How does your business model work? How do they deal with current and future challenges? What do they contribute to Düsseldorf as a business location? That and much more we would like to find out from 3 important decision-makers in Düsseldorf's finance scene. Among them: a cooperative bank, a development bank for the state of NRW and a savings bank.

Rainer Mellis, Spokesman of the Board of Directors of the Volksbank Düsseldorf-Neuss

VIVID: The idea of cooperatives (regionality, sustainability, solidarity, etc.) encompasses values that should actually receive more support in the current situation. How do you experience this in your daily business as a cooperative bank?

Rainer Mellis: Today, all talk is about values, but mostly it is mere lip service! For instance, a majority of the population is reportedly interested in the sustainability of financial instruments, but in practice they usually opt - as always - for (quick) returns. This can easily be seen in the behaviour of current mini-traders with the rapidly spreading cheap smartphone brokers. In my eyes, these are usually not sustainable nor serious investment models. Regionality, i.e. operating the branch with a trained team on site, as we do, costs money, but if you do it transparently and with empathy every day, it is a business practice that the customer gladly accepts. This business between “real” local people sounds like old-school 80s, but it is one of our stable guarantees of success, also for the future! People like to compare prices on the internet and use their smartphones for simple transactions, but they are looking for competent, human quality advice with individual solutions for their finances. And no robo-advisor can provide that! Above all, what happens if something doesn't go according to plan? Then try to reach the robot via chat bot. Even the board of directors is close to the action every day, and that is exactly what our members, clients and employees appreciate.

You feel particularly committed to medium-sized businesses. What are the most important customer needs and issues in the current situation? (as of 15th of March 2022)

At the moment, of course, we are all particularly preoccupied with the Russian-Ukrainian war and its consequences. We are screening all business connections of our customers from / with these states and Belarus and are currently in talks to analyse the actual and possible effects on their businesses. At the moment, the situation - as far as we know - looks rather unproblematic for our clients! Furthermore, we are closely monitoring the financial markets with our cooperative partners on a daily basis in order to provide our investment clients with assistance and support via our advisors and to point out possible risks and / or risk reduction strategies for the security deposits. The pandemic development with regard to staff availability of companies also continues to be a major topic. We provide close support and extensive advice to ensure that everyone gets through these extraordinary and hopefully non-recurring times as well as possible.

Why is the cooperative model also a model for the great challenges of the future?

Cooperatives and cooperative banks were founded in the 19th century by people for people as self-help organisations in difficult times of crisis with the motto “What the individual cannot achieve, the many can achieve TOGETHER!”. Many can ski in fair weather, but who should be better equipped for the current crisis situation caused by COVID-19 and for possible future critical scenarios than the cooperative banking sector? If the supervisory authorities, the politicians or the consumer protection authorities let us continue to do good and do not regulate us out of existence...!

Eckhard Forst, Chairman of the Managing Board NRW.BANK

VIVID: In the COVID-19 pandemic, your offer is probably more in demand than ever. What are typical funding requests from banks or their referred companies and with which measures and programmes do you support them? And: with which funding volumes have you supported the economy as part of the Covid aid? And in which manner is NRW.BANK providing support in the Ukraine crisis?

Eckhard Forst: In the early months of the pandemic, securing liquidity for businesses in North Rhine-Westphalia was clearly at the centre of our support activities. Later, the focus was also on financing, e.g. for the digital expansion of the business model. NRW.BANK expanded its product range and adapted existing promotion programmes. In order to support the economic development in view of the ongoing pandemic and to promote investments in the future, NRW.BANK extended its Covid support programmes until 30th of April 2022. The aim is to provide additional impetus for economic growth in NRW and to support the economy in the necessary digital and sustainable transformation. In 2020, NRW.BANK more than doubled its funding in the Economic Development field and committed EUR 5.6 billion. In the previous year, the figure was EUR 2.7 billion. The demand for Covid-induced assistance programmes of the KfW Group in the on-lending business alone was EUR 3.5 billion. In 2021, NRW.BANK has granted development funds amounting to EUR 12 billion. One issue that is likely to keep us busy at least in 2022 and probably beyond is the current situation in Ukraine and the economic and social emergencies that are to be expected as a result. We are monitoring the situation closely and are also in exchange with our client, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, on this. Something positive we have learned from past crises, such as the Covid pandemic, is: We know for sure we are able to bring a tailor-made support programme on the market and implement it within a very short period of time. And that is exactly what we will do as soon as we are called upon to provide support in regard to this urgent issue.

Düsseldorf is a very internationally oriented city with many foreign companies and German firms with international branches. What does NRW.BANK do to support companies seeking to expand?

NRW.BANK advises and supports small and medium-sized enterprises from North Rhine-Westphalia with development programmes for all financing projects. This also includes projects abroad. One important promotion programme in this context is the NRW.BANK.Universal Loan. With this low-interest loan, we support working capital and investment financing also for foreign investments. In addition to promotion programmes, NRW.BANK's Foreign Trade and Investment Promotion offers companies a comprehensive, free-of-charge and competition-neutral advisory approach that is geared to the company's individual project. Our advisory services focus on public promotion opportunities for companies in all phases of their foreign market activities. This starts with consultancy support for the internal development of a foreign trade strategy and, in the case of investment projects abroad, culminates in an overview of all possible public funding opportunities at regional, national and EU level as well as funding research for the target country.

NRW, and Düsseldorf in particular, has a lively start- up scene. What are you doing specifically to stimulate innovative ideas in the region? What, if anything, can still be improved in order to gain further importance
as a start-up location?

North Rhine-Westphalia is a state for founders and there are many who strengthen the economy in our state with their business ideas. As the development bank for North Rhine-Westphalia, we support start-up projects with a wide range of funding instruments such as low-interest loans or equity financing. However, the work of development banks goes beyond simply providing capital. It also includes advising potential founders. Institutions such as NRW.BANK's win Business Angels Initiative act as intermediaries for investors who can lead the company to success not only with money but also with their knowledge and network. Competitions such as the GRÜNDERPREIS NRW offer young companies a platform and the opportunity to make their business idea known to a broad audience. In order to provide even better support to start-ups in North Rhine-Westphalia, NRW.BANK has strengthened its venture capital business under the name NRW.Venture and made it more market-oriented. NRW.Venture supports start-ups and young companies with a connection to North Rhine-Westphalia in the development and marketing of innovative technologies and business models as well as in the rapid expansion of their business. We are now increasingly drawing in knowledge via an external panel of experts. In addition, we have established an internal investment committee with experts from different areas and streamlined operational processes in the Bank. This means we can decide just as quickly as private venture capital funds, just as agilely and with comparable effort. The goal is to establish a stronger 'venture capital mindset' in our approach and internal processes and to motivate more investors to get involved over here.

Karin-Brigitte Göbel, Chairwoman of the Managing Board of Stadtsparkasse Düsseldorf

VIVID: How is sustainability implemented and
practised in your bank in concrete terms?

Karin-Brigitte Göbel: The principle of sustainability is now omni-present at Stadtsparkasse Düsseldorf - it is deeply anchored in our attitude, in our products and also in our social initiatives. In order to actively drive the ecological, economic and social transformation of the economy and society, we have committed ourselves to the goal of climate neutrality 2035 for the city of Düsseldorf. An internal sustainability team at Stadtsparkasse coordinates the comprehensive measures required to achieve this. This starts with the gradual conversion of our financial products. We started with the first sustainable funds many years ago and are continuing to expand our portfolio in terms of sustainability. This also applies to real estate financing, for example, in the construction of new homes or the renovation of commercial properties, where we also attach great importance to climate neutrality. As a regional partner of many companies from a wide range of industries in Düsseldorf, we also know that not all companies can implement sustainability measures at the same pace and to the same extent. That is why we take a close look together at where and how we can support the path towards sustainability, for example in new investments. In this way, we support the regional economy and at the same time, step by step, jointly approach the sustainability goals. Everything we do in terms of sustainability is documented in our sustainability report, which is accessible to the public, and for more than two years we have also been subject to a corresponding rating. This means: sustainability is a central focus throughout our company, all the way to our customers, for whom the topic is also becoming increasingly important.

You have the word savings in your company name and the savings account book is your best-known product. In times of negative interest rates and high inflation, however, this has become less attractive, other forms of investment - especially shares and ETFs - are increas-ingly recommended by experts. How do you position yourself on this topic?

For many centuries, and for many people still today, saving meant putting your money in a savings account. However, if you want to increase your money, against the background of current developments it is no longer sufficient to park it there exclusively. As a universal bank, we therefore look for a suitable mix of investments together with our clients. For this purpose, we clarify in personal discussions, for example, what the availability of the invested money should be or what one's own risk affinity looks like. What goals are being pursued with the investment? How sustainable should it be? From all these factors, we then create an individual portfolio, which can range from shares and ETFs to gold and silver, real estate, mixed funds and custody account mandates, in addition to the savings account and call money account. Even if the savings book is not yielding any interest at the moment, it has advantages such as its availability - that should not be forgotten! For many people, especially older people, the savings book also has a kind of symbolic meaning for their money. A small red book in times when everything is becoming more digital is perhaps also something like an analogue anchor. I can't say whether that will still be the case in 20 years, but at present traditional savings are still very popular.

What does Düsseldorf need to remain a strong location for the financial sector?

The war in Ukraine has greatly changed the overall objectives that were often the focus of attention. At the moment, the most important thing is to strengthen the solidarity among the people and to help those who are in need through no fault of their own. The Stadtsparkasse Düsseldorf will, as in other emergency situations, support the aid workers to alleviate the hardship. And I see it as the duty of all of us, as citizens, to stand by the people as best we can. In my eyes, it's also enormously important that we maintain this great mix of the economy made up of the many start-ups, small businesses, medium-sized companies and large-scale industry - across all sectors. We also need our city to be highly attractive so that skilled workers find Düsseldorf interesting and the high purchasing power remains. The financial sector has always been a reflection of economic activity. We need competition among ourselves to gauge and develop. But as chairwoman of the banking association, I can also say that we work very well together in partnership to strengthen the location together. I also see the role of the financial sector in bringing together start-ups, FinTechs and established companies and developing innovative services and products from them, which in turn makes the business location more diverse and strengthens it. As a savings bank, we are very well connected with all relevant players in the city and very close to the action, both digitally and locally. This allows us to actively be involved in shaping the process. •

All interviews were initially conducted before the outbreak of the Ukraine war and were later amended as appropriate.

Words Tom Corrinth
Pictures Volksbank Düsseldorf Neuss eG, NRW Bank, Michael Lübke

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