Colin Nicholson Email & Phone Number

Winter Park, FL, US

Chicago, Illinois, US

25 years of experience in public accounting with a focus on providing audit and related services to both onshore and offshore investment companies and other vehicles employed by asset managers.

Princeton, NJ, US

Financial services and investment lead for the southeast and Florida market, specializing in private equity/venture capital, hedge, non-bank lending and real estate investment advisors and vehicles as well as broker/dealers.

Managing family portfolio of investments, including private ownership, active management of equities, real estate

Toronto, ON, CA

• Divisional leader for one of four Audit divisions with headcount of 40 staff. Client portfolio comprised 100+ audit engagements annually with revenues of $2.5-$3.0mm. Developed client relationships across various U.S..
• Innovated full-time business development position for the firm, creating business case and obtaining partnership consensus to implement, and recruited successful candidate, resulting in $2+mm new opportunity fee.
• Initiated white paper concept and developed framework for interviewing stakeholders in the global alternative investment industry to promote the Cayman Islands as a domicile for investment management operations.
• Appointed to project team for Rothstein Kass acquisition by U.S. KPMG firm, requiring KPMG Cayman to onboard and design an execution strategy for over 1,000 new audit engagements within 3 months.
• Led renovation design and construction of office lobby, boardrooms, kitchen areas, and other common spaces throughout 35,000 sq. ft. of multi-floor office space.
• Spearheaded adoption of new paperless audit methodology for the firm and transition from paper-based files.

Toronto, ON, CA

• Charged with audit report signing role for client portfolios of $2.0mm to $2.5mm annually. Contributed to division growth of 10% gross margin increase over tenure. Took on role as Head of Global Hedge Fund Technical.
• Led proposal wins for over $500k in new audit and tax revenues.
• Steered division to gross margin increase of 15% from 2006-2008 through fee increase initiatives and streamlining resources.
• Collaborated with HR department on recruiting annual divisional intake of up to 10 staff, and led interview process.
• Innovated and led global conference calls for up to 100+ KPMG partners / directors / managers on hot-button topics for audits of alternative investment vehicles.

Toronto, ON, CA

Oversaw project team to design and implement audit methodology templates for hedge funds. Consistently led manager group in client portfolios of $1.1mm-$1.6mm per year. Won $2+mm in recurring audit and tax revenues for client portfolio. Collaborated with HR department on recruiting annual divisional intake of up to 10 staff, and managed interview process.

• Global accounting organization. Managed audit engagements reporting under U.S. GAAS and GAAP, International Standards on Auditing and International Financial Reporting Standards. Advised clients and teamed with staff.
• Oversaw the design and implementation of new audit methodology for the Cayman firm across all client engagements, which involved transitioning from paper-based work papers to paperless data retention, and audit theory.
• Led recruiting efforts for qualified CPAs to act as senior accountants, including travel arrangements, establishment in the Cayman Islands, and administration of all required correspondence with Cayman Islands.
• Presented introductory training program at Arthur Andersen worldwide training facility in St. Charles, Illinois.

Big Four accounting organization. Planned, executed, and completed financial statement audit engagements on a variety of financial industry clients, paper, manufacturing, oil and gas, hospitals, and utilities. Completed personal and corporate income tax returns for a variety of clients. Awarded David Hope Award for Academic Excellence in CA Prep Program.