ELFF: Research Grant Ideas - Equipment Leasing and Finance Industry

Sponsor: The Equipment Leasing and Finance Foundation (ELFF)

Research grants up to $15,000 are available to encourage academics in all fields of scholarship to study topics of interest to the equipment leasing and finance industry, administered through the Equipment Leasing and Finance Foundation. Higher grant amounts will be considered for exceptional projects. A review process and grant guidelines are established. Foundation Trustees are willing to work with applicants to focus their proposals on subject matter deemed of interest. Research topics of interest to the industry include:

• Developing productivity from a sales team: how long does it take a new salesperson to "hit their number" and what factors influence the long-term success of new sales force members. Must be segmented by ownership (captive, bank, vendor, etc. Look at the compensation incentives.)
   

• Life post FAS-13: Provide an assessment of the overall trends and attitudes have to off-balance sheet financing and how it is currently affecting lessee decisions regarding lease financing. What will life look like? Shorter term transactions _ what do the CFO's think of them? What drives the off-sheet motivation?
   

• The implications for the changing of competitive differentiation from price to bundled services: What are the risks in execution? How can companies price for the risk that they are taking (i.e. they may not know the future costs of providing the services that they will be required to provide for a set price.)
   

• Grow or Die?? Is there a point at which the the non-bank mid-sized leasing company must grow or die? Organic growth _ how to do it? Do they need to grow to be successful? What are the issues they are dealing with? Why mid cap is shrinking? Grow bigger and be taken over or stay the same and die? What is the point at which you need to penetrate? How do you do it?
   

• Credit/collections
   

• Strategies to increase the size of the leasing market
  Selling to City Hall: Successful growth strategies and leading practices for increasing lease financing penetration in the public sector. What is the value proposition for municipalities to lease?
   

• COMDISCO: A case study of a leasing company's repositioning strategy that failed.
   

• FINOVA: An end of life case study of a publicly traded leasing company. Lessons learned. (Contrast to peer finance company Heller)
   

• Let the Good Times Roll: The long-term strategic outlook for the transportation finance industry.
   

• Capital formation in the supply chain: Where are the opportunities.
   

• Migration of Manufacturing from the United States to other countries; its effect on the U.S. domestic leasing industry

General topics of research interest are:

• Funding
   

• Industry compensation models
   

• Strategic management/planning;
   

• Accounting/financial reporting; and finance;
   

• Tax and legislative/ regulatory;
   

• Credit/collections;
   

• Economics;
   

• Portfolio management;
   

• Contracts/documentation;
   

• Technology benchmarking;
   

• Strategic importance of captives;
   

• Operations; and best practices

The Equipment Leasing and Finance Foundation is a non-profit organization affiliated with the Equipment Leasing Association of America, whose objectives are to increase the body of knowledge in the equipment lease and financing field.

Amount: up to $ 15, 000

Deadline: every January 15th, May 15th, and September 1st

For further information, please visit: http://www.leasefoundation.org/grant/ideas.htm