Ioannis Kouzilos
About Ioannis Kouzilos
Executive Vice President and Chief Lending Officer of Ponce Bank; age 46 (as of April 16, 2025). Joined Ponce Bank in July 2013 and has led business development and loan growth since March 2017 after prior roles overseeing asset quality, credit risk, asset recovery, and lending operations; earlier community banking roles at Alma Bank and Marathon National Bank. Education: Graduate degree in Banking & Finance (University of Wales) and BA(Hons) in Business Economics (Ashcroft Business School/John Ruskin University, Cambridge) . The company’s operating backdrop during his tenure includes strong 2025 year-to-date performance: net loans up 14.2% YoY to $2.49B, deposits up 9.5% YoY to $2.06B, net interest margin 3.18% for the nine months ended September 30, 2025, and diluted EPS of $0.77 for the same period, more than doubling YoY . For 2024, the fixed $100 shareholder return value was $172.64 and net income available to common stockholders was $10.3M, framing pay-versus-performance context .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ponce Bank | EVP, Chief Lending Officer | 2017–present | Leads business development and loan growth; operating period saw strong loan growth and improved NIM in 2025 |
| Ponce Bank | Senior management (asset quality, credit risk, asset recovery, lending ops) | 2013–2017 | Built risk and lending operations foundations ahead of growth mandate |
| Community banks (Alma Bank; Marathon National Bank) | Various roles | Not disclosed | Community banking experience; credit/lending background |
| Prior credit administration | VP of Credit Administration (summary slide) | Not disclosed | Credit risk leadership experience highlighted in investor materials |
External Roles
No external directorships or outside board roles disclosed in proxy biographies for Mr. Kouzilos .
Fixed Compensation
- Individual base salary, target bonus %, and actual bonus for Mr. Kouzilos are not disclosed (only Named Executive Officers: Executive Chairman, CEO, CFO are itemized) .
- Company’s compensation objectives emphasize competitive total pay with variable compensation aligned to performance and industry peers, overseen by the Executive Compensation Committee with Meridian Compensation Partners advising in 2024 .
Performance Compensation
Time-based equity under omnibus plans; no role-specific performance metric weights disclosed for Mr. Kouzilos. Company-level executive awards and vesting features:
| Plan | Grant Date | Award Type | Executives Covered | Shares Granted | Vesting Terms | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 Long-Term Incentive Plan | Dec 4, 2018 | Options and RSUs | Executive officers and directors | 674,645 total grants; includes 119,176 incentive options (execs), 322,254 RSUs (execs) | Generally 20% annually; director awards vest over longer periods; latest vest by Jan 31, 2028 | RSUs do not pay/accumulate dividend equivalents during vesting |
| 2023 Long-Term Incentive Plan | Dec 7, 2023 | Premium incentive options and RSUs | Executive officers (including NEOs), non-executives, directors | 1,102,464 total grants; to executive officers: 302,500 premium options (255,000 to NEOs included), 488,784 RSUs (457,952 to NEOs included) | Intended as time-vested compensation over five years (20% per year typical in footnotes for NEOs); options weight-averaged ~$9.94 exercise; RSUs non-exercisable | Remaining capacity at 12/31/24: 90,092 premium ISOs; 173,923 non-premium ISOs; 112,105 RSU shares |
No plan-specific performance metrics (e.g., revenue/EBITDA/TSR hurdles) are disclosed for these grants; the 2023 awards are explicitly time-vested over five years . Bonuses for NEOs were discretionary in 2024/2023, indicating limited use of formulaic annual performance metrics at the top level .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
- Individual beneficial ownership, vested/unvested breakdown, and any pledging by Mr. Kouzilos are not disclosed in principal holders tables (he is not listed among >5% holders or directors/NEOs with enumerated holdings) .
- Hedging is prohibited for officers, directors, and employees; insider trading policy bars trading on MNPI .
- Company-wide equity overhang and activity (context for alignment and selling pressure):
- Outstanding at 12/31/24: 748,265 options, weighted-average exercise price $9.94; 566,490 non-vested RSUs .
- RSU activity 2024: 176,883 vested; 2,500 forfeited; 566,490 non-vested remaining .
- Stock option activity 2024: 44,356 forfeited; 343,848 exercisable at $9.21 WAE at 12/31/24 .
- ESOP/KSOP structure applies to eligible employees; shares are allocated as loans are repaid. Plan mechanics and vesting (401(k) and ESOP components) are described; participants direct voting on allocated shares .
Employment Terms
- No individual employment agreement, severance multiple, non-compete, or change-of-control terms are disclosed for Mr. Kouzilos. Employment agreements are disclosed for the Executive Chairman and CEO (3-year auto-renewing; severance multiples and post-CIC 2.99x cap), and a CIC agreement is disclosed for the CFO; these do not list Mr. Kouzilos .
- Clawback policy (effective Oct 2, 2023) applies to executive officers and requires recovery of excess incentive-based compensation upon certain restatements, covering the prior three completed fiscal years .
- Prohibitions: hedging transactions are barred for officers/directors/employees .
Performance & Track Record
| Metric | Period | Value/Change | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net loans receivable | As of Sep 30, 2025 | $2.49B; +14.2% YoY | |
| Deposits | As of Sep 30, 2025 | $2.06B; +9.5% YoY | |
| Net interest margin | Nine months ended Sep 30, 2025 | 3.18%; increased YoY | |
| Diluted EPS | Nine months ended Sep 30, 2025 | $0.77; >2x YoY | |
| Net income available to common | Nine months ended Sep 30, 2025 | $17.7M; +130.7% YoY | |
| Fixed $100 investment (TSR proxy metric) | FY 2024 | $172.64 |
The lending franchise expansion and margin improvement provide context for the Chief Lending Officer’s operating environment and strategic execution on business development and loan growth .
Governance and Controls (context)
- Section 16(a): All insiders timely filed in fiscal 2024 per 2025 proxy (no late reports identified) .
- Compensation oversight and peer benchmarking conducted by the Executive Compensation Committee with Meridian advising (2024), supporting market-referenced pay structures .
Investment Implications
- Alignment: Time-vested multi-year equity awards under 2018 and 2023 plans indicate retention-focused design; clawback and hedging prohibitions strengthen alignment and risk control for executive officers, including Mr. Kouzilos .
- Data gaps: Lack of disclosed individual salary/bonus/equity grant detail and ownership for Mr. Kouzilos limits precision on pay-for-performance and personal “skin-in-the-game”; focus analysis on enterprise outcomes in lending and margin and plan-level structures .
- Retention risk: Five-year vesting on 2023 awards and continued ESOP allocations suggest ongoing retention hooks; absence of a disclosed individual CIC/severance agreement reduces guaranteed payouts but also reduces change-of-control protection relative to CEO/CFO .
- Trading signals: No insider transactions for Mr. Kouzilos are surfaced in proxies; Section 16 compliance noted; consider monitoring Form 4s for future selling pressure around vest dates and option exercises .