ON THE HORIZ ON F OR 2016 Members Weigh In “It is a positive step that the House and Senate are looking at passing longer-term appropriations bills. So far it appears Congressman Paul Ryan is able to push through a relatively moderate, business-minded agenda. You never know how long these types of compromises within government leadership will last, however, and the stalemate that has hurt our legislative agenda will end. At this point in early December, however, it looks like some of our tax agenda will be more permanent.” —Chris Enbom, CEO & Chairman, Allegiant Partners Inc. 12 Meanwhile, global terrorism is a “wild card” threat in 2016 . Th e Nov. 13 Paris attacks and Dec. 2 San Bernadino shooting put Western nations on heightened alert, and additional ter-ror attacks could hurt economic growth—in both the imme-diate aft ermath and the long term. Short-term eff ects would likely include reduced consumer and business confi dence and declines in the stock market, leading businesses and households to hold back on spending. While negative, these impacts usually recede within a few months, as economic activity is only temporarily postponed. More unknown—and more important—are the long-er-term eff ects of terrorism on an economy. Specifi cally, a country’s policy response to an attack could sway the course of growth over years or even decades. Increased defense or security spending can create jobs in the short term, but may also divert resources from other uses that have a larger long-term economic impact. Accounting for these 12 key forces… In short, expect decent, but not robust, equipment fi nance growth in 2016. Lingering global headwinds will continue to limit capital spending, but fundamental strength in the U.S. economy should drive continued expansion as interest rates begin to rise. Navigating a changing market, the equipment fi nance industry will adapt to economic and policy shift s as it always has—and will continue to fi nd new opportunities for growth. ■ Jeff Jensen is a Director at Keybridge Research. State of the “In 2016, I think we will see a continued emphasis on non-standard fi nancing solutions from both equipment suppliers and obligors. As vendors continue to focus on a total solution sale including services, software and other non-equipment components, their customers will rely on our industry to lead the way with innovative fi nancing solutions to support these bundled product offerings.” —Mike Sweeney, Chair, Captive and Vendor Finance Business Council Steering Committee and SVP Originations, Vendor Finance, Everbank 2015 Leasing & Finance 2016 Equipment Outlook U.S. Economic Equipment Finance Ind ustry Competing in a Changing Market Download your copy of the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation’s 2015 State of the Equipment Finance Industry Report, 2016 U.S. Economic Outlook and monthly Momentum Monitors from www.LeaseFoundation.org . 24 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2016 EQUIPMENT LEASING & FINANCE MAGAZINE