The Equipment Leasing and Finance Foundation released the March 2022 Monthly Confidence Index for the Equipment Finance Industry (MCI-EFI). 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 58.2, easing from the February index of 61.8.

March 2022 Survey Results

The overall MCI-EFI is 58.2, easing from the February index of 61.8.

•   When asked to assess their business conditions over the next four months, 21.4% of executives responding said they believe business conditions will improve over the next four months, a decrease from 24.1% in February. 50% believe business conditions will remain the same over the next four months, down from 69% the previous month. 28.6% believe business conditions will worsen, an increase from 6.9% in February.
 
•   25% of the survey respondents believe demand for leases and loans to fund capital expenditures (capex) will increase over the next four months, up from 24.1% in February. 75% believe demand will “remain the same” during the same four-month time period, an increase from 72.4% the previous month. None believe demand will decline, down from 3.5% in February.
 
•   21.4% of the respondents expect more access to capital to fund equipment acquisitions over the next four months, up from 17.2% in February. 78.6% of executives indicate they expect the “same” access to capital to fund business, a decrease from 82.8% last month. None expect “less” access to capital, unchanged from the previous month.  
 
•   When asked, 46.4% of the executives report they expect to hire more employees over the next four months, up from 44.8% in February. 50% expect no change in headcount over the next four months, a decrease from 55.2% last month. 3.6% expect to hire fewer employees, up from none in February.
 
•   3.6% of the leadership evaluate the current U.S. economy as “excellent,” a decrease from 10.3% the previous month. 85.7% of the leadership evaluate the current U.S. economy as “fair,” down from 86.2% in February. 10.7% evaluate it as “poor,” an increase from 3.5% last month.
 
•   7.1% of the survey respondents believe that U.S. economic conditions will get “better” over the next six months, a decrease from 24.1% in February. 57.1% indicate they believe the U.S. economy will “stay the same” over the next six months, a decrease from 58.6% last month. 35.7% believe economic conditions in the U.S. will worsen over the next six months, an increase from 17.2% the previous month.
 
•   In March 42.9% of respondents indicate they believe their company will increase spending on business development activities during the next six months, down from 44.8% the previous month. 57.1% believe there will be “no change” in business development spending, up from 51.7% in February. None believe there will be a decrease in spending, down from 3.5% last month.