Business

Ladder Advisors Won’t Get You A Better Deal on Personal Loans

Published

6 years ago

April 11, 2020

If you are looking for a better deal on personal loans and you are considering Ladder Advisors, keep on looking. Our advice is to take a step back and check the Credit9 reviews before making a decision.

Very often in our lives, we need large amounts of cash for different purposes, be it for buying a car, renovating our home or paying medical bills. If you are seeking a loan, you should try to get a better deal on personal loans because it can save you a lot of money, make repayments much easier, and keep you out of debt collection.

Personal loans may range between $1,000 and $100,000. Online lenders and banks offer personal loans under their own terms and conditions. You should look for terms and conditions that will give you a better deal on personal loans.

The Coronavirus Crisis May Give You a Better Deal on Personal Loans

The coronavirus crisis has wreaked chaos everywhere around the world. However, there do exist opportunities for those seeking personal loans since the Federal Reserve is moving in aggressively to contain the devastating coronavirus fallout that the economy will have to endure and try and limit the number of coronavirus bankruptcies.

In short, the Fed has cut down interest rates to almost zero. The Fed did this to give impetus to an economy staggering and reeling under the unprecedented impact of the coronavirus. You shouldn’t be surprised that the Fed resorted to this measure considering that entire industries are currently stagnating and some like hospitality, travel, tourism and airlines are in danger of closing down.

Depending on your credit score, history and other factors, you may find loans with APRs ranging from 5% to 36%.

To get better deals on personal loans, you can visit certain sites to compare various loans. However, you can now expect to find very competitive interest rates as the interest rate that the Fed charges on loans have a strong influence on the finance industry.

Why is that?

It is all about the prevailing economic scenario. Back in the ‘80s when the economy was facing the shock of steep inflation, the Fed had used very high interest rates to battle the rising prices. At that time, the interest on personal loans was a stunning 19.2%.

Now the Fed has to work the other way round. It has to stimulate an economy that has been virtually knocked out by the coronavirus epidemic. The Fed is doing this by slashing interest rates to unprecedentedly low levels in order to stimulate enterprise and business activity, which have hit unthinkable lows. You can take advantage of this situation to get a better deal on personal loans.

In addition to personal loans, credit card rates are also falling. However, credit card rates still stand at an average of almost 15%, according to Fed’s research. You can play it smart and bring down your credit card costs by taking out a debt consolidation loan. You can now get a better deal on personal loans if you are seeking to consolidate debt. So, if you were looking for the right opportunity, then now is the time to act.

The Fed has brought down interest rates to new lows that were not seen since the last major financial crisis in 2008. Since the Fed has dramatically slashed interest rates, the effects will reverberate across the finance industry and they will be forced to follow suit. Hence, you should look around for personal loans because the times are ripe for deals that were previously unimaginable. Considering how aggressively the Fed is bringing down interest rates, you should not be surprised when you come across lenient terms and conditions. There has never been a better time to get a better deal on personal loans.

Apps for a Better Deal on Personal Loans

Even before the coronavirus crisis, personal loans were on the rise. Credit bureaus reported that in 2017 and 2018, there was a substantial 15% rise in personal loans.

Depending on the credit score of the borrower, most personal loans during this period ranged between $11,000 and $20,000.

Advances and developments in fintech are the key reasons behind the pre-coronavirus proliferation of personal loans. Financial apps now exist that allow you to get better deals on personal loans. These apps provide a seamless procedure for personal loan application that is both simple and convenient.

How important are these apps now? Towards the end of 2018, personal loans taken out through fintech apps accounted for a substantial 38% of the total, according to major credit bureaus. In 2013, these apps accounted for just 5% of all personal loans. Hence, the major rise in personal loans can be attributed to the relentless popularity of finance apps that allow seamless borrowing and make a better deal on personal loans easier than ever.

Personal loans are typically unsecured. This means that you do not have to forward any of your property as collateral for the loan. If you default on payments, the lender may be able to sell off the collateral to recover the loan amount. Since personal loans usually do not involve any collateral, you can have peace of mind knowing that your property is not directly at stake if you are late on a few payments. This is one of the reasons why you get a better deal on personal loans.

The repayment schedule of personal loans typically ranges from 3 to 5 years. Hence, you have plenty of time to pay back your personal loan. You can get a better deal on personal loans due to this generous payment schedule.

These loans also carry a lower debt than credit cards on average. If you have accumulated large amounts of credit card debt, you can take out a debt consolidation personal loan through which you can pay a lower cumulative interest rate on your combined credit card balances. A better deal on personal loans like this can help you with repaying credit card debt.

Hence, in order to get a better deal on personal loans, you may select an app that will help you to compare interest rates and other loan terms between different lenders.

Bottom Line

Fed interest rate cuts, combined with finance apps, can help you to get a better deal on personal loans. Given the current scenario, it is likely that the Fed may be forced to reduce the interest rate even further to bolster an ailing economy.

Business

How Technology Drives Value Creation in Private Equity

Published

2 weeks ago

April 29, 2026

Matthew Wiles

How technology drives value creation in private equity is now one of the most actively debated topics among institutional investors and fund managers. A decade ago, technology was largely a cost center in PE-backed companies. Today it sits at the center of margin improvement, revenue growth, and exit multiple expansion. Firms that figured this out early are generating better returns with less reliance on financial engineering.

The shift happened for a practical reason. As interest rates rose and deal multiples compressed, financial leverage stopped doing the heavy lifting. Operational improvement became the primary value creation lever. Technology accelerated what was possible within the ownership period.

How Technology Drives Value Creation in Private Equity Operations

Operational improvement through technology produces the most measurable results. PE firms apply technology tools to reduce costs, increase throughput, and improve decision-making speed inside their companies.

Digital Process Automation in PE-Backed Companies

Manual processes in back-office and production functions carry real costs. They consume labor, generate errors, and slow down the information flow that management teams depend on. Automation tools eliminate these costs without requiring headcount reductions that disrupt company culture.

The most impactful automation deployments in PE-backed operations include:

Accounts payable and receivable automation that compresses billing cycles and reduces days sales outstanding
Production scheduling software that reduces downtime and improves throughput in manufacturing environments
Inventory management systems that cut carrying costs by aligning purchasing with real-time demand signals
Quality control automation that reduces defect rates and warranty claims in product-based businesses

ZCG Consulting (“ZCGC”) works with companies across industrials, manufacturing, packaging, and consumer products to identify and implement automation programs tied to specific financial outcomes. The approach connects technology investment to measurable margin improvement rather than treating automation as a general upgrade.

Data Infrastructure as a Value Creation Tool

Many PE-backed companies arrive under new ownership with fragmented data systems. Different departments use different tools. Reporting requires manual consolidation. Leadership makes decisions with incomplete information.

Fixing that infrastructure creates immediate value. Integrated data systems give management teams real-time visibility into revenue, cost, and operational performance. That visibility accelerates decisions and surfaces problems before they become material.

James Zenni, founder and CEO of ZCG with over 30 years of capital markets experience, has consistently emphasized that information quality drives investment performance. That view shapes how ZCG approaches technology investment across the companies in its portfolio.

Technology Drives Value Creation in Private Equity Through Revenue Growth

Cost reduction gets most of the attention in PE operational improvement, but technology also drives revenue growth. The mechanisms are different, and they compound differently over a hold period.

E-Commerce and Digital Customer Acquisition

Companies that sell primarily through traditional channels often leave significant revenue on the table. Adding e-commerce capabilities or investing in digital customer acquisition expands the addressable market without proportional cost increases.

PE firms that invest in digital revenue channels generate higher growth rates during the hold period. That growth rate difference translates directly into exit multiple expansion.

Revenue growth technology applications in PE-backed companies include:

E-commerce platform buildouts that open direct-to-consumer channels alongside existing wholesale relationships
Customer relationship management systems that improve retention and increase repeat purchase rates
Digital marketing infrastructure that lowers customer acquisition costs through better targeting and attribution
Pricing optimization tools that identify margin improvement opportunities without volume loss

Technology-Enabled Customer Experience Improvements

Customer retention is cheaper than customer acquisition. Technology investments in customer experience, service speed, and product quality consistency reduce churn. Lower churn produces more predictable revenue. More predictable revenue supports higher exit valuations.

ZCG deploys Haptiq Technologies and Solutions, its 300-plus-person technology division, to support digital transformation across its companies. The platform was founded 20 years ago and manages approximately $8 billion in AUM. It brings implementation resources that most individual companies cannot afford to build internally. That capability gives ZCG’s companies faster access to technology improvements at lower execution risk.

Building Technology Capability Within PE-Backed Companies

Technology investment during the hold period creates value in two ways. It improves financial performance during ownership. It also makes the business more attractive to the next buyer.

Strategic buyers and later-stage PE funds pay premium multiples for companies with modern technology infrastructure. A business with integrated systems, clean data, and digital revenue channels commands a better price. A comparable business running on legacy platforms does not.

The ZCG Team structures technology investment as part of the initial value creation plan for each company. Priorities get set at entry based on the gap between current capability and acquirer expectations.

This pre-sale positioning approach changes how technology investment gets funded and sequenced during the hold period. Projects that improve financial performance and exit readiness simultaneously get prioritized. Projects with long payback periods that do not improve the sale narrative get deferred.

How technology drives value creation in private equity is ultimately about execution discipline. The tools matter less than the clarity of the financial objective each technology investment must achieve.