In this episode of Portfolio Perspective: Managing Risk & Seizing Opportunity, Andrew Pace sits down with Brett Rondeau, Executive Vice President of Sales and Syndication at Universal Finance Corp., to explore how a construction-focused equity lender builds its syndication desk, broker network, and underwriting approach around customers who fall outside the traditional lending box. Universal began as a New England lender with a set rate and a set term. That meant it regularly turned away deals it liked, or quoted strong customers a price they had no reason to accept. When Brett joined in June 2019, the goal was to build a syndication desk that could place those deals with other lenders, earn a fee, and give customers a better experience. After talking with roughly 40 lenders, the team now works consistently with three or four, and over the past year or so has moved further into true discounting with those repeat partners. Brett brings the same approach to the broker side, where a uniform, repeatable process replaced a model in which the answer a broker got depended on which underwriter picked up the phone. He describes how the desk grew from one person to a small team, with about 65 percent growth in the first full year after adding a second person, and how industry associations, events, and work with the philanthropy committee have built the trust that keeps brokers coming back. The center of the conversation is underwriting. Universal takes an equity position in nearly every deal, through a down payment or additional collateral. It will consider credit down to a 550 FICO and applies common sense judgment instead of hard age or mileage cutoffs. Brett explains how that structure lets customers put equipment they already own to work in place of cash, and how deep knowledge of construction equipment values, including what a repossessed piece actually brings after remarketing costs, keeps the underwriting disciplined. He also covers hiring and developing younger sales talent, the technology that gave a small team time back, and a closing round of Boston sports debates. Key Topics Discussed: Building a syndication desk at a lender that originally lent only in New EnglandVetting lenders and narrowing to a small group of repeatable partnersMoving from one-off syndications to a discount modelWeighing loss leaders against the value of trust, speed, and rapportCreating a uniform process for the broker desk and growing it from one person to a teamHow AACFB, NEFA, and industry events build credibility with brokersFull Steam Ahead for Kids and the Chris Walker Education FundEquity lending, additional collateral, and reducing down paymentsCommon sense underwriting without hard age or mileage limitsWhy construction equipment specialization improves valuation and remarketing outcomesHiring and developing younger sales talent in a collaborative cultureSalesforce, pre-underwriting tools, and taking servicing back in houseNotable Takeaways: On loss leaders: "Every deal takes time, right? So is there something that we can get out of that deal if it's not money? If it's going to be a loss leader, are you getting trust? Are you showing speed? Are you developing rapport? If you can get one of those things out of it, I don't look at it as kind of a loss at all."On the gap in the market: "But that kind of CD range, I feel like there's a large fall off between certain independents that will lend, I don't know, up to whatever in certain rate ranges, and then there's a large drop off, and I think we kind of fit that gap a little bit."On down payments: "With just being able to take an additional piece of collateral, we can save them that down payment. They might not have that down payment, right? So you either forego that purchase or you can utilize equipment that you own outright."On the real value of a repossessed unit: "You can go in Kelly Blue Book and plug it in, it's going to tell you that it's worth this, but there's a cost to getting a piece, there's a cost to remarketing it, there's a cost to moving it to the yard, storage fees, all that stuff. And then what do you have, and how quick do you have to move it?"On hiring for a different model: "We're not a credit-based model, right? We're an equity position-based model. So to get somebody thinking that way is a little bit tough."Subscribe to Portfolio Perspective: Managing Risk & Seizing Opportunity for more industry insights and field-tested strategies. For more information, visit Asset Compliant Solutions.
