The Silicon Valley office of Marsh, the world's leading insurance broker and risk advisor, has teamed with Proformative, the online community for financial and accounting professionals, to offer a breakfast seminar for financial executives on managing risk in the coming recovery. The seminar, which is free of charge, will be held Thursday, Dec. 10, from 7:30 to 9:45 a.m., at Orrick, 1000 Marsh Road, Building A, in Menlo Park.

John Kogan, CEO of Proformative, will moderate the seminar, which taps experts from PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Marsh, and Orrick to provide insights on legal, accounting and corporate risk areas that may require greater attention from financial executives as their firms begin to recover from the recession.

"There's no question that the past 18 months have been extremely difficult for businesses here. For many of them, reduced headcount and resources have meant doing more with less — and sometimes, not doing anything at all," said Mr. Kogan. "We've designed the seminar to help financial executives anticipate key issues their firms may encounter as they gear up for recovery."

"As businesses prepare for 2010 and beyond, their financial executives will continue to play a key role in their overall strategic planning – regardless of whether their emphasis will be on margin improvement, top-line growth, M&A, divestiture of distressed assets, global expansion, or other initiatives," said Drew Haaser, a managing director of Marsh and head of the firm's San Jose office. "By teaming with Proformative on this event, we’re able to bring together a wide range of expertise to help them identify and assess key risks they’re likely to face in this dynamic environment."

Speakers for the seminar include: Danny Wallace, partner, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, who will discuss corporate controls and potential issues associated with under-investing; Renni Muzii, managing director, Marsh, who will discuss errors & omissions liability insurance and its significance as firms move toward recovery; and Larry Kane, partner, Orrick, who will discuss legal compliance in an environment where risks expand along with businesses.  Subsequently, the speakers will participate in a panel discussion anchored by Rex Jackson, CFO and general counsel, Cymyx (NASDAQ: SMMX).  The event will conclude with a Q&A session.

Those interested in attending the seminar must register here on or before Friday, Dec. 4.

Throughout the U.S., Marsh is working with unique companies such as Proformative to reach risk and financial executives through new forums designed to meet their needs for meaningful insights on emerging issues and trends, and actionable content.

About Proformative

Founded in 2008 in San Jose/Silicon Valley, California, Proformative is a free and open online professional community dedicated exclusively to serving the needs of corporate finance and accounting professionals, helping them learn from one another and get work done. Proformative is community-driven, not corporate driven, and delivers a 'noise-free' environment for its members. Privately funded and privately held, Proformative was created by co-founders John Kogan, CEO/CFO, and Greg Stout, CTO/VP of Engineering & Development.