Lenders’ new priorities for risk and growth – the Lending Summit agenda revealed

The full agenda for the Lending Summit on 16 and 17 November, set out here for the first time, will focus on the short and longer-term emerging risks and priorities for mortgage, commercial and alternative lenders.

These will be explored against the backdrop of an anticipated surge in demand from consumers, mortgage borrowers and businesses for extended support, the end of the furlough scheme, an increasingly likely no-deal Brexit, and default risks across government-backed loans to SMEs.

Beginning with an economic update delivered by Mo Chaudhri, chief economist at Experian, the Lending Summit will start with macro risks before tackling the paramount issues right now for chief risk officers (CROs), in a panel featuring Victoria Stubbs, CRO at The Cambridge Building Society; George Badejo-Adegbenga, CRO and legal counsel at alternative lender Loans 2 go, and Steve Peacock, CRO at Think Money.

As much as risk, the Lending Summit will also unearth strategies for growth and innovation. A panel featuring Mike Roberts, head of credit risk - unsecured lending at HSBC; Alex Beavis, head of mortgage products at Skipton Building Society, and Jason Wassell, chief executive of the Consumer Finance Association (CFA), will discuss sustainable and responsible lending, and what long-term recovery looks like for different lenders.

The agenda also features a look at the impact of government loan schemes, particularly issues across the Bounce Back Loan Scheme where the risks of fraud and default are evident. A session on determining business customers’ ability to repay, and managing increases in defaults, will feature Andy Taylor, sales director at Haydock Finance and Alison Harwood, head of London branch at Varengold Bank.

A panel debating how Covid has helped or hindered innovation will feature Alex Marsh, UK country lead at Klarna, Michael Hoare, chief credit officer at RateSetter, Vicki Harris, chief commercial officer at Kensington Mortgages; and Paul Smith, chief executive of Morses Club – the home credit provider.

The Lending Summit will this year be a digital broadcast, like all Credit Strategy conferences, and forms an integral part of the Credit Festival, sponsored by Experian.

For 2020, as lenders face shared issues across different sectors, the Lending Summit will merge commercial, alternative and mortgage lenders in individual panels, rather than separate conferences. It will be held over two days and again brings opportunities to network with companies across the mortgage, alternative lending and commercial finance spaces, via our digital networking tool, Brella.

The Slido tool will also enable delegates to put questions to the panellists appearing on screen – ensuring the interactive element of our conferences remains as it was.

To view the full agenda, visit the Lending Summit event page.