The Automotive Intelligence Summit is scheduled for August, and another eight companies are set to be honored as Cherokee Media Group hosts the Automotive Intelligence Summit, one of the fastest-growing events focused on fintech, digital retail, mobility and other elements of the auto tech evolution.
Cherokee Media Group, leveraging guidance from the Auto Intel Council and other industry leaders, released the second collection of honorees in the Emerging 8, an award program designed to honor new companies that aim to improve a specific aspect or aspects of the automotive industry through technology.
This year’s Emerging 8 include:
Cover Genius
ForeverCar
InSearchX
Lightico
MotoRefi
Spiffy
TurboPass
Volta
The honorees include companies that are about 5 years old and in a growth phase.
While they may have had outside investment and multiple rounds of funding, they are pre-IPO and have not been started and/or acquired by a larger entity.
Along with appearing during the Automotive Intelligence Summit, which runs Aug. 17-19 in Raleigh, N.C., the Emerging 8 are profiled in this edition of Auto Fin Journal.
These exciting new companies are on the cusp of innovation in fintech development. They are all “on to something” that could turn the dial on their respective aspects of fintech.
“Each company has a unique offering and story that already resonate throughout the auto fintech and digital retailing worlds,” Cherokee Media Group president Bill Zadeits said.
“The Emerging 8 is set to be a significant part of the upcoming Automotive Intelligent Summit, which is designed to provide a setting for entrepreneurs and experts to gather so even more breakthrough ideas can germinate,” Zadeits added.
After assembling two previous classes of honorees, one of Cherokee Media Group’s industry award programs now needs crucial input from you.
Continuing our series of award programs that honor the most dedicated and talented professionals from throughout the used-car industry, we are now accepting nominations for Women in Auto Finance, presented by American Recovery Service.
Cherokee Media Group is seeking nominees who specialize in crucial skills such as accounting, computer science and law. They hold some of the most important positions at their respective companies. They provide critical guidance and produce high-level results.
“We look forward to honoring these women who serve in critical positions and deserve such recognition,” Cherokee Media Group president Bill Zadeits said.
Nominations for the 2020 class of honorees will be accepted through July 24 on this website.
This contingent of women who derive from throughout the auto-finance space will be highlighted in the September/October edition of Auto Fin Journal. They also will be part of a panel discussion during Used Car Week 2020, which begins on Nov. 16 at the Westin Kierland Resort & Spa in Scottsdale, Ariz.
The 2019 class of honorees included:
— Lena Aksan, VP enterprise alliance automotive, Equifax
— Sandra Broderick, EVP, head of operations, Santander Consumer USA
— Kim Gershon, SVP, head of auto – personal finance, Bank of the West
— Kristin Karwat, CEO, Gateway Financial Solutions
— Ellen Koebler, chief risk officer, SunTrust Bank
— Jennifer LaClair, chief financial officer, Ally Financial
— Tina Love, vice president of claims and recovery, Allied Solutions
— Shannon Mokhiber, VP, marketing & brand, Ford Credit
— Carol Moore, VP and general counsel, Hyundai Capital America
— Michele Rodgers, chief information officer, Exeter Finance
— Scarlett Smith, VP of sales, FIS
— Celia Winslow, VP of legal and regulatory affairs, American Financial Services Association (AFSA)
— Shawn Yujuico, director of marketing, Digital Recognition Network (DRN)
And the inaugural group included:
— Katherine Adkins, Group Vice President, General Counsel, Secretary and Global Chief Legal Officer, Toyota Financial Services
— Patty Covington, Partner, Hudson Cook
— Shaimaa Elk, Chief Information Officer, Fiserv Lending Solutions
— Jennifer Ishiguro, General Counsel, AutoGravity
— Tammy Linkfield, Senior Vice President, Central Region, Ally Financial
— Tanya Sanders, Head of Business Operations, Chase Auto Finance
— Amy Martin, Senior Director, S&P Global Ratings
— Sharon Mancero, Senior Vice President, Wells Fargo Preferred Capital
— Erin Mendez, President and Chief Executive Officer, Patelco Credit Union
— Georgine Muntz, Board of Directors Member, defi SOLUTIONS
— Cortney Osborne, Senior Vice President of Operations, American Recovery Service
— Jennifer Reid, Vice President — Automotive Marketing and Strategy Lead – U.S. Information Solutions, Equifax
— Susan Sheffield, Chief Financial Officer, GM Financial
To submit a nomination for the 2020 class of honorees, go to this website.
Bill Jones approaches every segment of his life with enthusiasm and zeal.
Professionally, Jones serves in multiple roles as the chief executive officer and president of Regional Acceptance Corp., as well as executive vice president and manager of BB&T Dealer Retail Services. Personally, Jones treasures the time he spends with his wife and adult children along with enjoying his passions for surfing, basketball and music.
While his professional career spans three decades and his time riding oceans waves and dribbling a ball is even longer, Jones singled out a moment while studying at East Carolina University as influencing him the most and setting him on a path toward success throughout his life.
“There are a lot of things in my professional career that I could point to that I would say that were significant points of my life that drove the person that I am today. But if I’m really honest, the single most significant event in my life really happened when I was a sophomore in college. It was a commitment to my faith, and committed my life to Christ,” Jones said during a face-to-face interview from his office in North Carolina.
“That single decision, honestly, really drove it. It changed my value system. It changed sort of how I saw the world, and it changed how I saw people. It changed my motivation in terms of how I react with people and how I handle myself within the context of the world. And so if I’m really honest, it changed my identity as a human being quite honestly,” he continued.
“In terms of my professional career, I’ve had some mentors early in my life who were gracious enough and patient enough to help me understand some really great things,” Jones went on to say. “One was around values, having a strong value system. I also had some really strong mentors early in my career who helped me understand the concept of owning something, taking personal responsibility, not thinking of myself within the context of a large corporation but thinking of myself within the context of a set of responsibilities and owning that. That was critical for my professional development.”
Those decisions and experiences forged the way for Jones to be successful on multiple fronts, garnering industry-wide attention, too. Jones is this year’s selection as the Auto Finance Executive of the Year, sponsored by Black Book. Jones joins previous winners that include:
— Andrew Stuart, TD Auto Finance
— Tommy Moore Jr., First Investors Financial Services
— Ozzie Ramos, National Auto Lenders
— Dan Ulatowski, Credit Acceptance
— Bill Jensen, Chase Auto Finance
— Ian Anderson, Westlake Financial Services
“Black Book is honored once again this year to recognize an industry leader with our Auto Finance Executive of the Year Award,” Black Book executive vice president of revenue Jared Kalfus said.
“Bill Jones exemplifies all of the characteristics of the type of leader this award has come to recognize, including innovation, integrity and passion. In addition, his work outside of the industry, including his volunteer work with Fellowship of Christian Athletes and YoungLife, as well as his work within the industry serving on the board of directors for the National Automotive Finance Association for many years and his current work on the board of the auto advisory board for the American Financial Services Association, make him a great asset to everyone around him,” Kalfus went on to say.
All of those activities Kalfus mentioned also coincides with Jones’ assessment of the auto-finance industry. His career includes time 13 years with Wachovia Bank ahead of the past 20 years with his current employer that’s in the process of merging with SunTrust Bank to form Truist in an action expected to be finalized by the end of 2019. Throughout that span, Jones has been collaborating with clients and industry colleagues, triggering him to describe the elements of auto financing that have remained constant during his career and what components have changed most dramatically.
“Well, a lot has changed. But in terms of the things that have remained the same, we still have tens of thousands of dealers, and we still have an extremely fragmented auto-finance industry, which is a great backdrop of what I believe continues to be an extremely favorable, competitive environment for consumers,” Jones said. “You have tens of thousands of dealers on one side of the industry, and on the credit support side of the industry, you’ve got one of the most fragmented finance industries in existence. That’s a recipe for an extremely high level of competition, which means consumers are going to win. So fundamentally, that has not changed.
“Another thing that has remained relatively constant is that this business is still heavily influenced by relationships. The biggest players have some of the strongest capital positions and the most strength to invest in technology and those kinds of things yet, relationships continue to be the center point,” he continued.
And when Jones describes relationships, they also bring him to his belief that Regional Acceptance is more than just a finance company. The division is BB&T’s unit that caters to individuals who have soft credit profiles.
“Our social mission at Regional Acceptance is fundamentally about helping our consumers by providing access to credit,” Jones said. “On average, consumers are driving around 15 miles to and from work every day. Not everybody lives in a densely populated metropolitan area where they can walk three blocks to work. So access to credit is critical to folks that may have had some credit challenges. Our social mission is to be there to provide access to credit in an honorable, respectable and transparent way to our consumers where we can.
“Fundamentally when I think about our consumers and their characteristics, they’re hard working, they’re honest, they’re determined, they’re trying to make a better life for themselves and their family. And they deserve, quite honestly, to be treated with an extremely high level of honor and respect. And they deserve to receive value in that relationship with their financial provider,” Jones continued. “What’s critical to me is to help educate and, in some cases, if somebody has been credit challenged, to help rehabilitate consumers so that they can borrow at lower interest rates and improve their situation in the future.”
Shaping the future for the customers of Regional Acceptance and BB&T passes through Jones’ mind, and so does having an impact on up-and-coming executives who might be just embarking on a career in auto financing. Jones mentioned four specific recommendations.
“I would say the most critical thing for a young person would be to step back and think about is this word that I mentioned earlier, about values. I would say it’s really important to have honesty and integrity at the foundation of your value system. My philosophy on life is honesty and integrity. Honesty and integrity lead to a high degree of trust. Trust is the basis of all human relationships. Without trust, you really don’t have a relationship. Cutting corners as it relates to honesty and integrity is outside of an individual’s rational self-interest. If you just look at it purely professionally, that’s the first thing I would say,” Jones said.
“The second thing I would say is seek to understand whatever it is you’re doing, particularly early in your career, and really at all points in your career. Seek to become an expert at what you’re doing. It doesn’t really matter how insignificant you think it may or may not be. Seek to understand it better than anybody else. As a result, perform better than anybody else in that role,” he continued.
“And third, own it,” Jones went on to say. “With this third key point, when you have an ownership mentality, you’re not going to be reactive. You’re going to be proactive. When you do, you’re going to be thinking about how to win, how to do well, how to how to handle a situation right. You’re not going to be an order taker; you’re going to own it. You’re not waiting for the next command. You say, ‘What do I need to do to be successful in this situation?’
“The last thing I would say is good communication,” Jones added. “I always say good communication is about 60% of your success. There are a lot of really smart people in the world who are brilliant, some of which are excellent communicators, and some of which are not. Communication is so critical, communicating things in diplomatic ways that build bridges as opposed to creating confrontational situations. I’ve seen it time and time again hurt people in their career development. Communication is absolutely critical. Building a sense of teamwork and mutual supportiveness is something that people need to think deeply about when they’re communicating.”
Jones closed this conversation by describing how gratifying is it to be honored by this industry for an accolade like the Auto Finance Executive of the Year Award presented by Black Book.
“It’s surreal, honestly, because as I stated earlier, this industry is extremely fragmented. There are a lot of great companies, with absolutely outstanding leaders, some of which I’m very, very good friends with and have a phenomenal amount of respect and admiration for, and quite honestly I look up to several of them,” Jones said. “So to be recognized in this way is surreal. It’s almost hard to believe quite honestly. I couldn’t be more honored and humbled. There are several handfuls of people in this industry that this kind of award could be laid before, and it would be a really good decision. So, I’m beyond honored.”
Hyundai Capital America (HCA) captured an honor this week, because as award organizers put it: “HCA saw the writing on the wall — a world with increased ride share, autonomous driving, electrification — and knew innovation was necessary or they would succumb to obsolescence.”
For its efforts, the captive finance company won the Association for Financial Professionals 2019 Pinnacle Grand Prize for excellence in treasury and finance. The Pinnacle Grand Prize, sponsored by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), was presented before the opening keynote at AFP 2019 in Boston.
Association officials explained HCA’s award submission involved overhauling its business in order to prosper with industry evolution. They explained HCA’s finance team decided to implement a new capital structure that could be agile and competitive in support of subscription ownership.
AFP said HCA “dramatically” reduced its leverage and projected a strengthened financial profile, thereby reducing borrowing costs. The rating agency implied rating for HCA’s capital adequacy improved by four full notches. The transformed funding flexibility has enabled the front-end of HCA’s business to pursue new and innovative products.
“AFP is honored to recognize Hyundai Capital America’s contribution,” said Jim Kaitz, president and chief executive of AFP. “As disruption continues, Hyundai Capital America’s solution embodies the innovative spirit required to advance the treasury and finance profession.”
MUFG donated $10,000 to the charity of HCA’s choice, Children’s Hospital of Orange County, which specializes in pediatric care. The hospital has a pediatric residency program, as well as the Children’s Heart, Neuroscience, Orthopedic and Hyundai Cancer Institute.
Ranjana Clark, head of global transaction banking, head of transaction banking Americas and Bay Area president for MUFG, hosted the ceremony.
“MUFG is proud to partner with the AFP in recognizing companies for their advancements in treasury and finance,” Clark said. “Hyundai Capital America’s entry highlights how an innovative approach can evolve the way companies conduct business. We congratulate Hyundai Capital America on receiving the Pinnacle Award and we are pleased to support their charity, Children’s Hospital of Orange County, in serving the community.”
The runners-up for the Pinnacle Award were Baird and Expedia Group. Along with Hyundai Capital America, these organizations were selected as finalists for their innovative solutions that demonstrated increased revenue, reduced risk, enhanced productivity, saved costs or improved quality.
Continuing Cherokee Media Group’s series of award programs that honor the most dedicated and talented professionals from throughout the used-car industry, we proudly showcase our latest group: Women in Auto Finance, presented by American Recovery Service.
These executives specialize in crucial skills such as accounting, computer science and law. They hold some of the most important positions at their respective companies. They provide critical guidance and produce high-level results.
This contingent of women who derive from throughout the auto-finance space is highlighted in this edition of Auto Fin Journal. They also will be part of a panel discussion during Used Car Week 2019, which begins on Nov. 11 at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas.
“We congratulate all of these women who serve in critical positions and deserve such an honor,” Cherokee Media Group president Bill Zadeits said.
Below is this year’s group of honorees:
— Lena Aksan, VP enterprise alliance automotive, Equifax
— Sandra Broderick, EVP, head of operations, Santander Consumer USA
— Kim Gershon, SVP, head of auto – personal finance, Bank of the West
— Kristin Karwat, CEO, Gateway Financial Solutions
— Ellen Koebler, chief risk officer, SunTrust Bank
— Jennifer LaClair, chief financial officer, Ally Financial
— Tina Love, vice president of claims and recovery, Allied Solutions
— Shannon Mokhiber, VP, marketing & brand, Ford Credit
— Carol Moore, vice president and general counsel, Hyundai Capital America
— Michele Rodgers, chief information officer, Exeter Finance
— Scarlett Smith, vice president of sales, FIS
— Celia Winslow, vice president of legal & regulatory affairs, American Financial Services Association (AFSA)
— Shawn Yujuico, director of marketing, Digital Recognition Network (DRN)
The Automotive Intelligence Summit is a month away, and these eight companies are set to be honored as Cherokee Media Group hosts one of the fastest-growing events focused on fintech, digital retail, mobility and other elements of the auto tech evolution.
This morning, Cherokee Media Group, leveraging guidance from the Auto Intel Council, released the first collection of honorees in the Emerging 8, a new award program designed to honor new companies that aim to improve a specific aspect or aspects of the vehicle-buying process through technology.
The Emerging 8 include:
AutoFi
AutoGravity
CreditIQ
Honcker
MotoInsight
PointPredictive
Roadster
TruDecision
“This first collection of Emerging 8 honorees established a high bar for our newest award program,” Cherokee Media Group president Bill Zadeits said. “Each company has a unique offering and story that already resonate throughout the auto fintech and digital retailing worlds.
“The Emerging 8 is set to be a significant part of the upcoming Automotive Intelligent Summit, which is designed to provide a setting for entrepreneurs and experts to gather so even more breakthrough ideas can germinate,” Zadeits added.
These exciting new companies are on the cusp of innovation in fintech development. They are all “on to something” that could turn the dial on their respective aspects of fintech in the next five years.
The collection of honorees for the 2019 Emerging 8 cover many aspects of fintech development, from vehicle remarketing and retail, to auto financing. Almost every aspect of the automotive wholesale and retail process stands to be changed and improved by technology coming out of the intersection of finance and technology.
The honorees are required to be in the early growth phases — roughly about 5 years old or younger, and making waves in the fintech solutions industry.
While the companies may have had outside investment and multiple rounds of funding, these innovative new names in the industry are pre-IPO and have not been launched or acquired by a larger entity with a foothold in the market.
Along with appearing during the Automotive Intelligence Summit, which runs July 23-25 in Raleigh, N.C., the Emerging 8 will be profiled in the July/August print and digital editions of the Auto Fin Journal.
The July/August issue of the Auto Fin Journal will cover the first-ever class of fintech’s Emerging 8, but readers can expect to see this feature annually going forward into 2020.
Not only will the Emerging 8 be recognized the in the Auto Fin Journal, they will also be invited to participate in Wednesday’s Emerging 8 Award Luncheon at the Auto Intelligence Summit on July 24.
Each company will be allowed the opportunity to explore their enterprises’ goals, mission, and plans from the AIS podium.
These new and upcoming companies, set to be honored next month at AIS 2019, were chosen by AIS and parent company Cherokee Media Group, in partnership with the members of the Auto Intel Council (AIC).
The AIC includes the leading intelligence companies in the automotive space, along with their respective economists, analysts, researchers, data scientists, communications professionals and executives.
AIC produces quarterly Auto Intel Briefings that features data reports, whitepapers, research, and more, contributed by AIC members. These Auto Intel Briefings provide the industry and its stakeholders unique insights and perspectives on various topics driving the automotive business. The latest installment is available here.
To learn more about these companies in person, register for the Automotive Intelligence Summit by going to www.autointelsummit.com.
