TCF Bank 2010 Annual Report Download - page 8

inventory finance portfolio balances
increased $406.6 million, or 11 percent,
during 2010. Growth momentum in
specialty finance stemmed from portfolio
purchases and program acquisitions
as well as organic growth. Our highest
yielding loans and leases reside in
specialty finance, yet we are able to
minimize concentration risk by diversify-
ing these businesses by industry,
geography, product and collateral type.
TCF’s leasing and equipment finance
business grew 3 percent in 2010. This
$3.2 billion portfolio is well-diversified
by equipment type and by geography.
Our leasing and equipment finance
operation, which is comprised of TCF
Equipment Finance and Winthrop
Resources Corporation, is now the
29th largest in the United States, and is
the 13th largest bank-affiliated leasing
company in the United States.
In 2010, TCF Equipment Finance, Inc.
(TCFEF) expanded its capital markets
division, which focuses on portfolio and
company acquisition activities as well
as individual transactions on both the
buy and sell side. Expansion of the
capital markets activities has increased
our ability to acquire assets at a time
when the industry has been looking
for new sources of liquidity. TCFEF
completed a portfolio acquisition of
middle market leases toward the end
of the third quarter, which contributed
to increased leasing and equipment
finance balances at the end of the year.
TCFEF employs 322 people and was
recognized as one of the Minneapolis
Star Tribune’s Top 100 Workplaces in
the Twin Cities metro area in 2010.
Winthrop Resources Corporation is our
technology-oriented leasing company.
Its acquisition of Fidelity National
Capital, Inc. late in 2009 has yielded
solid returns for us as we integrated
the business and the new team of
employees into the Winthrop culture.
In 2010, Winthrop was recognized by
the Equipment Leasing and Finance
Association (ELFA) as recipient of
the ELFA Operations and Technology
Award for its successful implementa-
tion of a lease accounting and
management system.
TCF’s newest specialty finance business
is TCF Inventory Finance, Inc. (TCFIF).
TCFIF provides floorplan financing
principally for dealers of consumer
products in the United States and
Canada. We started the business in late
2008 by entering into the consumer
electronics and household appliances
industries, expanded into the lawn and
garden industry in 2009, and further
expanded in 2010 into the power
sports industry with the assumption of
floorplan financing programs in Canada
for Arctic Cat Sales, Inc. We also entered
a relationship in the United States with
E-Z-GO® , a Textron, Inc. Company. It is
clear that TCFIF is focused on estab-
lishing relationships with suppliers,
dealer buying groups and manufacturers
that are leaders in the industries we
serve. Our joint venture established in
2009 with The Toro Company, a leader
in the lawn and garden industry based
in Minneapolis, Minnesota, continues
to be very strong and productive.
At year-end, the TCFIF portfolio balance
was $792.4 million with indirect credit
lines to 169 manufacturers and buying
groups and direct credit lines with
8,866 dealers in the United States
and Canada. This management team
continues to work hard to position the
We focus on diversifying
our assets by business line
and geography to minimize
concentration risk. An
example is the growth
of our specialty nance
businesses through portfolio
acquisitions — like TCF
Inventory Finance’s acquisition
of Arctic Cat® Canadian
power sports equipment
oorplan programs.
Asset
Diversication
• 6 • TCF Financial Corporation and Subsidiaries