North Fork Partners

The firm is led by John C. Fernando, who brings 20 years of specialty-finance experience including leading the ABS origination and structuring group at Lehman Brothers. He is supported by Noah Cutler, who has underwritten over $5 billion in debt, and Frank Gren, an advisor to government and investment-bank leadership. The website presents all three as principals without distinguishing investment-committee structure.

The firm provides senior secured asset-based loans as its primary product, plus mezzanine financing and equity checks. Borrowers use the capital for growth, acquisitions, turnarounds, and restructurings. The stated target is companies that cannot meet the corporate underwriting standards of traditional lenders.

From 1997 to 2005, Fernando led a team at Lehman Brothers that originated and structured new and complex ABS, executing cash and synthetic securitizations across corporate loans, credit-linked notes, legal fees, structured settlements, commercial aircraft, cell towers, FCC licenses, intellectual property rights, and utility rate-reduction bonds. Before Lehman he was a tax attorney at Brown & Wood focused on structured finance transactions. He holds a B.S. in Physics from Virginia Tech, a J.D. from William & Mary, and an LL.M. in Taxation from NYU.