Metrics bolsters team with several new appointments

Metrics Credit Partners, Australia’s leading non-bank corporate lender, has made several new appointments over the past 12 months in response to rising investor demand for Australian corporate loan investments.

The new hires include two new investment directors, the establishment of a three-strong team in New Zealand, and four appointments to the expanded external relations and investor analytics team.

Metrics Managing Partner Andrew Lockhart said the firm is experiencing growth in funds under management as investors seek out the income and capital stability offered by private debt.

“Since the launch of Metrics in 2013, we have built an exceptionally well-skilled team that is highly diverse. I am pleased to say that over the past year we have recruited more outstanding professionals as the business experiences continued demand from investors for the asset class,” he said.

Bolstering the investment team

Lance McKegg and Michael Goldman joined Metrics as Investment Directors, broadening the experience of the investment team.

Mr McKegg joined the Sydney team from UBS Investment Bank, where he spent 13 years, most recently as Managing Director, focusing on leveraged finance, corporate banking, structured lending, US bond market and term loan origination. He formerly held roles at NAB in leveraged finance and corporate banking and brings almost 30 years of experience in the Australian, New Zealand and UK finance markets.

Mr Goldman joined Metrics from commercial real estate funds management group, CVS Lane Capital Partners, where he was Director of Origination. He was previously Head of Property Funds at AIMS Financial Group, in addition to spending five years at NAB in real estate investment banking.

Commenting on the appointments, Mr Lockhart said: “We are delighted both Lance and Michael have joined the Metrics team.

“We are continuing to see strong demand for funding from a range of Australian and New Zealand companies and both Lance and Michael bring a wealth of experience which will help us to further strengthen our offer to borrowers and investors.

“Both Lance and Michael are well known to our team, having worked together with us at NAB back in the early to mid-2000’s.”

Establishing an office in New Zealand

Early in 2020, Metrics opened an office in Auckland and appointed a dedicated local team of financial experts to take advantage of increasing opportunities for non-bank lenders in New Zealand.

Auckland-based Investment Directors Wayne Skerten, Richard Mandeno and Devna Bilimoria have significant experience in the financial services sector across Australia, the UK and New Zealand.

Mr Skerten has more than two decades of experience across corporate banking, private equity and corporate finance via his roles at ASB Bank, ANZ Capital and Arthur Anderson.

Mr Mandeno has more than 12 years of experience in financial consulting and corporate and institutional banking from his roles at ASB Bank and TMS Capital.

Ms Bilimoria previously worked for eight years in corporate and institutional banking at ASB Bank.

External relations appointments

Metrics has also welcomed Jennifer Lyon, Chloe Tilley, Natasha Millward, and Vanessa Preston to its expanded external relations and investor analytics team.

Ms Lyon joined in the role of Director External Relations. She previously spent nine years as Head of Hedge Fund Investor Relations (Asia, Australia and Middle East) at Macquarie Asset Management.

Ms Tilley joined in the role of External Relations Associate. Prior to joining Metrics, she held product management and distribution roles at Pinnacle Investment Management Group and Macquarie Asset Management.

Ms Millward, who joined as Marketing Director – External Relations, brings more than a decade of experience from sales and marketing roles at Lincoln Indicators, Nikko Asset Management, Pinnacle Investment Management, and IG.

Ms Preston joined as External Relations Analyst after completing a Bachelor of Business (Marketing) at the University of Technology, Sydney.

“Since our launch in 2013, Metrics has grown to become Australia’s largest non-bank corporate lender, completed well in excess of $10 billion of transactions with corporates throughout Australia, and grown our team to more than 60 people,” Mr Lockhart said.

“The addition of Jennifer, Chloe, Vanessa and Natasha will allow us to continue to improve the services we provide to our investors and other stakeholders as the business grows.”