Some brokers who have resisted on the market say that they are reorienting their strategies to the corporate segment, in order to survive until such time as lending rebounds.
“Until and including November 2008, mass-market loans worth up to €10,000 and with no mortgage guarantees were excellent, making up a significant part of the business, and now we are developing brokerage services for legal entities,” according to Radu Sorinca, General Manager of Broker Invest. He indicated that his firm recently concluded a contract with a medium-sized company for which it will broker financing worth €1.5 million. “In this same period we have observed the appetite of some companies, in search of liquidity, for sale&leaseback type products.
The Chief Executive Office of DBSol Consulting, Ramona Barbu, said that this year will be a very difficult one for credit brokers. “In 2009, we will see important names on this market disappearing. In order to weather this period successfully, many companies will attempt to develop other businesses to sustain their brokerage activities. Furthermore, we do not believe that new names on this market will appear very soon,” added Barbu.
