LOS ANGELES, April 6, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- PondelWilkinson Inc., one of the nation's leading independent investor relations and corporate communications advisory firms, said today it has added Laurie Berman to its management ranks as senior vice president, and that seven-year firm veteran Robert Jaffe has been promoted to senior vice president.
Berman brings to the firm nearly 15 years of relevant experience counseling executive management teams on positioning their companies to Wall Street and the financial news media. She has advised an extensive array of businesses, from pre-IPO to blue-chip enterprises, on matters including investor profiling and liaison, financial news media relations, valuation analysis, shareholder communications, crisis communications, and mergers and acquisitions.
Berman had an eight-year career with Financial Relations Board in New York and Los Angeles and served as director of investor relations for Internet search provider Overture, which was acquired by Yahoo!. She also served in several management positions with Institutional Investor magazine. Berman earned a bachelor's degree in sociology from the State University of New York at Binghamton and is a practicing member of the National Investor Relations Institute.
Jaffe joined PondelWilkinson in 1999 with extensive corporate communications and investor relations experience with two publicly traded, multi-national corporations -- Herbalife International, Inc. and IVAX Corporation.
With financial expertise originally gained as a practicing CPA, Jaffe's background in consulting includes broad investor outreach programming and complex financial transactions. He has in-depth expertise in crisis communications, developing and executing national, regional and local media relations strategies. Jaffe also advises companies on strategic communications for a wide range of sensitive corporate matters, including acquisitions and divestitures, corporate restructurings, management changes, and more. Jaffe earned a master's degree in taxation and a bachelor's degree in accounting from Florida International University.
About PondelWilkinson Inc.
PondelWilkinson has established a well-respected track record, dating to its original founding in 1968, for services that include strategic investor relations and corporate communications counsel, direct liaison with Wall Street, financial and business news media relations, M&A and crisis communications and litigation support, as well as messaging and business development counsel for financial and professional services firms. Its principals, Roger Pondel, Cecilia Wilkinson and Rob Whetstone, have worked together for nearly 15 years. The firm has affiliated offices in New York, Boston and Portland, Oregon.