Encina Lender Finance, LLC (ELF) announced it has hired structured credit industry veteran Geoff Beard as Co-CEO to lead the firm’s Consumer/SMB Vertical. Beard will work in partnership with Co-CEO Edward Chang, who will lead ELF’s Commercial Vertical, and will be opening a new office in San Francisco that will provide the firm with a presence on both coasts.

Beard has spent the past 25+ years working at the intersection of specialty finance and fintech, both as a principal investor and investment banker. His principal investment experience spans asset-backed credit facilities, forward flow asset purchase programs and preferred equity / convertible debt across the consumer credit, small business credit, secured real estate credit, point-of-sale finance, and student lending sectors both in the U.S. and numerous foreign jurisdictions. Beard has a demonstrated track record of building and leading cross-functional teams of investment and credit risk professionals to originate and execute creative portfolio financing solutions while driving attractive income-oriented returns with a strong emphasis on capital preservation.