Build What Holds.
College Terrace Partners is a senior-led value creation advisory for banks, fintechs, payments companies, and insurers.
Both partners in the Firm have advised, built and operated regulated financial services businesses, and supported M&A & strategic / PE investments in complex deals, with complementary top-tier consulting experiences at firms including McKinsey, Booz/Strategy&-PWC and Goldman Sachs over a combined 50 years in the field. Both sides of the table. Operators and advisors.
Based in Palo Alto and Chicago.
Value Creation Advisory
Strategic Growth & Equity Value Creation
New customers acquired at scale, core deposits that compound, and digital capabilities that span onboarding through deep engagement and full customer lifetime value, driving multiple expansion across cycles.
Technology, Operations & AI Readiness
A clean foundation, i.e. tech debt resolved, systems modernized, vendors right-sized, operations streamlined, so that your institution can capture what AI and modern platforms make possible, when it makes sense.
Regulatory & Compliance Strength
Exam-ready innovation, remediation that holds, compliance frameworks that absorb change, and new business models built from decades of launching and operating regulated financial services businesses.
Our Services
Growth Strategy
AI Deployment
Regulatory Navigation
Digital Transformation
Customer acquisition at scale, deposit growth that compounds, digital onboarding and account opening capabilities, cross-sell engines that deepen relationships, and product design that withstands regulatory and market scrutiny.
Tech debt resolved, current systems assessed, target platform designed, vendors evaluated, operational workflows streamlined, and for institutions ready for AI, use case selection and cost governance that scale responsibly.
Exam outcomes you can predict, remediation that holds, compliance frameworks that absorb change, and new business models structured to pass regulatory scrutiny before launch, across banking, payments, and insurance.
Core systems adapted, payments infrastructure built, post-acquisition integrations completed, and operating models redesigned for banks, payments firms, and insurers under real regulatory and market constraints.
Partners
Partner
Sukeert Shanker
Based in Palo Alto, Sukeert has built three regulated banking businesses from zero — Marcus at Goldman Sachs as a founding team member, Velo as COO of the Digital Bank at East West Bank, and Aeldra as a fintech founder. Each demanded innovation at pace, at the intersection of product, regulation and technology. Each was driven by an obsessive customer centricity. Each was commercially successful from a clean sheet, in very different environments. Sukeert's innovation in KYC/AML digital customer onboarding has a patent filed. The thread running through them is uncommon: McKinsey rigor, investment banking instincts, bank C-suite operations, and a fintech founder's vision with an operator's mindset.
Partner
Mark Flamme
Based in Chicago, Mark leads the growth strategy and business transformation practices. A former PwC-Booz/Strategy& Partner who founded the North American Payments practice, he brings a rare depth across technology, operations and regulation — and uses it to cut through complexity, not add to it. Mark has led enterprise-wide transformations at major banks and insurers, taken payments products from concept to market, and managed post-acquisition integrations spanning billions in deal value. His approach is embedded and sleeves-rolled-up, customized to each client. He has particular depth serving PE portfolio companies through periods of technology, regulatory and market disruption.
INSIGHTS
Connect with our Partners.
Palo Alto
Deep rigor of regulated financial services combined with the agility and cutting-edge innovation of fintechs and value-creating technology companies.
Chicago
Cross-cycle, cross-vertical financial services expertise in navigating change. Steady, experienced hands in times of disruption and market uncertainty.