The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation's (ELFF) October 2020 Monthly Confidence Index for the Equipment Finance Industry reported confidence in the equipment finance market is 55.0, easing from the September index of 56.5 and steady with pre-Covid index levels.
When asked about the outlook for the future, survey respondent Bruce J. Winter, President, FSG Capital, Inc., said, “It’s now obvious that the economic fallout from this pandemic will continue for the foreseeable future and there will be no quick return to pre-COVID 19 economic metrics. While many of our clients have adapted to a new normal, others have spent their government stimulus and are at risk of closure without additional support."
October 2020 Survey Results
- When asked to assess their business conditions, 29.6 percent of respondents said they believe business conditions will improve over the next four months, down from 35.7 percent in September. About 51.9 percent believe business conditions will remain the same. About 18.5 perfect believe conditions will worsen.
- About 22.2 percent of respondents believe demand for leases and loans to fund capital expenditures (capex) will increase over the next four months, down from 28.6% in September. Nearly 66.7 percent believe demand will “remain the same."
- Some 33.3 percent of the respondents expect more access to capital to fund equipment acquisitions over the next four months, up from 17.9 percent in September. About 66.7 percent of executives indicate they expect the “same” access to capital to fund business, a decrease from 78.6 percent last month.
- When asked, 25.9 percent of the executives report they expect to hire more employees over the next four months, up from 17.9 percent in September. Around 63 percent expect no change in headcount.
- None of the leadership evaluate the current U.S. economy as “excellent,” unchanged from the previous month. About 55.6 percent of the leadership evaluate the current U.S. economy as “fair,” and 44.4 percent evaluate it as “poor."
- In addition, 25.9 percent of respondents believe that U.S. economic conditions will get “better” over the next six months, a decrease from 50 percent in September. Around 59.3 percent indicate they believe the U.S. economy will “stay the same” over the next six months, and 14.8 percent believe it will worsen.
- In October, 22.2 percent of respondents indicate they believe their company will increase spending on business development activities during the next six months, with 70.4 percent believing there will be “no change” in business development spending.
