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Team

Leadership

Walter Gontarek Channel Capital Advisors
Walter Gontarek

CEO, IC Chair & Chairman

Leadership

Walter Gontarek is our CEO, IC Chair and Chairman. As such, he sets the firm’s strategy, articulates its culture, and manages key stakeholder relationships.

He previously served as Managing Director/Global Head of Credit Products at the Royal Bank of Canada and held senior executive roles in capital markets and consumer/SME banking in the US, Canada and Europe.

Walt holds non-executive board roles at the UK regulated arms of Catalina Re-insurance and Wiserfunding Ltd. He holds an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business and a Doctorate (Finance) from Cranfield University. He also holds certificates from Carnegie Mellon University (Cyber Risk Board Oversight) and Stanford University (Board Directors College).

Walt is a Visiting Fellow/Lecturer for Sustainable Finance/Financial Markets at Cranfield University and SciencesPo Paris and a Professor (Honorary) for fintech at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland.

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Deborah Hutchinson Channel Capital Advisors
Deborah Hutchinson

CFO, MLRO & Head of Strategy

Leadership

Deborah is a founding partner of Channel. She currently serves as CFO and Head of Strategy.

Before joining Channel in 2006, Deborah worked at Rabobank as Global Business Manager for all its capital markets activities, overseeing budgeting, planning, and other administrative functions. She previously worked at Westpac as Divisional Controller and EBRD as Principal Manager of its initial financial control policies. Deborah holds a BSc from the London School of Economics and is a chartered accountant.

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Ian Watson Channel Capital Advisors
Ian Watson

COO & CRO

Leadership

As Chief Operating Officer, Ian joined Channel from his position of Managing Director at Corporate Linx, a Supply Chain Finance technology provider based in France and the UK.  He has  spent most of his career in invoice finance and asset-based lending, both here in the UK and overseas.

During his 9 years with Bibby Financial Services, he spent 6 years based in Australia & Singapore as CEO for Asia Pacific followed by 3 years in Atlanta as CEO of BFS North America.

His earlier career experience includes executive positions with General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC) in the UK and prior to that International Factors, a subsidiary of Lloyds Bank.

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Kristian Wilson Channel Capital Advisors
Kristian Wilson

CTO & Deputy COO

Leadership

Kristian Wilson serves as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Deputy Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Channel. He leads the company’s technology vision while managing its day-to-day operations.

Kristian joined Channel from Auto Integrate, the market leading maintenance authorization platform in North America, where he successfully migrated the platform to the cloud. Prior to that, he has delivered scalable technology platforms in businesses ranging in size from start-up to SME, across a variety of industries, including protecting millions of children online with Future Digital, providing the underbanked with access to competitive finance and high quality rental property with Richmond Group, and helping corporations understand their VOIP telephony with Tiger Communications.

Kristian holds an MCOMP in Computer Science from Loughborough University (1st Class).

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Board

Governance

Walter Gontarek Channel Capital Advisors
Walter Gontarek

CEO, IC Chair & Chairman

Channel Director

Walter Gontarek is our CEO, IC Chair and Chairman. As such, he sets the firm’s strategy, articulates its culture, and manages key stakeholder relationships.

He previously served as Managing Director/Global Head of Credit Products at the Royal Bank of Canada and held senior executive roles in capital markets and consumer/SME banking in the US, Canada and Europe.

Walt holds non-executive board roles at the UK regulated arms of Catalina Re-insurance and Wiserfunding Ltd. He holds an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business and a Doctorate (Finance) from Cranfield University. He also holds certificates from Carnegie Mellon University (Cyber Risk Board Oversight) and Stanford University (Board Directors College).

Walt is a Visiting Fellow/Lecturer for Sustainable Finance/Financial Markets at Cranfield University and SciencesPo Paris and a Professor (Honorary) for fintech at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland.

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Deborah Hutchinson Channel Capital Advisors
Deborah Hutchinson

CFO, MLRO & Head of Strategy

Channel Director

Deborah is a founding partner of Channel. She currently serves as CFO and Head of Strategy.

Before joining Channel in 2006, Deborah worked at Rabobank as Global Business Manager for all its capital markets activities, overseeing budgeting, planning, and other administrative functions. She previously worked at Westpac as Divisional Controller and EBRD as Principal Manager of its initial financial control policies. Deborah holds a BSc from the London School of Economics and is a chartered accountant.

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Ian Watson Channel Capital Advisors
Ian Watson

COO & CRO

Channel Director

As Chief Operating Officer, Ian joined Channel from his position of Managing Director at Corporate Linx, a Supply Chain Finance technology provider based in France and the UK.  He has  spent most of his career in invoice finance and asset-based lending, both here in the UK and overseas.

During his 9 years with Bibby Financial Services, he spent 6 years based in Australia & Singapore as CEO for Asia Pacific followed by 3 years in Atlanta as CEO of BFS North America.

His earlier career experience includes executive positions with General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC) in the UK and prior to that International Factors, a subsidiary of Lloyds Bank.

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Jack Caouette Channel Capital Advisors
Jack Caouette

Ex-CEO/Chair CapMac

Channel Director

Jack is a member of the Board of Directors, Chairs its Audit & Risk Committee, and is a member of the Compensation Committee. Jack provides advice to the management team on strategic matters for 15 years and liaises with key stakeholders and shareholders as needed.

Jack previously served as senior banker in the capital markets business at Citibank in Asia and the US where he played a key role as one of the founders of the derivatives markets. He founded CapMAC and served as CEO and Chairman, including its listing on the NYSE.

He was named in March 2010 as non-executive Chairman of the Asset Protection Agency, an executive agency in the United Kingdom and subsidiary of HM Treasury, to help create a rescue for the banking crisis in the UK. Jack holds an MBA from UC Berkeley and a BS from California State University, Long Beach. He is the co-author of Managing Credit Risk, published by Wiley & Sons in 2008 and 2014 with Dr Edward Altman and Paul Narayanan.

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Richard Leong Channel Capital Advisors
Richard Leong

CIO Lyon Capital

Channel Director

Richard is the Chief Investment Officer of Singapore based Lyon Capital Management which has supported Channel across a number of its investment strategies over the past ten years.

Previously, he served as managing director of the Flexo Manufacturing Corporation, Tigerpack Ltd in China, and SGS International Inc. Richard received his BS in economics concentrating in economics and decision sciences from Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

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Varda Shine Channel Capital Advisors
Varda Shine

Board Observer

Channel Director

Varda is Senior Independent Director and Chairs the Compensation Committee at Channel as well as REMCO, helping to align our values and performance aims to long-term outcomes. Varda has over 30 years’ experience in global strategy, senior business management and marketing roles, including C-suite activities.

Varda joined De Beers in 1984 and became CEO of the De Beers Diamond Trading Company (DTC) from 2006 until 2014. In 2013. She successfully completed one of the largest transfers of economic activity from the Northern to the Southern Hemisphere – the multibillion dollar relocation of the DTC business from the UK to Botswana – after which Varda stepped down as CEO to pursue a portfolio career. Working across borders, she has continually developed pioneering approaches to collaborating with government partners from Southern Africa to Canada. She has overseen the creation of an international network of public/private joint-venture operations in multi-cultural environments, dealing with complex supply chain issues while delivering on the expectations of major international stakeholder relations.

Varda has completed business and management courses at Templeton College, Oxford, Cranfield and INSEAD. She is a board member or advisor at Petra Diamonds, Vulcan Cyber, and the Mineral Development Company of Botswana (Pty) Co. Varda is also a C-suite executive mentor to leading executives in global markets.

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Advisory Panel

Advisors

Alex Lawrence

Advisor

Channel Advisor

Alex leverages his 15-years of experience in private markets including asset-backed debt, fintech and specialty finance to support Channel in the MENA region with local clients.

Alex has worked with private market funds in both transactional activities (Fasanara, Crosslend) and fund board NED roles, bridging the gap between investment practice and effective oversight.

Alex is passionate about sustainability, impact and supporting entrepreneurs in many cultures and locales. He holds the MBA and International Directors certificate from INSEAD, where he also is a lecturer, teaching a core MBA course on PE & Sustainability.

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Dalia Kay Channel Capital Advisors
Dalia Kay

Investment Advisor

Channel Advisor

Dalia Kay is an Investment Advisor and member of Channel’s investment committee. She brings
high levels of experience in trade finance, asset backed and governance issues.

Dalia served Portfolio Manager and Senior Portfolio Manager at GML and Federated Hermes Investors for 30-years and previously served as a PM at Channel.  She is  also a NED at the Women Business Club and holds a certificate from the IOD in board directorship.  Dalia holds a Master’s in Managerial Economics from University of Geneva, a Master’s in History from University of Southhampton, and is a Doctoral Researcher at Cranfield University focusing on governance structures.

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Gabriele Sabato Channel Capital Advisors
Dr Gabriele Sabato

CEO Wiserfunding

Channel Advisor

Dr Gabriele Sabato is a Senior Advisor with a special focus on risk management and risk governance. Gabriele helps Channel’s senior management fine tune its risk decisioning and analytical processes for credit risk-taking activities.

Dr Sabato is a co-founder (with Dr Edward Altman) of Wiserfunding Ltd, a London FinTech that provides the Wiserfunding Z-score for global SMEs which is based on Dr Altman’s work of the past 50-years.  Dr Sabato has spent over 20-years before starting Wiserfunding in senior risk management roles across Europe for major banks and government agencies, as well as Experian. At RBS, he played a key role in driving new risk governance processes for the C-suite and the board of directors in the post financial crisis period.

Gabriele holds a PhD in Finance from University of Rome and was a visiting scholar at NYU Stern School of business.  He has published numerous studies on risk governance and risk management, including the most downloaded paper of the Journal of Banking & Finance.

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Francesco Cuccovillo

Investment Advisor & IC Member

Channel Advisor

Francesco brings over 20 years of experience in Financial Markets, holding multiple leadership positions across top-tier institutions with a strong track record managing European and global businesses and a focus on structured credit and asset backed finance, secured lending and derivatives solutions.

Francesco was lately International Head of the Financing and Solutions business at Wells Fargo, where he also ran the International Asset Backed Finance team and co-managed Global Secured Trading. Previously, Francesco served as Global Co-Head of Investment, Financing & Solutions at Natwest Markets and led Structuring as well as Structured Finance & Special Situations Trading in the Global Markets division at Nomura for EMEA. Prior to that, Francesco was Co-Head of Credit Structuring for Lehman Brothers in EMEA.

Francesco received a Master’s Degree in Economics summa cum laude from LUISS – Guido Carli University (Rome) and completed an Executive Programme in Corporate Finance at London Business School.

Francesco is an Industrial Professor at UCL, where he teaches ‘Principles of Corporate Finance and Asset Pricing’ on the MSc in Banking and Digital Finance under the Institute of Finance and Technology.

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Piers Weston
Piers Weston

AON

Channel Advisor

Piers Weston is an Advisor to the CEO at Channel for all matters relating to ESG and sustainability.  This involves ensuring that Channel’s leadership position with regards to ESG investing and ensuring that Channel is at the forefront of implementing industry leading ESG scorecards and practices when screening investments and implementing best practice across the firm.

Piers spends most of his time at Aon in their Responsible Investment team advising pension funds and investment managers on the impact climate change will have on their portfolios and how they can incorporate ESG into their decision making. Prior to this, he worked at PwC working within their consulting finance function.

Outside of work, Piers has published a paper on the role of ESG in financial performance in The Journal of Sustainable and Finance Investment. He has presented his research to graduate students at both SciencesPo, Paris and Cranfield School of management.

Piers sits on the board of Governors for a school in Milton Keynes and has recently been appointed the Chair of the finance, staffing and premises committee.

Piers holds a Masters degree in Finance from Cranfield school of management and a BA in Politics and International Relations from The University of Sheffield.

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Team

Anna Rayner Channel Capital Advisors
Anna Bryson

Head of Operational Risk

Team

Anna Bryson is the Head of Operational Risk at Channel Capital Advisors, where she leads the organization’s efforts to identify, assess, and mitigate operational risks. With over six years of experience at Channel, Anna has progressed through various roles, including Operations Team Manager and Senior Operations Manager, showcasing her leadership and expertise in driving efficiency and team success.

She holds a First-Class degree in Business Finance and Economics from the University of East Anglia and began her career as an Operations Analyst at ACPI Investment Managers.

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Bhoomika Kesaria

Head of Investor Relations

Team

Bhoomika heads Investor Relations at Channel Capital Advisors, overseeing capital formation and strategic alliances for private market alternative investment strategies.

With expertise in capital introductions and investor relationship management, she specializes in placing private debt, hedge funds, and structured finance investments across emerging and developed markets

Bhoomika has previously worked with Goldman Sachs, Northern Arc Capital, and Lendable. Bhoomika has a successful history of building investment platforms, capital formation, and global distribution in alternative investments. She has successfully collaborated with a diverse range of institutional investors, including banks, asset managers, foundations, endowments, development finance institutions (DFIs), and family offices worldwide.

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Bilal Ahmed

Investor Relations Executive

Team

As an Investor Relations Executive, Bilal focuses on building relationships with new investors, supporting marketing and business development activities, and providing comprehensive service to existing investors.

Bilal holds a BSc in Economics, Statistics, and Mathematics from Queen Mary, University of London (QMUL)

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Deborah Hutchinson Channel Capital Advisors
Deborah Hutchinson

CFO, MLRO & Head of Strategy

Leadership

Deborah is a founding partner of Channel. She currently serves as CFO and Head of Strategy.

Before joining Channel in 2006, Deborah worked at Rabobank as Global Business Manager for all its capital markets activities, overseeing budgeting, planning, and other administrative functions. She previously worked at Westpac as Divisional Controller and EBRD as Principal Manager of its initial financial control policies. Deborah holds a BSc from the London School of Economics and is a chartered accountant.

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Elaine Colley Channel Capital Advisors
Elaine Colley

Finance & Operations Manager

Team

Elaine joined Channel in 2007 and supports the finance, operations, and human resources functions of the business. She has supported various other Channel entities by providing accounting and other support services.

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Ian Watson Channel Capital Advisors
Ian Watson

COO & CRO

Leadership

As Chief Operating Officer, Ian joined Channel from his position of Managing Director at Corporate Linx, a Supply Chain Finance technology provider based in France and the UK.  He has  spent most of his career in invoice finance and asset-based lending, both here in the UK and overseas.

During his 9 years with Bibby Financial Services, he spent 6 years based in Australia & Singapore as CEO for Asia Pacific followed by 3 years in Atlanta as CEO of BFS North America.

His earlier career experience includes executive positions with General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC) in the UK and prior to that International Factors, a subsidiary of Lloyds Bank.

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Johan Nisser

Deputy CIO

Team

Johan is a Senior Structurer in Channel’s Debt Products team, focusing on executing structured finance transactions on behalf of Channel’s client base.

He is an experienced securitisation banker having previously worked at Santander CIB, StormHarbour Securities and BNP Paribas with a variety of client types and vanilla and esoteric asset classes. His product knowledge includes trade receivables, consumer assets, SMEs, CLOs amongst other.

Johan holds an MSc in Quantitative Finance from Cass Business School.

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Jonathan Kirkland Channel Capital Advisors
Jonathan Kirkland

Portfolio Analyst

Team

Jonathan is focused on Channel’s day to day portfolio management. Prior to joining Channel in 2021, Jonathan held an operational role at Select Invoice Finance. Jonathan holds a BSc in Mathematics from De Montfort University (1st Class).

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Kat Fair

Portfolio Analyst

Team

Katherine has earned a master’s degree in management from Dublin Institute of Technology. Her professional journey encompasses a diverse range of operational roles, culminating in project management responsibilities. Katherine’s extensive experience spans various sectors, including start-ups, well-established financial institutions, and multinational blue-chip corporations.

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Kristian Wilson Channel Capital Advisors
Kristian Wilson

CTO & Deputy COO

Leadership

Kristian Wilson serves as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Deputy Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Channel. He leads the company’s technology vision while managing its day-to-day operations.

Kristian joined Channel from Auto Integrate, the market leading maintenance authorization platform in North America, where he successfully migrated the platform to the cloud. Prior to that, he has delivered scalable technology platforms in businesses ranging in size from start-up to SME, across a variety of industries, including protecting millions of children online with Future Digital, providing the underbanked with access to competitive finance and high quality rental property with Richmond Group, and helping corporations understand their VOIP telephony with Tiger Communications.

Kristian holds an MCOMP in Computer Science from Loughborough University (1st Class).

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Mike Watson

Head of Risk

Team

Mike brings over 30 years’ experience to Channel of operating at a senior risk level within the commercial finance sector in the UK, Europe, and other territories. Trade Finance, Receivables Financing and other working capital funding solutions (secured and unsecured) have been Mike’s particular area of focus.

His involvement has been across the whole life cycle of a deal; from assessing the initial risk, through structuring, ongoing monitoring, exiting and (if necessary) implementing recovery and realisation strategies.

Mike joined full time in 2021 after having worked for Channel previously in a consultancy and external audit capacity. Prior to setting up his own consultancy Mike held various senior risk and relationships roles at various organisations including Bibby, Arbuthnot Latham, Lloyds, and Barclays. Mike holds BSC in Business & Managerial Economics, he is a Graduate Member of the Charted Institute of Credit Management.

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Sherry Nadeem

Lead Software Engineer

Team

Sherry has joined Channel as a Lead Software Engineer. He has 10+ years of experience in full-stack development, with emphasis on the backend (APIs, architecture, infrastructure, etc). His previous roles span a decade of contracts with businesses/clients of all types and sizes in a senior/lead or consultancy capacity, being involved across the entire SDLC, including Agile ceremonies.

Sherry’s current role at Channel will involve similar responsibilities in helping shape the business technical direction, modernisation and helping us to fulfil our contractual obligations to our clients – both current and prospective.

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Saloni
Saloni Shah

Credit Risk Manager

Team

Saloni is the Credit Risk Manager at Channel. She is responsible for comprehensive credit risk assessment, mitigation and monitoring of a portfolio of diverse investments.

She brings over 8 years of experience in credit assessment, structured finance, securitisation and business development across a myriad of sectors. Previously she has worked with leading financial institutions like Northern Arc Capital and Edelweiss Finance.

She has facilitated debt financing of over $700 million over the span of her career across tech enabled consumer lending, SME financing, microfinance, EV financing, mortgages. She is skilled in assessing and structuring tailored investment solutions with a focused lens on ESG and impact financing.

She is a Qualified Chartered Accountant with a specialization in finance.

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Sonum Pandhi Channel Capital Advisors
Sonum Pandhi

Senior Portfolio Manager

Team

Sonum has experience in managing and driving the growth of trade receivables and inventory financing programmes at Trafigura.

Sonum is a Chartered Accountant and ACT certified, having FP&A and Product Control experience at JP Morgan.

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Tony Smedley
Tony Smedley

Director of Sales

Team

Tony joined Channel Capital Advisors in February 2020 as Head of SME Business Development and leads the growth of the working capital business in the UK.

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Walter Gontarek Channel Capital Advisors
Walter Gontarek

CEO, IC Chair & Chairman

Leadership

Walter Gontarek is our CEO, IC Chair and Chairman. As such, he sets the firm’s strategy, articulates its culture, and manages key stakeholder relationships.

He previously served as Managing Director/Global Head of Credit Products at the Royal Bank of Canada and held senior executive roles in capital markets and consumer/SME banking in the US, Canada and Europe.

Walt holds non-executive board roles at the UK regulated arms of Catalina Re-insurance and Wiserfunding Ltd. He holds an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business and a Doctorate (Finance) from Cranfield University. He also holds certificates from Carnegie Mellon University (Cyber Risk Board Oversight) and Stanford University (Board Directors College).

Walt is a Visiting Fellow/Lecturer for Sustainable Finance/Financial Markets at Cranfield University and SciencesPo Paris and a Professor (Honorary) for fintech at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland.

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