Robert F. Carmichael is licensed as a Certified Public Accountant and is a founding member of Blackwood Holdings Group, LLC, a private equity group headquartered in Orlando, FL, with offices in Beverly Hills, CA, and Shanghai, China. As a licensed CPA, Mr. Carmichael has direct experience in tax, forensic accounting, auditing, business valuation, and financial structuring and forecasting. Mr. Carmichael’s professional experience includes mergers and acquisitions, commercial real estate development and lending, energy industry financial analysis and forecasting, and the development and implementation of corporate governance policies and procedures. He has led the underwriting and finance of more than $5 billion in commercial debt and equity investments.

Prior to founding Blackwood Holdings Group, LLC, Mr. Carmichael held the position of senior vice president at KeyBank NA, where he was responsible for developing and implementing recovery and disposition strategies for OREO assets and distressed loans located in the Midwest and eastern United States.

Mr. Carmichael started his career with KeyBank by establishing and managing the Commercial Real Estate Capital offices in central and north Florida. Prior to joining KeyBank, Mr. Carmichael held the position of senior vice president at Bank of America, where he was responsible for its real estate development efforts in central Florida. Mr. Carmichael was instrumental in developing and launching the bank’s small business lending program. Earlier in his career, he owned a real estate development company in New York, but got his start in commercial real estate with Caldwell Banker Commercial Real Estate Services in New York City. Mr. Carmichael started his accounting career with Shell Oil Company, where he was responsible for reporting offshore exploration and production financial results. He also led the formation of several offshore oil and gas joint ventures with foreign partners.

The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) is the world’s largest member association representing the CPA profession, with more than 418,000 members in 143 countries, and a history of serving the public interest since 1887. AICPA members represent many areas of practice, including business and industry, public practice, government, education and consulting.

The AICPA sets ethical standards for the profession and U.S. auditing standards for private companies, nonprofit organizations, federal, state and local governments. It develops and grades the Uniform CPA Examination, and offers specialized credentials for qualified professionals who concentrate on personal financial planning; forensic accounting; business valuation; and information management and technology assurance. With The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), it offers the Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) designation, which sets the global benchmark for quality and recognition in management accounting.

The AICPA and CIMA also make up the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (the Association), which represents public and management accounting globally, advocating on behalf the public interest and advancing the quality, competency and employability of CPAs, CGMAs and other accounting and finance professionals worldwide.

The AICPA maintains offices in New York, Washington, DC, Durham, NC, and Ewing, NJ.