Businesses today are operating in an increasingly complex landscape. Macro- and microeconomic factors, from low economic growth to high interest rates and diminished household spending, are putting a strain on companies’ margins and pushing insolvencies up to pre-Covid levels.
In this context, a nuanced understanding of the risks and opportunities specific to each region, sector and client is vital.
Collaboration, insights and expertise
Underwriters have the responsibility of managing clients’ credit limit requests on buyers and monitoring their risk exposure. And our sectoral expertise is key to correctly assessing and evaluating this risk.
Take a market like France, with an economy that covers virtually everything – from construction to agriculture, tourism and everything in between. In a country so rich with resources, knowledge of specific sectors and of the interplay between them is indispensable. In France, our 52 underwriters are specialized in one of four trade sectors: construction; retail, agri-food and logistics; industry (from heavy industries to pharmaceuticals); and services, which covers tourism and hospitality, and IT services.
Now, let’s say we’re working with a client in the metalworks industry. Our client may know their own sector very well, but they come to us for an additional perspective. This could be on other industries that are part of their value chain, such as automotive, and on micro- and macro-economic trends. Our customers also turn to us for more information and benchmarking on the financial health of companies in their supply chain, or on the impact of commodity price variations that could affect them. With our sectoral expertise and granular view on our clients’ clients, we can grant the most efficient coverage so our clients can grow their business safely. There are several concrete benefits:
1. Deep expertise within sectors
2. An understanding on how sectors vary around the world
3. Targeted market insights
4. Completing the financial picture
Our risk grading process is organized by region: we have over 500 analysts across the world who reach out directly to companies, bankers and economic stakeholders to produce a comprehensive analysis of all our clients’ potential clients. Leveraging this information with our economic reports, our analysts provide a ‘risk grade’ for every company.
By combining it with our sectoral view in underwriting, we obtain a holistic assessment based on the individual company’s financial situation as well as the outlook of both the region and sector that they operate in.
5. Personalized advice based on relationships
Allianz Trade: expertise goes beyond financial analysis
Got questions? Connect with our experts
Alain Estrade
Senior underwriter
Allianz Trade in France