When asked what he does for fun, Chris Baggett, Director of Business Development at Essex Financial Services (new members as of July 2021!) will tell you fun is relative, but that he likes to stay active with cycling, hiking and lifting weights nearly every day of the week. So we guess Chris isn’t into fun? (KIDDING, Chris!)

Anyway, if you ever have a chance to sit down to drinks with Chris and his actress/singer wife, we hear she’s a hoot.

Ok, we’re done hazing the new AAPL member now. Find out more about Chris:

How long have you been an AAPL member?

Brand new!

What AAPL benefit do you MOST value?

I am looking forward to the Annual Conference.  I have also enjoyed the newsletter I receive by e-mail regularly.

Why did you become a member?

After many years servicing loans for life insurance companies we wanted to expand our clientele.  Private lending is truly where the growth is in lending.  AAPL membership looks to be a great place to learn and hopefully we can bring what we have learned servicing for institutional investors to the private lending industry.

What is your favorite AAPL memory?

Too soon to tell…but based on my experience as a longtime member of another outstanding trade organization I expect there are many to come.

Why did you decide to enter the private lending profession?

I fell into a job in distressed mortgages very early in my career.  I ended up loving the lender/borrower/collateral dynamic.  Even though the approach to managing performing and non-performing assets is different the distressed loan world was a great place to learn what a good loan should look like.  That experience has been very helpful in assisting clients as they build their lending platforms.

What are some accomplishments you are particularly proud of?

I am very proud of my career.  Since 1988 I have gotten to do a lot of amazing things with a lot of smart people.  I was in the front row for the thrift crisis and the emergence of the CMBS industry.  I somehow flourished during the downturns.  I also got to manage a large servicing platform for a major life company.  Essex is a very fun and fulfilling Act III (…IV? V?).

What is your favorite book, and why?

“Slaughterhouse Five” by Kurt Vonnegut.  I recently read it for what seems like the hundredth time.  Like most great books it can be many things to many people across many years.  To me it is a historical account of surviving the bombing of Dresden, a reflection on the aftermath of traumas big and small, an anti-war plea and a silly science fiction story.  Most of all it is a very tender classic.

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