Management Team

Espen Robak is President and founder of Pluris Valuation Advisors LLC and a nationally recognized expert on intellectual property and business valuation, restricted and illiquid securities, securities design, levels of value, and discounts for lack of liquidity. Pluris' practice includes portfolio valuations for investment funds and financial institutions, as well as a broad range of financial reporting and tax opinions for public and private companies. Mr. Robak is a frequent contributor to books and professional journals on valuation, accounting and taxation topics and his commentary has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The New York Times, American Banker, Bloomberg, Absolute Return, and Accredited Investor, among others. He is a columnist for Wealth Strategies Journal.

Ronni Gussin, Director of Operations, is responsible for overall operations including branding and marketing, accounting, process improvements, and human resources. Prior to joining Pluris, Ronni was the VP of Operations at GoSmile Aesthetics where she was responsible for all aspects of business operations including finance, marketing, and business development. Ronni has 8 years experience in creating, positioning and building organizations, as well as expertise ranging from systems creation, business planning, and brand visualization to website creation management and client relations. Ms. Gussin graduated from Emory University with a B.A. in Sociology.

Kyle B. Vataha, Vice President, heads up our Newport Beach office and focuses on the valuation of alternative asset management firms, including venture capital and private equity firms, hedge fund managers, fund-of-funds managers, and real estate fund managers. Mr. Vataha has eight years of business and securities’ valuation experience in the context of income, estate and gift tax; corporate restructurings; development and administration of equity incentive plans and buy/sell agreements; transaction fairness and leveraged recapitalizations; litigation support; and financial reporting. In addition to alternative asset management, his industry experience spans financial services, traditional asset management, media and communications, technology, real estate, healthcare, construction, manufacturing, retailing, distribution, and professional services. Mr. Vataha has provided valuations of companies across all stages of development, and of various types of securities, including common and preferred equity, debt and convertible instruments, restricted securities, stock options and other derivative instruments, as well as a variety of structured interests within private equity, hedge fund, and real estate investment firms. Mr. Vataha received his Bachelor of Economics degree from Stanford University.

Ori Bash, ASA, Vice President of Pluris Valuation Advisors LLC, heads up our San Francisco office, focusing on our west coast expansion. Mr. Bash’s valuation clients range from high-net-worth families and family-owned businesses to public companies. Mr. Bash is particularly experienced in providing valuations for financial reporting as well as for estate and gift tax purposes. Prior to joining Pluris, Mr. Bash served as Assistant Vice President at FMV Opinions, a California-based business valuation firm specializing in valuations for estate planning transactions and estate tax returns. Prior to FMV, he was a Valuation Analyst at ValueNomics Research, Inc., in San Jose, California. Mr. Bash has earned the Accredited Senior Appraiser (ASA) designation from the American Society of Appraisers. He graduated with an MBA in finance from the University of Chicago and a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of California, Berkeley.

David A. Gaynor II, ASA, CBA, Vice President, provides leadership in business development and management, and concentrates on valuations for financial reporting, as well as for estate and gift tax purposes. Prior to joining Pluris, Mr. Gaynor served as a Vice President and Business Valuation Analyst at Management Planning, Inc. and as a Vice President at Valuation Research Corporation, both of Princeton, N.J. Before that, he served as Senior Manager of the Valuation Services Group at Crowe Chizek and Company LLC in Louisville, Ky. He was also a Supervisor in the Litigation and Valuation Group for Amper, Politziner & Mattia, PC in Flemington, N.J. Mr. Gaynor is an Accredited Senior Analyst (ASA), a Certified Business Appraiser (CBA) and a member of the Appraisal Issues Task Force (AITF). Mr. Gaynor earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from The College of New Jersey. He served as President of the Kentucky Chapter of the American Society of Appraisers and Vice President of the Princeton Chapter of the American Society of Appraisers.

Rick Martin, Vice President of Technical Accounting, is in charge of resolution of technical accounting issues as they pertain to our valuation clients, and manages our relationships with the accounting and audit professions. Prior to joining Pluris, Mr. Martin served as Head of Technical Accounting at Cowen and Company in New York and Senior Technical Accounting Advisor at Credit Suisse in Zurich, as well as technical accounting roles at all the big 4 accounting firms. Mr. Martin’s advisory experience includes resolution of technical accounting issues in complex areas of accounting involving derivatives and other complex financial instruments, implementation new accounting pronouncements, and assessments of IFRS and conversions. Mr. Martin earned his MBA from the University of Maryland at College Park and his undergraduate degree in accounting from Liberty University. Mr. Martin is a Certified Public Accountant.

Daniel Hogancamp, Manager, is responsible for overseeing and performing valuation projects for a number of different purposes, including for gift and estate purposes. In addition, Mr. Hogancamp is responsible for providing management oversight to Pluris’ business valuation group, including managing individual assignments, developing firm-wide best practices and mentoring junior analysts. Mr. Hogancamp has experience valuing securities of all types, including common and preferred stock, carried interest, promissory notes and controlling/managing interests. Mr. Hogancamp’s industry experience includes financial services providers, asset managers, manufacturing companies, real estate development and holding companies, consulting and importing/exporting. Additionally, Mr. Hogancamp has provided valuation testimony. Prior to joining Pluris, Mr. Hogancamp served as a Senior Analyst at Management Planning, Inc., of Princeton, N.J. Mr. Hogancamp earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from The College of New Jersey. He is currently pursuing his MBA at Villanova University.

Eric Liu is a Manager in our portfolio valuation group and is responsible for research on illiquid securities and for developing valuation models for PIPE securities, Auction-Rate securities, Limited Partnership interests, Bankruptcy Claims, and other illiquid assets. He is primarily in charge of the maintenance and transactions analysis required for the LiquiStat™ database as well as the Pluris DLOM Database™. Prior to joining Pluris, Mr. Liu worked for Merrill Lynch and Haver Analytics where he gained asset management, and economic and financial research experience. He also has four years of engineering and project management experience in the IT/Telecom industry in China. Mr. Liu earned his Master’s of Business Administration from Pace University and his Bachelor of Engineering degree from Xidian University.

Tito Hill is a Senior Associate in our portfolio valuation group and is in charge of analysis, project management, and sales within the group, especially as pertaining to Auction-Rate Securities, Structured Products, and distressed securities. Prior to joining Pluris, Mr. Hill worked as a Senior Associate at Accuserve, a valuations firm specializing in business valuations for the purpose of IRC 409A and FAS 123R compliance. Prior to Accuserve, Mr. Hill worked as an Associate at Calyon Securities in the Debt Capital Markets Origination Group, where he assisted Senior Originators in client management and business development capacities. Mr. Hill earned his bachelor's degree in Economics from Columbia University.