Navitas has entered a new chapter following its transition from bank ownership to an independent platform backed by Wafra. The move comes after eight and a half years of significant organic growth under bank ownership and creates new opportunities for the company to expand its platform, pursue acquisitions and continue serving the small- and mid-ticket equipment finance markets.
Equipment Finance Advisor publisher Michael Toglia sat down with Mike Bruman, CEO of Navitas, to discuss what drove the ownership transition, how the company intends to balance accelerated growth with its disciplined underwriting culture, where it sees opportunities across the equipment finance market and why Bruman believes Navitas’ best days may still be ahead.
Michael Toglia: What specifically changed in the business or the market that made this the right time to transition from bank ownership to an independent platform like Wafra?
Mike Bruman: First and foremost, the bank has been a wonderful partner for Navitas. They acquired us in 2018, and we’ve been part of the UCB family for eight and a half years. Usually, when there’s an acquisition, you become incorporated into the organization, and its culture gradually filters down to you. Over time, you can become something different from what you originally were. Fortunately, they left us alone.
The good news is that by doing that, we continued to grow. We grew substantially during the bank ownership.
A few years ago, the bank announced they’d like to keep Navitas at about 10% of their total assets, and I think that was the right decision. Appropriate diversification is critical.
Well, we hit 10%, so we needed to find a different capital structure. We tried to do some things internally. We sold portfolios and created some availability, but that’s not natural, and we wanted to make sure our growth was natural.
So, we looked for a partner, and Wafra had a capital structure that was unique in terms of how they finance their business—not only through their own cash, but also through their access to the ABS markets and other sources. That felt more natural to us, and it really creates more opportunity for us as a result. Wafra wants to grow Navitas, and that resonates really well with us. Naturally, we’re entrepreneurs here, and we want to continue to grow.
When I started at Navitas in 2010, just to put things in perspective, we did $7 million in the first year compared to 2025 when we did over a billion dollars. It’s unbelievable, and it really gives you some perspective of who we are, how we go to market and how we partner with vendors and intermediaries in the marketplace. If they’re successful, we’re successful. So, I think there’s a lot of opportunity ahead of us, and we’re excited to have Wafra as part of that.
Toglia: It’s nice not to have that ceiling.
Bruman: As we searched for potential opportunities to partner with Wafra, that really became the driving force behind the decision. In many ways, we were literally a victim of our own success. It wasn’t that we had done something wrong; it was that we had done something too well.
We’re almost like a unicorn in the marketplace. Our portfolio continues to demonstrate excellent performance, with very low delinquency and losses, we have exceptionally high employee retention and satisfaction, and our partners value working with us. By virtually every measure, things are going really well.
Toglia: What does success look like for Navitas under Wafra’s ownership?
Bruman: For us, Navitas’ success is measured by everybody else’s success. It’s measured by our customers being able to finance the equipment they need and continue to grow their businesses. It’s measured by our partners continuing to grow and prosper by sourcing business to us, and by our associates having the opportunity to grow and prosper as well.
If all of those things continue to happen—and they have throughout the almost 20 years we’ve been in business—I would expect us to double the size of the company over the next three to five years. To me, that would be another strong measurement of success.
Toglia: One of the things that Navitas is known for is having a very disciplined underwriting culture. How do you balance accelerating all that growth without compromising the credit culture that you’re so reliant upon?
Bruman: My background is in credit. I was the chief credit officer in my prior positions before joining Navitas. I came to Navitas in 2010 and I was the chief credit officer here as well. Credit is part of our DNA at Navitas. Everything is very thoughtful and deliberate. Everybody has the same mindset: it’s about credit. In portfolio management, if something doesn’t seem right, it gets escalated quickly—to me, to our chief credit officer, to the salespeople and to the source.
It’s about how we react to those situations and how everyone adjusts when something needs to be addressed. We’re building partnerships, not a one-way street. So, collectively, we resolve issues and work through them in the best interest of everyone involved.
Ultimately, it’s about how you behave and how you act in those situations. That culture, that DNA, isn’t changing. It can’t. I wouldn’t know how to do it any other way. I’m not going to have a strong credit culture one day and then have something different the next. It doesn’t make sense.
We deliver consistently to our customers, our sources and our employees, and I think that’s what they expect from us.
Toglia: In your prior roles, you had significant exposure to the ABS market and the rating agencies. How did that experience influence the way you developed Navitas’ credit approach?
Bruman: When I came to Navitas, we developed a scoring grid that was much more comprehensible. What I want are customers that demonstrate good breadth. It’s not simply the number of years they’ve been in business or the number of trades they have. It’s the culmination of a lot of different factors that come together to give us a complete picture. The key is that it’s easy to understand and, importantly, easy to explain.
We bring all the information that’s important to the analyst so it’s right in front of them. They have what they need to make a decision quickly, which allows us to turn deals around in minutes. The information is all there, including fraud detection and other tools, but an analyst still touches every transaction.
That’s different from most of what’s out there, and I think it’s an important part of how we’ve built our credit culture.
Toglia: Where are you seeing some of the greatest demand for equipment financing today, and how are customer expectations and needs evolving compared to a few years ago?
Bruman: First of all, on the customer side, customers always need equipment, whether times are good or bad, regardless of what the market is doing. Especially for small businesses, there’s always a need for equipment that helps them become more efficient and operate their businesses better.
That demand exists across all sectors, and our best offense is our defense. We’re diversified. We don’t concentrate in any one market, any one type of equipment or any one area. If something happens in the telecommunications market, for example, it doesn’t necessarily impact the computer market or the technology market. Some sectors will be doing better while others may be struggling, but that diversification allows us to weather the storms really well.
That’s how we look at the market. There’s always going to be a need for equipment, and we’re interested in customers who are looking to make their businesses more efficient and productive. That opportunity is always there.
We also have a lot of people knocking on our door who would like to join Navitas. There aren’t many 20-year-old companies that have been through the ABS market, have excellent credit metrics and performance, and have employees who are genuinely happy to be here.
That attracts talent. It attracts people who want to be part of what we’re building. And that’s the culture we’ve embraced here. It’s nurturing, but it’s also very entrepreneurial. You’re successful as much as you want to be, and I think that resonates really well out there.
Toglia: That leads into my wrap-up question. What message would you like to convey not only to Navitas employees, but your referral partners, the industry as a whole and your customers about how you’re going to stay the same and keep improving?
Bruman: The great Navitas company that you know and trust is the same Navitas company that you’ll continue to know and trust.
When we were out looking in the marketplace—and this was a long process that we undertook—we were very fortunate to partner with Wafra. My biggest concern, obviously, was for our partners and associates and conveying that nothing changes and that we all got here together, and we will all go to the next chapter together. We have not had a single layoff and there are no changes in policies and procedures. I wanted to make sure that everything was consistent.
That’s what we want to convey to all of our partners and our associates. Hopefully, that attracts even more folks to come do business with us because now we have ample capital and ample opportunity to continue to grow.
We can now look at acquisitions—management teams that make sense, that complement us, that fit into our culture, that share the same Navitas values.
It’s a very exciting time at Navitas, and I truly believe the best days are still ahead of us.