This is your 10th year being named the Accounting Firm of the Year. What key achievements and developments have driven this recognition?
What has driven this recognition is consistency — a sustained commitment to quality, deep technical excellence, and strong collaboration with subject matter professionals across the organisation.
Deloitte was closely involved with establishing the building blocks of securitization back in the 1980s and our dedication to the industry hasn’t waned over the last 40 years. Over time, we’ve continued to invest in technology, talent, and cross-functional knowledge needed to serve clients as they navigate an evolving securitization market. We’ve just released the 12th edition of the Deloitte Securitization Accounting Book, which brings together accounting, tax and regulatory capital thought leaders from across Deloitte. As a result, we have earned the trust of our clients and they have continued to engage us based on our ability to serve transactions with rigor and efficiency, while also offering broader perspectives on the impacts of securitization.
What changed most in the US securitization market over these 10 years, and how did Deloitte & Touche adapt faster or more effectively than peers?
The biggest change has been the pace and complexity of the market. Structures have become more sophisticated, and the variety of asset classes has significantly expanded.When you think about solar, data centres and capital call facilities, they didn’t exist 10 years ago and now these non-traditional asset classes make up a significant part of the market. The RMBS and CMBS markets have seen their highs and lows, but you’ve seen innovative structures in each of those areas to meet market demand. You also can’t ignore the resurgence and importance of the CLO market.
Regardless of the asset class, there are higher expectations around transparency, analytics and compliance. We’ve seen that not only in 144A deals, but also in the 4(a)(2) markets and warehouse financing.
What’s differentiated Deloitte is the size and depth of experience of our securitization professionals combined with our proprietary technology. We have approximately 160 professionals dedicated solely to securitization, along with a deep bench of Audit & Assurance professionals that we can rely on during high demand periods, which allows us to be nimble. Our technology platforms give us the ability to adapt to innovative transactions while maintaining the efficiency and quality that the market demands.
How has Deloitte evolved its modelling, valuation, and cash flow analytics to keep pace with increasingly complex asset classes?
The short answer is technology. Coming out of the 2008 financial crisis, we deployed a proprietary cash flow modelling tool that we felt would be more flexible and efficient. Little did we know how important the development of that tool would be in the years ahead. As new asset classes have been introduced and structural features have become more complex, we’ve been able to quickly adapt our models. Over the years, we’ve continued to add enhancements and introduce automation. The reality is that we’re seeing not just increased deal complexity, but also a higher volume of innovative structures and a greater need for analytics, all without sacrificing speed to market. Our technology gives us the ability to keep pace with a rapidly evolving market, but it’s really our talented professionals — with the depth of experience to allow them to understand complex structures, build robust models and serve our clients effectively — that sets us apart.
Given the advent of AI, how is Deloitte balancing automation with human judgement in complex securitization accounting?
We see AI as an accelerator, not a replacement for professional judgment. It can help streamline data extraction, identify anomalies, and speed up parts of the analytical process, but complex securitization accounting still requires experienced professionals to evaluate assumptions, interpret structure-specific facts, and make informed judgments. An appropriate balance is human-led and technology-enabled.
Looking ahead, what capabilities are you building to ensure Deloitte remains the top accounting firm for the next decade – and what challenges do you foresee?
We’re continuing to invest in the combination of capabilities that matters most — technical depth, tech-enabled workflows and talent that can serve our clients across a broad range of accounting, tax, valuation and regulatory topics. We believe the organisations that lead the next decade will be the ones that pair innovation with judgment and scale with quality. The challenge is that the market will only become faster, more complex, and more competitive, so staying ahead will require constant evolution.