CHP Consulting has announced the launch of The Leasing Foundation, an initiative of CHP Consulting’s chief operating officer Andrew Denton, and IAA Advisory’s chairman Derek Soper, that will be advised by a board of governors from across the industry and will focus on activities that benefit the leasing and asset finance industry across Europe.

Joining Denton and Soper as directors of the Foundation are professor Peter Thomas, visiting professor at Brunel University, visiting fellow at the University of Melbourne and director of the Manifesto Group, and Tarun Mistry, partner and head of Grant Thornton UK’s Leasing & Consumer Finance advisory practice.

Soper noted, “We know that there is a tremendous amount of charitable and philanthropic activity from people in our industry, and we wanted to set up a vehicle to support that. The Foundation will help us to do that by connecting those people in leasing and asset finance to a range of great causes and bring some real recognition to the way the industry gives back – and will help us identify what else we can do to help.”

Denton added, “We are keen to use the Leasing Foundation to bring people together to create value for the whole industry, and that’s why we are creating a range of activities including the Leasing Foundation Annual Report – a research-based publication that will take a serious look at the big issues we are faced with. One of the key roles of our governors – the most influential voices in our industry – will be to advise us on the issues we should focus on, and make sure we understand and communicate them effectively.”

The Leasing Foundation has also established The Leasing Foundation Fellows, an invitation-only group of exceptional leasing and asset finance professionals worldwide that will participate in the Foundation’s annual conference, and a publishing program of ebooks and online content using modern web applications.

The mission of the Leasing Foundation is to support the leasing and asset finance industry by providing focus and organization for charitable activities, by performing rigorous, challenging and relevant research in areas that impact the industry and its future, and by seeking opportunities to sustain the industry by developing people in the industry. The Foundation is not a lobbying body or a trade association.

Programs include: LFGiving, events that donate to a range of charities; LFResearch, an annual independent research report shared across the industry; LFWomen in Leasing, to bring together and encourage the development of women in the industry; LFFuture Leaders, to develop the new entrants to the industry; and The Leasing Fellows, an invitation-only community of the leading thinkers in leasing and asset finance.