Joseph F. Thompson joined Wintrust Commercial Finance (WCF) team as executive vice president and chief operating officer. Wintrust Commercial Finance is part of Wintrust Financial Corporation’s recently expanded lease and equipment finance operation. The team is an equipment-focused financing group located in Texas and provides highly sophisticated loan and lease products to commercial companies in a variety of industries throughout the United States and Canada.
“We’re pleased to have Joe join the team,” said Wintrust Commercial Finance President and Chief Executive Officer Kirk Phillips. “He’s a 25-year veteran of the financial services industry and Wintrust Commercial Finance will benefit tremendously from his experience and expertise.”
Thompson spent much of his career at industry leading institutions like Bank of America Securities, GE Capital, Transamerica and AIG. He has had hands on experience with everything from fixed-income sales to large institutional money managers, as well as origination, syndication, negotiation, underwriting and structuring of complex transactions, ranging from loans and other debt structures to full spectrum tax leasing products.
Thompson has held roles in all aspects of the commercial finance and leasing business and has had extensive experience with direct origination, capital markets and portfolio management. He has a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and a Masters of Business Administration in Finance as well as holding a number of securities licenses. In his role as COO, Mr. Thompson will be responsible for the build out of the direct and indirect origination platforms.
The Wintrust Commercial Finance group has a customer-focused origination philosophy while minimizing risk through strong underwriting discipline and expert asset management and will specialize in financing fixed assets consisting of property, plant and equipment, including transportation (trucks, trailers, rail, marine, buses), construction, manufacturing equipment, technology, oil and gas, restaurant equipment, medical and healthcare.