SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Heron Finance, an SEC-registered investment advisor (“RIA”) focused on private credit, today announced it has hired Khang Nguyen as chief credit officer and Michael Jen as head of compliance. In the role of chief credit officer at Heron Finance, Khang Nguyen will oversee all aspects of credit strategy, research, underwriting, and portfolio management. As head of compliance, Michael Jen will focus on investment advisory compliance oversight, implementation, and strategic initiatives. Khang will report to CEO Mike Sall, and Michael to Heron general counsel Christopher Robins.
“Heron Finance uses a more transparent and efficient technology platform to provide wider access to private credit investments than ever before,” said Mike Sall, co-founder and CEO of Heron Finance. “We view bringing on board institutional quality personnel like Khang and Michael as a key part of our value proposition and are confident that they will help continue to shape our product offering, regulatory framework, and commitment to a high level of service and due diligence. We are thrilled to welcome them both to the Heron Finance team.”
With nearly two decades of experience as a lender, investor, and banker, Khang Nguyen has structured, deployed, and advised on over $20 billion in client and principal transactions. Before joining Heron, Khang guided multiple fintech companies through some of their earliest, and most transformative, milestones. He played a leading role in formulating credit strategy, developing internal risk infrastructure, and raising over $700 million in debt and equity capital. Prior to his tenure in fintech, Khang spent over a decade at various multi-billion-dollar investment firms, focusing on private credit. He structured and led negotiations of financing transactions encompassing middle-market direct lending, venture debt, asset-backed financing, and complex special situations. Khang is a graduate of Princeton University.
Michael Jen has some twenty years of experience as a risk management, and strategic regulatory-focused professional, and his previous experience includes serving as chief compliance officer/director at Silicon Valley VC family office Gopher Asset Management U.S, VP of compliance at BlackRock, and VP of compliance at Wells Fargo Securities. In these roles, he has been charged with formulating and executing key strategic compliance programs and projects while complying with regulatory requirements, building and managing teams, completing organization-wide fiscal regulatory and risk assessments, and leveraging leading-edge technology to elevate accuracy and achieve optimal operational efficiency. Michael graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a BA in Economics and received his MBA from University of Phoenix.
Heron Finance is the first and only automated investing platform offering accredited U.S. investors access to the rapidly growing private credit asset class. Its launch has coincided with a private credit boom, as both macroeconomic and regulatory tailwinds are currently benefiting the sector. Morgan Stanley predicts that the size of the private credit market will grow from $1.4 trillion in 2023 to $2.3 trillion in 2027.
Heron Finance is built on Goldfinch, an open-source lending protocol that has been used to originate over $110 million of loans in 20 countries since its founding three years ago. The Goldfinch protocol leverages blockchain technology to create a global, interoperable ecosystem of loans from many independent lenders, all using the same decentralized infrastructure.
About Heron Finance
As the first wealth management platform for private credit, Heron Finance invests in loans to small and medium sized businesses in the U.S. and globally, then allows accredited investors to participate in those deals. Investors receive steady monthly payments of interest, which they can choose to reinvest on the platform or transfer to another institution. Heron Finance automatically allocates and rebalances investor portfolios, depending on their risk preferences. Their experienced in-house credit team sources and monitors the risk of all deals to maximize returns and reduce risks. Only the most qualified credit managers are approved by its credit team. Heron Finance was built by the a16z-backed Warbler Labs team, which also supports the development of the Goldfinch protocol.
Disclosures
Warbler Advisory, Inc., d.b.a. Heron Finance, is an SEC-registered investment advisor (RIA). Such registration should in no way imply that the SEC has endorsed the entities, products or services discussed herein. Private credit investments are subject to credit, liquidity, and interest rate risk among other types of risk. No communication by Heron Finance or any of its affiliates through this press release should be construed or is intended to be investment, tax, financial, accounting, or legal advice.
