The recession might be far from over
and equipment values still look likely to drop further in most
sectors (with print being an interesting exception – see pages 34
and 35), but there are wider signs of hope in the recruitment
market.
At last, some leasing companies are
crying out for fresh talent and, needless to say, with so many
victims of the recession scrabbling around looking for work, they
do not have to look far.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Just look at the recent flurry of
broker moves (pages 27 and 28) for an idea of how energetically
leasing talent is being redistributed in 2010.
One of the biggest stories last
month (exclusively reported at www.vrl-financial-news.com) was the
arrival of the well-known and respected Alex Badran at Bank of
America Leasing.
His new masters have tasked him with
ramping-up the bank’s corporate jet finance division across Europe,
which since 2004 has effectively been run by Frankfurt-based
Toennies von Limburg.
This, it is understood, is part of a
wider move by the US bank to establish a sizeable jet finance arm
in the Far East and the Middle East.
How well do you really know your competitors?
Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.
Thank you!
Your download email will arrive shortly
Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample
We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form
By GlobalDataHaving gained considerable
experience in jet finance at Barclays, GE, RBS, and most recently
at Cessna Finance, Badran will be more than able to cope with his
new position.
He has a challenge on his hands,
however, particularly as, it is understood, that Bank of America is
now intent on servicing not just its own high net worth clients
with jet finance, but also Merrill Lynch’s.
Lombard made a similar move at the
tail end of last year when it received a mandate from its embattled
parent to “work with RBS Wealth Management and Global Banking &
Markets businesses in certain jurisdictions where these customers
are based” (see Leasing Life, December 2009 issue).
Other moves are
also on the cards in the jet and yacht finance sector. One
individual, we understand, has landed himself a plum job at a
little-known continental European bank. Watch this space.
Elsewhere last month, Hitachi
Capital, as it prepared to announce the departure of several long
standing and well-known members of staff – full details of which
will appear shortly in Leasing Life – revealed that it had hired
James Worraker as head of its vehicle solutions business.
Still on a wheeled asset theme, BMW
Financial Services UK announced last month it had hired Christian
Kalinke as its new interim chief executive. This follows the
departure of his predecessor, Keith Dye.
Meanwhile, Derek Soper, who
continues to have boundless energy, was appointed last month as a
non-executive director of Grant Thornton’s leasing and consumer
finance division.
Soper will merge this work with his
chairmanship of International Advisory Associates (IAA) (which is
due to announce shortly the names of its six new directors).
In other appointment news, Deutsche
Leasing announced that Alexander Wueerst had been appointed as its
new chairman, replacing Karl-Ludwig Kamprath, who had held the
position since 2007.
These people moves show there is
plenty of life, vigour and entrepreneurialism in European equipment
finance. Long may it continue.
However, I was sad to learn, just as
we were going to press, of news that UK leasing companies, again,
have been ripped off in a £30 million multiple financing scam
involving, er, fruit farmers no less.
Full reports on this, and other
leasing stories, will appear as usual on our website and in our
April issue.
On a final note, we know of a number
of leasing companies and lease brokerages that are up for sale.
Some are close to being sold.
For some, it seems, the strain of
coping in a recession has just become too great.
Brendan Malkin
brendan.malkin@vrlfinancialnews.com
