Jim joined Alliance Advisors in 2018 as its Senior Managing Director in the Advisory Group. Jim brings more than 25 years of experience in Corporate Finance, M&A and Governance across multiple sectors to the team. Prior to joining Alliance, Jim served as Deputy Head of Research at ISS. While at ISS, Jim also served on the Special Situations Team and policy committee, where he provided vote recommendations to institutional investors on proxy fights and oversaw the development ISS’s benchmark proxy voting guidelines, particularly those related to M&A, capitalization, SPACs, proxy contests, and mutual funds. Jim is an expert on how proxy advisors apply their policies for contentious and non-contentious proposals. Jim’s participation in hundreds of engagements with companies and investors has enabled Jim to guide companies through a wide range of governance and takeover challenges. Jim is a frequent panelist and reports on prevailing and emerging trends on activism and governance. Jim’s experience also include stints in corporate finance, M&A, portfolio management, treasury, business development and engineering. Jim began his career as a test engineer and member of the military aircraft crash investigation team while at United Technologies, Pratt & Whitney Aircraft. Jim received an MBA from Cornell University and a B.S. in Engineering and Economics from UCLA. Jim holds the CFA designation, is a licensed CPA, and a life member of the California Scholastic Federation.