Download - Volksbank AG

Competent consulting
on aid-related
financing transactions
Co-operation with
EIB and KfW
Consulting on
European aid
programmes
Investments in asset
backed securities
Corporates
by a shift in aid-related decisions towards the regional level. Co-financing with resources of the European
Structural Funds is mainly granted in the form of direct subsidies. Loans at favourable interest
rates thus become less significant as a financing instrument. Against this background, the increase in
the level of aid-related financing transactions reflects the core competence of the bank. In
2001, the contracted volume amounted to EUR 90 m compared with EUR 50 m in the previous year.
The ongoing updating of our “EU-Förderdatenbank“ online service (www.investkredit.at) forms an
essential basis for knowledge management in the field of aid-related financing.
At the European level, co-operation with the European Investment Bank (EIB) in Luxembourg was
continued in the context of the global loan. The second global loan for investment projects of smalland
medium-sized corporates, environmental protection projects and energy investments in the amount
of EUR 36.3 m was fully used in the year under review. Preparations for a third global loan are at
an advanced planning stage and the signing of the contract may be expected for the first quarter of
2002. The co-operation with the Frankfurt-based KfW – the largest development bank in Germany –
was successfully continued in 2001. The co-operation includes the refinancing of investment projects
of medium-sized corporates in Austria, Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
EUROTECH MANAGEMENT. Investkredit’s wholly-owned consulting subsidiary ETech Management
(EuroTech Management) focuses on helping Austrian corporates to gain access to research and
technology support programmes under the 6th EU Framework Programme (running until 2006).
Compared to the 5th EU Framework Programme still in effect until the end of 2002, the budget of
this future programme is to be increased by 17% to EUR 17.5 bn. With its team of technical industry
specialists EuroTech offers a broad spectrum of consulting services concerning the eligibility for support
funds for research and technology projects. The services include the preparation (selection of the
appropriate support programme and tender date), the analysis and structuring of the project in terms
of form and contents and the ongoing project controlling and EU-wide search for partners.
In connection with its competence in relation to European support programmes, EuroTech won a
tender of the Federal Ministry of Social Security and Generational Matters (BMSG) in 2001 and was
charged with the management of the EU youth programme for the programme period from February
2001 to December 2006. An experienced team of experts in juvenile matters and support issues will
manage this EU programme under the title “Nationalagentur Jugend“ jointly with the competent
regional authorities of the Federal Provinces. The EU youth programme was allocated support funds
of about EUR 1.63 m per year, which will be used to finance about 350 projects.
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS. The focus of international business lay on markets which go beyond
the bank’s extended core market, with special emphasis being attached to security transactions in the
US. In the context of this business policy the bank is investing in a prudently managed and broadly
diversified portfolio of asset backed securities (ABS), thereby concentrating on low-risk, high-rated
tranches, whose structure ensures a lower rating volatility than more subordinated tranches. Compared
with the bank’s overall volume of ABS, only 1.6% of the ABS tranches held by Investkredit have
received a lower rating in the financial year ended on 31 December 2001. Against the background of
the migration matrix published by the rating agencies, this figure illustrates the excellent rating stability
of high-rated ABS tranches and also underlines the good quality of the invested ABS portfolio. This
quality was also maintained by investments effected in the last year, with special attention being paid
to ensuring a regional balance and spreading the investments in different ABS sub-markets. In order
to control return and to achieve portfolio effects in international risk business, unstructured transactions
with a higher risk profile are also concluded. However, the share of sub-investment-grade transactions
concluded in 2001 only amounted to 1.5% of the overall expansion in this field of business.
THE BANK FOR CORPORATES
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