Larsen lands at Duff & Phelps

David Larsen, a former senior due diligence partner with KPMGin San Francisco, has left to join financial advisory firm Duff & Phelps as a managing director.

Larsen will work for Duff & Phelps in the transaction advisory services practice of the firm's San Francisco office.

Larsen has long been involved in private equity issues. In addition to serving on the board of directors of the Institutional Limited Partners Association, Larsen is project manager and technical advisor to the Private Equity Industry Guidelines Group, a temporary industry body that is developing valuation and reporting guidelines for private equity and venture capital firms.

In a statement, Michael Athanason, co-leader of Duff & Phelps' investment banking and transaction advisory services group, said: ?Besides being an accomplished due diligence leader, David is a recognized technical leader in the private equity industry on issues regarding valuing private equity investments and validating cash flow from private equity funds.?

a guest article written this past March for Private Equity Manager, Larsen wrote that a standard for fair value accounting is reaching critical mass. ?Prior to 2000, valuation of private equity assets, while important, was not deemed a significant issue,? wrote Larsen. ?With the expansion of capital entering the private equity market, new entrants in the market, the burst of the technology bubble, and the resultant need for comparable, reliable, transparent information, private equity is becoming institutionalized. Valuing private equity assets using consistent methodologies based on the fair value principle is deemed the best way to serve private equity investors.?

In the article, Larsen suggests that the increasing harmonization in valuation guidelines between international private equity associations has put the prospect of a single, global valuation standard on the near horizon.

Duff & Phelps is well known for valuation services. The independent firm has more than 700 employees throughout the US, Europe and Asia.