For the first time Boerse Stuttgart has organised an Entrepreneurs' Day on innovative financial management for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Some 100 delegates from SMEs and financial consulting firms exchanged notes on the latest funding models for SMEs. The main focus was on Boerse Stuttgart's Bondm segment for bonds issued by SMEs.
In his welcome speech Ralph Danielski, Deputy CEO of Boerse Stuttgart Holding GmbH, stressed how important SMEs are for the German economy. It would be no exaggeration to speak of SMEs as the backbone of the German economy, he said. "Boerse Stuttgart developed the Bondm trading segment in order to offer these companies an additional source of finance to classical bank loans," said Ralph Danielski. He believes that the segment's success shows that there was an urgent need for action in this area.
One of the items on the agenda was presentation of the 2010 study on SME funding given by Dr Hendrik Wolff, Management Board Member of Wolff & Häcker Finanzconsulting AG. He emphasised that many SMEs are hesitant to accept funding from outsiders. "Many entrepreneurs, for instance, are afraid of control slipping away or being exposed to intense pressure to generate profits." But it is in the SME segment that the right kind of financing can trigger particularly dynamic growth, emphasised Dr Hendrik Wolff.
Dürr AG was one of the first companies to join the new segment. "Our bond issue via Bondm in September 2010 was a resounding success! We were able to take advantage of the receptive market environment and refinance our old bond at low cost. With Boerse Stuttgart as a trading place for private investors, we benefit from a stable investor basis which we also intend to use for the bond top-up we have announced," said Ralph Heuwing, Chief Financial Officer of Dürr AG.