Equipment finance industry confidence steady in August
The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation today released its August 2025 Monthly Confidence Index for the Equipment Finance Industry (MCI-EFI), revealing that confidence in the equipment finance market is steady following three consecutive months of increases.
The index, which provides a qualitative assessment from key executives within the $1.3 trillion sector, eased slightly to 60.2 in August from 61.6 in July.
Providing an executive perspective on the MCI-EFI’s findings and the outlook ahead, David Normandin, president and chief executive officer, Wintrust Specialty Finance, shares his outlook: “The results of 2025 to date have made me optimistic about the near-term future of the equipment leasing and finance industry. 2025 has brought strong origination volume and slightly improved portfolio performance. A little net interest margin improvement would be the icing on the cake for a year that we were concerned about in January.”
August 2025 survey results:
Business conditions -- When assessing the next four months, 26.9 percent of responding executives believe business conditions will improve (down from 37.5 percent in July). The majority (69.2 percent) believe business conditions will remain the same (up from 58.3 percent in July) and 3.9 percent believe business conditions will worsen (down slightly from 4.2 percent in July).
Capex demand – For the next four months, 26.9 percent of the survey respondents believe demand for leases and loans to fund capital expenditures (capex) will increase (down from 37.5 percent in July). 61.5 percent expect demand to remain the same (up from 58.3 percent), and 11.5 percent believe demand will decline (up from 4.2 percent in July).
Access to capital – Over the next four months, 11.5 percent of respondents expect greater access to capital to fund equipment acquisitions, a decrease from 16.7 percent in July. The majority (88.5 percent) anticipate the same access to capital to fund business, up from 70.8 percent the previous month. None expect less access to capital, down from 8.3 percent in July.
Employment – Regarding employment over the next four months, 42.3 percent of executives expect to hire more employees, a sharp increase from 20.8 percent in July. 57.7 percent foresee no change in headcount (down from 70.8 percent last month), and none expect to hire fewer employees, down from 8.3 percent in July.
U.S. economy – None of the respondents evaluate the current U.S. economy as excellent, down from 8.3 percent in July, while 100 percent assess it as fair, up from 91.7 percent last month, while none evaluate it as poor, which is unchanged from July.
Economic outlook – Over the next six months, 23.1 percent of respondents believe that U.S. economic conditions will get better, a notable decline from 41.7 percent in July. More favorably, 65.4 percent expect the U.S. economy to stay the same (up from 41.7 percent), and 11.5 percent believe economic conditions will worsen, a decrease from 16.7 percent last month.
Business development spending – Over the next six months, 30.8 percent of respondents believe their company will increase spending on business development activities, up from 25 percent in July, while 69.2 percent believe there will be no change in business development spending (down from 75 percent); none believe there will be a decrease in spending (unchanged from last month).
August 2025 MCI-EFI survey comments from industry executive leadership:
Bank, small ticket -- “The impact of tariffs, real or perceived, is still a risk. As costs increase for everyday items and proposed tax cuts aren't yet realized, we are in a state of ‘wait and see,’" says Charles Jones, senior vice president, 1st Equipment Finance, Inc.
Independent, Small Ticket -- “Slowly, we are seeing that tariffs are not moving inflation higher as critics projected. Any relief on the fed funds rate will certainly open up the economy.” says James D. Jenks, CEO, Global Finance and Leasing Services, LLC.
Independent, Middle Ticket -- “At some point in the next two quarters, we should get some consistent policy from the federal government and businesses should be able to plan,” reports Jeffry Elliott, CLFP, CEO, Elevex Capital and Equipment Leasing & Finance Association treasurer.
To access more details and read the full survey results, visit the MCI-EFI web page.
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