Quotes That Have Stayed With Me

Quotes That Have Stayed With Me
Executive Summary: 👉 Leasing has real advantages – especially in uncertain times!

The story is a bit older, but the message holds just as true today as it did back then:

Panel discussion in March 2023:
When asked how his bank responded to the pandemic in spring 2020 – and whether he had helped his customers with payment deferrals – a board member of a smaller commercial bank delivered the disarmingly honest statement shown here.

This bank protected itself, placed its own interests above those of its customers, and the board member had a clear understanding that this was his duty as a director of a public company.

I always think back to these words when I hear and read – as I have increasingly in recent times – about banks pulling back, adopting more conservative risk policies, raising the bar for lending, and so on – as if it were the banking sector's obligation to finance every customer, including those affected by structural change, those with uncertain or untested business models, or those in declining industries.

I find the current behavior of banks entirely understandable from an economic standpoint! And it is fully in line with regulatory requirements.

As a businessperson, would you loosen your lending criteria in the current environment of rising default rates and write-downs?
Probably not.

The same logic applies to Private Debt: these financing parties move faster and may be more understanding, but they fight with the same weapons as banks (secured loans) and are therefore subject to the same default probabilities (PDs) and other risk dynamics.

But as a customer, you can take action:
👉 As a company, you have the option to make greater use of more resilient financing structures!
👉 Leasing companies benefit from significantly stronger collateralization through ownership of the financed asset, which is why they have also built up considerably more expertise in asset valuation and remarketing.

For you as a customer, this brings clear advantages:
🔹 Leasing can apply risk-reducing treatment to financed assets,
🔹 and therefore finances more readily and over longer terms,
🔹 is a stable partner that doesn't waver, and
🔹 does not have to be more expensive than a loan.

👉 Quite the opposite – especially for companies with mid-range credit quality or sub-investment grade ratings, leasing offers very clear cost advantages!

The solution is therefore quite straightforward:
👉 Finance more with leasing!

Let's talk!

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