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Last fall, Webster Bank announced that Abby Parsonnet was named executive managing director, head of Asset Based Lending (ABL)for Webster Bank. In her role, she oversees the nationwide Asset-Based Lending and Commercial Services teams at Webster, which also includes staffing solutions and factoring. She reports to Chris Motl, president of Commercial Banking.
As head of ABL, Parsonnet is responsible for continuing Webster's strong tradition of excellence in delivering customized working capital solutions to middle- market clients and sponsors. She will lead a team of bankers based in strategic markets nationwide. Parsonnet joined Webster in 2013 as regional president and quickly grew its New York franchise from the ground up to just under a billion dollars in commitments. In 2018, she further expanded her role by leading Webster's Sales Council, which has resulted in consistently strong engagement and referral activity supporting our strong sales culture. Parsonnet was recognized as one of Crain's NY Business' Notable Women in Banking in 2019.
Here, Abby discusses her career, goals in her new role, how the merger with Sterling National Bank helped to expand Webster's offerings, particularly in ABL and factoring, and more.
Congrats on the new role! Before we dive into that, can you provide some background on your career?
I was fortunate to hold several different roles at JP Morgan, including a two-specialty unit within business credit and leading the dedicated ABL Restructuring Group through the Great Recession. After that, I was at FTI Consulting, and was senior managing director in Corporate Finance and Restructuring and I primarily was representing secured lenders so that was leveraging the same skills I utilized through much of my banking career - leading bank groups and helping them through processes.
I joined Webster as a regional president in metro New York to build out the commercial banking presence as part of our geographic expansion at the time. It was really a great experience because I got to build our team from scratch and grow it into a successful business with wonderful clients.
In addition, I serve as head of Webster's sales council so that's our cross-selling initiative, which is throughout the commercial bank, helping the commercial bank collaborate with different products for the benefit of our clients.
How did your previous...