Scott Rostan: Founder, CEO and Principal
Professional Experience: Merrill Lynch – Investment Banking
Teaching Credentials: Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC (Chapel Hill) – Adjunct Professor of Finance; The Field School (Washington, D.C.) – Teacher
Education: Princeton University – B.A., Economics (with honors)
Scott founded Training The Street in 1999 with the desire to combine his passion for finance and his love of teaching. In addition to his responsibilities as CEO and principal, Scott is an instructor, oversees content innovation for TTS, and is a lead relationship manager for the firm. Scott began his professional career as an analyst with Merrill Lynch´s M&A group in New York. After gaining transactional experience in a broad range of industries and with a wide spectrum of clients, Scott decided to draw more directly on his teaching gifts. He began working with Merrill´s Analyst and Associate Investment Banking Training Programs, ultimately becoming the lead instructor, content administrator, and manager. After Merrill, Scott felt a calling to contribute more directly to society and taught at The Field School in Washington, D.C., where he also coached several sports teams. Recognizing a need for analysts to gain a better grasp of financial modeling and corporate valuation, Scott decided to build on his classroom teaching experience and founded TTS to meet a rising demand for high-quality, hands-on instruction in the application of finance theory through real-world simulation.
Valentina Savelyeva
Professional Experience: J.P. Morgan – Investment Banking
Education: Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley – B.S., Business Administration
Valentina joined TTS in 2006 after successfully completing the 2-year Investment Banking Analyst Program at J.P. Morgan. Valentina started her career with an internship at J.P. Morgan as a summer analyst and went on the following year to join their San Francisco office as an analyst with the Technology, Media and Telecom group. In her analyst role, she worked primarily on equity, equity-linked, and M&A transactions.
Billy Chu: Principal
Professional Experience: Morgan Stanley – Investment Banking; Bank of America Securities – Investment Banking
Education: The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania – B.S., Economics, with concentrations in Finance and Information Systems
Based out of San Francisco, Billy heads all West Coast operations and has been with Training The Street since 2002. In addition to teaching, Billy is particularly interested in working with Excel macros and programming in Visual Basic to maximize modeling efficiencies for bankers. Billy also spearheads the development of the self-study materials and oversees technology initiatives, in addition to his role as principal and lead instructor. Billy began his investment banking career with Morgan Stanley´s Insurance group in New York, where he worked on M&A and equity transactions for large insurance companies. He then joined the Technology group at Bank of America Securities in Palo Alto and San Francisco, focusing on M&A, debt, and equity transactions in the semiconductor industry.
Robert Rostan: CFO and Principal
Professional Experience: Sonic Automotive – Financial Reporting; Deloitte & Touche – Assurance & Advisory Services
Education: Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC (Chapel Hill) – M.S., Accounting; Davidson College – B.A., Economics
A Certified Public Accountant, Robert joined Training The Street in 2006 after a diverse career in the public accounting sector. In addition to his role as CFO, Robert heads the Charlotte office and oversees content development and delivery of financial statement analysis and accounting topics for TTS, leveraging his professional and teaching experience to teach IFRS and U.S. GAAP standards to global clients. As the Director of Financial Reporting at Sonic Automotive, an $8 billion public specialty retailer, Robert gained extensive experience as a preparer of financial statements. He also worked for Deloitte & Touche from 1996 to 2003, specializing in assurance and advisory services to public companies. Before that, Robert was a credit analyst with First Citizens Bank, a regional commercial bank.
Kristen Kelly
Professional Experience: Morgan Stanley – Investment Banking and Global Capital Markets
Education: Brown University, M.S., Innovation, Management, and Entrepreneurship; and B.S. (magna cum laude), Mechanical Engineering
Kristen joined TTS 2009, leveraging her wide range of experience at Morgan Stanley, where she had roles in Equity Linked Products, Project & Structured Finance, and Investment Banking. Kristen began her career as an analyst on the Convertibles desk in the Global Capital Markets Division. During this time she helped price, structure, and execute equity linked securities and convertible offerings. She then moved to the Project & Structured finance team where she worked with sponsors and developers in the power and utility space. She focused on financing the construction of power plants, wind farms and transmission lines. Most recently Kristen worked in the Financial Sponsors Group within the Investment Banking Division. She has worked with private equity firms on transactions including LBOs, IPOs, recapitalizations and potential acquisitions.
Joseph Zirpolo: Principal
Professional Experience: J.P. Morgan – Investment Banking
Teaching Credentials: Fordham University – Adjunct Professor of Finance
Education: Fordham University – M.B.A.; Ursinus College – B.A., Economics & Business Administration
Joe joined Training The Street in 2001 and has over 20 years of investment banking and teaching experience. As a principal and instructor at TTS, Joe leverages his subject matter expertise and experience in classroom instruction, in addition to overseeing content innovation and spearheading market data integration for modeling best practices and methodologies. Joe's ongoing research interests are the effective design and functionality of leveraged buyout models, and he routinely advises many Wall Street firms regarding their LBO models. At Fordham University, he was recently presented with the Dean's Award for Teaching Excellence. Joe launched his career at J.P. Morgan in the Global Trade Finance group and later joined the Credit Risk Management group to manage the firm's primary forecasting and valuation model and to assist in analyzing global credit exposure. In 1995, Joe became a full-time instructor in the firm's Analyst and Associate Investment Banking Training Programs. In addition to teaching credit risk analysis and the firm's proprietary modeling throughout the world, Joe managed and taught the valuation segment of the training programs.
Ofelia Salgado
Professional Experience: Maxim – Investment Banking; CSFB – Investment Banking
Teaching Credentials: Spanish language volunteer instructor, Centro de Educacion de Trabajadores
Education: University of Illinois – B.A., Business, with concentrations in Finance and International Business
Since joining TTS in 2004, Ofelia has led workshops in the U.S., South America, Europe, and the Middle East. Ofelia began her professional career at Credit Suisse First Boston in Chicago as an investment banking research assistant. She then moved to New York to work at Maxim, a boutique investment bank. There, she worked in the execution of mergers & acquisitions, private placements, and initial and secondary public offerings in industries ranging from healthcare to technology. Outside of TTS, Ofelia volunteers as a Spanish Language instructor for adults at Centro de Educacion de Trabajadores, a non-profit community organization. Ofelia spent a semester at Universidade de São Paulo in Brazil, studying economics and attending "mini" internships at businesses like BOVESPA and Andersen Consulting.
Zane Hurst
Professional Experience: Bank of America Merrill Lynch – Investment Banking; J.P. Morgan – Investment Banking
Teaching Credentials: JPMorgan Chase – Investment Banking Training Program Instructor (valuation, credit risk analysis, and proprietary modeling)
Education: Georgia State University – B.B.A., with a concentration in Accounting
Zane joined TTS UK 2009 with more than 10 years of investment banking experience. At TTS, he draws upon his previous experience as a global practitioner and instructor in the corporate sphere. Prior to joining TTS, Zane most recently worked in the London office of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where he served as Vice President in the firm's EMEA Loan Execution and Management division. He has significant experience in structuring, documenting, and executing loan transactions for companies in the telecommunications, industrial, oil & gas, and insurance sectors. Zane commenced his professional career at J.P. Morgan., where he started out as an analyst in the Financial Sponsors group and later worked in the EMEA Restructuring a& Asset Recovery group. He then transitioned to become a full-time instructor at JPMorgan Chase for the valuation component of the Analyst and Associate Investment Banking Training Programs. He also taught credit risk analysis and the firm's proprietary financial projection model in the United States, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
Karishma Chullani
Professional Experience: Insight Catastrophe Group – Business Development and Advisory Services; Citibank – Investment Banking
Education: UCLA – B.A., Business Economics, with a minor in Political Science
A 2009 addition to TTS, Karishma began her investment banking career in 2006 as a financial analyst with Citi's Consumer & Retail Group in New York. She later transitioned to the Financial Institutions Group where she focused on insurance and asset management companies. At Citi, Karishma worked on M&A, debt and equity transactions for a variety of clients. Following Citi, Karishma moved to Insight Catastrophe Group where she concentrated on business development efforts and advisory services in the property and casualty insurance space. She has previously been involved with Teach For India and has taught at the Breakthrough Collaborative in Hong Kong. At Teach for India, Karishma interned at the pilot summer training institute as an operations coordinator where she facilitated workshops with experienced practitioners on instruction and curriculum. At the Breakthrough Collaborative in Hong Kong, she spent three summers teaching economics and information technology to a group of high school students from low-income families.
Chirag Saraiya: Principal
Professional Experience: Bank of America Securities – Investment Banking; Merrill Lynch –Investment Banking
Teaching Credentials: Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University – Adjunct Professor of Finance
Education: Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University – M.B.A.; Emory University – B.A., Chemistry (Phi Beta Kappa)
Chirag joined Training The Street in 2003, after years of global experience in investment banking. In his role as principal and lead instructor for TTS, Chirag brings to the classroom his gift for teaching as well as his broad professional experience. As an instructor, Chirag has led training seminars in the United States, Latin America, Asia, Australia, Europe, and the Middle East. He is the recipient of several academic teaching awards, including the Certificate of Impact at the Kellogg School of Management. In the classroom, Chirag utilizes his experience teaching a leveraged buyout course at the business school level as well as his research experience focusing on private equity and venture capital investments in emerging markets. Outside of his teaching responsibilities, Chirag heads the Chicago office and is responsible for managing some of the operations functions of TTS. Chirag spent a number of years in Bank of America Securities' London and Paris offices, helping to expand their European presence. Prior to that, he was in the M&A Group, where he focused on sell-side advisory work in the Consumer & Retail sector. Chirag started his investment banking career as an analyst with Merrill Lynch's Private Placement Group in New York.
Trevor Nelson
Professional Experience: Lehman Brothers – Investment Banking; Harvest Partners – Private Equity; Texas Pacific Group – Private Equity
Education: Northwestern University – B.S., Political Science
Trevor joined TTS in 2008 as lead interview coach. Trevor has years of experience in private equity investing and financial transactions, and he leverages his experience to prepare the hiring candidate with the knowledge and confidence to perform successfully in an interview, both technically and practically. He also provides coaching services for individuals who wish to develop their skills in the world of finance. Before joining TTS, Trevor worked for leverage buyout firm Texas Pacific Group's generalist group in San Francisco and New York, evaluating multi-billion dollar transactions in the industrial, consumer, technology services, and pharmaceuticals sectors. Prior to joining TPG, Trevor spent three years as an associate at the mid-market private equity firm Harvest Partners, where he completed several new LBO transactions in the manufacturing and consumer products sectors and evaluated numerous other opportunities. Prior to Harvest, Trevor was a financial analyst at Lehman Brothers in the Mergers & Acquisitions group.
Alex Lue
Professional Experience: Merrill Lynch – Investment Banking
Education: Stanford Law School – J.D. (with honors); Georgetown University – B. S. (summa cum laude), Business Administration, with a concentration in Finance and Accounting and minor in English
Alex joined TTS in 2005 after spending several years with Merrill Lynch's M&A Group in New York. Alex brings to the TTS classroom a broad range of transactional experience, which allows him to comprehensively cover the full valuation of various companies in his function. Additionally, Alex is responsible for leading the development of company case study materials for the summer training season. During his time at Merrill, he worked on complex transactions drawn from a diverse range of different industries, including Industrials, Biotech, Retail, Real Estate, Gaming, and Internet. Prior to his investment banking career, Alex became familiar with the financial services arena in his capacity as a legal professional performing due diligence, drafting documents related to mergers and acquisitions of technology and energy companies, and gaining experience in the full public filing process.
Thejaswi Gurumurthy, CFA: Instructor and Information Technology Advisor
Professional Experience: Syven Global Services
Education: CFA Charterholder; Stern School of Business at New York University – M.B.A. (with distinction and Stern Scholar designation), with concentrations in Finance, Strategy, and Global Business; University of Mysore, India – B.S., Engineering
Thej joined TTS in 2007 as an instructor and information technology advisor. Thej is the co-founder and COO of Syven Global Services, a research and analytics firm. Primarily working with investment banking clients, Thej is an expert on financial services outsourcing initiatives. During his 15 years of professional experience, Thej has worked with senior bankers for several high profile transactions, across industry sectors, to identify and execute outsourced financial analysis projects. Thej's deal experience covers the research aspect both on the buy side and sell side and spans M&A, financing, and investment and transaction restructuring. Thej is a CFA Charterholder and is an active member of the CFA Institute, Beta Gamma Sigma honor society, and NYSSA (New York Society of Security Analysts). He currently serves as the Vice-Chair for NYSSA's Career Development Committee.
Josh Woods
Professional Experience: J.P. Morgan – Equity Research, Capital Markets, and Investment Banking
Education: University of Montana, B.S., Business, with an emphasis in Finance; CFA, Level II
Josh joined TTS in 2005 as a teaching associate and became a full time-instructor in 2006. Josh, who holds the CFA Level II designation, has a diverse background within the banking and investing communities, having worked as both an investment banker and an equity analyst for nearly a decade. In addition to teaching at many large investment banking clients, Josh takes a leadership role with TTS's many investment research clients. Josh especially enjoys teaching advanced P&L forecasting techniques and informing students on how to value companies under uncertainty. Josh began his professional career in J.P. Morgan's healthcare investment banking group in New York where he focused on managed care and hospital companies. While working in New York, Josh first discovered his desire to teach while serving as a guest lecturer for internal training programs. He then transferred to J.P. Morgan's London office where he worked in a development role as a rotating associate in DCM. Josh's search for a dynamic role with equal parts writing, speaking and analyzing eventually led him to equity research in London where he covered the European pharmaceuticals sector.
Van Vu
Professional Experience: Merrill Lynch – Investment Banking; Deutsche Bank – Global Markets
Education: Claremont McKenna College – B.A. (magna cum laude, with honors), Philosophy, Politics, and Economics; with a dual degree in Economics
Van joined TTS in 2007 and has conducted training sessions in the United States, Asia, and the Middle East. He started his finance career at Deutsche Bank's Derivative Modeling Validation Group in London before moving into investment banking at Merrill Lynch's Investment Banking Group in Los Angeles where he worked as a generalist covering the retail, technology, and consumer industries. He then moved to New York within Merrill to join their Financial Institutions Investment Banking Group where he completed over a dozen equity, debt, merger and acquisitions, and leveraged buyout transactions for banks, exchanges, broker-dealers, insurance brokers, and asset managers.
Marc Aqui
Professional Experience: Robertson Stephens – Investment Banking; Goldman Sachs – Investment Banking; Merrill Lynch – Equity Research
Teaching Credentials: Aberdeen High School (Aberdeen, MD) – Teacher
Education: Georgetown University – B.S., Finance
Marc joined TTS in 2008 with a focus on learning and development for equity professionals. To complement his role as an instructor with TTS, Marc spearheads internal instructor development and collaborates with instructors to define and implement teaching strategies and learning outcomes. Marc began his investment banking career in 2001, first as an analyst at Robertson Stephens, where he advised technology companies, and later at Goldman Sachs, where he covered industrials. Marc then transitioned to an equity research role at Merrill Lynch, where he focused on industrial technology companies. Before joining TTS, Marc spent several years developing his teaching skills and instructional style, teaching business education and coaching soccer at a high school in his home state of Maryland.
Ross Riley
Professional Experience: Bear Stearns – Merchant Banking; UBS – Investment Banking
Education: The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania – B.S., Economics, with concentrations in Finance and Information Systems
Ross joined TTS in 2006 from Bear Stearns Merchant Banking, a private equity affiliate of Bear Stearns & Co, Inc., where he was responsible for the execution of transactions in the consumer products and healthcare industries. Ross began his banking career with a summer internship at Salomon Smith Barney in 2000. He joined UBS in 2001 as an analyst in the M&A group, executing a number of transactions in a wide variety of industries, including consumer products, healthcare and financial services.
Sarah Maloney
Professional Experience: PSS Consulting – Strategy Consulting; Versa Capital Management – Private Equity; Credit Suisse – Investment Banking; Accenture – Strategy Consulting
Education: Northwestern University – B.A., Economics and International Studies
Sarah joined TTS in 2009 as is based out of Philadelphia and New York. Sarah began her career as a strategy consultant for Accenture where she focused on helping corporate clients develop and execute strategies to improve growth and return on investment. In 2006 she joined Credit Suisse's investment banking division as an associate in the Financial Strategies Group. She developed extensive project experience which included capital allocation improvement decisions, potential mergers and acquisitions evaluations, and valuation of companies considering an IPO. After leaving Credit Suisse in 2008 to move to Philadelphia, Sarah worked for Versa Capital Management, a distressed private equity fund. She completed transactions in the retail space and worked with portfolio companies to improve operations. Most recently, Sarah was a senior associate with PSS consulting, a healthcare-focused strategy boutique consulting firm. In her free time, Sarah has enjoyed working extensively with Amigos de las Americas, which works within local communities across the United States and sends volunteers to Latin America for community development projects. She has also been involved with Back on My Feet in Philadelphia and has raised money and participated in events with Team in Training.
Ankur Mittal
Professional Experience: Credit Suisse – Investment Banking; Citigroup – Investment Banking and Alternative Investments
Education: Georgetown University – M.B.A.; Delhi University – B.Com (with honors)
Ankur joined TTS in 2009 and is based out of India, where he focuses on the expansion of TTS's operations in the Asia-Pacific region. Ankur has led seminars in many global locales, including China, Hong Kong, and Singapore in Asia; Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Qatar, and Nigeria in the Middle East and Africa; Austria in Europe; and the U.S. Ankur started his investment banking career at Citigroup's Strategy and M&A group where he focused on identifying growth opportunities in the North America and EMEA regions. He then worked for the Citigroup Pension Investments Group as part of the team responsible for building the Emerging Markets Long Only Equity portfolio for Citigroup's U.S. Defined Benefit Plan. Ankur's passion for M&A and dynamism of the EMEA region then spurred a move to Credit Suisse's M&A group in London where he worked as a generalist, covering in particular FIG (emerging markets banking and alternative investments), spirits, media, telecom, airlines and white goods. He is a certified Chartered Accountant from the Institute of the Chartered Accountants of India.
Darren Gortz
Professional Experience: Bear Stearns – Investment Banking; Deutsche Bank – Investment Banking; Bank of America – Investment Banking; Principal Partners – Investment Banking & Asset Management; Creative Conservation – Non-profit
Teaching Credentials: Bear Stearns – Investment Banking Training Program Instructor; Bank of America – led Investment Banking training programs for Healthcare team, India offshoring initiative and the Brazilian M&A team
Education: Pepperdine University – B.S. in Business Administration (cum laude)
Darren joined TTS in 2010 with over a decade of international investment banking experience covering a wide range of industries and geographies. Most recently he was a partner at Principal Partners, a Brazilian investment banking advisory and asset management firm based in São Paulo, Brazil where he led the execution of debt, equity-hybrid and M&A transactions. Prior to Brazil, he worked as an investment banker at leading bulge bracket investment banks including Bank of America, Deutsche Bank and Bear Stearns in New York and London. Darren is an experienced trainer who developed, implemented and led financial modeling and valuation training initiatives at Bear Stearns and Bank of America in the US, Europe, India and Brazil. He also serves on the board of directors of Creative Conservation, a 501 C-3 non-government
Erin Brosch
Professional Experience: Jones Lang LaSalle – Public Institutions Group; KeyBank – Investment Banking
Education: University of Richmond – B.A. in Economics and minors in Business Administration and Spanish
Prior to joining Training The Street in 2008, Erin was an associate with the Public Institutions Group at Jones Lang LaSalle, focusing on the structuring and financing of large scale public-private real estate developments. In 2003 she began her career at KeyBank where Erin completed rotational positions in Capital Markets, Commercial Banking, and Real Estate Capital as a part of Key's Commercial and Investment Banking Program. Erin also proudly serves as a First Lieutenant in the United States Army Reserve.
Mark Ro
Professional Experience: Bank of America Securities – Investment Banking; Emigrant Capital – Private Equity
Teaching Credentials: Giving Tree International – Volunteer Teacher in South East Asia, East Africa
Education: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign – B.S., Finance (with high honors)
Looking to combine his interests in education and finance Mark joined Training The Street in 2009. Mark began his professional career as an investment banking analyst with Banc of America Securities where he focused on M&A transactions and equity and debt financings in the Consumer & Retail group in New York. He later joined Emigrant Capital, a middle market private equity firm, where he completed several investments in the consumer products, food & beverage, and manufacturing sectors. While at Emigrant, Mark also actively monitored the operations of the portfolio companies, working closely with management teams on strategic, financial, and operational issues. Mark is also involved with a number of non-profit organizations that have taken him overseas to Latin America, Southeast Asia, and East Africa on various community development and teaching projects.
Parul Sahai
Professional Experience: JP Morgan – Credit Research and Structured Finance Research; Citi – Equity Specialist Sales; Macquarie – Japanese Equity Sales; Copal Partners – Business Development
Education: University of Virginia – B.Sc., Finance, Accounting and MIS; CFA Charterholder; Series 7; Series 63
Parul joined TTS in 2010 as an Associate Instructor and a client relationship management specialist. She began her finance career conducting credit research on high-grade TMT companies at J.P. Morgan Chase in 2002. She then joined J.P. Morgan's Structured Finance Group, where she analyzed the ABS and CDO markets. Parul's interest in equities led her to Citi, where she joined the trading desk as an Equity Specialist focused on the Technology sector. As part of this role, she analyzed equity research reports, financial statements, news flow, and supply chain ramifications in order to generate actionable buy/sell tech stock ideas for mutual funds and hedge funds. After several years at Citi, Parul joined Macquarie Capital where she combined her passion for technology stocks and Asian companies to became a Japanese Equity Salesperson covering Japanese equities for US based buy-side clients, generating over $4 million in annual equity commissions. Most recently, Parul was a Director of Business Development at Copal Partners, where she drove revenue expansion for new and existing clients in the US across hedge funds, mutual funds, investment banks, and private equity firms. She is a CFA Charterholder, and Series 7 and Series 63 certified. She has been involved in adult education in New York for English/Math GED tutoring at an Adult Learning Center, and for workforce development and interview prep at the Henry Street Settlement.
Training The Street's instructors possess the professional and industry qualifications to provide the highest quality of training and skills development for global finance professionals. Our expertise doesn't stop with our industry experience. As training professionals, we take learning and development seriously, and we possess the demonstrated teaching experience on top of our professional qualifications. Regardless of professional or teaching background, our instructors are required to complete their own learning journey and development lifecycle, in both finance and teaching methodologies. The result? True practitioners of finance and skills development who make a real impact in the classroom.
Please click on each individual to learn more about our dedicated team of finance and teaching professionals.