AbbottModelDLOM was developed to provide valuation professionals with a transparent and market-informed foundation for performance evaluation, liquidity analysis, blockage, and discounts for lack of marketability.
The platform connects identified public-company cohorts with available quarter-specific financial and trading evidence. It also integrates liquidity, volatility, exchange-option models, information conditions, and structured professional judgment.
The objective is not to produce an automatic valuation conclusion. It is to support an analytical process that can be audited, reproduced, explained, and independently defended.
Why AbbottModelDLOM Was Developed
Valuation analyses frequently draw on several disconnected sources of evidence. A reference group may be selected for one purpose, while volatility, liquidity, and qualitative factors are developed from different populations or assumptions.
This can make the resulting conclusion difficult to reconcile. It can also create the risk that related economic effects are counted more than once.
AbbottModelDLOM addresses these concerns using a consistent workflow.
The platform:
- Forms an identified, quarter-specific public-company reference cohort
- Uses the same cohort throughout the analysis
- Compares the subject company with peer financial and operating evidence
- Develops market-based liquidity and liquidation-period measures
- Estimates volatility using a defined daily-return methodology
- Applies exchange-option models under identified information conditions
- Organizes Mandelbaum considerations
- Distinguishes calculated results from professional judgment
- Provides an auditable path from inputs to model indications
The platform gives the analyst a consistent body of market evidence. The analyst remains responsible for interpreting that evidence and developing the final conclusion.
About Ashok B. Abbott, PhD
Ashok B. Abbott, PhD, is a finance and valuation researcher whose work has focused extensively on marketability, liquidity, blockage, business valuation, option-based discount models, information asymmetry, growth, cost of capital, and passive appreciation.
He earned a PhD in Finance from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1987. His doctoral work included an emphasis in econometrics. His dissertation examined the valuation effects of tax legislation.
He earned an MBA in Finance from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1984. He previously served as a Research Associate at Virginia Tech.
Dr. Abbott developed AbbottModelDLOM to connect his research on liquidity and exchange-option models with an applied, market-based workflow for valuation professionals.
Research and Publication Record
Dr. Abbott’s research and professional writing span more than three decades. His work has appeared in finance, forensic accounting, and business valuation publications.
His research has addressed:
- Discounts for lack of marketability and liquidity
- Holding periods and orderly liquidation
- Option-based DLOM models
- Margrabe exchange-option analysis
- Company size and liquidity
- Information asymmetry in private placements
- Initial public offering performance
- Long-term growth rates
- Passive appreciation in divorce valuations
- Financial distress and corporate transactions
- Asset pricing and market behavior
Selected publications include:
- “Cost of Liquidity: Option-Based Methods in a Margrabe Exchange Option Framework,” Journal of Forensic Accounting Research, 2023
- “Passive Appreciation in Divorce: A Quantitative Measure,” Journal of Forensic Accounting Research, 2020
- “Does One Size Fit All? Discounts for Lack of Marketability Across Size and Time,” The Value Examiner, 2017
- “Estimating the Discount for Lack of Marketability: A Best Fit Model,” Valuation Strategies, 2012
- “Discount for Lack of Liquidity: Understanding and Interpreting Option Models,” Business Valuation Review, 2009
- “A Quantitative Measure of Discount for Lack of Liquidity,” Business Valuation Review, 2007
- “Estimating the Holding Period for Listed Securities,” Valuation Strategies, 2004
- “Discount for Lack of Marketability: An Empirical Analysis,” Business Valuation Review, 2003
His book contributions include work on measures of discounts for lack of marketability and liquidity and on passive appreciation in closely held companies and professional practices.
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Professional Presentations
Dr. Abbott has presented valuation and finance research to professional and academic audiences in the United States and internationally.
His presentations have addressed DLOM, blockage, liquidity, company growth, cost of capital, option models, information asymmetry, size premiums, passive appreciation, and valuation during changing economic conditions.
Organizations and conferences reflected in his vita include:
- National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts
- American Society of Appraisers
- American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
- Business Valuation Institute UK
- Canadian business-valuation conferences
- State CPA societies
- Finance and management conferences
- University and professional valuation programs
Recent presentations have included:
- “New Perspectives on the Age-Old DLOM Challenge”
- “Calculating or Determining Company Growth”
- “Margrabe Exchange Equation Framework for DLOM and Blockage”
- “Discount for Lack of Marketability: Margrabe Options Approach”
- “Estimating Growth Rates and Valuation”
- “Testing DLOM Models Using Stout Restricted Stock Data”
These presentations connect academic research with issues encountered by practicing valuation professionals.
Professional Service
Dr. Abbott has served on editorial review boards for professional and academic valuation publications.
His service includes:
- Editorial Review Board, The Value Examiner
- Editorial Review Board, Business Valuation Review
- Editorial service for the Journal of Business Valuation and Economic Loss Analysis
- Chair of the NACVA Scholarly Presentations Committee
- Academic-session leadership for valuation conferences
- Review of finance and valuation research
He has been a member of the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts since 2012. He has also been recognized as an Expert Member of the Business Valuation Institute UK.
Consulting and Applied Experience
Dr. Abbott’s vita reports consulting and applied work involving financial institutions, government, valuation firms, and litigation-related assignments.
Organizations identified in that record include:
- Internal Revenue Service
- Duff & Phelps ( Now Kroll)
- Standard & Poor’s Corporate Valuation Group
- Financial Research Associates
- Law-firm and litigation engagements
This applied work has complemented his research on liquidity, valuation, transaction structure, and financial-market behavior.
Awards and Recognition
Dr. Abbott’s recognitions include:
- Best Research Paper, FORE International Finance Conference, 2014
- Industry Titans recognition, National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts, 2016
- Distinguished Service Recognition Award, West Virginia University, 2000
- Expert Member, Business Valuation Institute UK
Guiding Principles
AbbottModelDLOM reflects several principles developed through this research and professional work:
- Market evidence should be aligned with the valuation date.
- Reference-cohort formation should be transparent and auditable.
- The same identified cohort should be used throughout the analysis.
- Model inputs should be connected to observable supporting evidence.
- Information conditions should guide model selection.
- Related liquidity measures should not become duplicative adjustments.
- Financial performance should provide context rather than an automatic DLOM adjustment.
- Quantitative models should support, not replace, professional judgment.
- A valuation conclusion should be capable of being explained and independently defended.
Role of the Platform
AbbottModelDLOM is an analytical decision-support resource. It does not provide an automatic valuation opinion.
The platform organizes public-market evidence, applies defined calculations, and presents model indications. The valuation professional remains responsible for:
- Selecting supportable inputs
- Evaluating reference-cohort relevance
- Considering the rights and restrictions of the subject interest
- Selecting the applicable model
- Avoiding double counting
- Reconciling quantitative and qualitative evidence
- Documenting the analysis
- Developing the final conclusion
Contact
Questions about AbbottModelDLOM, its research foundation, professional education, or platform access are welcome.
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