Spruce Finance Inc., a provider of consumer financing for residential energy efficiency and solar technology, today announced new leadership and an infusion of capital, as well as the appointment of two independent directors.
Steve Olszewski, who previously served as chief operating officer, has been promoted to CEO, and Adam Buckfelder, who previously served as VP of finance, has been named CFO. Olszewski and Buckfelder both held senior positions at Clean Power Finance, which merged with Kilowatt Financial to form Spruce Finance in 2015. Previously, Olszewski led the private student loan business at Discover Financial Services, where he oversaw the largest portfolio acquisition in Discover’s history and managed the six-fold growth in Discover’s deposits business. Prior to Discover, Olszewski led underwriting and servicing operations for GMAC’s auto insurance business and held operations strategy roles at Capital One. Before his senior finance and operations roles at Clean Power Finance, Buckfelder was an investment banker at Barclays Capital, where he focused on the power and utilities sector.
“Spruce Finance’s commitment to providing homeowners with multiple ways to finance residential energy efficiency improvements and solar systems helps people reduce their utility bills and improve their homes and communities,” said Olszewski. “I’m honored and excited to lead Spruce Finance into its next chapter, with a renewed focus on simplifying the sales experience for our channel partners and helping them sustainably grow their businesses.”
The company also named two independent directors, Christian Fong and Howard Norowitz. Fong is an experienced executive and consultant to real asset and energy companies. He serves on the Board of Directors of TerraForm Power and was a founder of Renewable Energy Trust Capital, Inc. Norowitz is a founder and former partner at Stone Lion Capital Partners. He has a long track record of successfully investing in and managing highly levered and operational turnaround situations at Stone Lion, Bear Stearns, and GE Capital.
“Steve and Adam have demonstrated they have the right combination of industry experience and vision to lead Spruce Finance into the next phase, as well as the support of our sales channels and capital markets partners,” said Fong. “We’re excited to welcome them to their new roles as CEO and CFO,” added Norowitz. “With today’s announcements and Steve and Adam at the helm, Spruce Finance is positioned to build on the significant strides made thus far in 2017. We look forward to the company’s continued expansion.”
The company also announced $25 million in strategic funding from HPS Investment Partners, LLC (formerly Highbridge Principal Strategies, LLC), a leading global investment firm with over $40 billion of assets under management. “We are thrilled to announce this strategic partnership,” said Olszewski. “It is indicative of HPS’s confidence in Spruce Finance and in our mission to make energy efficiency financing and residential solar systems widely available to U.S. homeowners.”
Spruce recently announced that it has completed its second major sale of loan assets, a whole loan sale of US$250 million of its efficiency and solar loan portfolio to a North American bank with an expertise in consumer loan assets.
