Issue 11 2019

Acquisition International - Issue 11 2019 27 Jun19176 Confidence in Tomorrow Euler Hermes is the global leader in trade credit insurance and also a recognized specialist in the areas of surety, collections, structured trade credit as well as political and financial risk assessment. We profiled the firm and caught up with Holger Schaefer, Head of Region, Euler Hermes Asia Pacific, to discover more about the services they provide, and how they earned themselves the title of Best Trade Credit Insurance Company 2019 – APAC. stablishing its presence in Hong Kong twenty years ago, Euler Hermes’ Hong Kong branch is now also a hub taking care of trade credit needs in both Taiwan and Korea. Today, the firm has accumulated a diverse customer base within a vast range of sectors, which include manufacturing, electronics and trading of all kinds. Overall, Euler Hermes now operates offices in 12 locations across Asia Pacific. Euler Hermes’ vision from the beginning has always been clear: to be the most trusted trade credit insurer in the APAC region. Going into further detail about how the team at Euler Hermes have set themselves a number of goals they hope to achieve, Holger begins by informing us of just some of the firm’s ambitions they currently are on track to obtain in the years to come. “Here at Euler Hermes, pushing the boundaries is the fabric of our company where we have set our sight on being number one in technical excellence, as well as customer and business partner servicing. Additionally, through digital transformation, we aim to be the most innovative and advanced insurer in digital solutions. Meanwhile, as a growth-driven company, we strive to be the industry leader in cost ratio while delivering profitable and sustainable growth at the same time.” Supporting the firm in their mission to achieve these goals is the experienced and dynamic team which forms the foundation of Euler Hermes. The close-knit team learn more about their customers’ business operations and strategy to ensure that they are able to devise tailored trade credit solutions, buyer risk management advice, and all offer trade outlook insights, as Holger explains. “The predictive analytics we possess are data-driven and matched with economic intelligence, market knowledge and industry risk analysis to give customers power and accuracy when making forward-thinking business decisions. The goal is to go beyond knowing what has happened, to providing a best assessment of what will happen tomorrow, as well as helping customers to better anticipate, analyze and respond to changes in market conditions and shape new opportunities ahead of the competition. Against global economic uncertainties such as the US/China trade feud and Brexit, we strive to give our customers the confidence to trade and be paid through our knowledge and products.” Working within an industry that is constantly evolving due to a number of reasons such as new technologies being introduced or challenges firms have to overcome, it is important for the team at Euler Hermes to stay ahead of any developments which occur within their respected sector. When discussing the techniques the team deploys to stay ahead of the competition and developments within the industry, Holger highlights some of the key factors he believes are essential to the firm’s ability to remain at the top of their game. “Overall, we stay ahead by listening closely to our customers’ needs and wants when further growing their businesses. It is all part of our truly customer-centric approach, which inspires all areas of our organization. We also invest heavily in digital transformation, which enables us to provide our customers with simpler solutions and faster services, especially to micro, small and medium-sized companies.” In a market with roughly 4% trade credit insurance penetration while accounting for nearly 30% of global GDP, growth opportunities in Asia Pacific are enormous for Euler Hermes. Bringing the interview to a close, Holger signs off by reiterating the importance and potential of the China market, where Allianz has also pledged substantial investment as announced last year. “Going forward, we are particularly fond of the opportunities in China, which has swiftly become our biggest market within APAC. Recently, we have appointed Chris Shortell as our China CEO and launched a brand new China website that is customized with a local touch. Backed by Allianz and our 100-plus years of industry excellence, I have utmost confidence that the China market will continue to serve as our growth engine in the years to come.” E Contact: Holger Schaefer, Head of Region, Euler Hermes Asia Pacific Web Address: www.eulerhermes.com “...we stay ahead by listening closely to our customers’ needs and wants when further growing their businesses. It is all part of our truly customer- centric approach, which inspires all areas of our organization.”