Our Story: starts, as many do, with an uncomfortable wake up call that forced us to adapt and innovate. In this case that wake up call was the better known as The Great Recession. It was in the fires of this recession that our model was born, tested, and proven. We knew if we developed a lending model that was safe and profitable during the worst financial disaster in generations we would have something special. And guess what? It worked!
Our Vision: became clear when in 2006 we recognized that anyone could get capital for any reason. This was clearly unsustainable and by late 2008 banks had virtually stopped lending money to anyone for any reason. Neither extreme made sense. But here we stood, casualties of big bank layoffs, and the bi-product of years worth of bad corporate and governmental decision making. It took three events to turn our idea into opportunity.
First, even the best low risk businesses could not get the capital they needed to operate and fund construction, they needed funding anywhere they could get it!
Second, the Federal Reserve had driven interest rates down to zero meaning the few people left with money weren’t getting paid any interest on it, they needed a high yields anywhere they could get it!
Third, new home construction dropped by 90% but the underlying need for housing didn’t, people were going to need places to live anywhere they could get them! The financial and housing markets strike a delicate balance and we predicted that these 3 events would create a housing shortage for possibly decades to come. Well….the stage was set and in 2009 we invested our own money, raised a little capital, and started making home renovation loans to some of our best banking customers.
Our Growth: The ‘idea’ has now grown into a multi-million dollar professionally managed portfolio of interest bearing debt obligations. Our current portfolio now spans multiple states and industries, completing over 400 full life cycle projects, zero losses, dozens of investors, and nearly 100 borrowing entities.
As our portfolio model grew over the years we were asked time and time again to open it up for new investors to meet demand for safe high yield investments. In 2020 we began the process of converting our business and assets over to a private equity model organized under SEC Reg D with a 506(c) exemption.
This allows us to offer our investment to the public as a Private Placement Security. We continue to be blessed with an ever growing group of investors and partners that make Mid Atlantic an industry leader in high yield income investing.
(Fund Manager) was founded in 2007 as an asset management company and has been retained by Mid Atlantic. Credo takes direction from The Sponsor and manages the day to day operations of The Fund. It endeavors to follow the vision and strategy of The Sponsor as The Fund continues to grow.
Chief Investment Officer
Nathan J. Larsen serves as the CIO of the Fund and Founder of Credo Capital Management LLC. Mr. Larsen has 20 years’ experience in the full life cycle management of debt portfolios in various asset classes (including: commercial/non-owner occupied residential real estate, automotive, specialty finance, consumer finance, inventory & receivable factoring, and small business working capital in the legal and healthcare industries) with an aggregate value of over $500 million under management. For the past 3 years Mr. Larsen, has been a Special Advisor to PE firms in the legal and healthcare finance space.
The majority of Mr. Larsen’s career was with Wells Fargo Bank Corp and Nicholas Financial Inc. where he led the full cycle process of growing AUM including underwriting, acquiring, servicing, auditing, and divestiture of debt portfolios. Throughout the past 9 years, Mr. Larsen has spent time growing Credo Capital Management into a respected asset manager with an exemplary track record of 250 major debt transactions. Mr. Larsen holds a B.S. in both Finance and Economics from Miami University.
Director of Operations
Michelle Abernathy oversees the day-to-day operations of the company’s investment platform, asset management, investor reporting, and fund management. Mrs. Abernathy is an experienced operations executive leader with over 17 years in B2B sales and revenue growth. Additionally, she is passionate about formulating and implementing the long-range strategy of debt portfolios in various asset classes including automotive, specialty finance, and consumer finance. At Nicholas Financial, she specialized in life-cycle credit and valuation analysis, negotiations, loan originations, and loan servicing responsibilities for a $22M portfolio. She places a strong emphasis on corporate controls, transparency, and individual integrity as well as team development to ensure the firm meets the goals of its investors, partners, and employees.
Michelle’s friends, family, and colleagues describe her as a driven and hardworking person, committed and dedicated to pursuing whatever she sets her mind on. Her optimistic attitude combined with her willingness to exceed expectations has helped her succeed throughout her career.
Director of Financing & Accounting
Josh Bennett oversees the company’s financial and accounting department, with responsibilities that include investor payments, financial reporting, compliance, budgeting, cash flow forecasts as well as implementing accounting policies and procedures.
In his previous roles with Fintech and Fortune 500 companies, he has worked in various accounting and finance management positions. Josh was responsible for training staff, timely and accurate financial reporting, cash flow forecasting, variance analysis and procurement in local and international business units.
Some of Josh's specialization is to automate and streamline various accounting processes that cut down the overhead in payroll and operations while providing the same standard of timeliness and accuracy of the financial records.
Josh holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from Georgia State University and is the treasurer of a non profit business owners association that continuously gives back to its local and surrounding communities.
Director of Capital Markets
Preston has worked in the financial services industry since 2002 for such firms as Wells Real Estate Funds, Terra Capital, and Bluerock Capital. Preston has worked exclusively in the private equity sector of the financial services industry raising capital through Reg D private placements, limited partnerships, public BDC’s and public non-traded/traded REITs. During his time as PEO Consultant with Oasis (PAYCHEX Subsidiary), Preston consulted companies on how to structure and organize their operations including payroll administration, Medical Insurance, Worker’s Comp, and HR consulting. He brings a wealth of knowledge both in operations and capital raising to the Mid Atlantic Team. Preston has a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Georgia. He is series 7, 63 licensed by FINRA. In his free time Preston likes to play golf, spend time with family, and coach his son’s baseball team.
Builder Relations
Mark Weber serves as Senior Advisor to Credo Capital Management, LLC, and Co-originator for the fund. Mr. Weber has more than 19 years’ experience offering a variety of private capital financing solutions (including debt, equity, gap funding, transactional lending, etc.) for real estate transactions throughout the following cities: Atlanta, GA, Charleston, SC, Columbia, SC, & Richmond, VA. He is the President and CEO of United Capital Partners, LLC which specializes in evaluation, underwriting, and origination of short-term capital loans to real estate developers and contractors. He has also worked as Vice President of Business Development for Private Bank of Buckhead and worked as Vice President of C&I Special Assets for SunTrust Bank. Mr. Weber has a Bachelor of Business Administration and Management from the University of Georgia and is a graduate of the Georgia Banking School from the University of Georgia.
Director of Strategic Relationships & Technology
Andrew Montoya is the head of Marketing at The Mid Atlantic Fund. He is a veteran of client relationship management, marketing and business growth strategy. Andrew graduated Summa Cum Laude with a degree in Business Administration from Southern New Hampshire University. He is an astute leader; an effective communicator; a relationship builder, father, and husband.