Deciding to come to the United States was also made easy because of Joseph’s professional experience. With a lending background that dates back to 1982, Joseph was an established player in the trade finance industry when he moved, having served as CEO of Gerber Goldschmidt Finance, a subsidiary of the Gerber Goldschmidt Group. Upon their arrival to the United States, Joseph and his family settled in New York and Joseph got back to business by running a small buying office leftover from Gerber Goldschmidt Finance, which was sold to Investec Bank in 1993. Joseph used that buying office as a “launching pad” for what would become Gerber Finance.
“I don’t think I really knew how different and how challenging it was going to be,” Joseph says. “It was especially difficult in a new country where I didn’t know many people, getting our name out and letting the industry know that Gerber was in business and had money to lend.”
“Through luck, hard work, some creativity, we landed a few mainstream deals,” Joseph says, noting that the Gerber really took the form it is known for today about five years in. “And as a result, we started getting a seat at the table. And, of course, we built on that. And then over the years morphed completely into asset-based lending.”
Joseph continued to build Gerber after those first five years and helped it attain a unique standing in the industry because of its adherence to his relationship lending philosophy.
“It’s always been all about the clients,” Joseph says. “I truly enjoy meeting with them, learning about their business and, hopefully, adding value. And because we have such a diverse portfolio in terms of product, it really is fascinating.”
“We understand that there are ups and downs in every business,” Joseph says. “It is critical to build a relationship of trust with our clients so that they feel safe sharing both the good and the bad with us. If we only get the positives, we are likely to make bad decisions because we don’t have the full picture. So, for me, it’s really important that we sit down face to face with our clients on a regular basis and encourage them to trust us, to share with us the good and the bad.”
Although building Gerber has taken up the majority of Joseph’s career, he knows that hanging on too long could have been detrimental to the business. That’s why he decided to step away from his role as CEO in the beginning of 2020, leaving the company in the hands of its former president, Jennifer Palmer. Since then, Gerber has launched several new divisions and expanded into Canada. In addition, women now make up nearly 70% of its leadership team. Joseph, who still serves in an advisory role for Gerber, says he has been thrilled with the direction the company has gone since Palmer took over, reaffirming his decision to step aside.
In his role as an advisor at Gerber, Joseph still champions education within in his team and the ABL industry at large.
Now that he’s not working at Gerber full-time anymore (he puts in about three days a week currently), Joseph says that having handed the leadership reins to Palmer, and with Kevin McGarry taking care of credit, he’s sleeping better than he has in the last 30 years. He’s also had time to tackle new challenges, like learning to play keyboard and a decent game of tennis.
