Ron Kundich
About Ron Kundich
Ron Kundich, 54, is Trinity Capital Inc.’s Chief Credit Officer (CCO) and Investment Committee member; he joined Trinity in 2019 and was appointed CCO in March 2022 after serving as Senior Vice President – Loan Originations and then Senior Managing Director . He has 25+ years supporting venture-backed companies with prior roles at Square 1 Bank (regional manager, co-founder), Silicon Valley Bank, and Imperial Bank (acquired by Comerica) . Company performance context during his tenure: Total assets grew from ~$1.13B (FY2022) to ~$1.77B (FY2024) and ROE improved from -6.70%* (FY2022) to 16.12% (FY2024); Net income rose from -$30.4M* (FY2022) to $115.6M (FY2024) .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trinity Capital (predecessor and Company) | Senior VP – Loan Originations; Senior Managing Director; Partner (2017–2018) | 2017–2019 | Sourced, underwrote and scaled venture lending pipeline; Investment Committee contributor . |
| Trinity Capital Inc. | Chief Credit Officer | Mar 2022–present | Oversees lending, underwriting and credit processes; CCO promotion part of management scaling initiative . |
| Square 1 Bank | Managing Director & Regional Manager | 2013–2017 | Built and managed venture-backed banking portfolio and team . |
| Silicon Valley Bank; Imperial Bank (Comerica) | Various venture banking roles | Prior years | Progressive responsibilities supporting venture-backed companies . |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | — | No public company directorships or external board roles disclosed in proxy filings for Kundich. |
Fixed Compensation
- Executive compensation structure (applies company-wide to executive officers): base salary plus discretionary annual cash bonus and equity-based awards under the 2019 Long‑Term Incentive Plan (LTIP) .
- Bonuses are discretionary (required under the 1940 Act) and consider metrics such as net investment income (NII), return on average equity (ROE), dividend yield, net asset value (NAV) growth, and assets under management (AUM) growth, alongside operational metrics (capital deployment, portfolio activity, capitalization) .
- Individual base salary and bonus amounts for Kundich are not disclosed; 2024 NEOs were S. Brown, K. Brown, and Harder (Kundich not a named executive officer) .
Performance Compensation
- Equity awards under the 2019 LTIP include restricted stock (and options following SEC exemptive relief), generally vesting over four years for executives, with dividends on awarded restricted stock until forfeiture .
- As of Dec 31, 2024, the Company reported no options outstanding; restricted stock was the active award type (options were later granted as a special one-time action to certain NEOs in Dec 2024, not to Kundich) .
- For 2024, NEO bonuses were paid at 110% of target based on the metric framework; weights and individual targets were not disclosed (Kundich amounts not disclosed) .
| Metric Considered | Weighting | Target | Actual | Payout | Vesting Treatment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net Investment Income (Company) | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Committee-assessed | NEOs: 110% of target (Kundich not disclosed) | Restricted stock generally vests over 4 years . |
| ROE (Company) | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Committee-assessed | See above | See above . |
| Dividend Yield, NAV Growth, AUM Growth | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Committee-assessed | See above | See above . |
| Operational metrics (deployment, capitalization, portfolio activity, total assets) | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Committee-assessed | See above | See above . |
Equity Ownership & Alignment
- Beneficial ownership: Kundich directly beneficially owns 220,576 shares as of April 15, 2025 .
- Shares outstanding at record date: 64,654,247; Kundich’s stake ≈ 0.34% of outstanding shares (calculated: 220,576 ÷ 64,654,247) .
- Prior year reference: 165,120 shares beneficially owned as of April 17, 2023 (growth indicates continued equity alignment) .
| Date | Shares Beneficially Owned | % of Shares Outstanding | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 17, 2023 | 165,120 | ~0.46% (based on 35,969,419 SO) | Based on proxy SO count; calculation from disclosed figures. |
| Apr 15, 2025 | 220,576 | ~0.34% (based on 64,654,247 SO) | Increase in absolute ownership; larger share count reduces %; calculation from disclosed figures. |
- Vested vs unvested breakdown for Kundich: not disclosed; FY2024 “Outstanding Equity Awards” table was provided for NEOs only (S. Brown, K. Brown, Harder) .
- Hedging/pledging: Company policy prohibits short-term/speculative trading, hedging without pre-approval, and pledging (except non‑margin loans with pre-approval and capacity to repay) . No pledging by Kundich is disclosed in proxies .
- Clawback: Nasdaq Rule 5608/Rule 10D‑1 compliant clawback for incentive-based compensation upon accounting restatement .
Insider Transactions and Vesting Pressure
| Date | Filing | Transaction Type | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 15, 2025 | Form 4 | Shares withheld for taxes upon restricted share vesting | Transaction exempt under Rule 16b‑3; signed via POA on 9/18/2025 . |
| Sep 13, 2024 | Form 4 | Shares withheld for taxes upon restricted share vesting | Tax withholding on vesting noted . |
- Section 16(a) compliance: Proxy notes late Form 4s, including for Kundich, due to company administrative errors related to vesting of restricted shares (subsequently filed) .
Employment Terms
- Officer appointment: Executive officers serve until successors are elected/qualified or earlier resignation/removal; no fixed term disclosed .
- Offer letters exist for NEOs and certain senior management (which includes Kundich), but specific terms for Kundich (base, bonus multiples, severance, CoC triggers) are not disclosed publicly; detailed severance/change‑in‑control terms are provided for NEOs only in A&R NEO Agreements (effective Mar 14, 2025) .
- Non‑compete/non‑solicit/confidentiality covenants are included in NEO agreements; no Kundich‑specific covenant terms disclosed .
Company Performance Context (for pay‑for‑performance assessment)
| Metric | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net Income ($USD) | -$30.375M* | $76.893M | $115.596M |
| Return on Equity (%) | -6.7039%* | 14.3616% | 16.1205% |
| Total Assets ($USD) | $1,126.439M | $1,310.982M | $1,774.241M |
Values marked with * retrieved from S&P Global.
Governance and Compensation Committee
- Compensation Committee: Independent directors Michael E. Zacharia (Chair), Richard P. Hamada, Ronald E. Estes; engaged Mercer (2021) and FW Cook (2024) for peer benchmarking and governance support .
- Emerging growth company status: Not subject to annual say‑on‑pay; ongoing stockholder engagement on compensation .
Investment Implications
- Alignment: Kundich’s meaningful direct ownership (220,576 shares) and recurring restricted stock vesting indicate skin‑in‑the‑game; absence of disclosed pledging and the presence of a clawback mitigate misalignment risks .
- Selling pressure: Recent Form 4s reflect tax‑withholding on vesting rather than open‑market sales—typical for restricted stock; this suggests limited discretionary selling pressure near vest dates .
- Retention risk: Specific severance/change‑in‑control economics for Kundich are not disclosed; however, the company emphasizes retention through four‑year vesting and equity as a core compensation element across executives .
- Execution risk: As CCO, Kundich’s oversight of underwriting and credit processes is central to NII, ROE, and NAV performance metrics used by the committee; continued asset growth and ROE improvement during his tenure support the pay‑for‑performance framework .