Peter Bevan

Peter Bevan specializes in matters involving insurance and pension plans, mutual funds and investment management, valuation, and financial institutions. Across a diverse set of cases, Mr. Bevan has over fifteen years of experience in leading teams evaluating complex markets and performing statistical analyses of proprietary big data.

Insurance and pension plans

Mr. Bevan coheads Cornerstone Research’s insurance and pension plan group. He has substantial experience with litigation involving the insurance industry, including property and casualty, life, and health insurance. Mr. Bevan has directed teams in:

• Reviewing corporate decision-making processes surrounding how insurance companies establish, maintain, and use surplus funds
• Analyzing insurance company surplus levels and other financial health metrics, such as risk-based capital (RBC), in the context of how regulators evaluate a company’s risk level
• Evaluating regulatory actions stemming from allegedly excessive risk levels of insurance companies
• Assessing the economics of the surety bond market in terms of risk sharing and loss reserving
• Assessing the reasonableness of claims levels and claims handling processes
• Reviewing practices and models used by monoline insurers to assess the riskiness of potential deals
• Assessing insurable interest for life insurance policies in the context of evaluating appropriate policy approval practices

Mutual funds and investments

Mr. Bevan analyzes the structure and performance of mutual funds in various litigation contexts, including Section 36(b) excessive fee litigation and actions related to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). He has directed teams in:

• Analyzing algorithmic trading strategy and associated price impacts related to Securities and Exchange Commission allegations of market manipulation by a hedge fund
• Assessing fees and performance of mutual fund investment options within 401(k) and 403(b) plans
• Evaluating the economic impact of activist investors in closed-end mutual funds
• Analyzing issues in multiple cases involving Section 36(b) excessive fee litigation, including matters related to fund fees, performance, and shareholder services
• Estimating damages arising from alleged differences between a mutual fund’s advertised hedging strategy and its implementation

Valuation

Mr. Bevan addresses complex valuation issues in mergers and acquisitions matters in a range of industries. His expertise includes discounted cash flow (DCF), comparable companies, and precedent transaction valuation methodologies. He has directed teams in:

• Evaluating the valuation methodology performed for a Fortune 500 company in the process of going private
• Performing event study regressions of market reactions to assess the reasonableness of the acquisition price

Structured finance and financial institutions

Mr. Bevan’s expertise spans the mortgage-backed securitization process, including loan origination, loan servicing, insurance wrapping, and all stages of due diligence. He has also led teams on structured finance cases involving asset-backed securities and structured investment vehicles.

His financial institutions work includes assessing failed banks, regulatory oversight of banks, and corporate risk analysis.