Meet the team | Channel Capital Advisors LLP

Hilmar Hauer

Head of Debt Products

Team

Hilmar heads the debt products business at Channel which includes origination and overall structuring activities for debt-linked transactions. Hilmar leads the team for rated, un-rated, insured and un-insured working capital financings for our issuing clients globally. Prior to joining Channel in 2007, Hilmar was a Quantitative Analyst at Dresdner Kleinwort. Hilmar holds a PhD in Mathematics from the University of Nottingham. He is a member of the risk committee.

Martin Eriksson

Debt Products Associate

Team

Before joining Channel in 2019, Martin graduated from BI Norwegian Business School with a BSc in Finance. After his time at BI Norwegian Business School, Martin worked in the Scandinavian corporate bond market for a small start-up firm. He later went on to undertake and graduate from the MSc in Finance and Management programme at Cranfield School of Management

Walter Gontarek

Chief Executive & Chairman

Leadership

Walter Gontarek is a co-founder of Channel Capital Advisors in 2006 and is the firm’s CEO and executive committee chairman. Walt previously founded and served as global head of credit products at the Royal Bank of Canada and has worked in the City and on Wall Street in various senior capital markets roles. He also served as president of a retail banking platform in the US. Walter holds a doctorate in finance from Cranfield University and an MBA (Finance) from NYU Stern, and has published in leading academic journals on risk governance issues. Walt is a visiting fellow of Cranfield University where he lectures on risk governance and regulation, as well FinTech developments. He serves on financial services company’s boards and was a named a financial market expert by PRIME finance at its inaugural meeting at the Peace Palace, The Hague in 2012.

Deborah Hutchinson

Chief Operating Officer

Leadership

Deborah joined Channel at the start of 2007 as a co-founding partner responsible for operations, finance, compliance and human capital. She oversees the day-to-day operation of the firm. Before joining Channel, Deborah worked for Rabobank in London as global business manager for all capital markets activities, overseeing budgeting, planning and administrative functions for the global business unit. Deborah holds a BSc from the London School of Economics (LSE) and is a Chartered Accountant. Deborah is a member of the risk and managing partners committees and chairs the firm’s management committee. She has responsibility for human capital development, a key area of focus for Channel today as it expands it product and geographical reach.

Paul Wilson

Chief Investment Officer

Leadership

Paul Wilson has over 17 years’ experience of investing in credit and structured finance markets globally. He was previously a senior portfolio manager at BlueMountain Capital Management, investing in structured finance and other credit products. Prior to this he was managing director and global head of structured credit markets at Credit Agricole. Before this he was head of credit correlation trading at Citibank for Europe. He began his career trading credit products at Morgan Stanley where he spent 7 years and was an Executive Director. He holds an MPhys in Mathematical Physics and an MSc in Financial Mathematics from the University of Edinburgh. Paul sits on the firm’s executive committee, risk committee and managing partners committee.

Marcus Fedder

Chairman, Advisory Board

Advisory Board

Marcus has held senior leadership positions in investment and multi-lateral development banks, and in the microfinance sector. He was a Vice Chair of TD Securities for Europe and Asia/Pacific, Treasurer and previously Head of Asset & Liability Management at the EBRD, and also worked for the World Bank as a financial services executive. He also worked in capital markets and banking at CIBC and Deutsche Bank. He presently is a non-executive director (NED) of the International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFI) where he chairs the audit committee and a NED at TCX where he also serves as chairman of the risk committee. Marcus holds a PhD from the Freie Universitat Berlin and graduates degrees from the London School of Economics and Cambridge University.

Varda Shine

Deputy Chairman

Advisory Board

Varda has over 30 years’ experience in global strategy, senior business management and marketing roles, including C-suite activities. At Channel, Varda serves as an advisor to the CEO and Executive Committee as well as chairs is REMCO, helping to align our values and performance aims to long-term outcomes. 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.

Susanne Chishti

Advisory Board

Susanne Chishti has over 20 years’ industry expertise, including board-level experience, with a strong focus on organisational governance and the small and medium size enterprise (SME) market. She helps to advise Channel on its use of FinTech tools to scale our AUM and improve customer experience as well as assessing our clients use of FinTech in their own operations. Her experience draws on 15 years in finance, having held senior positions at Deutsche Bank, Lloyds Banking Group, Morgan Stanley and Accenture. Susanne is the CEO of FINTECH Circle, Europe’s 1st Angel Network focused on fintech opportunities. She is also the founder of the FINTECH Circle Institute, the leading fintech learning platform offering classroom innovation workshops and online courses to C-level executives. Susanne holds an MBA from Vienna University of Economics and Business. A bestselling author, Susanne co-edited “The FINTECH Book” series, which has been translated into 10 languages and sold across 107 countries. Her wealth of experience led her to being recognised in the European Digital Financial Services “Power 50” 2015, an independent ranking of the most influential people in digital financial services in Europe. In addition, she was selected as a “City Innovator – Inspirational Woman” in 2016. She has been a guest lecturer on financial technology at the University of Cambridge and has also appeared as a fintech commentator on CNBC

Dalia Kay

Senior Advisor

Advisory Board

Dalia has 25 years’ experience in the trade finance and fund markets sector, she is responsible for advising Channel Capital within trade finance and working capital in a fund and capital markets context, leveraging her experience, knowledge and network in this market for our firm. Dalia is skilled in Asset Management, Financial Markets, Project and Trade Finance at Federated Hermes Funds and GML Capital. She is a strong finance professional with a Masters Degree in Economics from the University of Geneva and a Masters in History from the University of Southampton.

Steve Box

Deputy Chair

Team

Steve Box serves as the firm’s Deputy Chair with a focus on client activities/strategy, origination, marketing, and branding, reporting to the CEO. Steve has extensive experience in working capital in global markets including serving as the Global Head of Receivables Finance at HSBC (operating across 30 countries), CEO of Europe/Asia and North America at Bibby Financial Services and Head of Europe at Falcon Group. Steve also serves on our Risk Advisory Council to help identify emerging risks and ensure risk-based issues are well appreciated within our client activities and teams. Steve oversees our marketing/branding effort and a robust pipeline of receivables financings for our global investor base.

Dan Luther

Head of Transaction Management

Team

Dan oversees Channel’s ongoing management of working capital products, and is heavily involved in the structuring, drafting and execution of transaction documentation for all of Channel’s facilities, reporting to the CEO. Transaction management is a key role within Channel, requiring each financing facility to be managed conservatively and in accordance with the applicable facility documentation, utilising FinTech platforms as appropriate, as well as assisting in retaining clients through best in class service and response.

He has over 16 years’ experience in managing working capital and trade financing facilities. Dan joined Channel in 2014 from Trafigura where he supported the company’s working capital financing programmes in several roles for 9 years, including managing the growth of the trade receivables financing programme from $325 million to over $2 billion. While at Channel, Dan has executed and managed numerous facilities of varying complexity and format including rated trade receivables and inventory securitisations, supply chain finance programmes, multi-seller SME facilities, and sharia compliant trade finance products.

Lauren Woods

Head of Operations

Team

Lauren is dedicated to the ongoing management of Channel’s trade receivables transactions, and supports the finance and operations functions. Prior to joining Channel in 2017, Lauren held operational roles at RBS and Baring Asset Management. Lauren holds a BSc in Economics from Kingston University (1^st Class), and has recently obtained the CFA’s Investment Management Certificate.

Ken Owen

Portfolio Management

Team

Since joining Channel in 2014, Ken has served as a trade finance specialist within portfolio management. Ken has served as Moderator for the International Trade Finance exam for the Chartered Institute of Bankers, and has been a speaker at the United Nations on the role of trade finance in the global economy.

Elaine Colley

Finance and 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.

Kishan Patel

Operations and Transaction Analyst

Team

Kishan is focused on Channel’s day to day transaction management.

Anna Rayner

Operations & Transactions Manager

Team

Anna is focused on Channel’s day to day transaction management.

David Allcock

Chief Technology Officer

Team

Dave joined Channel in 2007 and is responsible for all systems and IT, including software development, infrastructure, network management and business continuity testing and planning. Dave is also responsible for our partnerships with FinTech service providers which permit us to efficiently scale our business, the CREST platform intellectual property asset and evaluating the use of technology by our financing clients as part of our due diligence.

Thomas Fisher

IT Infrastructure Manager

Team

Tom is responsible for the continued maintenance and security of Channel’s IT infrastructure and related business continuity arrangements.

Sandra Okanta

Head of Compliance

Team

Sandra joined Channel in December 2019 as the Head of Compliance, responsible for advising on regulatory risks and regulations applicable to the business. Sandra is also focused on ensuring Channel has robust internal processes and procedures that promote effective governance in accordance to the Financial Conduct Authority guidelines and expectations.

Philip Sullivan

Risk Advisor

Team

Philip initially joined CCA as a Risk Advisor in 2017, a role he resumed earlier this year. He previously held both risk and new business roles for financial institutions in London and New York. He has an MBA from NYU.

Peter Burbank

ICRO

Team

Peter joined Channel in 2019 as a director of credit risk and since mid-2020 has served as Interim CRO. He has extensive risk experience across banking and corporate markets (Lloyds Bank), with a solid foundation gained via experience at rating agencies (DBRS, Moody’s, BankWatch), investment banking (JPMorgan, Merrill Lynch), fund management (Pictet, Swissre) and consulting (McKinsey). Peter holds a BA in Economics from Connecticut College, an MA from SAIS Johns Hopkins University and an MBA in Finance from Columbia University.

Tony Smedley

SME Business Development

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.

Dr Andrea Moro

Senior Advisor/Scientific Board

Senior Advisors

Dr Andrea Moro is a senior advisor and a member of our Scientific Board, focusing on SME and corporate risk measures. He is a member of the faculty at Cranfield School of Management in the Finance & Accounting area. Andrea has published over 20 journal and practitioner articles on SME/small business finance, entrepreneur and credit risk subjects in leading journals, including the Journal of Banking & Finance as well as The European Accounting Review. Before pursuing his academic pursuits, Andrea worked for 15 years as a senior financial advisor to SMEs, including financial planning, financial budgeting and cashflow management. Andrea also advises other start-ups in the Blockchain and Tech sectors, as well as insurers on CSR issues.

Dr Gabriele Sabato

Scientific Board

Senior Advisors

Dr Gabriele Sabato is a Senior Advisor and member of our Scientific Board with a special focus on risk management and risk governance. Gabriele helps Channel’s senior management fine tune his risk management process 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.

Duarte Pedreira

Advisory Board

Duarte has a considerable profile in global trade finance markets and advises our portfolio mangers on trade finance developments. Duarte is Head of Trade Finance at the Crown Agents Bank, a UK based regulated provider of payments, cash management, trade finance, asset management and foreign exchange services to clients in developing markets, including Africa, the Caribbean, LATAM and Asia/Pacific as well as regional central banks. Duarte is a board member and chairman of the Africa regional committee at the International Trade & Forfaiting Association. He previously has held trade finance related positions at AIG, Standard Bank and Banif Bank. Duarte holds a MSc from ICMA Center in International Securities, Investments & Banking. In his spare time, Duarte is affiliated with the charity Shelter Them in Rwanda, as chairman.

Lisa Gibbard

Advisory Board

Lisa is a specialist in financial services and technology, change management and cyber sectors. Lisa previously spent 13-years at Aspen Insurance as Chief of Operations and Technology where she led the transformation process for Business Transformation, IT Strategy & Operations, Finance Operations, Outwards Reinsurance Operations, Procurement and Facilities & Real Estate. She also focused on cyber and technology governance issues to better align this function to the business lines. Lisa holds a degree in Mathematics and BMA from Leeds Trinity University and attended the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School.

Richard Leong

Executive Committee Member

Advisory Board

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 seven 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 decision sciences from Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Daouii Abouchere

Head of ESG and Sustainable Finance

Team

Daouii will be responsible for implementing Channel’s ESG framework and for driving our sustainable finance strategy across the Group, working with clients to develop and execute new ESG and sustainable financing solutions.

Daouii holds a BA in Political Economy from the University of Toronto and is fluent in English, Arabic, French, and Dazagga (Nilo-Saharan Language). Conversational in Spanish.

Andrew Craig

Finance Director

Team

Andrew Craig is the Finance Director of Channel, responsible for financial planning, management of financial risks, budgeting, financial and tax reporting as well as facilitating audit and regulatory/fund reporting.

Jack Caouette

Executive Committee Member

Advisory Board

Jack has been chairman of various portfolio companies affiliated with Channel since 2006. He is also member of the Executive Committee. Jack provides advice to the management team on strategic matters 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 in the early days of the swap market . 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.

James Sutcliffe

Advisory Board

Jim contributes to our panel with exceptional leadership from the financial services industry including serving as Group CEO of Old Mutual plc (wealth management and savings), CEO of Prudential UK (where he spent most of his career), and Chairman the Investment Committee at the £50 billion investment platform AJBell. Jim is Chairman of Cover Genius, a 4 year old exciting Insurtech company selling 150,000 policies a month serving the largest eCommerce companies across 70 countries. Jim also is an advisory board member at Certua.io, which is helping financial services firms compete in the digital age.

Mark Redinger

External Counsel

Senior Advisors

Mark Redinger is our External General Counsel dealing with corporate matters as well as financings in Canada for the firm. Mark is a partner with Dickinson Wright in the Banking and M&A groups focusing on corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, structured finance, asset-based lending, derivatives and cross border international financings. He has extensive experience in listings of firms securities in Canada, Ireland, and the UK. Mark advised the current senior management of Channel in its corporate and partnership matters for over 10-years and is a member of the Law Society of England & Wales. Mark holds a BA Political Science and Comparative Politics from the University of Toronto, an LLB from Western Ontario, and an LLM from LSE (merit).

Nemanja Radic

Senior Advisor/Scientific Board

Senior Advisors

Dr Radic is a member of our Scientific Board and a senior advisor, focusing on investment returns and risk management. He joined Cranfield University in 2018. Prior to joining Middlesex University, Nemanja held positions in Huddersfield University, London Metropolitan University and University of Rome III. He also held position as Visiting Research Fellow at Silesian University in Opava, Czech Republic.

He received his PhD in Banking and Finance from the University of Rome “Tor Vergata”‘, Italy.

Nemanja’s broad research interest include areas such as banking, corporate governance, industrial organization and emerging markets. His specialist area focuses on modelling efficiency and competition in financial services industry, shareholder value and risk management, and monetary policy. He is an author of several publications in top peer-reviewed Finance journals and he also serves as an ad-hoc referee of a number of journals in Finance, Economics, Econometrics and Statistics, and Operations Research and Management Science subject area. He is currently serving as the associate editor of Frontiers in Finance and Economics Journal.

Nemanja has also successfully attracted several research grants and presented his work at a number of highly rated international conferences. His work on the Investment Banking Efficiency and Shareholder Value Creation won the IFABS 2011 Best Young Researcher Award.

Noel Edison

Senior Advisor

Senior Advisors

Noel has over 30 years of experience as a senior executive in global capital markets and is a senior advisor to our global fund management and debt products businesses. Noel served most recently as Director & Head of Insurance and Financial Services at the EBRD responsible for origination and execution of debt and equity financings across 36 countries, including trade related and asset-backed financings. He also served as a managing director at Standard Chartered as Head of Asset Securitisation for the emerging markets of South America, Turkey, Middle East, Africa and South Asia and as managing director at Bank of America in various capacities, each with a focus on structured finance. Noel combines extra-ordinary product knowledge with extensive experience across all EMEA markets. He currently serves as an independent non-executive board member of Hayat Varlık Yönetim A.Ş., a Turkish asset management company based in Istanbul. He holds an MBA from the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University and a BA from Hobart and William Smith Colleges.

Michael Watson

Risk Control Executive

Team

Mike Watson focuses on our development of risk culture, control, and risk advisory. Mike is a member of our Risk Advisory Council which provides oversight on the working capital portfolio for current and emerging risk trends, including credit, liquidity, reputational, operational and fraud risks. Mike also chairs our Asset Resolution & Recovery committee which advises on resolution strategies. Mike also serves as our Risk Control Executive to ensure our third line of defence (3LOD) model is functioning properly. Mike has extensive experience in working capital financings globally including senior risk management and business management roles at Bibby Factors, Cattles Invoice Finance, Arbuthnot Commercial Finance and Barclays Bank.

Charles Colbourne

Senior Advisor

Senior Advisors

Charles co-founded Channel in 2006. He was responsible for overseeing the structuring and execution of transitions and identification of new financing opportunities and served on its executive, management and credit committees through 2018. He was formerly Manageing Director and joint head of the global Credit Products Group at TD Securities, a unit of the Toronto-Dominion Bank. Charles also served on the TD Securities Trading Risk Committee. Charles holds a B. Comm. from University Alberta in Canada.

Briana Long

Digital Marketing Coordinator

Team

Briana handles all digital & marketing aspects at Channel, from event coordination, sponsorship enquires and anything under the digital sun please get in touch.

Briana.long@channelcapital.io

Ed Smith

Senior Advisor

Senior Advisors

Ed is responsible for developing Channel’s working capital business with UK-based clients. Ed is a Chartered Accountant with over 20years’ experience with JP Morgan and Rabobank in various roles including Global Head, Telecoms & Media and CEO, Rabo FARM. In more recent years, he has been advising PE firms and working with growth-led UK SME’s in various roles as investor, Advisory Board Chair and commercial business development.

Jim Richardson

Senior Advisor – Human Capital Development

Senior Advisors

Jim has extensive experience of talent capital development matters across all sectors, but in particular financial services. He served in a variety of senior human resources positions at Lehman Brothers, Credit Suisse, RBS (as Managing Director and lead of their global resourcing function) and Santander UK (as Managing Director leading their talent, learning and resourcing function) and consults on a wide range of reward, talent and culture projects across a variety of clients. Jim advises our CEO and senior management team on the development of our human capital strategy across culture, talent change, and reward activities, including attracting, motivating, and retaining key performers and future leaders. He is also a member of our REMCO committee reporting to the board.

George Cunningham

Strategy Manager

Team

George works in the Debt Products team as a Strategy Manager with a focus on origination and client strategy. He joined Channel having spent a number of years working in Corporate Development in the Trade Finance space. George also worked for several years as an Investment Portfolio Analyst in the Wealth Management industry. George holds a BSc in Mathematics and is a CFA Charterholder.

Jason Meyer

Senior Structurer

Tim Wilkinson

Business Origination

Team

Tim has over 25 years of receivables financing experience having worked in both the bank & independent markets for some of the UK’s traditional players.

I have taken great pride in bringing new receivables financing products to market & now relish the opportunity to bring my experience to the clearly exciting & innovative receivables funder that is Channel Capital Advisors. My key ethos of providing well structuring financial solutions for clients & stakeholders that are fit for purpose & have longevity remains an absolute focal point of my activity. Channel Capital Advisors are disrupting the traditional receivables financing model thereby bringing improved cashflow, technology & management tools to those SME business that are looking for something more from their existing bank or funder.

Sanne Williams

Acting Compliance Manager

Team

Sanne joined Channel in November 2020 as maternity cover for the Head of Compliance, responsible for advising on regulatory risks and regulations applicable to the business. Sanne is also focused on ensuring Channel has robust internal processes and procedures that promote effective governance in accordance to the Financial Conduct Authority guidelines and expectations. Prior to joining Channel, Sanne worked at Panmure Gordon, Lazard, Nordea, UBS and Torch Partners.

Sam Leaw

Credit and Risk Strategist

Team

Sam joins the Channel’s Risk team from a fintech and banking background (Bank of America Merrill Lynch, MarketFinance, RBS, Accenture, PwC) with the aim to develop, optimise and implement risk automation with a strong focus on data and technology within the SME business. This will involve making data more accessible in driving business and risk decisions, digitising information flow from our clients for underwriting and risk monitoring, increasing our speed to funding time for clients, and ultimately making Risk a business function that enables cross collaboration of ideas and shared knowledge across the company.

Sam is experienced in developing credit product strategies and portfolio risk management tools, including client onboarding experience, risk automation, credit risk policies & processes, credit underwriting, fraud monitoring, and debt collections & recoveries. Sam holds a degree in Civil Engineering and MSc Finance from UCL and Imperial College London Business School.

Stephen Fenton

Marketing Manager

Team

As a well-rounded senior marketer, Stephen has over 25 years’ experience in driving company growth through creative and innovative marketing strategies. Having worked agency and client side over the course of his employment history, he brings to Channel Capital a wealth of cross sector knowledge when delivering integrated 360° go-to-market communication initiatives at both national and local level.

Francesco Cuccovillo

Financing Solutions and Alternative Credit

Team

Francesco heads the financing solutions and alternative credit activities at Channel which includes marketing and advising on structured finance transactions in the trade finance space as well as other structured and private credit assets. Prior to joining Channel, Francesco accumulated 20 years investment banking experience in senior structuring and structured trading roles at NatWest Markets, Nomura, Lehman Brothers. Francesco holds a Master Degree in Economics from LUISS University in Rome.

Neil Edwards

Director, Business Development – Debt Products

Team

Neil brings 20 years’ experience in financial services having worked for some of the world’s largest banking groups including Citi and RBS encompassing a variety of roles from debt capital markets, relationship management through to trade and supply chain finance origination.

A seasoned banker, he has worked on transactions across the product spectrum including cash management, trade finance, FX, interest rate derivatives, loan markets, DCM, project finance and M&A.

During his banking career, Neil has had both credit and sales responsibility for a large universe of client relationships, including US and Asian multinational corporates; UK mid market companies and a large proportion of FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 constituents. Prior to joining Channel, Neil worked for one of the leading non-bank players in the alternative finance space, specifically focusing on working capital solutions for major European corporate clients.