Staffing shuffles in equipment finance: Ansley Park Capital, Greenbrier bolster ranks  

Numerous equipment finance operations have added staff in the past month as they bolster their lending and leadership teams.

In addition, the Certified Lease & Finance Professional Foundation announced May 20 that 11 people passed its CLFP exam, including six professionals at lender DLL.

DLL Director of Sales Support Jean Conran, business development executive Frederick Duffield, Asset Sales Specialist Emilie Herter, Senior Income Tax Analyst Anthony Maddesi, Sales Representative William Schilling and Senior Engineering Manager Prashanth Vyamasani joined the CLFP ranks in May, Monitor Daily first reported.  

The CLFP Foundation also welcomed Auxilior Capital Partners Senior Operations Analyst Michela Giannandrea, Dext Capital Senior Vice President of Finance Conrad Nilsen, First American Equipment Finance Vice President Nicholas Shotwell and AGCO Finance Senior Account Manager Paul Tew, who also were CLFP-certified. 

Others assumed new positions in the equipment finance industry recently.  

Bank of Ann Arbor  

John Gougeon was named president and chief executive of Ann Arbor, Mich.-based lender UniFi Equipment Finance on May 20.  

UniFi is a subsidiary of the Bank of Ann Arbor and has funded over 10,000 transactions totaling more than $1 billion since its launch in 1978, according to the UniFi website. Bank of Ann Arbor bought UniFi in 2013.  

Previously Gougeon was the managing director and head of asset management for Wilton, Conn.-based SLR Equipment Finance and served for six years at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, most recently as senior vice president of valuation management.  

Gougeon is a member of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association and served on its equipment management committee for 15 years.  

Greenbrier Companies

Lake Oswego, Ore.-based Greenbrier Companies named Michael Donfris as senior vice president of finance May 21. He will be appointed chief financial officer and principal financial officer in July, according to a release from Greenbrier. 

Previously, Donfris was CFO of short-line railroad operator R.J. Corman Railroad Group for more than three years, the release stated. He has almost 40 years of experience in corporate accounting and financing. 

Greenbrier makes and sells freight railcars and offers leasing and management services. It has a market cap of $1.5 billion. 

North Mill Equipment Finance  

Norwalk, Conn.-based lender North Mill Equipment Finance hired Thomas Lyle as executive vice president and chief experience officer on May 20, according to a company May 20 company release.

Lyle previously was chief operating officer of New York-based HPS Global Leasing and was head of global leasing for Xerox Financial Services, where he worked for more than 11 years, according to LinkedIn. 

North Mill Equipment Finance issues small- to mid-ticket leases and loans, up to $2.5 million. 

Ansley Park Capital 

Lender Ansley Park Capital hired Zilong Wang as senior managing director and head of sponsor coverage underwriting and Michael Gay as senior managing director and head of sponsor coverage, according to May 14 release from the company. 

Wang previously worked at Barclays’ leveraged finance division and in risk management at Goldman Sachs.   

Gay also previously served as executive vice president and senior managing director of San Francisco-based Stonebriar Commercial Finance and director of Key Equipment Finance for nearly two years.  

Ansley Park Capital launched in January as part of the alternative credit strategy division of Ares Management. The lender is prioritizing large-ticket leases, in the range of $5 million to $100 million, co-head of Ares Alternative Credit Joel Holsinger told Equipment Finance News at the time of the launch.