After moving its lender finance team back to its core portfolio in July, Banc of California recently hired Chris Hague, who was previously with PacWest – the bank acquired by Banc of California last year – to head the division.
This move was something the bank had been considering for a while, Banc of California Chief Executive and President Jared Wolff said.
As executive vice president and head of specialty finance, Hague will execute on the bank’s goal to grow its lender finance portfolio, along with a number of other recent hires previously at PacWest.
“Banc of California, following its combination with PacWest, has done a great job integrating the teams and is clearly poised for growth. We are excited to contribute to this growth and take advantage of our deep expertise and attractive market position,” Hague said in a statement.
With opportunities that have arisen following bank closures, Banc of California had the chance to buy back the $350 million of loans that PacWest had sold before merging with Banc of California.
“It’s created an opportunity for us to become the go-to business bank for clients in the markets that we serve,” Wolff said.
The loans the bank repurchased coupled with the loans already on Banc of California’s books brought its lending portfolio to around $800 million.
“At that size it’s something that we decided we wanted to really go all in on,” Wolff said.
Banc of California’s lender finance group works primarily with non-bank lenders providing them with leverage and solutions to increase their reach.
Focusing on small and medium-sized businesses allows the bank to be “more nimble and solution oriented” and also to develop relationships with customers, Wolff said.
While Wolff said it’s hard to say exactly how much the lending group will push out this year, he foresees sizable growth.
“With any new business, there’s the opportunity to grow it faster than legacy businesses, because you’re taking market share in building teams… It would be reasonable to expect that that business could grow double digits without stretching too much,” Wolff said.
