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The 2016 Fintech Finance 35: Hans Morris
The 30-plus companies in Nyca Partners’ portfolio range alphabetically from Abra, a money transfer app, to mobile bank Zero. Right around the middle is Lending Club, which caused some unexpected disruption this year for Nyca managing partner Hans Morris...


The 30-plus companies in Nyca Partners’ portfolio range alphabetically from Abra, a money transfer app, to mobile bank Zero. Right around the middle is Lending Club, which caused some unexpected disruption this year for Nyca managing partner Hans Morris and sent shock waves through the fintech community. In May, Renaud Laplanche, chairman and CEO of the San Francisco–based peer-to-peer lending leader, resigned after some documentation and disclosure improprieties came to light. Morris, a Lending Club director since February 2013 — a year and a half before he founded Nyca — stepped into the role of executive chairman. With a few quick strokes, including the elevation of president Scott Sanborn to CEO, the ship was steadied; Morris now is just chairman. “I’ve learned a lot of lessons on how to manage risk that we can apply to our other portfolio companies,” he notes. “It’s not the type of experience we all want to have, but it’s been a learning experience all the same.” A graduate of Dartmouth College (BA in government, 1980) and a benefactor of the New Hampshire school’s Ethics Institute, Morris spent 27 years with Citigroup, holding such positions as COO of the investment bank and CFO of institutional businesses. More recently, he was president of Visa and a managing director of General Atlantic. Nyca’s headquarters is in New York, but the firm’s name symbolizes the bridge it figuratively spans between the Big Apple and California’s Silicon Valley. Eyeing insurance as an emerging fintech frontier, Nyca has invested in online providers Embroker and Ladder, and in Zendrive, which collects and analyzes sensor data from smart phones to improve risk management and lower insurance costs for auto fleets. The firm also has a position in online financial adviser SigFig. “I’m a big believer in disrupting what we call personal advice — brokers, intermediaries,” says Morris, 57. For people with $100,000 to $200,000 in assets, “an algorithm will give you a better investment and with less compliance risk,” he adds. “A machine will outperform a human: There is better technology, better user experience, and much lower costs.”
![]() 2. Matthew Harris Bain Capital Ventures ![]() 3. Jane Gladstone Evercore Partners ![]() 4. James Robinson III & James Robinson IV RRE Ventures ![]() 5. Steven McLaughlin Financial Technology Partners ![]() 6. Amy Nauiokas & Sean Park Anthemis Group |
![]() 7. Richard Garman & Brad Bernstein FTV Capital ![]() 8. Gerard von Dohlen Broadhaven Capital Partners ![]() 9. Darren Cohen Goldman Sachs Group ![]() 10. Hans Morris Nyca Partners ![]() 11. Meyer (Micky) Malka Ribbit Capital ![]() 12. Maria Gotsch Partnership Fund for New York City |
![]() 13. Barry Silbert Digital Currency Group ![]() 14. Jay Reinemann Propel Venture Partners ![]() 15. Mariano Belinky Santander InnoVentures ![]() 16. Justin Brownhill & Neil DeSena SenaHill Partners ![]() 17. François Robinet AXA Strategic Ventures ![]() 18. Vanessa Colella Citi Ventures |
![]() 19. Michael Schlein Accion International ![]() 20. Kenneth Marlin Marlin & Associates ![]() 21. Rumi Morales CME Ventures ![]() 22. Alastair (Alex) Rampell Andreessen Horowitz ![]() 23. Steve Gibson Euclid Opportunities ![]() 24. Fabian Vandenreydt SWIFT |
![]() 25. Vladislav Solodkiy Life.SREDA ![]() 26. Gardiner Garrard III TTV Capital ![]() 27. Nektarios Liolios Startupbootcamp Fintech ![]() 28. Lawrence Wintermeyer Innovate Finance ![]() 29. Bina Kalola Bank of America Merrill Lynch ![]() 30. Hyder Jaffrey Fintech Innovation |
![]() 31. Calvin Choi AMTD Group ![]() 32. Janos Barberis FinTech Hong Kong ![]() 33. Jalak Jobanputra Future Perfect Ventures ![]() 34. Sopnendu Mohanty Monetary Authority of Singapore ![]() 35. Oskar Mielczarek de la Miel Rakuten FinTech Fund |