NACFB and FLA participate in AFC broker-lender workshop

The asset finance stream at the AFC UK Autumn conference will include a collaborative workshop at which lenders and brokers, the FLA and the NACFB will participate.

The session will address viewpoints which AFC and the NACFB have identified as prevalent among brokers and lenders, which represent challenges for the industry. The workshop will seek to identify key action points the industry may wish to take address the challenges which underlie these views. This session will be the first of three– the second event will be a webcast designed to communicate the workshop findings to the industry; and the third which will take place at the NACFB conference and exhibition in 2025 will report on progress in responding to the action points.

 TOPIC ONE: How can the industry encourage best practice?

 What are the most significant poor practices and what drives them?

• How do we deal with them and more generally with bad actors?
• Role of trade associations in guiding contractual  arrangements – what should be left to commercial negotiation and what can’t?

Related viewpoints:

“Unprofessional players undermine the real strength of the industry”
“Lenders and trade bodies talk about high standards, but some do not practise them”
“Volume-led asset finance is the most prone to bad practices.”
“Technology will increasingly replace lower ticket size volume-led introductions.”

TOPIC TWO: How can industry better sell itself better?

• Why do regulators and even some lenders undervalue the positive role of brokers?
• Is there a lack of clarity about what brokers are delivering (and how they get paid for it)?
• How can the industry better communicate its value to regulators and customers?
• What can trade associations really do about this?

Related viewpoints:

“The regulator lacks a full understanding of the sector’s complexities.”
“The sector’s positive impact on business growth is under recognised.”
“Some commercial lenders seem to view intermediated asset financing with disdain.”

TOPIC THREE: Where are the big opportunities for trade associations (NACFB and FLA) to deliver value to their members?

• How should the key broker and lender trade associations differentiate their individual roles?
• How do they align to create a common front to industry outsiders/ manage; manage differing interests of their respective members.

Related viewpoints:

“FLA and NACFB need to collaborate more effectively.”
“The industry is ready for full commission disclosure, but no one wants to be the first”
“Brokers resisting full disclosure may be expendable to the industry.”

Key participants, who will be encouraged to share their views before the collaborative roundtables start, include: 

• Stephen Haddrill, director general, FLA
• Jim Higginbotham and Norman Chambers, incoming and outgoing directors general of NACFB
• Richard Cameron, managing director of Close Brothers Asset Finance and Leasing, an asset finance lender with a direct sales force and incoming head of the broker working group at the FLA
• Martyn Turner, strategic transformation director, Arkle Finance, and asset finance lender
• Mark Nelson, managing director of Compass Business Finance, a hybrid lender
• Rob Dermody, managing director of PMD Business Finance, an asset finance broker
• Lee Simms, managing director of AFS a large scale broker with an extended network of appointed representatives.

This important session will be moderated by Christian Roelofs, managing partner at Finativ.

The AFC UK Autumn 2024 Conference, headline sponsored by FIS, will take place on 26th November at County Hall, London. To find out more and register to attend visit the AFC UK Autumn Conference website.