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.
