In the last 10 years, UK asset finance has become more stratified and is more dominated by niche players “creating a positive focus,” according to John Jenkins, CEO of Haydock Finance.
Jenkins made the comments during a 30-minute interview with Lindsay Town, the CEO of IAA-Advisory, as part of a series of ‘fireside chats’ with UK leasing executives, to be streamed on 22 April at 1pm.
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Jenkins said that setting up as a generalist lessor today is a more difficult proposition than it was a decade ago, given how the UK asset finance market has developed.
As brokers and borrowers have become more sophisticated, so too has their quest for “a better solution, the right solution and a more flexible solution, which makes it harder for a lender to be a generalist, because you need that nuance around underwriting, product delivery and proposition management,” said Jenkins.
The two also discussed the challenges posed by the global financial crisis of 2008/2009, during which Jenkins was chief executive of specialist lessor GE Capital UK.
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By GlobalDataHaydock Finance
Haydock’s Jenkins said, as a US-owned non-bank operating in Europe, the job of the board to navigate the crisis was made doubly difficult, in part, because government schemes were not open to non-banks and also because the US parent took on more regulatory complexity when “for the first time ever, it became a regulated business”.
From zero compliance officers at the company’s headquarters in Connecticut one day, the lessor had an army descend upon the next, recalled Jenkins of his years at GE Capital UK.
Town and Jenkins also discussed the nature of leadership, bringing new blood into the business and cast their minds forward to the future direction of the UK asset finance market.
The pre-recorded chat is the third in a series of similar interviews that Lindsay Town will be hosting scheduled into July sponsored by LTi Technology Solutions, a US-based global provider of in-the-cloud asset finance technology.
“Although LTi is a sponsor of this event, we wanted to hand the interviewing to a seasoned industry professional, so we’re proud to say that Lindsay Town, with at least 45-years’ experience under his belt in various leadership roles, agreed to do this for us.
“We know he’ll generate good debate and get the best out of the captains of industry we’ve lined up in the weeks ahead,” said Robert Taylor, UK country manager for LTi Technology Solutions.
LTi Leasing Leaders Series
The ‘LTiConnections: Leasing Leader Series’ interviews are free to watch and will be followed by a live Q&A session with the interview guest and interviewer, alongside LTi’s Taylor.
Registration is required.
The opening chat, on 4 March, was with Sam Geneen, chairman of Start Asset Finance, followed by Neil Davies, CEO of Close Brothers’ commercial division on 25 March.
Future events will feature Mike Randall (CEO of Simply Asset Finance), Kerry Howells (CEO of Tower Leasing) and Roy Royer (Head of Europe at Somerset Capital).
Taylor said: “Our series of talks have been structured to tackle the most pressing and current topics that our industry is facing today. The idea is to examine the key changes the industry has seen in the last year and to consider the challenges ahead.
“We want to appeal to new recruits in asset finance as well as explore the essence of being a leader in this industry,” said Taylor.
The next event will be streamed live on 22 April at 1pm UTC.
Click HERE to register for the Zoom Webinar.
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Interview with Sam Geneen to open LTi’s Leasing Leaders Series
