The 2017 Global Leaders in Consulting: Allen Applbaum

Ask Allen Applbaum, Managing Director and the Global Leader of BRG's Global Investigations + Strategic Intelligence practice, what accomplishments he's most proud of over the last year and he'll say assembling the best-in-class professionals, "many of whom I have met and worked with over the last 18 years of my consulting career, to be part of our team at Berkeley Research Group. We now have a world-class global investigations team with 18 offices in 11 countries across five continents."

Applbaum says he has always surrounded himself with colleagues who he respects and enjoys working with so that "every new client matter is an opportunity to collaborate with first-class professionals who I admire and from whom I always continue to learn and grow as a person and as a consultant.  In addition, consulting really allows one to get to know clients well and become a trusted advisor to assist them in times of crisis and with events that they do not always have control over," he says. "Guiding a client through a critical and challenging situation is extremely rewarding."

Applbaum has more than 25 years of investigative consulting and litigation experience, and is a leading expert in high-profile investigations and independent monitorships and receiverships, providing oversight to the government, regulators, law enforcement, and the judiciary. Applbaum draws on his public- and private-sector experience to provide cutting-edge strategies and integrate investigative skills with technology and financial expertise to provide clients with seamless approaches to solve critical problems.

Ask him about his proudest accomplishment over his entire career and he'll say: Taking the skills and expertise he honed as a federal prosecutor for nine years at the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York and applying that precision and investigative excellence to the private consulting sector.  "I have truly enjoyed taking what I learned in government and applying that to the private sector as I help businesses become stronger through the implementation of important internal controls and good corporate governance," he says. "I love being able to have an opportunity to still wear that 'white hat' that I did as a prosecutor but now be able to help make businesses better and stronger using these skills."

Cultivating those relationships with clients while earning a reputation as a client-centric consultant and trusted advisor, he says, are the biggest factors to his success.

Q&A: What does being a Global Leader in Consulting mean to you?  

Applbaum: "It is an honor to be recognized for the new ideas and innovation that I have brought to building the Global Investigations + Strategic Intelligence practice at Berkeley Research Group (BRG).  At a time of intense competition in the consulting industry, it is meaningful for me to receive an award from my peers in the consulting industry for excellence in innovation for what I have helped to build here at BRG."