William Becker Email & Phone Number

Simpsonville, SC, US

Nashotah, WI, US

• Lead and manage all budgeting and forecasting discussions for a roughly $30 million sales plasticpolymers manufacturer that primarily serves the automotive and consumer products sectors
• Stringently monitor cash flow to ensure required capital investment, including the addition of two new Engel 1,600 ton presses, to support a multi-million dollar launch as a new Tier-1 supplier to Volvo in 2024
• Handle all aspects of the monthly and annual close for Proper’s largest division and responsible for producing timely financial statements that are presented to corporate management
• Initiated the addition of numerous new KPIs that are regularly tracked and downloaded in Microsoft Power BI for weekly management meetings
• Instrumental in bringing Account Payable duties back down to the plant level from Corporate to improve transparency

Spartanburg, South Carolina, US

• Managed all financial planning and budgeting activities with a keen focus on growth for a $35 million-plus specialty chemical manufacturer serving the aerospace, aviation, automotive, power and industrial sectors
• Performed all controller duties, including all aspects of the monthly close, tax preparation, and inventory audits, as well as handle all banking and insurance relationships and negotiations
• Led the management of cash flow activities to support the addition of three large chemical reactors - the first additions in 20 years, including a 5,000 gallon, rated 500 psi high-pressure reactor to secure business.
• Initiated RFID tracking and a push down inventory control system to boost transparency and accountability of materials, resulting in aged inventory (180+ days) declining by 70% in four years
• Collaborated with Process Chemist to determine and update all-in production costs across existing product lines as well as potential new projects to support pricing and bidding decisions
• Developed and maintained several key snapshot ratio spreadsheets that kept Management team informed on various profitability and liquidity trends

Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland, NL

• Led weekly meetings with the CEO and Property Manager to explore ways to maximize profitability at 10 apartment complexes in the Charlotte and Winston-Salem, NC markets with annualized revenues approaching $20 million.
• Generated new ideas for investments, including the purchase and rapid expansion of a Charlotte-based cut-and-sew textile manufacturer and a large investment in an ocean marina in Hilton Head, as well as the oversight.
• Successfully implemented numerous new initiatives to better assess operations and boost performance, including numerous KPI metrics, quarterly bonuses for property managers and maintenance staff, monthly status.
• Implemented new ERP system, developed procedures, improved controls/reporting and analyzed financial models
• Performed monthly close and produced all financial reporting statements, as well as completed all federal and state income tax and Schedule K-1 filings
• Responsible for critical human resource decisions, including the hiring of property managers and staff

US

• Analyzed high-yielding international equities for a group of open-end funds with combined net assets of approximately $1 billion, primarily focusing on markets in North America, Australia, Asia and Europe
• Co-managed equity positions for the Ranger International “I” Class Fund, an international dividend/income fund with net assets of approximately $25 million that outperformed its benchmark MSCI All Country World Index.
• Generated and presented investment ideas as well as recommended changes on current equity positions to the portfolio manager and research team on a bi-weekly basis
• Wrote weekly marketing articles covering a variety of topics, such as pension longevity risk and corporate debt levels, for fund marketing materials and the company website

Lexington, KY, US

• Provided sell/short recommendations to institutional clients, including Fidelity, Vanguard, Putnam and numerous large hedge funds, covering a wide breadth of industries, with particular focus on consumer, industrial.
• Wrote extensive research articles covering various accounting themes and insights that were widely distributed across a number of publications, including Barron’s, Fortune and MarketWatch
• Assessed short ideas based on quantitative screening and qualitative research, with emphasis on cash flows, leverage, margins, competition, dividend sustainability, and quality of earnings factors
• Presented and discussed ideas with hedge fund and investment management clients and advised on trading entry/exit points, paired-trade opportunities and other related strategies
• Delivered strong performance at Behind the Numbers, as 66% of closed-out short ideas declined in absolute value with an average decline of 29.7%, while 81% underperformed the S&P 500; including calls on major stock.
• Researched, developed and published a weekly newsletter focusing on company updates, current events, market trends and accounting changes

• Researched and recommended long and short equity positions to Portfolio Manager David Tice for the Prudent Bear Fund, one of the first mutual funds to actively short stocks with AUM exceeding $2 billion
• Notable sell recommendations generated over this period included Northwest Airlines, Sports & Recreation and Monaco Coach, all of which later filed for Chapter 11
• Constructed numerous models and quantitative screens, which were used extensively at the Prudent Bear Fund for identifying potential investment candidates and analyzing current positions/recommendations
• Created and maintained performance measurement spreadsheets
• Delegated numerous projects to our team of junior analysts and interns to supplement research efforts

Bachelor'S Degrees, Political Science/Psychology/Accounting (30 Hours)

Education record