Members of the editorial advisory board of Business Valuation Update recently reflected upon a number of valuation issues, including their views on potential growth areas:

Going up: “The divorce area is booming, and I expect that to continue,” says James Alerding (Alerding Consulting LLC), adding that, due to the aging baby-boomer population, assisting in the sale of businesses should see growth over the next 15 years. “Litigation-related valuation is a growth area,” says Michael A. Crain (The Financial Valuation Group), a view several others echoed. “Litigation is always good,” says Gary Trugman (Trugman Valuation Associates). “Litigation-related work continues to boom for us,” says Ron Seigneur (Seigneur Gustafson), “as does work in M&A-type engagements, especially as values have recovered, along with many of the traditional sources of capital to fund deals.”

Rod Burkert (Burkert Valuation Advisors LLC) agrees about growth in litigation and points to a few more areas. “I see growth in intellectual property valuation and litigation,” he says. “Also in exit planning, although there are a lot of people jumping on the bandwagon. To be successful in this area, I believe professionals will need to be good appraisers and coaches (for the business owner).” Likewise, Ted Israel (Israel Frey Group LLP) singles out “non-litigation consulting-based valuations, such as succession planning.” Kevin Yeanoplos (Brueggeman & Johnson Yeanoplos PC) also mentioned consulting work. “Possibly management planning,” he says. “There also seems to be an increasing need for forensic services, plus marijuana consulting offers a fertile ground.”

More thoughts: For more perspectives—and some differing views—see the October issue of Business Valuation Update (subscription required). This is a special 20th anniversary issue, which is loaded with advice and reflections from many well-known valuation professionals. Last week’s BVWire contained a rundown of the articles in the issue.