Sierra Cities

I have been pressuring to get more information on Sierra Cities, as I really have been suspecting that nothing is happening here, but was told it will be Washington Mutual and an announcement may be made within the next two days. I am holding onto the follow-up story until after the announcement.

editor

Unicapital

"UOG Portland, they say things are still up in the air, but the Pres. of UOG Portland has been working hard to get a deal done with B of A before UCP pulls them down with them in the BK proceedings."

I will stick by my comments yesterday on this, plus BSB making a formal proposal to Unicapital and an unwinding of this company.

These are companies that Unicapital Purchased, until they basically ran out of money to acquire companies. Many were in the "hard credit" or "challenged credit" or franchise financing business.

American Capital Resources 2/98
Boulder Capital Group 2/98
Cauff, Lippman Aviation 2/98
Jacom Computer Services 2/98
Matrix Funding 2/98
Merrimac Financial Associates 2/98
MunicipalCapital Markets Group 2/98
The NSJ Group 2/98
PortfolioFinancial Servicing 2/98
Vanlease 2/98
The Walden Group 2/98
K.L.C., Inc. dba Keystone Leasing 5/98
Jumbo Jet 7/98 HLC Financial 7/98
Saddleback Financial Corporation 7/98 U.S.
Turbine Engine Corp. 7/98
The Myerson Companies dba BSB Leasing 9/98

UniCapital's stock, like those of many other financial services companies, took a steep dive in late August and early September 1998, and UniCapital made no further acquisitions as it no longer had a stock that was attractive to use in acquisitions.

One of the major mistakes, according to industry analysts, was Unicapital's entrance into the commercial jet aircraft and engine leasing market. It is reported that the Aircraft Group had unlimited abilities in closing deals. According to information given to me, when insiders went to the CEO about the poor credit decisions, particularly with used aircraft prices going downwards, the CEO told them they did not know what they were talking about. It was reported this was his "baby" and it was his basic decision, over other objections, to acquire the refurbishing along with aircraft and engine leasing to build a leasing department that no one had been able to control before, and this was an industry that would be very profitable.

Allegedly, the CFO had a great deal of trouble confronting his younger brother, who was CEO at the time. While the CFO has reportedly told others about his concern, he was "afraid" to bring up many of these problems directly with his brother, one highly reliable source told me.

As business was changing, it became evident to those with leasing experience that the CEO knew very little about the leasing business itself, according to several inside sources.. Everyone I spoke with told me it appeared managements main thrust, their main occupation was to try and please the Wall Street investors. This was the impression given to many divisions visited by the CEO, who was not building up support from people who "knew" the leasing industry and how it was supposed to work.

I was told by several of the divisional company management, who do not want me to quote them, that they had little respect for him. I was told the former CE0 didn't seem to care, that his attention all went to raising money and not to operations in the street, which was "below him." He was a "New Yorker," although the operation was in Florida, the attitude was Wall Street ran the company. Morale was also poor in the operating area as it not only filtered down from management, but was seen by middle-management.

There is an interesting story when the top management team first visited BSB Leasing in Colorado, they arrived in two long stretch limousines ( they could not all fit in one ), dressed as if they had just arrived from New York City in expensive suits, ties, and well-polished shoes. They got stuck for over a half-hour going up the elevator. The definitely were not in a good mood when they meant casual dressed, hard working,"hands on crowd" at BSB. It was evident, I am told, they didn't like Colorado, or the people who lived and worked for them.

BSB has made an offer last Friday to purchase their company back. Several of the "divisions" are in negotiations for sales or wind down as Bank of America evidently has lost confidence, but wants to wind down the operation in an orderly fashion, I am told by a reliable source. I cannot get Unicapital public relations people to respond by telephone or e-mail and have calls into several officers for over a week. There obviously is a "gag order", and in my opinion, a disregard to the public and the news media.

I know the excuse will be "negotiations", and not wanting to be sued by stockholders, but surely management can handle "the spin" better than they have in the last month,particularly. There are many leasing companies on the block, see The List, and it is no secret this is not a particularly good market for leasing company investment. And in reality, in this sue happy world, no matter what you are going to do, you are not going to please everyone, and if there is any hope of an investor getting a dime back, you better believe they will explore it.

Kit Menkin

Actively seeking bids for their portfolio's or companies are quite a few leading companies such as Advanta, Republic Group of South Carolina....

50 Leasing Companies Major Changes 51>?

American Business Leasing ( gone )
Balboa Capital ( Founder Byrne "...office available any time he wants to use it" ).
The Bancorp Group, Inc. (Southfield, MI) ( no longer in business )
Bankvest (bankrupt)
Bombadier ( reported having problems, not confirmed )
Charter Financial ( purchased by Wells Fargo 9/5/2000 )
Colonial Pacific (11/98) purchased by GE Capital Commerce Security ( 9/99 closed to leasing broker program     )(11/99 last fundings)
Copelco ( 4/2000 sold to Citibank/10/2000 stock down rated/10/2000 ceases broker business, many     complaints in manner turning off faucet )
Creative Capital" of Bloomfield Hills, MI. ( shut-down 3/2000 )
Dana ( sold off, active as captive )
DVI Capital ( out of broker )
El Camino Leasing, Woodland Hills, Caifornia (10/2000 No longer taking broker business )
eLease ( June/July/2000 senior management changes )
FMA Finance ( reportedly closed to brokers )
Fidelity ( 4/2000 acquired by EAB, a wholly owned subsidiary of ABN AMRO Bank N.V., headquartered in the     Netherlands, raising funds )
Finova ( out of market place )( 10/11/2000 Dow Jones headlines "Finova Stock Falls As Buyout Hopes Wane     10/25/2000 Dow Jones notes stock falling and problems at Finova)
First State Bancorp, Albuquerque, N.M ( 3/2000 sold leasing division-$64 million---)
Franklin Bank ( no more leases )
Golden Gate Funding ( 2/99 purchased by Westover Financial )
Heller Financial's Commercial Services Unit ( 10/99 purchased by CIT )
Imperial ( sold portfolio )
Japan Leasing Credit claims ( JLC --6/99 purchased by Orix )
Lease Acceptance Corp---( ceases broker business 7/26/2000 )
Leasing Solutions ( bankrupt )
Liberty Leasing ( closed, California company )
Linc Capital ( out of vendor and broker business, Nasdaq halts stock sales, $13.4 loss last quarter,10/2000     assets for sale )
Lyon Credit Corporaton ( 9/99 purchased by Hudson United Bancorp )
Manifest Group--( 9/1/2000 purchased by US Bancorp Leasing and Financial, "...a win for all the parties     involved," Brian Bjella.
Matsco Financial ( purchased by Greater Bay Bank )
Merit Leasing ( gone )
Metwest Leasing, Spokane Wa. ( advising brokers that they have run out of funds so they are unable to fund     a transaction we have there for funding. )
Metrolease--reports closing operation,John Blazek at Evergreen Leasing, Hathcock losing assets, will not     confirm nor deny; many serious rumors of serious fraud floating around the marketplace and if they file bk,     will publish them.)
NationsCredit, Business Leasing Group (1/29/99 sold to Textron**) *"The Business Leasing Group of Nations     Credit was sold to Textron and we still do broker business," Jim Merrilees, very well respected individual in     the leasing industry..
NIA National Leasing ( 3/2000 purchased by Lakeland Bancorp )
New England Capital ( sold to Network Capital Alliance a division of Sovereign Bank. Sovereign did hire two     people who will run a sales office in CT, doing basically the same deals with the same people as before.     Little will change in that aspect.
Newcourt ( sold off )
Onset Capital ( Irwin buys 87% equity )
Orix 10/2000 "long-term Outlook has been revised from Stable to Negative" Credit Allianchat it has changed its     name to ORIX Financial Services, 9/2000 Japanese Bank President Committs Suicide (Orix is a 14.7%     shareholder in bank having problems ), ( 8/2000 closes small ticket vendor division in Portland, Oregon,     "Business as usual (in New Jersey and with brokers)," says Steve Geller )
Phoenix ( both divisions )
Prime Capital ( 2/2000 purchased by Finatra Capital originally reported by elaonline, but have heard this did     not happen, looking into clarification--editor )
Republic Leasing, South Carolina 9/27/2000 ( "The expected result will be a sale of Republic Leasing"---Dwight     Galloway )
Rockford ( sold to American Express )
Scripp Financial ( 6/29/2000 ( purchased by US Bancorp )
SDI ( closed to broker programs )
SFC Capital ( 9/15/2000 purchased by Trinity Capital )
SierraCities ( posted $7.7 million second quarter loss, rumors abound,including pending sale. Oct 16/lot of     venom posted on Yahoo bulletin board 10/19 date has passed. Is there really anyone interested in     purchasing SierraCities? There may be smoke, but there does not seem to be any fires. Are things being     seen through mirrors and there is no reality? Is Tom Depping really Rod Sterling? Now told expect     announcement it will be Washington Mutual! When we see it, we can believe it.
T&W ( bankrupt, lost their listing )
Transamerica ( sold )
Unicapital ( $11.4 million first quarter loss chairman,CEO,CFO resign, 38 employees cutback, 8/23 BSB to use     other funders reported, rumor that BSB will be "spun off", not confirmed and appears to be in the rumor     stage right now. Good news, 9/1 Bank of America extend revolving credit line to October 16,2000.     9/29/2000 Many rumors floating around. 10/12 Prognosis is "challenging," at best.10/17 BofA gives them     until Friday to complete "process." Bank of America extends to November 6 as division look for direct i    nvestors or to pull this out themselves.)
USA Capital Leasing ( gone-bk )

any corrections, additions, comments will be appreciated. We are presently working on dividing the list into last twelve months and prior.

LeasePoint.com Announces Industry's First Real-Time Private Label Program; Equipment Vendors Can Create Leasing Websites in a Matter of Minutes

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 25, 2000--LeasePoint.com, an emerging industry leader in online technology equipment leasing, announced today that its users can now customize a private label version of the LeasePoint.com engine in real time. The new version of LeasePoint Connect(TM) enables vendors to create a fully functional, customized leasing web site in under five minutes -- something no other company in the industry offers.

"With LeasePoint Connect(TM), vendors won't miss revenue opportunities while waiting for a leasing site to be built," LeasePoint.com vice president of marketing Elen Bahr said. "In minutes, businesses in a variety of industries can add the Internet's most powerful leasing engine to their site without spending a lot of time or money. LeasePoint Connect(TM) opens the door to revenue streams, while providing simple, efficient leasing solutions."

"You don't have to be a web master to create a customized leasing site," LeasePoint.com CIO Bruce Underwood said. "The power of the LeasePoint engine can be added in under five minutes to a vendor's web site through LeasePoint's simple, step-by-step process. Vendors are able to tailor fit a leasing site to their company's needs quickly."

Other LeasePoint.com technical developments include giving lenders ways to more accurately find customers within a preferred credit profile; businesses the option of applying for one lease to cover equipment from multiple vendors, and providing more online educational resources.

About LeasePoint.com

Located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, LeasePoint.com is rapidly emerging as an industry-leading Internet site for businesses seeking to lease technology equipment. LeasePoint.com matches business customers needing technology equipment with vendors and lenders to give businesses the best lease options available. LeasePoint does this with specially developed technology that removes obstacles of traditional leasing and makes the process fast and easy.

BW0229 OCT 25,2000

6:01 PACIFIC

netDecide(TM) Launches the First Holistic WealthManagement System(TM) for the Financial Services Industry

Innovative Combination of Decision Management, Customer

Relationship Management and Knowledge Management Provides

Platform for the Next Generation of Financial Services

TYSONS CORNER, Va., Oct. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- netDecide(TM), a developer of enterprise software for the financial services industry, today unveiled the next generation eBusiness platform for the financial services industry with the formal introduction of its Wealth Management System(TM). This comprehensive software suite combines leading edge Decision Management, Customer Relationship Management and Knowledge Management applications in order to offer financial services institutions an enterprise-class platform for managing and leveraging customer relationships. Through the implementation of the netDecide Wealth Management System, online consumers and institutions can go beyond today's simple account aggregation in order to employ a holistic and collaborative wealth management platform that turns information into financial intelligence.

"The netDecide Wealth Management System has been designed from the ground- up to address the most significant challenges facing the financial services industry," said Kate Armstrong, president and CEO of netDecide. "In an era of shrinking product margins and heightened competition, institutions are faced with the challenge of reorienting themselves around the customer relationship, while consumers are faced with their own challenges in the increasingly complex financial decisions that they need to make.

The netDecide Wealth Management System bridges this gap with a collaborative platform that turns personal financial planning into wealth management while allowing organizations to develop stronger and more robust customer relationships."

The netDecide Wealth Management System is the first product to address the most significant issues facing the financial services industry and online consumers:

* While being confronted with an ever increasing number of financial options and entrusted with greater responsibility for their own financial planning, most consumers do not currently have access to any form of formal financial planning or wealth management advice.

* The financial services industry confronts a number of issues, including product commoditization, deregulation, industry consolidation, globalization, an aging and increasingly sophisticated consumer base, and competition from new online entities, that have led to significantly higher customer acquisition costs and decreased profit margins per product offering.

Due to the complex nature of financial transactions, existing decision support and customer relationship management offerings have been unable to adequately support customer interaction with comprehensive and real-world advice across the entire spectrum of an individual's financial planning.

Through the development of proprietary and patent-pending technology, the netDecide Wealth Management System delivers to financial institutions and their customers comprehensive financial analysis with real-time projections based on actual financial data. netDecide's approach to wealth management is the first to take into account all of the principal variables in financial planning, including asset base, ability to borrow or leverage wealth, tax implications, and tolerance for risk, and use this information to offer advice that demonstrates the impact of these decisions on every facet of a consumer's financial life.

For example, consumers are no longer limited to asking simple questions, such as "What is the best auto loan?" But, rather, they can ask the real question, "What is the best way to finance my new car?" Through the netDecide Wealth Management System, financial planners and consumers can evaluate traditional auto loans and leasing options, home equity loans and portfolio divestiture against one another, and examine their tax and risk implications, when researching a car buying decision. Equally important, the impact of this decision is immediately reflected across all of the other aspects of an individual's financial planning. As a result, consumers and financial planners may use a single application to address every aspect, including retirement planning, portfolio management, and daily financial planning, of an individual's wealth management strategy.

Financial services institutions can also leverage this information with the powerful customer relationship management and knowledge management applications available within the netDecide platform to build stronger customer relationships and more effectively promote new product offerings.

By knowing more about their customer, financial institutions can also engage in contextual commerce(TM) by offering to customers in anticipation of their needs, additional products and services that help them to realize their wealth management goals. Functionality that supports these capabilities includes campaign management, customer tracking and an online knowledge base that can address sophisticated financial questions and through advanced filtering, suggest specific product offerings that best address an individual's specific needs.

This ability to offer unmatched financial planning advice, which can be customized to a firm's specific projections and rules, along with unmatched customer retention capabilities enables organizations, including banks, brokerages, insurance companies and financial planners, to more effectively implement customer-centric business strategies focused on increasing share of wallet and assets under management. The netDecide Wealth Management System achieves this by empowering their staff with the knowledge base and resources needed to effectively service a wide variety of financial needs and through this approach, these organizations can provide a number of new value-added services that can be used to create more long-lasting customer relationships.

The netDecide Wealth Management solution also offers a number of customizable user interfaces designed to meet the specific needs of financial planners, customer-facing staff, such as call center operations, and online consumers. These web-based interfaces can be accessed via intranets, extranets or the Internet, interface with a number of wireless applications, and can provide automated or event-based notification and alerts via a variety of channels.

About the netDecide Wealth Management System and its five components:

The foundation of the netDecide Wealth Management solution, DecisonServer(TM) integrates with netDecide's three specific presentation layers, AdvisorDecide(TM), PersonalDecide(TM), and PlannerDecide(TM), and the company's business intelligence and data management solution, IntelliDecide(TM), to offer comprehensive and holistic wealth management advice. Using OFX and other trusted standards, DecisionServer can access and interface with back-office financial data, while aggregating and filtering relevant financial content, such as specific product offerings, in order to deliver real-world advice and projections.

DecisionServer incorporates netDecide's patent pending Object-based Numeric Engine(TM) (O.N.E.), which utilizes rules-based, discrete event simulation technology in order to derive easy-to-understand answers to complex questions. Unlike traditional financial planning instruments that are formula-based and rely on static information, O.N.E. applies proprietary modeling technology to offer dynamic decision making support.

The netDecide Wealth Management System employs a variety of presentation layers in order to allow users, including online consumers, financial planners and call centers, to interface with the technology. Due to its reliance on XML and other open standards, each layer is fully customizable to each organization's unique requirements.

PersonalDecide(TM) is the web and wireless accessible customer interface that individuals may use to review their account balances online, to ask questions and analyze resulting scenarios, and to execute financial decisions. AdvisorDecide(TM) is designed to meet the needs of call centers and other financial advisors that need to interface with customers and answer standard queries in real-time. One of the key features of AdvisorDecide is its ability to review data that customers may have generated through PersonalDecide in order to assist them in their financial planning. AdvisorDecide also provides contextual links to sales information and electronic forms, and captures comprehensive reporting on each interaction.

PlannerDecide(TM) is a more comprehensive environment in which financial planners can perform custom financial modeling on an ongoing and consultative basis. Financial planners may use PlannerDecide to analyze their customers' financial portfolios and to create long-term wealth management plans.

netDecide's customer relationship management and knowledge management application, IntelliDecide(TM), provides the sales management and business intelligence components of the Wealth Management System and enables contextual commerce. Integrated into IntelliDecide are a discrete knowledgeEngine(TM), opportunityEngine(TM) and productEngine(TM) that work together to mine and analyze customer information in order to create enhanced one-to-one and cross- selling opportunities.

netDecide's n-tiered architecture and web-based technologies are built on well-established industry standards, including XML, Java, SQL and C++, to deliver a secure and trusted platform that is fully extensible.

General availability of DecisionServer, PlannerDecide and AdvisorDecide is slated for November 1, 2000 with IntelliDecide and PersonalDecide being available in the first quarter of 2001.

About netDecide

netDecide Corporation provides financial services institutions with the tools to help their consumers intelligently manage wealth. netDecide's proprietary technology shows consumers how decisions made today will impact their financial futures, and it is accessible either online or through an advisor. netDecide, based in Tysons Corner, Virginia, was established in 1996 and is a privately held corporation. Investors in the company include Bank of America, Ernst & Young, Legg Mason, Dominion Ventures, Steve Walker & Associates, and WomenAngels.net.

Learn more about netDecide by visiting http://www.netDecide.com.

netDecide is a trademark of the netDecide Corporation. All other names are the property of their respective trademark holders.

SOURCE netDecide Corporation

CO: netDecide Corporation

ST: Virginia

IN: CPR FIN

SU: PDT eportÆ