Topic: How To Invest

Pat: Can you give me your thoughts on Chesswood Group and Equitable Group? Thanks.

Article Excerpt

Chesswood Group, $16.00, symbol CHW on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 10.0 million; Market cap: $159.4 million; www.chesswoodgroup.com), is the successor to the Chesswood Income Fund. It mainly operates in the specialty finance industry. The company started out in the automotive business, where it leased vehicles and ran car dealerships. It continues to own Acura Sherway in Toronto, one of Canada’s larger Acura dealers, in addition to online new and used car dealer cars4U.com. Chesswood’s largest division is Pawnee Leasing Corporation, located in Fort Collins, Colorado. Pawnee provides micro-ticket leasing across the U.S. This type of leasing serves the needs of smaller, start-up businesses with no or poor credit histories. Chesswood typically finances items under $75,000. Pawnee’s leases comprise about 75% of Chesswood’s total lending. The company recently acquired Case Funding, a U.S. legal-finance firm, for $1 million. Case loans money to lawyers based on a percentage of the value of their fees if they win a case for a client. Case also provides legal funding…