Signature Bank launched its new Fund Banking Division, dedicated to providing financing and banking services to the private equity industry.
The new division will offer subscription lines of credit, management company lines of credit and general partner loans, specifically targeted to private equity firms and their general partners. It will be based in Midtown Manhattan.
Tom Byrne, named managing group director and head of the new division, will lead the bank’s nationwide platform. Previously, Byrne, who brings nearly 30 years of banking industry experience to his new role, was group head of Silicon Valley Bank’s Global Fund Banking Division in New York City, where he retained global responsibility for all business development and relationship management activities for the firm’s private equity client base.
Previously Byrne was group head of the Peacock Equity Fund, an investment arm of NBCUniversal. In this capacity, he had global investment and portfolio management responsibility for the firm’s venture capital fund. Before joining GE/NBCUniversal, Byrne was a senior media and telecommunications banker at both ABN AMRO and Royal Bank of Canada, with responsibility for developing global client relationships.
Several top professionals with expertise from some of the nation’s top fund banking platforms have joined the Bank’s new Fund Banking Division. These include Brian Schneider, Trevor Freeman, Charles Newcomb and Victor Rutenberg, each named managing directors, responsible for originating and structuring new business opportunities within the private equity funds arena.
Schneider and Freeman both join from Silicon Valley Bank in New York. Schneider, with more than 23 years of related financial services experience, was Region Manager in the Global Fund Banking Division. He managed the seven-person NYC-based Fund Banking team. Previously, he was senior vice president, Loan Syndications at Lloyd’s Securities and earlier, a director, Loan Syndications for 14 years at Dresdner Bank.
Freeman was also a managing director, primarily responsible for the structuring of significant subscription credit facilities for leading private equity and venture capital funds. Earlier, he spent 13 years at Citibank as senior vice president in the Sponsor Finance Group. Freeman’s nearly 20-year career has been spent focused on serving the private equity and venture capital industry.
Newcomb joins from Comerica Bank in New York City, where he held the role of managing director – Equity Fund Services Group. In this capacity, he originated and structured debt products for private equity and venture funds. Earlier, he was vice president in Subscription Finance at Wells Fargo Securities, and associate director at WestLB as part of the Financial Institutions Group.
Rutenberg brings 18 years of financial experience to his new role. Most recently, he was director of the Citibank Sponsor Finance Team in Manhattan, responsible for origination and structuring of fund financing facilities. Prior, Rutenberg worked at several global banks, including SMBC and WestLB, where he was originating and structuring credit facilitates for private equity funds.
Kevin Chiu was appointed to the post of relationship manager in the Fund Banking Division. He has worked in private banking managing ultra-high-net-worth client relationships for the past 15 years. Chiu joins from U.S. Trust in Midtown Manhattan.
Meredith Kane, Anthony Episcopio and Kaylin Searles were all named senior associates for the division. Kane has been with Signature Bank in Midtown Manhattan for more than two years, assisting with onboarding new clients and expanding client relationships. She spent six years serving as a senior preferred banker at First Republic Bank, assisting in business development and client research and analysis before joining Signature Bank. Episcopio held this same title at Silicon Valley Bank in New York, where he handled portfolio management, structuring and underwriting subscription credit facilities for private equity firms. Searles joins from UBS Private Wealth Management.
“Tom and his team bring to us a distinctive fund banking specialty and many years of collective experience. Together, they will all serve as a single point of contact for private equity firms and their general partners, consistent with our founding private client banking philosophy,” said Joseph J. DePaolo, Signature Bank president and CEO.
