creditshelf-Magazin NO 6-EN

magazin Nº06 | September 2019

We design SME financing.

Easy. Fast. Innovative.

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3 QUESTIONS FOR ...

Moderator for business and politics, Corinna Egerer: new conference format “Frankfurt Digital Finance” Page 24

A GLIMPSE BEHIND THE SCENES From the first annual general meeting of our listed stock corporation: We report on the presentation and remarkable results Ausgabe 3 / 2019 • creditshelf

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diGiTally infOR MEd

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You can expect an exciting mix of topics related to entrepreneurship:  Reports on successful financing projects  Background reports on market events

dr Gerhard Grebe, Chairman of the Commission for “financial market Policy & Precaution” of the Economic Council of the state of hesse

 Comments on current trends and developments  Interviews by and with market partners and technical experts  Insights into the creditshelf’s day-to-day work  Reports on exciting cooperations and initiatives  New technologies and trends in digital SME financing

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Editorial

Dear Readers, what actually makes a company successful? During your working day, take some time to think about this! Whether sufficient liquidity, a brand identity, the business model or the employees - the fact is: There is not THE one factor, not even THE recipe for success.

What we want to get at: Every company is different. Thus mechanical engineer A can be just as successful as mechanical engineer B - and if you ask both for their recipe for success, you will most likely get completely different answers. And provided that you have finally found the right strategy, then time, current industry developments or internal, unpredictable factors will put a stop to your calculations. In our opinion that is great! It is exactly what makes entrepreneurship so exciting. It’s all about never standing still, constantly questioning yourself and developing yourself further, always being on your guard, discovering niches, developing new solutions and taking other paths, rethinking business models - and, if necessary, completely restructuring them. That’s how we move forward and stay innovative.

That is our motto. After all, creditshelf was also created as a result of a gap in the financing market that drove my business partners and I to develop our innovative business model. That was in 2014. Since then, we have constantly been moving forward, trying out many things and being open to innovative ideas. After less than five years as a stock corporation listed in the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, we held our first Annual General Meeting for shareholders on May 14 of this year.

In the new issue of our creditshelf magazine, we will introduce you to a few people who are constantly on the move and are constantly breaking new ground for their business success. We hope that you will be able to take away important stimuli for your company from their recipes for success.

And if you need support with the implementation, our large network of management consultants, financial service providers, experts and multipliers will be happy to help you with their advice and support.

What makes YOU and YOUR company successful? It is always worth asking yourself this question - in order to optimally shape the transformation of your company.

Dr. Tim Thabe Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board of creditshelf Editorial

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Editorial

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Table of Contents and masthead

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3 QUESTIONS FOR ...

Moderator for business and politics, Corinna Egerer: She strengthens Frankfurt’s image as a location for innovation with her new conference format.

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From the first annual general meeting of our listed stock corporation: We report on the presentation and remarkable results

TRENDS

The state of the German economy and whether fears are actually justified

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STIMULI

Brand evaluation provides clear benchmarks for effective branding

COOPERATION PROJECTS

Time deposit platform WeltSparen.de and its use for SMEs

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STIMULI

Vibrant place: Techno founders reinterpret museum culture with MOMEM

A GLIMPSE BEHIND THE SCENES

Contribution by CTO Dr. Heinrich: Why and how the work of risk analysts is changing

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TRENDS

Disruptive innovation leads to rethinking in automobile construction

DATES

Success through networks: Don’t underestimate the importance of “real” meetings in the age of digitisation

STIMULI

A GLIMPSE BEHIND THE SCENES

The creditshelf Supervisory Board introduces itself

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A GLIMPSE BEHIND THE SCENES

STIMULI

Having opinions, sharing opinions: We gather the appropriate technical experts for the latest topics concerning SMEs

A GLIMPSE BEHIND THE SCENES

From a climbing excursion to “mystery lunch” - creditshelf incentives ensure a good atmosphere within the team and are an important part of the employer brand.

mast head

Publishers: creditshelf Aktiengesellschaft Mainzer Landstraße 33a 60329 Frankfurt/Main, Germany Telephone: +49 69 348 772 40 E-mail: info@creditshelf.com www.creditshelf.com Board of Management: Dr. Tim Thabe (Chairman), Dr. Daniel Bartsch, Dr. Mark Währisch Chairman of the Supervisory Board: Rolf Elgeti Entered at the Frankfurt/Main District Court – Comm. Reg. no. 112087 VAT ID: DE298667279 Responsible under the German press law: Birgit Hass (Head of Marketing and Communication, creditshelf AG) Head of Advertising: Birgit Hass (Head of Marketing and Communication, creditshelf AG)

Internal project team of creditshelf: Birgit Hass, Fabian Brügmann, Dr. Gregor Heinrich, Laura Gabriel, Nico Bleh, Richard Heller, Shima Nagdhali, Anna Schönfeld, Sebastian Seibold, Zorana Bejtovic Conceptual design and implementation: ABG Marketing GmbH & Co. KG www.abg-partner.de Editorial office: Ilka Stiegler, Dominik Schilling, Cindy Knoblauch, Tony Wachtel ABG Marketing GmbH & Co. KG Layout and design: Alin Hanisch ABG Marketing GmbH & Co. KG Print: RheinMail GmbH, Boppard Photo credits: • creditshelf AG • Jan Bürgermeister (www.fotostate.com)

• Laura Gabriel, Birgit Hass, Head of Subscription Service: Shima Nagdhali (creditshelf AG) Laura Gabriel (Marketing and Communication, creditshelf AG) Editorial deadline: 28 June 2019

Sustainable investment: What healthy employees can achieve in the long term

Print run: 100,000 copies (1st quarter of 2019, IVW verified)

Nº06 | September 2019 • creditshelf

3 questions for ...

BETTER TOGETHER The questions were asked by: Prof. Dr. Dirk Schiereck

New conference format “Frankfurt Digital Finance” strengthens Frankfurt’s image as a location for innovation

We have a new event recommendation on the subject of “digital finance” for you.

At first it would be understandable for you to decline and say: “What will I learn there that I don’t know already or that I won’t learn elsewhere?” If you look at the numerous formats that appear on Google when searching for “Digital Finance”, you can’t even be blamed. However, Corinna Egerer has a say here. Literally, since she is a moderator for business and politics and the founder of FDF Conferences. Here she lives out her passion for the conception, organisation and implementation of various event formats on a wide range of specialist topics. This now includes Frankfurt Digital Finance - an innovative flagship event that she launched together with her longstanding colleague and event agency owner Max Hunzinger. Prof. Dr. Schiereck, Head of the Department of Corporate Finance at TU Darmstadt, was curious and invited her for a discussion.

creative elements and will thus encourage an active exchange among the participants. At the same time, despite the more casual style, we are not cutting back on serious content. Which brings us to the next point: Previous digital finance events have generally highlighted the topic in a relatively one-sided way - either from the perspective of established financial institutions or from the perspective of new players such as Fintech companies. What is missing is the integrated approach.

This leads us to the question regarding the concept - what do you want to achieve with this conference?

Egerer: The conference is intended to establish itself as a platform for digital, innovative and sustainable approaches in the financial world.

To achieve this, all players must come together and network equally: Starting with established and new financial companies - banks, the stock exchange, regulators, tech providers or startups - followed by representatives from politics, business and academia all the way to investors.

What is so different and special about Only if we openly discuss business models, proFrankfurt Digital Finance? jects and problems and illuminate them from all conceivable angles, discuss them controverEgerer: On the one hand, Frankfurt Digital sially and take a critical approach - only then Finance differs from conventional business can we shape the future of the financial world. conferences in terms of style. That means: We Everyone can use their experience and experwant to move away from the outdated image tise to help solve problems. It is a matter of a classic specialist conference, where of bundling different competencies the participants are guided through and using them in a profitable an agenda of lectures lined up manner. The term "digital" in one after the other with front The first Frankfurt the conference name not only speakers. We want to move Digital Finance will take refers to the start-up scene, it towards a casual, relaxed place on February 5, 2020. also refers to the wide range and fresh format. Frankfurt Further information: https:// of relevant areas and topDigital Finance will be charfrankfurt-digital-finance. ics that all participants in the acterised by interactive and de/#about

financial market have to deal with in order to remain competitive. Such topics include open banking, payment, RegTech, AI and blockchain.

Why does Frankfurt need such an event?

Egerer: Frankfurt is THE financial centre in Germany and one of the most important financial metropolises in Europe. The location is very well established thanks to renowned companies and institutions from the financial sector of the “established” world. With an emphasis on “established”, because unfortunately Frankfurt has not yet been able to adequately address the topic of “digital finance” according to its reputation. And this despite the fact that there is unbelievably great potential. The Hessian state government has long recognized this and has set itself the goal of developing the Frankfurt-Rhine-Main region into the leading fintech hub in continental Europe over the next five years. After all, this is where they are to be found: the countless, excellent initiatives, projects and companies in the field of digital finance. This power and the resulting approaches to synergies must be demonstrated. However, a platform event that makes exactly this possible has been lacking so far. We are pleased to close this gap and look forward to the first event in February next year. We are already seeing an extremely positive response and the great support from renowned partners and multipliers demonstrates how great the demand is. These include the Frankfurt Economic Development, Frankfurt Main Finance, Frankfurter Sparkasse, Frankfurt School of Finance and Management and creditshelf.

Corinna Egerer has over 15 years of experience in the targeted, content-related conception and design of business events as well as in the moderation of events for various industries, especially Fintech and Finance.

She has a well-founded background in the communication and event sector of various, internationally active companies and successfully combines different formats and target groups.

3 questions for ...

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REcESSiOn: yES OR nO? the state of the German economy and whether fears are actually justified not only leading experts, but also the German government has drastically lowered its economic expectations for this year. how did this downturn come about and will the trend continue in the coming years? irrespective of forecasts: how do cautious smEs proceed in order to be prepared for changes and to remain financially flexible? temporary end of the boom After the domestic economy has experienced strong growth in recent years, leading economic institutes are now seeing a temporary end of the boom. In the first half of the year, this even

“Even in times of worsening economic expectations, fundamental issues such as technological change and a shortage of skilled workers remain relevant. Solid and diversified corporate financing with sufficient ‘water under the keel’ creates room for action in order to successfully implement strategic issues even in less bright conditions”. dr. tim thabe, Co-founder and member of the board of management, creditshelf aktiengesellschaft 6

Nº06 | September 2019 • creditshelf

prompted the German government to make drastic corrections to its economic forecast: It initially corrected the expected growth from 1.8 percent to 1 percent and subsequently to 0.5 percent. The German Council of Economic Experts also lowered its growth forecast to 0.8 percent for 2019. The Ifo Business Climate Index, which regularly surveys 9,000 companies, also collapsed in May. Germany’s most important economic barometer surprisingly fell to its lowest level since 2014. And the ZEW barometer of the Mannheim Centre for European Economic Research also dropped significantly: The 186 investors and analysts surveyed for this purpose currently see only moderate growth in Germany. The drastic development of these forecasts becomes particularly clear when comparing them with previous years: Gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 1.4 percent in 2018 and by as much as 2.2 percent in the previous year. looking for causes: sentiment within the companies The sentiment in 2019 deteriorated across the industry - from the service sector to the manufacturing sector and the automotive industry.

Only the construction industry continues to be optimistic about the future. But what are the reasons for the weak economic expectations?

One of the main reasons is the reluctance of SMEs to make urgently needed investments.

In Germany, an export nation, SMEs are heavily dependent on world markets. As in recent years, this can result in full order books and

Trends

strong growth in its GDP over the next two years. So can entrepreneurs breathe a sigh of relief?

Healthy optimism instead of blind faith or doom and gloom

bright prospects. As a result, international crises have a strong influence on the sentiment within local companies: The Brexit chaos, the trade conflicts between the USA, China and Europe and the lowered expectations for economic growth in the Chinese People’s Republic are currently causing great uncertainty. But the problems on the world market are not the only obstacles for German SMEs. The shortage of skilled workers, reached capacity limits, digitisation and the deficit in important key technologies such as mobile telephony and e-mobility as compared to international standards are also lowering business expectations.

Heading towards a recession? No! Even if economic growth is significantly weaker than we had hoped for - The bigger picture shows that the German economy is still growing! It would therefore be wrong to speak of a recession. The German Council of Economic Experts cite a number of positive factors that can partially ease the disturbances on the export market. These include the relatively robust domestic economy, steady private consumption and further growth in employment figures.

Moreover, the experts see the current weakness only as a temporary problem: For 2020, they forecast a strong growth of 1.7 percent.

The leading economic institutes, such as the IWH in Halle or the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, are also following suit, predicting 1.8 percent growth for the domestic economy in the coming year. The Ministry of Economics also agrees. It expects Germany to achieve

Even if, according to experts, things will pick up again in the coming years: Many uncertainties remain. If, for example, the international climate were to remain tense or worsen, this would also affect companies in Germany. SMEs in particular, which work as suppliers for industrial groups, would have to cope with the effects. The same applies to the problems of “shortages of skilled workers” and “key technologies”. If no sustainable solutions are found in these areas, the positive forecasts for the next few years would also become obsolete.

But a gloomy doomsday mood is just as out of place as blind confidence based on the motto: “Everything will be fine”. Many forward-looking SMEs are therefore neither unsettled by temporarily weakened expectations nor tempted by rosy forecasts. They are actively looking for experienced specialists, developing their employer brand and adapting their technical equipment and processes to the current challenges.

Short-term unsecured loans promote innovation Needless to say, consistent advancement does not only require visionary entrepreneurial spirit and determination. Managing directors and executives also need tangible liquid assets that must usually be available at short notice. Banks that are subject to high capital requirements are often unable to help with their slower processes and overly secured loans. This is why farsighted SMEs have been broadening their financing mix for years. In addition to equity financing, bank loans and a high equity share, this now also includes alternative models such as factoring and short-term unsecured loans from Fintechs, for example. As a pioneer of digital SME financing, creditshelf has always seen itself as a promoter and partner of innovative and successful SMEs. The Fintech company arranges short to medium-term loans with a volume of 100,000 to 5 million EUR. Trends

The German Council of Economic Experts The committee of experts was established in 1963. The German Council of Economic Experts aims to examine the economic development of the Federal Republic of Germany from a scientific perspective. To this end, the alternating members of the committee of five prepare, among other things, annual expert reports.

More information: www.sachverstaendigenrat-wirtschaft.de

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“Selling inspiring solutions”

Brands are powerful, but also difficult to grasp.

The brand evaluation of BIESALSKI & COMPANY provides clear guidelines for effective branding.

How is your brand actually performing? Are things looking good? Or do you realise that something needs to be done in this area and that the market has changed somehow? Then you’re on the same track as brand expert Alexander Biesalski: “The gut feeling is simply not enough of a reason in the globalised world.

Price-aggressive competitors offer constantly improving quality. That’s why entrepreneurs should ask themselves specific questions: ‘What do we want to be better at and what do we have to do to achieve this?’” The consultants of BIESALSKI & COMPANY have already carried out over 700 brand evaluations on behalf of well-known clients. As a result, a clear trend became visible: While targeted image cultivation and brand strategy were limited to the consumer goods sector for a long time, this has changed dramatically recently. “20 years ago, no B2B entrepreneur seriously thought 8

about his brand. Nowadays, many industrial goods brands are even superior to classic consumer brands,” says Biesalski. Many small and medium-sized companies in particular have only been made aware of their own brands and their potential by the acute shortage of skilled workers.

The human being is part of the brand What actually distinguishes a successful brand?

“It solves problems and meets people’s needs in an outstanding way”, says Biesalski. A brand must be convincing - regardless of whether business customers or consumers are to be addressed. But here’s what stands out in the B2B sector: Human beings are the decisive brand factor in this area. “Almost 80 percent of purchase decisions are influenced by personal contact. Sales and service employees are therefore the most important brand ambasNº06 | September 2019 • creditshelf

sadors in the business customer segment. But they are not the only ones: Every employee, from the administrator to the doorman, shapes and represents the face of a brand”, the expert sums up. That’s why training courses and personnel training are also one of the most important success factors of a brand. Everyone must know how to meet customer expectations and needs at trade fairs, appointments and over the phone.

The most valuable part of the company The value of a brand can also be expressed in measurable figures: “Today, on average, almost 40 percent of the company value is accounted for by the brand. This often makes the brand the most valuable thing a company owns”. If you are aware of this, you naturally don’t want to leave anything to chance. Entrepreneurs want to know where they stand with their

Stimuli

brand and what they may urgently need to improve. This is why they turn to BIESALSKI & COMPANY. The experts determine the brand’s value on the basis of a resilient customer survey. They examine the ties the brand has with its target group as well as the target group’s level of sympathy, trust, loyalty and willingness to pay. The effort the company puts into its marketing, the competitive situation and the share of revenue attributable to the brand are also included in the analysis. In the end, the brand becomes tangible through figures, facts and its monetary value.

No more being left in the dark “With our process, we make brand performance clear. This knowledge makes it easier for decision-makers to implement concrete goals. This includes licensing and accounting, the exploitation of trademark rights or the use of the brand as collateral for financing”, explains Biesalski. In addition, companies were no longer left in the dark when it came to improving their performance. “With our values and analyses, they can address the management of brand performance in a targeted manner.

Clear targets can be set for product design,

pricing, distribution and communication”, says Biesalski. An effective image strategy can also be developed on this basis. According to the expert, it doesn’t matter whether the company is a one-man show, an SME with 40 employees or a global corporation. “The basic questions are always the same: ‘How do we present ourselves? How do we want to be perceived? Who should know about us? What do we have to do to achieve this?’” Once the desired market position is clear, the management can decide which operational measures need to be taken. This ranges from the continued development of the product or service to the training of employees and an increase in trade fair presence to the expansion of PR activities.

Quality is important, but not enough on its own Biesalski recommends a consistent brand management and long-term objectives so that the efforts in terms of branding do not go to waste after a few years: “With a brand, you always transfer a company’s strategy and culture to the market. In a way, you prove how serious you are about your own goals and ideals”. With regard to the hot topic of employer branding,

the expert also points out that brands are always perceived as a whole by the target group: "People don’t distinguish between a performance brand, which only concerns the product, and an employer brand. For them, it is one unit. That is why brand efforts must always be holistic”. One should also not separate the emotional and functional side of the brand. Even in the B2B sector, “inspiring” solutions are sold instead of those that are just “more functional”.

When asked about current developments, the consultant points out the changing customer needs. For example, sustainability is a big issue, just like innovation, customer orientation and the enthusiasm potential of a brand. In addition, agility and flexibility are important, because a brand that has come to a standstill is no longer considered contemporary. Of course, there are also some constants in the brand world: “Virtues such as quality and reliability are still very important, but it is hardly possible to distinguish oneself through them alone. The quality levels of the competitors on the international market are now simply too similar for that”.

Alexander Biesalski Managing Partner BIESALSKI & COMPANY GmbH Telephone: +49 89 273 73 54-01 biesalski@biesalski-company.com Stimuli

Contact

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Cooperation projects

WeltSparen is a young Fintech company and currently probably the only time deposit platform that also offers a solution for corporate customers. On the platform there are over 400 interest offers from approximately 80 banks in the whole of Europe. This makes WeltSparen a good example of how versatile the models and approaches of Fintechs are. We talked to the founder, Dr. Tamaz Georgadze, about the business model, its benefits for SMEs and cooperation among Fintechs.

box. We also guarantee a high level of security and availability at short notice. In addition, we offer award-winning customer service and free services.

Investment forms such as time deposits are more commonly found in the private customer sector. How did WeltSparen come up with the idea of also offering these to business customers?

Do the SMEs currently need Fintechs more than in the past?

Dr. Georgadze: Business customers are used to zero or even negative interest rates. The best interest rates were previously only available for private customers. We wanted to change that. Especially because the equity ratio of SMEs has risen over the last few years and there is a high need for investments here.

“We help SMEs avoid negative interest rates.”

From which sectors do your business customers come?

Dr. Georgadze: From a wide variety of industries - from IT to construction and trade to services and real estate. Our platform offers SMEs a particularly good opportunity to invest some of their funds profitably. We offer time deposits starting at one month for these companies. This term is particularly interesting for SMEs because they can quickly dispose of their funds again.

Dr. Georgadze: In the past, many of the services that SMEs now take for granted did not even exist. Fintechs offer very helpful services for SMEs to gain access to innovative and digital products - whether it be for payments, financing or interest. In our case this means: We help SMEs avoid negative interest rates and overcome national borders for deposits such as time deposits.

Do you think Fintechs should be more cooperative in the future?

Dr. Georgadze: Absolutely! Cooperation on various occasions makes a lot of sense, especially in the Fintech area.

This includes product expansion, lead generation, expansion of sales channels, optimisation of services and much more. In addition to cooperations with other Fintechs, cooperating with banks is also important. In the business customer segment, for example, we cooperate with Commerzbank, which helps its customers invest their surplus liquidity profitably with us.

Why should companies use WeltSparen?

What are the advantages of your approach?

Dr. Georgadze: Only a minimal effort is required from our customers. With just one online registration, you can conveniently conclude and centrally manage all investments.

Our platform focuses on ease of use and clarity. On WeltSparen, companies can quickly find time deposits that usually pay much more interest than their house bank would. After the customer has registered and selected a time deposit, we take care of opening the time deposit with the partner bank. All necessary information and taxrelevant documents are made available via a central mail-

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Nº06 | September 2019 • creditshelf

Contact details for business customers: Telephone: +49 30 770 191 292 (Monday to Friday, 8:30 to 18:30) E-Mail: geschaeftskunden@weltsparen.de Web: www.weltsparen.de

WORKING TOGETHER FOR A STRONG MITTElSTANd. BVMW

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40 agencies in countries all over the world.

Over 2,000 events for entrepreneurs every year.

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VIBRANT PLACE techno founders reinterpret museum culture with mOmEm

anyone who can claim to have established a cultural project in the middle of a city can give themselves a pat on the back. all the more so if this is achieved in frankfurt of all cities - a financial metropolis characterised by skyscrapers bearing the logos of the major banks. imagine a bank manager taking a relaxed lunch break and reading the börsen-Zeitung, while a gentle techno beat plays in the background. Granted, it sounds somewhat exaggerated and strange, but it will come to life thanks to the initiative of alex azary and andreas tomalla. they are the founders of mOmEm, which stands for museum of modern Electronic music. find out how this came about and what the visitors can look forward to here. most likely you will also notice: strictly speaking, the term “museum” is an understatement.

from a student of economics to a founder of techno Alex Azary has always known what’s popular in the world of music. What is tomorrow’s trend?

Which records should you buy? Do you have an insider tip? Questions that his classmates already asked him at school. If you consider that at the beginning of his career he still obediently graduated from business school and started studying business administration, it seems more like a casual anecdote. But if you look at the biography of the now 56 year old, you can see that his life took a completely different course. DJ, club manager, publisher, company founder, trend scout, member of a techno band, founder of a record label and globetrotter with a mission: to establish electronic music in Germany. Mission accomplished: After all, it is thanks to him, among others, that Frankfurt became one of the epicentres for electronic music as well as for the international techno, house and club scene in the 1980s. a museum dedicated to techno?

“Frankfurt is an innovation driver in many respects. Anyone who thinks that this statement always has to refer to the financial world is mistaken. Frankfurt was and is also an epicentre of the cultural and music scene. The MOMEM takes this fact into account. It is a groundbreaking project that we are very happy to support”. dr. mark Währisch, managing director, creditshelf aktiengesellschaft

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Nº06 | September 2019 • creditshelf

Andreas Tomalla, also known as DJ Talla, made him aware of what was to follow his life’s work.

After a university lecture tour about the history of techno, he approached Alex Azary with the idea of a museum. Initially quite sceptical, Azary took on the concept. “It was while I was writing that I really became aware of the significance and implications of this project”. He wasn’t the only one, it turned out later. massive support from the city Equipped with the concept that was already fully developed at the time, the two techno luminaries Azary and Tomalla approached the city, which did not hesitate and agreed to support them. Mayor and patron Peter Feldmann sees the MOMEM as a cultural project with

stimuli charisma and a magnetic effect. But first of all the suitable location had to be found. The good news came in 2015: The rooms of the former children’s museum on the B-level of the Hauptwache were to be vacated. A prominent square in Frankfurt, around which there had been many conflicts for a number of years, starting with a proper operator concept. Alex Azary is all the more pleased about these premises for the MOMEM, which the city of Frankfurt will initially allow to operate without paying rent for five years. He explains why: “The location of the museum is just as prominent as Frankfurt’s role in the international development of electronic music was at the time. In the heart of the city.

Simply optimal”. On 7 June 2018, the city handed the key over and made it possible to use the rooms and make all further preparations for the opening. With regard to the concept, there is a great amount of preparations that need to be made, since the MOMEM is not just a techno museum, as many mistakenly say. more like the ZKm than the städel museum “It is more like an interactive, lively art and cultural centre”, Alex Azary emphasises. “Thematically, it is not just about electronic music or techno in the narrower sense, but also about the whole club culture. It’s hard to believe how many aspects and areas of life have been influenced by electronic music and, conversely, how many have influenced it”. Sound, fashion, instruments, dance, graphics and design, club culture, lifestyle, attitudes to life: These

“The response has been overwhelming. Well-established magazines such as the ‘Rolling Stone’ have already reported about us.

Busloads of people want to go to the museum. Some even end up standing in front of my door asking for the MOMEM”. alex azary, dJ and founder of the mOmEm are topics that extend far beyond the musical genre itself. And these are precisely the topics that are addressed in and around the MOMEM. In addition to permanent and alternating museum exhibitions, exhibits and media presentations, there will be numerous events such as film presentations, readings, panel discussions or smaller outdoor festivals. CDs, DVDs, records and collector’s items will be available in a curated store. A special highlight is the academy, where well known DJs and producers passes on their know-how to the new generation by means of courses, seminars and workshops.

“In the case of MOMEM, we are talking about an event venue, a place that brings people of all ages together to meet and spend time”, says Alex Azary. “A new piece of urban space for everyone that offers many occasions to visit over and over again”. top partners on board According to the initiator, in the long term the MOMEM should become an institution that is an integral part of Frankfurt’s museum landscape. Numerous partners are supporting this process. In addition to political actors, these include various artists, labels, organisations, but also universities and colleges. “We also need project partners such as the Atelier Markgraph, who support us in the fields of scenography and museography, and Cosalux, an agency for communication design. Thanks to their help, ideas that originally only existed on paper become reality. It’s exciting to see how something takes shape little by little”.

Every Euro counts The museum is run by the non-profit association Friends of Momem e.V., which is looking for further partners and sponsors. “In addition to the city of Frankfurt, there are government programmes and companies that support us financially or help us with contributions in kind.

This also includes high-profile brands such as Stimuli

Google, Sony, Telekom and Samsung”. In addition, the association is pleased to have the support of Frankfurt’s citizens and those interested in culture from Germany and around the world. Alex Azary explains: “We desperately need more donations to make the MOMEM the diverse, pioneering institution we want it to be.

Even then, as a DJ and trend scout, it seemed natural to me to change the world with music and set new trends. I am sure that we will succeed in doing that with the MOMEM”, says Alex Azary. Dr. Mark Währisch agrees. The board member of creditshelf himself has an affinity for electronic music and often DJs for his employees at Christmas parties and internal company events. But this is not the only similarity he sees to MOMEM: “Just as creditshelf is a pioneer in digital SME financing, so is MOMEM in the cultural and music scene. In particular, since both are also closely connected to the city of Frankfurt. Therefore we want to use the opportunity to draw attention to the project. ”

DONATE TO THE MOMEM NOW! The best way to make a donation is online at donate.momem.org. If desired, the donors can be immortalised on the Infinity Disc with a picture and a quote. This Infinity Disc will later also be displayed at the MOMEM in a large format visible to everyone.

13

diGiTal SME lOanS: fROM analySTS TO analyTicS a contribution by dr. Gregor heinrich, Chief technology Officer, creditshelf aktiengesellschaft With creditshelf, the degree of digitisation of analysis tasks is constantly increasing, leading to an almost fully automatic credit process. as a result, the tasks of our credit risk analysts are changing more and more. however, the digitisation of credit risk assessments also depends on the availability of digital data from our customers.

is much more complex for unsecured SME loans than for consumer loans or secured loans. In contrast to a house bank, creditshelf usually lacks data on existing customers or a long-term personal business relationship as a reference point.

So what do you do if you are not a bank and almost all customers are “dark horses”? As a

fintech company, we combine “fin” and “tech” for our solution. For the “fin” part, we thought about which criteria are best suited to quickly establishing confidence in the creditworthiness of an SME. “We” refers to our risk analysis team, which has a wealth of experience with SME loans. The result was a multidimensional risk model that includes financial and foren-

the creditshelf platform creditshelf operates its credit platform with the aim of responding to credit requests from its customers with attractive offers in the shortest possible processing time. Every step, from the registration and risk process to the conclusion of the contract and subsequent credit management, is carried out on a specialised software platform. This not only allows customers to apply for and manage loans more quickly, but also reduces the effort and costs for creditshelf. creditshelf is thus more advanced than many other providers in the market and can concentrate on more in-depth optimisation and automation.

Credit risk analysis is a particularly interesting key step. Here you can see very clearly how automation leads to enormous advantages in efficiency and changes in the range of tasks performed by our employees.

traditional risk analysis

• Largely manual data processing

• Automated, data-driven process

• Static linear model

• Comprehensive multidimensional risk model

• Quantitative factors: • Historical annual reports • Credit data from third-party providers (CreFo, Bürgel) • Account history (banks)

• Quantitative, qualitative and forensic factors: • Accounting information • Cash transactions • Industry comparison • Corporate network • News and real-time events

Credit analysis

• Market data

Estimating default risk is the most challenging step in almost every lending business. This 14

creditshelf risk model

Nº06 | September 2019 • creditshelf

a glimpse behind the scenes

sic factors on the one hand and ensures that both our clients and us can digitally access the necessary data as easily as possible. In addition to accounting data, it looks, for example, at the network of corporate, management and shareholder relationships that is publicly accessible via the commercial register or other sources.

News is also a relevant factor. In other words: The innovative credit-shelf risk model replicates the criteria that experienced risk experts would use. from analysts to analytics For the “tech” part of our solution, we look at the risk model from an automation perspective. "We" now refers to the creditshelf technology team, whose goal is a fully automated, data-driven processing of loan applications.

Using procedures from data analytics and machine learning, we are gradually replacing the remaining manual steps in the credit risk assessment process, either by supporting decisions with suitable data visualisations or by fully automating them. This allows our risk model to automatically calculate hundreds of individual factors from existing data, which improves predictive quality and is faster than most current approaches. In addition, creditshelf is constantly improving its model and adding new factors.

As a result, the model does not only learn from the credit cases, but the analytics team teaches it to recognise new patterns it finds in the data it collects.

The risk model can then automatically analyse an ever-increasing number of loan projects and reliably predict the decision of a team of experts in the long term. This includes the recommendation of conditions for the loan offer, i.e. interest margin, volume and term.

The daily work of our risk team is therefore undergoing noticeable changes. On the one hand, analysts can concentrate on particularly complex credit cases. On the other hand, expert knowledge is required for training, validation and improvement of the automated risk model, which takes care of the “easier” cases.

However, the success of our automation strategy also depends on our customers: They must be willing and able to provide us with machinereadable documents from their accounting department. Of course, we could also scan faxes and exchange e-mails, but then errors are probable and increase the manual correction and coordination effort in the credit evaluation process. looking into the future Our goal is to further refine our creditshelf risk analysis and automate even more parts of the analysis. This ensures process efficiency and allows our credit risk colleagues to focus on the key elements of their analysis activities.

Needless to say, we must take into account the peculiarities of complex cases and periodic model validation. Our strong growth is paying off, as the quality and forensic robustness of

our model increases with the number of loan cases - a positive cycle. In the future, this could result in several advantages for our customers.

For example, an anonymised industry comparison can provide information on how well a customer stands in relation to the industry. It also reduces the time between an inquiry and a qualified credit offer. In addition, our consistent automation approach enhances the possibilities of establishing joint and innovative solutions with cooperation partners such as other Fintech companies or traditional banks.

thE manUal EffOrt rEQUirEd fOr CrEdit EvalUatiOns Will bE siGnifiCantlY rEdUCEd.

• Accurate prediction of the decision of an experienced risk team • Problem of machine learning: Classification/evaluation of complex company data records

100% Percentage of cases

risk model of the future

Analysis effort per case

automatic rejection

50% risk analyst of the future • Increased focus on one-off and complex cases

high manual effort

• Training of the risk model with expert decisions • Validation of model decisions

low manual effort

0

Time

A glimpse behind the scenes

15

Disruptive innovation leads to rethinking in automobile construction 834,000 people work in the German automotive industry. Many of them still work in engine development and production. After all, some innovative companies are aggressively entering the market and using new approaches and solutions to destroy the “ideal world” of the automotive industry.

16

Nº06 | September 2019 • creditshelf

Just over a decade ago, the German automotive industry was largely in agreement: Fully electric cars are unlikely to attract a large market - and autonomous driving was unthinkable.

At best, fuel cells and hybrid drives, in which the combustion engine does the main work, were conceivable. Others saw it quite differently and took a completely new approach.

Many of them didn’t even have to think outside the box as they weren't part of the family of cars. They come from the fields of information technology and telecommunications. They had revolutionised telephony, the retail sector and office work with completely new approaches.

The search engine company Google was suddenly concerned with autonomous driving, the PayPal developer Elon Musk produced luxury class electric cars and the computer manufacturer Apple developed solutions for networked communication on the street.

Destruction of evolutionary development What do the three mentioned companies do differently than the traditional car manufacturers like VW, Mercedes or BMW? They simply rethink technology - mostly from the customer’s

Trends

point of view. What does the user want, what does the driver need, how will mobility become more environmentally friendly, safe and comfortable? With this approach, they are driving a disruptive change in the automotive industry: They are destroying conventional evolutionary development. Apple demonstrated this with computers, software and, most recently, the telephone: While Nokia was busy with better speech and music quality in 2007, the Americans brought the iPhone to the market. In its basic version it had less memory, was more expensive, but could be controlled by the swipe of a finger. The success made history. The former world market leader Nokia, on the other hand, gave up its mobile communications division in 2014.

So the automotive industry was warned - especially when Elon Musk entered the competition with his Tesla that featured a complete mobility system. A lot has happened since then.

However, the German automotive industry is still said to have neglected e-mobility and autonomous driving. But both manufacturers and suppliers are intensively concerned with the future viability of their own products and business models, as industry expert Michael Hahn from the management consultancy Staufen emphasises. His company had published the widely acclaimed study “Success in Change”.

According to the study, 75 percent of companies in the automotive industry see a great to very great danger of disruption for individual products of their company. Every second company even considers the entire company to be threatened. In view of the economic importance of the automotive industry, this fear has relevance for society as a whole: After all, this key German industry is the number one in terms of value creation, employment, investment, foreign trade, research and innovation.

German car manufacturers have caught up, but have to rethink their approach German manufacturers have caught up, at least with electric drives. Of the 59 purely electronic models listed at efahrer.com, 16 come from German manufacturers. In the five stages of autonomous driving established by the ADAC, the Germans have now reached stage three with highly automated driving. Mercedes, Audi and VW even have prototypes of autonomous vehicles. The Prognos research institute expects that the first cars with City-Pilot will appear in cities in 2030. “With the topic of autonomous driving, we will become a new player in a completely different industry, the computer industry”, emphasises Thomas Bachmann, head of the pilot fleet for fully automated driving at BMW. So it wasn’t too late for change for the German automotive industry. They will probably be spared the fate of Nokia. The German automotive companies must, however, succeed in staying at the forefront of innovation and the market launch of the developed technology and at the same time design new production concepts: the sharing economy. Objects, services and skills are digitally networked and shared. Via the Internet and its mediation platforms, resources that their owners do not permanently use themselves are temporarily made available to other users. If, as Thomas Bachmann postulates, the automotive industry has to get involved in the computer industry in the future, it should also master the rules of the game. Going through these transformation processes without, however, breaking away from the existing infrastructure will be the biggest challenge for the industry - according to experts at management consultants Roland Berger.

“75 percent of companies in the automotive industry see a great to very great danger of disruption for individual products of their company”.

Dr. Daniel Bartsch, Co-founder and Member of the Board of Management, creditshelf Aktiengesellschaft Trends

17

NEW! DIGITAL! SMEs!

www.businessbuddy.info

18

Ausgabe 1 / 2019 Ad • creditshelf

dates

SuccESS THROuGH nETWORk If we learned anything from influencer and Con-vent Managing Director Detlev Leisse in the last creditshelf issue, then it was the following: The importance of “real” meetings and personal exchange will not diminish even in times of digitalisation. Quite the opposite: These are becoming increasingly important, and who are we at creditshelf to not take this wisdom to heart? Digital and personal are not mutually exclusive for us - especially not when we see what is possible through networking. You want proof?

swiss lending Conference on 6 may 2019 in Zurich: Fabian Brügmann (CFO, creditshelf AG)

“finanz-talk” on 05 June 2019 in stuttgart: Pascal Lehnen (Principal, Roland Berger GmbH), Mike Nagora (CTO, decimo GmbH), Martin Schemm (Head Product Partner Management, iwoca Deutschland GmbH) and Dr. Daniel Bartsch (Member of the Board of Management, creditshelf AG) (from left to right)

dbaccess Conference of deutsche bank on 5-7 June, 2019 in berlin: Participants of the Fintech Panel Fabian Brügmann (CFO, creditshelf AG), Frank Freund (CFO, Raisin GmbH), Fabian Wesemann (CFO, wefox Group), Marc-Alexander Christ (CFO, SumUp) (from left to right) and Zak Khan (Corporate Finance, Deutsche Bank) (far right)

morning meetup on 7 may 2019 in frankfurt am main: Speakers Volker Riedel, (Partner, Dr. Wieselhuber & Partner GmbH), Stefan Hnida, (Corporate Account Manager Region West, creditshelf AG) and Knud Dippel (Investment Manager, PATRIMONIUM Asset Management AG) (from left to right)

Entrepreneur barbecue "acquisitions as part of the growth strategy" on 3 July 2019 in Coswig: Richard Heller (Head of Corporate Customers, creditshelf AG), Ronny Baar (Management Consultant, ABG Partner), Isabel Franzka (Tax Consultant, ABG Partner), Sven Rother (Managing Partner, Rother Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH) (from left to right) 15th north German Entrepreneur day on 28 may 2019 in hamburg: Jonas Mehrling (Corporate Account Manager, creditshelf AG) and Philipp Stollmayer (Corporate Account Manager, creditshelf AG) ( from left to right)

tech days on 2 and 3 June 2019 in munich: Dr. Gregor Heinrich (CTO, creditshelf AG)

What determines the success of family businesses?

finanz-talk on 27 June 2019 in frankfurt am main: Richard Heller (Head of Corporate Customers, creditshelf AG), Sebastian Pollin (COO, RECHNUNG.de), Martin Schemm (Head of Partner Management DE, iwoca GmbH) and Dr. Dominik Loeber, (Senior Partner, Roland Berger GmbH) (from left to right)

Dates

Answers were provided at the Weissman Group’s Family Entrepreneur Day on 24/25 May 2019 in Nuremberg! It offered insights into personal success stories and trend-setting concepts from family businesses. The participating entrepreneurs from different industries and company sizes all agreed that there are several factors responsible for long-term success: These include the development of future strategies and disruptive business models, the implementation of a digital transformation, new products and satisfied customers. The most important role, however, is played by satisfied employees.

Five speakers illustrated the extent to which these factors have a positive impact on everyday business life: Holger Raithel, Gerd Hofrichter, Johannes Schulz-Hess, Benjamin Bauer and Sabine Asgodom. Their personal experiences and insights made it clear that the life and expression of values by people have a significant influence on the success of a company. In addition to the exciting presentations, the 180 participants had the opportunity to talk to each other and make new contacts in interactive early bird conversations and the gala menu.

Further information on the Family Entrepreneur Day can be found at: https://www.weissman.de/ 19

Under the patronage of Olaf Scholz

Volker Bouffier, MdL

Federal Minister of Finance, Berlin

Premier of the State of Hesse, Wiesbaden

The Future of Finance and Banking 22. EURO FINANCE WEEK 18 - 22 November 2019 - Frankfurt/Main er l of f a i c Spe eaders et f or r t i ck

ing k n a b d an o p e ! l a i r 019 for c u n a E n fi i n il 15/08/2 t g s n e i t t g e t un T) g e i k e c b s VA AT ti u V m l y s p e a u Th dustry Get your d 290 pl ular: € 800 ( re g in €

y VAT a da Bu y 9 0 p l u s 2 2019 € f or EDIA

: EF

WM

Banking Strategy

GRC

Asset Management

Frankfurt European Banking Congress*

Monday, 18 November

Thursday, 21 November

Innovation

Tuesday, 19 November

Wednesday, 20 November

Friday, 22 November

The speakers include

* by invitation only

Dr. Günther Bräunig

Luis de Guindos

Uwe Fröhlich

Herbert Hans Grüntker Oliver Guersent Helaba Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen

European Commission

Felix Hufeld

Dr. Elke König

Jean Lemierre

Jean Pierre Mustier

Olaf Scholz

Christian Sewing

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c.

Hermann Simon

Jonathan Symonds

Dr. Jens Weidmann

S.E. WU Ken

Martin Zielke

KfW Banking Group

UniCredit

European Central Bank

Federal Minister of Finance

DZ BANK

Deutsche Bank

HSBC

Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin)

German Central Bank

Simon-Kucher & Partners

Premium & annual partner

20

Ambassador of the People‘s Republic of China to Germany

BNP Paribas

Commerzbank

Main media partner

Nº06 | September 2019 • creditshelf Ad

Single Resolution Board

Deutscher Fachverlag GmbH, Frankfurt/Main

creditshelf_efw 2019

e Cod

dates

WHaT yOu can STill lOOk fORWaRd TO trade fairs Convent mittelstandstage (Convent smE days): nationwide series of events The “Convent Mittelstandstage” are part of a nationwide series of events that has been implemented at German economic hubs for almost 20 years. Meet managing directors and board members as well as decisionmakers in owner-managed SMEs with a turnover of between EUR 5 million and EUR 150 million.

if you are inspired by these impressions and would like to use the opportunity to network, you should not wait too long. after all, the year has only four months left. do you want to find out about new trends in the financial sector and exchange information? are you looking for additional financing partners with whom you can raise capital quickly, easily and flexibly using innovative, digital methods? are you an entrepreneur, consultant, investor or multiplier and would like to get to know creditshelf aG, which has been listed on the stock exchange since July 2018? then make a note of the following dates. registrations and further information can be found at www.creditshelf.com/de/events

 �• 18th Mittelstandstag FrankfurtRheinMain Frankfurt/Main, 05/11/2019

• 16th Mitteldeutscher Unternehmertag (Central German Entrepreneur Congress), Leipzig, 09/12/2019 15th “structured finance” congress As part of this annual congress, those responsible for finance at large SMEs and listed companies report on their practical experience. In addition to creditshelf, the guests and partners include numerous CFOs, treasury heads, bankers and selected financial service providers.

Events with creditshelf as the (co-) organiser finanz-talk: digitale mittelstandsfinanzierung (finance talk: digital smE financing)

Where:

Internationales Congresscenter Stuttgart, Messepiazza 1, 70629 Stuttgart

This series of events will provide you with important insights into the industry-wide digital change that is causing upheavals and uncertainty in the financial sector. You can take part in an exchange between Fintechs, established banks and financial experts on the following dates:

When:

27-28/11/2019

investor relations Events

 • Hamburg, 25/09/2019

Get to know creditshelf AG, which has been listed on the stock exchange since July 2018:

• Berlin, 26/09/2019 • Stuttgart, 16/10/2019

 �• DVFA Autumn Conference, Frankfurt/Main, 02/09/2019

• Munich, 17/10/2019

• Deutsches Eigenkapitalforum (German Equity Forum), Frankfurt/Main, 25-27/11/2019

• Düsseldorf, 06/11/2019 • Frankfurt, 07/11/2019 Host: Luther Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH Presentation: Roland Berger GmbH Speakers: creditshelf AG, iwoca Deutschland GmbH, quickpaid (A.B.S. Global Factoring AG), auxmoney GmbH Media partner: Markt und Mittelstand

External events creditshelf aG will participate in the following events as a speaker, exhibitor and participant. You too?  • “Banks and FinTechs in discussion”, event with CrossLend and Standard Chartered Bank, Frankfurt/Main, tbd.

morning meetup In this series of events, we offer you the opportunity of getting to talk to representatives of various financing areas. The lectures will be enhanced by exciting practical examples.

• Deutscher Steuerberatertag (German Tax Consultant Day), Berlin, 20-22/10/2019 • Payment Summit 2019, Hamburg, 06-07/11/2019 • AltFi Berlin Summit, Berlin, 18/11/2019

 • Munich, 11/09/2019

• EURO FINANCE WEEK, Event with our partner dfv Euro Finance Group GmbH, Frankfurt/Main, 18-22/11/2019

• Hamburg, 19/11/2019

• FRANKFURT meets DAVOS, Even with out partner dfv Euro Finance Group GmbH, Davos, 21-24/01/2020

Speakers: creditshelf AG, Dr. Wieselhuber & Partner GmbH, Patrimonium Asset Management AG Media partner: Entrepreneur edition from GOING PUBLIC!

• Creditshelf webinar, 27/09/2019, 11:00 -11:30 am Dates

21

Expert advice concerning the GmbH

Includes access to GmbH database

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the long-term effects of healthy employees

Practical and understandable Easily understandable terminology with practical examples GmbH database - always be informed Comfortable search for terms and rulings on tax and company law as well as with all articles of the GmbH tax practice since 2003

machines, new technologies or expansion through an acquisition. if one asks entrepreneurs about past investments, which have been reflected in their own company’s key performance indicators, these answers are most likely to be reckoned with. Jan Philippi provides one more. the 34-year-old certified psychologist specialises in stress management and has been giving workshops on this topic for over three years. in the conversations with leaders and their staff he clarifies how to deal with stress correctly and which positive effects it can have on the company.

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Philippi: Back when I was studying psychology, I was a self-employed professional poker player.

It went quite well until I realized that I was no longer satisfied with my life. I neglected my hobbies, friends and above all my health. Far too high demands on myself, the permanent pressure I put on myself and an unhealthy lifestyle led to a burnout in my late 20s. I had to Nº06 | September 2019 • creditshelf

change something urgently and started to deal with the topics stress management and personality development. The fact that I was also studying psychology was a lucky circumstance.

I changed my major and continued my education in coaching. Since graduating from university, I have been offering workshops on stress management in SMEs. Why is stress management important in companies?

Philippi: First and foremost, companies benefit from healthier and more efficient employees.

If they are motivated, committed and fit, this contributes to a positive atmosphere and the company is more successful in the long term.

A study by the software manufacturer SAP confirmed this. They developed the so-called Business Health Culture Index (BHCI). The BHCI indicates how well an organisation keeps its employees holistically healthy. As a result, SAP found that with every percent by which the BHCI improves, they save costs of around EUR 65 to 70 million. Investing in employee health is well worth it - not only in terms of well-being, but also in terms of economic success.

stimuli

do smEs agree?

Philippi: You can’t say that in general terms.

There are still a few companies in which the topic is completely dismissed. “Success comes from pressure“, “Everyone has to take care of their own health” or “It’s none of our business“ are actually statements that I sometimes encounter. However, the majority of companies have recognised that health improvement and stress management are important for the atmosphere and performance of their employees. But then it often fails because of the actual implementation - for example because they approach it half-heartedly, don’t know where to start or have completely wrong ideas about it.

It’s not just a foosball table, annual team events, a feel-good manager or free fruit and water. how do you do it right?

Philippi: Exemplary companies give their employees access to diverse health programmes or offer opportunities for balance. These include, for example, sports and fitness courses, check-ups, consultations and workshops, or a so-called sabbatical. But before such preventive measures are introduced in companies, managers must recognise that they have a partial responsibility for the health of their employees. They act as role models and must be convinced of this themselves. If managers live and lead healthy lives, this naturally also has a positive impact on employees. For example, it is not appropriate for them to offer their employees individual workshops on a voluntary basis but to not participate themselves. The management level must always be involved.

“Promoting the mental health of employees is not a ‘sideline project’, but requires a long-term commitment and sometimes even a complete change in the corporate culture. This must be exemplified by the managers and felt by every employee.”

Jan Philippi, certified psychologist and coach Stimuli

What do your workshops look like?

Philippi: In order to win the trust and break the ice, I often start by telling my own story. Then the participants get a chance to speak. They talk about why and to what extent they feel stress, and almost always cite causes such as poor conflict management, lack of communication, limitless perfectionism and an unhealthy lifestyle. It becomes very interesting when we deal with our own values: What motivates you? When are you willing to accept stress and what do you get in exchange for it? What do you need to work without stress, and which of these do you really put into practice? Even the open conversation in a large group can help, since the employees realise that they are not alone with their problems. This strengthens the team spirit. Together we then carry out various exercises for everyday work. These include, for example, communication exercises, dealing with values and lifestyles in visual and written form or various relaxation techniques.

Read more at: www.jan-philippi.com 23

Shareholders fully support creditshelf The first Annual General Meeting of the listed stock corporation was a success. We report on the presentation and remarkable results

On 14 May 2019, creditshelf Aktiengesellschaft successfully held its first Annual General Meeting at the German National Library in Frankfurt/Main following its IPO in July last year. The represented share capital was 52.16 percent, with around 40 shareholders and guests present.

As a service provider, Link Market Service supported the Annual General Meeting alongside the investor relations agency cometis; the legal part was handled by the law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe; Dr. Frank Burmeister of the law firm Hengeler Mueller was the notary of the Annual General Meeting. He was joined on the podium by the three members of the Management Board of creditshelf AG and five members of the Supervisory Board. Its sixth member, Pedro Pinto Coelho, was unable to attend.

In accordance with the Articles of Association, Rolf Elgeti, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, chaired the Annual General Meeting.

At the Annual General Meeting, the Board of Management gave a detailed report on the operational and strategic development of creditshelf Aktiengesellschaft in the 2018 financial year. At the same time, it provided an outlook on the future strategy and the current 2019 financial year.

The actions of the Board of Management and the Supervisory Board in the 2018 financial year were approved with 100 percent of the votes in favour. Warth & Klein Grant Thornton AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft, Frankfurt, was appointed as auditor for the 2019 financial year. For all votes at the Annual General Meeting, 100 percent of those entitled to vote voted “Yes”. "This speaks for the path taken by credit-shelf AG and the trust the shareholders have in its management," explained Fabian Brügmann, Chief Financial Officer of creditshelf and project manager at the Annual General Meeting.

Large market potential for creditshelf In its presentation, the Board of Management presented the business model of creditshelf AG with its unique, scalable online platform and provided an assessment of the market potential: This is at least EUR 39 billion for German SMEs. Although the market seems well covered by the financing mix consisting of equity financing, bank loans

24

Nº06 | September 2019 • creditshelf

A glimpse behind the scenes and equity capital, companies with a medium rating that are looking for short-term unsecured financing solutions form a market segment that is not sufficiently served by the banks. Here creditshelf’s loans offer a fast accessible financing possibility, which have more favourable interest rates for SMEs than the next best alternatives such as factoring or supplier loans.

Dr. Tim Thabe, Chief Executive Officer of creditshelf, summed up the presentation by the Board of Management and the Annual General Meeting: “The 2018 financial year was marked to a large extent by preparations for the successful IPO on 25 July 2018 in the Prime Standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, with which we laid the foundations for further growth. In the past financial year, we were able to continue our positive business development: We strengthened our second management level, expanded our workforce overall, significantly increased the volume of loans granted to EUR 50.7 million and almost doubled sales to EUR 2.4 million compared with 2017. We are very pleased that our shareholders expressed their confidence in us at our first Annual General Meeting”.

position and present itself professionally. Everyone was pulling in the same direction. We were able to generate some suggestions for the next Annual General Meeting in the coming year. And the same applies here: We must not slow down in our organisation!”

Alexandra von Knoblauch (Middle Office Manager and Executive Assistant), Kai Engel (Data Analytics), Xuan Ngyuen (Data Analytics) (from left to right)

Good preparation and professional organisation The shareholders present listened with great interest to the statements made by the Board of Management, which was also reflected in the speeches made. In terms of content, these covered a broad spectrum: from dividends and forecasts to marketing expenses. “The Board of Management was able to adequately respond to all questions at the Annual General Meeting”, said Fabian Brügmann. The CFO was delighted with the successful event, for which he was the Project Manager: “This precedent Annual General Meeting helped our still relatively young organisation to

100 percent approval All votes at the Annual General Meeting had the same result: 100 percent yes votes. In detail, there was the following presence entitled to vote:

Ulrike Bake (Risk Manager), Verona Hohmann (Marketing & Communication), Fabian Brügmann (CFO), Laura Gabriel (Marketing Manager), Shima Naghdali (Marketing & Communication) (from left to right)

Ratification of the actions of Dr. Tim Thabe, member of the Board of Management: Ratification of the actions of Dr. Daniel Bartsch, member of the Board of Management: Ratification of the actions of Dr. Mark Währisch, member of the Board of Management: Ratification of the actions of Rolf Elgeti, Chairman of the Supervisory Board: Ratification of the actions of Rolf Hentschel, member of the Supervisory Board: Ratification of the actions of Prof. Dr. Dirk Schiereck, member of the Supervisory Board: Ratification of the actions of Julia HeraeusRinnert, member of the Supervisory Board: Ratification of the actions of Dr. Joachim Rauhu, member of the Supervisory Board: Ratification of the actions of Pedro Pinto Coelho, member of the Supervisory Board: Election of auditors and group auditors:

32.55 % of the share capital 33.81 % of the share capital 52.16 % of the share capital 47.53 % of the share capital 52.16 % of the share capital 52.16 % of the share capital 52.04 % of the share capital 52.16 % of the share capital 52.16 % of the share capital 52.16 % of the share capital

Dr. Tim Thabe (Co-founder and Member of the Board of Management), Dr. Mark Währisch (Member of the Board of Management) (from left to right)

A glimpse behind the scenes

25

a glimpse behind the scenes

THE cREdiTSHElf SupERviSORy BOaRd inTROducES iTSElf Our company has been listed on the stock exchange since 2018. here we present our supervisory board in more detail. find out more about the qualifications and career stages of the individual members.

26

Rolf Elgeti was born in 1976 and studied economics in Mannheim and Paris. His professional career includes working as an equity strategist for Commerzbank in London and as Chief Equity Strategist at ABN AMRO. He has been Chairman of the Supervisory Board of creditshelf Aktiengesellschaft since 2018. In addition, he is Managing Director, shareholder and supervisory board member of various companies such as Hevella Capital KGaA (the largest shareholder in creditshelf AG) and Obotritia Capital.

Dr. Joachim Rauhut was born in 1954 and works as an independent consultant. He completed his doctorate in engineering at the TU Berlin. In his professional career, he was a member of the Board of Management of Krauss-Maffei AG responsible for finance and administration , Chief Financial Officer of Mannesmann AG and CFO of Wacker Chemie AG. He is a member of the Supervisory Board of creditshelf AG and other companies such as Stabilus S.A., MTU Aero Engines AG and B. Braun Melsungen AG.

Rolf Hentschel was born in 1958 and is a freelance auditor, tax consultant and lawyer. After studying law from 1979 to 1986 and being admitted to the bar, he worked for Arthur Andersen GmbH until 2002. From 2002 to 2014 he worked as a Partner and Branch Manager for Ernst & Young. He has been Deputy Chairman of the creditshelf Supervisory Board since 2018. Rolf Hentschel is also a member of the Supervisory Board of HGV Hamburger Gesellschaft für Vermögens- und Beteiligungsmanagement mbH.

Prof. Dr. Dirk Schiereck was born in 1962. The creditshelf Supervisory Board member studied economics at the Christian-AlbrechtsUniversity of Kiel and received his doctorate and postdoctoral degree at the University of Mannheim. During his academic career he held the Chair of Capital Markets and Corporate Governance and was Director at the Institute for Mergers & Acquisition at the private University of Witten/Herdecke. Prof. Dr. Schiereck is currently Head of Corporate Finance at the TU Darmstadt.

Julia Heraeus-Rinnert was born in 1978. After studying business administration in the USA, she spent several years as a strategy consultant at A.T. Kearney before moving into industry. She completed her MBA in a partner program at the Universities of Mannheim, ESSEC and Warwick. Later she worked at the University of Mannheim. She is the Managing Director of J2 Verwaltung GmbH and a member of the Shareholders Committee of Heraeus, a family-owned company run by her parents. On an honorary basis, she is, among other things, Deputy Chairwoman of the Friends and Sponsors of the Goethe University in Frankfurt.

Pedro Pinto Coelho was born in Portugal in 1965. He has an MBA with a focus on finance from HEC Paris. He was Global Head of Financial Advisory for the Banif Investment Banking Group in Brazil and Portugal as well as the Founder and CEO of Standard Angola Bank.

He was also CEO of Azure Wealth in Geneva and Head of Investment Banking for Portugal at Citigroup London for seven years.

In addition to his role on the creditshelf Supervisory Board, he is Chairman of the Portuguese Fintech and Insurtech Association and Chairman of Banco BNI Europe.

Nº06 | September 2019 • creditshelf

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Having opinions, sharing opinions Whether it’s about capital trends, interviews at the bank or digital human resources - we gather the right experts on the latest topics.

Do you already start sweating when you think about your next appointment with the bank? Or do you sometimes ask yourself: “Why do I even need to go to bank? Does it still fit in with our times?” After all, “digital change” is a phenomenon that is all over town. New technologies have become the standard in the meantime, even in the everyday work of SMEs. But is it worth automating every familiar procedure with digital gimmicks? Which solutions make human resources smarter and which don’t? We asked influencers to share their opinions with us.

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Frederike Probert, Managing Director, Entrepreneur and Expert of the digital economy as well as gender diversity, Mission Female GmbH Ms Probert, women, especially young female entrepreneurs, are still struggling with disadvantages when it comes to receiving loans. Can digitalisation help here?

Women still find it harder than men to gain access to loans, venture capital or business angels. But things are changing: According to the current Female Founders Monitor 2019, the proportion of capital planned to be raised by women-led start-ups has risen from 30 to 41 percent compared to last year.

Digitalisation has an additional positive influence here: On the one hand, this can make it easier to start up with less external capital, as online business models often do not require as much capital as those in traditional industries. Due to the fast pace of the industry, learning phases are also shorter, which means that adjustments to business operations can be made more quickly, and dynamic directional changes can help reduce capitalintensive operations. On the other hand, digitalisation makes it possible to open up new sources of investment. Whereas in the past it was necessary to explain to the bank consultant what a corporate loan was needed for, today the investors are equipped with a different mindset and expertise, especially via platforms such as creditshelf.

Read more at: www.missionfemale.com

Nº06 | September 2019 • creditshelf

Stimuli

Bastian Walkhoff, Senior Manager, zeb consulting

Andreas Franik, TV and stage professional, host, journalist and Managing Partner, Fimeco GmbH

Mr. Walkhoff, the current zeb banking study still mentions “EUROPE’S TOP 50 BANKS”. How long will it be possible to separate banks and Fintechs so strictly and not only in the context of such a study?

Mr. Franik, you prepare managers and politicians for TV interviews almost every day. What tips do you have for making a good impression when talking to your bank about a corporate loan?

Always be prepared in the best possible way and give your counterpart the feeling that you are doing the right thing. Of course, you also need coherent facts supporting your argumentation and a vision as to where the common journey should lead. This shouldn’t be read from a piece of paper but should be presented freely. Be passionate about your topic. But the most important thing: Feel comfortable during your conversation and be self-confident. After all, you are no supplicant, but a strong partner of your financial institution.

Increasingly, borders between commercial banks and those Fintechs who want to conquer their traditional business areas are becoming blurred. They often develop into “licensed” institutions themselves. Some strongly growing market participants have the potential to become a top 50 bank themselves. The European Banking Study shows that banks that have consistently dealt with the core issues of digitisation are more successful today. They are developing towards technology companies and are thus becoming more comparable to Fintechs.

Read more at: www.zeb.de

Read more at: www.fimeco.de

Patrick Dewayne, actor, host, singer and Managing Director, Dewayne Consulting Business TV & Network

Prof. Walter Gora, Managing Partner, Valora Management Group GmbH and Cisar - consulting and solutions GmbH

Mr. Dewayne, many people still associate the stock exchange and the like with Gordon Gekko’s slogans from the movie “Wall Street”. Is the cliché still true? What has changed the “tone” of the capital market since the end of the 1980s?

Which IT systems do SMEs need for personnel systems nowadays?

Changes are nothing new, but the quality of the changes is new: higher performance with less personnel, digitalisation of processes, cost targets and many “flexible” goals - restructuring today, mergers tomorrow, outsourcing the day after tomorrow.

The personnel departments are always affected. The demands placed on modern HR work have fundamentally changed in recent years, as have the IT HR systems. Today, integrated systems are a must. However, many companies are still trying to use yesterday’s tools to meet today’s requirements.

A lot has happened since “Gordon Gekko” and the Hollywood blockbuster “Wall Street”. Not least because greed is no longer the decisive criterion on the capital markets. “Sustainable” and “green” are the investment trends of today and tomorrow. This means that financial and capital investments have arrived in the 21st century. Another important factor is the financial literacy of savers in Germany. This is still manageable and an important factor in reducing prejudices and clichés.

Read more at: www.cisar-gmbh.com or www.walter-gora.de

Read more at: www.dcbusiness.tv

Stimuli

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HanGinG OuT TOGETHER from a climbing excursion to “mystery lunch” - our incentives ensure a good atmosphere within the team and are an important part of our employer brand it was creditshelf’s biggest team incentive to date: in may, our entire workforce set off for limburg. after a group dinner and a few drinks at the bar, we went to the diez climbing forest the following day. the reactions afterwards also show how well the event worked out: “You could get to know colleagues from other teams even better than is sometimes possible in the office. Good food and good conversations - what more could you want?!” or: “the experiences in the climbing forest have brought us even closer together. supporting each other, laughing together and hanging on to the ropes from time to time was really fun”.

the company’s expense - a kind of blind date among employees. This is an opportunity to automatically get to know each other across department boundaries. If our employees want to share their talents with their colleagues, we are obviously also very happy: This ranges from weekly yoga classes to occasional self-defence courses and art workshops.

become part of the team! Our job openings can be found here:

“mystery lunch” breaks down boundaries between departments The climbing excursion was our biggest team event so far, but by no means the first. The “Thirsty Thursdays” are especially popular. Here we meet in a relaxed atmosphere after work for some refreshments. Often there is a special motto like “Oktoberfest” or events like a visit to the Christmas market. We also organize the “Mystery Lunch” every month. Colleagues are randomly drawn in pairs and can have lunch at 30

Nº06 | September 2019 • creditshelf

a glimpse behind the scenes inspired by the team spirit Why are we doing all of this? Because the atmosphere is important to us. We simply believe that a good team spirit has a positive effect on our work. If our employees feel comfortable and enjoy coming to work, they are also motivated to contribute their best to the success of the company. It is also a great opportunity for us to show that we value the work of our employees.

The ideas for the various activities comes from all sides: The Board of Management came up with the idea for the climbing excursion at the end of last year after successfully achieving our goals. In addition, the employees always come up with suggestions, for example for the mottos of the “Thirsty Thursdays”. Planning and implementation are then handled by Human Resources with the active support of the other departments. The Office Management regularly takes care of catering and the Marketing Department, for example, organised the team shirts and hats for the climbing trip.

SEHR GUT Arbeitgeber der Zukunft

Prüfung auf Basis Self-Assessment und Service-Check 4/2019

Employer with a personality Large incentives and regular, smaller activities bring the team together, create a good atmosphere and motivate them to work in a sustainable manner. But they are also a decisive factor for our image as a modern Fintech company.

Especially when it comes to recruiting: Here competence and performance are not the only things that count, but also individuality, joy and pleasant cooperation. “As a Fintech, we are internationally positioned, especially in the IT sector. Good integration into the team is particularly important for those employees who often come to us from abroad. Anyone applying for a Fintech position is looking for a company with personality in addition to exciting tasks and projects”, says Personnel Officer Lina Hebbering. After the successful climbing trip, the next team incentives are already underway.

intErEstEd in a CarEEr at CrEditshElf? What WE OffEr:  Space for creativity: We are open to your ideas and suggestions.  Honest recognition: Every employee is responsible for a crucial task.  Permanent support: We keep your back free and support you with our experience, our expertise and our offers for advanced training, which will help you personally and in your work.  From everywhere: Homeoffice is generally easily possible after prior arrangement.  Lively atmosphere: We strengthen the team and the atmosphere at numerous events, mystery lunches and other meetings.  Your training partner: We support your sporting activities financially.  No matter what you need: We will take care of getting you the right equipment for you to work optimally.  Company ticket: Our employees get a discounted job ticket.  Yoga: We offer a regular yoga lessons in the office.  Language: creditshelf has an international team. Therefore we organise suitable language lessons for you if required.  Immigration: Are you not in Germany yet? We will be happy to assist you with the formalities of entry.

A glimpse behind the scenes

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Board of Management: Dr. Tim Thabe (Chairman) Dr. Daniel Bartsch Dr. Mark Währisch

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Nº06 | September 2019 • creditshelf

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