Stanley said today's factoring industry is more complicated than it was in the days when factors simply gave a company a line of credit, they borrowed 80 percent against receivables and that was it.

"Today, it's just not that simple. You're borrowing against inventory, you're borrowing against receivables or borrowing against letters of credit, in transit inventory, the intellectual property and trademarks," he said.

The kind of clients Stanley works with also have changed some, he said. Typically the firm sees two types of clients: those that are doing very well and need financing to help support their growth, and those that are challenged and need support in restructuring, downsizing or merging.

"It's paradoxical in the sense that they're going in opposite directions. One is going up very rapidly and one is going down and challenged," he said. "Those are the companies that are the most needy."

Because Rosenthal is a private institution, it is able to commit and give an immediate response to clients who are in need of additional support, he said. The ability to anticipate the potential problems of those clients and respond consistently is the most difficult part of his job, Stanley said.

"The most challenging thing is trying to be consistent with what we do, to effectively treat people we're doing business with fairly, evenly and consistently. That's what we strive to do."

The payoff, he said, is in seeing clients succeed when they receive the support they need. Some clients predate Stanley's time with the company, but Rosenthal has always operated on a business model that encourages loyalty, he said.

"That's what I'm endeavoring to do as managing director of the company, to really continue that business model in a different era," he said. In the current era, the company operates off a different platform, which includes an electronic platform and other developments.