Kit Menkin’s Leasing News

                   www.leasingnews.org Thursday, May 30, 2002

Accurate, fair and unbiased news for the equipment Leasing Industry

 

           Headlines----FirstLease Acquires Hamilton National Leasing

  CBA Auto Finance Study Shows Shift From Leases to Loans

     Techfi Corp. Announces the Release of Web Office™

 

         September/2001 Remember When

   Performance Indicators Report Reveals Continued Growth In The Equipment Leasing Industry

 

 

### Denotes Press Release

 

 

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FirstLease Acquires Hamilton National Leasing

 

FirstLease, a subsidiary of Firstrust Bank, has acquired the entire $35 million lease portfolio of Hamilton National Leasing, Ft. Washington, PA. The acquisition adds 3,000 new accounts to FirstLease's client roster.

 

"Hamilton provided us with an attractive combination of a large lease portfolio with national accounts and established relationships with key equipment vendors," explains Hugh Connelly, COO, FirstLease. "The acquisition allows us to enhance the services offered to Hamilton vendors by expanding the geographic territory and offering supplemental products. In addition, Hamilton's lessees now have access to a larger range of loan products and services thanks to our parent company, Firstrust Bank and our affiliation with Apex Mortgage, which offers a full array of business loans and commercial mortgages."

 

Bob Purring, former president of Hamilton National Leasing, will serve as vice president of underwriting for FirstLease, reporting to Connelly. In addition, all of Hamilton's employees have been offered employment with FirstLease. Hamilton will continue to operate under its name for approximately six months, at which time it will be fully integrated into FirstLease.

 

FirstLease, Inc. is a subsidiary of Firstrust Bank, one of the strongest banks in the U.S. with assets over $2 billion and 26 community banking offices. FirstLease is committed to providing the small business owner with an alternative means of acquiring critical equipment for their businesses by offering competitive, niche-specific leasing to creditworthy entrepreneurs.

 

Wendy Kapnek

Kapnek Communications

215-830-9890

 

http://www.firstleaseonline.com/

215-263-9727

1-866-49-FIRST

 

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CBA Auto Finance Study Shows Shift From Leases to Loans

 

 

ARLINGTON, Va.,  -- The Consumer Bankers Association's 2002 Automobile Finance Study shows a shift from leasing to loans.

 

While some measures show a decline in average vehicle prices, the average new loan size increased from $19,705 to $20,656, about a 5% jump.  Loan maturities increased, and 82% of new vehicle loans were over four years.

 

Year-to-year growth was measured for 11 of 41 survey respondents, who reported a growth in loan origination dollars of 22.4%, compared to 8.3% in 2001.  Four of the 11 were captive finance companies, so growth likely reflects heavy use of financing incentives.

 

Automated loan decisions increased from 18% to 26% of all application decisions, which speeded turnaround time.

 

The survey measures activity at year-end 2001, and is prepared for CBA by BenchMark Consulting International, Marietta, Ga.

 

For the first time, average credit bureau scores were slightly higher for used vehicle loans, at 692, compared to new vehicle loans, 680.

 

Leasing Continues Losses 

 

Lessors became more conservative in setting residual values, reflecting continued heavy losses.  Lease terms are based on the estimated residual value of the vehicle at lease-end, as estimated in guidebooks.  Last year, 38% of new leases were below guidebook values, compared to 3% a year earlier.

 

However, losses remained high as leases expired.  For full term vehicles returned to lessors, the average loss increased to $2,451, from $2,342 a year earlier and $1,920 two years ago.  Longer term leases are becoming more popular, with leases of five years or longer growing to 28% from 17% a year earlier and 12% two years ago.

 

Complimentary review copies of the study are available to the media.  The study price is $300 for CBA members and $495 for non-members, and additional information is available at http://www.cbanet.org .

 

The Consumer Bankers Association is the recognized voice on retail banking issues in the nation's capital.  CBA was founded in 1919 and provides leadership and representation on retail banking issues such as privacy, fair lending, and consumer protection legislation/regulation.  CBA members include most of the nation's largest bank holding companies as well as regionals and hold two-thirds of the industry's total assets

 

 

SOURCE  Consumer Bankers Association 

 

CO:  Consumer Bankers Association

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  Techfi Corp. Announces the Release of Web Office™

 

    Innovative Technology to Enhance Client Service Capabilities for Investment Advisors

 

    DENVER– Techfi Corp., a leading provider of software and outsourcing solutions for investment advisors     and financial planners,  announced the release of Techfi Web Office™ – a scalable, web-enabled product suite for

    investment advisors and financial planners. Techfi Web Office provides dynamic web access for advisors and their clients     and supports multi-office installations and remote data administration.

 

    “With Web Office, users will have the advantage of a fully integrated web-enabled software system, including portfolio     management, performance reporting and contact management," said Matt Abar, president and CEO of Techfi. "Most other     products offer static reports or PDF files. With the release of Web Office, advisory firms may now provide consolidated     account information to clients and outside offices anytime through any Internet connection.”

 

    Techfi has become the leader in portfolio management systems by offering the power, superior functionality, usability and     level of integration required by investment advisors, financial planners and broker/dealers. Web Office fills the user's need   for dynamic portfolio and performance reports as well as tracking important client information.

 

    “Web Office allows sophisticated advisory firms the technology to differentiate the services they provide to high net  worth clients,” said John Halliday, vice president of sales and marketing for Techfi. “By providing dynamic position and

    performance returns consolidated across all investment accounts, investment advisory firms can keep clients up-to-date  on investment performance without having to constantly generate static reports.”

 

    Web Office provides users with sophisticated portfolio management, trading and contact management capabilities

    including:

 

    • Portfolio management

    • Access to detailed client account information including transactions and securities information

    • Client portfolio and performance reports, which can be created from a remote location

    • Management and compliance reporting library

    • Customization of user roles and rights to allow different levels of access to the system

    • Dynamic account access for clients through the internet

 

    • Trading

    • Easily rebalance clients and accounts to targeted asset allocation or portfolio models

    • Trade generation wizard to create buys and sells for target percentages

    • Flexible trade blotter for trade management and manual transaction entry

 

    • Contact management

    • Client profiling and mail merge creation

    • Document management and storage for important client documents such as wills and financial plans

    • Access to view online calendars and schedule tasks and activities

    • Create workflows to assign multiple tasks for recurring events such as quarterly reporting or new client set-up

 

    For more information about how Techfi Web Office can benefit your organization or other Techfi products and services,

    contact Techfi Corporation at 720-891-2000, or online or at www.www.techfi.com

 

    About Techfi:

    Headquartered in Denver, Techfi Corporation was founded in 1998 and provides software, technology and services to the

    financial intermediary market. Clients include broker dealers, investment advisors, financial planners and other

    financial institutions. Techfi develops leading-edge technology products and services for the financial intermediary

    market including:

 

    • AdvisorMart Institutional, the premiere private-labeled data aggregation solution for financial institutions;

    • Financial Office, an integrated suite of financial products that includes Portfolio, Trader and Contact;

    • Web Office, an integrated suite of web-enabled solutions for portfolio management, contact management, account

    rebalancing and trade generation;

    • AdvisorMart.com, the industry's first online account aggregation and portfolio management solution.

 

    For more information visit their Web site at www.www.techfi.com

 

    Note: Techfi and AdvisorMart are registered trademarks of Techfi Corp. Other product and company names herein may

    be trademarks of their respective owners

 

                                                 WiredCapital announced today that Michael Pennell, Vice

President of Marketing and Product Management, will speak

on performance benchmarking during the general session at

the ELA Business Technology Solutions Conference and

Exhibition on Monday, June 17, 2002 in Philadelphia, PA.

 

Session Information:

Title: Benchmarking Your Business

Date: Monday, June 17, 2002

Time: 11:45-12:30pm

Location: Philadelphia Marriott Hotel

 

Click on the following link to see the full news release:

http://www.wiredcapital.com/public/press/press_release_052902.htm

 

 

 

Eplus—Improve efficiencies via Technology

 

Much has been written in Leasing News on the topic of how companies can save

money and improve efficiencies by utilizing technology. I encourage you to

take a few moments from your very busy schedule and allow me to introduce a

new but proven solution:  ePlus Enterprise Cost Management (eECM).

 

As a public company with more than a decade of consistent growth and

profitability, ePlus stands poised to make a tremendous cost-savings impact

in almost every industry.

 

eECM is a new suite of solutions designed to minimize financial and

operational costs while providing an exceptional level of integrated

business automation.  eECM capitalizes on ePlus' proven execution in

indirect supply chain and financial value chain best practices and provides

every element required to help control and manage enterprise costs in

today's economy.

 

Delivering Financial Services, eProcurement, Supplier Enablement and Asset

Management, this suite of strategic technologies are available immediately

and benefits businesses of all sizes.

 

I would like to offer several elements for additional support:

 

* The attached ePlus Press Release officially announcing eECM.

 

* The Aberdeen Group Executive White Paper:

"Enterprise Cost Management:  A Holistic Approach to Capturing and

Sustaining Cost Savings"  http://www.eplus.com/whitepaper_reg.shtml

 

* A roster that includes thousands of ePlus customers in every industry who

have been utilizing various ePlus solutions over the past 10 years.  Key

customers are readily and easily available for interviewing to demonstrate

first-hand the efficiency of the eECM flexible and modular approach to cost

savings.

 

* ePlus Executive Management for interviewing. Our management team is

recognized and well-respected within the industry and are always available

to discuss the ePlus philosophy and our solutions in great detail.

 

Thank you very much for your time today. I welcome the opportunity to

discuss any of the above supporting elements with you and to serve up the

merits of eECM and the benefits your readers may derive.

 

Sincerely,

 

Lisa Savino

ePlus Marketing

631.218.9510 office

631.897.2404 cell

www.eplus.com

 

 Full Press Release with Support Information here:

 

http://www.leasingnews.org/docs/2002-5-29%20ECM%20final.htm

 

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(Remember When: )

 

Performance Indicators Report Reveals Continued Growth In The Equipment Leasing Industry

Posted 09/21/01

 

Net Portfolios Increased Nearly 12 Percent From Second Quarter 2000 to Second Quarter 2001

ARLINGTON, Va. - September 5, 2001 - The Equipment Leasing Association's (ELA) second quarter 2001 Performance Indicators Report (PIR) revealed that new business volume grew 2 percent since second quarter 2000, 10 times the revised second quarter economic growth rate of 0.2 percent as reported by the Commerce Department. The total net portfolio for the key equipment lessors increased nearly 12 percent compared to second quarter 2000. In contrast, the Commerce Department reported that business spending on the purchase of new industrial equipment dropped 14.6 percent in the second quarter of 2001.

"The drop in business investment was so substantial that it slashed more than 2.4 percent from the second quarter growth rate," noted Ralph Petta, ELA's vice president of industry services. "While businesses cut spending on purchasing new equipment, the second quarter PIR numbers show that companies are leasing at an ever-increasing rate."

ELA's PIR tracks the equipment leasing industry's performance in six key areas: total net portfolio, total new business volume, average losses, credit approval ratio, total number of employees and delinquencies. ELA surveys approximately 20 major leasing companies on a quarterly basis, affording trend analysis across all the performance areas.

Second quarter PIR highlights include:

  • Total number of employees decreased by less than 2 percent from second quarter 2000
  • Credit approval ratios showed an increase of 3 percent since second quarter 2000
  • Average losses have decreased about 30 percent since the second quarter 2000
  • Delinquencies decreased slightly in receivables greater than 90 days

ELA's Information and Research Services Department conducts the PIR each quarter. To receive more information on the PIR or a copy of the associated graphs and charts, please contact Stacey Wells 202.944.3377 or via e-mail at swells@hillandknowlton.com. Additional market research on the equipment leasing industry is available to the media free of charge at ELA online at http://www.elaonline.com and through ELA's Information and Research Services Department at: 703.516.8380.

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Organized in 1961, the Equipment Leasing Association (ELA) is a non-profit association representing companies involved in the dynamic equipment leasing and finance industry. ELA's mission is to promote the leasing industry as a major source of funds for capital investment in the United States and abroad. ELA maintains an informational portal for financial decision-makers at www.leaseassistant.org. Headquartered in Arlington, Va., ELA has more than 850 member companies and a staff of 27 professionals. Equipment leasing is estimated to be a $280 billion industry in 2001. Visit ELA online at http://www.elaonline.com.

---

ELA Second Quarter 2001 PIR

Second Quarter 2001 Performance Indicators Report Participants:

ADP Credit Corporation
Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation
Computer Sales International
Dana Credit Corporation
De Lage Landen Financial Services
Farm Credit Leasing Services Corporation
Fleet Capital Leasing
Heller Financial, Inc.
Hitachi Credit America Corporation
John Deere Credit Corporation
Keycorp Leasing
Pitney Bowes Credit Corporation
The Finova Group
US Bancorp Leasing & Financial
Verizon Credit
Wells Fargo Equipment Finance

CONTACT:
Kristina Boehk
Hill and Knowlton
Phone Number: 202-944-5181
E-mail: kboehk@hillandknowlton.com

 

 

 

 

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