Leasing News Advisors on...Business Today

“Leasing is beginning to boom again and I can see it in the orders we are being asked to fill for companies looking for employees, “ says Fred St Laurent,MSI International, Atlanta, Georgia. “ And they are coming from all over the country, not just the metropolitan areas, such as:

“An asset manager in Jacksonville Florida who can set the front end up for leases (and back end expectations);

--A call center Sales Manager in Jacksonville FL to build a new lease program for a major Lease Finance Company;
--A Program Manager who would own the Lease Program (new position) in Jacksonville;
---Several sales managers nationally and on both coasts for small ticket, technology/ telecom – vendor “

“The activity I have seen since the first of the year has certainly increased, both in the size and number of transactions, “ says Bob Teichman, CLP, Teichman Financial Training, Sausalito, California. “ The brokers and lessors I have spoken with all report that they are seeing more deals, although I haven't heard any comments about the quality.

“If this keeps up, the equipment leasing industry will have a good year (finally!)”

“I have been seeing more interest in acquisitions of leasing companies in recent months, “ reports Bruce Kropschot, Kropschot Financial Services, Vero Beach, Florida. “ After a few years in which few companies were for sale and prices were depressed, I view this revitalized acquisition interest as a positive indicator of corporate executives' perception of the economy in general and the level of capital investment in particular.”

“ I do not believe we are an accurate indicator as our business grew 250+% last year,” states Steve Reid, CLP, Pacific Capital Bank, Orange, California. “ I attribute it to the changes we made internally with the scoring system and other procedural changes.”

“Notwithstanding, its true and you can report that we had a ‘bumper crop' of very good closings at year end and perhaps our best 4th quarter in several years, “ says Paul Weiss, Icon Capital, San Francisco and New York. “ I have been spending most of my time raising equity not finding deals. As we are not really an originator but a secondary market buyer, I am concerned that our experience may not be indicative of market cycles, but business has been super.”

“I just left the (Equipment Leasing Association) Industry future council meeting in DC, “ commented Ed Castagna, Nassau Asset Management, Roslyn Heights, NY. “. My take away in general is that optimism varies by sector. Smaller ticket and specialty leasing companies are feeling very good about business. Large ticket continues to worry as they have felt the effects of regulatory pressure.”