Letter from the Editor

by Brianna Wilson July/August 2024
Although you may not be finished digesting our NextGen issue yet, Monitor is ready to celebrate the rising companies featured in our fifth annual Monitor 101+ ranking.

Brianna Wilson,
Managing Editor,
Monitor

Our list contains 35 companies this year, a decrease from the spike to 41 companies last year — the longest the Monitor 101+ list has been in its history. Despite the contraction, though, the 35 companies managed collective year-over-year growth in both net assets and new business volumes — an impressive feat when you consider nine companies (25.7% of the list) reported declines in portfolio and 16 companies (45.7% of the list) reported declines in originations.

Independents are dominating the Monitor 101+ again, making up 57.1% of the list with 20 companies. The number of U.S. Bank Affiliates in the Monitor 101+ dropped compared to last year; with only 12 banks in the rankings, it’s apparent that banks are having a tougher time in the industry. Captives remained the smallest segment, rounding out the list with just three companies.

Monitor also welcomed six new companies to the ranking this year: Agfa Finance, Bank of Utah, Capteris (which just launched in 2022), Dakota Financial, Delta Financial Group and OnePlace Capital. We interviewed leaders of three of these companies — Eric Dusch, David Riggleman and Bryce Huff — as well as two newly appointed leaders — Donna Yanuzzi of 1st Equipment Finance and Amy Gross of Falcon Equipment Finance — to learn more about their approach to business, leadership and growth, as well as their outlook on the industry.

Additionally, we caught up with a few leaders from returning Monitor 101+ companies — Nancy Pistorio, Mitch Rice, Saurin Shah and Peggy Tomcheck — for their perspectives on current industry challenges, such as originations activity, the interest rate environment, credit quality and delinquencies.

Though the focus of this issue is the Monitor 101+, it also contains technology insights, broker perspectives and other exciting industry content. On the technology side, Kristian Dolan discusses how lenders can leverage digital capabilities to drive successful relationships with their vendor partners, and Kimberly Fumega Yeo talks about the importance of customer web portals. Monitor also sat down with tech company leaders Randy Haug, Kristie Kosobuski and John Sokol to discuss best practices for staying up-to-date with and implementing emerging technologies.

On the broker front, Don Cosenza shares information about discounting — what it is, how it works and what the benefits are. Our own editor in chief Rita Garwood sat down with Kip Amstutz, Theresa Kabot, Amy Wagner and Scott Wheeler to discuss current market conditions and opportunities from the perspective of third-party originators.

Other features of this issue include Paul Bent and Diane Croessmann’s discussion about the rise of intelligence-as-a-service and STRIPES Leadership Program’s revised business curriculum in collaboration with industry veterans Ellen Comeaux and Eileen Schoonmaker. Dexter Van Dango’s surprise comeback features his commentary on what’s new in equipment finance (spoiler alert: not much).

In The Tomorrow Zone, Deborah Reuben and Rohan Marfatia discuss how equipment finance leaders can overcome the fear and overwhelm of artificial intelligence to effectively implement it into their businesses. In Tipping the Scales, Andrew C. Voorhees outlines how financiers can preserve their right to and ultimately collect a deficient balance after repo and sale. In Crunching the Numbers, Bill Bosco tests his writing against ChatGPT in response to frequent concerns that artificial intelligence is soon to begin “replacing” jobs.

Stay tuned for our upcoming fall conference issue, which will include our annual list of industry icons, a new ranking report focused on volume by equipment type and additional exploration of topical industry content. The Monitor team looks forward to seeing you in person at the upcoming conferences!

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