CAPex Financial apuesta a Puerto Rico
CAPex Financial Company, a Puerto Rican firm specializing in leasing transportation, cargo, industrial, office, and medical equipment to small businesses and individuals, celebrated its fifth anniversary last month in its new offices, located in the Bioanalytical building on Reina de las Flores Street in Río Piedras.
The move to the new facilities near the Inter-American University's metropolitan campus involved an initial investment of over $100,000, including furniture, technology, software, interior design, and more.
According to Fernando Machuca, president of CAPex, the relocation to the new offices is due to the firm's growth despite the economic crisis facing the country.
"We are committed to Puerto Rico. We will continue to grow because Puerto Rico will continue to grow," Machuca told El Vocero.
The firm began in late 2011 with three employees when Machuca, after 20 years in the banking industry, joined three other partners to acquire the $2.4 million portfolio of Capital Leasing, which had been in the market for 30 years.
CAPex currently has seven employees and manages a $23 million portfolio. Since its inception, the firm has provided approximately $34 million in leasing financing to small businesses.
“Our philosophy is to stay small and focus on serving small businesses,” Machuca stated.
According to the firm's president, traditional banks are very rigid with numerous parameters, taking weeks or even months to provide approval to a small business. In contrast, CAPex is more agile, capable of providing more personalized service and establishing a closer relationship with its clients, he indicated.
“Saying no is easy. We find a way to provide the lease to that small client,” he expressed, adding that they lease equipment that is “income-producing” or generates income for working individuals. Leases average between $40,000 and $75,000.
The firm has developed a niche in the transportation sector, providing leases of tractor-trailers and cargo equipment to individuals who earn a living as truck drivers. The vast majority of this leased equipment is used, although CAPex also leases new trucks, he noted.
In addition, the firm provides leases for office equipment such as computers and photocopiers, as well as medical diagnostic and laboratory equipment and industrial machinery. CAPex has also leased equipment to some food truck owners.
Machuca explained that he has partnerships with three cooperatives on the island, which refer cases to them for leases, and in turn, CAPex sells loan portfolios to these cooperatives. However, he indicated that most of his clients are loyal and return to renew their lease agreements with the firm.
“The island’s economic situation worries me, but since I’m lending to the individuals who handle all the cargo in Puerto Rico, I’m not as concerned,” he said.