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SCHUMANN, a risk management advisor for trade credit and surety business, held its annual cross-industry and multinational online conference for decision-makers and executives around credit risk management, compliance, and digitalisation projects in late September.
The conference had over a thousand registered attendees from across the world, including representatives and speakers from major companies, platforms and associations such as Allianz Trade, Atradius, Aurubis, BFS Finance GmbH, BPL Global, CFG Finance, Coface, Ernst & Young, EB Consult, FCI, ICISA, ITFA, km credit consulting, Knauf Interfere, Nexus Europe, Rhenus Assets & Services, TigerRisk Partners, TRUMPF Financial Service, Pernix Speciality, Wilhelm Hoyer and Zurich.
The event covered a wide range of issues, including:
- Credit insurance and surety business in times of uncertainty
- The future of managing general agents (MGAs)
- The globalisation of credit risk management
- Trend navigation in leasing and receivables finance
- Implementation of regulatory requirements in international business
- Market modernisation and digital transformation
- Utilising modern workflow and decision engines and artificial intelligence (AI) within trade credit
Among the key takeaways from the event was that credit risk management is a central task for all industries in times of uncertainty.
Modern methods and international technology (IT) support for obtaining and processing data that measure the pulse of the economy and the risks are available and should be utilised by companies, financial institutions (FIs) and banks, credit insurers and surety insurers in order to provide a level of stability.
It is also clear that the current political environment will play a bigger factor when analysing macroeconomic risks in a way that has not been seen since the Second World War.
Factoring and insurance are essential stabilisers of the economy and cannot be overlooked at this important time.
The positive current growth rates in these industries underline their global value. Risk hedging through insurance is currently stable; the loss ratio is low. However, a key measure of how industry is performing will be shown in how insolvencies develop.
At the same time, a wave of digitalisation is taking place that encompasses all industries.
Digital supply chain platforms that support the value chains and transparency, efficiency, and speed of processes are all surging as a result.
Modern workflow and decision engines enable fast reactions to changing geopolitical and economic conditions and modern financing.
Data science is significantly supported by modern AI solutions in onboarding processes and risk monitoring, enabling measurements to be taken on almost a minute-by-minute basis across a range of decision-making factors.
In the age of AI, unused data equals an untapped goldmine, which could radically change the operation of a business.
Dr. Martina Städtler-Schumann, CEO and founder of SCHUMANN, said, “We were delighted to, once again, host the SCHUMANN conference in collaboration with some of our closest partners.
“At such a pivotal moment in the global economy, it is vital for the whole trade credit, risk management and surety industry to come together and discuss how we can optimise our processes and provide the best services for our clients.”
Robert Meters, Head of Global Business, SCHUMANN, and Director, SCHUMANN International, London, said, “Throughout the conference, it was clear that there is still a great deal of opportunity for those willing to embrace technological advantages and adapt quickly to changing market trends despite unprecedented challenges in the form of surging insolvencies, sky high inflation and growing geopolitical risk.
“Credit risk management is the constant companion here and can provide a clear foundation on which stabilisation of the economy can be based.”
This latest annual conference comes in the same year SCHUMANN launched SCHUMANN International, which established a dedicated and permanent London presence for the company after more than 25 years of business trading from its German headquarters.
