2025 AGENDA

Wednesday, May 14

10:00 AM Registration Opens

Sponsored by:

10:00 AM Welcome & Networking Lounge

Kick off your Equipment Finance Connect 2025 experience with a morning of networking, coffee, and connections. Arrive early to register and engage in meaningful conversations with industry peers before the official event begins. Enjoy complimentary coffee, tea, and snacks while making the most of this relaxed and productive pre-event session. 

1:15 PM 2025 Equipment Finance Connect Opening Remarks

1:30 PM – 2:15 PM Session 1: PRESENTATION – Current Economic Trends and Their Implications for Equipment Finance

  • Examining elevated interest rates and business credit health
  • Forecasting the second half of 2025 in the equipment finance market
  • Identifying signs of reversal in charge-off trends

PRESENTER:

MODERATOR:

2:15 PM – 3:15 PM Roundtable Discussions on Key Industry Topics

Attendees break into small groups to discuss developments, strategies, and opportunities in equipment finance operations, the technology and products fueling industry change, and the challenges facing the industry in the next 12 to 24 months. The ultimate goal is for finance providers and dealers to sit together and talk through their challenges and opportunities to foster better results in 2025 and beyond.

LEADERS:

3:15 PM – 3:45 PM Coffee & Connect

3:45 PM – 4:15 PM Session 2: Fireside Chat

Professor Kara Smith will share her unique and urgent perspectives and analysis on the global trade war and what it means not just for the equipment sector, but for equipment finance lenders and dealers, specifically. 

MODERATOR:

4:15 PM – 5:00 PM Session 3: PRESENTATION – Navigating the Regulatory Compliance Landscape: Lender and Dealer Perspectives

  • Understanding dealer implications of new regulatory requirements, such as fair lending to small businesses
  • Protecting customer data in line with the FTC Safeguards Rule
  • Practical tips for better compliance workflows

PRESENTERS:

MODERATOR:

Sponsored by:

5:00 PM Opening Cocktail Reception

Thursday, May 15

8:00 AM Registration Opens

Sponsored by:

8:00 AM – 9:00 AM Breakfast

Sponsored by:

9:15 AM – 10:15 AM Session 4: PANEL – Enhancing Finance Operations for Better Results

  • How to evaluate lenders’ offers on a deal-by-deal basis, cluing lenders into how to improve their offerings
  • Navigating the approval and funding process
  • Creating value for lenders and dealers through finance, insurance and aftermarket offering

PANELISTS:

MODERATOR:

 

10:15 AM – 10:45 AM Coffee & Connect

Sponsored by:

10:45 AM – 12:15 PM Session 5 –Tech Demos

Find the future of equipment finance today with a series of carefully curated tech demos from cutting-edge fintech companies. These are not product pitches. Rather, each startup is under the gun to impress you with their latest technology — and only their latest technology — in a competition, based on your live voting, to be crowned “Best in Show” for 2025.

PARTICIPATING COMPANIES:

MC:

12:15 PM – 1:15 PM Networking Lunch

Sponsored by:

1:15 PM – 1:30 PM Session 6  – Judging Session and Reveal of the 2025 ‘Best in Show’ Winner

A team of judges will vet two finalists, based on attendee votes, to determine which wins “Best in Show” for 2025. 

JUDGES:

MC:

1:30 PM – 2:10 PM Session 7: PANEL – Technology and AI Strategies for a More Successful Finance Business

  • How to evaluate new and budding technology, including AI
  • Identifying business areas ripe for digitalization and automation
  • Guiding customers through the digital and autonomous journey

PANELISTS:

MODERATOR:

2:10 PM – 3:00 PM Session 8: PANEL – How can the industry better support borrower needs and challenges?

  • What are the industry’s most severe shortcomings in serving the borrower?
  • Do OEMs have too much sway over the market? How might that be hindering the market?
  • How might the additional challenges to the borrower from the trade war be overcome?

PANELISTS:

MODERATOR:

3:00 PM Conclusion