Paul Ekholm

Founding Partner

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Paul is a master at assimilating information and knowledge, producing and communicating insights and strategies, and advancing critical resource formation efforts. His positive worldview and generosity provides energy and enthusiasm to the efforts of high functioning teams.

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• Linea Capital

• Presidium Asset Management

• BankFirst and Marshall Bank

• Marshall Investments

• Miller & Schroeder

 

Paul is a seasoned executive with 40 years of experience in the financial services industry as chief credit officer of both a national and a state-chartered community bank, as a founding executive and chief credit officer for a nation-wide commercial loan origination and servicing platform, a founding executive of a nation-wide distressed loan servicing and asset management company, as a distressed loan asset manager under contact to the FDIC and as a senior executive and manager of public finance at a private investment bank originating transactions nation-wide.

 

Paul is also intimately familiar with the daily challenges and opportunities facing owners of private companies including growth objectives, innovation, production efficiencies, capitalization, shareholder control and transition issues via his family’s ownership of a large, private international manufacturing company with production facilities in Minnesota, South Dakota, Iowa, Mexico, Australia and Chile and sales worldwide.

 

Immediately before joining Windward Mark, Paul was engaged in acquisition of nonperforming loans and real estate properties in partnership with large institutional investors seeking distressed assets, which were then serviced or managed under third-party contracts with the loan servicing company.

 

Paul began his investment banking career right out of St. Olaf College in 1976 and eventually became senior vice president and manager of the public finance group at Miller & Schroeder Financial, Inc. after specializing in financing of hospital, nursing and elderly housing facilities, multifamily apartment facilities, highly structured public facility bonds, securitization of residential home loans and multifamily apartment loans, and securing legislative authority for innovative financial tools and conservative derivative financing structures and to cities, counties and other governmental agencies. His more recent focus has been on commercial real estate finance, C&I loans, management of distressed loans and real estate properties, financial management for closely held family businesses and commercial banking.