The program was honored to have Matthew Maher, Managing Director/General Manager at Mitsui & Co., (U.S.A.), Inc., join Angela Finlay’s Finance for Effective Human Capital Management class this semester. Mr. Maher is responsible for leading Mitsui USA’s Financial and New Business efforts, which focuses on innovation and financial investments. This includes overseeing early-stage venture and Mitsui innovation strategies, both directly and through partners, as well as strategic/financial investments made in variety of business domains, including clean energy, financial services, robotics, logistics, and satellites.
Mr. Maher has over 20 years of M&A experience and was able to share his insights on the key HCM matters that drive value in transactions. He shared with the students some of the key concerns he often sees during due diligence, including poorly designed incentive structures, key employee retention, and senior management compensation structures. He also discussed post-merger integration, including a focus on internal rate of return (IRR) on all aspects of the business, such as key decisions around the cost of losing key employees (v. cost to stay), outsourcing of certain functions (v. recruitment of in-demand talent), and other HCM factors that drive value in organizations.
The insight into an investor’s point of view on human capital management was invaluable. We thank Matt Maher for sharing his experiences and insights with our students!
