With LendIt USA in the spring every year pretty much every other significant marketplace lending conference takes place in the fall. It will be a very busy three months so everyone will have to pick and choose which conferences to attend. To help you in this regard we are listing all these fall conferences in calendar order with a brief description of each.
MPL Policy Summit
When: September 13
Where: Washington, DC
Link: https://mplsummit.org/
Description: The fall conference season kicks off in Washington DC with the first ever Marketplace Lending Policy Summit. This one event is put on by Cross River Bank in partnership with the the Center for Finance, Law & Policy at Boston University. The MPL Summit is also intended to be the catalyst for the establishment of another trade group: the Online Lenders Policy Institute. I will be making the trip to DC to speak at this event because I believe it is important to make more efforts to engage with Washington lawmakers. Featured speakers will be Congressman Patrick McHenry (R-NC), vice chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and Thomas Curry the head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). Here is a short official blurb from their website:
Over the past few years, across the globe, there has been unprecedented growth and innovation in marketplace lending. In the US, this industry is committed to working with regulators to create an appropriate framework to foster responsible innovation in marketplace lending. The Marketplace Lending Policy Summit will bring together thought leaders from the private and public sectors to continue the constructive dialogue that has begun between the industry and the various regulatory agencies.
AltFi Global Summit
When: September 14
Where: New York City
Link: https://www.altfi.com/events/Global_Summit_2016
Description: The third annual AltFi Global Summit is brought to you by the AltFi folks who are based in the UK. So, this conference will have a decidedly international flavor with many speakers making the trip from across the pond. I will also be speaking at this event in a debate with David Stevenson about the importance of the retail investor.
Marketplace lending, direct lending, trade finance, BDCs, asset backed finance, real estate crowdfunding – the list goes on. The alternative spectrum offers unprecedented income generating opportunities through online platforms, via funds, or increasingly by tapping directly into sources of asset origination. Dis-intermediation of the legacy architecture is gathering pace as investors find new routes directly into intelligently priced financial assets.
MARKETPLACE LENDING + INVESTING
When: September 27-28
Where: New York City
Link: https://www.americanbanker.com/conferences/marketplace-lending-investing/
Description: I will also be attending and speaking at this event put on by American Banker. Last year’s event was one of the most well attended of the fall season and I expect to see many familiar faces there this year. Here is the official blurb about this event:
This year’s conference will bring together banks, investors, digital lenders, platforms and service providers to talk about the future of modern lending, the digital experience for bank lending and the impact of banks building their own online platforms vs partnering. We’ll also hear leading experts talk about regulatory risk transparency along with other burgeoning prospects. Our speaker line-up include execs from Wells Fargo, Lending Club, Goldman Sachs, Orchard, Prosper, OnDeck, Funding Circle, CommonBond and many others. Join some 700 senior industry execs in NYC, September 27-28. Save $200 to attend. Use Code MLNYC.
Context Summits Alternative Lending Summit
When: September 28
Where: Dana Point, CA
Link: https://www.contextsummits.com/altlending
Description: The Context Summits events have very quickly become a popular event among alternative investors.
This Summit will bring together leading asset managers, allocators, platforms and key service providers that shape and influence the Alternative Lending landscape. As with all Context Summits’, the Alternative Lending Summit will be focused, efficient and productive for all participants. This one day Summit will feature educational topics from industry leaders in the alternative lending space and will immediately follow Context Summits West 2016.
Lend360
When: October 5-7
Where: Chicago, IL
Link: https://www.lend360.org
Description: This will be the third year for Lend360 but unfortunately I have never been able to attend. It was originally an initiative of the Online Lenders Alliance so the focus was more on the needs for short term lenders but it has since grown to expand into all areas of online lending. I have heard good things about this event and it has an excellent lineup of speakers this year. Here is what they say about their event:
You’ll connect with the resources you need at LEND360. Lenders conducting business in many verticals in consumer and small business lending will be in search of innovative solutions to maximize profits. Vendors will be ready to showcase their solutions to streamline the online lending process. Investors will be surveying investment opportunities with the most promising companies in the online lending space.
LendIt Europe
When: October 10-11
Where: London, England
Link: https://www.lendit.com/europe/2016
Description: LendIt’s third European event will be the biggest European marketplace lending event of the year. As a LendIt co-founder I will obviously be heading over for this one and we have been working on this conference for some months. We will have the CEO of every major European platform speaking as well as most of the major investors and ecosystem providers. And as a Lend Academy reader you get a 15% off discount, just use the code LENDACADEMYVIP when you register.
LendIt Europe 2016 in conjunction with the P2PFA packs more content and networking opportunities than ever before into two full days. This year’s conference features nearly 200 speakers, more than 50 thought-provoking sessions, and the largest expo hall in Europe with over 100 exhibitor booths.
IMN Investors Conference on Marketplace Lending
When: December 1
Where: New York City
Link: https://www.imn.org/structured-finance/conference/Investors-Marketplace-Lending-2016/
Description: November provides everyone with a break as the last two events on the calendar come in the first week of December. From IMN, the people who bring you ABS East and ABS Vegas, this is their conference focused on marketplace lending.
As the online lending industry continues to expand in terms of volume and variety of assets, platforms will need to ensure stable and diverse sources of funding to maintain this growth. In order to accomplish this, a robust and liquid secondary market for these loans is essential to establish. From whole loan portfolio sales, to CUSIPS, to securitization, this conference will explore efforts underway to ensure access to long term, large scale, efficient sources of capital that will underpin these growth strategies. This is the only event where institutional investors keen on helping to establish and invest in marketplace loans and securities backed by them will attend in critical mass.
Marketplace Lending & Alternative Financing Summit
When: December 4-6
Where: Dana Point, CA
Link: https://opalgroup.net/conference/marketplace-lending-2016/
Description: The Opal Group is a conference organization that puts on events across a wide variety of industries. This will be their first one focusing on marketplace lending and will run alongside their CLO Summit.
Opal Group is proud to present our Marketplace Lending & Alternative Financing Summit. The Summit is an educational forum designed for investors, issuers, platforms, underwriters, banks rating agencies, lawyers, service providers, accountant, and other related industry professionals. At this conference learn and network with industry leaders to gain insight on the newest techniques to maximize returns and reduce risk exposure in this growing area of marketplace lending. Explore an in-depth review of the current landscape and what’s to come in addition to hearing about rating agency methodology, legal, tax and structural considerations which will provide attendees with the tools necessary to stay one step ahead of their competitors.
If those eight conferences are not enough there is more. The following conferences are not completely focused on marketplace lending but they all cover our sector in varying degrees of depth: ABS East (September 18-20), Money2020 (October 23-26) and Empire Startups Fintech Conference (November 7).
I hope to see you around at some of these events this fall.
