Team

Richard has over 25 years of global financial leadership experience in investment banking organisations focused on building and scaling businesses.

He was most recently a member of Hamburg Commercial Bank’s senior leadership team and Head of HCOB Global Aviation, a business he established, scaled and successfully exited following a change in strategy from the Bank’s private equity shareholders. He also sat on the bank’s pension investment committee investing as an LP across private credit, private equity and structured investments.

Richard was previously Global Head of Transportation Finance at Deutsche Bank (DB) overseeing a team of professionals covering the aviation, shipping and rail sectors involved in both private and capital markets financings and managed a risk book of over €7 billion. Prior to this role, Richard was DB’s Head of Transportation, Infrastructure and Energy financing for the EMEA region.

Prior to DB, Richard served as Head of Transport Infrastructure at RBC Capital Markets financing toll roads, ports, airports and rail infrastructure.

Richard has a B.A in Business Studies and a M.A. in International Business and Economics from the University of Reading in the UK and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers.

Debbie has over 18 years’ experience in aviation and structured finance, Debbie brings deep expertise in originating, structuring and managing complex asset-backed investments across the aviation and broader transportation sectors.

Prior to joining New Bridge AeroFinance, Debbie was a founding member of HCOB Global Aviation, where she served as CIO, establishing the investment framework, portfolio strategy and deal processes for the business. This included developing the capabilities required to analyse and execute a broad range of complex, non-recourse asset-backed transactions, and overseeing the structuring and closing of such deals.

Previously, Debbie was Managing Director at Deutsche Bank, spending 7 years leading the EMEA Aviation and Rail financing team, with responsibility for a portfolio of approximately €3 billion. During her time at Deutsche Bank, Debbie worked across a broad range of structured finance transactions, including PDP financings, mezzanine and portfolio financings, HoldCo debt and capital-markets solutions for a global client base including airlines, lessors, corporates and institutional investors.

Debbie graduated from the University of Oxford with a first-class degree in Physiological Sciences.

William was previously a partner at the international law firm Clifford Chance LLP (1991-2023), specialising in aviation and asset finance. William worked in their offices in London, Singapore and Hong Kong. He led their Tier-1 ranked global asset finance group from 2009, advising on major deals for General Electric (including on the merger of GECAS and AerCap), Avolon, Airbus, Deutsche Bank AG, UKEF (including COVID related funding for British Airways). He is a recognised legal expert on limited recourse and lessor portfolio financings, and worked extensively with PK AirFinance after its acquisition by GE in 2000 and subsequent sale to Apollo, and advised the KKR sponsored platform AV AirFinance on its set-up and inaugural transactions.

After leaving Clifford Chance, William acted as a consultant to various entities, including Hamburg Commercial Bank, where he advised on the growth of their aviation loan portfolio, as well as its subsequent sale to Deutsche Bank AG.

William has contributed to many industry associations, in particular the Aviation Working Group, where he led work on the industry reaction to the imposition of sanctions against Russia in 2022. He is co-editor of the 6th edition of the Aircraft Financing textbook published by Bloomsbury Professional.

William has a B.A. Hons in History from University College London and a MA in Early Modern History from King’s College London.

William is also a trustee of Orbis UK, a leading eyesight charity with a mission to prevent avoidable blindness and support eye care globally.