2014 SBA 7(a) Lending Stats

The SBA recently released FY14 lending statistics.  As always it’s interesting to see which banks are most active – and what the “sweet spot” is for loan sizes.

Top 10 Lenders by Total Loan Amounts

Wells Fargo continues to be the largest SBA 7(a) lender, generating over 2x the amount of loans than the next nearest lender.  Well’s alone accounted for 10.7% of 7(a) loan volume out of the Top 100 Lenders.  Also interesting is just how dominant the top lenders are- the top 10 accounts for 38% of 7(a) loan volume.

Lender Number of Loans Total Loans Average Size % Total
Wells Fargo Bank 2,781 $801,774,095 $288,304 10.7%
Live Oak Banking Company 463 $387,196,250 $836,277 5.2%
U.S. Bank National Association 2,326 $288,445,290 $124,009 3.9%
The Huntington National Bank 3,021 $264,885,000 $87,681 3.5%
JPMorgan Chase Bank, National 2,540 $249,692,480 $98,304 3.3%
CDC Small Business Finance Corporation 271 $210,118,725 $775,346 2.8%
Ridgestone Bank 232 $169,254,575 $729,546 2.3%
Noah Bank 225 $165,883,485 $737,260 2.2%
Celtic Bank Corporation 595 $147,124,521 $247,268 2.0%
Newtek Small Business Finance, 181 $135,340,490 $747,738 1.8%

 

Top 10 Lenders by Total Loan Counts

Sometimes the raw dollar volumes in these statistics obscure other facts.  For instance, while Well’s is far and away the biggest lender, it accomplishes this with relatively small loans (the same goes for Huntington and JPMorgan).  The average loan size last year was approximately $750k.  Compare this to Well’s average size of $288k and JPMorgans of $98k.  That’s a lot of small loans.

Looking at it another way, which lenders do the most loan volume by transaction counts (i.e. number of loans)?  Certainly see a trend there, right?

Lender Number of Loans Total Loans Average Size % Total
The Huntington National Bank 3,021 $264,885,000 $87,681 3.5%
Wells Fargo Bank 2,781 $801,774,095 $288,304 10.7%
JPMorgan Chase Bank, National 2,540 $249,692,480 $98,304 3.3%
U.S. Bank National Association 2,326 $288,445,290 $124,009 3.9%
Compass Bank 1,100 $94,761,580 $86,147 1.3%
Manufacturers and Traders Trust 889 $80,047,345 $90,042 1.1%
Celtic Bank Corporation 595 $147,124,521 $247,268 2.0%
TD Bank, National Association 528 $81,480,900 $154,320 1.1%
Live Oak Banking Company 463 $387,196,250 $836,277 5.2%
CDC Small Business Finance Corporation 271 $210,118,725 $775,346 2.8%

 

Largest Average Loan Sizes

Finally let’s take a look at who’s doing the biggest loans.  This is super helpful when you are trying to understand what lender might be a good fit for your particular circumstances.  This is super interesting – most lenders in the Top 100 are pretty tightly clustered, averaging between $600 and 800k.  While the 7(a) program has a $5 million ceiling, only 7 lenders average loans larger than $1 million.  And look at the transaction counts for each below – none are particularly large in terms of the number of 7(a) loans they are putting out.

 

Lender Number of Loans Total Loans Average Size % Total
Los Angeles County Small Business 36 $58,053,000 $1,612,583 0.8%
First Western SBLC, Inc 19 $25,702,125 $1,352,743 0.3%
Denver Urban Economic Development Corporation 19 $25,190,000 $1,325,789 0.3%
Parke Bank 25 $31,186,500 $1,247,460 0.4%
New Jersey Business Finance Corporation 29 $35,061,000 $1,209,000 0.5%
CertusBank, National Association 81 $90,893,685 $1,122,144 1.2%
North Texas Certified Development 37 $41,274,000 $1,115,514 0.6%
United Midwest Savings Bank 38 $38,319,600 $1,008,411 0.5%
Mortgage Capital Development Corporation 132 $128,250,000 $971,591 1.7%
First Community Bank 51 $47,801,950 $937,293 0.6%

 

SBA Loans and Business Valuations

Bear in mind that by statute, any 7(a) loan that exceeds $250,000 in goodwill (aka “blue sky”) requires a certified, 3rd party valuation.  Give us a call and we’ll be happy to discuss your 7(a) business valuation requirements.

 

Dan is the Founder of Quantive and Value Scout. He has two decades of experience in leading M&A transactions. Additionally oversees Quantive's valuation practice and has performed thousands of business valuations.