Element Financial (“Element” or the “Company”) announced the appointment of David D. McKerroll as President of Element Capital to oversee the further expansion and development of Element’s Railcar Finance and Aviation Finance business units.
As a result of this appointment, and the expansion of the team that Mr. McKerroll will lead, Element’s existing asset financing capabilities in these sectors will be augmented with expertise that will enable Element’s Railcar Finance and Aviation Finance business units to provide a variety of debt, lease and fee-based advisory services and to capture incremental structured finance opportunities as aviation assets and railcar fleets across North America are renewed, replaced and expanded. Element’s successful Montreal-based Aviation Finance unit, headed by Tony Bergeron, President is expected to benefit from access to the additional structuring and advisory expertise provided by Mr. McKerroll’s team.
“David has an exceptional background in structured finance with a particular focus on large-ticket transportation assets in the rail and aerospace sectors,” said Steven K. Hudson, Element’s Chairman and CEO. “Recently, we estimated that the incremental investment required to retrofit and expand the North American railcar fleet just to meet the needs of the energy transportation industry exceeds US$ 3 billion and it will be the job of David and his team to harvest these incremental opportunities,” said Mr. Hudson.
Mr. McKerroll was one of the founders of Newcourt Credit Group where he served as President of Newcourt Capital which focused on providing structured finance and advisory service in the aerospace, rail, energy and infrastructure segments. Mr. McKerroll subsequently served as the Group CEO of CIT Structured Finance and later as the Group CEO of CIT Capital Finance where he managed a portfolio in excess of US$10 billion. Mr. McKerroll obtained his chartered accountant designation while working for Clarkson Gordon and he holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McMaster University.
As part of this appointment, Mr. McKerroll has agreed to make a $2 million personal equity investment in Element’s common shares.