TSL Feature Articles

As VC markets cool, more cash-starved companies are turning to venture lending to tide them over until a new equity round is possible. Lenders are taking note—but it may not be the lenders one would expect.  

In this Q&A with Jennifer Post, managing partner of Thompson Coburn LLP’s Los Angeles office, she discusses if recession fears are slowing down equity markets, if start-ups are depending more on risky “uncommon players” for venture capital and other critical challenges startups face. 

Infinity ABL Services, LLC
1121 Mason Ave.
Drexel Hill, PA 19026-2509
https://www.infinityabl.com

Infinity ABL provides field exam services for banks and other commercial finance institutions. Infinity ABL, created in February 2021, has three partners with extensive ABL knowledge.

What is it about some women that makes them seem fearless and unflappable?  Here, we interview three women, Phyllis Young, partner, McGuireWoods LLP; Jan Bellah chief operating officer, Pay4Freight LLC; Jennifer Cann, senior vice president and head of the Retail Finance Group Portfolio, Bank of America, N.A. with very different careers in the financial industry who seem to have figured out the key to feeling and appearing confident and effective in the workplace.

The Women in Secured Finance e-newsletter's feature interview for this issue is with Melissa Mok, director of asset-based lending for Truist Securities. Mok joined Truist Securities in 2014.  Located in Texas, she is responsible for ABL originations of mid- and large-cap companies and is currently focused on the Financial Services, Energy and Industrial Services. TMT and TME industry verticals.

SFNet’s Emerging Leaders Summit (formerly YoPro Leadership Summit) will be held in Florida for the first time since its inception in 2018. This year, SFNet is adding Mid-Year Member Roundtables, a CEO Roundtable (invitation only), and a Chapter Presidents meeting held in conjunction with the Summit, May 22-23, 2023 at the Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, FL.

“Our younger members have told us they want to build relationships with cohorts at all levels of experience and influence as well as with their peers,” said Rich Gumbrecht, CEO, SFNet. “So, we tried something new this year by coupling our Mid-Year Member Roundtables and Chapter Presidents meeting with the Emerging Leader Summit. We programmed lots of interconnectivity through social events and shared programming to create a contact-rich environment.”

SFNet's International Lending Conference (ILC) brings together some of the most interesting players on the international lending scene for discussions and insights into what lies ahead. This year’s Conference will be held at DLA Piper Offices, May 9-11, 2023.

“War, energy crisis, high inflation, synchronized interest rate hikes and stagnation in China, should have pushed the European economy in a deep recession,” said economist and journalist, Dr. Mathijs Bouman, who will kick off the Conference. “But, the old continent is more resilient than many feared and the downturn could turn out to be shallow and short-lived. But new challenges lay ahead for European industries: the structurally tight labor market, trade and investment wars and fragmentation of the world economy and the rising costs of climate policy.” 

Last year was not the type of “cascade” we thought it would be – at all – as 2022 turned out to be more characterized by a surge of rising rate hikes and new concerns, versus a wave of new deals. Undeterred, we’re back this year to so see what could be infashion for factoring in 2023.

First on our list, the hot new color for this year – Viva Magenta!

Longstanding guidance to “know your borrower” is respected for good reason. The recent and unexpected upheaval in the banking and lending sector is triggering a renewed focus on financial risk management relating to borrowers and potential borrowers.

Banks and lenders need a clear understanding of the treasury-management function and risk-mitigation strategies employed by their borrowers and potential borrowers. As in previous challenging economic environments, the current uncertainty is an unpleasant, but beneficial, reminder to evaluate – or re-evaluate – these important functions and strategies. The Treasury Management Gap Analysis is an essential way to achieve this goal.

Last Fall, Webster Bank announced that Abby Parsonnet was named executive managing director, head of Asset Based Lending (ABL) for Webster Bank. In her role, she oversees the nationwide Asset-Based Lending and Commercial Services teams at Webster, which also includes staffing solutions and factoring. She reports to Chris Motl, president of Commercial Banking.

As head of ABL, Parsonnet is responsible for continuing Webster’s strong tradition of excellence in delivering customized working capital solutions to middle- market clients and sponsors.  She will lead a team of bankers based in strategic markets nationwide.

Here, Abby discusses her career, goals in her new role, how the merger with Sterling National Bank helped to expand Webster’s offerings, particularly in ABL and factoring, and more.

In the coming months, be on the lookout for an increase in seller-financed mergers and acquisitions activity. 

For the last several years, the small and midsized business segment was experiencing increasing purchase price multiples fueled by low interest rates and the available credit made possible by banks’ confidence in a robust economy. Owners of solid businesses – motivated by a desire to close deals before anticipated possible changes in the current tax code – staged auctions and entertained multiple competing all-cash offers. Buyers took advantage of easy credit and low rates to deploy a combination of debt and equity, with debt on the portion of a deal supported by commercial real estate often exceeding 70%.