Tonight is the ISF Awards dinner and thanks to one of my beloved clients I will be there all shiny and polished. Will it be the same old firms winning again or are there a new breed of firms thrusting up the rankings to challenge yesterday’s leaders? As a marketing guy, I love awards. If you win, then clearly the market has spoken and it is an accurate reflection of your position. If you don’t win, then clearly, the results are skewed because you are the biggest and therefore receive the most negative votes, or you are too small and don’t get enough positive votes, or sadly, like much of this business the votes get cast for your mates in return for them voting for you.
I took a look at last year’s rankings. You have to look long and hard at the list of top ranked borrowers to find firms that haven’t had an “interesting” year. Closures, reshaping of businesses, changes in ownership – we have had the whole gamut.
I think next year’s results will be more interesting than this year’s based on the timing of the survey responses. A lot of the restructuring/realignment in the business have taken place too late or are still in the midst of change for it to have any affect on this year’s numbers. Sorry to say this, but as far as the borrower rankings go, I am not certain tonight’s results will give any guidance to lenders on their business partners in the next twelve months.
Many people in the business that I speak with feel that we are in the midst of a true paradigm change and that we will only understand and appreciate the changes when we look back in a couple of years’ time.
Watch for the winners tomorrow ... although I may be in a bit late.
