The Asian Banker is proud to launch the region’s first and most comprehensive training programme on Small Business Banking.
Anchored by two of America’s leading trainers in serving small business customers, the training is designed to up-date senior bankers in the Middle East and North Africa with leading edge thinking in the areas of credit, marketing, product development and the balance sheet of the business.
Small businesses are the veins and arteries of the economy. Millions of imaginative, hardworking and self-motivated individuals respond creatively to the demands of the economy in the respective countries we come from.
But serving the community requires considerable and specific skills, as well as an instinct for this business. It also requires an understanding of how technology and innovation can be used to succeed in this fierce competition for the business of the small customer.
In the Middle East, there is an increasing awareness that small businesses are rapidly becoming a pillar of the economy. Many foreigners who are making the Middle East their home are starting up small businesses and providing creative input and playing a part in introducing a whole range of innovations that were previously not thought viable for the region. The rising middle class and growth in population are making the small business banking proposition a reality. In order to understand and capitalize on this new phenomenon, banks have to strategize quickly.
This training is designed to answer all of the above areas of concerns. This is the premier training event of its kind for the banks, insurance companies and other financial service providers that are serious about succeeding with this customer base.
The Objectives
• To capture product innovation and trends in small business banking
• To sharpen the instincts for the balance sheet of small business customers
• To keep up with the new trends, technologies and innovations in global supply chain shaping this customer base
• To speak with small businesses themselves in focus group settings.
This training program is designed for practitioners wanting to constantly improve their small business banking products and services in highly competitive markets:
• CEOs of banks with a renewed focus on small business banking
• Senior executives of small business banking
• Senior executives of retail banking tasked with overseeing small business customers
• Senior executives of wealth management tasked with overseeing small business customers
• Senior executives of corporate banking tasked with overseeing small business customers
• Senior strategic planning executives tasked with building a small business banking
• Senior credit managers tasked with building a credit management capability for small businesses.
• Senior product managers
This programme does not require accounting training, but all business owners should have the instincts for managing details.
| Small Business Banking Executive Programme 2013 Wednesday, 9 April 2014 |
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| 09:00 – 10:30 |
A review of emerging global best practices in small business banking
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| 10:30 – 11:00 | Coffee break | |
| 11.00-12.30 |
Focus group sessions with small business owners
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| 12:30 – 13:30 | Lunch | |
| Breakouts designed to cover a wide range of tactical areas – each breakout will be anchored by one of the two faculty members | ||
| 13:30 – 14:30 | The transaction account of a small business customers The transaction account is the first glimpse that any financial institution has of a small business customer. But what does it tell us? What should it tell us? What can we assume about the customer’s financial position and how do we build on that account? How indicative is it of the cash flow of the customer’s business? What are the red flags that are discernible from a transaction banking account? Facilitated by:
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Small business and debt collection When it comes to seeking recourse from a failing small business, legal recourse has to always be augmented with other measures. The focus should be on rehabilitating small businesses in trouble so that the value to the community as a whole is preserved. But exactly what checks should be in place? Facilitated by:
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| 14:30 – 15:00 | Tea Break | |
| 15:00 – 16:00 | Understanding family run businesses Many small businesses are owned by families. Secure the small business customer and you secure the business of other members of his family. This session is designed to help participants understand how to systematically grow the small business customer’s family business. Facilitated by:
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Investment options Small businesses are a source of strong and sticky deposits. However, increasing competition risks eroding this stable base. Financial service providers have to be proactive in helping customers maximize their investment options. But what are they really interested in, and what are the money making opportunities? Facilitated by:
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| 16:00 – 17:00 | Closing dialogue: Understanding the stages of business life Every SME will go through different stages throughout its life. To effectively market to SMEs you need to understand where the business is in its life cycle. This workshop will list the characteristics, challenges and needs of businesses as they grow over time. Discover when they need credit, when they need cash management services and when they need other fee-based services. Learn where a company is most volatile, where it is considered fundable by financial institutions and where maximum value occurs in a SME. To design a strategic approach to capture the SME market; financial institutions need to design products/services that address different SME needs throughout its life cycle. By capturing and maintaining a SME's business, you can begin to make small business banking the cornerstone of banking. Facilitated by:
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| 17:00 – 18:00 | Faculty interaction cocktails An opportunity for the faculty, speakers and delegates to interact with each other and complete unfinished conversations from the rich contents covered during the day. |
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| End of Day 1 | ||
| Small Business Banking Executive Programme 2013 Thursday, 10 April 2014 |
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| 09:00 – 10:00 |
Working with government incentive schemes
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| 10:00 – 10:30 | Tea/Coffee break | |
| 10:30 – 11:30 | Reading the balance sheets of small business by types of businesses The inferences that can be made from the balance sheet of small businesses is perhaps the most important skill that a financial services provider can have. Continuing from the previous day’s session on reading the transaction account as well as credit risk management, this session will explore the elements of assessing small businesses by types of businesses and industry categories. Balance sheets tell us a lot about cash flows, assets and the long term sustainability of a business. To run a successful small business banking business, financial institutions have to take the skills up to an industrial level where they are able to assess thousands of accounts safely. Facilitated by:
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| Breakouts designed to cover a wide range of tactical areas – each breakout will be anchored by one of the two faculty members | ||
| 11:30 – 12:30 | Understanding asset financing patterns Businesses will develop a need for three dominant types of assets, which create a different financing pattern. To work properly, SMEs bankers need to understand the different asset financing patterns; and how to structure their financing adequately. Discover the consequences of mis-financed balance sheets and discuss what are some the alternative sources of funds available to SMEs. Facilitated by:
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Mobile banking Mobile banking is becoming a game changer in delivering customer satisfaction and ensuring customer retention. What are some of the best practices that we can identify from existing mobile-based services available today? What more can be done? What are some of the trends in mobile technology that financial services players should take into account in mapping their own technology direction? Facilitated by:
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| 12:30 – 13:30 | Lunch break | |
| 13:30 – 14:30 | Small business & international trade finance In many Asian countries, trade financing is where the relationship starts with small businesses. Some banks have been able to take this service to new heights by investing in real time and seamless infrastructure. Other banks use white labeled services of the more developed banks. Insurance options can also be linked to trade finance. Facilitated by:
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Credit risk management The credit risk department of a traditional bank is usually designed for either consumer lending or corporate borrowing. Small businesses lending is not, as assumed by some, a mix of both. It requires a different treatment that every bank has to design for itself. This session will explore infrastructure such as credit scoring for small business customers, the credit approval process as well as capital allocation under Basel III. Facilitated by:
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| 14:30 – 15:00 | Tea/Coffee break | |
| 15:00 – 16:00 | Organising the sales force At the end of the day, building the asset book is about sending sales people out to seek and secure the business of the SME customer. How should banks configure their sales teams? Where should they sit? In the branches or in a centralized team? How should they build their relationships and what should their overall duties include, in order to provide exceptional service to ensure customer retention? Facilitated by:
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Foreign exchange, payments and trade Increasingly, more small businesses are international from the day they start. Some have customers overseas and others have on-the-ground operations in more than one country. There is considerable value add to be demonstrated by financial institutions that are able to help small businesses hedge their
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| 16:00 – 17:00 | Capturing the imagination of small businesses today In this closing session, we let our imaginations fly. How should your bank be optimally organized to serve the small business customer today? Behind all branding efforts is the importance of having in place the necessary risk functions, product focus and customer targeting that will enhance a believable branding in this industry. While focusing on how the financial institution projects outwards, the session brings together all the elements covered in the two days. Facilitated by:
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| End of The Small Business Banking Executive Programme 2014 | ||
The faculty for this programme is made up of two of the most experienced bankers serving as teachers, facilitators and mentors as well as the subject matter experts from the U.S. Both trainers have over 65 years of collective experience providing consulting and financial management training to staff members of financial institutions and business owners in every state in the United States and abroad. They have served as bank officers as well as bank, credit union, and business financial consultants. In addition, they have owned and operated several of their own businesses and been involved in a number of corporate finance and business acquisition consulting exercises.
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James R. Devine Faculty at Stonier Graduate School of Banking Former VP, Seattle First National Bank Devine spent over 10 years with Seattle First National Bank and Bank of America where he served as VP and manager of both Trust Business Management Services and Business Advisory Services. He served as the EVP and manager of acquisitions for DLW Enterprises, CEO of Monitor, and a national institutional furniture manufacturing business. Devine was a senior consultant with Management Advisory Services, which merged into Moss Adams where he consulted to hundreds of banks and has trained thousands of lending officers and business owners throughout the world. He has testified as an expert witness regarding business financial management and valuation issues in both state and federal courts. For the last 15 years, Jim has facilitated the Managing Business Banking curriculum at the Stonier Graduate School of Banking. |
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Robert J. Hogan Faculty Chair California Bankers Association Commercial Lending School Former VP, Seattle First National Bank Formerly a banker with Seattle First National Bank and Bank of America, Hogan served 10 years as the national training manager with Management Advisory Services, a nationally known training and consulting firm with bank and business clients located throughout the world. He designed educational curriculums, consulted to banks, and trained thousands of lending officers, business owners and accountants throughout Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, and the US. Hogan has co-authored two books on small business management, and has developed/designed and serves as a lead facilitator for numerous state banking schools. He is a frequent speaker at national trade conventions and serves on the faculty for numerous corporate training schools for dealer networks. |
The Small Business Banking Executive Programme is the region’s first and most comprehensive annual training conference on Small Business Banking. Limited places available for 30 participants only.
The fee per participant is US$3,800 per delegate and it includes the following deliverables:
- All required reading materials
- Conference facilities include all breakfasts and lunches during the training/sessions
- A participation certificate issued by The Asian Banker
*For multiple delegates registration, please contact Rachid Fatihi at email: rfatihi@theasianbanker.com or tel: 971 5690 30343
For delegate registration, please contact:
Rachid Fatihi
Tel: 971 5690 30343
Email: rfatihi@theasianbanker.com
For more details about the programme, please contact:
Gerlinde Gerber
Tel: (86) 10 5869 4641
Email: ggerber@theasianbanker.com
