Rick is a Senior Member of the American Society of Appraisers and is a cofounder of ComStock Valuation Advisors, Inc.  He has over 20 years of experience in the valuation and management of closely held business interests, as well as securities comprising their capital structure. He has extensive background in trust and estate planning, Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), litigation support, and related financial advisory service. He has acted as an arbitrator and has served as an Expert Witness or Consulting Expert regarding financial issues in the United States Federal Tax Court and the United States District Court.

Prior to co-founding ComStock, Rick was a Vice President for Valuemetrics, Inc., a national financial advisory firm.  He was a regional manager with responsibility for the firm’s Cincinnati office.   

Rick served in the trust industry with responsibilities in the administration and valuation of closely held businesses held in a fiduciary capacity. He was an Assistant Vice President of Harris Trust and Savings Bank, where he was primarily responsible for preparing and reviewing valuation studies for trust and estate holdings. He has extensive experience in preparing valuations for Gift and Estate Tax purposes and has also prepared valuations and custom financial analysis for the purpose of assisting the corporate fiduciary in making asset management decisions. Before joining Harris Trust and Savings Bank in 1986, he worked as a Personal Trust Officer for The Central Trust Company, N.A. of Cincinnati, Ohio, specializing in the valuation and administration of closely held business interests.

Rick is a member of the Institute of Business Appraisers and a former Designated Certified Review Appraiser of the National Association of Review Appraisers & Mortgage Underwriters. He served as the past President and Vice President of the Business Valuation Association and currently serves as the President of the Tri-State Business Valuation Roundtable.  In addition, he formally served on the International Board of Examiners for the American Society of Appraisers.

Rick’s continuing education includes participation at the National Trust Closely Held Business Association workshops, the ASA Advanced Business Valuation seminars, the ASA International Appraisal Conference Advanced Business Valuation seminars, University of Miami Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning, and the ESOP Association conferences. In addition, he has spoken on valuation topics before the ESOP Association, the National Center for Employee Ownership, the National Trust Closely Held Business Association, the Business Valuation Association and various seminars sponsored by banks and law firms.

Rick holds a M.B.A. in Finance from Xavier University and a B.S. in Management from the University of Cincinnati, where he graduated magna cum laude. He has taken specialized coursework including Small Business Consulting, Small Business Operations, Problems in Corporate Finance, Personal Financial Planning, and Taxation of Partnerships and Corporations.