About William F. Reed

Strategic Finance & Healthcare Executive

William Reed brings Wall Street "street smarts" and Wall Street support to small, yet growing firms who need a "big presence" and experienced management.

With twenty-five years' background (nearly ten at C-level) in finance, operations, IT, and healthcare, Bill is a rainmaker, relationship builder, and global strategist who conceives and executes corporate development strategies and manages finance functions for dynamic, high-growth enterprises—most recently in healthcare and, earlier, in a spectrum of other industries.

Known as a consummate innovator and trend spotter, Bill Reed is, in his words, an "Old style business guy who meets the client and kicks the tires." Bill has said, "What is lacking today in business is research. Business and business research are now done within the sterile confines of the computer. But people are business, people do business, and people must be the core of any business research success."

Experienced in multiple downturns and upturns, Bill understands and leverages the interplay between the technical and the physical, uses technology to its fullest capabilities, and is not afraid to mix in street research and gut instinct. From this, and from his focus on people-focused research, come profit-driving innovations in products and process.

Bill does deals and creates markets where none exist by getting in under the radar, before the trend, and before the big players see the potential—succeeding no matter how new the environment or how tough the deal. Deeply knowledgeable in global market conditions, trends, and risks, he thrives in the business environments of other cultures, especially in Asia, where he has seamlessly worked with foreign entities, leaders, and investors.

Early in his career, when most banks were late into doing business in Asia and needed personal representation within countries, Bill provided it and was an integral player in uncovering great investment opportunities, even during the height of the Asian financial crisis.

Bill Reed likes to say that he is a unique combination of a "Big numbers guy with a big personality." Even at a junior level he was able to bring a chairman over to his ideas, doing a deal that raised a billion and a half dollars of capital without equity. That developed into a pioneering private deal.

This has been a theme for him at many companies. During the time he was in Asia, investment banking was wrapped around the commercial lending businesses. Bill became one of the leaders developing an investment product for Bank of America. He developed entirely new investments and came back to the company with a check in his pocket, despite the fact that there was no support because he was doing something that had never before been done.

Accomplishments like this are the reason that Bill Reed is known in the finance and healthcare industries for conceiving, structuring, negotiating, and executing complex, high-dollar transactions. He has raised millions-of-dollars by getting into the mind of the customer to build relationships based purely on meeting need, developing synergies, and building trust. His was, and is, an ethical and trusted colleague and resource.

Mr. Reed's career began at Chemical Bank in its international commercial finance business. He moved on to become an investment banker with BankAmerilease a leasing subsidiary of Bank of America. He most notable work in finance was with Mitsui & Co., where he focused on highly leveraged transactions (he was a founder and then senior manager of Mitsui Nevitt Capital Corporation from 1988 to 1994), and helped the firm become a major player in its market with over $1.5 billion in investments.

Mr. Reed's most recent leadership has been in healthcare. Cossel Reed, the consulting firm that he founded has been an innovator in the healthcare space since 1994—maximizing value for emerging or growing healthcare companies by building innovative programs and products that drive revenue and profit.

Thriving on challenging situations that require new insights and strategies, Bill has said, "The challenge of maximizing value is what interests me. I like difficult situations where there is value in the company but it is upside down due to an event or poor performance that caused the capital structure to become unbalanced."

Bill creatively combines his workout and due diligence experience to review operations from the bottom up to accelerate the collection of cash. He brings a Wall Street style business focus that is often lacking in small businesses and is involved in the day-to-day operations reporting to the owner/ board of his client companies.

Bill can do this because, as he says, "I have been around the block. I have started managed companies dealing with the day-to-day issues, keeping my integrity while maximizing returns to investors and protecting creditors. I have worked with the deal side of large law and accounting firms as well as their restructuring dept. I have made mistakes, taken responsibility for them, and worked them out while maximizing returns. I know what a bad business is and I have enough business judgment to outline a plan for recovery."

Valuing management and the business proposition to see if it makes sense—and then comparing this to the capital structure to see if it makes sense—is what Bill does best. Working closely with leaders and companies who have made investments that are going sideways—or down—he comes in, does the management assessment, and plans customized and painless solutions that maximize ROI.

His executive toolbox includes the ability to deliver boardroom presentations, deal with larger institutional investors and lenders, interface with lawyer groups and large law firms, sort out complicated court issues, understand financial statements, raise capital, and manage bankruptcies, M&As, company sales, restructuring phases, and other unique situations.

When asked about his ultimate value to a company, Bill says it is simple: "I maximize value by handling complicated issues and difficult environments so that leaders are no longer bombarded by problems that can devour 90% of their time. In short, I allow them to once again settle in and do their jobs!"

Using these skills, Bill has led Cossel Reed to notable achievements including the operational turnaround of $75+ million, multi-site healthcare company, the CFO leadership and turnaround of Healthcare Capital Resources, and the development of a groundbreaking patient preadmission procedure (and companion product) positioned to become the industry standard.

Known for his honesty and loyalty, Bill Reed's word is his bond. The trust he engenders has been the intangible catalyst for much of his success and his groundbreaking deals—most of which were made without any institutional product behind them.

Mr. Reed lives with his wife Jan and three children—Donald, Rachel, and Gavin—on the Upper East Side of New York City and in Connecticut where he enjoys outdoor sports in all seasons.

He holds an MBA in Finance & Marketing from the University of San Diego and a BS / BA in Finance from the University of Denver. Mr. Reed is an active member of the Healthcare Financial Management Association — HFMA.