Senior PwC advisors join rivals Mercer and Baker Tilly

Mercer has appointed Sheela Sukumaran, formerly at PwC, as a Director in the firm's Advisory business – she will be based out of San Francisco. Baker Tilly Virchow Krause has hired Shawn Anderson, also formerly at PwC, as a Partner in its Assurance practice – he is based in New York.

Prior to joining Mercer, Sheela Sukumaran worked at PwC as a Director in the firm’s Advisory business’ People and Organization Practice, she started at the firm in 2014. She was previously worked at Infosys for almost six years, in her most recent role as HCM Consulting & Cloud Practice Lead. Earlier roles include Partner at Anthem Research for a year; various roles at Coca-Cola India over an almost five year period; as an HR Manager at Planetasia.com for a year; and as an HR Manager at ICICI Securities, starting in 1995.

Sukumaran holds a Master of Business Administration from XLRI Jamshedpur and a Master’s in Economics from University of Madras, India.

Sukumaran has joined the firm as a Partner and has been appointed to a newly created role at the firm, that of Technology Industry Leader. The new role sees Sukumaran take charge of a team technology specialists, with a focus on applying technology based solutions in the firm’s wider energy, insurance, and financial services industry practices. Her role sees her responsible for bringing together strategic business priorities with talent and HR strategies for the firm’s clients, as well as further develop the firm’s technology industry-specific consulting capabilities globally – she is based out of San Francisco.

Pat Milligan, Global Leader, Multinational Client Group, Mercer, to whom Sukumaran will report, says, “Sheela is an accomplished human capital and strategic change consulting leader. She will be a tremendous asset as we continue to build our Technology Industry Team to focus on the specific, complex needs of our clients in the Technology sector. We are thrilled to bring such high-caliber talent to Mercer.”

Prior to joining Baker Tilly Virchow Krause in the US, Shawn Anderson worked at PwC where he, over his more than 14 year career at the firm, rose to the role Senior Manager. His work at the firm was focused on private companies, Anderson clients range across manufacturing, distribution, retail and service industries.

Anderson holds an Associate's degree in Accounting from Holyoke Community College, a Master's degree in Accounting from University of Massachusetts at Amherst and attended the Executive Education programme at the Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management.

At Baker Tilly, Anderson takes on the role of Partner in the firm’s Assurance practice, and is charged with leading the “phases of audit and attest engagements including audits of annual consolidated financial statements, internal controls, quarterly reviews and other agreed upon procedures.”

Baker Tilly’s New York Market Leader Christine Fenske remarks that the firm is “excited” to have Anderson join the firm, he brings almost 15 years of experience to the business. She adds, “His depth of knowledge in a variety of industries combined with his understanding of the Long Island market will make him an invaluable asset to Baker Tilly’s numerous commercial clients in this region.”

Anderson remarks, that he is “extremely excited” to join the Baker Tilly. He adds, “I was impressed by the quality of the individuals at the firm, the depth of value add services we can offer our clients and the growth of the firm in the New York Metro region. I look forward to serving Baker Tilly’s commercial clients as a valued business advisor by offering practical business guidance to help them reach their objectives.”