PRA Group Inc., a Norfolk, Va.-based debt-buying giant, announced Friday both the resignation of executive Neal Stern and a series of organizational changes to "maximize its competitive advantages of people, data, analytics and results."
Stern, who served as executive vice president, chief global investment, analytics and operations strategy officer, will assist in transitional matters until his departure, effective June 10. Since his arrival in 2008, Stern played a leadership role in developing PRA's approach to portfolio segmentation and ROI-based collection work efforts. As a result, PRA officials state that the company has helped drive consolidation in the debt purchase industry through its "operating prowess, combined with sophisticated underwriting capability, strong compliance regime and access to capital." Steve Fredrickson, chairman and CEO of PRA Group stated, "I want to thank Neal for his many contributions to PRA over the years and for his assistance in building an incredible foundation in analytics and strategy from which PRA will continue to grow. I wish Neal all the best in his future endeavors.” The company also announced the following management changes:
In the U.S. and Canada, Stern's responsibilities will move into the Americas Core group which is led by Chris Graves, executive vice president.
- In Europe, Aashutosh Mishra has been promoted to chief analytics officer, PRA Group Europe. Mishra will now lead all aspects of collection strategies and valuation analytics for PRA's European business. He has been with PRA for nearly four years and will join the European leadership team reporting to Tiku Patel, CEO, PRA Group Europe.
