Compensation in the equipment finance industry increased moderately in 2017, according to the 2018 Equipment Leasing and Finance Compensation Survey from the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association and McLagan. Industry new business volume totals exceeded prior year growth, contributing to a moderate rise in compensation.

The 2018 Equipment Leasing and Finance Compensation Survey measures compensation rates for the 2017 fiscal year as reported by more than 75 equipment finance companies representing a cross section of the equipment finance sector, including independent, bank and captive leasing and finance companies. Firms provide data for more than 90 executive, front-office and support positions, including a breakdown of salary (for 2017 and 2018), incentives (including cash bonuses and commissions), long-term awards and total compensation by company type. The survey is a collaborative initiative between ELFA and McLagan, a performance/reward consulting and benchmarking firm for the financial services industry.

Highlights from the 2018 Survey include:

• Total compensation was up on a year-over-year basis for most functions and levels. On a “same store” basis (constant incumbents in multiple survey years), total compensation was up modestly (~1–6%) at median for key revenue-generating functions from 2016 to 2017. Infrastructure functions received comparable, albeit slightly lower, increases at median (~3-5%).
• Salaries were up slightly on a year-over-year basis. On a “same store” basis, origination roles tended to have increases around 2% at the median. Firms differentiated salaries on a functional basis as >25% of incumbents did not receive increases in vendor and direct origination. Salaries tended to rise between 2–3% for infrastructure roles.
• Increases tended to be larger at the junior and intermediate levels across both the infrastructure and revenue-generating functions.