The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation (ELFF) released the April 2014 Monthly Confidence Index for the Equipment Finance Industry (MCI-EFI). Overall, confidence in the equipment finance market is 65.1, remaining at the highest index level in two years for the second consecutive month.

Designed to collect leadership data, the index reports a qualitative assessment of both the prevailing business conditions and expectations for the future as reported by key executives from the $827 billion equipment finance sector.

When asked about the outlook for the future, MCI survey respondent Thomas Jaschik, president, BB&T Equipment Finance, said, “The first quarter of 2014 had positive results with respect to new business activity, and the economy is on a positive trajectory. The conclusion of the winter of 2013-2014 may be the catalyst for pent-up demand to begin to be released. This will have a positive impact on the equipment finance market throughout 2014.”

Excerpts from the report include:

• The overall MCI-EFI is 65.1, unchanged from the March index.
• When asked to assess their business conditions over the next four months, 37% of executives responding said they believe business conditions will improve over the next four months, up from 31.4% in March. Sixty percent of respondents believe business conditions will remain the same over the next four months, down from 65.7% in March. Of the respondents, 2.9% believe business conditions will worsen, unchanged from the previous month.
• 37% of survey respondents believe demand for leases and loans to fund capital expenditures will increase over the next four months, up from 31.4% in March. 60% believe demand will “remain the same” during the same four-month time period, down from 62.9% the previous month. 2.9% believe demand will decline, down from 5.7% who believed so in March.
• 28.6% of executives expect more access to capital to fund equipment acquisitions over the next four months, a decrease from 31.4% in March. 71.4% of survey respondents indicate they expect the “same” access to capital to fund business, up from 68.6% in March. No one expects “less” access to capital, unchanged from the previous month.

To view the full survey results on the ELFF website, click here.