David Schaefer,  founder and CEO of Orion First and Mintaka Financial, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Equipment Leasing & Finance Association (ELFA), is a panelist at the 2018 European Leasing and Consumer Credit Industry Annual Convention in Venice, Italy.
 
Following the first session’s presentation, “Leasing in Europe and Beyond - State of Play and Outlook,” Schaefer is speaking on an interactive panel of industry leaders sharing their views on the state of the European leasing and automotive rental markets. As current Chairman of ELFA, he brings an American perspective to the conversation; providing insight into the current opportunities and challenges being tackled across the pond in the US finance and equipment leasing markets.  

“Similar to the US finance industry, overseas capital markets have seen exciting innovation from disrupters like FinTech, blockchain technologies and much more-making an international meeting of the minds such as this a very valuable opportunity at this time,” Schaefer said. “I am honored to be on the panel at this year’s annual convention to share my experience and help unite the US and international capital markets while preparing them for upcoming change.”

Taking place Oct. 4-5, the Annual Convention hosts over 400 executive and board level participants from leasing, automotive rental and consumer credit communities across Europe and beyond. Held at the Hilton Molino Stucky, the annual convention provides the opportunity for leaders across these financial markets to network, and uncover new methods of improving and guiding their industries.

Additional topics covered at the convention include analyzing industry trends, optimizing leasing operations, dealing with non-performing loans (NPLs), increasing access to affordable capital, efficiently managing the cost of risk, and facing the current challenges to prepare for tomorrow.

For more information on the convention visit here.

Orion First, based in Gig Harbor, WA, is a full-service commercial loan and lease portfolio servicer which provides a suite of services and products to manage the complete life cycle of a borrower. Orion has built a servicing platform that includes systems to support lease and loan accounting, credit application processing, scoring and decisioning products, and collection management.

Mintaka Financial LLC, located in Gig Harbor WA, was established in 2004, as a commercial finance company specializing in serving the needs of small businesses across the United States. Mintaka provides equipment leases and loans, originated through a limited group of independent small business finance companies that share ownership in Mintaka.