1. W
hen Marty McFly flew through time in Doc
Brown’s DeLorean time machine, he arrived
in a future — October 21, 2015, to be precise
— that was incredibly familiar despite its modern
advances. Now that 2015 is coming to a close, Barry
Kastner feels like he has come back to the future in his
new role as executive vice president of Bibby Financial
Services. “It feels like the company I started in,” he says.
“This is a perfect fit for me.”
When Kastner’s former Congress Financial
colleague, Leigh Lones — now CEO of Bibby Financial
Services Americas — contacted him about an opportu-
nity, he says something just felt right. “It was a question
of being at the right place at the right time, for both me
and for Bibby,” Kastner explains. “Bibby was a growing
factoring business that wanted to get more into the ABL
product, and they were looking for somebody who could
help them make that transformation.”
Kastner, who has extensive ABL and corporate
finance experience, was a logical choice for Bibby. Most
recently, Kastner held senior management positions
with Siena Lending Group, Keltic Financial and TD
Bank’s Asset Finance Group, and he spent the bulk of
his career — more than 30 years — in senior manage-
ment at Wachovia Capital Finance, the successor to
Congress Financial.
“My background was very heavy into ABL,” Kastner
says. “As a matter of fact, when I started in the business,
it was for a factoring business that was also making the
transformation into asset-based lending.”
After only four months with Bibby, Kastner was
promoted to head of the company’s large business
unit. Kastner says this rapid ascent was a natural
progression since he feels at home with Bibby’s team.
“Because of the compatibility in cultures, in philosophy,
and because Leigh and I shared the same vision and
concern about people, I just fit in quickly,” he says. “I
got the staff excited about moving into the next level and
about doing more of the ABL business.”
Kastner provides Bibby with an ABL leadership role
and a pathway into the asset-based lending world, which
he says has proven to be successful. In his new role,
Kastner is implementing a program to cross-train staff
in providing both ABL and factoring products. “Asset-
based lending evolved from factoring,” he explains.
“They’re both obviously methods of supporting busi-
nesses that need cash flow.”
Creative, Flexible & Global
Family-owned Bibby Financial Services, the largest
independent provider of cash flow financial services
in the UK, operates businesses in 15 countries with
more than $1 billion in assets. Bibby recently expanded
its focus to include small and mid-market companies
across the U.S. and Canada.
Back to the Future:
Kastner Transforms Bibby’s ABL Offerings
BY RITA E. GARWOOD
ABLveteranBarryKastnertalksabouthisplans to expand Bibby Financial Services’ ABL offerings. After
spending several years working with big banks and entrepreneurial companies, Kastner says Bibby’s
family-owned, people-focused culture makes him feel like he’s flown back to the future and found his
perfect new home.
BARRY KASTNER
Executive Vice President,
Bibby Financial Services
ABFJ EXCLUSIVE: PROFILE OF SUCCESS
“Being a global business is really a differentiator for us. It separates
us from many of the other good lending businesses that don’t have the
capability or the appetite to lend on a more global basis.”
52 • abfJournal • NOV/DEC 2015

2. appropriate and give our people a feel for what our long-range plans
are. We know that jumping into the ABL business doesn’t make us
successful overnight; it’s a path that we’re on.”
This transparency creates an ideal working environment, according
to Kastner. “We’ve exceeded our expectations and people feel good
about working with a successful business and successful people,” he
says. “People also feel good about working with a business that gives
back to the community, and giving back is an essential part of the
Bibby philosophy. All of that adds up to making Bibby a good and fun
place to work.”
Bibby has given almost $220 million around the world, which
demonstrates the values of the company and its culture. “People
believe in our global vision and mission of being tied to our communi-
ties and helping the people around us both personally and profession-
ally,” Kastner adds.
Growing into the Future
Looking ahead, Kastner says Bibby will continue to grow its factoring
business and excel with the ABL platform. He says mentoring will play
a role in his cross training plans. When he was new to the industry,
Kastner was often told to “take someone with gray hair along.” In his
leadership role with Bibby, Kastner plans to recruit a few more gray-
haired veterans. “We supplemented a young professional staff with
more seasoned folks throughout our different offices and that has
proven to work well, and put us in the right direction,” he says.
Kastner expects Bibby to make more key hires in the future.
“We’re going to sprinkle some young, smart talent with some seasoned
veterans,” he explains. “Since Leigh and I have Congress heritage, we
have been contacted by many of the folks we’ve worked with before. As
a matter of fact, we now have five former Congress employees working
for us, so that adds to the excitement.”
By all measures, Kastner expects 2016 to be exciting for Bibby.
“It’ll be a fun year,” he says. “We’re not exactly getting the band back
together, but we’re bringing in some key folks to help us grow and
manage the business, people who think the way we do, lend the way
we do and want to share in our success.
“We’re going to shine because of the mix of people that we have
across the business,” Kaster continues, adding that big names in the
industry are attracted to Bibby. “They’re coming to us because they
see this as the place that’s going to be exciting for their careers. I like to
think that part of it is because I am here, and they sense my excitement
and they want to be part of this success.
“Having worked at some big banks for a while and in some entrepre-
neurial businesses, this just feels right and back to the future, because
this is where I started,” Kastner says. “I don’t take responsibility for
Congress’ phenomenal success, but because I was part of it, I can help
Bibby move in that direction. That’s what makes this so exciting.” abfj
RITA E. GARWOOD is interim editor of ABF Journal.
In addition to offering both factoring and ABL prod-
ucts, Kastner says Bibby offers hybrid products that
feel more like factoring but have elements of ABL. “We
can cater to the borrower’s needs, and we’ve had some
pretty good reception to that aspect of our business.”
Private ownership also gives Bibby a competitive
advantage. “True asset-based lending, or what I would
call traditional asset-based lending, is a fairly high-risk
product that really lends itself more to an unregulated
environment,” Kastner explains, citing the regulatory
atmosphere as a hindrance to banks. “Unfortunately,
the banks wind up having to pass on transactions that
their ABL specialists may want to do. Less regulation
and more independence gives us the flexibility to be
true asset-based lenders. Our role in the industry is to
lend where some of the banks can’t or won’t lend, and
that’s an opportunity for Bibby.”
Another advantage Bibby has over many in the ABL
industry is its global presence. “Being a global business
is really a differentiator for us,” Kastner says. “It sepa-
rates us from many of the other good lending businesses
that don’t have the capability or the appetite to lend on
a more global basis.”
However, Kastner says Bibby’s global presence is
more of a differentiator than a driver. “What drives us
is the creativity in the way we lend, the flexibility in our
structure, being independent and being family owned,”
he says. “Being the size we are gives us the ability to be
flexible and to be fast. Our basic lending from proposal
to funding has been an average of 42 days, which is
really very fast for our industry.”
Another key differentiator for Bibby is its track
record of delivering on proposals. “We don’t walk away
from deals because we run into speed bumps,” Kastner
says. “We don’t say no. We say, ‘How?’ We’ve been
very good at overcoming difficulties that we find with
our borrowers. We’re in a high-risk business. Some of
our clients do have challenges, but we overcome those
issues. We find ways around them, and we close. We
have a really good track record in the short time we’ve
been doing ABL.”
Beyond being a global and family-owned business,
Kastner says people have always been the heart and
soul of Bibby. “It’s about people,” he says, explaining
that people are the framework of Bibby’s business and
culture. “It’s a big company with a small company feel.”
Kastner says this people-centric focus and small
company feel is the reason why Bibby has been named
one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For (in the UK)
by the Sunday Times for the past five years.
“We really focus on the concerns of our employees,
our borrowers and our clients,” he says. “The way we
treat our clients really comes through to our employees.
We work in a high pressure business but it’s an environ-
ment where our people feel comfortable raising issues,
making suggestions and keeping lines of communication
open. We’re constantly keeping our people appraised of
all the aspects of our business — both the good and
the challenges. We solicit their input, reward them when
“We don’t walk away from deals because we run
into speed bumps. We don’t say no. We say, ‘How?’
We’ve been very good at overcoming difficulties that
we find with our borrowers.”
NOV/DEC 2015 • abfJournal • 53