MANAGEMENT TEAM

MANAGEMENT TEAM

management consultant

Richard D. Homich

Richard D. Homich has over 25 years of success in a variety of management roles (e.g., software and network engineering, product management, business unit management, services management, and sales management) at high technology startups and enterprise solutions companies, including: MicroPro (a.k.a., WordStar), Pacific Telesis, EDS, Viant, Keane, and Rapt.

As a management consultant, he has advised business leaders in a number of industries, including: media & entertainment, financial services, high technology, enterprise software, and consumer products. 

Principal and the Lead Analyst

Dennis Moritz

Dennis Moritz is a Principal and the Lead Analyst with Advantage for Analysts where he has provided thought leadership and advanced analytic services regarding complex financial analysis concepts since it was founded in 2004.

Prior to Advantage, Mr. Moritz was a Partner and Senior Analyst at Babcock & Brown (B&B) where he played a key role in developing the partnership structure now known as “PAPS”, Pre-Tax After-Tax Preferred Structure. He has over 24 years of professional experience in financial analysis and modeling with 20 years in structuring partnerships, leases and hybrid financial structures for renewable energy and asset finance in general.

Mr. Moritz is a graduate of San Francisco State University and the University of California at Berkeley, where he received his B.A. in Mathematics and M.S. in Computer Science, respectively. 

principal designer and developer

David Collop

David Collop is the principal designer and developer of the analytical engine at the heart of the Advantage software application. Mr. Collop has extensive experience in designing software for financial analysis and structuring, having worked in the field for 30 years.

Mr. Collop was the principal designer and developer of software used by the analytical group at Babcock and Brown. This included several generations of in-house software designed initially to structure leveraged leases, and later generalized to other tax-oriented structures including special allocation partnerships. This culminated in the creation of the Advantage application.

Mr. Collop was also the principal designer and developer of in-house software used by the leveraged leasing group at US Leasing. This included the first application of linear programming to solve the lease optimization problem.

Education includes a B.A. and Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from Cambridge University, England. 

senior analyst

Steve Cohn

Steve Cohn is a senior analyst at Advantage with over 30 years of experience in the structured finance industry, specializing in the development and use of complex financial transaction models. Mr. Cohn’s special expertise includes domestic and cross-border leasing as well as partnerships for solar, wind and geothermal production.

At Babcock & Brown, Mr. Cohn was one of the original developers of the Advantage technology.

Mr. Cohn is a graduate of the University of California at Davis and Carnegie Mellon University, where he received his B.S. in Civil Engineering and Master of Civil Engineering, respectively. Mr. Cohn is also a registered P.E. (Professional Engineer).

senior analyst

John Morello

John Morello is a senior analyst at Advantage with 30 years of experience in the structured finance and asset management industry, specializing in the analysis of financial transaction in North America, Europe and Asia. Mr. Morello’s expertise includes domestic and cross-border leasing as well as partnerships for solar, and wind production.

At Babcock & Brown, he culminated his career as Head of Analytics for Europe, as well as having extensive partnership and lease structuring experience in the US before achieving this position. He then served as Managing Director of Analytics at Burnham Sterling and followed that position as the Director of Global Analytics for BlackRock’s Renewable Power investment platform.

Mr. Morello is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and Cornell University, where he received his B.S. in Economics and Master of Business Administration, respectively. 

chief scientist

Mahmut Karayel, PhD

Mahmut Karayel is the chief scientist at Advantage for Analysts with 20+ years of experience in deal structuring and risk management experience in project finance and structured finance. His current work involves valuation and risk management in Energy and Infrastructure project financing and efficient structuring and re-structuring of asset backed debt financings.

Prior to joining Advantage, Dr. Karayel was the Global Head of Financial Analysts at Babcock & Brown (B&B). Before B&B, Dr. Karayel was the director of Investment Analysis at GATX. At USL Capital, he was the Manager of Pricing Policy where he advised the Investment Committee on economic viability of investment opportunities in energy, transportation and structured corporate debt opportunities.

He is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley where he received a Ph.D. in Operations Research.