The dialogue continues! Thanks to all participants for helping to raise the level of dialogue and understanding in the European housing finance industry and for making EuroCatalyst 2003 an unparalleled success!
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EUROCATALYST AWARDS 2003
THE LIST OF WINNERSPRESENTED 23 OCTOBER 2004 IN LISBON EuroCatalyst 2003 broke new ground on a number of fronts, not least of which was the creation of the EuroCatalyst Awards -- non-sponsored acknowledgements given to individuals (and companies) for contributions to the industry that make a difference in the future direction and vision of Europe's mortgage markets -- for content, context, communication, community, connections and convergence. We were pleased to present the awards before the Larry Carlton concert on Thursday, 23 October 2003, in Lisbon. This was an extremely special evening on many levels, and we were so glad that there were so many people in the audience to share it with us. EuroCatalyst 2003 on the whole helped many people finally understand EuroCatalyst the company, and to see the directions in which we are heading as we try to reposition the role and importance of mortgage lending and investments in Europe. We are constantly asked what it really is that we do; we narrowed our scope down to what we call our "Six C's" that define our activities:
One of the many reasons that the mortgage industry is so lucrative is that fact that it has the most valuable information from any product sold to consumers. We believe that the role of a bank is to manage information, and as such we view the role of servicing as "the bank within the bank." Servicing isn't sexy, but it's absolutely crucial to the industry and is the bridge between primary and secondary markets. Today's currency is information, and no one understands that better than John Sutherland of Nationwide. John spoke to EuroCatalyst 2003 delegates about his vision and strategy for Nationwide's back office. He is one of the few who truly "get it" in this industry and is even more unique in his willingness and ability to share his own data and statistics in an industry that is desperate for benchmarks. The EuroCatalyst 2003 CONTENT award was given to John for his courage to provide such valuable CONTENT to the industry. We can only hope that other lenders will follow his lead with transparency and openness in their back offices. [TOP] As Europe's largest economy and oldest structured funding market, Germany is a microcosm of European mortgage market itself. Indeed, over the intermediate term much of Europe's mortgage markets will face many of the challenges that German lenders are currently grappling with. While the solutions that Germany reaches may not be appropriate for all others, they will at least provide a framework from which to learn how markets can and will move forward. The EuroCatalyst 2003 award for CONTEXT was given to Dr. Louis Hagen for his extremely hard work in helping his own members as well as outsiders to understand the relevance of Germanys' challenges to their domestic markets and the struggle for change, survival and growth in a globalised economy. [TOP] Community Precedes Commerce. In short, no one wants to do business with a stranger. Despite the advent of the Euro and a Financial Services Action Plan that promises integrated financial markets throughout the EuroZone, the fact is that most national market players don't know and frankly don't care about the products, practices and processes of neighboring markets. Without a doubt, the UK market is the most progressive, friendly and accessible market to outsiders in Europe, with transparency being primarily driven by one organization and its leader, Michael Coogan and the UK's Council of Mortgage Lenders. Michael is one of the very few who could navigate any industry through growth and treacherous times. We like him so much because of all industries, he chooses the mortgage industry as his passion and his career and we are all better for it. The EuroCatalyst 2003 Award for COMMUNITY went to MICHAEL COOGAN for the vision and leadership that he has provided towards achieving this end. [TOP] The theme of EuroCatalyst 2003 was "Competition and Convergence in European Mortgage Lending and Fixed-income Investments". In the past people have often spoken of the competition between European and American-style funding models as exemplified by covered bonds and securitisation respectively. In fact, the entire EuroCatalyst event has been driven by the awareness that both funding models would converge, and we began that discussion at EuroCatalyst 2002 in Madrid. In the summer of 2003, HBOS ended the debate by proving that the two are complementary instruments and demonstrating how the one can be used to replicate the other. We celebrated this achievement by providing HBOS with the EuroCatalyst 2003 Award for CONVERGENCE, as their structured covered bond program demonstrates the context guiding the EuroCatalyst event. [TOP] Though often over-looked, bridge building is a noble art. Bringing people together is no easy task, and being able to actually build relationships between them is even more difficult. It takes intelligence, it takes wisdom, and it takes effort. Most of all, it takes integrity -- and we don't know of anyone with more integrity than Alexandra Sleator. We would not have made it to Lisbon if not for the numerous bridges built between Eurocatalyst and the European mortgage community. And so we presented the EuroCatalyst 2003 Award for CONNECTIONS to Alexandra Sleator for all of the tireless work that she has put into helping us to reach out and create the community that all EuroCatalyst delegates are now a part of. [TOP] 2003 started out with a bang in the markets, as chronicled and predicted by the multitude of research analysts that cover them. As everyone knows, research can be a bit tedious and rarely does a report come out that holds your attention AND captures your imagination. In January 2003, Will Ross wrote an outlook on the themes that would dominate the international securitisation market in the upcoming year called, "The Sound of Things to Come". He warned us this would happen, giving us a ring and saying, "hey man, I loved the way that you used music in Madrid and I got an idea - wait until you read it - I'm doing the Stones, man!" Will's outlook incorporated selected songs from the Rolling Stones -- including "Start Me Up" (urging caution in the coming year), "She's a Rainbow" (outlining interrelated themes), "You Can't Always Get What you Want" (predicting a buyer's market), "I Can't Get No Satisfaction" (questioning the safe haven of consumer debts), "Gimme Shelter" (the magic of housing prices), "Mother's Little Helper" (regulatory scrutiny of operational risk) and yes, "Paint it Black", referring to the influence of a gloomy economic cycle -- all of which perfectly characterised upcoming trends in a manner that stayed in your head, just like the songs associated with the trends and ideas. The true value of communication lies in one's ability to associate complex ideas with common metaphors from daily life. Will Ross has elevated the drudgery of research to an art form -- and we are so damned lucky to have someone as brilliant, imaginative -- and funny -- as Will working in this industry. In that same piece ("Nineteenth Nervous Breakdown") Will quipped, "on a metaphoric level, the CDO sector has been to the mountain to engage in a level of introspection rarely seen outside of California." We were still laughing about it 9 months later. Since "Paint it Black" Will has gone on to create new industry metaphors from Star Wars (Basle II), Superman (Housing prices), The Loan Ranger (on the saga of investment banks looking for their Kemosabe) and Dante's Divine Comedy (on the Italian securitization market) to name a few. The European mortgage community finally has an artist-in-residence and his name is Will Ross, winner of the EuroCatalyst 2003 Award for COMMUNICATION. [TOP] |
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