What is your role at Siepe? How did you find out about Siepe? And can you tell us about your background?
I’m the Director of Collateral Administration Services at Siepe, leading the collateral administration vertical that provides services for CLO portfolio managers.
Before joining Siepe, I worked at CitiBank on the transaction management team, which works closely with collateral administration providers. During one of Siepe’s visits to our Citi offices, I had the chance to meet Michael Pusateri and reconnect with several members of the team that I had previously worked with in the industry. Hearing their vision for driving innovation and technology in the collateral administration space captured my interest and ultimately led me to join their team.
I’ve been in the CLO and collateral administration industry for about 15 years. I started in corporate trust with JPMorgan, which later became part of BNY Mellon, where I began as a cash analyst and worked my way up into management roles. I later joined another collateral administration firm where I worked in middle office and collateral administration functions, supporting client onboarding and portfolio operations, and also European CLO clients. After about a decade in that role, I moved to Citi to gain experience in an issuer setup and transaction management before returning to the collateral administration space with Siepe.
How do you collaborate with portfolio managers, counterparties, and legal teams to support broader credit or loan operations?
Every client operates a little differently, so our goal is to build workflows that fit each client’s specific structure and vendor ecosystem. Some clients have been in the CLO space for many years and already have established workflows, while others are newer and may need more guidance during the onboarding process.
My team works closely with portfolio managers, trading desks, and back-office teams to ensure that the portfolios are being managed correctly. Internally, we also collaborate with several teams at Siepe, including:
- Compliance to ensure reporting aligns with the transaction documentation
- Asset administration to confirm the assets clients want to onboard can be supported in our systems
- Legal teams to ensure transactions follow the governing deal documents.
Siepe also provides middle-office services, and our collateral administration team works closely with each of these teams to ensure deals transition smoothly and the workflow remains efficient.
What are common issues for firms looking to choose Siepe for collateral administration processes?
Collateral administration work itself is fairly repetitive across the industry, but one of the main challenges when onboarding clients is understanding the systems and workflows they currently use.
Some clients have more modern systems that support efficient data transfer and connectivity, which makes integration easier. However, many still work with older systems, which means we have to find ways to integrate their processes with ours while maintaining the high level of service they expect. The most important thing is building a workflow that fits the client’s operational structure, and ensuring we can continue to provide reliable service.
What are some of the biggest challenges the industry faces, and how has the loan servicing industry evolved? And are there any trends you’re seeing?
In the past, many collateral administration and loan servicing processes relied heavily on manual work. The solution to handling increased workload was simply to add more people to the process, but the industry has started moving toward more technology-driven workflows. Data transmission between financial institutions is much faster today than it was years ago, and processes like payment instructions or trading activity can now be completed much more efficiently.
One of the biggest trends right now is the growing interest in artificial intelligence. AI has the potential to assist with tasks like cash management, trade management, document review, and reporting. While it’s still early, the industry is beginning to explore how AI agents could help manage different aspects of CLO operations and improve scalability.
What’s a key difference between Siepe’s Collateral Admin products compared to others in the industry?
Our focus on technology and innovation. In many traditional collateral administration shops, processes are still very manual. At Siepe, we put a strong emphasis on building technology-driven solutions that can streamline workflows and improve efficiency.
Another factor that stands out is the culture of collaboration within the company. Our leadership fosters open communication and knowledge sharing across teams, and employees are encouraged to bring forward ideas that could improve services for clients. This environment helps create stronger teamwork and ultimately results in better service delivery.
Can you share a fun fact?
Whenever I have free time away from the office, I enjoy traveling to beach destinations and spending time exploring nature. Two of my favorite places to visit are Isla Mujeres in Mexico and Destin, Florida. I enjoy being outdoors and taking time to disconnect and explore new places whenever I can.
