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Private capital lender Solomons Capital has appointed experienced credit and operations executive Steven Galdona to head the growth of its lending operations through both brokers and the direct channel.
Galdona (pictured above) was most recently head of credit at funding.com.au, but has held senior roles at Better Mortgage Management, MOVE Bank, Bank of Queensland, Suncorp Group and Mortgage Ezy.
He will join Solomons Capital as director of credit and operations, where he will manage the group’s credit risk strategy, lending operations, as well as lending compliance and governance structures.
Galdona told Australian Broker the global diversified wealth, legal, accounting and capital services offered by the broader Solomons Group had attracted him to join the business in the new role.
“We're a one stop shop; any customer that comes direct, or a broker that comes direct, can have that client managed by Solomons Group, because we cater for them across those different pillars,” Galdona said.
Galdona’s remit is focused on the capital pillar of the business, which connects its pool of private investment capital with finance customers, who come to the business either through brokers or direct.
Solomons Capital is focusing on financing non-code loans and is not doing construction loans.
“We don't do construction because we find that's a bit of a risk at the moment, until the market improves,” Galdona said.
“But there's people that can't get loans from a bank, or they want something quick, because their finance is overdue and they could probably lose their deposit, or they want more cash flow for the business to expand the business.
“Or maybe their money's tied up in overseas and is coming in a month or two, and they need money now to make an acquisition to increase their business and profitability. There's all different reasons why customers come to us.”
Galdona said Solomons Capital looked at each deal from a risk point of view and worked with brokers and customers directly to make sure they were happy with the deal. The business also offers access to credit decision makers, and is getting close to being able to approve deals in about 24 hours.
“We're very quick, we're very simple and we've got and excellent risk appetite in regards to securities in metro locations or regional or rural; we'll look at every transaction and we'll price it, and we will manage that based on pricing and the LVR,” Galdona said.
“I know a lot of brokers, and really, they just want to get the deal approved, and that's fine. But when they deal with the decision maker on deals, it's a no brainer, because you don't have to go through BDMs, credit, all that type of stuff. My credit team makes decisions based on the asset and LVR.”
Solomons Group managing director Johnny Shin (pictured below, left) said Galdona would be invaluable to the group as it continued to scale and expand its services in the Australian market.
This will include exploring new opportunities for growth and innovation in the lending space.
“Steven’s appointment underscores our commitment to delivering exceptional outcomes for our clients and maintaining the highest standards in credit risk management,” Shin said.
Galdona said he had always been focused on developing businesses, and in a lot of cases, this was about speed to market. “But a quick no is a good no, so we don’t mess anyone around.”
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