Clifford S. Ang, CFA, BVIUK

Welcome to my website!

I am the author of Applied Valuation: A Pragmatic Approach (DeGruyter) and Analyzing Financial Data and Implementing Financial Models Using R (Springer).

I am an Executive Vice President in the Oakland and Chicago offices of Compass Lexecon, an international economic consulting firm. I have worked on hundreds of engagements involving firms across a broad-spectrum of industries concerning issues such as appraisals, valuation, lost profits, securities, market efficiency, loss causation, and damages. I specialize in the valuation of businesses and hard-to-value assets, as well as analyzing complex financial statement issues. My bio on the CL website can be accessed by clicking this link.

I am a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder and Business Valuation Institute UK (BVIUK) - Accredited. I am also an Expert Member at the BVIUK. I am the recipient of the 2023 Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of the Philipines Virata School of Business.

I previously held teaching appointments at several universities, the last of which was at DePaul University in Chicago. I have taught courses on valuation, investments, corporate finance, international financial management, and investment management.

Below you will find more information about me and my books, publications, and presentations.To contact me, please send an email to csa@cliffordang.com. Additional information is available on my LinkedIn page.

Applied Valuation: A Pragmatic Approach (DeGruyter)

Valuation is part art and part science. While there are wrong ways to value a stock, there may be no single correct way to value a stock. Applied Valuation: A Pragmatic Approach helps to bridge theory and how valuations can be implemented in practice. It offers pragmatic solutions that are in line with valuation principles, and explains the implications of certain approaches and rules of thumb that are commonly used in practice, so the reader understands why or when such methods make sense.

Valuation is a highly case-specific exercise and slight changes in the conditions at the time of the valuation could change the approach and inputs that an analyst should be using. This book discusses how to develop the intuition and skills that would allow you to determine the appropriate or reasonable approach to take regardless of what situation may arise in the future.

Also including in-depth case studies of Walmart and Tesla, this book examines concepts such as projections, discount rates, terminal value, and relative valuation to equip students, practitioners, and the general reader with a better understanding of the methods that will help them build their own framework to value businesses and analyze valuation issues.

My book is available on the DeGruyter website, as well as on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Analyzing Financial Data and Implementing Financial Models Using R (Springer)

2nd Edition: The second edition of my book was published in June 2021 and is available at Springer and Amazon. The e-book version of the 2nd edition has been downloaded over 24,000 times. Sticking to the same style as the first edition, the second edition continues to handhold you through every step of the financial modeling process. I have expanded the amount of material in the new edition, including new chapters on equities, simulation, and trading strategies. Even the topics covered in the first edition have been almost completely re-written and include all-new examples. The options data used in the 2nd edition can be downloaded by clicking this link to CBOE AMZN Options 12-31-2019.dat and this for the link to the IMF GDP data. You can click on the following to find the latest errata.

1st Edition: The first edition was published in 2015 and, since that time, the e-book version has been downloaded over 76,000 times. You can purchase the first edition from Amazon and Springer, among other places. You can click on the following for the latest errata, the Call Options Data, and Put Options Data.

Publications and Presentations

• Absence of a Size Effect, Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand Business Valuation Conference 2024
• Applied Valuation: A Pragmatic Approach, DeGruyter (2023)
• Absence of a Size Effect: Why We Should Let Go of the Size Premium, Society of Share & Business Valuers Webinar (2022)
• Analyzing Financial Data and Implementing Financial Models Using R, 2nd edition, Springer (2021)
• Side Effect of COVID-19: Beta Changes Impacting Business Valuations (with Drew Roper), Business Valuation Resources Webinar (2020)
• The Absence of a Size Effect: Letting Go Of The Size Premium, Business Valuation Resources Webinar (2020)
• How The Pandemic Is Changing Stock Volatility Calculations (with Drew Roper), Law360 (2020)
• It's Time For Valuation Experts To Let Go Of The Size Premium, Law360 (2020)
• If an Investment Strategy Looks Too Good to Be True, Look under the Hood (with Merritt Lyon), CFA Enterprising Investor (2020)
• The Valuation Impact of Using the Wrong Leverage Ratio to Unlever Betas (with Andrew Lin), NACVA QuickRead (2020)
• Terminal Values in DCFs and Runaway Valuations, NACVA QuickRead (2019)
• Financial Modeling: Enhance Excel Programming in R, Business Valuation Resources Webinar (2019)
• Absence of a Size Effect Relevant to the Cost of Equtiy, Business Valuation Review (2018)
• Why You May Want to Consider Cash-Adjusting CAPM Betas, Bloomberg CFA Blog (2018)
• Why We Shouldn't Add a Size Premium to the CAPM Cost of Equity, NACVA QuickRead (2017)
• Estimating Debt Betas and Beta Unlevering Formulas, NACVA QuickRead (2017)
• Analyzing Financial Data and Implementing Financial Models Using R, 1st Edition, Springer (2015)
• Understatement of the Valuation Impact of Future Stock-Based Compensation Grants: Implications from the Ancestry.com Opinion (with Andrew Lin), Value Examiner (2015)
• Estimating the Market Value of Illiquid Debt (with Merritt Lyon), R in Finance Conference (2012)