Resources Network
Depending upon the size and nature of the engagement, we have access to expert, professional talent through a network of relationships of our principal owner going back nearly four decades. We can assemble and present a complete and outstanding team for the assigned tasks and present one face to our clients in the process. All projects are conducted under the direct management and supervision of our principal owner, Kim Thorpe. Kim is fully accountable to our clients for the quality and successful completion of all our projects and assignments.
Financial And Management Consulting Services
Following are examples of the areas and/or types of services and assistance we can provide. Of course, this is not a complete list of everything we do. However, this list provides a good starting menu of basics. You may contact us directly for additional details and we will respond promptly.
Office of the CFO (CFO Services)
- Financial reporting and internal controls
- Financial planning and analysis
- Financial modeling and projections
- Cost analysis and budgeting
- External Financial Statement Audit Assistance
- Financial systems and processes
- Investment strategy and treasury management
- Financial organization and resource planning
- Employee benefits analysis and recommendations
Corporate Advisory Services
- Enterprise strategic and business development
- Governance
- Boards of Directors
- Codes of conduct and ethics
- Internal audit function
- Preparations for going public
- Going private (Delisting)
- Board committees / audit committee support
Risk Management and Insurance Industry Advisory Services
- Enterprise risk management assessment
- Reinsurance analysis and consulting
- Assistance with regulatory examinations
- Loss reserving
- Business insurance needs analysis (independent and fee based)
- Captive insurance programs
- Other alternative insurance programs
Special Projects and Transactions
- Public and private offerings
- Mergers and acquisitions
- Capital management
- Specialty financings
- Reorganizations and restructurings
- Turnarounds / crisis management
- Risk management / captive insurance programs
Special Projects and Project Management
One of Kim's strengths is the ability to fast-fill executive or director positions on a short-term or longer basis.
In addition to the Financial and Management Consulting services we perform, we can perform other discreet projects of various types. Some examples of these are: service as an interim executive or board member, litigation analysis and support, business or line of business run-offs and liquidations, and a wide range of other helpful project roles.
We also can provide our services as a project leader on larger, more complex projects and undertakings.
Interim CFO - Mentoring Staff
One of the most significant ways we can add value to a newly formed or forming organization, or one undergoing significant change, is to provide interim CFO services, including situations in which mentoring up and coming client staff members is desirable. Our principal owner has decades of successful experiences developing top finance talent and leaders.
Engagement Administration and Compensation
Fee and expense arrangements on engagements are determined and agreed upon with our clients in advance and included in a formal engagement letter. A template of our standard engagement letter is available upon request.
We bill for the services we perform and the out of pocket expenses we incur on engagements. Fees for services on most engagements will be billed by the service hour at an agreed upon hourly rate. Rates may vary based upon the nature of the engagement or services, staffing needs and levels, and other relevant factors. For certain types of engagements, we may be able to offer a fixed fee or retainer amount for recurring services.
Out of pocket expenses include principally travel, lodging, meals, special supplies, postage and other specific costs associated with an engagement.
Our billing cycle is semi-monthly with invoices for services being provided to our clients for services through the 15th or the 30th/31st of each month in which services are provided.
Example FRUS Engagements
The following four examples provide brief summaries of recent client assignments. Equally important to the summaries themselves are the results which are italicized within each example.
Following these recent examples of client assignments, are brief summaries of career experiences and achievements of our principal owner, Kim Thorpe. During his career Kim has successfully led financings and capital raises, and participated mergers and acquisitions with total transaction values in the billions of dollars. Kim also has built and staffed outstanding finance teams both at the companies he has served and as a partner in the national insurance practice of his former international accounting firm.
Client Example #1
For a group of insurance, financial services and healthcare entities, FRUS provided finance and capital support in significant capital campaigns and business development projects. The services we successfully performed on behalf of this client included the following:
- Our principal owner served as interim CFO of each of the three of the companies within this group, assisted our client in successfully completing two private capital raises, and continues to serve as a trusted advisor for this client.
- We assisted the client in developing the fundamental strategic, financial and capital plans for a newly created annuity insurance company, including sophisticated financial modeling, organization and operational planning, capital plans, equity and debt valuations, and preparations for due diligence and regulatory approvals.
- We advised and assisted the principal owner in filling important organizational growth needs, ranging from substantial reorganization and restructuring of the entities and assets to identifying and recruiting other top professionals and executives to the group.
Client Example #2
We assisted a newly formed property and casualty insurance company and its related management company in establishing its initial statutory and GAAP financial statements, including its first ever consolidated financial statements.
- We prepared this company’s initial statutory basis financial statements and NAIC annual and quarterly financial statements filed with state insurance regulators.
- We developed and prepared the company’s first financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP and its very first consolidated financial statements.
- We advised and assisted this client in administering and reconciling individual policies, premiums and other data on business assumed from Citizens Insurance of Florida.
- We developed the general ledger chart of accounts and reinsurance subsidiary ledgers to account for this company’s comprehensive catastrophic reinsurance program.
- We provided audit support by organizing and preparing financial statements, account analyses, lead schedules and other supporting documentation and correspondence for the company’s independent auditors.
- We advised the client on all significant accounting, reporting, internal control, regulatory compliance and governance matters.
Client Example #3
We prepared this company’s annual and quarterly statutory financial statements submitted in the NAIC Annual and Quarterly Statements.
- We closed this company’s general ledger quarterly and prepared its statutory basis financial statements and NAIC quarterly and annual statements for filing with state insurance regulators.
- In our initial engagement, we assisted management in preparing a final close, post-audit, in which all audit adjustments determined in the audit were posted and reconciled.
- We assisted management in developing and reconciling its schedule of expiring and renewing reinsurance treaties over the previous 3-4 years, including all balances outstanding. A by-product of this project was a recurring report structure that updated and maintained the company’s reinsurance programs on a quarterly basis saving time, costs and effort.
- We assisted this client in confirming and maintaining it’s A. M. Best rating by advising the client on its submission to Best and participating in the Best review meeting on behalf of our client.
Client Example #4
We were engaged by a large healthcare provider on two assignments. The first was to determine the feasibility of forming a captive insurance company. Later, in a second assignment, we were engaged to help this firm assess the impact of the Affordable Care Act of 2010 (“ACA”) on the firm’s employee benefit plans and advise senior leadership on its options and provide recommendations on how best to respond to and comply with ACA.
- We teamed with a national captive services provider to fully analyze this client’s insurance risks, needs and objectives and developed a captive insurance program that would fully meet them.
- We designed and delivered a program, which included a Section 832(b) captive reinsurance entity that would work in concert with a commercial insurance policy. We presented our completed analysis and findings to our client along with complete turnkey recommendations on venue, funding, administration, premiums and risks analysis, and financial projections of various scenarios.
- For the ACA assignment, we prepared and provided our client with a complete cost analysis of the impact of implementation, including a comprehensive schedule of deliverables and filings required.
- A significant part of our analysis involved obtaining claims and premium data from the clients current and former commercial insurance carrier and integrating this data into a cost benefit style analysis.