Signature Bank appoints new asset-based lending team; Led by Love, senior vice president and group director

Signature Bank, a New York-based full-service commercial bank, has formed a new asset-based lending group, marking the bank's entry into this specialized area. Leading the four-person team, which will be based at the bank's headquarters at 565 Fifth Ave., is Robert Love, senior vice president and group director. Love has 23 years of experience in this specialty lending arena, and will oversee the asset-based lending efforts of Signature Bank. Love started Amalgamated Capital, the asset-based lending division of Amalgamated Bank, and headed the effort during the past three years. Prior, he held several related roles including, among others, senior vice president of originations at Royal Bank of Scotland, senior vice president and northeast team leader at The CIT Group and senior vice president of origination at GE Capital. Love and his team all worked together at Amalgamated Capital prior to joining Signature Bank. Furthermore, certain team members also had worked together at other institutions. Joining Love is Wendy Berney Nelson, named senior vice president, Underwriting and portfolio manager. Nelson, with 20 years of related experience, will manage the underwriters and portfolio managers in her new role. Previously, Nelson held a similar role at her former institution as well as other underwriting positions at AmSouth Capital, Heller Financial, the CIT Group and various lending-related entities. Additionally, Robert Wallace was appointed vice president, portfolio manager, responsible for managing the bank's new portfolio of asset-based loans. At Amalgamated Capital, Wallace was senior underwriter and portfolio manager, responsible for handling a portfolio of asset-based clients. Wallace, with 30 years of lending experience, previously served in other comparable positions at Capital One Leverage Finance Corp., PNC Credit Corp. and Transamerica Business Capital Corp., among other institutions. Marissa Bianco Wych will serve as vice president, underwriter for asset-based lending. She will underwrite direct and indirect asset-based loans while assisting her team with portfolio management. Prior to her working in this same capacity at Amalgamated Capital, Wych spent several years at the CIT Group, in a range of roles for its compliance group, the project management office and in the business credit/C&I portfolio area. "The appointment of this new asset-based lending team led by Bob Love further strengthens our product offerings to our privately held commercial clients. Similar to the establishment of our specialty finance subsidiary, Signature Financial, our new asset-based lending effort is led by an experienced and well respected team. We look forward to the contributions Bob and his team will make to enhance our position in the marketplace," said president and CEO Joseph DePaolo. Love said, "At Signature Bank, we are building a solid, complementary asset-based lending practice dedicated to serving middle market companies, where we will provide clients with creative structures and highly personalized service. Our commitment to client care directly corresponds with Signature Bank's client-first philosophy, which is an ideal fit for our team. We look forward to establishing our presence and securing a leadership role in the asset-based lending arena via the proven Signature Bank platform."