marketing specialist. He holds a bachelor’s degree with honors from Brown University, studied Urban Planning at Harvard Graduate School of Design and was a Coro Fellow. Glenn is a co-founder and chair of the Sustainable Business Council, www.sustainablebc.org, co-founder of the Kaia Parker Dance Endowment, www.kaiaparker.org, and a co-founder and former board member of Hope Street Group, www.hopestreetgroup.org and the Brown University Entrepreneur Forum, www.brownep.org. He was a Judge for the US Energy Department's 2013 Solar Decathlon competition, www.solardecathlon.gov. Glenn was named the Clean Tech CEO of the Year by Clean Tech Week; Environmental Entrepreneur of the Year by LA City Council/ Faith2Green; and Greatest Person of the Day by Huffington Post. Glenn speaks regularly about sustainable design, prefabrication, and social entrepreneurship at conferences and universities including TED, TEDx, Greenbuild, TechHome Summit, Sun Valley Institute, Sustainable Brands, VerdeXchange, UCLA, Brown, Columbia, University of Oxford, USC, Pepperdine and University of Texas (Austin). Glenn holds two patents.


Speakers

Susan Grais Ernst & Young LLP

Susan Grais is an accounting methods tax advisor with Ernst & Young LLP’s National Tax Quantitative Services group based in Washington, DC. Susan has more than 30 years of concentrated experience in the federal tax accounting methods technical area, principally with the firm. She has extensive experience in general accounting method and capitalization matters across industries. Her areas of focus include timing provisions governing income and expense recognition, depreciation, long-term contracts, Section 199A, and Internal Revenue Service procedures regarding changes in accounting methods and periods. As a national technical leader, Susan is responsible for leading firmwide initiatives for the accounting methods practice. She works with a broad range of clients in the real estate, retail, health care, mining, media and entertainment, consumer products, manufacturing, utility and gaming industries. Susan also serves as an executive leader for the National Tax Rotator Program and National Tax Diversity Committee. Prior to joining Ernst & Young LLP, Susan was a tax law specialist with the Treasury Department Office of Chief Counsel. She also has public accounting and industry experience. Susan received an LLM in Taxation from the Georgetown University Law Center and a JD from the George Washington University National Law Center. She is a member of the Virginia State Bar Association and the District of Columbia Bar Association. Susan also is a CPA. Susan is a former chair of the American Bar Association’s Capital Recovery and Leasing Committee, which has primary jurisdiction over tangible property capitalization matters. She is a frequent speaker at American Bar Association (ABA) and Federal Bar Association conferences, among other events, and an active member of the American Institute of CPAs’ Tax Accounting Committee, as well as ABA Tax Section committees related to accounting methods, capitalization and cost recovery, and diversity. Susan currently is a department editor for the Journal of Taxation. She also has published technical articles in the Journal of Taxation, the Journal of Real Estate Taxation, the Journal of Passthrough Entities, The Tax Adviser and other publications. Susan has served as the Virginia State Chair of the Supreme Court Historical Society. She is an active member of the George Washington University Law School Alumni Association and has been a Committee Board Member for the American Heart Association Heart’s Delight auction for the past 20 years.


Speakers

Jenna Morgan Hamilton Capitol Legislative Strategies

Jenna Hamilton brings over 20 years of lobbying and strategic government affairs experience to her role representing a broad range of construction industry priorities in areas including tax, business operations, housing policies, construction practices, energy efficiency, labor and immigration. She has a specialty in US immigration policy and immigration reform proposals, focusing on the impacts to the residential construction sector, visa programs to benefit the service and construction industries, and the development of a fair and efficient work authorization verification system. In 2011, she was named by CEO Update as one of the top lobbyists in Washington, DC. Since 2011, Jenna has worked with the Leading Builders of America representing the nation’s high production home builders on all workforce, immigration and safety issues. She has worked with the industry since 1998, first as Director of Government Affairs for the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association (NLBMDA), the trade association representing the professional suppliers to the residential construction industry. During her time at NLBMDA, Jenna focused on the Softwood Lumber Agreement negotiations between the United States and Canada, tax reform policy, and the then-nascent efforts by the administration and Congress to develop immigration reform legislation. Following her years at NLBMDA, Jenna took a position with the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), spending just under nine years as the Assistant Vice President of Government Affairs for NAHB, where she focused on building materials/liability issues, energy efficiency, immigration and labor issues and also served as the primary lobbyist for the Home Builders Institute (HBI), the workforce development arm of NAHB, and the NAHB Research Center (NAHBRC). Jenna’s work extends beyond basic lobbying, also focusing on strategic issue development, third party coalition building and outreach, management of grassroots messaging, and project and issues management.

Since 2006, Jenna has served as co-chair of the Essential Workers Immigration Coalition (EWIC), a coalition representing the construction industry and business community’s interests in immigration policy reform. She participated as a construction sector business representative in Capitol Hill immigration policy development negotiations during the development of legislation in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2013. Since 2015, Jenna has also served as the Vice President, National Affairs for The Green Building Initiative (GBI), a 501(c)(3) that owns and operates the Green Globes green building certification standard which is a voluntary, practical, science-based green building certification system for commercial, public and multi-family buildings. She is a frequent guest speaker with corporations and trade associations, and has also served as a lecturer with The Washington Campus, a consortium of university business schools. She has served on the Board of Directors of Women in Government Relations, Inc. and is currently a member of the NF Steering Committee of George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate. She also currently serves as a member of the Green Building Policy Task Force for the City of Alexandria, Virginia. Jenna holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in American Government and Political Science from The American University in Washington, DC. Originally from New York’s Hudson Valley, she now resides in Alexandria, Virginia with her husband, daughter and son.


Speakers

Carl Joseph Ernst & Young LLP

Carl Joseph is a principal with Ernst & Young LLP’s West Region Indirect Tax practice. His responsibilities include the coordination and implementation of indirect and state and local tax projects and services for his clients. He also serves as the firm’s California Controversy Services Leader. Before joining the firm in April 2015, Carl served for many years as Counsel for Multistate Tax Affairs for the California Franchise Tax Board (FTB). He began his career at the FTB in 1997 as a staff attorney in the Multistate Tax Law Bureau of the Legal Division. Carl developed experience and knowledge in all facets of multistate taxation, including unitary business theory, apportionment, combined reporting and water’s-edge combinations. He was promoted to Assistant Chief Counsel for the Multistate Tax Law Bureau in 2009 and managed the work of the attorneys in the Multistate Bureau until 2012, when he was appointed Counsel, Multistate Tax Affairs. As Counsel, Multistate Tax Affairs, Carl was responsible for coordinating multistate tax policy issues within the Legal Division. This included overseeing regulatory efforts, as well as protests, appeals and litigation raising complex multistate tax issues in the multistate arena. Carl represented the FTB in many significant multistate appeals before the Board of Equalization and in both trial and appellate court proceedings. Among the cases he assisted in are Microsoft vs. Franchise Tax Board, Gillette vs. Franchise Tax Board and General Mills vs. Franchise Tax Board. He authored many legal rulings, chief counsel rulings and technical advice memorandums for the department and was involved in reviewing petitions for alternative apportionment pursuant to Revenue and Taxation Code Section 25137. In addition, he authored regulations concerning multistate tax law, including Regulation 25137(c)(1)(A), which addresses the sales factor treatment of occasional sales, and Regulation 25137-14, addressing the apportionment rules for mutual fund service providers. Carl participated in tax conferences and meetings as the department’s leading professional on multistate tax law, including panels at the California Tax Policy Conference and at conferences for Georgetown University, New York University, the California Taxpayers Association and the Tax Executives Institute. Additionally, he has provided technical and drafting knowledge to the California State Legislature on multistate tax issues and testified before committees of the legislature on matters of tax policy. Carl has a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of California, Irvine, and a JD from the McGeorge School of Law at the University of the Pacific.


Speakers

Chase Lewis Ernst & Young LLP

Chase Lewis is an executive director with Ernst & Young LLP’s Real Estate, Hospitality & Construction Tax practice based in Orange County, California. He has over 13 years of experience providing tax compliance and consulting to the real estate industry. Chase advises real estate private equity funds, real estate investment trusts (REITs), homebuilders, developers and their executives on tax structuring and compliance related to inbound/outbound investment, unrelated business income tax and fractions rule compliance, 704(b) capital account maintenance, REIT qualification issues, like-kind exchanges, income deferral strategies and foreclosure/debt modification transactions. Chase received a Bachelor of Business Administration and an MS in Accountancy from Texas Tech University. He is a CPA in California and Texas.


Speakers

Peter Mahoney Ernst & Young LLP

Peter Mahoney is a licensed CPA and has more than 25 years of experience serving business real estate, private equity and venture capital clients. He has been a partner with Ernst & Young LLP for almost 15 years. During his tenure with the firm, he has practiced as a member of the National Tax Department and several local office practices (Boston, New York and Los Angeles), where he focused exclusively on real estate as well as partnership and joint venture tax matters. Peter has extensive experience in advising clients with respect to real estate and partnership tax matters, including structuring acquisitions, partnership reorganizations, allocations and dispositions. He has written extensively on such matters, authoring and/or contributing to articles appearing in the Journal of Taxation, Taxation of Business Entities, Taxes – The Magazine, BNA Monthly Tax Management Memorandum, PLI Joint Venture Series and the Journal of Real Estate Taxation. Peter has been an adjunct professor for Northeastern University’s Graduate Tax program, where he taught Federal Taxation of Partnerships & Partners and Advanced Taxation of Partnerships & Partners. In addition, he was formerly an adjunct professor in the Graduate Tax program of George Mason University, where he taught Federal Taxation of Partnerships. Peter is currently a contributing editor for the Journal of Real Estate Taxation and an active member of the American Institute of CPAs’ partnership tax resource panel.


Speakers

Ryan Malizio Ernst & Young LLP

Ryan Malizio is a partner with Ernst & Young LLP. He is part of the Tax Technology and Transformation (TTT) team, a dedicated group of tax and technology professionals from around the world. TTT takes a holistic approach to tax transformation, encompassing people, process, data and technology, and implements a vast ecosystem of process and technology solutions on the EY Connected Tax platform. This platform provides secure access solutions for tax compliance and reporting as well as workflow management, document management and analytical reporting. Ryan has over 20 years of experience and is passionate about innovation. He works with large, multinational, public and private organizations, including investment banks, insurance companies, real estate firms, real estate investment trusts, private equity, hedge funds and energy companies to blueprint and execute their digital tax strategy. This better empowers them to seize the upside of digital disruption and the dramatic technological changes that are ushering in a hyper-connected world and global economy. Ryan earned his BS in Business Administration, with a concentration in Finance and Accounting, at Duquesne University. He is a CPA in California and a member of the American Institute of CPAs.


Speakers

Jonathan S. Olsen Invitation Homes

Jon Olsen serves as Senior Vice President, Finance and Head of Capital Markets for Invitation Homes (NYSE: INVH). Reporting to the Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Olsen leads the Financial Planning & Quantitative Analysis Group, a team of 17 professionals responsible for all Capital Markets, Financial Planning & Analysis, and Business Analytics activities. Mr. Olsen also has significant responsibility for the evaluation and execution of various strategic initiatives. Since joining Invitation Homes in June 2012, Mr. Olsen has been responsible for the execution of over $23 billion of debt and equity financings and refinancings, including the Company’s $1.8 billion IPO, as well as Invitation Homes’ $20 billion merger with Starwood Waypoint Homes (NYSE: SWAY). In addition to his current role, Mr. Olsen previously served as both Head of Capital Markets and Co-Head of Asset Management for the Company. Prior to joining Invitation Homes, Mr. Olsen spent 15 years on Wall Street, most recently in the Real Estate Investment Banking departments of Jefferies & Co., Goldman Sachs and Bank of America, with a primary focus on REIT and real estate mergers and acquisitions and capital raising transactions. Over the course of his career Mr. Olsen has advised on, or been a principal for, over $83 billion of mergers and acquisitions, equity raising, and debt financing transactions. Experience • Invitation Homes (Dallas, TX) • Jefferies & Co. (Charlotte, NC) • Goldman Sachs & Co. (San Francisco, CA) • Banc of America Securities (San Francisco, CA) • PepsiCo, Inc. (Purchase, NY) • SG Cowen Securities (New York, NY) • UBS Securities (New York, NY) Education • MBA, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth • BA, University of Pennsylvania


Speakers

Dan Penrith Ernst & Young LLP

Dan Penrith, a member of Ernst & Young LLP’s National Tax Department, serves as a key lead in the firm’s Inventory and Section 263A practice, advising clients in all industries on inventory and Section 263A matters. He also focuses on issues with general tax accounting methods, capitalization and tax accounting periods. His work includes accounting method and period changes; letter rulings; and tax planning for corporate acquisitions, distributions and reorganizations. Dan is a CPA licensed in Pennsylvania and a member of the American Institute of CPAs. He holds a BS in Accounting and Finance and a BM in Cello Performance from Indiana University Bloomington.


Speakers

Gino Porazzo HercuTech

Gino has over 30 years of business experience with proven success at leading high-performance organizations through exponential growth on a national scale. He is Chief Executive Officer of Tempe, AZ based HercuTech, the manufacturer of the HercuWall insulated concrete panel building system. The patented HercuWall is simple to install, super insulating with a R-30 value, rated for high velocity hurricane zones and all at a cost that is comparable to wood construction. Gino has led the company from initial revenue to being on pace to produce exterior wall systems for over 1,000 homes in 2020. Prior to joining HercuTech, he was Chief Operating Officer of CLEAResult, the largest energy-efficiency consulting firm in the US and Canada. During his tenure, CLEAResult grew from a regional company with less than 100 employees to operating in over 70 cities with annual revenue in excess of $400 million and 2,500 employees servicing 200 gas and electric utilities. He served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer for Oakleaf Waste Management, a leading provider of waste and recycling logistics solutions. Oakleaf’s revenue grew during his tenure from $50 million to more than $600 million. Additionally, he spent 10 years at American Medical Response (AMR), the nation’s largest ambulance service provider. He joined AMR shortly after its founding and managed its accounting function as it grew to over 20,000 employees and $1 billion in revenue. He served as its Vice President and Controller and later as its Chief Financial Officer. Gino is a graduate of Bentley University and began his career as a CPA working six years at KPMG.


Speakers

Marc Roberts Ernst & Young LLP

Marc Roberts is an Assurance partner with Ernst & Young LLP’s Real Estate, Hospitality & Construction practice and a co-leader of its Americas Homebuilding group. He has over 20 years of experience providing services to public and private clients, with a focus on real estate developers and homebuilders. Marc has experience with SEC reporting and assisting clients with a variety of accounting matters, including real estate valuation, revenue recognition and construction-related liabilities. Marc earned a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of La Verne. He is a CPA in California and a member of the American Institute of CPAs and the California Society of CPAs.


Speakers

Brooke Sikes Ernst & Young LLP

Brooke Sikes is a Tax partner with Ernst & Young LLP. She currently leads the firm’s Real Estate, Hospitality & Construction Tax practice for the Southwest Region. Brooke has 23 years of public accounting experience with the firm, providing tax services to companies in the real estate industry. Brooke has represented clients in a variety of transactions, including taxable and nontaxable acquisitions of public and private real estate investment trusts (REITs), as well as IPOs and spin-offs, with services including transaction structuring, general and REIT tax due diligence, IPO preparation, partnership allocation modeling and post-transaction integration. She recently served as the tax lead in connection with Ernst & Young LLP’s project management office of the formation and spin-off of a multibillion-dollar public REIT. Brooke has served as Tax Account Leader for numerous public and private REITs and real estate funds. She regularly assists clients with complex partnership and REIT formation matters, REIT qualification compliance and testing, private letter rulings, operating partnership unit transactions, taxable REIT subsidiary tax planning, cross-border planning, and asset acquisition and disposition planning. Brooke has advised multiple clients in the nontraditional REIT space, including execution of REIT separation/leaseback transactions and PropCo/OpCo structures involving data centers, electricity transmission and distribution assets, and telecommunications assets. Brooke is a CPA and a member of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts. She earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting and a Master in Professional Accounting from The University of Texas at Austin.


Speakers

James Louis Stariha Clayton Home Building Group

Jim began his career in the housing industry in 2002 as the Chief Financial Officer at Southern Energy Homes (SEHomes), a publicly traded company headquartered in Addison, Ala. He has since dedicated more than 16 years of his career to the homebuilding industry and currently serves as the CFO of Clayton Home Building Group®, one of America’s largest single-family homebuilders. As the CFO of HBG, Jim oversees all accounting, treasury and human resource functions for over 12,000 team members across the country in three different business units. Prior to joining Clayton, Jim spent a majority of his career working for Square D Company in various accounting and marketing positions, including expatriate assignments in Europe and Mexico. This year, Jim and his wife, Donna, will celebrate 34 years of marriage. Outside of work, Jim’s passion is practicing his culinary skills.


Speakers

Mike Straneva Ernst & Young LLP

Mike Straneva is Co-leader of the EY Homebuilding Sector and US Leader of the Transaction Real Estate practice of Ernst & Young LLP. He has more than 30 years of professional experience. Mike has managed various acquisitions, due diligence, real estate valuation and market analysis assignments for the top US homebuilders. Mike has worked on acquisition/carve-out due diligence merger integration and/or purchase price allocations, including the following homebuilder transactions. Mike has a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Pennsylvania State University. He is a CPA, state-certified general real estate appraiser, and certified insolvency and reorganization advisor. Mike is certified in financial forensics by the American Institute of CPAs and serves as head of real estate valuation for Ernst & Young LLP.


Speakers

Tim Sullivan Meyers Research

Tim Sullivan is a major influencer in the field of real estate market research and community development. The Meyers Research Advisory group is focused on helping the public and private sector define consumer preferences and designing great places. Each organization that Tim has worked with has realized elevated levels of success because of his contributions, positive energy and joie de vivre. In December 2018, Meyers Research and Metrostudy merged together to offer a deep array of housing data and insights for the real estate industry. He is a past chair of the National Residential Council of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and also past chair of ULI San Diego’s District Council. He also holds a MIRM (Member of the Institute of Residential Marketing) from the National Association of Homebuilders and was elected to the California Homebuilding Hall of Fame in 2016.


Speakers

FY Tan Ernst & Young LLP

FY is a senior manager with Ernst & Young LLP’s Tax Technology and Transformation practice. She is based in Atlanta. FY has more than nine years of real estate tax experience providing tax and advisory services to real estate operating companies, public and private real estate investment trusts (REITs), private equity funds, homebuilders and real estate investors. FY is experienced in the taxation of real estate businesses, including REITs, partnerships and corporations. She works with clients and engagement teams on improving tax compliance processes and identifying tax technology solutions to increase efficiency in the real estate sector. FY works with third-party vendors in tax technology development. She has experience with data integration and automating REIT testing, partnership taxable income, Section 704(c) allocations and the avoided cost method. FY received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from the University of Georgia. She is a CPA in Georgia and a member of the American Institute of CPAs.


Speakers

McRae Thompson Ernst & Young LLP

McRae Thompson is a Tax partner in Ernst & Young LLP’s Southeast Region Real Estate, Hospitality & Construction practice. He joined the firm in June 2017 and is based in Atlanta. McRae’s skills involve providing tax and business advisory services related to real estate investment trust (REIT) qualification, conversions and due diligence; structuring complex partnership transactions that involve 704(b) and 704(c) issues, potential disguised sales, mergers/divisions and compensation issues; planning related to unrelated business taxable income issues for tax-exempt investors; advising foreign investors in connection with the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act and other general withholding-related issues; and advising taxpayers during debt restructurings. His professional experience includes providing tax due diligence and structuring advisory services in connection with the $1.5b equity recapitalization of a privately held REIT, as well as performing tax due diligence and structuring advisory services with respect to the $800m acquisition of publicly traded REIT stock by a privately held REIT. McRae also advised a privately held REIT in connection with the acquisition of a $500m trophy property via domestically controlled REIT stock; provided structuring and due diligence services with respect to the $1b acquisition and subsequent REIT conversion of a US consolidated group; and advised a newly formed real estate asset manager in connection with a $500m equity raise, as well as on the structuring of its management company, fund and subsidiary REIT. The fund in question predominantly comprised US pension fund equity. McRae advised a subchapter C corporation with respect to a portfolio Section 1031 exchange followed by an $800m REIT conversion and advised a US private equity fund in connection with the acquisition of a trophy property via foreign corporation and domestically controlled REIT stock. The fund investors mainly comprised US endowments. McRae also analyzed REIT tax and financial statement issues related to the acquisition of a US mortgage REIT by a publicly traded foreign bank in connection with a Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation loss sharing agreement; advised an educational endowment on a $500m trophy property sale leaseback transaction involving a US REIT; advised a US private equity fund in connection with a mortgage REIT IPO; and provided structuring advice to a publicly traded homebuilder with respect to its $500m acquisition of a private homebuilder. He advised a private homebuilder in connection with an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange; consulted with a private homebuilder with respect to a $1.5b prepackaged bankruptcy; provided tax advisory services to a homebuilding joint venture with respect to a $1b debt-for-equity swap; advised a private homebuilder in connection with a multibillion-dollar out-of-court debt restructuring; and provided tax advisory services to a consortium of creditors in connection with the foreclosure on a trophy real property subject to a $400m recourse note. McRae earned a Bachelor of Business Administration (cum laude) and a Master of Accountancy at the University of Georgia. He is a CPA in Georgia and a member of the American Institute of CPAs and the Georgia Society of CPAs. McRae has also been a member of various real estate trade groups, including the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts, the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries, NAIOP (the Commercial Real Estate Development Association) and the Real Estate Roundtable.


Speakers

Alex Toth Opendoor

Alex Toth is the Director of Homebuilder Partnerships and Business Development at Opendoor. The founding team member of Opendoor’s homebuilder team, over the past two years, Alex has taken the Opendoor homebuilder program from a pilot program in two markets to a national program partnered with 19 of the top 25 builders, and over 40 builders across the nation. Opendoor’s 20+ person homebuilder team is currently transacting on properties at a run rate of over $1.3b GMV annually. Alex previously ran Opendoor’s Agent Partnerships team.

Prior to Opendoor, Alex held various sales and operations leadership roles at Anheuser-Busch Inbev, and most recently oversaw the Atlanta market for the company. He is graduate of Washington University in St. Louis.


Speakers

Veronica Vros Ernst & Young LLP

Veronica Vros is a senior manager with Ernst & Young LLP, currently serving as the EY Americas Real Estate, Hospitality & Construction (RHC) Assurance Resident in the National Professional Practice. In this role, Veronica is responsible for providing interpretive accounting, auditing and regulatory guidance relevant to clients and engagement teams within the RHC industry. Previously, she was an Assurance manager serving real estate clients in New York. In that role, Veronica gained extensive experience serving publicly traded and privately held companies, including a number of real estate investment trusts and real estate investment funds. Veronica also has experience performing due diligence procedures on acquisitions within the firm’s Transaction Advisory Services practice. Veronica earned an MS in Accountancy at the University of Virginia and a BS in Finance, with a minor in Spanish, at Lehigh University. She is fluent in English and Spanish. Veronica is also a CPA in the state of New York and a chartered financial analyst (CFA) charterholder. She is a member of the American Institute of CPAs, the CFA Institute, the New York Society of Security Analysts, the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts and the Urban Land Institute.


Speakers

Brigham Weight Offerpad

Brigham L Weight is the National Homebuilder Partnership Manager at Offerpad, where he is responsible for developing partnerships with National Homebuilders that prioritize communication, A+ customer service and increasing sales volume. He is a servant leader who believes in coupling local real estate experience with technology to deliver a matchless customer experience. Brigham has been in sales and customer service for over 10 years, having served progressively more challenging roles throughout his tenure. He’s been successful in transforming sales organizations to be world-class producers while accelerating their growth for a myriad of businesses across industries including Residential Real Estate, Education and SaaS. Brigham holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Management from the University of Phoenix. He is bilingual and biliterate.


Speakers

Clark Welton Ernst & Young LLP

Clark Welton is a partner with Ernst & Young LLP and serves as the West Real Estate Leader and EY Americas Tax Leader for Homebuilding. He has more than 24 years of experience providing complex tax planning solutions, including entity formation and structuring, inbound and outbound investment platforms, M&A, debt modifications, like-kind exchanges, land development projects, and real estate investment trust (REIT) formations and conversions. Clark focuses on providing tax, accounting and consulting services to homebuilders, land developers, publicly traded and private REITs, real estate funds, private equity, commercial property owners and hospitality companies. He is a licensed CPA, real estate broker and member of the California State Bar. Clark is on the Board of Directors for the SoCal Chapter of NAIOP (the Commercial Real Estate Development Association) and a member of the Advisory Council for the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate. He is also an active member of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts, Urban Land Institute and American Institute of CPAs. Clark holds a JD from Pepperdine University School of Law and a BA from the University of California, Santa Barbara.


Speakers

Jeff Whitton Ernst & Young LLP

Jeff Whitton is an Assurance senior manager with Ernst & Young LLP’s Real Estate, Hospitality & Construction practice. Jeff has 12 years of experience serving a range of public and private real estate clients, including traded real estate investment trusts (REITs), non-traded REITs, mortgage companies, real estate funds, homebuilders and land developers. He has significant experience with multi-family, hospitality and mortgage accounting issues, REIT formations, SEC reporting, purchase price allocations, homebuilding accounting, fair value accounting, and acquisition and due diligence procedures. Jeff is a graduate of San Diego State University, a CPA in California, a member of the American Institute of CPAs and the California Society of CPAs, and an active leader in developing and delivering the firm’s internal training programs. He leads the Irvine community engagement efforts and is part of United Way’s Emerging Leaders United.


Speakers

Brent Wyper Ernst & Young LLP

Brent Wyper is a partner with Ernst & Young LLP’s Southeast Region Real Estate practice. He has 28 years of public accounting experience with the firm and has been a partner for 15 years. Brent has extensive experience within many sectors of the real estate industry, including real estate investment trusts, timeshare, office, homebuilding, real estate funds, hospitality, multi-family housing and industrial property. He currently serves in the Southeast Region as a co-leader of the EY implementation network on the newly enacted leasing accounting pronouncement. Brent has exclusively served real estate clients in the Southeast Region since 2002. Previously, he had rotations with the National Accounting Office in New York (1991–92) and with an EY member firm in the UK (1995–97 and 2001–02). He has also served other commercial clients in Atlanta, Georgia. Brent has experience in coordinating services for SEC registrants, private clients and real estate funds. He also serves as an engagement quality review partner for many SEC issuer real estate clients. Brent has served as a coordinating partner for a variety of clients, including a large private homebuilder and a real estate private equity fund. Brent has a BS in Accounting from the University of Alabama. He is a CPA licensed in Georgia and a member of the American Institute of CPAs and the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts. Brent is a member of the Ivan Allen Circle of United Way of Greater Atlanta. He is on the National Board of Directors of Back on My Feet and leads EY Atlanta’s Woodruff Arts Center annual campaign. Brent and his wife live in midtown Atlanta. He enjoys running marathons and half-marathons throughout the US and the world, most recently running the Queenstown International Marathon in November 2018.


Speakers

Cyrus Zadeh Camden Homes

Cyrus Zadeh is a second-generation real estate developer from Dallas, Texas. As a partner, he is actively involved in all day-to-day operations of Camden Homes and is one of the founding members of CooperZadeh a land development and asset management company. Camden Homes is a single-family production builder that focuses on 1st time homebuyers, offering flexible options such as SFR, credit repair options and traditional mortgage options. Cyrus received a BA in Political Science from St. Edwards University in Austin, Texas, an MBA from the University of Denver in Colorado, and he is a recent graduate from Harvard’s AMDP program in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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Documents

The 2019 EY Homebuilder CFO and Tax Director Roundtablescsgexternal.ey.com/homebuilder.ey.com/source/speaker bios.pdfRay is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, and