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Pallas Capital has appointed a former La Trobe Financial executive as its new executive director of lending.
The non-bank lender has appointed Steve Lawrence to the newly created role of executive director of lending, where he will lead the lending team and seek to expand the loan book at a “rapid rate”.
The lender said that Mr Lawrence would focus on service, speed-to-market and flexibility in assessing and delivering loans to its client base.
Mr Lawrence has joined Pallas Capital from La Trobe Financial, which he joined in 2007 and held the role of chief lending officer, commercial.
Pallas Capital provides funds for loans secured against non-specialised property assets, in particular, premium, city-fringe assets with values between $5 million and $40 million in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
The lender (which said it works with select brokers) offers development finance products on multi-dwelling/commercial construction, development site products for purchases and refinances of development sites, and residual stock product for refinance or equity release from residential security.
It said that its loans are supported by due diligence on the borrower, a “multi-faceted” exit strategy, and active management of the loans throughout the term.
According to Pallas Capital, it has underwritten over $750 million of transactions to date since its inception five years ago.
It said that with Mr Lawrence’s appointment, this number would climb in the next six to 12 months.
Commenting on his appointment at Pallas Capital, chief investment officer Dan Gallen said it would enable the lender to expand its support of the property sector in Australia.
“Steve brings deep experience, trust and industry-leading relationships to Pallas Capital’s business, and we are thrilled to have him onboard,” Mr Gallen said.
“We knew that we needed the right person to lead Pallas Capital’s lending team, and Steve’s reputation in the industry was one we could not look past.”
He added that the lender would continue to support the booming property sector in Australia through its diversified funding strategy, while noting that the construction market in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne has continued to grow “at a fast rate”.
“The certainty our lending clients have in our service and product is what drives our customer loyalty and steadily growing loan book, and I know that with Steve at the helm, the quality of our client relationships will only continue to grow,” Mr Gallen said.
Mr Lawrence also spoke about his appointment, stating: “I have been in the banking, finance and property industries in Australia for almost 40 years, and I know that relationships are at the heart of success in this business, and therefore in everything that I do.”
“Patrick Keenan (co-founder and executive chairman) and Dan Gallen have a very compelling, ambitious and well-supported vision for Pallas Capital’s business, and it was an easy decision for me to become part of the team working to achieve this vision.”
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Malavika Santhebennur
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Malavika Santhebennur is a content specialist at Momentum Media, focusing on mortgages and finance writing.
Before joining Momentum Media in 2019, Malavika held roles with Money Management and Benchmark Media, where she was writing about financial services.