AUSTIN, TX (August 15, 2019) — Open Lending recently welcomed Kenn Wardle to the team as chief risk officer.
Wardle possesses more than 20 years of extensive experience in the financial services industry, most recently as chief operating officer at Horizon Digital Finance Holdings, Inc. His leadership experience spans key functions within the lending industry including portfolio and risk management, financial operations, research analytics, credit analysis, information technology, compliance and corporate reporting.
“I am excited about the opportunity to work with the Open Lending team,” Wardle said. “I’ve gotten to know the leadership team over the last year and a half. It seems like a great fit in looking at what they have accomplished and what I can bring to the team.” He explained that his experience in advanced analytics and adding more alternative data to the decisioning process will help Open Lending help its clients ‘say yes to more loans.’
Open Lending CEO John Flynn added, “We’re very excited to have Kenn join the team. He’ll be a real asset to where we are taking the company.”
“Open Lending has a great amount of historical performance data on the loans they have insured over the years,” Wardle said. “Many new alternative data sources have been introduced to the market recently, and some of this data is showing pockets of opportunity to approve more nonprime applicants who would typically have been declined in the past.”
Wardle will be based in Open Lending’s Austin office, but said he’s looking to build the data analytics team in the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex area.
Wardle was initiated into the world of nonprime auto finance during a part-time, clerical job he took in college. After college he eventually started his professional nonprime auto finance career in the risk management team at a market-leading platform. In 2004, he co-founded Exeter Finance Corp. During his tenure at Exeter, the company grew from concept and four co-founders to originating $4.3 billion in auto finance loans and more than 1,000 employees. Then in 2015, he co-founded and served as CEO of a business-to-business funding firm called Jet Business Loans.
In 2018, he was awarded the National Eagle Scout Association Outstanding Eagle Scout Award, and he also serves on the Executive Board of the Longhorn Council of the Boy Scouts of America; Texas Wesleyan School of Business Advisory Council; The Woman’s Center of Tarrant County; and is an active member of Golden Triangle Rotary Club in Keller, Texas.
In his spare time, Wardle spends time outdoors whitewater canoeing and camping. He has two teenage children with his wife, Sara.
Kenn Wardle.
Open Lending (NASDAQ: LPRO) provides loan analytics, risk-based pricing, risk modeling, and default insurance to auto lenders throughout the United States. For over 20 years we have been empowering financial institutions to create profitable auto loan portfolios with less risk and more reward. For more information, please visit www.openlending.com.
