What’s the state of credit and collections in the equipment finance industry? The 6th Annual Credit Manager Survey provides some key insights. The survey results, based on feedback from close to 300 ELFA members, were presented at ELFA’s 2016 Credit and Collections Management Conference, June 5-7 in Denver. The 2016 survey covered a variety of topics, including credit metrics at bank, captive and independent leasing companies; collateral and residual valuations; pricing; credit processes; regulation; and the macroeconomic environment.

Top Takeaways
Highlights from the 6th Annual Credit Manager Survey include:
 

• Credit metrics are still exceptionally good, and approvals are at an all-time high.
• There has been a slight increase in delinquency and defaults.
• Terms are getting longer.
• Requests for credit concessions and waiver of guarantees are up over last year.
• Lessors are pulling away and reducing exposure in:
  • Oil & Gas
  • Coal
  • Metals and Mining
  • Retail
  • Some Agriculture
• Collateral values remain good at this point in the cycle, absent specific pockets related to the above industry sectors.
• Pricing pressure continues along with more competition noted.
• Regulation and compliance matters have everyone’s attention, especially bank lessors.
• Most changes to credit policy were to be “compliant” for bank lessors.
• Credit professionals have been very actively engaged by management on strategic matters, but less so on pricing and volume considerations.
• Confidence in the equipment finance industry has waned slightly from the 2015 survey.
• As credit managers comb through their portfolios, policies, processes and new approvals the question most asked is: “What are we missing?”

What Keeps You Up at Night?
It is truly the first question on the survey, “What Keeps You Up at Night?”, that is the most telling. In linking this survey question to the countless discussions on this question at the Credit and Collections Management Conference, it is the last takeaway above—“What are we missing?”—that is most unsettling to credit professionals within the equipment finance industry. Are we really getting ready for the unexpected events and the inevitable downturn in the credit cycle and are we managing our portfolios accordingly? Only time will tell.

About the Survey
The Credit Manager Conference Survey began as an offshoot to a portfolio management session at the Credit and Collections Management Conference more than seven years ago. The initial survey had few respondents and was limited in scope, asking just a handful of questions. After the session, Tom Ware of Paynet, Andrew Mesches, then at Key Equipment Finance and now at the ALTA Group, Doug Berman of Cisco Capital and Kevin Prykull of PNC Equipment Finance had an idea to enhance and more fully develop a robust Credit Manager Conference Survey that could ask pertinent questions related to credit and be conducted annually in a more formal fashion.

With the help of Bill Choi of ELFA, the survey became more focused in targeting ELFA’s membership, which significantly increased the number of respondents. This year the survey had close to 300 respondents.

Planning for the Credit Manager Conference Survey commences in November with a full kickoff meeting the week after New Year’s Day. The Survey Committee retains certain questions in order to assess changes and trends and likewise introduces new questions. Several open-ended questions are retained including the perennial favorite: “What Keeps You Up at Night?” The survey is reformatted and sent to constituents for completion in March. The Survey Committee reconvenes in late March to review and analyze the results. Then preparations are made to finalize the survey for presentation at the ELFA Credit and Collections Management Conference in early June.

The 2016 survey committee consisted of five equipment leasing and finance professionals, including Mary Du Pont of Fair Isaac Advisors (FICO), Kenneth Katz of Wells Fargo Equipment Finance, Patrick Moore of Paynet, Michael (Mic) Mount of US Bank Equipment Finance and Kevin Prykull of PNC Equipment Finance.

Looking Ahead to 2017
As Richard Dawson used to remark on Family Feud, “And the survey says!” Stay tuned for next year’s survey. If you would like to become active in the 2017 survey, please contact Heather Staverman (hstaverman@ELFAONLINE.org) at ELFA for details. Save the date: Next year’s Credit and Collections Management Conference will be held June 4-6, 2017, at the Hyatt Regency Baltimore Inner Harbor.

Kevin Prykull is Senior Vice President & Credit Underwriting Executive at PNC Equipment Finance and a member of the ELFA Credit & Collections Planning Committee. For more on this topic, a recording of the “General Session - Credit Manager Survey” from the 2016 ELFA Credit and Collections Management Conference is available in ELFA’s Conference Resource Center at http://elfa.sclivelearningcenter.com/index.aspx.