2024 ACG DFW Dallas Dealmakers November Program

Bill Adams, SVP, Chief Economist, Comerica Bank

William (Bill) Adams is senior vice president and chief economist at Comerica Bank. He develops Comerica’s forecasts of the U.S. national economy, as well as forecasts of regional economies where Comerica’s clients do business. Under his leadership, Comerica Economics has been recognized by Bloomberg as one of the most accurate forecasters of the U.S. economy. Adams’ observations on the economy are highly sought-after, leading him to travel across the country providing numerous presentations each year to business executives, investors and policymakers. His commentary is frequently referenced in major financial news outlets including the Wall Street Journal, Fox Business and NPR’s Marketplace.

Adams joined Comerica in 2022 after spending the previous 10 years with The PNC Financial Services Group, where he served as the senior vice president and senior economist. At PNC, he developed forecasts of the U.S. national economy, regional economies and major foreign economies. Adams was a recipient of Consensus Economics’ award for most accurate forecaster of U.S. GDP and inflation in 2017, and was ranked by Bloomberg in the 90th percentile of exchange rate forecasters when he left PNC for Comerica. He began his career as a forecaster as The Conference Board’s China Economist from 2009 to 2011, and is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.

He is co-author of In Line Behind a Billion People: How Scarcity Will Define China’s Ascent in the Next Decade, published in 2013 by the Financial Times Press. He is a member of the Economic Advisory Committee of the American Bankers Association, the National Association for Business Economics, and the D/FW Association for Business Economics. He is also former president of the Economic Club of Pittsburgh; a former Associate of the University of Pittsburgh’s Asian Studies Center; and a former co-director of the Pittsburgh Warburg Chapter of the American Council on Germany.
Adams holds a master’s degree from the Johns Hopkins.

Jeff Parent, Partner, Insight Equity

Jeff is a Partner at Insight Equity and is responsible for all aspects of deal sourcing, evaluation, and execution as well as partnering with portfolio company management to execute strategic and operational initiatives across the portfolio. Prior to attending business school, Jeff was a Senior Associate at Insight Equity.

Jeff serves as a Director on the Boards of Easy Way, Clearly Clean, and Atmos Technologies, and is an officer of CSAT.

Before joining Insight Equity, Jeff was a Financial Analyst at McColl Partners (now Deloitte Corporate Finance), an investment bank focused on middle-market companies. While at McColl Partners, Jeff worked directly with senior partners in executing middle-market mergers, acquisitions, and leveraged buyouts, in addition to competing for potential investment banking mandates.

Jeff received his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He also graduated magna cum laude from Texas Christian University with a BBA in Finance and Accounting.