Waqas Sattar is a senior financial services executive with more than 16 years of experience leading and scaling specialty finance, private credit, and commercial lending platforms across operations, finance, risk, and capital strategy.
Prior to joining MMP Capital, Waqas served as Chief Operating Officer of Specialty Capital, where he led operational transformation, scalability initiatives, compliance readiness, technology modernization, and AI-driven automation initiatives focused on underwriting, analytics, and operational efficiency across the organization.
Before joining Specialty Capital, Waqas was Co-Founder, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Financial Officer of Finova Capital, where he helped build the company into a nationally recognized embedded finance and commercial lending platform. He led the company’s operational infrastructure, financial strategy, capital markets initiatives, portfolio management, servicing, risk management, and strategic partnerships, while supporting the development of institutional capital relationships and warehouse financing facilities.
Earlier in his career, Waqas held senior leadership positions at Ascentium Capital and First Data (now Fiserv), where he managed operational strategy, portfolio performance, credit risk, collections, asset management, and analytics across large-scale commercial finance portfolios. His experience spans the full lifecycle of specialty finance operations, including underwriting, funding, servicing, compliance, capital markets, and enterprise-wide operational transformation.
In addition to his industry leadership, Waqas serves as a Professor at Ramapo College of New Jersey, where he teaches graduate-level courses within the Anisfield School of Business.
Waqas earned his MBA, cum laude, from the University of Illinois and holds multiple degrees from Purdue University.
Outside of work, Waqas is actively involved in community service initiatives through Jersey Cares Youth Service programs. He enjoys spending time with his family, staying active outdoors, and is a passionate supporter of Liverpool F.C.