Besgen retires from HCA

Leasing industry veteran William Besgen has announced his retirement after a 27-year spell with Hitachi Capital America (HCA), which he helped to launch in the US.

He is currently advisor/vice chairman emeritus and a former vice chairman, president and board director.

Besgen started with HCA in April 1990 as executive vice president/chief operating officer, six months after it was incorporated in Delaware as a wholly-owned independent finance company of Hitachi Capital Corporation, Tokyo.

Initially, he was joined by a president, treasurer from Japan, $6 million in capital and a blank sheet of paper.

Today HCA has over $3 billion in assets with more than 300 employees in the US and Canada, and spans many aspects of equipment finance, structured finance, asset-based lending, trade finance, vendor finance, floor plan and dealer finance.

Besgen said: “None of this could have been accomplished without the exceptionally talented employees we have had, along with the continued financial backing of our parent company.

“Having transferred day-to-day leadership of the business two years ago to Ryan Collison, president, I am confident the finance company is in great hands with Ryan and his senior management team. I look forward to seeing the company expand and grow exponentially in the Americas in the years ahead.”

Collison said: “The impact Bill has had on HCA from the beginning can’t be overstated. All of us hope to carry out the vision Bill created for our company.”

Besgen has been associated with the equipment leasing and finance business for almost 50 years.

His career began at Citicorp in 1969 where he worked for 21 years as a vice president, having a number of senior management responsibilities, primarily in its various equipment finance/leasing businesses.