MPOWER Financing hires Wall Street exec as new head of capital markets

US-based MPOWER Financing, a fintech firm providing educational loans to international students, has appointed Christopher Zaki as its new head of capital markets.

MPOWER hires Christopher Zaki as head of capital markets

As part of the role, the company says Zaki will “identify and lead” strategic partnerships with capital providers across a variety of instruments, from warehouse lines to forward-flow agreements and private and public securitisations.

Zaki brings more than 25 years’ worth of experience to the role, having worked for Wall Street companies in securitisation, investment banking advisory and corporate strategy.

He recently served as the head of capital markets at Above Lending, a consumer debt settlement fintech. He has also worked at investment banks including UBS, HSBC and Credit Suisse, among others.

“With his deep experience in capital markets and fintech, Chris will help us scale our loan capital engine and continue to deepen our lead in the international student lending market,” says Manu Smadja, MPOWER’s CEO and co-founder.

Headquartered in Washington DC, MPOWER Financing claims to be the only student lender in the world to use a proprietary algorithm to analyse credit data and future earning potential to provide loans to students.

The fintech firm works with more than 400 universities in the US and Canada to provide financing to students from more than 200 countries.