ABOUT
Independent, Experienced & Insightful
Grace Vandecruze’s career has been dedicated to the relentless mission of advising her clients in effectively executing growth strategy and managing capital. She is the Founder and Managing Director at Grace Global Capital LLC, a consulting firm providing M&A financial advisory, restructuring, and valuation to insurance executives, boards and financial regulators since 2006. Throughout her career, Grace has delivered advisory expertise on over $25 billion of insurance transactions.
As Managing Director at Swiss Re, Grace was responsible for the firm's regulatory advisory practice in the insurance and financial services industries. Grace has extensive expertise in mergers and acquisitions and capital raisings, and most notably she provided expert testimony on the valuation of Conseco during the largest bankruptcy in the insurance industry. Prior to joining Swiss Re, she was a Vice President at a private equity firm specializing in the insurance industry and an Associate in the Financial Institutions Group at Merrill Lynch. Working with EY and Grant Thornton earlier in her career, she was an auditor with CPA credentials serving clients in the financial services industry.
She earned an MBA in Finance from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1994 and a BBA in Accounting from Pace University in 1985. Before attending The Wharton School, she was an auditor for six years in the financial services industry at Ernst & Young and Grant Thornton. She is a Certified Public Accountant. Grace is a board member of BXPE Fund, Link Logistics REIT, PIMCO Closed End Funds, Resolution Life and The Doctors Company. She also serves on the Wharton Graduate Executive Board. Grace was selected as one of the "Directors to Watch" by Directors & Boards magazine, and "Woman to Watch" by Business Insurance magazine. In addition, she was awarded "Corporate Woman of the Year" by Pace University.
Grace has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, Elbrus, Annapurna, the Himalayan in Bhutan and Everest Base Camp. She is also a licensed sailor. Grace has been featured in two books: "Be Happy at Work, 100 Women Who Love their Jobs and Why" by Joanne Gordon and "Doing it Ourselves: Success Stories of African American Women in Business" by Donna Ballard. Grace is frequently quoted in the financial press, including The American Banker, Insurance Journal, SNL Financial and AM Best TV and Journal. She is a regular keynote speaker on the InsureTech Connect, National Association of Insurance Commissioners, IICF, M Financial Annual Marketing Meeting and The Baker Tilly Insurance Conference. She has a passion for financial literacy and empowerment and has authored the internationally best-selling book, "Homeless to Millionaire, 6 Keys to Uplift Your Financial Abundance."
EXPERT EXPERIENCE
Grace Vandecruze began her career as an auditor at Ernst & Young in New York.
Her work experience includes the following:
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25 years as an Investment Banker on Wall Street responsible for business organization and transaction executions for the insurance industry
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Provided valuation and testimony on Conseco, the largest bankruptcy in the insurance industry
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Provided advice on all of the major demutualization's in North America, including Prudential, MetLife, and Anthem
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Served as practice head for insurance specific fixed income products in coordination with Swiss Re Capital Markets
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Provided advice to a number of insurance companies with market cap of $1 billion to $40 billion
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Three years of private equity experience with Head & Company
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Experience at Fox-Pitt, Kelton (Swiss Re) and Merrill Lynch
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Seven years as an auditor for Ernst & Young (EY) and Grant Thornton specializing in financial institutions
OUR COMMITMENT
Our extensive experience is well suited to the wide range of potential transactions in the current dynamic and complex market environment.
We distinguish ourselves through the depth and breath of our experience, our deep commitment to senior level involvement in every transaction, and the quality and independence of our advice.
We collaborate with a wide range of experts including accountants, lawyers, and actuaries to fulfill our clients needs.