CFRA Expands London-Based European Operations; Forensic Accounting Leader Appoints Senior Leadership, Expands European Research Suite and Announces New Hires

CFRA, the leading global provider of independent
forensic accounting research and due diligence services, today
announced a major expansion of its London-based European operations
with the appointment of senior leadership, an expansion of its
European research suite and new key analyst hires.
CFRA has named Niels Aalen as its new Managing Director of
International Operations. Mr. Aalen, who will be based in CFRA's
London office, brings over 20 years of experience in European equities
and research to CFRA. Most recently, Mr. Aalen served as a Managing
Director at HSBC, where he played a leading role in redesigning the
firm's global equities business. Prior to HSBC, Mr. Aalen worked for
nearly a decade at Goldman Sachs International in various leadership
positions in equities. Mr. Aalen holds an MSc in Economics from the
London School of Economics and an MA from Trinity College Dublin.
"We are delighted to have Niels Aalen join CFRA's management team
to lead our international operations. He brings a tremendous
background in pan-European equities and research, and shares our
vision for the broader independent research industry," said Richard
Leggett, President and CEO of CFRA.
Joining Mr. Aalen and CFRA's team of London-based analysts are Mr.
Jonathan Dye and Mr. Hemant Agarwal. Mr. Dye will focus on the
healthcare sector in Europe. Mr. Agarwal, who has been at CFRA for
nearly two years and recently relocated to London, will continue to
focus on the European retail and consumer sectors.
CFRA has also dramatically expanded its European research suite
with the launch of QuickScore Europe, a proprietary earnings quality
database that contains quantitative earnings quality risk rankings on
more than 3,600 pan-European companies. These rankings complement the
earnings quality rankings offered by CFRA on over 5,400 North American
companies. QuickScore Europe also contains a robust and comprehensive
set of diagnostic tools and tear-sheet reports. The fully back-tested
QuickScore database is the first of its kind to be made available to
asset managers and financial services firms in Europe, and represents
another strong enhancement to CFRA's European research suite. In
addition to the QuickScore database, this suite includes: in-depth
research reports, unlimited access to CFRA's analyst team, a robust
online database of company notes, accounting-oriented industry
analyses, topical educational research, on-site roundtable
presentations and proprietary conference calls.
"We believe there is a significant and growing opportunity to
provide differentiated, high-quality, independent risk-oriented
research across Europe and Asia," adds CFRA President and CEO Richard
Leggett. "With Niels' leadership, our expanded team of analysts and
our end-to-end risk research suite, CFRA is better positioned to help
clients make more informed investment and underwriting decisions and
to minimize risk. "

About CFRA

Founded in 1994 by Dr. Howard Schilit, CFRA is the independent
leader in forensic accounting research and due diligence services for
a global clientele that includes the most prestigious institutional
investment, financial services, insurance and professional services
firms. Through a rigorous and proprietary research process, CFRA's
team of analysts - including dedicated pan-European and Asian teams -
assess the quality and sustainability of reported financial results at
over 8,000 companies globally across five industry sectors. CFRA's
end-to-end accounting research suite includes: a fully back-tested
earnings quality database for over 9,000 North American and
pan-European companies, in-depth company analysis, industry analysis,
educational analysis and services, and a reference library of
accounting "red flags" in 62 industries (IRAPs). CFRA prides itself on
being far more than a publisher of research: It works with every
client to tailor its service offers to best meet that client's unique
needs and encourages unlimited contact with its team of analysts. CFRA
is headquartered outside of Washington, D.C. with offices in the New
York metro area, London, Boston and Chicago. CFRA is backed by TA
Associates.