Salus Capital Partners has named Christopher O’Connor as Executive Vice President, Chief Credit and Administration Officer. In his role at Salus, O’Connor will primarily be responsible for the oversight of underwriting and portfolio management, maintaining a keen focus on industry-leading, best-in-class management, information and control systems and above all, preservation of capital.
“Chris is a highly respected commercial lending professional with tremendous depth and breadth of experience encompassing sales, underwriting, credit and risk management,” said Andrew H. Moser, President and CEO of Salus Capital. “In addition to adding highly valuable expertise across many aspects of our business, Chris brings a forward looking mentality that makes him an ideal fit for the entrepreneurial culture we have cultivated at Salus Capital. We are pleased to welcome him to the team.”
O’Connor brings to Salus over 24 years of experience in the financial services industry, holding numerous senior level, executive management roles across the commercial lending landscape. He joins Salus from Rockland Trust Company where he was Senior Vice President and co-founder of Rockland’s Asset Based Lending Group. Prior to that, O’Connor spent more than eight years as Executive Vice President at Webster Business Credit Corp, and more than ten years as Senior Vice President with Wells Fargo Capital Finance.
"Salus Capital has been a true agent of change in the asset based lending space over the last few years,” said O’Connor. “I’ve been watching the company grow by providing creative and transformational financing solutions in the marketplace and I am looking forward to being a part of the Salus team in playing a role in reshaping the industry.”
Salus Capital is a direct originator of secured asset-based loans to the middle market across a variety of industries with additional complementary financing throughout the capital structure. Target transaction sizes range from $5 to $50 million, with the ability to hold up to $100 million and to syndicate larger transactions. The Salus Capital platform may also serve as an asset manager for like-minded institutional investors such as community and regional banks, insurance companies, family offices, private equity funds and hedge funds who may lack the infrastructure and dedicated competency within senior secured lending.