The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation (ELFF) released its August 2025 Monthly Confidence Index for the Equipment Finance Industry (MCI-EFI), revealing confidence in the equipment finance market is steady following three consecutive months of increases. The index, which provides a qualitative assessment from key executives within the $1.3 trillion sector, eased slightly to 60.2 in August from 61.6 in July.
“The results of 2025 to date have made me optimistic about the near-term future of the equipment leasing and finance industry,” David Normandin, CLFP, president and CEO of Wintrust Specialty Finance, said. “2025 has brought strong origination volume and slightly improved portfolio performance. A little net interest margin improvement would be the icing on the cake for a year that we were concerned about in January.”
August 2025 Survey Results:
- Business Conditions: When assessing the next four months, 26.9% of responding executives believe business conditions will improve (down from 37.5% in July). The majority (69.2%) believe business conditions will remain the same (up from 58.3% in July) and 3.9% believe business conditions will worsen (down slightly from 4.2% in July).
- Capex Demand: For the next four months, 26.9% of the survey respondents believe demand for leases and loans to fund capital expenditures (capex) will increase (down from 37.5% in July). 61.5% expect demand to remain the same (up from 58.3%), and 11.5% believe demand will decline (up from 4.2% in July).
- Access to Capital: Over the next four months, 11.5% of respondents expect greater access to capital to fund equipment acquisitions, a decrease from 16.7% in July. The majority (88.5%) anticipate the “same” access to capital to fund business, up from 70.8% the previous month. None expect “less” access to capital, down from 8.3% in July.
- Employment: Regarding employment over the next four months, 42.3% of executives expect to hire more employees, a sharp increase from 20.8 % in July. 57.7% foresee no change in headcount (down from 70.8% last month), and none expect to hire fewer employees, down from 8.3% in July.
- S. Economy: None of the respondents evaluate the current U.S. economy as “excellent,” down from 8.3% in July. 100% assess it as “fair,” up from 91.7% last month, while none evaluate it as “poor” (unchanged from July).
- Economic Outlook: Over the next six months, 23.1% of respondents believe that U.S. economic conditions will “get better,” a notable decline from 41.7% in July. More favorably, 65.4% expect the U.S. economy to “stay the same” (up from 41.7%), and 11.5% believe economic conditions will worsen, a decrease from 16.7% last month.
- Business Development Spending: Over the next six months, 30.8% of respondents believe their company will increase spending on business development activities, up from 25% in July. 69.2% believe there will be “no change” in business development spending (down from 75%), and none believe there will be a decrease in spending (unchanged from last month).
August 2025 MCI-EFI Survey Comments from Industry Executive Leadership
Bank, Small Ticket
“The impact of tariffs, real or perceived, is still a risk. As costs increase for everyday items and proposed tax cuts aren’t yet realized, we are in a state of ‘wait and see,’” Charles Jones, senior vice president, at 1st Equipment Finance, said.
Independent, Small Ticket
“Slowly, we are seeing that tariffs are not moving inflation higher as critics projected. Any relief on the fed funds rate will certainly open up the economy,” James D. Jenks, CEO of Global Finance and Leasing Services, said.
Independent, Middle Ticket
“At some point in the next two quarters, we should get some consistent policy from the federal government and businesses should be able to plan.” Jeffry Elliott, CLFP, CEO of Elevex Capital and treasurer of ELFA, said.
