Our Team
Clients choose WACM to lead their efforts around capital raising mergers and acquisitions, where services are customized to each client’s specific needs and performed with a systemic and proven approach to achieve the best possible result.
Whelan Advisory has professionals located in New York, Florida, Arizona, Illinois, and Colorado. Our senior team averages five years working at Whelan Advisory and 10+ years of real estate, construction, and M&A advisory experience, offering stability and deep market expertise to our clients.
Margaret Whelan
Margaret Whelan
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Margaret founded Whelan Advisory in 2014 to offer a highly tailored and transparent approach to investment banking for homebuilder and construction company clients. Having participated in financing transactions representing $30+ billion in capital raised over the last 25 years, she is an industry expert leveraging a deep knowledge of relevant drivers, participants, valuation, and financing alternatives.
She started her career in the equity research department at Merrill Lynch in 1995 and graduated from the University College of Dublin in 1994 with an honors Bachelor’s degree in commerce.
From 1997 to 2007, she worked at UBS as a Managing Director and Institutional Investor All-America stock analyst covering more than 30 stocks including homebuilders, manufacturers and retailers. She was also the Global Head of Housing Research.
Whelan was a Managing Director and senior coverage partner in the Real Estate and Lodging group within the investment bank at JPMorgan from 2007 to 2013, advising clients on strategic and capital initiatives through the housing industry’s biggest boom and subsequent downturn.
Andrea Finger
Andrea Finger
Managing Director
Andrea Finger is a seasoned real estate investor, analyst, and advisor with 15+ years experience focusing on homebuilders and consumer real-estate companies.
Finger is a financial and management consultant with expertise in financial statement analysis, valuation, management strategy, and capital raising in the home building, construction services, and real estate investment industries.
Her prior work experience includes 8 years as Global Industry Analyst at Wellington Management Company as an associate partner and member of their Finance and Real Estate teams, specializing in consumer real estate companies globally including homebuilders, hotels, and casinos.
She serves as an adjunct lecturer at the University of Arizona Eller College of Management
Finger holds an MBA with concentrations in Finance and Economics from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a B.S. from the University of Michigan.
Currey Cornelius
Currey Cornelius
Managing Director
Currey Cornelius is a veteran investment banker with significant expertise in the building industry, having spent the last 15+ years focused on investment banking and the last 10+ years providing advisory services exclusively to construction services and building products companies.
Cornelius has extensive experience in mergers & acquisitions, valuation, financial analysis & modeling, corporate strategy, and client positioning.
His career in financial services include 12+ years dedicated to serving middle market companies, working with clients in the building industry throughout.
Cornelius earned his B.A. in Economics and Business from Colorado College.
Luke Klee
Luke Klee
Vice President
Luke Klee is a seasoned finance professional with 10+ years of experience focused on leading organizations through periods of growth and transformation.
He has substantial experience with financial analysis and modeling, corporate strategy, mergers and acquisitions, liquidity and capital planning, and valuation.
His prior work experience includes 5 years at Underwriters Laboratories as a member of their investment and risk management and corporate financial planning teams. Previously he was a finance manager working on exit strategies for SAI Global and served as a management consultant at DLC.
Klee holds an MBA degree with a concentration in Finance from Loyola University Chicago and a B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from Marquette University.
Our Value-Added Approach
Relevant Experience
Multi-faceted experience in structuring transactions and raising capital
Perspective of investment banker, public and private company executive, and industry analyst and investor
Sector Expertise
Extensive knowledge base across homebuilding, SFR, building products, distribution, and related industries
Experience positioning businesses with high growth and evolving business models
Full Service Offering
Based on our direct experience on “all sides of the table” we offer an unmatched perspective and relevant insight for our clients
Services are tailored to each client’s specific needs and can be performed in stages
Senior Leadership
Senior advisors with 80+ years of combined experience lead and are involved in every aspect of the engagement
Committed to our clients from start to finish – no higher priorities
Long-Term Focus
Relationship-based firm; many engagements are sourced through long-standing relationships and word of mouth
Vigorous pursuit of the “right deal” for our clients