The Credit 500 for 2021 has been revealed – with a new focus on gender diversity

Once again, the Credit 500 comprises individuals exerting senior influence in a credit-related role across financial services, utilities, telecoms and the public sector.

As well as featuring individuals who set or influence policies for credit risk, credit management, collections and recoveries, debt advice or vulnerability, it also highlights those responsible for business growth, lending volumes and product design within lenders, as well as service providers to creditors.

There are new features this year for the index including more specifically dedicated groups for credit risk, and collections, with other groups continuing to recognise individuals by the market they work in, such as mortgages, credit cards, car finance and alternative lending, or by their profession such as trade credit management. Groups remain for those working in utilities and telecoms, and for those providing professional services to creditors, along with an ‘influencer’ group comprising individuals who set regulatory policy, or influence it as an MP, or within a public body or trade association.

For 2021, aligned with our plans to host the Vulnerability Summit this year, there is a new ’vulnerability champions’ group. This is designed to highlight and recognise the people leading this agenda on behalf of customers not only at their own organisation, but industry wide. 

The full, searchable Credit 500 can be found on the Credit 500 Hall of Fame section of the website, which includes this year’s and previous iterations of the index. This section also features an introductory section from Credit Strategy’s outgoing managing editor, Marcel Le Gouais, and new group editor Amber-Ainsley Pritchard.

The diversity agenda
The most important and prominent new feature of the Credit 500 is the fact we have chairwomen for the Credit 500 groups. This reflects Credit Strategy’s own efforts to continually champion the gender diversity agenda, but also use our platforms to highlight both the growing female proportion of the Credit 500, and where women have reached the most senior roles in credit. The aim is also to give a sense to younger women working in a credit-related role where their career trajectories can reach the pinnacle.

This new aspect will provide a platform for women working in credit to use their influence for the betterment of their entire industry. The chairwomen for the various groups are:

• Victoria Stubbs, chief risk officer, Cambridge Building Society, for the credit risk group;
• Sue Chapple, chief executive, CICM, for the trade credit group;
• Claire Moore, chief operating officer, BNP Paribas Personal Finance, for the collections and recoveries group;
• Kate Davies, executive director, Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association, for the mortgage group;
• Laura Jones, head of connected car finance, DSG Financial Services, for the car finance group;
• Denise Crossley, chief executive of Lantern, for the knowledge & professional services group;
• Ylva Oertengren, chief operating officer, Simply Finance, for the commercial finance group;
• Michelle Atkinson, head of income at United Utilities, for the utilities & telecoms group;
• Natalie Trist, chief credit officer at Moneybarn (owned by Provident), for the alternative lending group.

Members can see videos of the group chairwomen on the Credit 500 Hall of Fame section, where they reflect on being active, engaged Credit 500 members.

Mobilising the Credit 500
This year Credit Strategy is undertaking a major project to mobilise the Credit 500, to encourage more articles authored by members, appearances in broadcast masterclasses, and to enable them to take up speaking opportunities.

Members will also see exclusive results of surveys we’ve undertaken of the index, which take a temperature check of pressures members face, track business activity and include forecasts of trends that will emerge in 2021.

Those interested in authoring content for Credit Strategy should contact our new group editor Amber-Ainsley Pritchard and our content writer Lauren Tavener at:
apritchard@shardfinancialmedia.com and ltavener@shardfinancialmedia.com.

The process to finalise the Credit 500
After shortlisting the nominations that came flooding in for this year’s index in late 2020, Credit Strategy’s intelligence unit also researched the individuals holding the roles with influence over regulation, risk policy, lending and financial assistance, across financial services, utilities, telecoms and the public sector.

The team also researched the achievements of individuals described in hundreds of entries submitted for Credit Strategy’s award programmes last year, along with our broadcasts they took part in as speakers, as well as cross-industry activity which reflected the agendas, activity and successes they’d led during the past year.

The team also undertook research with existing Credit 500 members, to check the individuals wielding the most influence and discover those worthy of recognition.

Once this process was completed, the intelligence unit matched these achievements to criteria for inclusion in the Credit 500 groups. For example, the criteria for the credit risk group of the index is:

• Ultimate or senior responsibility and oversight for credit risk policy (particularly with regard to SME and consumer lending);
• Senior or ultimate responsibility for conduct and compliance risk;
• Influence on the collections and recoveries/financial assistance function, through involvement in setting risk appetite, forbearance policies and arrears treatment;
• More direct senior or ultimate responsibility for collections and recoveries. 

The benefits
As a recognition of stature, Credit 500 members will receive complimentary premium membership of Credit Strategy for a year. That means they get all the benefits of premium membership which includes:

• Opportunities to raise their profile, or lead an agenda, by authoring content on Credit Strategy online and in the magazine;
• Invites to judging panels;
• Invites to present/speak at the industry’s largest broadcast events on CS TV;
• A complimentary subscription to both the print and digital Credit Strategy magazine;
• Invites to private roundtables relevant to their role;
• Access to the Knowledge Hub, which includes best practice case studies (scroll down to see articles) – based on award-winning entries from lenders, creditors and credit services providers;
• 25% discount off a conference ticket and any half-day broadcast;
• 50% discount on award entries;
• Priority access to broadcast refresh content;
• Priority access to the Credit 500 Retreat (details coming soon).

Credit Strategy’s standard terms and conditions apply to the benefits listed.