Dr.
Ma is a
Managing Director and Global Head
of Houlihan
Lokey’s Portfolio Valuation
and
Fund
Advisory Services practice
and
focuses on illiquid and complex securities valuation. She has more than two
decades of extensive training, academic expertise, and hands-on experience in
commodities, derivatives, securities, foreign exchange, fixed incomes,
structured transactions, hedging strategies, and risk management issues. Dr. Ma
is also a member of the firm’s Technical Standards Committee and is based in the New York office.
Since
the start of the global credit crisis that began in July 2007, Dr. Ma has been
focused on valuing illiquid securities, including asset-backed securities,
collateralized debt obligations, collateralized loan obligations, mortgage
derivatives, auction rate securities, distressed debt instruments, and private
equity investments for financial reporting, transaction advisory, restructuring
alternatives, and litigation support purposes. Dr. Ma has qualified and testified as an expert
witness in U.S. District Court, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, and arbitration and
deposition proceedings.
Dr.
Ma joined Houlihan Lokey from NERA Economic Consulting, where she established
and led the Employee Stock Options Valuation practice. Before that, she was a
partner at Ernst & Young. Dr.
Ma directed
a number of significant litigation and dispute resolution projects related to
derivatives valuation, securities trading, hedging, and risk management. She
also
advised the boards of directors of energy and financial companies on risk
management, valuation, and corporate governance issues. For more than five
years, she traded derivatives and designed new risk management products for a
global commodity firm.
Most
recently,
Dr. Ma was selected as
one of the “2021 Notable Women in Accounting and Consulting” by Crain’s
New York Business
for
her
career achievements and involvement in industry and community organizations.
She was also featured
in The
Hedge Fund Journal’s
“50 Leading Women in Hedge Funds 2020,” which recognizes investment
professionals as well as those in noninvestment roles doing exceptional work
and making a mark within the hedge fund industry. The report highlights a
number of her accomplishments, including her role as a consulting and
testifying expert for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and her
involvement in the Financial Instruments Board of the International Valuation
Standards Council (IVSC). Dr.
Ma is a member of the board of directors of MFA (Managed Funds Association).
She was also recognized for
her position as a board member of PENCIL, a nonprofit that connects public
school students to success.
Dr.
Ma holds a Ph.D. in Finance
from Columbia University’s
Graduate School of Business
and a B.S. in Accounting from Indiana
University,
where she graduated with highest distinction. She holds the designation of Chartered
Financial Analyst and
obtained
her CPA license (now inactive) in the State of Colorado. Dr.
Ma is
a fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (FRICS) and a member
of the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s Option Valuation Group. She
has
published numerous articles on energy, derivatives, risk management, valuation,
and corporate governance and
is
a frequent speaker at industry conferences and on academic panels. Dr.
Ma’s Ph.D.
thesis addressed energy futures and options markets. She also co-authored a
college textbook on futures and options.