Debra Levy is a Senior Client Relationship Specialist in Mesirow Wealth Management She is responsible for new client onboarding day-to-day client service and communication trade requests and account documentation Debra has more than 25 years of experience working with wealth advisory clients Prior to joining Mesirow in 2016 she worked at another financial advisory firm assisting with all aspects…

Debra Luf is Vice President Treasury of Mesirow Alternative Credit  Prior to joining Mesirow Debra served as Vice President of Treasury for Bastion Management where her responsibilities included treasury and fund accounting functions Bastion joined Mesirow in December 2024 Before joining Bastion Debra was Chief Compliance Officer at SSARIS Advisors Prior to SSARIS Debra was Senior Vice President…

December ended the year on solid footing for food beverage and agribusiness M&A with momentum expected to carry into 2025 While Decembers number of announced deals was flat year-over-year the full year finished on a high note with total activity up more than 15% from 2023 levels  Looking ahead 2025 is expected to see a continued focus on strategic add-ons  (and divestitures by public…

M&A Activity Closing 2025 Strong, December closed out calendar year 2025 with a surge in strategic dealmaking across the US Aerospace & Defense sector underscoring investor confidence in high-tech capabilities and resilient supply chains From space-based sensing to proprietary fasteners and defense electronics buyers pursued assets that align with long-term growth and strategic priorities, CACI International Inc, announced a $26 billion acquisition of ARKA Group a Blackstone portfolio company specializing in space-based sensing and optical communications The deal marks a strategic expansion into national security technologies reinforcing CACI’s commitment to delivering actionable intelligence across defense and space domains, Howmet Aerospace Inc, entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Consolidated Aerospace Manufacturing (CAM from Stanley Black & Decker for $18 billion The transaction which includes favorable tax treatment and anticipated synergies strengthens Howmet’s portfolio of precision fasteners and fluid fittings enhancing its position across commercial aerospace and defense platforms, TransDigm Group Inc, will acquire Stellant Systems Inc for $960 million in an all-cash deal Stellant a provider of high-power RF and microwave components for defense and space applications brings proprietary technologies and robust aftermarket revenue The acquisition aligns with TransDigm’s strategy of investing in niche high-margin aerospace and defense businesses Continue reading      

December marked the close of a transitional year for middle market Food Beverage & Agribusiness M&A Activity slowed sequentially as expected but not from lack of interest Instead sellers and buyers largely chose discipline over velocity deferring launches and final decisions until early 2026 amid improving but still uneven market signals Continue reading

Designing robust models for FX trade sizing and currency positioning , Using historical spot FX rates from 30 currency pairs dating back 16 years Mesirow Currency’s neural network models address the challenges that traditional machine learning techniques can face when trying to model financial time series Brief overview of classic machine learning pipelines Traditional machine learning pipelines usually consist of four separate steps , 1 Pre-processing,   |  Data is mapped from a noisy irregular and sometimes high dimensional space onto a cleaner more regular and lower dimensional space , 2 Handcraft feature extraction,    |  Distinctive features (represented as vectors or tensors are manually formulated and engineered from the input data These features should be consistent robust and preserve information while simultaneously removing redundancy , 3 Post-processing,   |  The features which together form a feature space are sometimes post-processed to achieve further dimensionality reduction or expansion , 4 Classification,   |  The result of the first three steps is then given to a classification/regression algorithm Input is mapped onto a discrete domain (class labels and hyper-planes split the feature space into different regions each belonging to different classes  Read more ​The information contained herein is intended for institutional clients Qualified Eligible Persons Eligible Contract Participants and…

By Gary Pattengale CFP, ®, Advanced Tax Specialist, For high-earning executives and key employees traditional 401(k plans often fall short of meeting long-term financial goals Strict IRS contribution limits restrict how much you can save in a tax-advantaged way, That’s where deferred compensation plans come in These offer a powerful way to contribute significantly more than a 401(k reduce current tax liability and enhance retirement income, What is it, Deferred compensation is a supplemental retirement plan typically offered to high-earning executives and key employees It allows you to postpone receiving a portion of your salary or bonus until a future date—usually retirement And like a 401(k this strategy can lower your current tax bill in high-earning years and grow the funds on a tax-deferred basis, How it works, Deferred compensation plans are in many ways similar to traditional 401(k plans Contributions are made on a pre-tax basis Investments grow tax deferred Distributions are taxed as ordinary income Some plans may offer employer matching contributions , Key differences, However there are important distinctions, No contribution limits, Nonqualified Deferred Compensation (NQDC plans are not subject to IRS contribution caps However the plan itself may limit how much you can add , Payroll taxes still apply, You’ll still owe Social Security and Medicare taxes on deferred income, Lack of ERISA protection, These plans are not protected under ERISA making them unsecured liabilities of the employer, No IRA rollovers, You typically cannot roll over NQDC assets into an IRA to continue tax deferral if you leave your employer, Election  timing, You must elect your deferral amount and payout schedule — usually in the calendar year prior to when the compensation is earned Once made these elections are often irrevocable or very difficult to change, Risks to consider, Creditor risk, Because NQDC plans are unsecured your deferred funds could be at risk if your employer becomes insolvent, Liquidity risk, Ensure you have sufficient liquidity to meet your financial needs while deferring income, Investment risk, Poor investment choices can offset the tax advantages of deferral, Limited portability, If you leave your job you generally cannot transfer these funds to an IRA, Who should consider it, Deferred compensation plans may be a good fit for individuals who max out their 401(k and want to save more expect to be in a lower tax bracket during retirement and are confident in the financial health of their organization and plan to stay long-term  It can also be used to offset or neutralize the cost of other strategies For example, Softening the tax burden of Roth conversions, When you convert an existing IRA to a Roth the converted amount is generally subject to ordinary tax By deferring compensation in the same year you can offset that income and shift the tax burden to a potentially lower tax year in the future At the same time you create a tax-free bucket for retirement and legacy purposes , Offsetting the lost tax break on 401(k catch-up contributions, Beginning January 1 2026 employees age 50 and older must make all 401(k catch-up contributions as Roth contributions This means paying tax on those funds now which is less- than-ideal for high-income taxpayers To help offset the lost tax benefit you can add the equivalent amount to a deferred compensation plan instead preserving the advantage of lowering current taxable income and maintaining pre…

Many of our clients own business assets or personal property that have appreciated in value and struggle with ways to sell these assets without triggering immediate capital gains taxes The good news is there is a way to defer these taxes by using a 1031 Exchange, If you’ve ever owned real estate for business purposes or physical property as an investment you’re probably well aware that these assets can leave you susceptible to large capital gains taxes as they appreciate in value  Perhaps you own an apartment building and rent out the units for additional income or maybe you own a plot of farm land  Whenever you sell these items like any taxable…, How a 1031 Exchange works, As an example if you had purchased a rental property for $300000 ten years ago and today it is worth $500000 you would be responsible for $200000 in capital gains taxes if you sold it outright  However if you instead sold the property and purchased another for rental purposes within 180 days of the original sale the IRS would allow you to delay paying capital gains taxes on the $200000…, Assets that don’t qualify , It’s also worth pointing out what assets are not afforded this treatment Personal use assets (such as a primary home or an automobile inventory securities (stocks and bonds an exchange of foreign real estate for domestic real estate and partnership interests are just a few that don’t qualify  Alternatively the IRS has a fairly loose interpretation of what represents a “Like-Kind” property …, Published February 2025, Mesirow does not provide tax advice Our Wealth Advisors will work with a clients tax or other professionals , 1  https//wwwirsgov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/like-kind-exchanges-real-estate-tax-tips Additional source Kaplan University – CFP Exam Curriculum 2016 Course 104 Unit 8 Pages 133-136