Greetings from a busy year-end closing office at Scope Aircraft Finance!
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Normally, after the clock strikes midnight on December 31, we can all breathe a collective sigh of relief. The busy pendulum swings to a slower pace in the first quarter. That trend changed last year with the anticipation of tax law changes under the incoming Trump administration.
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The January slowdown we’re accustomed to didn’t occur, as several transactions were delayed into January fundings to take advantage of anticipated tax opportunities in 2025.
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Halfway through December, we’re seeing the same volume trend for the second year in a row. Not only are we pacing for a record December, but we also have a strong January closing pipeline. While we always welcome the opportunity to serve our customers and help with whatever closing timeline they need, this “year-end plus January” closing volume does seem to be a new trend across the industry, and something we’re still adapting to.
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The challenge, from my view, is ensuring a “not year-end” January closing still happens efficiently on the heels of a busy December. How do we do that? It’s pretty simple. We need to operate with clarity.
In our bank, the phrase “clear is kind” has become quite popular and for good reason. Clarity helps ensure we’re on the same page and pushing toward the same result. Clear communication and clear expectations help keep everyone aligned from start to finish.
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January is right around the corner, and we can all help make January closings happen so long as we’re clear on timing expectations and capacity constraints as we work through the December year-end volume.
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So, if you have a January closing, ensure you’re communicating clearly with your banker or escrow agent about your needs, and we’ll be there to support you, even if we’re running a little slowly in January from all the cookies and eggnog we had after a busy year-end.
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I hope you enjoy the rest of the holiday season!
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