Horizon Technology Finance Management, a registered investment advisor that underwrites and manages secured loans made to venture capital-backed companies in the technology and is the external advisor for Horizon Technology Finance Corporation, announced that it has appointed Diane Earle to Chief Credit Officer. As Chief Credit Officer, Ms. Earle will be a senior member of the investment team and will be primarily responsible for overseeing Horizon’s investment due diligence and underwriting, and portfolio management processes.
Ms. Earle joins Horizon with many years of financial services experience, with particular expertise in credit risk management across a variety of lending products. Before joining Horizon, Ms. Earle was most recently Executive Director, Life Sciences at J.P. Morgan, where she was responsible for underwriting and managing transactions for life science companies ranging from growth stage to mature companies. Prior to that, she spent several years at Square 1 Bank, a division of Pacific Western Bank, where she rose to Executive Vice President, Chief Credit Officer. She also held the positions of Senior Vice President, Senior Credit Officer at Hercules Technology Growth Capital and Risk Leader Life Science Finance for GE Capital. Ms. Earle received a Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude in Economics from Fairfield University.
Daniel S. Devorsetz, Chief Investment Officer of Horizon said that “I am pleased to welcome Diane to Horizon as our Chief Credit Officer. We have enjoyed a relationship with Diane over many years, and her vast credit and life sciences experience in managing all aspects of the loan portfolio process will be extremely valuable for us as we continue to grow the loan portfolios we manage. The addition of Diane significantly strengthens our collaborative expertise and capabilities, and we remain well-positioned to grow Horizon’s assets under management and deliver consistent long-term value to Horizon’s stakeholders.”
Ms. Earle added that “I am excited to join the Horizon team and play a vital role in helping maintain and grow Horizon’s venture debt portfolios. I have been fortunate to work with many of the members of the Horizon team over the years and am looking forward to adding my credit and management expertise to help ensure Horizon remains disciplined in underwriting and proactively manages its venture debt portfolios.”