Kurt Marsden is the executive vice president and head of Wells Fargo Capital Finance, which provides traditional asset-based lending, equipment financing solutions, and specialized junior and senior secured lending to companies in the U.S., UK, and Canada.

Kurt joined Wells Fargo in 1992 through Capital Finance’s predecessor Foothill Capital Corporation, and has held many leadership roles in originations, portfolio management, and credit during his tenure, spanning all aspects of the company’s asset-based lending offerings.

Kurt holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in finance and real estate from California State University, Northridge. He resides in Los Angeles with his wife and two children. Outside of the office, Kurt is active in his community as the Board President of Inclusion Matters by Shane’s Inspiration, which is a non-profit focused on promoting greater inclusion for children with disabilities.

Please provide a bit of background on how you got into the industry and your current role.

In 1992, I was recruited out of college to join a small commercial finance company named Foothill Capital Corporation. It was an on-campus interview that I accepted merely to get interview practice. Little did I know that it would lead to a 29-year career! Through various mergers and acquisitions, Foothill Capital Corporation evolved into the current Wells Fargo Capital Finance organization. As the business grew, I was challenged in many interesting ways, and was able to develop my technical skills in asset-based lending.

Early in my career, I managed some of our asset-based loans in non-traditional sectors, such as real estate development, oil and gas, telephony, hardware technology, and software technology, which was particularly interesting because of the complexity of the collateral classes and the unique characters.

Eventually, I was tasked with starting and managing our software lending business, where we initially developed a hybrid asset-based product focused on software annuity streams, but soon evolved into a cash flow product with some asset-based elements. This provided me with several years where I completely stepped away from asset-based lending and focused on providing cash-flow oriented solutions to enterprise software companies. After five years in the technology sector, I returned to our asset-based lending business, where I assumed responsibility for our large, agented asset-based lending portfolio. Over time, I accumulated responsibility for all aspects of our asset-based lending business in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. 

Today, as head of Capital Finance, I have the pleasure of leading an outstanding team focused on delivering relationship-focused asset-based and secured lending solutions to our clients.    

Why did you join the Committee?

I wanted to get more involved with SFNet, and when I received an email announcing the creation of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusiveness (DE&I) Committee, the opportunity spoke to me on many levels, both personally and professionally. 

Advancing our progress in DE&I is a priority for me as a business leader and, although Wells Fargo and many industry peers have made meaningful progress, there is much more work ahead. The spotlight on the difficult issues our diverse colleagues often experience in the workplace and in their communities has been eye opening.

This committee creates a platform for leaders across the industry to share knowledge and best practices, which has the potential of driving change broadly, and perhaps more quickly. 

In addition, joining the committee also presented an opportunity to educate myself so that I could become a better ally for our diverse employees and clients. It has been a fruitful and humbling journey so far, but I still have much to learn.  

What do you think the industry can do to increase diversity, equity and inclusiveness?

As I have learned over the last year, the first step is to acknowledge that there is a problem and make a commitment to be a part of the solution. We need to better educate ourselves to improve our awareness of the challenges faced by our diverse colleagues and begin to understand the unconscious biases that influence our decisions every day.

I believe simple changes can lead to significant progress. For example, Wells Fargo encourages candidate slates for new roles to be at least 50% diverse in gender and ethnicity, and interview panels must also include diverse panelists. I know that many organizations are implementing successful initiatives like this, which make it important for us to frequently engage in discussions with our industry peers to share our best practices.

Attracting diverse new talent and developing the leaders of the future is another priority for our industry. I am fortunate to be supported by a diverse leadership team, and their perspectives and experiences strengthen our business and allow us to better serve our clients. Formal and informal mentoring, and similar forums that encourage dialogue and form new relationships between employees and leaders, are really valuable tools to create inclusiveness. I’ve mentored several diverse colleagues throughout my career and the insights I’ve gained from these relationships have shaped me into the leader I am today.

These are complex, systemic issues that will take time to address, but I am confident that we can do more as an industry, together. I am grateful to be part of this group that is focused on a solution, and I am eager to get started.