Betty Hernandez, executive vice president and chief credit officer, SLR Business Credit, and incoming SFNet president, shares her career journey and extensive involvement with SFNet. She discusses her priorities as SFNet president and vision for the future of the secured finance industry.

Congratulations on becoming SFNet’s incoming president! Before we dive in, can you provide our readers with a background on your career?
After graduating from Rutgers University, I started my career in a credit training program in New Jersey at First Fidelity Bank, a mid-sized regional bank. After nine months of classroom training, I was rotated through various departments to support lenders as an underwriter. There I was exposed to many different types of lending facilities and borrowers including non-profits, wholesalers, distributors, real estate and leasing. In July 1990, at the end of the two-year program, I was placed in the bank’s asset-based lending department. This department was headed by Ted Kompa, with Jeff Goldrich, Dan Tortoriello and Mike Coiley as team leaders. My role was account executive, but before I was given accounts to handle, Ted wanted me to get field exam experience. I was sent out with various field examiners under the tutelage of Ira Wolfe, the audit manager. I audited staffing companies as well as manufacturers and distributors prior to becoming an account executive.

In 1995, Ted and Jeff had an opportunity to leave First Fidelity (which was soon to become First Union and now Wells Fargo) to start up an independent finance company called Business Alliance Capital Corp. (BACC). I vividly remember Jeff’s farewell speech, as he had just turned 40 and I was about to have my second child. He discussed turning 40, leaving a stable bank job to start up a new independent finance company with no borrowers day 1. I, too, had no idea what the future would hold as everything had been changing so rapidly.

After working briefly at PNC Business Credit, I re-joined my former colleagues at BACC as an underwriter. In 2005 BACC was sold to Sovereign Bank (later to become Santander Bank). Eventually Santander decided to exit the BACC portfolio, and I became a team leader in their workout department working for Tony Cortese and later Mike Maiorino. In 2010 Jeff and Dan had successfully raised equity and had obtained a leverage facility to re-start on their own again. I joined them, and a few others, to co-found North Mill Capital LLC and serve as the firm’s chief credit officer.

In 2017, we were acquired by SLR Investment Corp. (Nasdaq: SLRC). We were later re-branded to SLR Business Corp., and thanks to the support provided by our parent company, we’ve been able to grow our portfolio exponentially. In 2010, when we started, we had 16 loans with $19 million outstanding. Today, as a result of six acquisitions and organic growth, we have over 150 borrowers and $1 billion in credit facilities under management. I am responsible for credit quality and the performance of the portfolio. I oversee all new fundings. I enjoy meeting with customers face to face and touring their facilities. I really enjoy the team and culture we have built. I am very fortunate to have been working with my mentors and friends for over 35 years.

How have you been involved with SFNet over the years?
Ted Kompa first introduced me to SFNet, then known as CFA, in 1990. He and Jeff encouraged me to join the SFNet New Jersey Chapter board. There I became treasurer and moved up the ranks to become the president of the SFNet New Jersey Chapter in 2004. Ted had asked me to participate in a first ever pilot program called Earning the Right to Lead in Roseville, IL. It was one of the first times I had traveled for work. There I met other up-and-coming leaders.

Next, Ted asked me to join the Needs and Analysis Committee. That was my first real exposure to other SFNet directors besides Ted. In 2015 I was asked to be on the search committee to replace the outgoing SFNet CEO. I was also asked to be on the Executive Committee and served one year before the committee was restructured into the 14- committee member structure we have today. The years I was not on the Executive Committee I still remained active volunteering in various capacities.

Through the World Bank Project, I was asked to travel to Bogota, Colombia, Mexico City, Mexico and Lagos, Nigeria where I was part of a group that taught local lenders the basics of asset-based lending. The lessons in Colombia and Mexico were especially challenging as I had to brush up on my Spanish business terms. Although I’m a native speaker, words like “yield” and “advance rates” were not something I used in my familial conversations. I was vice chair and then chaired the Chapters Committee.

In 2020 I received a call from SFNet CEO Rich Gumbrecht to become the first ever chair of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee on the SFNet Executive Committee. This was a new challenge as it was different than the other committees that comprise the Executive Committee. As chair, I was committed to educating members on what DEI means. We held various webinars, started a library of related articles for reference, and conducted our first DEI survey. After chairing this Committee for two years, I was asked to join the Management Committee. I’m a member of the Women in Secured Finance Committee, was a judge and chair of the 40 Under 40 Awards, and have been a judge and am this year’s chair of the Impact Awards Committee. I’ve been a mentor in the SFNet Mentoring program and a guest lecturer at various colleges introducing the secured lending industry as a career to college students.

What are some memorable experiences you have had through
your involvement with SFNet?
One of my most memorable experiences was when I traveled on behalf of the SFNet for the World Bank program. When I was in Lagos, Nigeria with Rob Katz, teaching the fundamentals of asset-based lending, we discussed our lending “war stories.” We were not from the same backgrounds, but at the end of the day, we are all lenders facing similar risks.

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