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Kit Menkin Leasing News
Supplies businesses and consumers with information about
the leasing industry. We have independent,
unbiased, accurate, and fair news about leasing. Feel free to browse our site and learn everything
you need to about leasing.
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Thursday, March 20, 2003
Headlines---
Pictures from the Past---1999---United Capital's
Haughtalong/Gartner
Classified
Ads---Jobs Wanted---Credit
"Goin'
to Chicago" Maybe---NAELB Conference Obstacles
Bank
of the West Leasing Committed to Brokers
2003
Industry Future Council Report Revisited
Hawkins
Announces New President at BancPartners Leasing
Equipment
Leasing Licenses "by State" Requirements Project
NetBank
Announces New Dates 2003 Analyst/Investor Meeting
Windows
users warned about serious new software flaw
Conseco
Disclosure Statement Approved
560,000 Tech Pink Slips Issued Over Two Years
This Border #####
Denotes Press Release (Not Written By Leasing News)
Pictures from the Past---1999---United Capital’s Haughtalong/Gartner
“Holly Haughtalong and Ted Gartner---United Capital—give
the whole
event ‘two thumbs up’!”
October, 1999 Monterey
United Association of Equipment Leasing Conference
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Classified Ads---Jobs Wanted---Credit
Credit: Long Beach, NY. Credit officer w/more than
20 years of experience. Seeking position in which I can utilize my credit-collections,
communication &management skills. email:michaelschaubeck@webtv.net
Credit: New York, NY.
V.P.Credit & Collections w/23 years exp.looking for a
situation where I can utilize my varied & extensive knowledge of credit/
collections/risk-management & leasing. Email:rcouzzi@yahoo.com
Credit: Corona, CA.
VP credit Consumer Credit prime/sub prime Auto lending/leasing/mortgages.
20+yrs exp. If you are looking for someone to affect the bottom line I
am that person. Will relocate. email:amosca2000@yahoo.com
Credit: Los Angeles, CA
Over 15 years experience in Credit/Operations with Small
Ticket and transactions up to $500,000.00. CLP, with excellent relationships
with most major lenders. Email:jonbh123@earthlink.net
Credit: San Francisco Bay Area, CA. CLP 15 yrs exp.
credit, operation& sales. Small to $25M. Desire stable company where
I can add a lot of value. Great References Available. email:jen94401@yahoo.com
Credit: Mill Valley, CA
Senior corporate officer with financial services credit background.
M and A, fund raising and workout expertise. Email:nywb@aol.com
Credit: New York, NY Credit officer with banking and leasing
background; strong analytical and communication/PC skills with lending
and portfolio management experience. email: michaelschaubeck@webtv.net
Credit: No. Atlanta, GA. VP Credit/ Operations/Sr.
Credit Officer. 15yrs exp. in equipment leasing. Strong financial analysis
and management skills. Experience developing and maintaining profitable
customer/vendor relationships. email:credops@msn.com
Credit Manager: Kansas City, MO. Equipment finance
and leasing, inventory finance, construction & agricultural equipment.
email:impens@earthlink.net
Fifty Job Wanted ads at: http://65.209.205.32/LeasingNews/JobPostings.htm
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“Goin’ to Chicago” Maybe---NAELB Conference Obstacles
It appears it is not only the War in Iraq, Code Orange, but
the weather that
is affecting the National Association of Equipment Leasing
Conference that
starts today.
“Thunderstorms are expected tonight and tomorrow so we may
have major
problems. I am scheduled out tomorrow AM, but the weather
and a Code
Orange may make me change my mind. I'll check Delta before
on the net
before going to the airport. As of now, flights are running
about 30
minutes late out of Atlanta.”
Charlie Lester
“Would you please do me a favor and let your readership know
that BSB
Leasing, Inc. was closed due to the 3.5 foot snowstorm in
Denver, March 18 -
19. The city will
be digging out Thursday, March 20. Hopefully
we will be
able to staff our office on Thursday or Friday depending
on road conditions.
“Also, if you could let people know that Don Myerson and
Bruce Zwillinger
were planning on attending the NAELB conference in Chicago,
but due to the
Denver airport closure it is looking like it will not be
possible for us to
attend. Ginger Carpenter,
one of our Regional Sales Managers', based in
Arkansas will be attending and manning our booth. Unfortunately she will
have no hand-out information as it was coming with Don and
I from Denver.
We apologize for any inconvenience to those who were planning
on meeting
with Don and I about our services. Ginger can meet with any representative
and speak about our company. She will also pass onto us the names,
telephone numbers and addresses of anyone needing hard-copy
information. We
will follow up with those people after the conference.
“Thank you so much for helping us get the word out to our
customers. I look
forward to seeing you soon.”
Bruce Zwillinger
Executive Vice President
BSB Leasing, Inc.
800-945-3372 x 306
fax: 800-338-5225
(BSB Leasing has proven themselves in tough times when they
were being “let go” by Unicapital, they protected brokers, did not forward
“advance rentals” and
were able to return them, plus helped in funding of deals
caught in the middle. You learn about character when a person has their
back against the wall. editor)
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Bank of the West Leasing Committed to Brokers
The lease servicing group of Bank of the West Leasing will
move
its seven lease serving employees from Walnut Creek to San
Francisco in mid-May, notes Jerry Newell, CLP, senior vice-president and
manager.
There are seven lease servicing employees affected; six employees
are moving to San Francisco and one has chosen not to make the move, he
explains.
“We are in fact growing our leasing business; certainly one
example is our purchase of Trinity Capital in November 2002,” he said.
“We remain completely committed to our Broker Funding business where we
have 34 employees dedicated to serving the broker community.”
With extremely competitive rates, technology up-grades, and
well-experienced staff, Newell concluded, “Bank of the West remains fully
committed to
leasing as an important specialty business line.”
Bank of the West was founded in 1874. Website is www.bankofthewest.com
__________________________________________________________________
2003 Industry Future Council Report Revisited
“Positioning Now for Business in the Future”
Lisa Levine, the executive director of the Equipment Leasing
and Finance Foundation has provided a “more internet” version of the 2003
Industry
Future Council report, with better charts, to Leasing News.
It is definitely worth downloading and reading.
We also recommend you go directly to sign up for newsletters,
and make
the website one of your “favorites” on your browser to visit
from time to time.
http://www.leasefoundation.org/
Here are some highlights from the:
Page 9---The Competitive environment:
The changing competitive environment is a subject for discussion
at nearly every IFC meeting. Past discussions have focused on industry
consolidation and the shift to the Whale and Minnow concept. This Year,
participants noted that there are fewer competitors than previously but
they have become more aggressive. They have also seen many lessors searching
outside of their traditional markets.
Members in every ticket segment have seen a reduction in
the number of competitors in the market. the economic slowdown and funding
difficulties have caused many to exit the market. In addition, risk management issues have caused other players to
reduce their activity in certain markets.
Although there are fewer players in the market competition
has intensified, particularly for the best customers. Members indicated that they are seeing less price/rate driven completion.
Instead, lessors are aggressively competing on deal structure and
service.
Although there are fewer competitors, the players remaining
are usually large and better financed, like the banks. The other survivors
are the smaller, smarter, niche players that win business on the basis
of service or better transaction structure.”
With fewer deals, the remaining competitors are looking outside
their traditional markets to meet volume targets. Large ticket lessors,
particularly hard hit by economic conditions, are beginning to expand
even further into the middle market. Some niche industries, such as health
care equipment, are seeing increased competition as lessors move to “cast
a wider net” for deals.
The current competitive environment can offer opportunities
for some players.
Smaller more agile niche players are able to increase market
share by filling the void left as competitors exit the market. Larger well funded lessors can “force” their
way into new markets to increase share.
Page 10---The Role of Technology:
While technology remains important, it was less of a focus
than in prior years. Technology is allowing lessors to reduce costs and
communicate more effectively with customers. However, not all technology
investments have paid off, particularly investments in “e-commerce.”
Lessors have been successful using technology to streamline
operations, increase productivity, and reduce costs. However, members noted that, for technology
to be effective, the process it is automating must be effective
“Without effective processes, technology will only emphasize
the problems.”
Lessors are also using technology to increase customer touch
and service. Through email, account managers are able to communicate more
effectively with their customers.
Many lessors are implementing web-based customer serve so that customers
can manage their accounts at any time.
“Internet applications and e-commerce at not the home-run
we had hoped for. Many of the applications coming in over the Webs are
of lower quality than we can accept.
Over the past five years companies have invested heavily
in “e-commerce” applications with the hopes of driving new business volume
through the Web. Most members expressed
disappointment with this effort. New business volume has been significantly
less than hoped for and much of the business generate don the Web is low
credit quality.
Page 11
Members predict that industry consolidation will continue,
but at a much slower pace. The market will continue to shake out unsustainable
competitors and the survivors will be those with should internal processes
and disciplined pricing.
Page 13
The lack of regulatory oversight can be an advantage for
independent lessors. They will be able to pursue deals and set terms and
cognitions that regulated lessors cannot. The market, not regulators,
will reward or punish them based on the merits of the deal. In addition, some of the cots of funds advantage
currently enjoyed by bank-owned lessors will disappear as those lessor
absorb the additional cost of capital imposed by Basel II.
Independent have historically, led the industry in innovation.
Their leaner structure and lack of “parental oversight lends itself to
rapid product development and swift adaptation to changing market conditions.
As regulation increases on bank-owned lessors and captives
continue to focus inward, some participants believe that independents
will leverage their entrepreneurial ability and once again lead the industry
in terms of motivation and profitability.
Full report here, and its “free:” http://www.leasingnews.org/PDFFiles/IFC.pdf
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Hawkins Announces Halbrooks New President at BancPartners
Leasing
Warren Hawkins announces that Rick Halbrooks has been promoted
to president of BancPartners Leasing. He moves up from chief marketing
officer.
Asked if he was still in charge, the dynamic Hawkins responded,
"Yes I am in charge..(most of the time) ..we will have other news
soon. Lots of good things going on New community banks on the program
and big leases closing...We need Hawkins as president to handle all the
new business."
Halbrooks has served as chief marketing officer of BancPartners
Leasing since 1999. An Alumnus of Auburn University, Halbrooks is a native
of Birmingham and lives in Hoover with his wife, Deborah and three sons.
He is a past recipient of the Forbes-McKay Award from the American Marketing
Association and the Distinguished Sales and Marketing Award from Sales
and Marketing Executives, International.
BancPartners Leasing, known for its superior service as a
commercial equipment and vehicle lessor, has met the leasing needs of
numerous industries for 20 years.
"We need to keep our number one produce, excellent service,"
Hawkins explained. "We have aggressive credit guidelines, competitive
rates and creative financing. Halbooks has helped us set a standard of
excellence when it come to customer service and the leasing industry."
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Equipment Leasing Licenses “by State” Requirements Project
This is an idea by Jim Hill of Private Label Leasing, Inc., to compile
a list by state of licensing requirements.
You are being asked to contribute by sending information
on your
state’s requirements to: license@leasingservice.com.
The Subject line should be "License" + the two
letter abbreviation for the
State they are responding about.
Example: "License
NY" or License MA"
or "License CA", etc...
Jim will then convert this into an Excel spreadsheet that
we can output to htm to post on Leasing News.
We ask you to confirm the information to the best of their
ability
prior to submitting it.
If you are able to attribute the information to your State
website, please
sub-title the state’s website page. If you confirm the information in
another fashion, then have them give a reference to where
the information
came from.
By providing the confirming source information with the data,
everyone who
uses the information will have the opportunity to confirm
the information
themselves as to how it applies to their specific situation.
This hopefully
will both make the information “accurate” to the best of
our ability, plus
eliminate any "liability" for providing the information.
We will make a disclaimer, but the point is to get started
and to help
other states just as Leasing News as pointed out the need
for the
Finance Lender’s License in California.
Any questions, you may want to contact:
Jim Hill
Private Label Leasing, Inc.
mailto:jahill@leasingservice.com
800-451-6567 Voice/Fax 866-571-3921
________________________________________________________________
#### Press Release #############################################
NetBank, Inc. Announces New Dates for 2003 Analyst and
Investor Meeting
ATLANTA----NetBank, Inc. (Nasdaq:NTBK), parent company of
the country's first commercially successful Internet bank, NetBank(R)
(www.netbank.com), has rescheduled its 2003 analyst-investor meeting given
current security and travel concerns.
The meeting is now scheduled for Tuesday, May 13, 2003, from
8 a.m. until 5 p.m. EDT. The meeting was originally planned to begin on
Monday, March 24.
"A brief postponement of the meeting seems prudent,"
said Douglas K. Freeman, chief executive officer. "We want to be
particularly mindful of our analysts' and investors' obligations - both
personally and professionally. It seems inappropriate right now to ask
them to fly across the country and spend two days out of the office. We
also think it is important to have our senior managers fully focused on
managing their operations at this critical time."
The company still plans to audio cast the meeting. Beginning
on May 13, interested parties can access the live feed and download presentations
from within the Investor Relations area of the NetBank Web site at www.netbank.com.
The audio cast will be available as an archive for 30 days. For further
information about the meeting, investors may contact Matthew Shepherd
at 678-942-2683.
About NetBank, Inc.
NetBank, Inc. (Nasdaq:NTBK) operates with a revolutionary
business model through a diverse group of complementary financial services
businesses that leverage technology for more efficient and cost-effective
delivery of services. Its major subsidiaries include NetBank(R) (www.netbank.com),
the country's first commercially successful Internet bank; RBMG, Inc.,
a wholesale mortgage lender that generates residential mortgages through
a nationwide network of independent brokers and correspondent lenders;
Market Street Mortgage Corporation, a retail residential mortgage lender
that conducts business in 39 states; Meritage Mortgage Corporation, a
wholesale mortgage lender that originates non-conforming residential mortgages
through a nationwide network of independent brokers; and Republic Leasing
Company, Inc., a wholesale originator and servicer of business equipment
leases. NetBank is a Member FDIC. NetBank, RBMG(R), Market Street Mortgage(R)
and Meritage(R) are Equal Housing Lenders.
CONTACT:
NetBank, Inc., Atlanta
Rich Jeffers, 678/942-7596
######## Press Release #########################################
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Windows users warned about serious new software flaw
Microsoft has been warning users about what they consider
a serious flaw in almost every version of its software that could allow
hackers to seize control of a person's computer when victims read e-mails
or visit Web sites. Those with an
“automatic” up-grade should have the patch and downloaded
it by now.
If you do not have the “up-grade” feature set on your Windows
operating system,
a patch can been downloaded manually at:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/
To learn more, you may also go to:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/security_bulletins/ms03-008.asp
While there are no reported incidents of hackers breaking
into the computer,
Microsoft made the announcement as a preventive message.
The bulletin notes Microsoft customers using the newest versions of its e-mail software, Outlook
Express 6 and Outlook 2002, were protected from hackers trying to exploit
the problem using e-mails.
http://www.microsoft.com/security/security_bulletins/ms03-008.asp
_______________________________________________________________
Conseco Disclosure Statement Approved
Conseco, Inc. reported that it received U.S. Bankruptcy Court
approval of
its Disclosure Statement for its Plan of Reorganization.
The voting record
date started yesterday, March 19, 2003 and the deadline for
returning the completed ballots is May 14, 2003.
The hearing to consider
confirmation of the Plan is
scheduled to begin on May 28, 2003. Upon emergence from Chapter
11, Conseco,
Inc. will be engaged exclusively in the insurance business.
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560,000 Tech Pink Slips Issued Over Two Years
By Clint Boulton
Internetnews.com
The American Electronics Association Wednesday released a
report which found that more than half a million U.S. citizens lost their
high-tech jobs from January 2001 to December 2002.
Specifically, 560,000 workers employed at high-tech firms
such as HP, IBM, or Lucent were laid off in the two-year period that saw
the storied dot-com bubble burst. Tech employment plummeted from 5.7 million
jobs in January 2001 to 5.1 million jobs in December 2002.
AeA President and CEO William T. Archey said the findings
strongly suggest "that there is a need for economic stimulus including
the President's package and specific proposals backed by the high-tech
industry, such as the Homeland Investment Act..."
Introduced last week by the U.S. Senate, the Homeland Investment
Act is one of several proposals put forth by politicians to jumpstart
the U.S. economy. It calls for U.S. companies to invest offshore earnings
in the U.S. economy. If passed, conservative estimates place the inflow
of cash at $135 billion. But more recently, some private groups have upped
that estimate to $200 billion or more.
To be sure, the economy remains sluggish and threats of war
with Iraq continue to drag down the stock market, consumer confidence
and the overall economic outlook.
High-tech manufacturing employment shrank by 415,000 jobs,
a 20 percent drop, between January 2001 and December 2002, while the nation's
communications services industry saw a nine percent decline in its employment
base with a loss of 135,000 jobs during the same period.
The data processing and information services segment saw
a loss of 1,700 positions, from 561,200 to 559,500, while the computer
rental and maintenance sector saw a whopping loss of 12,900 jobs, from
520,800 to 507,900.
But there does exist an encouraging anomaly for software
specialists. While the majority of high-tech workers were hung out to
dry, Archey said the market for software services actually increased by
5,300 jobs.
"This is consistent with the fact that many of the innovations
in the high-tech industry are driven by software," Archey said.
Still, in the crosscutting niche of software and computer-
related services, 9,300 workers lost their jobs (from 2,201,000 to 2,191,700).
The study findings would seem to be solid, as they are based
on employment data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, but author
AeA also happens to be the nation's largest high- tech trade association,
representing more than 3,000 member companies, so its reach is broad.
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News Briefs---
Internet sites hit hard as war looms
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/business/5427362.htm
Most major news sites are the "name of operation.com"
Here are the Web addresses for the main military sites:
Air Force Web site: http://www.AF.mil
Defense Department site on War on Terror: http://www.DefendAMERICA.mil
FedEx reports 23 percent rise in quarterly earnings
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20030319-1336-earns-fedex.html
Gore, who invented internet, joins Apple Computer Board
http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/2119091
-----
Sports Briefs---
Atlanta Falcons Have New Logo
http://www.atlantafalcons.com/fans/index.cfm?cont_id=171010
Jeff George Loses Out as Back-Up to Vikes QB
http://www.startribune.com/stories/510/3767586.html
Woods, Els to Face Off at Bay Hill This Sunday
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/sports/AP-GLF-Bay-Hill.html
West is best basketball, but don't count out Kentucky,
Texas
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/sports/5427281.htm
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E-Mail Removal Form: \http://65.209.205.32/LeasingNews/removalform.asp
This Border #####
Denotes Press Release Not Written By Leasing News
This border ######### before and after an article indicates
it was written by the company, or its publicity agency, and all information
was provided by the company, including any “claims” with a spin to make
the company look as favorable as possible. In the up-grade version, they are now highlighted. Leasing News tires to minimize “press releases.”
It is a practice for many websites and newsletters to collect press
releases automatically and post them as news.
They invite leasing companies to do this. There is nothing wrong
with press releases,
except they only present one side, often both put a spin
away from the “real story”
and make claims that
are not verified.
Leasing news has more than press releases: articles, opinions,
alerts, photographs, cartoons, press releases, meeting-conference reminders,
and commercial ads. We have recently started using color in the
background in our “up-graded version” to distinguish the type of material; one of
the advantages of using HTML.
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www.leasingnews.org
Leasing News, Inc. 346 Mathew Street, Santa Clara, California 95050 E-Fax: (781)459-4789 kitmenkin@leasingnews.org 
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