Equipment Finance Market Confidence on a High

February 8, 2017 - The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation reported that confidence in the equipment finance market in January was a 5.9-point increase from the December index, and it is the highest index since the foundation’s report was launched in May 2009 to track recovery after the 2008 downturn.

 

In the survey, 74.2% of executives responding said they believe business conditions will improve over the next four months, and 71% of survey respondents believe demand for leases and loans to fund capital expenditures (capex) will increase over the next four months.  19.4% of the respondents expect more access to capital to fund equipment acquisitions over the next four months, while 80.6% of executives indicate they expect the same access.

 

When asked, 35.5% of the executives report they expect to hire more employees over the next four months, a decrease from 41.9% in December, and 61.3% expect no change in headcount over the next four months, an increase from 48.4% last month.

 

Regarding U.S. economic conditions, 61.3% of the survey respondents believe it will get better over the next six months, a decrease from 71% in December.

 

Survey results are posted on the Foundation website, www.leasefoundation.org/research/mci.