WebBank appointed Ken Laudano senior vice president, head of lender finance. In this capacity, Laudano will be responsible for growing the bank’s asset-backed lending business.

Under Laudano’s leadership, the lender finance team will focus on providing debt capital to specialty finance originators and specialty finance fund managers, as well as fund managers of middle market corporate loans. The team will specialize in standard asset-backed warehouse facilities as well as back-leverage facilities. In addition, for direct loans, the bank will provide administrative agent services to support larger syndicated facilities.

Laudano envisions expanding the bank’s footprint beyond the traditional consumer and small business asset classes into newer, niche specialty finance asset classes that can benefit from his substantial industry experience and expertise. Laudano also seeks to capitalize on WebBank’s position in the fintech space as the bank expands its lender finance business.

Laudano has over two decades of experience in the asset finance industry, with a strong background in transaction structuring and execution, cash flow modeling and portfolio management. Prior to joining WebBank, he served as senior vice president and deputy chief credit officer for structured finance and private equity at East West Bank. His career also includes significant roles at institutions such as Moody’s Investors Service, Morgan Stanley, BNY Mellon and Credit Suisse.

Laudano holds an M.S. in statistics and financial engineering from New York University and a B.A. in economics from the University of Connecticut. He is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) and a Financial Data Professional (FDP).

“Ken’s appointment comes at a pivotal time as we expand our Lender Finance operations,” Jason Lloyd, president and CEO of WebBank, said. “His extensive experience and strategic vision will be instrumental in enhancing our asset-backed lending capabilities and driving our growth initiatives forward.”