|
|
Kit
Menkin’s leasing News www.leasingnews.org
Tuesday, February 19, 2002 Headlines--- Leverage Leasing Says “No” to New Business Former Lyon’s Finance VP to Head Merrill Lynch Equipment Finance Division Reaction to Fred St. Laurent Open Positions/Trend to Community Banks Tuesday--- Odds and Ends
Joliet Closes in Illinois #####
Denotes Press Release--- ________________________________________________________ Leverage Leasing Says “No” to New Business Twenty-five
year old Leveraged Leasing, Omaha, Nebraska, a division of Carlson
Systems, http://www.csystems.com/,
is reportedly telling brokers they are no
longer taking new business. Their
website makes no references, and key people we have contacted are
not available to confirm or deny, most likely due to the holidays. Their
website shows they are a member of the Equipment Leasing Association, National
Association of Leasing Brokers and United Association of Equipment Leasing. Their
website,www.leveragel.com, states “In
order to succeed, a company must be competitive. Our success and growth
reflects the fact that Leverage Leasing Co. is competitive. Our knowledge
and abilities, resources and personnel are keyed to giving our programs
the competitive edge over all other comparable leasing companies.
At Leverage Leasing Co., every program is a customized program.” Leasing
News is seeking confirmation or denial of information supplied to us
by a highly reliable source. __________________________________________________________________ Former
Lyon’s Finance VP to Head Merrill Lynch Equipment Finance Division (This
was a very successful division of Schwann Foods, who’s founder died.
Manifest, the broker’s division, eventually sold to U.S.Bancorp. Striplin
was a key player. Watch for a lot of action from Merrill Lynch
under his direction. editor ) #############
################################### Merrill
Lynch Capital announced that it has appointed H. Frank Striplin as
managing director, equipment finance. Merrill Lynch Capital is Merrill
Lynch's newly formed commercial finance business serving middle-market
enterprises throughout the U.S. It is a unit of Merrill Lynch Business
Financial Services Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Merrill Lynch
Bank USA. Merrill
Lynch Capital currently has three operating segments - corporate finance,
equipment finance and real estate finance - offering a broad range
of structured financing to middle-market companies, including asset-
and cash-flow-based revolving and term loans, equipment leases and
loans, and interim financing for income-producing commercial real
estate. "We're
very pleased to have Frank join our senior management team, especially
given his breadth of experience in the equipment finance and leasing
industry," said Robert E. Radway, managing director and president,
Merrill Lynch Capital. "This
is a very exciting opportunity to be a part of an new venture to position
Merrill Lynch Capital as a significant player in middle-market equipment
finance," said Striplin. "The
Merrill Lynch brand and financial strength will give us a compelling
platform from which to offer our products." The Equipment Finance
Group will work directly with end users across a broad range of equipment
types and industries to offer financing alternatives that include
fixed and floating rate term loans, capital and finance leases and
turnkey project financing as well as synthetic and operating lease
capabilities. Transactions will range in size from $2 million to $25
million with larger transactions accommodated through syndication. Striplin
previously served as Senior Vice President, Equipment Finance for
Lyons Credit, Inc., the commercial finance subsidiary of Credit Lyonnais.
Lyons Credit was acquired by Hudson United Bank in 1999 where Striplin
held a similar position. In addition, he has held senior posts with
Chrysler Financial and CitiGroup during his 20 years in the commercial
finance industry. ##########
######################################### ########## Ryan
Helm remains as credit manager. As
reported earlier, they reportedly need 50 people this year! They
have an ad in the Wall Street Journal. Contact the Chicago Human
Resources department. For
more information on Merrill Lynch, please visit www.ml.com __________________________________________________________________ Reaction
to Fred St. Laurent Hirings/Open Positions/Trend to Community Banks Fred
St. Laurent of Management Recruiters of Melbourne information and
advice was
both informative and honest. I hope we hear more from him. As a
matter of
fact, if he would like to attend any of the UAEL Funding retreats,
I would like
him to come as my guest. Bob
Fisher Fisher-Anderson (
Bob is also president of United Association of
Equipment Leasing. editor ) ---- I'd
like to publicly commend Fred St Laurent for his unselfish act in
posting information about organizations currently hiring in our industry.
He did so, even faced with the possibility of losing a potential candidate
for his recruitment company's clients. "When
one sits in the Hoop Of The People, one must be responsible because
All Of Creation is related. And the hurt of one is the hurt of all.
And the honor of one is the honor of all. And whatever we do effects
everything in the universe."- Lakota adage Jim
Fleming National
Business Credit 561-588-5552 nationalbusinesscredit@yahoo.com ----
Following
your recent note on US hiring I wondered if you'd be interested in
a view from the other side of the pond. I
am a recruiter specializing in leasing and asset finance, I'm based
a few miles outside London. I cover the whole of the UK. In
most matters the UK lags the USA so you won't be surprised to hear
that hiring was more than a little subdued in 2001. Subjectively I
felt the market was very poor, however my statistics show that objectively
client demand held up better than I feared. Overall
it has been much harder to recruit and motivate good candidates, in
fact three times harder. The last 12 months have not been seen as
a time to be moving jobs, particularly post September. Indeed it was
the reluctance to say 'Goodbye' more than a reluctance to say 'Welcome'
which reduced placements last year. 2002
has started strongly. Clients are actively looking and certain skills
are now in demand, for example sales people able to sell direct. IT
leasing skills are sought. The supply of candidates is improving particularly
as GE shed many salespeople recently and downgraded others. One
quirky green shoot of recovery. Hits on my website page about the
professional way to resign have nudged ahead of those browsing the
vacancies. A sign of things to come? Regards, Jeff
Underwood Purple
Squirrel www.purplesquirrel.org.uk Tel:
01277 366446 ____
* UAEL
2002 FUNDING RETREATS! Friday,
February 22, 2002 COSTA
MESA, CA WESTIN
SOUTH COAST PLAZA 686
Anton Boulevard Costa
Mesa, CA 92626 (714)
540-2500 Friday,
March 8, 2002 DALLAS,
TX EMBASSY
SUITES HOTEL
Dallas Market Center
2727 Stemmons Freeway
Dallas, TX 75207
(214) 630-5332 Friday,
March 22, 2002 PHILADELPHIA,
PA RADISSON
PLAZA - WARWICK HOTEL 1701
Locus Street Philadelphia,
PA 19103 (215)
735-6000 Special
UAEL Group Rates have been set-up at each of the above-mentioned hotels.
Please ask for the "UAEL Group Rate" when making your hotel
reservations. 2002
FUNDING RETREATS PROGRAM 7:45am
- Registration and Appointment Sign-ups 8:00am-8:45am
- Town Hall Meeting
UAEL Leadership comes to the Members. What can
UAEL do for you to help you succeed? Also, an over-
view of current industry trends. 9:00am-12:00pm
- One-On-One Appointments
Meet eye-to-eye with Funding Sources and Service
Providers. Build strong relationships with the people
who can meet your needs in 2002. 12:00pm-1:00pm
- NETWORKING LUNCHEON
Mix and mingle with Funding Sources, Service Providers
and your fellow Brokers/Lessors over lunch. 1:15pm-2:45pm
- EDUCATIONAL WORKSHOPS TIMEVALUE
SOFTWARE TRAINING TimeValue
Software publishes TValueTM, the industry standard for amortization
software. Learn how to use TValue to structure leases with advanced
payments, skip payments, residuals, and more. You will learn the
new leasing specific features of New TValue Version 5. The new release
of TValue 5 will be available at a special UAEL price for all attendees. CAPITALSTREAM
ADVANTAGE TRAINING Making
the Most of Your Automation Investment. A
refresher course on CapitalStream Advantage. Jim Buckles from Preferred
Broker Solutions will instruct on best practices methodology for using
System 1 (2.5) and CapitalStream Advantage. Topics include Contact
Management, CBR
Requests, Doc Management, Broadcast Faxing & Reporting. HUMAN
RESOURCES TRAINING You've
hired Leonardo daVinci, Napolean Bonapart, and
Joan of Arc to work for your company. Trouble is, they
aren't performing as expected...Why does this happen? Because
being a genius or having a reputation that precedes you
doesn't guarantee job fit! 3:00pm-4:30pm
- EDUCATIONAL WORKSHOPS
(Repeated for your maximum involvement) Registration
is easy! Register online at www.uael.org or contact: Joanie Dalton Chief
Operating Officer UAEL
- United Association of Equipment Leasing 520
Third Street, #201 Oakland,
CA 94607 (510)
444-9235 x27 (510)
444-1346 fax joanie@uael.org www.uael.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday--- Odds and Ends cc:kitmenkin@leasingnews.org yes,
saw it yesterday. the amazing part is that it looks like I started
a company
"With McGuinn". The guy they are talking about grew up a
block away from
me and his brother is a close friend. small world. ciao,tb Ted
Baruch <ted@baruchandco.com He
is referring to these two stories that appeared not only the same
day, but
one after the other: Baruch
Forms New Muni Leasing Company Baruch
and Company has been formed to provide tax-exempt financing to municipalities
and the vendors that sell to the municipal market. Formerly the municipal
leasing group of Tucker Anthony Sutro, it is now led by Ted Baruch,
who helped open the operation for Sutro in 1989 .
Baruch is joined by Chris Jones and other former employees of Sutro
in providing equipment project and real estate financing for state
and local governments, 501(c)3 corporations and the federal government. The
company specializes in providing tax-exempt financing to municipal
entities acquiring equipment, projects and real property. “Our
staff has completed over $1 billion of transactions nationally. We
work directly with issuers, vendors, contractors, manufacturers, and
financial advisors. Funding is available from $25,000and no minimum
lessee credit rating is required” http://www.baruchandcompany.com/home.htm 165
S. Union Blvd. Suite
450 Lakewood,
CO 80228 Phone:
303.988.5800/800087704693 Fax:
303.988.6300 info@baruchandco.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- With
McGuinn By
Associated Press NAME:
Martin G. McGuinn AGE:
59 OCCUPATION:
Chairman and chief executive officer of Mellon Financial Corp. LOCATION:
Pittsburgh. EDUCATION:
Bachelor's degree and law degree from Villanova University. CAREER
EXPERIENCE: After graduation, McGuinn spent three years in the U.S.
Marine Corps as a captain, including a tour in Vietnam. A native of
Philadelphia, he joined Mellon in 1981, rising through the ranks to
become chairman and chief executive on Jan. 1, 1999. FAMILY:
Wife Ann and two sons, Patrick, 30, and Chris, 17. He says new granddaughter,
Bailey,17 months, has stolen his heart. QUOTE:
''Mellon has changed and is still changing.'' (
small world indeed. editor ) ---
Picking
on American Express?
Kit, I have been a subscriber of yours for some time now. Like reading
any newspaper columnist you start to get a feel for the writers opinions,
their likes and dislikes. I find myself agreeing with you most of
the time.
However, (there always is a however in a letter like this) I am not
quite sure what Sierra Cities / American Express ever did to you but
it must have been rough. I know you like to hype a story, but really,
it is a little like inciting a riot to claim both smoke and fire.
Just a few months ago it was "kaboom". And then there was
no kaboom to report, or did I miss it. Next it was; when are they
ever going to sue Depping. And now a sixteen million dollar loss
in an un-named portfolio (Hmmm does Republic start with an R).
I am no cheerleader for Sierra. Yes I have done business with them
but in 18 years I have done business with probably 75 institutions
(including the whole alphabet soup GE, CIT, ABB, CLPC, ITT, TFC, etc).
Big and small, good and bad.
In the scope of American Express, $16 million is insignificant. Even
if it is significant to a particular portfolio, do you think it was
purchased with malice of fore thought. From
the salesman that originated the Lease. To his company that sold
it. To the credit people that underwrote it. Lets not forget to
include the people that worked hard in a sales role to create the
discounting relationship between the Lessor and Funder. Were they
all in this plot together to buy poor paper?
Have you ever underwritten a deal you wished you shouldn't have?
Ever asked a lender to reconsider (and they did) to buy a deal that
went bad.
Hey if there is fraud, I would be the first one to hang the SOB .
Here in Michigan, we in the leasing industry know the bad apples.
We share the information amongst ourselves and our lenders. But we
don't flame people until there is proof.
Sierra changed business plans, like many of us change suits. For
that they were adequately punished. That's why a stock once worth
near thirty dollars a share sold for six. The value was hype, like
much of the internet stocks. I don't feel sorry for the investors
any more then I feel sorry for myself on my own stock portfolio performance
in the past years. We all learned a lesson.
It is not helpful to our industry to accuse without substance an active
funder in our market. Leasing has enough of a black eye from people
that knowingly wanted to hurt the industry. We sure don't need to
make up a bad guy.
No one is talking. Maybe there is nothing to talk about of any real
substance? As for American Express being duped. I think that is
why you have a process before the purchase called Due Diligence. You
can print my name if you care to. Everyone that knows me knows I
am not exactly shy. How could I be, I am an 18 year industry veteran.
Shyness doesn't work in leasing.
Sincerely,
David Wilkins
dwilkins@gtcfinance.com
please visit us on the web at:
yourinvestmentbanker.com
(shameless plug) -----
Dave,
if I may call you by your first name, I have 31 years in the equipment leasing
industry; however, that does not make me smart, or smarter than you. If
I were really smart, I’d be on an island in Tahiti with Sue instead
of here behind
a computer typewriter. First,
there is a lot to talk about with American Express/First Sierra as
both the public and
stockholders have a right to know. Second, we help many get $500 advance rental
checks back to lessees and consider that a lot of money. I know I
would miss $500, and $16 million many of us could retire on to Costa
Rica. I don’t want to
retire, and that is one of the reasons I write Leasing News. Third,
I have made several declarations, to clarify my personal position.
I am a very satisfied American Express Platinum Card Holder from when
they came out with this. I charge almost everything on this card,
even paying advance lease deposits to order equipment for customers,
use the travel, and find the service excellent. I don’t leave
home without it. Through
a family trust, we own American Express stock, and continue to buy
it. I think it personally is an excellent investment. I personally
think it is an excellent company, including the business finance division.
I personally recommend to readers to buy this company’s stock.
It is not only safe, it is a smart investment. When
a highly reliable source, a key person, sends me inside information,
I am going to print it. It is news. In referrence to First Sierra/SierraCities,
not one of the ex-directors I interviewed had anything good to say.
Former officers and managers also had many unhappy stories and complaints
and talked about numerous wrong doings. The only person I have ever
interviewed who had anything nice to say was Greg McIntosh, who by
the way, is no longer there ( his choice, he said ). The
“ka-boom” in a headline was before September 11th.
After that date, I personally felt
it appropriate to back off the story, as the employees and management
had extraordinary
tasks and reactions. We then got into Thanksgiving and Christmas. The
momentum was lost, times had changed, but the story has not. There
were/are a series of lawsuits, counter suits, and you name it with
ex-directors. I have a twelve page memo that I am trying to edit
into a three day series that will be quite revealing. There are two
other stories regarding First Sierra/Sierra Cities and American Express
that will come out in Leasing News in the next sixty days. There is
also an active
law suit against Leasing News concerning what I think is an effort
to stop
one of the stories from being told. Perhaps
it appears Leasing News is “picking on American Express,”
but the truth is many believe they made a bad financial choice in
acquiring First Sierra/Sierra Cities. When all the facts are presented
in an accurate and fair manner, you, the reader, can then make up
your own mind. Don’t be surprised for American Express present
management to also
agree, as they are still learning some of the facts. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Joilet
Closes in Illinois The
Blues Brothers say “good-bye” to Joliet. http://www.musicselections.com/movie/soulman.mid http://ftp.interaktif.net.tr/ftp/Music/Midi/blues_brothers
hit
the .wav file here” http://members.aol.com/alanpc/private/blues/bbhome.htm ftp://ftp.cs.monash.edu.au/users/pringle/bluesbros/sounds
and maybe you remember this one: ftp://ftp.cs.monash.edu.au/users/pringle/bluesbros/sounds/bullshit.wav ___________________________________________________________________ 2002
UAEL Staff Joe
Woodley Joanie
Dalton Bill
Grohe Originally
the Western Association of Equipment Leasing (WAEL,) the organization
grew to a true national association in the last five six years, who's
eastern membership now equals western membership. Total membership
at year-end 2001 was 379. The Certified
Leasing Professional ( CLP ) program started here was
"spun off" and is now a joint association sponsored and
run "foundation.." There are currently 223
Certified Leasing Professionals. The organization
has also evolved from "sigs," industry segments represented
at the board level and at conferences, and from active regional meetings
to "funding symposiums" conducted throughout the
United States. "We got complaints from the funding source members
about their employees doing too many regional meetings… It was
too expensive for them to send all of their people to the regional
meetings…(so we changed)….from 24 regional meetings to the
6 super regional events," former president Bob Rodi, CPL, describes
it. The organization
is in a “re-building mode” with Bob Fisher, CLP, of Fisher-Anderson
following Chuck Brazier, CLP, Centerpoint, who along with Bette Kerhoulas
held the organization together in 2001 when the staff fell to one.
Joe
Woodley, http://www.leasingnews.org/Conscious-Top%20Stories/apptWoodley.htm
formerly of Westover Leasing and past president, was brought n as
CEO, working part-time to help rebuild the association. Bill
Grohe, retired broker/lessor and past president of the association,
also works part-time as membership director. Two conferences
are planned this year, one a joint meeting with the Eastern Association
of Equipment Leasing in Las Vegas, and the other in the fall in San
Diego, California. Funding Retreats are also very popular.
More about these can be found at: You may
contact Joanie Dalton or Bill Grohe at 510-444-9235 or via their web
site:
Broker/Lessor
< $3MM $445 http://www.uael.org/about/benefits/
www.leasingnews.org |
|