ING’s departure has left the CV market exposed
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THE LOSS of ING (CM 15 November) comes at a time when CV finance has seen strong growth – September recorded new business levels of £471m, 6% up on the same month last year. It leaves a potential £1bn hole in the asset finance funding sector. The industry provides about £22bn of funding to all UK businesses, so they had about 4.5% market share over here.
However, their primary channels were brokers and vendors/dealers, and in these segments they had a bigger market share. This is what has created the concern in both these segments as many dealers, vendors and brokers had come to rely on ING as their principle funder.
ING’s departure is a result of an international bank having to divest itself of what it considered non-core activities; it sold its personal loan business to Barclays, and also sold insurance businesses prior to this withdrawal. So despite being successful, it was a victim of other business environment (regulation in particular) problems presented to its parent.
Now, more than ever, a sensible user or dealer in CVs will build a partnership with an established brokerage that can provide them with access to more funding than they will be able to secure themselves. The market will change to adapt to ING’s departure and it’s these brokers who will secure the funding for their clients and partners. The alternative is for businesses to align with a single funder, like ING, and be susceptible to them leaving the market in a rush, leaving them as exposed as they feel now.
Matthew Porton Sales director Genesis Capital Group