The work the Chartered Business Valuators Institute (CBV Institute) does as Canada’s valuation professional organization (VPO) and standard-setter is amazing, and the sessions at its CBV Congress 2021 June 16-18 represented best-in-class global learning. BVWire was pleased to attend its Congress, and here are a few very interesting and useful takeaways:

• Keynote speaker Dr. Aswath Damodaran (New York University Stern School of Business) said the lessons you learn during a crisis such as COVID-19 are the most important lessons you can learn in valuation (one being “don’t give up on fundamentals”);
• Calculation report or a full valuation? Valuers in Canada have a third option that falls in between the two;
• The “limited critique” is a type of report generally used in disputes and litigation to identify the main disagreements between the opposing experts; guidance has been issued on a framework of thinking regarding the impact of climate change on valuations;
• Market volatility is not going away any time soon, but the big worry is inflation (if it stays, we’re “in big trouble”);
• One of the big red flags in financial models in Excel is hidden rows and columns, a “very bad and dangerous practice” (better to use grouping);
• When using visuals, don’t get fancy—keep it simple (e.g., for fonts, Calibri or Arial are good choices);
• Recent court cases in Canada reveal that the manner in which you present your opinion is equally as important as what is actually included in your opinion; and
• A judge said he has a much better view of the expert witness in a virtual trial, so facial expressions become much more visible than from the bench.

The first day of the conference was devoted to business valuation, the second day examined the world of litigation, and the third was devoted to recent trends in M&A. A recap with more details will be in the August issue of Business Valuation Update.