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NATIONAL AUTOMOTIVE FINANCE ASSOCIATION |
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Exclusively Serving the Below-Prime Auto Financing Industry |
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NAF ASSOCIATION HOLDS 14th ANNUAL CONFERENCEHanover, Md. (June 4, 2010) --- The National Automotive Finance (NAF) Association held its 14th Annual Below-Prime Credit Auto Financing Conference June 2 to 4, 2010 at the Renaissance Worthington Hotel in Fort Worth."The tone we tried to set for the conference," said Jack Tracey, the association's executive director, "was one of confidence in the future. The economy is on the upswing, and we brought in experts who could give good, solid advice to those in attendance." Marguerite Watanabe, immediate past president echoed this theme, "Change is in the air. It is finally time to be enthusiastic, and this year's conference is the place where our industry got 'a first look' at new opportunities." Dan Berce, CEO of AmeriCredit, delivered the keynote speaker on the morning of June 3rd. He looked back at events that AmeriCredit weathered in recent years and how the company climbed back after each crisis. He shared lessons learned starting with the most important factor: maintaining an adequate cash balance. He believes the economic indicators are positive and "overall, it's a good time to make non-prime auto loans." A workshop on the opening day focused on what companies need to do to raise money in the asset backed securities. Other panel discussions included remarketing strategies using new techniques and considering the global market; perspective of automobile dealers on challenges and strategies; and the legal panel updates of federal regulations and policies. Presenters from Standard & Poor's, J.D. Power and Associates, National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) and Manheim brought attendees up-to-date on conditions in the marketplace. Other topics included: the effectiveness of GPS tracking and starter interrupt devices on portfolio performance; physical fitness; a preview of results from the NAF Association's annual below-prime auto financing survey; and a presentation by a special agent of the FBI on automotive fraud schemes. Themes heard throughout the conference: a belief that the economy in recovering; used car values are at an all time high because demand is up and inventories are low; auto loan defaults are declining; and collection effectiveness has been an important aspect in dealer recovery. DealerTrack was the grand corporate sponsor again, and PassTime, Open Dealer Exchange and Balboa Insurance Group were corporate sponsors. The golf event was sponsored by van Wagenen Financial Services, Fiserv and TransUnion. The NAF Association is the only trade association exclusively serving the below-prime auto financing industry. Visit www.nafassociation for more information. Since the beginning of 2010, the following new members have joined the NAF Association: AFS Acceptance, LLC Auction Broadcasting Company, LLC CalAmp Century Credit Consolidated Asset Recovery Systems, Inc. CSC DataX Decisioning Solutions Inc. Kenai Recovery, LLC Open Dealer Exchange Overby-Seawell Company Prestige Financial Services Skypatrol |