Steve Ivy started business in 1964, at the age of 14, advertising rare coins for sale in national publications. Six years later, at the age of 20, he incorporated and opened his business in a downtown Dallas high rise. In 1976 he incorporated a sister auction company. Steve managed the business as well as serving as chief buyer, buying and selling hundreds of millions of dollars of coins during the 1970’s and early 1980’s.

In 1982, James Halperin merged his company with Steve’s, and the name of the corporation was changed to Heritage. Steve’s primary responsibilities now include management of the marketing and selling efforts of the company, the formation of corporate policy for long-term growth, and corporate relations with financial institutions. He remains intimately involved in all 30 categories Heritage deals in today. Steve engages in daily discourse with industry leaders on all aspects of the fine art and collectibles business, and his views on market trends and developments are respected throughout the industry. He previously served on both the Board of Directors of the Professional Numismatists Guild (past President), and The Industry Council for Tangible Assets (past Chairman). Steve’s keen appreciation of history is reflected in his active participation in other organizations, including past board positions on the Texas Historical Foundation and the Dallas Historical Society. He is also an avid collector of Texas books and manuscripts and owns one of the finest collections in private hands.

Steve is a past Board Chair of the Dallas Challenge, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the health, education and welfare of youth from the greater Dallas area. Steve is also a past Finance Chair of the Phoenix House of Texas. Phoenix House and its affiliates are collectively the largest non- profit alcohol and drug abuse treatment and prevention facility in the nation. Steve currently serves as Chairman of the Board of the National Center for Policy Analysis, a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy research organization.

Ken Marlin is Managing Partner and Founder of Marlin & Associates.

For more than 30 years, Ken has advised scores of U.S. and international middle-market technology enabled firms on the best ways to buy, sell, grow and thrive.

Fifteen years ago, Ken embarked on a journey to create a different sort of investment bank. One that would meld the investment banking skills he learned on Wall Street and as a tech entrepreneur with values and principles Ken learned during the decade that he spent on active duty as U.S. Marine Corps infantry officer (principles such as courage, commitment, competence, discipline, teamwork, planning, respect, persevering in the face of adversity and trying hard to do the right things, for the right reasons, every time). It’s about being Always Faithful (“Semper Fidelis”).

Ken is the author of The Marine Corps Way to Win on Wall Street: 11 Key Principles from Battlefield to Boardroom, published by St. Martin's Press. It is a book that “…lays out a compelling vision to improve Wall Street and Main Street by returning to solid core values like taking the long view, behaving with honor, delivering excellence and working for a cause greater than money…” As Ken says: He no socialist and has no issue with making money – as long as it is done with honor. Immediately before founding M&A, Ken led the Business Information and Internet practice at the media merchant bank and private equity fund Veronis Suhler Stevenson. Along the journey, Ken has had many roles. Among others, he was Senior Vice President for Strategy and Acquisitions at Dun & Bradstreet, when D&B was a diversified multi-national holding company buying and selling many of the same sorts of tech and information businesses that M&A advises today. At D&B, Ken led more than 60 transactions while developing strategy in 13 countries.

Ken then took the position of President and CEO of Telekurs (NA) a global information technology and data firm owned by a consortium of Swiss banks. Four years later, with venture backing, Ken and his partners acquired a large portion of Telekurs NA and used that base to form Telesphere Corporation, where he was CEO. Later, Ken and his partners sold Telesphere to Bridge Information Systems, where he became Executive Vice President.

Ken earned a BA from the University of California (Irvine), an MBA from UCLA, and a post-MBA Advanced Professional Certificate in Corporate Strategy from New York University. He is a former Captain and infantry company commander in the U.S. Marine Corps (serving ten years on active duty including two tours in the Far East). Ken is quoted regularly in publications such as Business Week, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and the New York Post. He also has appeared on radio and television programs such as CBS News, BBC-Worldwide, Fox Business, Sirius XM Radio, Yahoo! TV, The Street.Com TV, and CNBC.

Ken is a believer in community service. He is a former board member of the American Red Cross of Greater New York, the Hurricane Island Outward Bound School and the Phoenix House Foundation. Currently, he is a Trustee of the Madison Square Boys and Girls Club. He also works to support the Wall Street Warriors Foundation and the BJ/SPSA Homeless shelter, where he and his daughter have been overnight volunteers. Ken lives in Manhattan with his wife, daughter, a cat, and turtle. He is a registered securities principal and holds licenses in series 24, 7, 62 and 63.

Douglas Schoen is a Democratic campaign consultant and a founding partner and former principle strategist for Penn Schoen Berland. Mr. Schoen has authored numerous books and is a regular contributor to the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Fox News and other publications. He has lectured at the Institute of Politics at Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government, the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania and the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University.

Mr. Schoen worked for former President Bill Clinton, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and a number of United States Senators and Governors. He has also worked for the heads of states of over 15 countries and large corporations such as Time Warner, Procter& Gamble and AT&T.