2011 Conference Issue
October
The Waiting Game … Industry Leaders Await Economic Recovery to Spur Loan Demand
By Lisa M. Goetz
As the long-awaited economy recovery teeters along, we asked a select group of equipment leasing and finance executives to assess the state of the industry now and into 2012. These leaders continue to express the kind of optimism inherent in industry veterans who have weathered down cycles. Now with stronger portfolios and liquidity, they remain undaunted by economic uncertainties and continue to seek out — and find — opportunities.
Pricing to Win Deals… Different Approaches, One Objective
By Joeseph Moore
Technology has reached the point where near-instant intelligence on profitability is available to management. By analyzing your portfolio’s performance over time, and by segment, customer, salesperson, product, asset and so on, management has hard data with which to steer the pricing ship. When making strategic pricing decisions or even when considering a pricing exception, such information is critical. An equipment finance company with that level of information remains flexible, creative and competitive.
The Case for Restructuring the Franchise Business Model
By John Kokoska and Richard S. Hauer
Many restaurants operate within the franchisor/franchisee business model, and these relationships have become particularly strained in the current economy. When times are tough, franchisees typically respond by taking steps to improve operations and preserve the bottom line across stores. These changes can range from minor belt-tightening moves to closing one or more unprofitable locations. Unfortunately, many restaurant franchisees do not currently have the flexibility needed to make changes at the local level due to strict and complex franchise agreements.
PNC Equipment Finance’s Rich Doherty Says There’s Still Room for Growth
By Lisa A. Miller
It’s no secret that the past three or four years have been a struggle for many equipment finance companies and their customers. Economic indicators remain unsteady, and the U.S. stock market bounces up and down almost daily. It’s no wonder that we’ve taken note of PNC Equipment Finance’s steady rise to the top within the same time frame.
The Critical Case for Lifetime Learning
Unable to Adapt and Therefore Dispensable
By Dexter Van Dango
Dexter Van Dango returns to this year’s Fall Conference edition with his take on surviving the ever-changing business environment. He looks beyond the fallout caused by the financial crisis and the regulatory oversight that followed. Here Van Dango speaks to industry participants directly, offering some sage advice for everyone — from Baby Boomers to Gen-Zs.
TAB Bank Launches Equipment Leasing Unit With Coon at the Helm
A Natural Fit...
By Amanda L. Gutshall
Bringing the right pieces together for any new venture can be risky and difficult. But for TAB Bank, which already has experience funding equipment leasing transactions, putting together a new Leasing Division with Mike Coon as head of the unit was a natural fit for TAB’s already established commercial lending portfolio.
Leasing in Indian Country
Understanding Important Issues
By Edward Rubacha and John Sinodis
A lessor contemplating a finance transaction in Indian country should exercise due diligence by consulting with counsel familiar with tribes and tribal law, waivers of sovereign immunity, and their effect on the finance transaction. Ultimately, it is a business decision whether to lease or finance equipment to a tribe, tribal entity or tribal member where the equipment will be on a reservation. Understanding the issues surrounding such a decision is the first step toward a successful transaction.
From ‘To Do’ to ‘Must Do’
Strategic Planning Best Practices
By Ken Naglewski
Right now many companies worldwide are caught in the vice of accelerating change in the world economic order and perhaps even more rapid changes in how business is being done. While always important, effective strategic planning is a must-do item on the CEO’s “to do” list. In Part I of this two-part article, Ken Naglewski of Seabiscuit Partners, provides a penetrating look at what is strategy and a perspective on best practices.
Make Peace With the Process
It’s Time to Stop Procrastinating
By Linda P. Kester
Linda Kester writes, “In 2002, I signed a contract with Leasing Power Tools Press to write a book on equipment leasing sales. Four years later, there was no book. I tried. I’d write, criticize myself, crinkle the paper up and throw it in the trash. I’d sit down with the intention of writing and then any other activity that popped into my mind would take precedence. Clipping my toenails suddenly became urgent!”
Fifth Circuit Recharacterizes Non-Insider Debt as Equity in a Case of First Impression in the Circuit
By Lesley Anne Hawes
In the Matter of Lothian Oil Inc., the Fifth Circuit concluded that the power to determine claims in bankruptcy under §502 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code is not limited to merely allowing or disallowing the claim, but can include the power to determine the proper treatment of the claim, including recharacterization of the claim as debt or equity. More important for creditors, the Fifth Circuit rejected as a matter of law the claimant’s contention, and the ruling of the district court, that recharacterization of a debt as equity is only available as a matter of law with respect to a claim held by an insider.
Finance Leases Versus Vendor Leases
Explaining What We Do
By Kenneth P. Weinberg and Barry S. Marks
Among the challenges we face in selling leasing to business executives who are unfamiliar with sophisticated equipment financings is the task of explaining how our equipment leases differ from a vendor lease or a vendor-financed installment sale financing. This article will touch on some of the aspects of third-party equipment financings and the explanations and arguments that might be presented to the uninitiated and his or her lawyers.
