TSL Feature Articles
Click on the link below to meet some of the “difference makers” in the secured finance community. This issue of The Secured Lender celebrates those who are having a profound impact on both their communities and their organizations.
Previous TSL Articles
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Meaningful Networking in a Virtual World: It CAN Be Done
I was a lender for over 40 years and have been a member of SFNet for most of that time. I have attended many conferences over the years. I especially enjoy the SFNet Annual Convention. A different city every year, an opportunity to catch up with all the people I know in the industry, but haven’t seen in a while, and an opportunity to meet lots of new people that I didn’t know or only knew by telephone or e-mail. When I was a lender, our syndications group would arrange a lot of meetings with existing and potential new partners and very often was able to pitch new deals. This was a time to solidify relationships, expand your professional and personal network and maybe get some business done. For years, I never came home from the convention without at least one new potential deal to review. And, of course, there were always exceptional keynote speakers and terrific panels to attend as well.
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Interview with Seth Benefield, Head of Bank of America Business Capital and Asset-Based Financing
In August, Bank of America announced that Seth Benefield had been named head of Bank of America Business Capital (BABC) and Asset-Based Financing.
He is responsible for managing an international team of asset-based lenders that deliver secured credit facilities and other complementary banking products and services to mid-size and large corporate companies. With nine primary offices serving the United States, Canada and Europe, BABC provides corporate borrowers with senior secured loans of $5 million or more, cash management, interest rate and foreign exchange risk management, and a broad array of capital markets products.
Based in Atlanta, Benefield has been with the bank for 20 years, previously serving as National Marketing Manager, where he managed a team of business development officers who provide asset-based solutions and banking products to large and middle market companies, intermediates and financial sponsors across the U.S. and Europe. Prior to joining the bank, he served as a special agent in the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Benefield earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting from University of Georgia. He is a Certified Public Accountant and holds Series 7, 24, 63 and 79 FINRA registrations.
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SFNet 2020 President John DePledge Reflects on an Unprecedented Year
John DePledge, head of Asset Based Lending at Bank Leumi USA, discusses his tenure as SFNet president and COVID’s impact on plans.
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SFNet WISF Career Corner
This is a new feature providing advice from WISF members to young professionals on a specific topic.
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Interview with Gen Merritt-Parikh, Haversine Funding
Gen Merritt-Parikh is the president of Haversine Funding, a leading financing provider to specialty finance companies, including asset-based lenders, factors, purchase order, equipment and inventory lenders. With more than 25 years of experience in commercial finance, she joined Haversine Funding in August 2020, responsible for origination, underwriting, investment analysis and management and asset allocation strategy for Haversine Funding.
In 2018, as president of Allied Affiliated Funding, she led the company to a successful sale through a nationally chartered bank where she continued to manage that line of business for the bank. Merritt-Parikh holds a bachelor of arts degree in business and economics from the University of Texas at Dallas.
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Financial Analysis - Getting Behind The Numbers
Financial analysis is a cornerstone for any credit administration function. Each loan officer must know his or her borrowers and thorough financial analysis is the best way to start.
The goal of financial analysis is to link business events to changes in the balance sheet, income statement and cash flow to explain the company’s performance during the period under analysis. Without this linkage you end up with “elevator analysis” (sales are up, AR is up, EBITDA is down, etc.) and no meaningful understanding of the company’s performance.
Where do you start? EBITDA is often a starting point for many people. Why? It is a standard measure of performance in the banking and finance industry. EBITDA is a measure of the profitability generated by a business before interest expense, tax expense and depreciation and amortization expense. While this gives the analyst a place to start and some ability to compare to comparable companies, EBITDA should not be viewed as a proxy for cash generation ability.
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The Main Street Lending Program: Can it Work with an Asset-Based Credit Facility?
As the Secured Finance Network and its members have examined the Main Street Lending Program, there have been two aspects of the program in particular that have been identified as impacting on the utility of the program for borrowers from asset-based lenders.
Both points, along with some others, have been raised in letters from the Secured Finance Network to the Department of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve. And the Secured Finance Network has followed up with specific questions to Treasury arising from the “Main Street Lending Program Frequently Asked Questions” published on July 31, 2020 by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (the “FAQs”) in understanding what is permitted under the Program that could significantly impact how it may be used with an asset-based facility.
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Takeaways from SFNet’s Women in Secured Finance Conference
SFNet’s fourth annual Women in Secured Finance Conference attracted over 300 attendees for two days of inspiring (virtual) sessions featuring senior executives who shared their perspectives on leadership and communications while heading teams virtually and managing changes wrought by the COVID-19 Pandemic.
The consensus: Workers will not be returning to how it was even after a viable vaccine for the COVID-19 virus becomes available. Many of the speakers – women in top management, who are accustomed to being in the office, travelling, and meeting face-to-face with teams and clients—spoke about remote work challenges. They also offered creative ideas to ensure employees feel embraced during this challenging time.
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Flexible Workplace Arrangements – Attracting and Retaining Talent in the Current Environment
The secured finance industry, just like so many others, has demanded that remote work become the “norm.” Will this change better enable the industry to attract and retain top talent?
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Gibraltar Provides $20MM to Sponsor-Backed Seasonal Business
Gibraltar prides itself on its ability to provide companies and their private equity sponsors with flexible financing and maximum liquidity, based on our ability to understand each business’ special situation. This enabled us recently to provide Texas-based Easy Gardener Products, Inc, a $20 million credit facility to help with a restructuring.
Easy Gardener designs, manufactures, and sells a broad range of consumer lawn and garden products. It sells its products under several well-known patented and trademark brands such as WeedBlock, Jobe's, Emerald Edge, Landmaster, Ross, and Jobe’s Organics. Its customer base includes longstanding relationships over a 20- to 30-year period with a robust network of large national home improvement and mass merchant retailers as well as local hardware stores and independent garden centers and nurseries.
In This Section
The Secured Lender
SFNet's The Women in Secured Finance Issue