William H. Besgen, senior advisor/vice chairman emeritus and former vice chairman, president and board director of Hitachi Capital America (HCA), will retire at the end of its fiscal year on March 31, 2017.

Besgen started with HCA in April 1990 as EVP/chief operating officer, six months after it was incorporated in Delaware as a wholly-owned independent finance company of Tokyo-based Hitachi Capital, along with a president and a treasurer from Japan, six million in capital and a blank sheet of paper. Today, HCA has more than $3 billion in assets with more than 300 employees in the U.S. and Canada and spans many aspects of equipment finance, structured finance, asset-based lending, trade finance, vendor finance, floor plan and dealer finance.

“Having transferred day-to-day leadership of the business two years ago to Ryan Collison, president, I am confident the finance company is in great hands with Ryan and his senior management team. I look forward to seeing the company expand and grow exponentially in the Americas in the years ahead.”

“None of this could have been accomplished without the exceptionally talented employees we have had, along with the continued financial backing of our parent company, Hitachi Capital Corporation in Tokyo, Japan.

“I have been associated with the equipment leasing and finance business for almost 50 years now, and I will miss the exceptional people and comraderies that I have enjoyed with all these people that make up this resilient, ever changing and growing industry.”

“The impact Bill has had on HCA from the beginning can’t be overstated” added Ryan. “All of us hope to carry out the vision Bill created for our company.”