ONLY TAKE THE RISKS WORTH TAKING

Felix Safran leads the Finance, Risk & Compliance operating units within Solution Sales at Dun & Bradstreet across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. He helps organizations digitalize and optimize credit, risk, and compliance processes through the use of data, analytics, and artificial intelligence. 

His areas of expertise include credit risk management, KYC, third-party risk management, and regulatory compliance. With extensive experience in data and analytics solutions, he advises banks, financial institutions, and corporate organizations on building resilient, efficient, and data-driven business processes.

In his current role at Zurich Group Germany, Patrick Schwefer is responsible for managing the trade credit and surety insurance portfolios. This includes risk/return management, risk modelling – such as credit rating procedures – and pricing methods in his capacity as a pricing actuary.

Following his academic training as a graduate statistician at Dortmund Technical University, he began his career as a specialist in credit risk modelling within banking risk management and held several senior positions in both risk control and front-office credit portfolio management at international banks such as WestLB, Unicredit and Barclays. He is also a CFA charterholder.

With more than 20 years’ experience in credit risk analysis, portfolio management and quantitative risk modelling, he possesses extensive expertise in the development, implementation and ongoing operation of data-driven management approaches for credit and insurance portfolios, with a focus on the valuation, modelling and pricing of credit risks across various product classes such as loans, bonds, CDSs, structured credit products, project finance and trade finance.

By combining risk management, data analysis / data science and modern quantitative technologies such as data lakehouses, in his current role he is driving forward the use of innovative methods for pricing, portfolio optimisation and risk monitoring, and is working intensively on the potential of artificial intelligence, alternative data sources and early-warning systems in credit management to optimise underwriting and portfolio risk analysis in terms of risk and return.

Katarina Jovanovic has more than 20 years of experience in finance, risk management, and the travel industry. She began her career at the Deutsche Bundesbank before moving into senior roles at Thomas Cook, where she led various international risk and contracting functions. In 2020 she joined UNION TANK Eckstein, where she has been responsible for Credit Risk Management & Collection in the DACH & WSE region. Since 2025 she has served as Head of Credit Risk Management & Collection. She is also a Certified Credit Officer (Frankfurt School of Finance & Management) and a Certified Compliance Officer.

Florian Breunig currently holds the position of Head of Business Development Credit Lines at Zurich Group Germany, where he is responsible for new business in trade credit and surety insurance, as well as product development. He studied business administration at J.W. Goethe University and began his professional career in the field of auditing. However, his long-standing expertise lies in the surety and trade credit insurance sector, where he has acquired extensive specialist knowledge in structuring surety and del credere cover for various market participants, including in senior management roles.

Tom Würfel is Senior Director of Solution Sales for the DACH region at Dun & Bradstreet. As a data expert, he has more than 20 years’ experience in establishing data-driven business processes. A current focus of his work is supporting global B2B companies in preparing their data for AI and automating risk management processes.

Jesse Jacobus Van Cleef is Head of Short Term Trade Solutions – Europe, UK & MENA at Liberty Specialty Markets in The Hague. He brings more than 20 years of international experience in trade credit insurance, special products, finance, and treasury. Before joining Liberty, he held a range of senior leadership roles at Atradius, most recently as Regional Director Special Products with global responsibility.

His expertise lies in developing tailor-made trade credit insurance solutions, particularly for complex and non-standard risks. He has also worked extensively on the intersection of sustainability, ESG, and credit insurance, with a focus on how these developments are shaping the future of trade finance and supply chain solutions. Jesse combines deep market knowledge with strategic leadership and a strong track record in building innovative insurance propositions.

Since 1991, Prof. Dr. Matthias Schumann has held a professorship in Business Administration and Information Systems (Chair of Application Systems and E-Business) at the University of Göttingen. He also heads the joint computing center of the Faculty of Economics and the Faculty of Social Sciences. He is a shareholder of Prof. Schumann GmbH.

Prof. Schumann's research interests include information systems at financial service providers and systems for credit management, as well as issues related to knowledge and education management. Prof. Schumann has a wide range of experience in consulting companies, extensive lecturing activities and more than 350 publications.

Sven Coels has more than 29 years of experience in credit insurance, receivable financing and credit management consulting. As Managing Director he is responsible for the international clients within Ecclesia Credit. 

In recent years Sven was responsible for the credit rating and credit management of national and international key accounts with Atradius Trade Credit Insurance. This work included optimizing credit management, conducting credit audits, and managing portfolios. He also played a sales support role in the acquisition and implementation of new customers.

John Beaney is Global Head of Receivables Finance Product Management for HSBC. As such he is responsible for ensuring the receivables finance product meets the needs of the bank’s customers across the HSBC network and can be delivered safely and sustainably. That includes overall responsibility for the trade credit insurance programme as well as future technology requirements, product design, product performance and education.

John has devoted his career to HSBC and worked across many countries and territories. John has supported the industry association FCI through past membership of its technical and executive committees.

Emily Francesca Fruttero is an experienced insurance professional (Surety, Credit & Underwriting) with over 13 years in reinsurance and brokerage, holding leadership roles such as Head of Surety and Underwriter at Munich Re. Currently, she serves as an Account Executive at American Global in Rome, specializing in contract structuring, risk assessment, and global client relations - fluent in Italian/English and proficient in Spanish, German, and French. With a Master’s in International Law (University of Pavia) and a Finance for Non-Finance Managers certificate (SDA Bocconi), she combines legal expertise with strategic business acumen. As a results-driven leader, she has managed teams, negotiated complex bond programs, and coordinated international projects for major clients.

An experienced sales strategist with over 30 years’ expertise in the financial and credit insurance sector and more than 25 years with the Euler Hermes / Allianz Trade Group. In his role as Head of the Allianz Trade office in Frankfurt, he is responsible for further developing regional growth strategies and building robust client partnerships in an increasingly complex economic environment. His focus is on the intelligent integration of sales, risk management and market insight – with the aim of offering companies guidance and stability in uncertain times. In doing so, he actively drives forward initiatives such as sustainable client development, data-driven sales management and the transformation of business models.

As a prominent thought leader, he combines many years of market experience with a clear vision of future developments in international trade and credit insurance.

After completing a master’s degree in economics, Richard Wulff started his career in 1989 as trade credit insurance underwriting manager and reinsurance director of NCM (a precursor of Atradius) in his native country, the Netherlands. He founded a reinsurance captive for the company in Ireland prior to moving on to Munich Re in Germany.

At Munich Re, he managed the non-European credit, surety and political risk reinsurance department until 2008. He then moved to India to become chief underwriting officer of HDFC-ERGO Insurance Company in India, a general lines insurance business.

Richard subsequently became group general manager, heading up the world-wide credit lines at QBE Insurance in Australia, before moving to Hong Kong in that role.

He returned to Holland in 2017 to found RW Consulting, a consultancy company for trade credit insurance, surety and political risk (re)insurance. In February 2021, Richard joined the International Credit Insurance and Surety Association (ICISA), an association with which Richard has been actively involved throughout his career in trade credit insurance, surety and political risk insurance, where he currently holds the title of executive director.

Dr David Beier has been Vice President of Credit Risk at the SEFE Group since 2023, where he is responsible for key risk management functions. Prior to this, he worked at WINGAS as Head of the Risk and Mid-Office Department, Senior Analyst for Operational Risk and Senior Analyst for Financial Market Regulation. From 2018 to 2019, he served as interim Head of Compliance for Financial Market Regulation at the GPG Group (GM&T). He began his career in 2008 as a Credit Risk Analyst at WINGAS, having previously worked as a bank clerk at Deutsche Kreditbank AG. He obtained his PhD following a Master’s degree in Economics and a degree in Economics from the University of Kassel, where he worked as a research assistant from 2004 to 2008.

Matthias Sandfort brings over 20 years of leadership experience in the banking and financial services industry. Prior to joining Tokio Marine HCC (TMHCC) in 2023, he served as Managing Director at Corestate Bank, where he spent the last five years of his banking career.

At TMHCC, Matthias is responsible for the Surety business in Germany and Austria, with a strong focus on risk management, client relationships, and market development.

Throughout his career, Matthias has built extensive expertise in leading international transaction teams across functional and cultural boundaries. His background combines deep knowledge of loan and security documentation, debt capital market products, and the full lifecycle of complex transactions.

Senior Treasurer & Global Head of Credit Management at Swiss Steel Group with over 15 years of experience in international manufacturing industries (steel and aluminium). His focus lies on credit risk and cash management, the development of credit policies, and the optimization of working capital and cash flow structures. His areas of expertise include the implementation of credit management systems (ETCM), the management of trade credit insurance programs, and structured financing solutions such as ABS. With additional experience in commercial roles, he brings a comprehensive understanding of the industrial value chain to credit and cash management.

Rainer Pietschmann is Head of Business Development, Product Management & Marketing at MLF Mercator-Leasing. He drives business development through new product lines, efficiency initiatives and customer‑centric solutions. Previously, he held senior roles in sales, credit and contract management, as well as major IT transformation projects. With more than 20 years of experience in leasing, finance and digitalization, he combines strategic vision with hands‑on execution.

Jens Marienfeld is Broker & Partner Manager at Nexus Trade Credit, with a focus on building and expanding international broker networks across Europe. Following roles at Creditreform and Coface, he is currently responsible at Nexus for strengthening strategic broker relationships and driving new business initiatives, including product development in structured credit and top-up solutions. His work combines market insight, strong relationship management and a hands-on approach to executing international growth strategies.

Frank Liebold has been working for Atradius since May 2014. Under his leadership, Atradius has successfully established itself as number 2 in the German credit insurance market. In his role, he is responsible for strategically important sales areas – from product development and marketing to all target-group-specific sales units, the Customer Service Center, and compliance topics.

With a degree in business administration, Frank Liebold brings around 40 years of experience in the credit insurance industry. Before joining Atradius, he held several management positions at Euler Hermes, now Allianz Trade.

Frank Liebold is also a long-standing member of the German Insurance Association (Gesamtverband der Deutschen Versicherungswirtschaft e.V.).

Mike is an innovative, entrepreneurial Chartered Director with a strong track record of creating and growing businesses across Europe, USA and emerging markets.

Mike has 39 years’ experience in trade credit and political risk insurance, as well as in trade finance. He has been at the forefront of innovation in the industry and has been active in the Dutch and German markets as well as the UK and the US. He was a founder and CEO of trade credit insurer Equinox Global Limited.

Mike’s recent activities include being a director at Nexus Trade Credit, a consultant at Charles Taylor Adjusting, a director of a motor insurance MGA; providing advice to the Irish Government on credit insurance, and acting as Deputy Chair of the London Handel Festival (of classical music).

Mike recently became a Chartered Director after studying with the Irish Institute of Directors.

Tobias Nießner holds a PhD in Business Information Systems from the Georg-August University of Göttingen. He studied mathematics and business information systems with a focus on data science. During his PhD, he worked on risk use cases in accounts receivable management.

He joined SCHUMANN in 2023 as Product Owner to enable the product landscape with AI capabilities

As a Commercial Director, the business information technology specialist is responsible for product- and business development for the business unit of Credit & Surety at SCHUMANN.

Marinko Prljic advises and supports industrial and trading companies in strengthening their credit management processes - from business partner onboarding to KYC checks and credit limit authorisation.

After studying business administration at the Georg-August University in Göttingen, he joined SCHUMANN, where he supports companies in implementing the credit management software CAM.

With a doctorate in business informatics, he managed the development of business areas as well as marketing and sales for the business unit Industry & Trade.

Since January 2023, Dr. Stefan Gröger has been responsible for the sales management of the business units Industry & Trade, Financial Services and Credit & Surety in his role as Commercial Director and member of the Executive Board at SCHUMANN.

As Director at SCHUMANN International Services Limited Lara Biermann is advising and supporting international credit risk insurer and surety bond provider in digitizing and automating their risk and business process management. 
 

She studied business administration focused on finance, accounting and taxes and supervises international credit and surety insurance companies while implementing CAM Credit & Surety.