Readers’ choice: Top 5 equipment finance stories of 2023
Equipment finance remained steadfast despite headwinds
Equipment Finance News’ five most read stories in 2023 reflect readers’ interest in new bond offerings, fraud prevention, a cautiously optimistic outlook and 13 equipment finance executives to keep an eye on in 2024.
Equipment lenders, service providers and dealers have spent much of the year advancing the equipment industry as new technologies and processes gain traction. Improved collaboration and communication between key stakeholders has opened doors for industry growth. EFN was proud to name 13 executives to watch in 2023, who have already found organizational success.
Equipment lenders and dealers experienced a liquidity crunch in the spring on the heels of the collapses of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank and the ensuing uncertainty with regional banks. By October, however, capital markets had largely calmed down, and EquipmentShare, one of the largest equipment rental companies in the United States, was able to issue a combined $1 billion in private bond offerings that Vice President of Finance and Treasurer Alec Jorgensen described as upsized and oversubscribed.
Financial services are common targets of lavish fraud schemes, and equipment finance is no different. Fraudsters in Alabama took an unusual approach to defrauding consumers by using the names of defunct, isolated, or off-the-grid equipment vendors to create bogus websites and sales listings. The scheme drew the ire of the Better Business Bureau.
Labor disputes, crunched liquidity and rising interest rates put pressure on the equipment finance industry this year, but lenders and dealers remained steadfast as and demand softened. Technology advances, too, were tailwinds for the industry and will likely continue to be in the year ahead.
Societe Generale made headlines in September when rumors swirled that the French investment bank was mulling the sale of its equipment finance business, a $25.6 billion operation that spans across 35 countries. No sale materialized despite precedence set by a 2020 downsizing of its equipment finance business.
