Caitlin Sanders

Managing Director, Callodine Commercial Finance

40 Under 40 Category: Underwriting

Biography:

Caitlin Sanders is a principal for Gordon Brothers Finance Company’s Underwriting and Portfolio team.  Her responsibilities include the underwriting and structuring of new debt transactions and managing credits within the existing portfolio. Over the past four years, Caitlin has played an integral role in GBFC’s lending business in Europe and the UK.  Prior to joining the Company in 2013, she was a senior analyst in Gordon Brothers’ valuation group. Prior to joining Gordon Brothers in 2011, Caitlin was a fixed-income credit analyst at Logan Circle Partners, LP, where she covered the telecom, cable, media, technology and healthcare sectors. She received her Bachelor degree from the University of Pennsylvania.  In her spare time, Caitlin enjoys traveling and golfing with her husband Steve. 

How did you wind up in the industry? We know most kids don’t say, “I want to be in commercial finance when I grow up.”

I was moving to Boston from Philadelphia and looking for a job in finance when I came across an opening at Gordon Brothers Group. What struck me most at the time was the different areas of expertise within the firm, offering a debt platform and private equity group alongside the main disposition and valuation businesses.  Coming from a credit background in fixed income, the firm’s lending offerings really appealed to me. I was lucky enough to join the Industrial team on the valuation side, which provided me with a great introduction into asset-based lending, and from there was able to leverage my fixed income credit background into a role with GBFC.  My overall experience at Gordon Brothers has been invaluable to my day-to-day work at GBFC. The relationships that I have developed with members of the disposition and valuation teams provide me with daily access to how assets are trading and recovering in the marketplace, which, in turn, has a direct impact on our credit decision-making process.  Going from analyzing cash flows of high-yield corporate bonds to analyzing tangible asset classes was an interesting change. 

What role has mentoring played in your career?

Mentoring has played an instrumental role in my career.  As a woman in finance, I had the rare opportunity to report directly to a woman during my internship and into my first full-time position.  At the time, there were very few women in our firm, so being able to watch someone navigate her way through the junior ranks and into a senior role, while being so open about what she had learned along the way, was more valuable than I probably realized at the time. She became an ideal professional for me to emulate. 

GBFC is unique in that we are a small firm, which provides me the opportunity to work with each managing director on various deals. Given our open door policy and senior management’s diverse commercial finance background, I consider each of them a mentor. It’s incredibly valuable when you find a group of people who are willing to share that knowledge with you and take a genuine interest in getting you to the next level. 

Is there a piece of professional advice that you would give yourself if you could go back in time?

Early in my career I would tell myself that nothing is permanent. Your interests evolve, companies are bought and sold, and management transitions.  There are a number of things that will happen over your career that are out of your control.  Be patient.  Change can be the best thing that happens to you. I have experienced a number of changes during my time at Gordon Brothers and GBFC.  Ultimately, it has led to the best place for me professionally.  Every day is different, and that’s what keeps it interesting.  The key is to surround yourself with people whose careers you admire and who share similar goals.