Karen D. Neal
Managing Director, Consulting
Karen Neal is managing director of the Family Office Exchange (FOX) consulting group, where she works with family groups to bring processes and solutions to the challenges of preserving family wealth, including refining of business strategy to address transitions and changing needs of the family and firm. Her work with families has included development of family enterprise strategy, operational assessment of the family office, selection of wealth advisors, and wealth management industry education. She is a frequent speaker on the topic of family office best practices.
Ms. Neal brings to her clients more than 20 years of consulting experience with an extensive background in the valuation of closely held businesses for estate and gift tax planning, merger and acquisition, and financial planning purposes. She joined FOX in 2008 after eight years at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services, where she was a senior manager responsible for business and intangible asset valuations primarily for family-owned businesses. For two years Ms. Neal also was responsible for remotely managing the firm’s offshoring operations in Hyderabad, India. Prior to joining Deloitte, she was a senior manager at RSM McGladrey, and also held consulting positions at the boutique national valuation firms of American Appraisal Associates and Marshall & Stevens.
Ms. Neal received a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Illinois, where she also earned an MBA in finance and accounting. She holds the designations of CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) from the CFA Institute, as well as ASA (Accredited Senior Appraiser in Business Valuation) from the American Society of Appraisers.