Equipment Finance Confidence Unchanged from Dec.

Jan. 21, 2021

The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation releases the January 2021 Monthly Confidence Index for the Equipment Finance Industry (MCI-EFI) today. The index reports a qualitative assessment of both the prevailing business conditions and expectations for the future as reported by key executives from the $900 billion equipment finance sector. Overall, confidence in the equipment finance market is 59.6, unchanged from the December index and in line with pre-pandemic levels.

January 2021 Survey Results

The overall MCI-EFI is 59.6, unchanged from the December index.

  • When asked to assess their business conditions over the next four months, 33.3 percent  of executives said they believe business conditions will improve over the next four months, up from 27.6 percent  in December. 59.3 percent  believe business conditions will remain the same over the next four months, a decrease from 62.1 percent  the previous month. 7.4percent  believe business conditions will worsen, a decrease from 10.3 percent  in December
  • 33.3 percent  of the survey respondents believe demand for leases and loans to fund capital expenditures (capex) will increase over the next four months, up from 27.6 percent  in December. 59.3 percent  believe demand will “remain the same” during the same four-month time period, an increase from 55.2 percent  the previous month. 7.4 percent  believe demand will decline, down from 17.2 percent  in December.
  • 18.5 percent  of the respondents expect more access to capital to fund equipment acquisitions over the next four months, down from 24.1 percent  in December. 81.5 percent  of executives indicate they expect the “same” access to capital to fund business, an increase from 75.9 percent  last month. None expect “less” access to capital, unchanged from the previous month.
  • When asked, 25.9 percent  of the executives report they expect to hire more employees over the next four months, down from 31 percent  in December. 66.7 percent  expect no change in headcount over the next four months, a decrease from 69 percent  last month. 7.4 percent  expect to hire fewer employees, up from none in December.
  • None of the leadership evaluate the current U.S. economy as “excellent." 77.8 percent  of the leadership evaluate the current U.S. economy as “fair,” up from 72.4 percent  in December. 22.2 percent evaluate it as “poor."
  • 51.9 percent  of the survey respondents believe that U.S. economic conditions will get “better” over the next six months, a decrease from 55.2 percent  in December. 37 percent  indicate they believe the U.S. economy will “stay the same” over the next six months, an increase from 34.5 percent  last month. 11.1 percent  believe economic conditions in the U.S. will worsen over the next six months, up from 10.3 percent  the previous month.