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Headlines--- Classified ads----Finance/Legal Orix
Int. to keep expanding financial services Orix
USA Floundering-Holmes Going, Going.... Jeff
Taylor Says "Final Goodbye" NACM:
A Strong Gain In The Economy. Financial
Federal Earnings Down 19% CONFERENCE/MEETING/DINNER
Up-Date Free Workshop Oct. 9, Portland, Oregon October
22---Regional Meeting,San Jose,Ca NAELB
Atlanta Conference November 7-8 AGLF
November 12 Tucson, Arizona Conference New
Arizona Leasing Association Nov.
13 Three
in a Row, Reuters is on a Roll MBNA/eBay
New Credit Card-'eBay Anything Points' Victor Harris on “Big Deal Bash” in San Francisco---tomorrow!!! This Border ##### Denotes Press Release (Not Written By Leasing
News) Classified ads----Finance/Legal Finance: Atlanta, GA Twenty five plus years experience in middle market lease/
asset based/cash flow transactions. Heavy banking and credit background,
with particular expertise in structure and negotiation. Email:brown235@bellsouth.net Finance: Austin, TX. 20+ years all facets of lease/finance. Collection and credit
management. Equipment & rolling stock structuring. $150k credit
authority, $100 million portfolio management. email: texmartin@juno.com Finance: Lyndhurst, NJ CFO w/20+ years leasing/financing. Respected by lenders/rating
agencies full & fair financial reporting. Outstanding record restructuring
debt. Adept at investor relations and mentoring people. Email:joemcdev@aol.com Legal: Los Angeles, CA Experienced in-house corporate and financial services attorney
seeks position as managing or transactional counsel. Willing to re-locate.
email:sandidq@msn.com 72 Job Wanted Ads
at: http://64.125.68.90/LeasingNews/JobPostings.htm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Economic Events This Week October 6 Monday None October 7 Tuesday Consumer Borrowing:
August California Recall
Election October 8 Wednesday October 9 Thursday Weekly Jobless Claims Sales of Leading Retailers: September ACC Workshop, Portland, Oregon UAEL Conference October 10 FRIDAY Balance of Trade: August Producer Prices: September UAEL Conference ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Salesman Pay Survey Still working on the latest equipment leasing salesman remuneration.
It has been two years since we printed the last results. Then we received many responses, but this year has been different. Sales managers and presidents of companies we have contacted
are “too busy.” This may be a good sign, meaning business has picked up for
them. Many are also preparing for the two major leasing association
conferences starting the end of this week, several leaving early for golf or to
cross the country. Orix Intl. to keep
expanding financial services http://thestar.com.my/services/printerfriendly.asp?file=/2003/10/4/business/6394010.asp&sec=business ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Orix USA Floundering—Holmes Going, Going.... by Christopher Menkin Last June Tom Hidder, president of the Business Credit Group
(BCG) at ORIX Financial Services (OFS),
announced the promotion of Mark E. Tauber to National Sales Manager
of BCG. His job to build “ a national sales organization to deliver
BCG’s products to middle-market companies throughout the U.S.” ORIX Financial Services is an indirect wholly owned operating
subsidiary of ORIX Corporation, a leading diversified financial services
organization with assets in excess of $49 billion. ORIX Corporation
is based in Tokyo, Japan with operations in 23 global markets. ORIX
is a publicly traded company listed on the Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and
New York Stock Exchanges (Ticker: IX). Leasing News has received several reports from insiders that
Jay Holmes, Chairman and CEO of OFS, is on his way out. No one at Orix is willing to talk on the record.
They like to send press releases, hand outs as we call them, almost
like an advertisement. Most have been announcements of changes such as the recent
appointment of Bill G. Fite to senior vice-president/group credit manager
within the Equipment Finance Group. In 2001, he was the director of
marketing and sales for the Equipment Finance Group. The CIO and CAO were let go at the first of the year at about
the same time they laid off 10% of their staff. The word is they were
given a nice going away party and enough money to keep their mouths
shut. It was also reported Holmes also lost half of his responsibilities
to Gary Gussoff who was promoted
to COO after failing to turn around the Equipment group. Word from insiders
is that Gusoff is like a “teflon don.” Everything he touches seems to
fail but for some reason he never gets blamed. He just gets promoted. Leasing News was told the move from New Jersey to Atlanta,
Georgia cost the company a lot
of money and much of it was not spent wisely. The CIO and CAO were heading it up and spending the money, thus making them the
fall guys. The current failing at ORIX reportedly are not Holmes’s fault.
The Credit Alliance portfolio is losing big money, the original Palitz brothers
had a way of moving money around to make the company look good on paper
and after they sold and left the problems didn't surface until the economy
took a dive. What the problem may be appears complicated with several
stratums of organization, and the market place. Is
the finance business like football, when the team isn’t winning, you get rid of the coach?
Leasing is quite different, you say, perhaps, because the marketplace
is what you “conquer,” not the other team.
Or is it? To win more
deals? To win more games. Holmes will be at the Equipment Leasing Association Conference
in San Diego, California. Ask
him yourself, if you are there. Insiders
tell Leasing News he has been having trouble with some of his top staff.
In fact some were allegedly flat or insubordinate. Maybe they
are to blame. Perhaps blame the Credit Alliance history or blame the economy it
doesn't matter. One insider said New
York is driving the show and Holmes has been a figure head for some
time. The Japanese, this insider says, have planted a person from California
to run the operations and "report" to Gary K. Gusoff, group
president, serving on the OFS board of directors. Gusoff is certainly concerned. Holmes will deny he is on his way out. Leasing News would like to ask him if it is true or not true. How much money did the US group lose last year
and are they going to repeat it again this year? Those on the inside, and also competitors, such as CIT, tell
Leasing News that it will be Orix’s loss without him. This article is not about whether
he is doing a good job or not. The people
who Leasing News spoke to on the agreement their names would not be revealed say Gusoff has to dig a
bit deeper and root out the real problems.
In football, they let go the coach, and often his staff follows
him. Maybe Holmes should be looking at his staff first. If they don’t see the big picture, and carry
out the game plan agreed to, you are bound to fail. It is said Holmes has surrounded himself with people he knew,
not people committed to the success of the team. Jeff Taylor Says “Final Goodbye” by Kit Menkin
http://www.leasingnews.org/pictures_past/past_11-19-02.htm 1987 Picture Jeffrey
Taylor, WAEL Newsletter Jeffrey Taylor is the best selling author of "Leasing
in a Tough Economy" and well-known lease accountant, educator, "trainer"
and writer. “It's Been A Great 2 1/2 Years “ he said at the beginning of his eMail announcement. “Now It's Time To Say Goodbye. “I sent you this final e-mail because you have not joined my new ALERTS e-news program for $15/year. As you know, I have tried very hard to keep my e- newsletters free to equipment leasing professionals. Unfortunately, expenses kept rising and I could no longer afford to subsidize this effort. “It was a difficult and painful decision and many readers
wrote me to share their feelings. It is through their guidance that I continue my efforts to educate the equipment leasing industry. “I hope that someday you will return to my list. When you do, the door will always be open. “May God Bless You!” Actually, it is “good bye” only to the “free readers.”
He has 800 paid subscribers who have sent in checks or paid by credit $15 a year. They have
paid through 2004. Jeff was disappointed that many did not pay to subscribe.
He received telephone calls and e-mails from CFO, chief legal officer,
presidents, and others saying they will miss his daily bon motts, a mixture
of information, news, humor, and love ( no kidding,” but they didn’t want
to pay the $15. He was feeling down because
he only had 800 paid subscribers. At Leasing News, we only have 36 paid subscribers, and many of them
are our advisory board.. Once people start receiving something for free, they don’t want
to pay for it. All the dot.comers learned that the hard way. Jeff had a mailing list of 17,000. He spent quite some time obtaining the names and addresses from all over the world, and uses it
to promote his book(s), training classes, and activities. He started a “free” newsletter two and a half years ago
after reading Leasing News. I
encouraged him, gave him advice when he asked, and have become his good friend during period. Jeff did all the art, technical work, and writing. Constant Contact http://www.constantcontact.com/home.jsp charged him $150
a month to maintain the list, up-date, delete ( he actually did this,
but the form gave him the ability to do so) and sent it out. His out
of pocket cost was $150 a month. The
rest was his time. He followed
the format. He said he knew 3,000 opened the subject matter in his e-mail
daily. What readers may not know are these programs that require you
to “go to” or “open” actually record the day, time, the e-mail address,
and some how long you had the section open.
The sender gets a daily report and some also put the name of
the person. You can also sort it, when available, by time, city, state, etc.
So Jeff knew people were opening it. Whether they were reading it all, he assumed
they did (some programs report the various pages you visit as you “open”
them and send the signal that you have opened it. (Leasing News is sent out in text, you don’t open anything, and the html is really a duplication
of our website. We don’t have such features, except what a “Web Trend”
report can tell you. It would be helpful to get feedback on what is read or not read, such
as the News Briefs. ) Jeff decided to weed out the malling list, taking out info@ or “webmaster”@ or “president”@ as he found out in creating a new list that
the people did not respond to receiving his e-mail ( Leasing News you have
to ask to subscribe, Jeff built up his own mailing list of those in
the leasing industry from many sources.) He worked it down to 12,000. He could cut his costs at Constant Contact by going below
10,000, and the out of pocket cost would be $75 a month ( remember, not counting
his time for mechanics and writing them, nor working on the list.).
So he experimented and took out foreign country addresses in a systematic way,
cleaning it up, but giving readers the opportunity to continue. He sent
out in English and realized someone in Italy or France might not be able
to read it. Though a systematic process he culled the list further for his daily
alert. When he got it down to 10,500, all he needed to do was get below
10,000---so he decided he would find out how many would be willing to
be $15 a year to continue to receive his daily bon mots. Now he has his loyal following, and people who are willing
to spend money to continue to hear from him. It isn’t the number who receive the newsletter, but those who take the time to read it, and
care about it. He has 800 real readers. Here is his main site: http://executivecaliber.ws/sys-tmpl/door/ He continues his Leasing Academy: http://leasingacademy.com/index.html It’s not good-bye for us, as Kit Menkin is a subscriber.
Jeff brightens my day with his observations, plus he often has information
you don’t get elsewhere. #### Press Release ################################ NACM Credit Manager's Index (CMI) for September 2003:
Results Indicate A Strong Gain In The Economy. COLUMBIA, MD: --The National Association of Credit Management
(NACM) has released its Credit Manager's Index (CMI) for September 2003.
The CMI, a monthly survey of the business economy from the standpoint
of credit and collections, was launched in January 2003 to provide financial
analysts with another strong economic indicator. The NACM Credit Manager's Index total shows a strong gain
of 2.2% (120 basis points) for September and is at its highest level
since April of this year. The improvement is driven by the manufacturing
sector, which jumped 5.2% (290 basis points) over its August level. The
manufacturing reading of 58.4 is the highest it has been since May 2002.
Last month's improvement in this index was its first up-tick since April
2003. It appears the manufacturing sector is well into recovery and renewed
strength. The service sector, however, is showing signs of slowing growth.
Although its growth remains strong, the service sector is slowing on
a month-over-month basis. Last month, after showing seven consecutive
months of improvement, the service sector index lost 90 basis points.
This month, it lost another 40 basis points. The CMI survey asks credit managers to rate favorable and
unfavorable factors in their monthly business cycle. Favorable factors
include sales, new credit applications, dollar collections and amount
of credit extended. Unfavorable factors include rejections of credit applications,
accounts placed for collections, dollar amounts of receivables beyond
terms and filings for bankruptcies. A complete index including results from the manufacturing
and service sectors, along with the methodology, is attached. To view the complete index online, go to http://www.nacm.org/resource/press_release/pressSept03.html
. ### The National Association of Credit Management (NACM), headquartered
in Columbia, Maryland supports more than 25,000 business credit and
financial professionals worldwide with premier industry services, tools and information. NACM and its network of Affiliated Associations
are the leading resource for credit and financial management information
and education, delivering products and services which improve the management of business credit and accounts receivable. NACM's
collective voice has influenced legislative results concerning commercial
business and trade credit to our nation's policy makers for more than
100 years, and continues to play an active part in legislative
issues pertaining to business credit and corporate bankruptcy. Contact: Norma Heim, NACM 410-423-1842 ### Press Release ################################################### Financial Federal Earnings Down 19% Financial Federal
Corporation announced net earnings of $30.1 million for the year ended
July 31, 2003, a decrease of 19% from the $37.1 million earned for the
year ended July 31, 2002. Diluted earnings per share decreased by 17%
to $1.65 from $1.99. Finance receivables originated during the year
totaled $696 million. Finance receivables outstanding decreased by 1%
to $1.42 billion at July 31, 2003 from $1.44 billion at July 31, 2002.
Net earnings for fiscal 2003 includes a $1.1 million non-
recurring, after-tax loss from the redemption of convertible debt. This
loss reduced diluted earnings per share by $0.06. Without this loss,
net earnings was $31.2 million and diluted earnings per share was $1.71,
decreases of 16% and 14%, respectively from fiscal 2002. These amounts
are non-GAAP financial measures that management believes to be useful
to investors in comparing the Company's current operating performance
to past and future fiscal periods. Net charge-offs in fiscal 2003 were $12.4 million or 0.87%
of average finance receivables compared to $3.4 million and 0.25% in
fiscal 2002. Non-performing assets were 4.4% of total finance receivables
at July 31, 2003 compared to 3.7% at July 31, 2002. Delinquent receivables
(60 days or more past due) were 1.6% of total finance receivables at
July 31, 2003 compared to 2.3% at July 31, 2002. Paul R. Sinsheimer, CEO, commented "I am pleased to
report improvement in the following credit quality statistics during
the fourth quarter of fiscal 2003; repossessions were down by 32%, past
dues by 25%, non-accruals by 4% and net charge-offs by 5%. New business
opportunities were soft due to the weak economy. "During fiscal 2003 we took several steps to strengthen
our balance sheet. We raised $35 million in equity through the call
of our convertible subordinated debt lowering our leverage to 3.3x compared
to our historical level of 5.0x. Additionally, we accessed the debt
markets through on balance sheet securitizations and term debt. This
further diversified our liquidity and lengthened maturities. "Fitch Ratings has recognized these initiatives by reaffirming
our investment grade ratings and raising their Ratings Outlook from
stable to positive. While fiscal 2003 marked our first year of lower
earnings and finance receivables outstanding, our focus on credit quality
and liquidity has positioned the Company for growth and profitability
in an improving economic environment." Financial Federal Corporation specializes in financing industrial
and commercial equipment through installment sales and leasing programs
for manufacturers, dealers and end users nationwide. For additional
information, please visit the Company's website at www.financialfederal.com.
##### Press Release ################################# CONFERENCE/MEETING/DINNER
Up-Date *** announcement ******************************************** UAEL Conference—October 9th- Over 300 Attending Only a Week Away... And
Everything Really is Coming Up Roses! We're down to the wire - the United Association of Equipment
Leasing Annual Conference & Exposition begins next week on October
9th in Portland, Oregon. We've
already topped 300 attendees, and we have 50 Exhibitors. It will undoubtedly be the Industry's best Conference of the year! Don't miss it... if
you haven't signed up yet - there's still room at the Inn (Downtown Portland Marriott) and we'd love to have you
join us. There will be networking, education, fantastic speakers - and ample
time to meet with funding sources, brokers/lessors and service providers.
We've got wonderful entertainment and food on Thursday and Friday -
and Saturday night at the Pittock Mansion will be unforgettable. You can register online at www.uael.org - or give Jessica
a call @ (760) 564-2227 or Bill @ (415) 681-2234. For those of you who are already registered, Exhibitor appointments are filling up fast -
so sign up online, don't wait until you get to the conference or you may miss
a date with an existing or future business "partner"... GO HERE FOR THE LATEST SIGN-UP SHEET (also see who is
popular and who is not: http://www.uael.org/events/fall2003/appt_calendar.htm Portland is beautiful in the Fall... and remember - You Can't
Afford To Miss It! See you there... Bette Kerhoulas, UAEL President Pacifica Capital ( Loni Lowder is not only giving a free one day seminar (
see below,) but covering the conference for Leasing News. Readers should
realize his one day conference is open to all, whether a UAEL member
or attending the UAEL Conference does not matter.) ***** announcement
*********************************************** Free Workshop October 9, Portland, Oregon—Open to Everyone (If you are nearby,
this is one session you will not only want your sales staff to attend, but operations, customer service,
plus it is open to new brokers---You do not need to be an association
member or attending the UAEL conference. It is open to all. ) THE CLASS IS THURSDAY OCTOBER 9, 2003, October 9th, October 9th, October 9th!!! at the United Association of Equipment Leasing's Annual Conference
& Exposition. "Technical Leasing for Sales Success" * No Cost, Full Day
Advanced Leasing
Workshop * Among the subjects covered 1. Industry Overview 2. Industry Terminology
Refresher 3. Understanding
Lessee Needs 4. Understanding
and Selling the Tax Benefits of Leasing 5. Understanding
and Selling the Accounting Benefits
of Leasing 6. Lease vs. Purchase
Analysis 7. Developing Vendor
Relationships and Loyalty 8. Packaging for
Maximum Approvals Your Instructor: Loni L. Lowder, President and CEO of ACC Capital Corporation
has over 25 years of experience in the
technical and sales aspects of leasing, including having served as a
partner and board member of Amembal & Dean. * CLP- CPE Accredited * Location Marriott Portland
Downtown Portland, Oregon
* Schedule:
9 AM to 5 PM To Register or for more information call Tori Hernandez at (800) 409-5008 ext. 238 or e-mail thernandez@acccapital.com (You don't need to register for the conference to attend
this free one day work shop. This is a wonderful opportunity for your staff
to learn more about leasing, and ideal for all those involved
in sales....also note, Loni Lowder will be covering the UAEL Conference for Leasing News---He is our "official"
correspondent. ***** announcement ************************************************ ELA Conference --October
12-14 Over 1,000 Attending Full Schedule: http://www.elaonline.com/events/2003/AnnConv/schedule.cfm Hear it at The Convention,
or Hear About it Later Each year, the Annual
Convention is the industry’s BIG STORY. It’s where the new research
is unveiled, cutting edge products debut and the most important information
is passed along. At the Convention, industry leaders meet to do business
and share perspectives, leasing experts give the most in-depth and timely
presentations. People take note of who’s there, and who isn’t. At the 42nd Annual
ELA Convention, October 12 – 14 in San Diego, you can be part of the story—or
you can hear about it later. To register, go to http://www.elaonline.com/events/2003/AnnConv/ (Leasing News will have a report from Paul Menzel, our correspondent, most likely by the end of the week, but no matter how well
he writes, it won’t be the same as attending the event this Annual Convention
) **** announcement ******************************************** October 22---“Two Panels” Regional Meeting, San Jose,
California Silicon Valley UAEL Regional Meeting, Wednesday, October
22, 3:30pm to 7:30pm at Napredak Hall, 770 Montague Expressway,
San Jose ( 1 1/2 blocks off Highway 880.) Two Panels Venture Leasing 4:30pm to 5:30pm Peter Eaton, Pentech Financial John Pritchard, Vencore Solutions Russ Wilder, Atel Leasing "Decision Not Based on Credit Scoring" (also known as "Story Credits" or "Cash Flow
Analysis." 6:00pm to 7:00pm Peter Eaton ( does story credits $250,000 minimum) Doug Houlihan, Allegiant-Partners ($30,000 +) Archie Julian, Dumac Leasing (Exchange Bank) Host: Kit Menkin,
American Leasing $15.00 per person ( non-members encouraged to attend ) http://www.uael.org/indexlow.asp direct registration:
http://www.uael.org/indexlow.asp **** announcement************************************************* NAELB Atlanta Conference
November 7-8 National Association of Equipment Leasing Brokers Sheraton Gateway Hotel — Atlanta Airport 1900 Sullivan Rd. College Park, GA 30274 Topics to Include: California Licensing Law T Value 5 Community Bank Leasing Programs Impact of the new tax laws on leasing Increasing Broker Stability & Profitability with Relationships. More details coming soon! www.naelb.org **** announcement ********************************************** AGLF November 12 Tucson,
Arizona Conference Association for Government Leasing and Finance 23rd FALL ANNUAL
CONFERENCE TENTATIVE SCHEDULE OF EVENTS Wednesday, November 12 Noon Annual Golf Tournament 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM Basics Session Thursday, November 13 8:00 AM – 1:30PM Keynote Speaker, General Sessions and Luncheon Evening – Annual Conference Dinner Event Friday, November 14 8:00 AM – Noon General Sessions, Ending with the Lawyers’
Panel http://www.aglf.org/index.html --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AELA Newsletter---New Arizona Leasing Association Nov. 13 Meeting Arizona Equipment Leasing Association proudly announces our
1st issue of the newsletter attached here for your review. Our last
meeting was a success and our next meeting is November 13th. Thanks
to all the members who have joined and we look forward to seeing you
at the next meeting. AELA Board. Patrick Sponsel patrick.sponsel@sharpelease.com *** announcement****************************************************** MAEL Dinner---November 18th Don't Miss Out, Register Now ! ! ! Plan To Be In Chicago November 18th, 2003 To Attend The 21st Annual Dinner Meeting of the MidAmerica Association of Equipment Lessors (MAEL) you won't want to miss... SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER: Anthony Galie, the
motivational hypnotist! The MidAmerica Association of Equipment Lessors ("MAEL"),
ELA's largest regional affiliate, will be hosting its 21st Annual Dinner
Meeting at the Westin Hotel @ O'Hare in Rosemont, Illinois. Pricing for the meeting is as follows: Registration Level Special Benefits On-line Registration https://wx6.registeredsite.com/user313780/events/annual_meeting_1.asp> MAEL Members $135.00 $150.00 |