"Successful lending is all about managing risk, but what does that mean as we emerge from the Covid pandemic?"
FR: What is Lending after Lockdown?
Lending After Lockdown is a digital event that’s been specifically developed for senior individuals within lenders. Successful lending is all about managing risk, but what does that mean as we emerge from the Covid pandemic? In the last year the concept and scale of risk has been unlike anything we’ve ever experienced, but there are learnings that we can take from previous economic cycles and there is certainly best practice that lenders can follow to put them in a stronger position to execute safe profitable lending. This event will look at what has changed in the last year, what problems will think this will pose for lenders in the future and how they can protect against those problems. We’ll also focus on some of the important cases that have changed the landscape throughout lockdown.
FR: How did you come up with the idea of hosting a digital conference for lenders?
Jonathan Newman from Brightstone Law and I both attended the ASTL Annual Conference last year, which was held virtually because of Covid, and we thought it was a great way of sharing important information first-hand with a group of people, without eating too much into their time. We challenged ourselves to come up with a content programme that would be the most valuable way our delegates could spend 90 minutes of their time based on our own expertise and experience.
FR: What can lenders learn from you?
At Westcor International, we offer title and legal indemnity insurance, Brightstone Law is a full-service legal practice and CG&Co are experts in property receivership. We all have a lot to do with lenders but often, only when things go wrong. This gives us really strong insights into what can go wrong and why, what steps lenders can take to prevent this happening and what steps they can take to protect their business when the unpreventable does happen. In the legal, insurance and receivership sectors, we deal with the nitty gritty and the detail everyday so, in many ways, we are best placed to help lenders from our experience.
FR: Who would benefit from attending the event?
We think it will be a must lend for all lenders with an interest in executing safe, profitable lending and improving the performance of their business, but it will be particularly relevant to lenders in the short-term and specialist finance sectors and the content will be particularly useful for senior executives, underwriters, treasury and legal teams.
FR: What are the biggest challenges facing lenders right now?
Uncertainty remain a big challenge for lenders. We are in a stronger position today than we were 12 months ago, but so much is still unknown, and the operating environment coming out of Covid is unlike the environment going into the pandemic, so it’s important that lenders tread carefully. And, of course, the last year has left scars in terms of the number of loans in default and the backlog of cases waiting to go through the recovery system. So it will be important for lenders to take lessons from the last year, and indeed previous downturns, to ensure that they are well placed to make the opportunities the uncertain environment will undoubtedly deliver, with being over-exposed.
FR: If you could see one headline about the lending market this year, what would it be?
I think we all want to see that the recovery we have seen so quickly in the property market develops to become sustainable and consistent growth.
More details about Lending After Lockdown can be found at www.lendingafterlockdown.co.uk.
