Direct lending platform CommonBond has selected Morgan Edwards as its new Chief Financial Officer. Edwards has spend the last 7 years as an MD at Macquarie Capital. According to a company report, Edwards has tallied over 25 years in traditional finance. At Macquarie he played a “key role” in leveraged loan debt underwriting. Now he will bring more firepower to CommonBond and their push to scale their marketplace lending platform that targets student loans.
“CommonBond has achieved impressive growth in a relatively short time span, and the opportunity to lead and institutionalize the financial levers of one of the fastest-growing startups in marketplace lending is one that I couldn’t be more excited about,” said Edwards. “I look forward to applying my experience across the financial industry to help move CommonBond into its next phase of growth.”
Prior to Macquarie, Mr. Edwards spent nearly 20 years at Morgan Stanley and other bulge bracket firms in debt capital markets, credit and portfolio management as well as distribution roles. CommonBond reports that during the course of his career, Mr. Edwards has structured, underwritten or sold hundreds of transactions totaling more than $50 billion.
Simultaneously CommonBond announced the appointment of long-time company advisor and banking industry veteran, Charles G.T. Stonehill, to its Board of Directors. Stonehill is a Managing Partner of TGG Group, of which Vikram Pandit, the former CEO of Citigroup and an investor in CommonBond, is Chairman. Stonehill has spent more than 25 years in investment banking, leading Banking and Capital Markets practices at Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse and Lazard Inc. He currently serves on the board of Julius Baer Group, Switzerland’s largest pure private bank.
Stonehill stated that CommonBond was at “the forefront of this wave of disruption”.
“Having watched CommonBond develop since its very early stages, I look forward to contributing my experience as the company continues to expand its team, products and capital,” said Stonehill.
