As with all seasoned executives, Van Etten recognizes that success lies in the strength of his team. He is proud of the fact that 16 of his current 20 employees joined Scottrade Bank Equipment Finance from the Popular Equipment Finance and TCF Equipment Finance teams. He says, “It’s a great group of people and we are very comfortable working with one another. It’s been a team that’s performed well through up and down markets since 2005.”

The key management team includes Jordan Saegusa as Vice President of Corporate Development, Jim Denning as National Sales Manager, Dan Thompson as Credit Manager, Connie Schulte in Documentation, Mike Garrity in Marketing and Julie Pray as Sales Support Manager.

The team’s past experience was not lost on Scottrade Bank. “What the bank really liked was the fact that we were able to pull the right people together on short order. We were able to put the initial pieces together and then move on to focus on getting the business up and running as quickly as possible. Scottrade was pleasantly surprised at how quickly we closed our first deal.”

As for the future of the business in the near-term, Van Etten shares that he expects the net asset value of the equipment leasing and finance portfolio to be north of $150 million by Scottrade’s fiscal year end. With regard to the long-term, Van Etten shares, “Our goal for the next five to six years is to grow the company to be about 10% of the asset size of the parent bank. That’s ambitious because the bank is growing so quickly. If we accomplish that, our asset size will be over $2 billion by 2019. Today, the parent company is a little over $19 billion in assets and, as I said, it’s growing quickly. There’s plenty of room for growth and our team is excited about that.” Van Etten adds that this growth could also be accomplished through portfolio acquisitions as the right opportunities present themselves in the future.

At this point in time and from his vantage point, Van Etten expects the capital market volume will continue to increase in 2014 all the way through 2016. He explains, “As long as this happens, we should be in good shape. We have no legacy portfolio at this point so every dollar we book today is a dollar of growth in our portfolio. We most likely won’t have any run-off for another four to five years. Our ability to grow exponentially for the next few years should go without a hitch unless there’s a significant change in the market.

“I also think it’s worth mentioning that we don’t have any older systems in place either and that’s a plus. Many of our competitors do have legacy systems and we are thankful that we have the opportunity to build a new company, a new platform and a new portfolio based on today’s market environment.  We are excited about the system we are building and we think that it will allow us to be scalable and deliver our product with less overhead cost,” he adds.

Competitive Advantages

For Van Etten, it is the core competencies along with the strength of Scottrade’s brand recognition and financials that provide his team unique competitive advantages. He says, “Just having the name Scottrade start a new business provides tremendous advantages.”

Then there are the dedicated professionals from the past, the present and even those to come in the future. “Our team is comprised of people who have an extraordinary dedication to the success of this division, to the success of the bank, Scottrade and to our industry as a whole. We are growing too … we’ve received more than 475 online applications for the first 18 jobs we’ve posted over the last year. The interest has been tremendous.”

With 30-plus years in the equipment finance industry, it’s still the “thrill of the build” that keeps Van Etten in the game. “When the opportunity arose to begin a company from the ground up under the Scottrade umbrella, I just couldn’t say no. I’ve always wanted to have a partner like Scottrade to share my vision with and to grow the company along the lines of what I see will be successful in the equipment finance marketplace. “

In parting, Van Etten adds, “It’s great fun to come to work with these people. As a team, we know that the service we’re providing amounts to much more than just a portfolio of loans and leases to our customers … it’s really about financing American ambition and helping to drive economic growth.”