Friday, March 3, 2006
Headlines--- Correction: Pat Widmar telephone # 847-562-1095 ######## surrounding the article denotes it is a “press release”
Correction: Pat Widmar telephone number is 847-562-1095 (Hopefully, the third time is the charm. editor)
"Randy Green, President and CEO of First Bank of Highland Park, Highland Park, IL, is pleased to announce the appointment of Patricia A. Widmar to Vice President of the Lease Finance Group. In her new capacity, Pat will be focusing her efforts on new business development which will include lease discounting, warehouse lines, and syndication purchases. Pat brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to this position and will be located on the Northbrook, IL facility which houses the Lease Finance Group. “Prior to joining FBHP, Pat was employed by park National Bank (f/k/a Pullman Bank & Trust) as an Assistant Vice President of the Lease Finance Group where she was involved in both operations and business development for nine years. Prior to that, she was employed by Key Bank in the Commercial Lending area for twenty-five years. Pat attended Indiana University at South Bend, IN.”--------------------------------------------------------------- Classified Ads--- Documentation Manager / Finance / Legal
To view a larger image please, click the link below. 1913, Women Golfers, Nassau County, New York *
For a full listing of all “job wanted” ads, please go to: http://64.125.68.91/AL/LeasingNews/JobPostings.htm To place a free “job wanted” ad, please go to: http://64.125.68.91/AL/LeasingNews/PostingForm.asp Spectacular Panorama Image of Women Golfers, 1913 Museum quality digital image on photographic from high-end 1600-dpi scan. ---------------------------------------------------------------
Quail Capital Corp. Joins “Super Broker list” A -Requires Broker be Licensed | B -Sub-Broker Program | C -Warehouse Line | D -Also a Funder
For full list, please go here: http://www.leasingnews.org/Super_Brokers/Super_Brokers.htm-------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Heritage Bank joins “Funder” list
“1st Heritage Bank, NA is pleased to announce that Matt Rogers has joined their office in Newport Beach as Vice President of new business development. “ Matt joins the bank with a long history in commercial lending in southern California. “ 1st Heritage Bank is the California subsidiary of the $4 billion 1st National Holdings, which also owns 1st National Bank of Arizona, and 1st National Bank of Nevada. “1st Heritage Bank's lending focus includes not only the traditional commercial and industrial banking market; but it also focuses on providing warehouse lines of credit to lease finance companies, rediscount credit facilities to finance companies, and warehouse lines of credit to the mortgage banking industry. “ Matt can be reached at (949) 863-9780 x230 or mrogers@fhbankna.com ”
Matt Rogers MRogers@fhbankna.com Funder - Update A -Accepts Broker Business | B -Requires Broker be Licensed | C -Sub-Broker Program
(FF) 1st Heritage Bank provides warehouse lines of credit lease finance companies and auto finance companies. Please contact Matt Rogers 714.504.8500 or 949.863.9780 x230. To view the full list, please go here: http://www.leasingnews.org/Funders_Only/Funders.htm --------------------------------------------------------------
Marlin Year-End Growth/ Utah Industrial Bank (in organization.)
Marlin Business Services Corporation, Mount Laurel, New Jersey filed their 2005 year-end financial statement with the Security Exchange Commission. In it, they announce the opening of a new office in Salt Lake City, Utah, along with an Industrial bank: “We also believe that we can increase originations in certain regions of the country by establishing offices in identified strategic locations. Other regional offices are located in or near Atlanta, Georgia, Chicago, Illinois and Denver, Colorado. We expect to open our fourth regional office in Salt Lake City, Utah during 2006. Our Salt Lake City office would also house Marlin Business Bank (in organization) subject to regulatory approval and becoming operational. Leases per state:
“Of our 296 total employees as of December 31, 2005, we employed 103 sales account executives, each of whom receives a base salary and earns commissions based on their lease originations. We also employed six employees dedicated to marketing as of December 31, 2005.
“We finance over 60 categories of commercial equipment important to our end user customers, including copiers, telecommunications equipment, water filtration systems, computers, and certain commercial and industrial equipment. Our average lease transaction was approximately $9,000 at December 31, 2005, and we typically do not exceed $200,000 for any single lease transaction. This segment of the equipment leasing market is commonly known in the industry as the small-ticket segment.
Portfolio Overview At December 31, 2005, we had 103,278 active leases in our portfolio, representing an aggregate minimum lease payments receivable of $660.9 million. With respect to our portfolio at December 31, 2005: • the average original lease transaction was $9,032, with an average remaining balance of $6,401;
“We access our end user customers through origination sources comprised of our existing network of over 9,200 independent commercial equipment dealers and, to a lesser extent, through relationships with lease brokers and direct solicitation of our end user customers. We use a highly efficient telephonic direct sales model to market to our origination sources. Through these origination sources, we are able to deliver convenient and flexible equipment financing to our end user customers. “Our typical financing transaction involves a non-cancelable, full-payout lease with payments sufficient to recover the purchase price of the underlying equipment plus an expected profit. As of December 31, 2005, we serviced approximately 103,000 active equipment leases having a total original equipment cost of $932.8 million for approximately 82,000 end user customers.
“The small-ticket equipment leasing market is highly fragmented. We estimate that there are up to 75,000 independent equipment dealers who sell the types of equipment we finance. We focus primarily on the segment of the market comprised of the small and mid-size independent equipment dealers. We believe this segment is underserved because: 1) the large commercial finance companies and large commercial banks typically concentrate their efforts on marketing their products and services directly to equipment manufacturers and larger distributors, rather than the independent equipment dealers; and 2) many smaller commercial finance companies and regional banking institutions have not developed the systems and infrastructure required to adequately service these equipment dealers on high volume, low-balance transactions. We focus on establishing our relationships with independent equipment dealers to meet their need for high quality, convenient point-of-sale lease financing.” Net income was $16.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2005. This represented a $2.7 million, or 20.0%, increase from $13.5 million net income reported for the year ended December 31, 2004. Our increased earnings are primarily the result of growth and improved net interest and fee margins in our core leasing business. During the third quarter of 2005, the Company increased its reserves for expected credit losses based on its initial assessments of exposure to areas significantly impacted by Hurricane Katrina (such as New Orleans). The impact of this increase in reserves was a reduction of approximately $753,000 in net income for the year 2005. Diluted net income per share was $1.36 for the year ended December 31, 2005 and $1.15 for the year ended December 31, 2004.
For the year ended December 31, 2005, we generated 32,754 new leases at a cost of $318.5 million compared to 31,818 new leases at a cost of $272.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2004. The weighted average implicit interest rate on new leases originated was 12.75% for the year ended December 31, 2005 compared to 13.82% for year ended December 31, 2004. Overall, the net investment in direct financing leases grew 16.9%, to $572.6 million at December 31, 2005 from $489.7 million at December 31, 2004. Returns on average assets were 2.57% for the year ended December 31, 2005 and 2.54% for the year ended December 31, 2004. Returns on average equity were 15.96% for the year ended December 31, 2005 and 16.47% for the year ended December 31, 2004. Our debt to equity ratio was 4.59:1 at December 31, 2005 compared to 4.81:1 at December 31, 2004. http://www.leasingnews.org/Pages/Marlin_YE_net_inv.htm full financial filing available here: http://www.snl.com/Interactive/html.asp?F=2135934.HTML&T=MRLN&Y=10%2DK&D=12%2F31%2F2005&S=1&V=DMZ6 --------------------------------------------------------------
BK Trustee Sues Salzano's Son for $1/2 MM By Detective Kit Menkin If you didn't get the story sent as an extra yesterday morning to those on our mailing list, we are bringing this story to your attention. This reads like a Soprano's television episode. We have 28 attorneys general and the District of Columbia taking leasing companies to the wall because they purchased leases based on “service” and not equipment. The FBI is conducting a criminal investigation believing 43 leasing entities were in cahoots (like they sat down at a leasing conference bar and said let's buy all these NorVergence leases, even though they are based on service???). The Federal Trade Commission gets into the act and obtains a $181.7 million default judgment against NorVergence, in Chapter 7 (but where is the money?) At the same time, the bankruptcy trustee reports creditors have filed nearly $550 million in claims against the firm. But the estate had just $617,500 in assets, plus more than $1 million in unpaid expenses plus past salaries, health, state and federal deductions, not counting what they owe the FTC. And here we now have Thomas J. Salzano, 23, son of the alleged mastermind of the NorVergence scandal, Thomas N. Salzano, chief managing officer, according to the lawsuit, and his uncle, Peter Salzano, was chief executive, accused of charging trips to bars and clubs, clothing and other personal expenses totaling $268,795 to NorVergence American Express card. Also according to the complaint filed by bankruptcy trustee Charles Forman, Thomas J. is accused of improperly using $200,000 of company money to help buy a house. This is the latest after the police closed down the Salzano cardboard charity box operation placed at small stores by commissioned salesmen and Salzano gets caught because he reportedly stiffs the landlord who is well connected in Jersey, who called for Salzano's immediate eviction, and enforcing the order, the cardboard box charity operation comes to light of law enforcement eyes. http://www.leasingnews.org/archives/March%202006/03-02-06_Extra.htm-------------------------------------------------------------- Classified Ads—Help Wanted Account Executive
Financial Analyst
Independent Regional Sales Manager
Lease Representatives
Sales Manager
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Negotiate Now! By Steve Chriest How many times have you established an excellent rapport with a prospect, built credibility and trust, and reached an agreement on moving the sale forward, thinking it was a “done deal?” Then, from out of nowhere, the “done deal” bursts into flames during acrimonious negotiations over price, contract terms and other conditions, costs and fees. Unfortunately, this happens all the time, but you can do something to prevent it from happening again. Most selling organizations follow a traditional, and flawed, sales roadmap that positions “selling” early in customer interactions and leaves the negotiation of difficult issues, as well as T's and C's, to the technical “experts.” This approach, unfortunately, renders many potential sales vulnerable to surprise failure late in the game. In most selling situations, negotiating and selling are inseparable - they occur simultaneously. Even minor decisions, like when and where to meet next, or who will attend future meetings, are made by negotiating. Selling and negotiating exist side by side and cannot be artificially separated, which is exactly what happens in many selling situations. Because of their penchant for avoiding bad news at almost any cost, some salespeople avoid negotiating tough issues with customers. They fear that negotiating difficult issues early in the sales cycle can cause them to lose the sale. Perhaps they don't understand that there is no sale until everyone agrees on how to resolve the tough issues. Some salesmen rely on their sales manager or even a documentation person to negotiate “issues” such as installation charges, training fees, warranty extension costs and charges for site inspections. The salesperson might even leave it up to a documentation person to break the news that a landlord waiver is required before equipment can be delivered to the lessee. A good many salespeople have told me that they don't consider themselves to be good negotiators. Somehow they've bought into the notion that negotiating is a special skill that is best used by technical “experts” who are paid to negotiate with customers and to “tell it like it is.” Understanding the symbiotic relationship between selling and negotiating will help you to better qualify selling opportunities and to facilitate and close more sales. Salespeople who are willing to negotiate the small issues as well as the tough issues early in the sales cycle increase the potential for smoother, quicker and more predictable back-end negotiations. It just doesn't make sense to spend time, money and talent building goodwill with prospects and customers only to watch from the sidelines as that goodwill evaporates during tense negotiations over important issues. As the goodwill evaporates, so does the potential of repeat business from the lessee and your vendor. Copyright © 2006 Selling Up TM . All Rights Reserved. About the author: Steve Chriest is the founder of Selling Up TM (www.selling-up.com), a sales consulting firm specializing in sales improvement for organizations of all types and sizes in a variety of industries. He is also the author of Selling Up , The Proven System For Reaching and Selling Senior Executives. You can reach Steve at schriest@selling-up.com.
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Letters---We get eMail !!!
No NorVergence leases Add Enterprise Funding to the list of those lessors invited to the NorVergence party and declined. On several occasions, Enterprise had been offered a significant flow of monthly (or "monkey?") business In only a few days of common due diligence (a thorough internet search, company brochures, review of their documents, "what is the equipment?", "why do I have this deal?") we were able to determine that this was not our kind of relationship. I can remember thinking at the time: "I have either missed out on a huge business opportunity or I have just dodged a major fraud in the leasing business." I congratulate my colleagues that were also able to avoid this mess. NorVergence has touched us all, however, whether we have caught this virus or not. Capital markets, potential customers, and the investment community will all look at our industry in a different light. Ours is a great business that not only provides an above average income opportunity to its participants, but fuels the foundation of growth in the U.S. economy . As an industry, let us not only learn from our successes, but more importantly from our mistakes. Yours truly, Mike Coon Sr. Vice President Charlie Lester back home-- Hi Kit and thank you for the kind words. They are greatly appreciated. I received a number of emails from your readers that I worked with in the mid-90's or earlier. In some cases, we had lost touch and your articles brought us back together. The cards, calls and emails made it almost worth having the operation. Yesterday was the first day back at work for a few hours with the hope to increase to full time by March 13th. The total knee replacement operation went great on February 13th and now it is physical therapy at home and exercises, exercises, exercises to strengthen the knee. I have found that P.T. is not physical therapy, but it is pain and torture. I don't know what I would have done without my wife Barbara's help. She has bred and trained dogs and horses so she was fine with extending care and training to an old jackass. On the list of intelligence and learning capability, I finished third after the dogs and horses. The 10 list of things I leaned regarding a hospital visit: 10. Do not put the Preparation H and your toothpaste in the same drawer. 9. Learn to speak 4 languages prior to admission so you can communicate with at least 50% of the nurses. 8. Do not make sudden movements when you have a catheter installed. 7. Establish “meals on wheels” prior to admission. 6. $27.50 for a urine bottle is a bargain price at 3:30 in the morning. 5. No matter what the true level, the pain level is always 9 when the nurse asks so the drugs keep flowing. 4. Never say no to a physical therapist when they want you to take a walk in the hall. After all, in a week or so, the people you saw you in the hallway will stop pointing and laughing and they never saw your face. Say no and you take two walks a day through the waiting room. 3. There is no wine in the world that goes with grits and greens for dinner in a southern hospital. 2. Do not watch the video tape of your knee operation if you ever want to put weight on your knees again. 1. When both the surgeon and charge nurse visit you after the operation while putting on new rubber gloves and saying we have to check everything---- the only thing you can do is pray and look the other way. Thanks, Charlie cel3245@mindspring.com Discovers “Funder List” AWESOME, I can't believe that I have been getting your emails for so long and just found the funder list. Great tool! Do you have it in an easy to download format or print? Thank you in advance for your help. Scott A. Mills MAVERICK Leasing... 5883 Wilson Mills Road Suite #100 (It is an HTML edition. You can save in Excel or re-format in word. Please note the other lists, which you can also reach at the top of our "toolbar" in the newsletter edition.) RW Professional Trial and Guilty Verdict While I have been following this case for a long time, I still wonder “where did all the money go?” When the “Cyberco” situation blew up in Grand Rapids, MI. Many large banks and leasing institutions got stung for millions of dollars and when the president of the company committed suicide in his very large elaborate home on the night his offices were raided by the FBI they knew where the money was going. A couple of the officers of that company even fled the country. The case is still pending but the Feds clearly knew where a lot of the money was going. It amazes me that nobody ever talked about where the money went in the PLS case. Regards, Susan M. Adamatis (Susan was at Old Kent and knows the whole story from the very beginning. (Look for the sentencing at least three to four months down the road. Barry Drayer stretched this out since he was arrested four years and a trail over a month. He might get 30 years, but out in 12 for good behavior. He'll be 82 then. Editor) Roy's Restaurants Review I enjoyed your comments about Roy's Restaurants today. I just wanted to point out that Roy's is now owned by the good folks at Outback. They like to keep that on the QT for obvious reasons. My wife and I are regulars at the Dallas (actually Plano) location, and have dined at 5 other locations including Ka | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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