Dan Ross

E-mail                               rossdross@yahoo.com

Personal Website:             BetterBizBooks.com

Present:                            Dallas, Tx                               (214) 417-2115

 

 

OBJECTIVE  I want to add value in an organization looking for an energetic, creative and accomplished financial analyst who quickly sees the “big picture” in respective industries.  I believe I offer a dynamic communication style, superior motivation and time management skills, as well as decision-making abilities. 

                                               

EDUCATION

1996-1998        RICE UNIVERSITY, Houston, Texas.

                        Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Administration.

                        Master of Business Administration, May 1998.

                        Concentrations: Finance and Marketing.

                        Activities:     Member, Finance & Management Consulting club.

                        Honors:       Jones Graduate School Scholarship. 

 

1994-1996        UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS, Dallas, Texas.

                        Bachelor of Science, Accounting, May 1996.

                        Activities:  Member, Finance Management Association;

                        V.P. Education, V.P. Membership, Institute of Management Accountants

                         1995-96);  Member, Accounting Honor Society.

 

EXPERIENCE                 

Jan. 2003 – Landsafe Inc. a Countrywide Financial Coporation, Plano, Texas.

Current        Financial Analyst II

 

·        Extensive Financial Modeling – Two budget cycles and modeled the financial impact / NPV of numerous strategic projects.

·        Cost Accounting – Identified two areas where our costs appeared out of line from what Sr. Management was indicating.  This led to staffing changes and productivity improvements that improved NIBT by over $3 million (10%) for the year.

·        Financial Reporting – Responsible for all financial/corporate reporting and the associated variance analysis each month.  I am the lead contact for all financial issues within LandSafe Appraisal.

·        Productivity analysis – I am the prime contact for determining staffing, based on productivity requirements, for LSA.  In this role I ensure that cost benefit requirements are met and that financial targets are attained.  This role was assumed after identifying the above cost accounting projects.  All organizational changes, from a staffing or operational capacity, have to be given a thorough evaluation of the financial impact.  In this regards I communicate with all sr. managers within LandSafe appraisal plus the CFO and President of LandSafe Appraisal.

·        Contract Analysis - I assist the national sales organization in measuring our cost per order for ROS calculations for national sales contracts.  This is now centralized due to having 3 major lines of business but substantial impact is provided.  The centralized sales/cost position was created after management team of the parent company recognized they didn’t know the true cost per order of all their businesses following my cost accounting project.

 

April 2001   Personal sabbatical, travel/vacationing, reading/personal education (read over 100 books during this time and launched my personal website – non-commercial.)

Jan- 2003      

 

Sept. 1999 –     Sanders Morris Harris, Houston, Texas.

April 2001        Sr. Financial Analyst - Telecommunications.

 

·        Extensive financial modeling/forecasting including forecasting cash flows, balance sheet and P&L statements.

 

·        First to mention SAB 101 Accounting Rule and implications to CLEC industry in March of FY00. 

 

·        Initiated coverage within the telecommunications service industry on selected CLECs (competitive local exchange carriers) and SBC Communications. 

 

·        First to mention structural issues at the firm that led to inefficient resource allocation.  This resulted in a reorganization and what partly led me to part with the firm.

 

·        First to be cautious about SBC Communications (January ’01 – I can provide a copy of the report) and valuation concerns due to my belief that DSL deployment costs would be higher than projected and that there was a high likelihood of a potential slowdown in the wireless industry due to a slowing economy.  I believed, and still do, that the RBOCs will continue to penetrate the long distance industry due to lobbying efforts.

 

·        Provided clients with value-added information about technology cycle and implications of capital crunch.  (Telecom Services à Telecom Equipment à Semiconductor)  This resulted in specialized timely updates to clients who then placed appropriate trades to better position their portfolios.

 

·        Continually improved my communications skills as I needed to interact regularly with clients and the internal sales force to help answer questions and facilitate upcoming news.

 

·        Net Profits exceeded my cost basis by five times my salary.

 

·        Used my extensive network to find out “big picture” issues in telecommunications industry and was early on to communicate about pending financial problems in the telecommunications equipment industry.  References can be provided.

 

·        Met with publicly and privately held companies to assess their capital requirements and needs.

 

March 1999 –   Southwest Securities, Inc. Dallas, Texas.

Sept. 1999        Financial Analyst - Telecommunications.

 

·        Extensive financial modeling including forecasting cash flows, balance sheet and P&L statements.

 

·        Initiated coverage of three companies in three months focusing on proliferation of wireless worldwide and an increase in teledensity throughout the world (# of phone lines per 100 people).  Two companies experienced appreciable price appreciation. 

 

·        Average net return approximated 25% over time in position.

 

·        Met with publicly and privately held companies to assess their capital requirements and needs.

 

June 1998 -      Southwest Securities, Inc., Dallas, Texas.

March 1999     Jr. Financial Analyst - Semiconductors.

                  

·        Assisted senior equity research analysts in conducting industry and company research, performed financial projections and prepared initial coverage reports along with morning notes published on First Call for companies in semiconductor industry.

 

·        Conducted searches for private companies to help facilitate private financing and corporate finance efforts. 

 

·        Established a contact list to facilitate better interaction with institutional clients and coverage list.  This lead to a 3x increase in sales revenue.

 

Summer 1997   Norsig & Associates, Inc., Dallas, Texas.

                        Intern, Research Analyst.

 

·        Examined the wireless segment of the telecommunications industry and various technologies of the segment.

 

·        Prepared financial model for a wireless company utilizing subscriber growth, country populations, cellular penetration rates, royalty estimates, product margins, and other factors.

 

·        Analyzed the ADSL (Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line) segment of the telecommunications industry and reviewed five firms.  Each company was evaluated based on numerous criteria.

 

·        Established entry and exit prices as well as stop losses for particular investments.  Companies mentioned included Orckit Communications, Amati Technologies, Globespan, Qualcomm and Texas Instruments.  Each company generated returns of over 200% after I left.

 

Spring 1996      Merrill Lynch, Dallas and Plano, Texas.

     Intern, Sales Group.

 

·        Obtained new clients through public databases.

 

·        Performed equity research / mutual fund research for client investment.

 

·        Analyzed 25 stocks per week using trend and technical analysis.

 

·        Designed portfolio which beat S&P 500 by 50% in four months.

 

1994-1995         Nortel Networks, Richardson, Texas.

     Jr. Accountant, Cost Accounting & Joint Venture Accounting.

 

·        Analyzed $3 million annually of warranty costs to determine product quality and timely financial reporting. 

 

·        Analyzed work in process inventory identifying slow-moving inventory primarily for variance analysis purposes.

 

·        Allocated costs to departments - useful for performance evaluations.

 

Summer            Nortel Networks, Richardson, Texas.

1992 & 1993     Cooperative Intern, Engineer’s Assistant.

 

·        Aided senior technicians in the operation of digital switches.

 

·        Assisted customers in First Application System Tests - test runs of software applications on digital switches to forsee any problems.

 

OTHER         

Computer Skills:  MS Access, MS Excel, MS Word, MS PowerPoint, MS Front Page.  Hyperion financial, ProClarity Data Mining, I worked on Oracle general ledger many years ago and quickly learn proprietary systems (Stock Valuation and Accounting).

 

Hobbies:  Weightlifting, skiing, reading (business and sociology / pop culture primarily – my website, BetterBizBooks.com mentions some of the books I feel could be of value to others and has a link with my economic analysis of the consumer in the U.S. )