2004 January Issue

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003
Leasing Services
As Providers Innovate,
Choices Abound

FEATURES

Asset Remarketing: A Whole New Way of Thinking
By Asad Haroon
Cost-effectively disposing of off-lease assets while maximizing returns is a key issue for leasing companies today, especially for those dealing with technology items with short effective lifespans. Not only do off-lease assets take up space, tie up capital, and negatively affect your company's bottom line, but disposing of them can be a significant cost component of your business. (Ref # EQM121)

Basel II Means Big Changes - It's Going to Affect Your Business
By Equipment Leasing and Finance Foundation
As if you didn't have enough to worry about, here comes Basel II. It's been on the horizon for a long time, and it has been commonly thought to have little relevance for the average U.S. leasing company. After all, it's about banks, and European banks at that. Right?
(Ref # INC070)

Unreserved Auctions: No Longer a Method of Last Resort
By Wade Whitenburg
Once considered a method of last resort, auctions have evolved to become a sophisticated and profitable remarketing channel. Their growing attraction to both sellers and buyers has made unreserved auctions a preferred solution for asset dispersal and remarketing. Some manufacturers have even turned to auctions as a primary means of introducing new products to market. (Ref # EQM122)

Client & Legal Relationships: Maximizing Productivity & Results
By John Rosenlund
Successful portfolio management requires the coordination of all inside and outside service partners. Leasing industry professionals are well advised to exercise the same diligence in selecting and managing their legal representation as they manage their own staff.
(Ref # PMGMT008)

Tax Lessors Get a Bonus From New Depreciation Regulations
By David Mayer
The Treasury Department and IRS recently issued temporary regulations ("regulations") and a related press release that clarify the availability and application of bonus depreciation in leasing and other transactions. The same regulations also contain certain pitfalls that, if not observed, could adversely impact lease pricing. (Ref # TAX050)

Suiting Up for the Game... Ready for a Leasing Rebound?
By Reggie K. Gaines
In the following article, Reggie Gaines, vice president of business development at Quiktrak, takes a light-hearted look at what lies ahead given recent economic trends as well as what leasing professionals can do to prepare themselves to get back into the game.
(Ref # TRE060)

ASA Appraisers: Invaluable to the Leasing Process
By Eugene G. Kaczkowski, ASA
Perhaps at no other time in history has it been more important for the equipment leasing industry to demand credible, accurate appraisals when it comes to confirming lease structures and determining the value of assets being leased. The American Society of Appraisers (ASA) has designated members who are invaluable to the leasing process. (Ref # TRE059)

Collections & Technology: The "Art" Lies in the Implementation
By Mark Arvin and Larry Dinaso
There has been a dramatic revolution in recent years in the technology and information available to the collection industry, but the technology and the information is only as good as its implementation. The "art" still lies in the application of the science. (Ref # COLL006)

Consultative Sales Training… The Ins & Outs of Financing Strategies
By Stephen J. McCabe
Since potential customers expect sales professionals to be experts on their products' features and benefits, equipment sales professionals who don't know why or how to sell financing are placing themselves at a significant disadvantage. Therefore, effective sales training that addresses the ins and outs of lease financing and equipment acquisition strategies positions the sales team to win.
(Ref # SAL132)

Infrastructure Investment: Managing the Trade-Offs
By Andrew Lea
A closer focus on ROI in infrastructure investment has been accompanied by a shift towards business drivers rather than technological imperatives as the key criteria underlying IT purchases. Given the mission-criticality of enterprise applications for financial services, leasing visionaries are looking to technology as the key to achieving operational excellence and competitive differentiation. (Ref # HEL005)

ORIX Financial Services: The Thinking Behind the Moves
By Stuart P. Papavassiliou
An Interview with Gary A. Corr, President & COO of ORIX Financial Services. Recently, the Monitor had the opportunity to speak with ORIX Financial Services' Gary A. Corr, its newly appointed president and chief operating officer. The objective was to understand the rationale behind the recent restructuring of the company's various business groups and to set the record straight regarding certain business decisions. (Ref # CPR085)

Leasing Software Enters a New Phase of Configurability
By John Voytko
Configurable leasing systems represent a paradigm shift for the leasing software industry, the finance companies, and the decision-making process. Users will be able to change the way software handles their business processes without the long waits and additional costs of the past. (Ref # SFL004)

COLUMNS

CAREER MOVES
The Tangled Web We Weave
By Jim Pawlak
What the Internet provides in volume it lacks in organization. Oh, what a tangled web we weave — one billion web pages and counting.
(Ref # JBS076)

LEGAL WATCH
Debtors’ Acts: Creative Bankruptcy Planning or Fraud on Creditors?
By Andrew K. Alper
There are certain types of assets of a Debtor that are exempt from either execution by a creditor or from distribution to creditors when a Debtor files a bankruptcy petition. (Ref # LGL1014)

DISPATCHES FROM THE TRENCHES
Default & Enforcement Under Revised Article 9
By Kenneth P. Weinberg, Esq.
No matter how carefully a lessor analyzes a lessee’s credit, there are bound to be times when the lessee is unable to satisfy its lease obligations and the lessor is forced to minimize its losses by repossessing and disposing of the lease dequipment. (Ref # LGL1015)