# California First Leasing Corp

California First Leasing Corp is an Asset Manager based in Newport Beach, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Asset Manager
- **Headquarters:** Newport Beach, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** Newport Beach, CA, United States
- **Founded:** 1977
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** calfirstlease.com

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

California First Leasing Corp was founded in 1977 and is led by President and CEO Patrick E. Paddon. Unlike most specialty finance companies, the firm operates without a bank charter, instead raising its own debt capital through a private placement bond program sold directly to institutional and high-net-worth investors — a structure that removes the intermediation cost of a traditional bank funding desk. The firm provides senior-secured loans and leases for essential-use equipment across manufacturing, technology, healthcare, and construction sectors. Transaction sizes typically range from $500,000 to $5 million, with terms generally spanning 3 to 7 years. The credit book is diversified by obligor and industry, and the company has historically maintained net charge-offs well below industry averages. In 2023, the firm reported its largest annual origination volume in over a decade, reflecting expanded direct origination capacity. Geographic concentration is primarily in the western and southwestern United States, with additional exposure in the Midwest. The management team averages multiple decades of tenure, and the firm operates from a single office in Newport Beach. California First Leasing has publicly reported total assets of approximately $300 million as of its most recent fiscal year-end. Adjacent to its core lending business, the company holds a portfolio of equity investments in private companies and real estate assets, primarily acquired through restructurings or opportunistic purchases. In 2023, the firm completed a $10 million private placement of fixed-rate senior notes to fund new originations (per the firm's regulatory filings). The firm's structural differentiator is its captive bond-funding model. By selling its own notes directly to accredited investors through a continuously offered program, California First Leasing avoids both depository regulatory costs and the spread compression that bank-competitors face when funding through wholesale markets. This architecture has survived multiple credit cycles since 1977 without requiring a bank charter, bailout, or external equity raise that would dilute the narrow-shareholder-base governance the firm has maintained for nearly five decades.

## Sectors

- Private Credit
- Real Estate

## People

- Patrick E. Paddon — President & Chief Executive Officer

## Questions

### How does California First Leasing Corp fund its loan book?

The firm raises debt capital through a private placement bond program, selling fixed-rate senior notes directly to institutional and accredited individual investors. This self-funding model avoids depository costs and wholesale bank funding spreads, and has been the firm's primary capital source since its founding in 1977.

### What size and type of credits does the firm typically originate?

California First Leasing originates senior-secured loans and leases generally between $500,000 and $5 million. The underlying collateral is essential-use equipment — such as manufacturing machinery, medical devices, and IT hardware — with terms of three to seven years.

### Is California First Leasing Corp a bank?

No. The firm is a non-bank specialty finance company that deliberately operates without a bank charter. It raises its own capital through a continuously offered bond program rather than taking customer deposits, and it is not subject to bank holding company regulation.

### Who runs the firm's credit and investment decisions?

Patrick E. Paddon has served as President and CEO and is the named executive responsible for credit strategy and portfolio management. The management team has historically maintained long average tenure with low turnover at the senior level.

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Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z

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