Kenneth Walters, Managing Director and Head of Equipment Finance at Apple Bank, has transformed a seven-person startup into a multi-billion-dollar engine of performance by building a tight-knit team, staying flexible and finding strength in smart risk.
When Kenneth Walters and his team launched Apple Bank’s equipment finance business in May 2022, it was a de novo operation: seven people, zero assets and a plan to grow gradually. That plan didn’t last long.
“Fortunately, after being here only a couple of weeks, I got a call from the folks that acquired the bank we had been working for,” Walters recalled. That call led to a pivotal deal: Apple bought back a $950 million portfolio from Citizens Bank. “We joined May 15, and on July 21 we bought that portfolio back … After an internal transfer of lender finance assets and syndication of several transactions, the portfolio had over $800 million of assets at the end of 2022.”
That early windfall shifted the strategy and accelerated the timeline. “We went from year zero of our plan to year five in a couple of months.” Walters quickly began scaling the team, now 14 strong, and integrating legacy portfolios, including a commercial aviation book with approximately $2 billion in low-risk assets.
The team operates as generalists, with strategic concentrations in rail, marine and a growing niche in lender finance. “We’ve been working with smaller non-bank lessors who may specialize in a certain industry. They’re buying transactions and then we’re coming in and helping them leverage those transactions. Our knowledge of the equipment allows us to provide some advance against the residual where others may not.”
Walters’ leadership roots run deep, and many team members have remained loyal to him across banks and decades. “We have team members that I started working with 25 to 40 years ago, when I started at CIT,” Walters says, crediting the team’s longevity and culture as key to retention. “We’ve learned that hiring people earlier in their careers has worked better for us; we can teach them and ingrain them in the way we do things.”
Apple Bank’s platform has allowed Walters and his team to operate with more authority than ever before. “This bank has just been great to work with,” he says. “They give us a lot of flexibility.”
Walters still has big plans, including adding sales talent, deepening commercial aviation operations and exploring private credit partnerships. But amid these new ventures, his leadership philosophy remains grounded in smart structure, strategic risk management and prioritizing people. •
“We went from year zero to year five of our business plan in only a couple of months. That growth was only possible because the bank believed in us, and we delivered.”
~ Kenneth Walters, Managing Director & Head of Equipment Finance, Apple Bank
Rita E. Garwood is Editor in Chief of Monitor.
