Martin Less is President and Chief Executive Officer of Nationwide Acceptance LLC, a company whose primary focus is subprime automobile sales finance.  Nationwide currently operates in 25 states with offices in Rosemont and Elgin, Illinois, Las Vegas, Nevada and Duluth, Georgia.

Mr. Less was hired in 1995 as a Vice President with the intent to succeed owner Michael Lutz as President of Nationwide.  His position began with extensive training in all business areas of the company.  He was promoted in 1996 to Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer and again in 1999 to President.  Subsequent to Mr. Less’ request to perform a management buyout of Nationwide, the company was sold to Prospect Capital Corporation in 2013 with Mr. Less purchasing an equity stake in the company.  As President and CEO of Nationwide Acceptance, Mr. Less’ duties include the development and implementation of a strategic vision for the overall operations of the company.  Under his leadership, Nationwide has grown profitably from operating in 4 states and $54 million in net receivables to 25 states and approximately $140 million in net receivables today.

Mr. Less is active in the American Financial Services Association (AFSA), the national trade association for finance companies.  He currently serves on the Vehicle Finance Board and the Independents Section Board and has recently been elected to the Education Foundation Board.  He served as Chairman of the AFSA Political Action Committee in 2015-2016, was a founding member of the AFSA Education Foundation’s Endowment Fund and was one of the founding members of the Independent Auto Executives Group.  On a local level, Mr. Less has served in various senior officer positions in the Independent Finance Association of Illinois and is active in the Illinois Financial Services Association.

A graduate of the University of Chicago’s MBA program specializing in Finance, Mr. Less also received a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  His previous experience includes being the CFO of a family holding company and general manager of a venture capital company.  Mr. Less and his wife, Vickie, live in Chicago, Illinois and have three grown children.