As summer winds down and we enter the home stretch of 2023, we celebrate the up-and-coming companies in equipment finance with our annual Monitor 101+ issue. The Monitor 101+ companies expanded their ranks to 41 players and achieved a 49.2% gain in portfolio size and a 51.5% increase in new business volume while forecasting an optimistic outlook for year-end 2023.

In our fourth annual Monitor NextGen Leaders list, we highlight some of the rising talent of equipment finance who are charting a new course for the industry.

Monitor has covered equipment leasing and finance since 1974. We’ve followed the industry from its nascent roots as a new option for businesses to acquire equipment to its booming growth in the 1980s, consolidation in the 1990s, the financial crisis of 2008 and the recent industry trend towards digitization, online platforms and the emergence of fintech startups —  50 years of informing, inspiring and educating.

In this special 50^th Anniversary commemorative issue, we look back at some of the most memorable moments and most impactful leaders over the past five decades. We’ve also invited some of our favorite contributors to share their thoughts and memories of this amazing industry!

The 2023 Funding Source issue contains a special spotlight section to highlight the key Funding Sources in the equipment finance industry. When a customer needs to get a deal done, these are the companies our industry relies on to secure the necessary capital. Also in this issue, read about how Monitor’s Top 30 Private Independents continued their growth spurt in 2022, reporting a year-over-year gain of 30.8% in new business volume — the second highest percentage gain recorded in the history of the ranking.

With constant transformation at the heart of this issue, we delve into innovation in the equipment finance industry to explore what works and what does not as well as who is making it happen in today’s ever-changing landscape. Highlighting key industry innovators in this issue, Monitor aims to champion those championing change while providing all of the features and columns you’ve come to know and expect from this essential industry publication.

Change happens. But, sometimes it happens on a greater scale and at a greater pace than we expect.

We live in a world — and work in an industry — where the rate of change is accelerating and complexity is compounding. In times like these, leaning into change will serve us better than resisting it. The question for all of us right now is, how do we want to direct this exceptional change? Where do we want to go next?

This Monitor issue is filled with the voices of people who have some definite ideas about that — and some tools to help us get to a better place for all of us, in the industry and outside it. And when we say all, we mean everyone, in all our diversity and with all our unique points of view.

It’s that time of year again when we as an industry shake the dust off from the summer season and rush into the fall conference season with renewed vigor, as we sprint to the homestretch of 2022. We at Monitor are excited to present an action-packed issue of success stories and a new round of industry icons for which our readers were able to cast votes for the first time this year. Each of the Monitor Icons have certainly earned their place and we appreciate their contributions!

The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Issue is particularly close to our hearts, as it represents an important aspect of our community within equipment finance. DE&I relates to all aspects of life across the world, including the equipment finance industry. It relates to humanity, innovation, growth and leadership. An industry that embraces all that is impacted by DE&I is an industry that will thrive and break barriers. In this forward-looking issue, we focus on highlighting the strides made by individuals belonging to people from historically disadvantaged groups and share practical advice to create culturally expansive organizations within this realm.

Also included in this issue is the Monitor 101+. Complete with equal parts stories of success and hard data, the Monitor 101+ highlights up-and-coming firms, individuals and companies in the equipment finance industry.

The future is bright for the equipment finance sector in no small way thanks to the next generation of industry leaders. In our third annual Monitor NextGen issue, we highlight some of the budding superstars who are reshaping the industry and propelling it forward.