Alan Wink, Managing Director – Capital Markets, EisnerAmper

Global uncertainty, interest rates, and ongoing tariffs continue to impact company decisions. Additionally, setting up a successful exit event is crucial for the business owners and the capital partners that back them up. With all these factors in the mix, it is important to have a dedicated and knowledgeable team of accounting and advisory professionals to guide business owners through the different market cycles. In an interview with Invest:, Alan Wink, managing director of capital markets for EisnerAmper, highlights the current state of the venture capital environment and considerations companies need to make in an uncertain economic cycle.

What have been the biggest changes for your operations in the past year?

Our private equity investor joined us approximately five years ago. As a company backed by private equity, there is significant pressure to grow and become more profitable. Private equity does not invest forever, so it usually looks for an exit in the future. Through this backing, we have completed approximately 25 combinations with other accounting firms in the past four years, and we now have about 5,000 employees across the globe. We operate in the most significant business centers globally. Our client base is mostly middle-market companies, but there are approximately 100 public entities to which we provide audit and tax services. We service hundreds of private equity, venture capital, and family office organizations. 

When you factor in the global economy, uncertainty abroad, and in the United States, I believe everyone has been impacted. There is much uncertainty about where interest rates are going and the true impact of tariffs, for example. As a result, many people have been waiting and delaying capital investments, as well as hiring decisions. The expectation was that 2025 was going to be a banner year. Take, for example, the IPO market, which has been somewhat dormant in the past 18 to 24 months. While there has been a sprinkling of some decent IPOs, it has not been the year people anticipated. People are writing off the rest of 2025 and hoping that 2026 will be a better year. Our clients are challenged mostly because of the ongoing uncertainty around the world. 

What makes New Jersey an ideal location for your operations?

New Jersey has some distinct advantages and some distinct disadvantages. The geography between New York and Philadelphia is wonderful. We can be in either city within 45 minutes. But also, it is a competitive market. We are competing with those cities for companies and investments. We know some of the challenges the state is facing. It is an expensive place to live, property taxes are off the charts, and we need to make it more affordable for young people to build their careers and families here. But we also have a tremendous university system in the state with some amazing higher education institutions. 

What is the current state of the private equity or venture capital environment for young entrepreneurs operating in New Jersey? 

We have to encourage young entrepreneurs to build their businesses in the state and provide them with the necessary support. A key issue that the state is contending with is the lack of capital to support venture activities. Comparing New Jersey with other states, there is almost no resident venture capital in the state. There are a few angel groups that are active and successful. There are a few VC groups as well. However, there is a need for more seed capital to support more early-stage ventures. There have been legislative developments, such as the angel tax credit that investors get for investing in certain companies, which is important. 

However, young companies need to be able to find capital, and you don’t want them to go to Pennsylvania or New York. Everyone is competing for the same companies. At the university level, we need to encourage entrepreneurship. We need to encourage business leaders who have had successful exits to come back and help the young entrepreneurs who are trying to do the same thing. Looking at the data, the number of seed-stage or angel-backed companies that go on to raise a series A is small, and most of these companies fail. You have to have grit to build a business, but you also need the infrastructure around these companies to help them improve their probability of being successful. 

What goes into a client’s decision to evaluate whether to raise more capital versus a merger or acquisition?

One of the hot buttons in venture capital today is that these VC funds raised enormous pools of capital during the pandemic era. However, the business model for VC funds is to invest some money and then get out, which requires liquidity events such as M&A or IPOs. The biggest problem facing venture capital today has been a lack of liquidity events. This creates a dilemma because the VCs need to return capital to the limited partners, and if this does not happen, they need to evaluate how to deal with this. It is becoming harder and harder for these VC-backed companies to keep raising private capital. People thought 2025 would be the year with a large number of these liquidity events, yet it has not materialized. It has to happen sooner or later because many of these companies are at the tail end of the lifecycles of these funds, and they have to get out. Across markets, everyone is dealing with the same issue. It is all about liquidity. 

What are the current challenges facing the accounting industry? 

Younger people today have a different view of the world compared to other generations. Due to their knowledge and involvement with technologies, there is almost a need for instant gratification, and sometimes the accounting profession does not provide them with that. We are having the same issues that other accounting firms are facing in relation to finding and retaining talent. We also need to consider the impact of AI on the accounting profession. We are in the first inning of the AI game, and it will impact many professions. The value will come in interpreting the data to make informed decisions. Becoming an expert in data analysis will be key to being successful. 

What is your outlook and top priorities for the near future?

It is all about growth and profitability. We are constantly looking for new markets to enter, searching for new vertical markets that would impact our business. I see us investing in businesses that are not directly accounting or tax-related, but businesses that provide services that we can cross-market to our clients. Accounting has become more of an advisory business than just presenting financial statements or tax returns to our clients. For accounting firms to thrive, they need to provide advice that helps clients grow and become more profitable and anticipate pitfalls so they can avoid them. It is important to have a strong partnership with the clients.