Triad Founder Launches Nonprime Finance Company

NEW YORK — Four former Triad Financial executives have partnered with a Perella Weinberg Partners affiliate to form CarFinance Capital LLC, a direct and indirect automobile finance company catering to the nonprime market.

Based in Irvine, Calif., CarFinance Capital will initially launch on the West Coast and plans to expand to Texas in June. Company officials said the finance company will continue to roll out across the United States throughout the remainder of 2011. Certain funds within the Perella Weinberg Partners’ Asset Based Value strategy, an affiliate of Perella Weinberg Partners, have committed capital to fund the company’s growth.

CarFinance Capital will be led by the experienced management team who previously built and operated Triad Financial Corporation, which was one of the largest nonprime auto finance companies in the U.S. Jim Landy, Triad’s founder and CEO from 1989 to 2005, will serve as president and chief executive officer of CarFinance. Three additional former Triad executives, Dennis Morris, Jeff Butcher and John O’Dowd, will serve as CarFinance’s chief operating officer, chief financial officer and chief credit officer, respectively.

“A significant portion of the non-prime lending supply disappeared during the recession, leaving dealerships underserved as demand for nonprime auto loans came storming back," said Landy. "There is a clear and growing need in the nonprime auto financing segment for more customized, dealer-friendly financial solutions, and CarFinance Capital was founded to fill this gap with a superior dealer process that delivers more consistency, flexibility and one-on-one support than some of the more rigid, mechanized players.

“CarFinance has the right leadership and the right strategy in a sector that we believe is poised for significant growth. Our experienced team looks forward to renewing relationships with the thousands of dealers with whom we’ve had such a long successful history,” he added.

David Schiff, partner at Perella Weinberg Partners and portfolio manager of the Asset Based Value strategy, stated, “We are excited to be partnering with this group of talented and proven executives. Jim and his team have had tremendous success leading one of the nation’s largest auto finance companies. We look forward to working with them to leverage their collective experience and to build upon their past track record to meet increasing market demand while becoming a premier player in the non-prime market.”

Perella Weinberg Partners’ Asset Based Value strategy is a provider of U.S. specialty finance solutions. Since its inception in 2008, the strategy has grown to manage in excess of $1 billion in equity capital through a number of different investment vehicles.