Cenerus

About Us

DRIVING INCREASED PROFITS
FOR BANKS, CREDIT UNIONS AND LENDERS

Cenerus helps banks, credit unions and lenders maximize business and commercial account profit and overall value while protecting the balance sheet. 

Banks and credit unions face a market that continues to experience rapid change and tremendous opportunity. Having the right – updated insight on your customers, presented in a way that leadership and relationship managers can take quick action is an essential resource to achieve competitive advantage.  

Cenerus easy to implement, quick return approach supports leaders in banks and financial institutions to move from reactive response to informed action across commercial lending environments.

Business, banking and financial service experts that bring a whole-market approach to help grow your profits and your financial institution. 

Cenerus’ team of financial, banking, market, industry, risk, and operational expertise gives financial institutions a proven resource to come alongside existing talent and make meaningful impact. 

With Cenerus’ unique whole-view approach to analysis, financial institutions benefit from action-driving analysis that includes: 

  • Market insights to understand future potential and risks
  • Industry levers to capitalize on upstream and adjacency opportunities
  • Experienced financial and operational risk analysis 
  • Regular monitoring to capitalize on new opportunities early and head off potential threats

LEADERSHIP

The Cenerus team boasts banking services, credit, investor and critical infrastructure services with deep AML, bank technology, consulting and outsourcing services. Our background in restructuring, operational process development, board and management development and business turnaround positioning helps us review and analyze portfolios and speed profit-generating recommendations. 

Cenerus also brings extensive industry segment expertise spanning financial services, insurance, manufacturing, technology, infrastructure, import/export, defense, consumer packaged goods, retail, and food and beverage verticals.  

Sam Rosenfeld
Chief Executive Officer

Built and turned around multiple companies with expertise in founding, fundraising and start-up-to-profit to exit. ​
Industry experience across banking services, fintech, life insurance based derivatives, risk and security operations in frontier markets.​
Board development expertise and founder/entrepreneur selection and mentoring across US, UK and Africa.

Sam brings his expertise across the spectrum of entrepreneurial development as a founder, lead investor, board member and consultant. His multi-market depth taps ideation and creativity from risk management, frontier markets and financial services. These combine to give Cenerus hands-on expertise in both identifying unique opportunities and developing real, growable business ventures.

Mark Martin
Chief Operating Officer

Global operations, product marketing and management expertise across technology, manufacturing, software and hardware. ​
Deep consulting expertise across Fortune 500 C-Suite and board on market, brand positioning and strategy.​
Experienced in guiding companies’ positioning from start-up to exit advising portfolios across venture and private equity.

Mark’s passion for purposeful technology pairs with his experience making complex processes and innovations simple and relatable. He brings a collaborative approach to advising businesses and executives applying his experience as a founder and as an adviser to help across the development lifecycle. He adds particular insight in product and executive positioning along with product launch, process and go-to-market prioritization. 

Christopher Brauser
Managing Director

Experienced CEO and founder across both new developments and turnarounds with multiple, profitable exists.​
Industry recognized expert across investigative accounting and financial services in the areas of corporate restructuring and corporate debt.​
Board and executive advisory expertise across financial services, consumer goods and consumer entertainment and services.

Chris’ background in advanced mathematics and analytics drives his extensive experience both leading and advising companies in business and operational processes, accounting and finance and corporate structuring. He’s led successful turnaround initiatives including AML RightSource to a nine-figure exit and provided corporate debtor advisory in the US Bankruptcy Court. He has also structured and executed multiple organizational 363 sales. As a founder and entrepreneur he has helped launch multiple initiatives with experience across financial industries, venture funding, direct to consumer services and consumer packaged goods.

Douglas Ollivant, PhD
Compliance & Global Advisory

Executive Training
Process and Strategy

Ollivant is a managing partner of Mantid International LLC, a global strategic consulting firm focusing on compliance and anti-corruption. He holds appointments as a senior fellow at both New America and the Foreign Policy Research Institue. A retired Army officer, Ollivant holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Indiana University, and MBA in Information Security from James Madison University has tought at West Point and advised on policy and global security issues. 

Zach Mortensen

 

Experienced executive and consultant across financial services and regulated industries.
Systems and operational expert
Board and executive advisory expertise across financial services, healthcare and technology.

Mortensen is a founder and managing director of Interval Advisors. He is an expert in product strategy, go-to-market strategy and organizational maturity. His 25+ year career spans marketing, product and strategy leadership in healthcare, clinical research and executive positions at Parexel, Hillrom, M*Modal, Carefusion, Microsoft and MediServ. He founded and led ZM advisors and co-founded BrightFi. Mortensen holds an MBA from The Wharton School and is an accomplished ultra-trail runner.

AdvisorY TEAM

INDUSTRY RECOGNIZED LEADERS BRINGING SPECIALIST EXPERTISE 

Cenerus exists to help grow bank profit and preserve value. With the many unique issues, industries and concerns facing banking, lending and financial services today, specialized support and deep insight is essential. We deliver that high level of capability through the Cenerus Advisory Team –industry leaders and specialists with access, insight and understanding to help bring the right knowledge and process for the most complex issues across banking, financing, restructuring, executive strategy, team development and risk management. Acting without this level of expertise means leaving value on the table.  

Jame Sloan

Risk and Regulatory Management, Business and Banking Risk Management

Sloan is the Executive Director of the Innovation Lab at MainStreet Bank bringing 30+ years of enterprise risk management expertise. Previously, She was a lead in the Promotory Financial Group’s Risk Practice and has experience across fintech consulting and regulatory roles including serving as Examiner in Chief at the OCC. Her background covers global, regional, and community banks with experience in business/banking governance and execution, regulator/board communication, crisis management, and high-profile enforcement actions. Sloan holds her MBA from Chicago Booth.

Alison Melick

Credit Risk Management, Business and Banking Risk Management

Melick was the Director of the Risk Practice Group at Promontory Financial Group. There she applied her extensive experience in the holistic management of wholesale credit risk in financial institutions across all recent economic cycles and regulatory regimes. Previously she has been the Managing Director, Business Risk and Chief Risk Officer as well as EVP, Deputy Chief Credit Officer at HSBC Bank USA. She brings deep expertise in credit review, credit policy and procedures, regulatory credit risk ratings, model use, credit training and loan workout.

Rick Schobert

Community Business, Risk and Regulatory Guidance and Banking Risk Management

Schobert is a long-time banking professional with deep expertise in risk analysis, enterprise risk and regulatory support. He is the Chairman of Integro Bank, was the Chairman of the Board Risk Committee at Verdigris Holdings, served as the chief risk officer at Byline Bank, a Chicago based bank with emphasis on community business development and is a former OCC Examiner. He was previously the managing partner and CEO at Schobert & Carper, a consulting group providing risk and regulatory guidance to the banking industry.

Marcus Daley

Technology, Financial Technology, AI, and Digital Assets Management

Daley is the CTO at 3E, an intelligent compliance solutions innovator, and executive partner at Next Horizon Capital. He recently served as CTO for S&P Global Ratings where he revitalized the technology organization and moved product delivery to a single cloud platform. He also served as CTO for Mountain America Credit Union, helping them explore Web3 and digital assets as the next frontier for financial services.  Prior to that he has held other roles as CTO building innovative startups and helping mid-size companies through M&A transformations.

Nathan Minerd

Policy, Government Advisory, and Public Affairs

Minerd is President of Momentum Strategy Group, a government affairs and business strategy firm. He advises clients on government policy, business plan strategy, grassroots, and community engagement advisory and alignment of business strategies to national and local policy contexts. He has advised national and local clients across a range of public and business policy issues, Minerd previously served as Director of Corporate Relations for the Columbus Housing Partnership and as a Special Advisor to the Governor of Ohio.