What is your role at Siepe and can you tell us about your background?
As Director of Sales at Siepe, I oversee strategic relationships for the firm with a focus on growth across our product verticals, including both software and services. Part of this role also involves creating awareness of who Siepe is, what we do, and how we operate in the market.
My background is primarily on the corporate banking side, coming from the trustee and agency business. I’ve spent the majority of my career at large institutional banks, including Citi, BNY Mellon, and most recently Deutsche Bank. My work has largely been in the corporate trust space with a focus on structured finance, particularly CLOs and the broader loan universe within structured finance. I’ve worked across a variety of transactions including asset-backed facilities, traditional CLOs, private credit and middle market deals, separately managed accounts, rated feeders, and other structures within the structured credit market.
What does success look like for you and your team when working with clients, both new and long- term?
At Siepe, the goal is to be the preferred service and software provider across the credit investment lifecycle. We work with credit managers across their infrastructure from pre-trade through post-trade. On the software side, that includes areas like portfolio management surveillance, order management, and compliance. On the services side, it includes middle office and collateral administration.
For existing clients, success means identifying how we can deepen the relationship and become a strategic partner. This could involve engaging in additional offerings they may not currently be using. However, with new clients, success is about identifying the right point of entry where we can add value today and where we can support them in the future. It comes down to understanding their needs from both a technology and service perspective, and making sure they’re aware of everything the Siepe platform can offer. Ultimately, we want to continue growing the organization and make sure we’re delivering high-quality software and services that support our clients’ businesses and enable them to grow and scale.
What are the biggest challenges you see clients facing in today’s credit and loan markets, particularly collateral administration, and how does Siepe help address them?
One of the biggest challenges many managers face today is data integrity, which often isn’t due to anything they’re doing internally, but rather the systems and providers they rely on.
A lot of providers in the industry work with legacy systems that don’t communicate well with one another. That creates operational friction and makes it harder to reach the outcomes that managers need. Siepe approaches this differently by starting with modern technology and building systems designed to work together from the beginning. The idea is to use technology that reflects where the world is today and provide a more efficient solution for credit managers.
How has the sales approach in financial technology evolved over the past few years as the industry becomes more complex and data-driven?
In most conversations with managers today, the discussion tends to focus on two key areas: people and product. People remain critical. Clients want to know that the teams supporting them have the experience and expertise to understand the requirements of the market. The other side of the conversation is product, which in many cases means technology. Firms want to know how data is managed, how software platforms function, and how those systems fit within their broader infrastructure. There’s significantly more focus on technology today than there was in the past. As the market has evolved, technology has become a major factor in how firms evaluate partners and service providers.
Are there opportunities or trends in the market that you think business leaders are overlooking?
Data continues to be a major focus across the credit market. Most organizations recognize the importance of data, but the real opportunity lies in pairing that data with people who know how to work with it, how to normalize it, analyze it, and interpret it effectively. Making sure you’re working with partners and vendors who approach data in the same way is becoming increasingly important.
Are there any exciting initiatives you’re working on that you can share? Looking ahead, what are some operational improvements or innovations that you’re excited about?
At Siepe there is always innovation happening, with a focus on improving what we have today while continuing to build for the future. For example, we’re developing a portfolio optimizer that will enhance the compliance engine, and work around a large language model that both clients and employees will be able to use to better interact with the platform.
Can you share a fun fact?
My family and I enjoy spending as much time outdoors as possible. We have a travel trailer that we keep in upstate New York on a third-generation dairy farm on my wife’s side of the family. We visit it frequently and also take the camper on road trips together. This past summer we took it through the New England area all the way up to Bar Harbor, Maine.
