ABF Journal's Thought Leadership Podcast

All borrowers have a story, but they need to find the right financing partners to ensure their journeys continue successfully. In this episode, Ashley Whyman, president of equipment finance company NFS Leasing, and Eric Renaud, the firm’s chief credit officer, discuss the keys to providing financing to non-investment grade borrowers, why equipment finance companies and asset-based lenders are a pe...

With commercial finance disclosure laws in California having gone into effect late last year and others following in New York in other states in the near future, Bob Cohen, a partner at Morritt Hock Hamroff LLP, joined the show to explain the intricacies of these new regulations, how they could impact future legislation in other states and what it all means for lenders from across the sector.

With 2022 in the books, for the first episode of the new year, Joe Abruzzo, head of commercial banking at Santander Bank, joined the show to review the year in commercial banking and prepare for 2023. Abruzzo spoke about the many economic fluctuations of 2022, how severe a recession in 2023 may be and a lot more.

In the 72nd episode of the ABF Journal Podcast, Trishaala Ninan and Loren Shifrin of REV Capital joined the show to discuss the transformative year for the company, which rebranded in June and is out to reinvent factoring. During the conversation, Ninan and Shifrin discussed REV Capital’s approach to the market, the strategy behind it’s rebrand, their expectations for next year and a lot more. Vis...

In this week’s episode, Matt Little, a partner in global specialty finance and business development at Castlelake, discusses the many effects of rising inflation on consumer and commercial credit finance as well as other secular and cyclical trends in specialty finance, such as bank retrenchment and its impact on leveraged lending and a lot more.

In this week’s episode, Sengal Selassie, managing partner and CEO of Brightwood Capital Advisors joined the show to discuss Brightwood’s activity in the direct lending private investment space as well as what is means to earn an SBIC license, how Brightwood is handling recent labor challenges, the outlook for the franchising and transportation sectors and more.

In this week’s episode, Sarah Lindstrom, president and head of business banking at Citizens, discussed the findings of a survey from Citizens that explored the cash crunch many small and medium-sized businesses have endured during the last year. Lindstrom spoke about businesses raising prices due to unexpected cost increases, how strong cash reserves are important to help navigate economic fluctua...

In this week’s episode, Peter Brady, national financial services leader at RSM, joined the show to talk about the emerging trend of micro-focused segmentation in the financial services industry. Brady discussed what is driving this trend, how it is changing the financial services sector, what financial institutions (especially commercial and specialty lenders) should be doing in response and a lot...

This week’s episode is the second part of a conversation with Steven Smith of Herrick, Feinstein about the Supreme Court case of Siegel v. Fitzgerald, addressed whether a 2017 increase in the fees owed by Chapter 11 debtors to the Office of the U.S. Trustee created by the Bankruptcy Judgeship Act of 2017 was constitutional. In this episode, Smith delved into the outcome of the case, how it will af...

This week’s episode is the first part of a conversation with Steven Smith of Herrick, Feinstein LLP about the Supreme Court case of Siegel v. Fitzgerald, which will address whether a 2017 increase in the fees owed by Chapter 11 debtors to the Office of the U.S. Trustee created by the Bankruptcy Judgeship Act of 2017 is constitutional. In this episode, Smith provided a detailed look at the backgrou...

In this week’s episode, we looked at a unique perspective to the asset-based lending and private credit marketplace in a conversation with Sloan Sutta from Crayhill Capital Management. During the episode, Sutta discussed Crayhill’s niche definition of ABL and approach to the market, the increasingly larger role of credit funds in the sector and what to expect from the private credit market during...

In this episode of the ABF Journal Podcast, we revisited the topic of supply chain disruption, but this time, we looked at it from the perspective of valuations. Joining us for the episode was Bill Soncini, national marketing manager for B. Riley Advisory Services, who is an expert in appraisal, valuations and client relations, among other things. In the interview, Soncini looked at how supply cha...

In this week’s episode, we continue to look at the supply chain, particularly in the wake of the crisis in Ukraine. Jeff Pielusko and Peter J. Keogh of Carl Marks Advisors provided insight on this topic, explaining how the war is creating surging commodity prices and scarcity of materials, particularly food and earth minerals, and what companies need to do to fortify their supply chain networks in...

In the 62nd episode of the ABF Journal Podcast, John Whalen, head of the capital advisory practice at Matrix Capital Markets Group, provided insights about the past, present and future of capital raising. Whalen looked at trends from the first quarter, expectations for the rest of 2022, how the capital structure has changed in the last decade (particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic) and how ass...

In the 61st episode of the ABF Journal Podcast, Jon Hughes, Senior ABL Director at Independent Growth Finance, gives us an overview of the history and current state of the asset-based lending industry in the United Kingdom and how IGF uses a specialist approach to capitalize on opportunities in the market. In addition, Hughes shared how other lenders can benefit from working with IGF if they are i...

The transition from the London Interbank Offered Rate, otherwise known as LIBOR, has been in the works for quite a while, but we’re reaching crunch time for lenders to move on to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (or some other such alternative rate). In this episode, Daniel Ford of Thompson Coburn Hahn & Hessen clears up some of the misconceptions about the transition, outlines which lende...

In the first episode of season three and the 59th episode overall of the ABF Journal Podcast, Andy Sachs and Ric DiMonte joined the program to discuss the recent merger of Chicago law firms Robbins, Salomon & Patt and DiMonte & Lizak to form Robbins DiMonte. Sachs, who is the CEO of the new firm, and DiMonte, who is the firm’s president, discussed the entire merger process from start to fi...

In the 58th episode of the ABF Journal Podcast, David Magdol, president and chief investment officer of Main Street Capital, looked back at the year in private equity and provided an outlook for the sector in 2022. During the interview, Magdol touched on recent supply chain disruption, the rising popularity of special purpose acquisition companies and why private equity firms are increasingly inte...

In the 57th episode of the ABF Journal Podcast, Jake Sussman, a vice president at Arena Investors, stopped by to discuss the benefits of infusing private equity sensibilities into the structuring of private debt transactions. Sussman also delved into the world of corporate asset-based lending and the keys to successful joint ventures and co-investments before providing an outlook for the private d...

The supply chain has been a consistent source of conversation across industries during the COVID-19 pandemic, with hurdles impacting every point of contact. As this trend has persisted, supply chain finance has become an increasingly scrutinized industry and with more scrutiny comes the potential for more regulation.

In the 55th episode of the ABF Journal Podcast, Greg Byrnes, CFO of White Oak Aviation, joined the show to detail the opportunities and risks associated with direct lending to the aviation sector. With many years of experience in aircraft leasing, Byrnes brings a unique perspective to this emerging market and discusses how the aviation industry is recovering from the drastic downturn created by th...

In the 54th episode of the ABF Journal Podcast, Lee Haskin, CEO of Crossroads Financial, provided insight into the inventory lending vertical, specifically discussing how the industry has changed over the last 15 years in the wake of drastic shifts in consumer behavior, as well as a look at Crossroads’ approach to this market and its strategies for growth in the near and long-term future.

In the 53rd episode of the ABF Journal Podcast, Scott Winicour, CEO of Gibraltar Business Capital, shares his perspective on building and maintaining a strong internal identity through a dedicated focus on company culture. Winicour dives into leadership lessons about culture before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of using the interview process to find employees who are the right c...

In the 52nd episode of the ABF Journal Podcast. Jordan Suppan, managing director of Leste Credit, stopped by to discuss direct real estate lending, specifically outlining why preferred equity and smaller transactions are becoming more popular in the space, what current rates of return in the market are looking like in 2021 and a lot more.

In the 51st episode of the ABF Journal Podcast, Ted Koenig, President & CEO of Monroe Capital, makes his second appearance on the show as he discusses how the private markets have provided more stability than the public markets during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as other trends and factors influencing activity in alternative asset classes.