Born into a family of entrepreneurs, Frank J. Hanna, Jr. demonstrated from the age
of seven an uncanny understanding of the concept of "profit" and fully engaged in
its pursuit with creative endeavors, most involving local farmers' produce. At age
ten he was purchasing supplies from wholesale houses to cut costs, and at thirteen,
he was analyzing family businesses from Dun & Bradstreet financial reports. By the
time he graduated from the University of Georgia, his personal profits had financed
his education. Armed with a degree in Finance and Real Estate, he proceeded to demonstrate
his mastery of those subjects.
At age 26, he took charge of a financial subsidiary of Rollins Inc., an Atlanta-based
fortune 1000 company. In five years he increased its revenue by more than 500%.
He was soon managing Rollins’ corporate real estate portfolio with an estimated
$400 million in property. Meanwhile, his personal portfolio flourished with investments
in distressed real estate.
In 1981 Mr. Hanna acquired Nationwide Credit, Inc., a consumer debt collections
service. Under Mr. Hanna's management, Nationwide pioneered the development of paperless
collections, a debtor scoring system and real-time skip tracing. With the implementation
of these innovations-and a unique approach to collections as a service to educate
and assist the debtor-the company’s profit margins tripled that of the industry
norm. Customizing the service to fit the specific needs of major corporations and
the U.S. government, Nationwide grew into one of the largest collection agencies
in the United States. In 1990, Mr. Hanna sold Nationwide to First Financial Management
Corporation for a 123.88% annual IRR and a realized gain exceeding $94 million.