What do we do?
We advise, train and coach clients in navigating complex financial transactions. We help individuals and organizations to develop real-world deal skills, with an emphasis on financial modeling and analysis.
Using an innovative approach with proprietary online content, our training courses are able to cover more material in less time.
Pivotal180 offers public and live-streaming courses, online training, and in-house workshops which can be custom-tailored to fit the specific needs of a client. We are able to provide instruction and guidance on topics as diverse as governance, compliance, local law and tax regulations in almost any jurisdiction.
We are also committed to serving non-profit organizations as well as public institutions and government ministries, including human capacity building in Sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere in the developing world.
We don’t just teach how to model. We teach how to do deals. Including:
Contracts and project documentation
Legal structure
Tax optimization
Commodity markets
Risk management
And even some of the underlying engineering, science and technology necessary to quantify risk and forecast financial performance.
Our Team
Haydn Palliser
Founder & Instructor
Haydn Palliser is a founder and instructor at Pivotal180 and a globally renowned financial modeling and project finance expert. Haydn develops content for courses, teaches classes, and provides guidance and mentoring to financial modelers, advisors, and investors.
Read more about Haydn
Founder & Instructor
Haydn Palliser is a founder and instructor at Pivotal 180 and a globally renowned financial modeling and project finance expert. Haydn develops content for courses, teaches classes, and provides guidance and mentoring to financial modelers, advisors, and investors.
An engineer by background, Haydn grew and led the Corality business across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas, providing training, financial modeling consulting, due diligence, and financial advisory services predominantly in the renewable energy, infrastructure and mining sectors. He has provided advisory, consulting, or training to organizations such as Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, Barclays, IFM, Carlyle Group, Apollo, ANZ Bank, CPPIB, and Macquarie. His most recent focus and passion has been advising and mentoring developing country Governments on transactions and financial analysis.
Haydn lives in Westchester, New York with his wife and two kids and spends his spare time on the tennis court and being punished in CrossFit (thanks Dan!). Being from New Zealand he is an avid rugby fan, but as a new American he also appreciates the finer American foods such as Buffalo Wings, with a good game of American Football. He is an Adjunct Associate Professor at Columbia University where he teaches Renewable Energy Project Finance modeling. He has also taught students at MIT, Harvard, Wharton, and the University of Chicago. His favorite Excel shortcut is of course (CTRL + \).
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) University of Canterbury (New Zealand)
- Master of Applied Finance Macquarie University (Australia)
Alison Leckie
Founder & COO
Alison is a founder and the COO of Pivotal180. She is responsible for managing business and finance related tasks. Alison will also be leading courses related to FP&A and providing coaching to accountants and FP&A managers.
Read more about Alison
COO & CFO
Alison is a founder and the COO & CFO of Pivotal 180. She is responsible for managing business and finance related tasks. Alison will also be leading courses related to FP&A and providing coaching to accountants and FP&A managers.
Alison has extensive technical accounting skills and experience in senior leadership roles across several industries. She has managed global businesses including Giorgio Armani, SAP, Corality, and Mazars. Alison is an owner and director of M3 Logistics, an Australian business founded in 2003 that employs over 200 staff with a revenue of $42m. Alison previous charitable work includes a role as acting finance director for the National Breast Cancer Foundation (Australia) in a voluntary capacity. Alison’s played instrumental roles in both the selling of the Corality business to Mazars and the integration of global systems and processes post the merger.
An Australian currently living in London and working for a USA based company, Alison has a love for travel. Her two grown up children live in Sydney providing her with a perfect excuse to go home for visits. Alison loves the outdoors, and her holidays and weekends will often involve cycling, hiking or skiing.
Her favorite excel short cut is F1.
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Commerce – with merit. University of New South Wales (Australia)
- Certified Practicing Accountant- Fellow (FCPA)
Daniel Gross
Founder
Daniel Gross is a founder at Pivotal180 and a private equity investor focused on renewable energy, infrastructure and socially responsible impact investing. Dan develops content for courses, teaches classes, and provides advisory services and transaction coaching to clients globally.
Read more about Daniel
Founder
Daniel Gross is a founder at Pivotal 180 and a private equity investor focused on renewable energy, infrastructure and socially responsible impact investing. Dan develops content for courses, teaches classes, and provides advisory services and transaction coaching to clients globally.
Dan has served as a Managing Director at Oaktree Capital Management and was one of the founding Partners of Hudson Clean Energy, a private equity firm with over $1 billion in assets under management. He has served on the board of directors of multiple companies, both private and public. While in the U.S. alternative energy investment group at Goldman Sachs, Dan headed efforts to invest in photovoltaic solar, including private investments in First Solar and SunEdison. He also founded the renewable energy investment business at GE Capital's Energy Financial Services unit, where he closed over $1 billion of principal investments in energy-sector loans, leases, mezzanine, common/preferred equity and tax-driven partnerships. In recent years, Dan has provided advisory services, coaching and training to family offices, private companies, non-profits, investment funds, development finance institutions, as well as government ministries and state-owned utilities In the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa.
Dan lives in Brooklyn, New York and enjoys practicing his smattering of obscure language skills with anyone who will indulge him, most notably the kitchen staff at Thai restaurants. He is an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University and holds an appointment as a Lecturer at Yale University where he teaches on Renewable Energy Project Finance. His favorite Excel function is OFFSET, even though it should NEVER be used in a best-practice financial model.
Qualifications
- Fulbright Scholar
- Masters in Environmental Management, M.B.A. and B.A. (Phi Beta Kappa), Yale University (USA)
Richard Webster
Director
Richard Webster is a Director of Pivotal180 and leads our modeling services. Previously an Associate Director at Mazars in Sydney, he was the team lead for the APAC renewable energy business, providing advisory, valuation, financial modeling, and training services to some of the world’s largest infrastructure and energy clients.
Read more about Richard
DIRECTOR
Richard Webster is a Director at Pivotal180 and leads our modeling services. Previously an Associate Director at Mazars in Sydney, he was the team lead for the APAC renewable energy business, providing advisory, valuation, financial modeling, and training services to some of the world’s largest infrastructure and energy clients.
Having worked from the UK, US and Australia he has previously worked across a broad range of infrastructure and mining sectors, and with organizations such as Macquarie Capital, ANZ Bank, BAML, Bank of China, Orsted, DIF, FRV and QIC.
Recent engagements include advising and delivering an offshore wind operational model in Taiwan, a portfolio model for battery and gas projects in the US and a highly structured corporate model for a portfolio of solar investments in Japan. Richard and Haydn have worked together since 2015 both in the US and abroad
A Brit living in Sydney with his fiance, Rich enjoys getting outside as much as possible. A keen hiker, camper and sportsman he tries to take advantage of the Aussie sunshine as much as possible, although unfortunately he will most likely be found in the gym going through rehab exercises on another injury! After 7 years of living next to the surf, he is still trying to catch his first wave.
His favorite shortcut is F11.
Qualifications
-BSc in Mathematics with Psychology (Hons), University of Durham (United Kingdom)
-MSc in Metals and Energy Finance (Distinction), Imperial College London (United Kingdom)
-Chartered Financial Analyst
JEFF REAMER
Advisor
Jeff Reamer is an advisor at Pivotal 180, a private equity investor and an entrepreneur who has spent his entire career focused on the transition to a lower carbon economy.
Jeff leads DVG Partners, a private investment platform focused on energy, environmental, and infrastructure related services.
Read more about Jeff
ADVISOR
Jeff Reamer is an advisor at Pivotal 180, a private equity investor and an entrepreneur who has spent his entire career focused on the transition to a lower carbon economy.
Jeff leads DVG Partners, a private investment platform focused on energy, environmental, and infrastructure related services.
He is also the founder of Post Cove Partners, a boutique advisory firm focused on scaling early-stage energy and environmental businesses and investment platforms.
Previously Jeff served as the Chief Strategy Officer for Evolution Markets, one of the world’s leading environmental commodity firms. Prior to Evolution, Jeff was trained as a disciplined investor at GE Energy Financial Services and Mission Point Capital Partners.
He has experience across the spectrum of the alternative energy value chain including large wind tax equity projects, hands on project development, complex environmental commodity markets, and early stage investing and business building.
Jeff began his career as an officer in the United States Army where he learned leadership, discipline, focused execution, and the value of a people centric culture from the best in the business.
Jeff lives in Houston, TX with his wife and two children and spends his spare time in the woods and the mountains.
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Science United States Military Academy at West Point (USA)
- Masters in Environmental Management, Yale University (USA)
- M.B.A, Yale University (USA)
Brent Grundberg
Advisor
Brent Grundberg is an advisor at Pivotal 180 and has spent his entire career focused on the energy, power and infrastructure sectors. Brent has extensive transaction experience on both the buy-side and sell-side including M&A, JVs, seed funding, equity (common, preferred & tax-oriented), mezz, debt (corporate and project finance) and restructuring.
Read more about Brent
ADVISOR
Brent Grundberg is an advisor at Pivotal 180 and has spent his entire career focused on the energy, power and infrastructure sectors. Brent has extensive transaction experience on both the buy-side and sell-side including M&A, JVs, seed funding, equity (common, preferred & tax-oriented), mezz, debt (corporate and project finance) and restructuring. He collaborates with the Pivotal 180 team on content generation, production and delivery of courses.
Brent has founded multiple successful operating companies and investment platforms across the energy spectrum including renewable energy project development. He was a co-founder and Head of Energy at Energy & Infrastructure Capital (a subsidiary of Harbinger Group) where he was responsible for origination, structuring, negotiating, investing, asset management and strategic planning. Prior to his entrepreneurial ventures, Brent worked for Union Bank (now MUFG) in the merchant banking group where he invested across the capital structure in the energy, power (thermal & renewable), infrastructure and metals & mining sectors as well as the tax-driven group focused on tax-driven partnerships and leases for renewable energy projects. He started his career in project finance at GE Energy Financial Services and Siemens Financial Services.
Brent lives (except in the summer) in Houston, Texas with his wife and two kids. Most weekends, you will find Brent riding his bike or on the golf course searching for his ball far from the fairway. His favorite Excel shortcut is ALT-T-U-F.
Qualifications
-Bachelor of Arts, Economics, University of Washington (USA)
-[GE Energy Financial Services Analyst Training Program]
-[Union Bank Commercial Credit Training Program]
Bastian Stroemsheim
Associate
Bastian Stroemsheim is an associate at Pivotal180. He supports the training, advisory and model audit services. Previously, he developed investment models for environmental markets, and monitored risk management for the World Bank's lending portfolio.
Read more about Bastian
Associate
Bastian Stroemsheim is an associate at Pivotal180. He supports the training, advisory, and model audit services. Previously, he developed investment models for environmental markets, and monitored risk management for the World Bank's lending portfolio.
Bastian lives in Weehawken, New Jersey with his wife and enjoys running and cycling along the Hudson river for the best views of the Manhattan skyline. Being from Norway, he thrives during the winter in New York, but prefers soccer to any winter sport.
His favorite excel short cut is CTRL + R
Qualifications
Master of International Affairs, Columbia University (USA)
Bachelor of Arts, International Studies, American University (USA)