ICBA Baltic and South Africa discuss the necessity of well-structured credit insurance

Excerpted from ICBA Advantage – the newsletter for trade and credit insurance solutions, Vol. 8 - Spring 2011.

Younger ICBA companies benefit from the greater expertise of more established ICBA colleagues and brokerages. Meanwhile, these newer ICBA companies, often located in emerging markets, are “on the ground” in countries where companies need coverage. This increases ICBA’s global reach.

How does ICBA help your independent brokerage win more business?

Audrius Rosinas, Managing Director, ICBA BalticICBA Baltic: ICBA Baltic recently closed a deal with a company in Lithuania – one of the largest distributors of IT, entertainment and consumer electronic goods and services in Lithuania. This was the first big deal in the country after the economic crisis, during which the larger underwriters left the Baltic market and no longer issued contracts here. To win this company's business, ICBA Baltic had to convince an underwriter to accept specific conditions that the company required. ICBA Baltic successfully closed the deal and delivered comprehensive as well as excellent local service to this client.

ICBA Baltic is a relatively young company. For that reason, the team benefits from being able to call on the greater expertise of our ICBA colleagues. ICBA helps the Baltic team solve especially challenging credit insurance situations and improve the quality of services provided to our international customers. We have increased our market size and professionalism as the result of our alliance with ICBA.

Darrell von Broembsen, Director, ICBA South AfricaICBA South Africa: Our team has won more international business because the global ICBA gives us a “foot in the door” with prospects. A recent example of an ICBA collaboration: ICBA South Africa had not been able to meet with the local subsidiary of a multinational U.S.-based company. With an introduction made by one of our more experienced ICBA colleagues, and shortly after a meeting in which we presented our data and recommendations, ICBA South Africa was appointed the South African company’s broker. Local companies understand the benefit of having a single entity (ICBA) looking at risk constraints and policy structuring on a global basis.

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ICBA members collaborate to solve buyer capacity issues for a major ICBA member client

By Mark Attley

It's a marketer's function to present and communicate the attributes of an organization in the most favourable light possible to the target audience. Since the "proof of the pudding is in the eating", how good we say or think we are is irrelevant unless our customers experience it and tell us so. ICBA's mantra is "trade credit solutions for multinational companies" and when two or more ICBA members collaborate to bring a solution to a client, then we are fulfilling our mandate and "walking the talk".

2009 was the credit insurance industry's annus horribilis (if the queen can have one so can we) with credit availability drying up. As the economy starts to expand in 2010, there are signs that insurers' appetites are improving, but buyer capacity continues to be the challenge in industries where prices are volatile and beginning to rapidly increase.

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