Leslie M. Savickas

Leslie Savickas is a financial professional with more than twenty-five years’ experience as a consultant, CFO, treasurer, and banker. Alwa]ys involved in an environment of either growing or otherwise-challenged organizations, Leslie has a well-grounded understanding of business, leverage, and strategy. Her analytical proficiency has been critical to maintaining control, accessing capital, or improving liquidity for her clients and employers.

Most recently, Leslie’s consulting assignments have included cash realization work for a commercial insurance brokerage facing its first-ever financial challenges. Accounting systems long neglected needed to be brought back to prominence and financial discipline needed to be re-installed. Idle investments and cash were identified, evaluated, and where optimal liquidated. The result was the forestalling of a liquidity crisis and the platform for renewed financial strength.

Other consulting work has focused heavily on financial analysis: for a public REIT, a high-tech manufacturer, a small game maker, a public marketing company, a major commodities exchange.

In her corporate career, Leslie has a deep record of getting behind the numbers in order to access capital in difficult circumstances. A $1 billion manufacturer of consumer marine products, leveraged in a transaction that took it private, required significant amounts of working capital to meet its forecast. A $150 million asset-based facility was put in place and Leslie led the syndication effort to spread this risk for the lead lender. Thereafter, several instances of covenant non-compliance needed to be negotiated and Leslie was successful in each of these events. Similarly, the manufacturer required significant amounts of dealer finance to support its sales, with manufacturer recourse required. Leslie negotiated $450 million of these facilities, gaining cost savings and service improvements with the offer of some exclusivity.

For a small, privately-held financial services company that divested the historic base of the company, Leslie maintained access to capital as the firm moved to start up other small financial services businesses. The accounting and tax preparation requirements were extensive for the many small subsidiaries, partnerships, and securitizations that were part of the group. And access to capital was uninterrupted.

In a high growth situation for a computer distributor, Leslie established an internal captive finance function from the ground up. By providing lease financing alternatives to customers this company was able to grow from $125 million to $450 million in sales. Leslie’s clear presentation of financing opportunities and alternatives kept a stable of lenders bidding for the company’s business, lowering costs and keeping service levels high.

Leslie began her career as an officer of the former Continental Bank, now Bank of America. There she ran loan portfolios primarily for special industries and middle market customers; these customers were for the most part at the higher end of the bank’s risk measurement spectrum.

Her educational background includes a bachelor’s degree in French from DePaul University; an MBA, with a concentration in quantitative methods, from Loyola University; and a CPA in the state of Illinois.

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