EXCHANGES AND INSIGHTS

This year’s German Corporate Conference saw record attendance from 170 German and Austrian corporates, more than 90% represented by top management, who were attracted the opportunity to meet key institutional investors.

“The German Corporate Conference is considered as THE premium equity conference and an ideal platform to showcase our capabilities, deepen our relationship with our clients and to demonstrate our commitment and expertise in Equity Capital Markets,” said Jan Kupfer, Member of the Management Board UniCredit Bank AG (CIB) and Deputy Head of Group CIB Division.

“This year’s digital format provided us an opportunity to broaden our reach with clients and, not only promote bilateral exchange between individual corporates and investors, but also create the basis for UniCredit to continue developing customised solutions for our clients.”

Alongside company presentations and one-on-one Meetings, a series of keynote speeches and panel discussions took place.

Christopher Potts, Head of Economics & Strategy Research at Kepler Cheuvreux gave a presentation called “Pandemic, Regime Change and Beyond” on changes in economic policy caused by the pandemic, the outlook for Europe and the near to mid-term investment horizon.

He told the event that ‘Vaccination will provide relief from Covid-19’ is the assumption that should define the year from an investment perspective. Accordingly, 2021 should see a global cyclical upswing in activity in a context of return-to-more-normal throughout the developed world from Q2 onwards.

He went on to say that one of the many lessons of 2020 is that the recovery of economic activity can be rapid once government restrictions are removed. The surge in private savings that has taken place in 2020 should provide fuel for spending. Accordingly, vaccination relief allows the prospect of a mini-boom of catch-up growth through 2021- 2022, especially in the service sectors most affected by the restrictions upon personal mobility and social interaction.

At a discussion on “Covid implications: Learnings and the funding of the recovery”, panelists included Jan Kupfer, the CEO of KfW and the CFO of KION Group AG. They addressed the key questions, including: what was the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the financial industry? what are the lessons learned from this crisis? and how can we work together to fund the recovery?

Elsewhere, Paolo Gentiloni of the EU Commission shared his insights on the key role played by the EU Commission and member states in responding decisively to this unprecedented economic shock and his views on the prospects for the European Union for 2021 and beyond. The lively dialogue with Erik F. Nielsen, Group Chief Economist & Global Head of CIB Research at UniCredit, closed with a positive outlook for Europe thanks to the vision and willingness to act jointly and decisively at EU level by the relevant decision makers.