Peapack-Gladstone Financial and Peapack-Gladstone Bank added a new team of private bankers to launch Peapack Capital, the newest subsidiary of the bank, which will focus on equipment finance and leasing.

“Equipment leasing is the logical next step for us,” said Doug Kennedy, president and CEO of Peapack-Gladstone Bank. “We have found a team that fits our aggressive style and is able to launch the program with a foundation built on years of experience.”

Robert R. Cobleigh will lead the team as an executive vice president of the bank and as the president of Peapack Capital. Cobleigh is responsible for launching the equipment leasing program and introducing the bank’s brand to this vertical. Cobleigh has more than 30 years of leasing and structured finance expertise in a broad range of industries and assets including manufacturing, trucking, business aviation, rail, marine and energy. A founding member, he most recently served as regional vice president and credit officer for Santander Corporate Equipment Finance, where he was instrumental in supporting the growth of a $1 billion portfolio for the Santander Bank, subsidiary.

Prior to that, he was the vice president of credit for structured and specialty finance (leasing, mutual fund and trade finance) for MUFG-Union Bank/The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi in New York. He has also held senior positions at RBS/Citizens Asset Finance, Siemens Financial Services and Volvo Finance North America.

Joining Cobleigh are Denny Smith, Frank Striplin, Christopher McManus, Mark L. Robinson and Dennis R. Magarro.

Smith will serve as senior vice president and chief operating officer of Peapack Capital. With 25 years of bank leasing experience, Smith most recently managed front and mid-office operational functions including pricing, structuring, buy/sell syndication, proposal creation, profitability analysis, incentive compensation, closing functions, change management and Infolease system upgrade projects for Sovereign Bank/Santander Bank, as senior vice president and managing director. He originally joined Sovereign Bank in August 2004 to launch tax and non-tax equipment lease products for all asset classes. He spent 15 years at Fleet Capital before that and also worked for Signal Capital.

Striplin, who will serve in the role of senior vice president and sales director, joined Peapack Capital from the corporate equipment finance group of Santander Bank, where he booked more than $190 million in new business in less than two years and consistently maintained a backlog greater than $75 million. Striplin has also held roles at Citigroup and Credit Lyonnais.

McManus, who will also serve in the role of senior vice president and sales director, has more than 25 years of direct lending experience. He began his career working for the equipment leasing group of First Fidelity before moving on to an underwriter role with GE Capital. He has also worked for Mellon Bank US Leasing, US Bancorp, RBS/Citizens Asset Finance and, most recently, Santander.

Rounding out the division, Robinson and Magarro joined the Peapack Capital team as senior vice president, senior underwriter and vice president and senior underwriter, respectively.

Robinson has more than 30 years of proficiency in financial services. Throughout his career he has held positions at Santander Bank, JA Mitsui Leasing Capital, CIT Group, Merrill Lynch Business Financial Services and Wells Fargo.

Magarro has 17 years of finance experience with diverse commercial lending organizations in credit analysis, underwriting, risk and portfolio management, finance and accounting. He has held positions at Arthur Andersen, GE Capital, RBS/Citizens Asset Finance, MUFG – BTMU Capital Leasing and Finance and Santander Bank.

“It is important for us to enter this arena,” Kennedy said. “As a high-performing boutique bank we are aggressively building our platforms and incorporating wealth, lending and deposit solution along the way. In order to grow, we need to expand into new territories. Peapack Capital allows us to do this in a purposeful and measured way.”

Peapack-Gladstone Financial is a New Jersey bank holding company with total assets of $3.95 billion as of March 31, 2017. Founded in 1921, Peapack-Gladstone Bank is a commercial bank that provides private banking services to businesses, real estate professionals, non-profits and consumers.