Quentin Cote has joined Colonnade Advisors as a principal.

“We have known Quentin for a decade and are delighted he has chosen to join our team,” said Stuart Miller, founder of Colonnade. “Quentin’s knowledge of the capital markets, his experience in risk management, and his expertise in a range of specialty finance asset classes, including autos, equipment, credit cards, student loans and esoteric assets will broaden our advisory and transaction services.”

Previously, Cote was head of Investment Risk for Babson Capital Management, a $135 billion investment management firm based in Springfield, MA owned by MassMutual Financial Group. At Babson, he had risk oversight for multiple investment strategies, including private equity, bank loan funds, core bond funds and private placements.

He joined Babson in 2008 from Cambridge Place Investment Management, a London-based structured credit hedge fund. Quentin founded and ran Cambridge Place’s U.S. Private Equity business for three years, building a book of over $200 million of investments in specialty finance companies.

Cote began his career at State Street Bank in Boston, initially working in project finance. In 1990, he helped found State Street’s structured finance business. Through two stints at State Street spanning a dozen years, Quentin structured and funded over 20 private asset-backed financing transactions totaling $2 billion for commercial clients, specialty finance companies, and banks. In addition, he directed the purchase and management of more than $4 billion of public ABS and MBS.

Earlier in his career, Cote worked as a strategy consultant serving Fortune 500 companies at Renaissance Solutions.

He earned an SM in Management from MIT’s Sloan School of Management and a BA in Government from Dartmouth College.