According to the 2024 Equipment Leasing & Finance U.S. Economic Outlook Q2 Update, released by the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation in April, real equipment and software investment growth is projected to be 2.2 percent in 2024. The report further states investment activity is expected to pick up in the latter half of 2024 and forecasts real GDP growth of 2.3 percent this year, an improvement over the 1.7 percent growth forecasted in the Foundation’s 2024 Economic Outlook published in December 2023. Additionally, the report indicates that business lending standards for Commercial and Industrial loans tightened in Q4 2023 with a net 15 percent of banks reporting tightening standards for loans to large- and middle-market firms, and 19 percent reporting tighter standards for loans to smaller firms.

Equipment Finance Advisor meets with three leaders from different sectors within the equipment finance industry. The purpose of these dialogues was to gain insights into their perspectives on this latest industry report and to illuminate the anticipated direction of the equipment finance sector. Participants in this dialogue include Peter Bullen, Executive Vice President & Group Head with Key Equipment Finance (Bank-owned); Kathleen Canum, Senior Vice President of Administration with Canon Financial Services (Captive); andShari Williams, Chief Risk Officer with SLR Equipment Finance (Independent).