Paul Weiss, back for a second time

Paul Weiss was a long time member of the Leasing News Advisory Board, but to avoid any conflict, he resigned when he also resigned as President of ICON Capital and as Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors, of which Mr. Weiss was a substantial shareholder in its ultimate parent (he sold his shares simultaneously with his resignation). ICON Capital was then, and still is today, the largest in its field in lease investment portfolios. He was responsible for the large ticket seasoned lease portfolio acquisitions. Leasing News is glad to have him back on the advisory board.

Pacific Rim Partners, San Francisco
Sunrise Tankers, San Francisco
pweiss@sunrisetankers.com

"Our clientele is Fortune 1000, and they are stuck between not wanting to do anything and needing to do anything that will cause earning growth going forward from here. The consequence of this paradox is that deals that should be advancing are sometimes not for the wrong reasons, and deals that I wouldn’t have bet on are hot for the right reasons. If you call on companies I think you need to be very aware of their fears, hidden agendas, and public and private goals. "

What advice would you give to a graduating finance major looking for a job in May or June of 2009?

"I get scores and scores of resumes, almost always poorly assembled and behind an anemic cover letter. Today I got a letter by snail mail and it stood out wonderfully (also it clearly took the guy a bunch of time to assemble the components and print and mail it). I was impressed… still, none of these soon to be graduates ever tried to call me. My advice is that, if you make a hundred (or 500?) calls, you will get a job.

"Don’t let the macro stats get you down, if you are aggressive and smart about it you are way ahead of the pack! I would not hire a recent grad but have a number of interns who are basically unpaid and thrilled to have a place to land. It is mutually rewarding given the tough environment.

"I would tell my kids that you better know finance before you specialize in leasing. Command of the capital markets has always been important to lessors and more so now."

Are your days longer or shorter than before? How do you use time differently?

"My days are shorter; I work smarter and am old enough to be able to avoid wasting time on deals that won’t be real. I won’t lie though, there is also a bit less to do these days no matter what leg of finance you may be pursuing."

Paul B. Weiss is Chairman of the Investment Committee of Pacific Rim Partners, a San Francisco based investment and merchant bank with offices in Tokyo and Dubai. He is also Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sunrise Tankers, an oceangoing tanker investment concern with a focus on Liquefied Natural Gas transport vessels.

Upon participating in the acquisition of ICON from its founders in 1996 he joined that company on a full time basis and was at various times responsible for the acquisition of large ticket leases and other transactions for the ICON Funds and for marketing of ICON's investment program. According to the Monitor, ICON became one of the largest independently owned leasing companies in the United States after it was acquired by Mr. Weiss and his partners in 1996. Prior to that time Mr. Weiss was Executive Vice President and a co-founder of Griffin Equity Partners (1993-1996), Senior Vice President of Gemini Financial Holdings, Inc. (1991-1993) and Vice President of Pegasus Capital Corporation (1988-1991); in each of these capacities he was responsible for large ticket seasoned lease portfolio acquisitions. Mr. Weiss believes he has been involved with more than $4 billion of large ticket leasing acquisitions during his career. Prior to entering the equipment leasing business in 1988, Mr. Weiss was an investment banker and securities analyst.

He describes his other interests as including a secret passion for model trains, a strange determination to play terrible golf, the pursuit of being minor though perhaps inconsequential philanthropist, and the mentoring of large and small businesses (which on rare instances actually consider his advice). He is a longtime resident of Marin County, California. Mr. Weiss can be reached atpweiss@sunrisetankers.com

[Leasing News Advisory Board]