ALF National Convention emphasizes investment and the challenges of environmental transition and digitalization

The Portuguese Association of Leasing, Factoring and Renting (ALF) held the ALF National Convention 2024 today at the Centro Cultural de Belém, under the theme '40 YEARS ALF - THE FUTURE IS TODAY'. In the year in which ALF marks 40 years since its foundation, it brought together 120 members, institutional and partner organizations, and experts from various fields to debate the future of financing, technology, mobility and sustainability.

The Opening Session featured speeches by the Secretary of State for the Economy, João Ferreira, and the President of ALF, Luís Augusto, highlighting the growing importance of leasing, factoring and renting in the national and European economic landscape.

Specialized financing is achieving historic results since the pandemic, said ALF's president, Luís Augusto, on Thursday. "The recovery has been remarkable in leasing, factoring and renting, with historic levels."

Preliminary data on financing in the first quarter of 2024 shows that companies are investing more in leasing, with a double-digit increase, continuing the trend of growth already seen in 2023. ALF also recorded a new all-time high for Factoring in Portugal during the first quarter of this year, with figures never seen before over the 40 years ALF has been operating. It should be remembered that, in 2023, a historic value had already been reached in turnover by factoring, equivalent to 20% of the national GDP. "Factoring has always helped companies to internationalize and export," said Luís Augusto, president of ALF.

The association's initial statistics also show a first quarter growth of almost 400 million euros in the total fleet managed through renting, when compared to the end of March 2023.

The event's agenda also included several interventions, namely on 'The Future of Financing', where João Leão, Portuguese member of the European Court of Auditors, addressed the prospects and challenges of financing, stressing the need to adapt to the new economic reality. The 'Future of Technology' was addressed by Paulo Cardoso do Amaral, Professor at the Católica Lisbon School of Business & Economics, who explored emerging technological trends and their impact on the financial sector.

As part of a study carried out in partnership with Deloitte, 'The Future of Leasing, Factoring and Renting' was presented by Bernardo Ferrão, Partner at Deloitte, with a detailed analysis of the prospects for leasing, factoring and renting, emphasizing the importance of flexibility and responding to customer needs.

Next, 'The Future of Mobility' was presented by Viktoria Kaufmann, Managing Director of SIVA, taking into account the transformations in mobility, including the growing role of electric vehicles.

Lastly, 'The Future of Green Finance' was presented by Nuno Fernandes, Professor at IESE and author of the book "Climate Finance", detailing the diversity of factors under analysis in this area and the implications of greenwashing.

The Closing Session was led by Ana Venâncio, Director of the Behavioral Supervision Department at the Bank of Portugal.

After the conference, lunch was served, where participants had the opportunity to continue their exchange.

ALF would like to thank Polestar, BCA Portugal, Celfocus, Surplex, VTXRM - Software Factory, Coface, Galp, Hipoges, ITDS, and MyForce for their support, which was essential to the event.