8 October 2024

AKA Investors' Meeting 2024

THE DUEL – Battle for the White House

The 11th AKA Investors' Meeting took place in Frankfurt/Main on October 8, 2024 - a top-class event that once again provided important impetus and exciting discussions. In addition to the presentation of the business figures for the first half of 2024, this year's agenda included the expansion of AKA's business activities and a lively panel discussion on the upcoming US presidential elections and their global impact.

Business figures and new business areas: AKA Bank expands activities

The first part of the event was dominated by the economic developments at AKA Bank. Managing Directors Marck Wengrzik and Frank Zimmermann presented the business figures for the first half of 2024. Despite a difficult global environment, AKA Bank was able to report solid results and gave an outlook on its strategic goals until 2028.

Jens-Christian Meier (Head of Treasury) then looked at the expansion of refinancing activities through the recently entered partnership with Raisin (also weltsparen.de) in the area of private customer deposits. This cooperation offers AKA Bank the opportunity to strengthen its resilience through an additional refinancing channel in order to adapt flexibly to changing market conditions, especially in the interest rate environment. Dr. Verena Thaler (Chief of Staff & VP Strategy, Raisin GmbH) gave an insight into Raisin's international expansion plans and explained that Raisin is also looking to enter the US market. This was a fitting transition to the current topic of this year's US elections. This was a fitting transition to this year's hot topic, the US elections.

"The Duel: A Panel Discussion on the 2024 US Elections

Tropical Storm "Milton" not only disrupted US President Joe Biden's travel plans to Germany, but may even affect the outcome of the election. The panel discussion that followed was titled "The Duel”. It focused on a hot topic: the upcoming US presidential election and its potential impact on the global and German economy. The panel was moderated by Andreas G. Scholz (Chairman of the Board, dfv Euro Finance Group), who has accompanied the AKA Investors' Meeting since its inception 11 years ago.

The discussion began with an insightful contribution from Sandra Navidi (CEO, BeyondGlobal), an expert on the US economy and politics, who joined live from the US. Navidi shared her assessment of the possible election results and their consequences. She emphasized that the economic situation in the US is tense, particularly due to rising prices and increasing inequality. She predicted that the uncertainty of American voters and their fear of economic upheaval could make Donald Trump seem like a strong, capable candidate.

Dr. Wulf Schmiese (Deputy Director, ZDF-Hauptstadtstudio) focused on Germany's role in this geopolitical scenario. He reminded the audience that the German government must prepare for all possible election outcomes, but that he felt this was currently not being done sufficiently. Schmiese warned that Germany was only partially prepared for the election result when Donald Trump was elected eight years ago.

Carsten Brzeski (Global Head of Macro Research, ING) commented on the situation of the American middle class, which is suffering greatly from inflation. He stressed that the economic concerns of the lower income groups could play a decisive role in the election and that Trump would certainly have an advantage due to these fears. A potential Kamala Harris administration, on the other hand, would seek to address income inequality by raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy.

Challenges and opportunities for Europe

A key topic of discussion was US trade and economic policy, regardless of who wins the election. Preparations should be made for the challenges that German companies will face when expanding into the US, particularly in relation to trade barriers such as tariffs. Navidi emphasised that Europe should prepare for additional protectionist measures, whether under a Trump or a Harris administration.

Conclusion: An uncertain future for Europe

The panel discussion concluded with an outlook on possible scenarios for Europe and Germany. Tariffs and protectionist measures are likely to remain one of the biggest challenges. As Dr Schmiese emphasized, the TTIP free trade agreement is definitely off the table. Sandra Navidi also pointed out that geopolitical tensions could increase globally, as autocratic tendencies would intensify under a possible second Trump administration.

The 11th AKA Investors' Meeting thus provided not only a solid insight into the economic development of the AKA, but also an in-depth analysis of the global political landscape. The US election in 2024 will undoubtedly have far-reaching consequences for the global economy - and Europe must prepare for this, regardless of who wins the race.

We look forward to the US election and the coming months and would like to thank all the speakers and participants for the stimulating discussions and valuable insights.

Voices of the participants

“The duel. So succinct and rousing. Our panel had it all: insights, background and analysis. Just as it should be if you want to get up close and personal. From now on, I’ll be looking at the finale of this US election campaign with completely different eyes.”
Andreas G. Scholz, Moderator der Veranstaltung
und Vorsitzender der Geschäftsführung, dfv Euro Finance Group

“Very informative, exciting presentations and discussions, great speakers. And a very successful atmosphere. Thank you!”
Franziska Hartmann, Risikomanagerin, KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH

“Thank you for an all-round successful event which covered a wide range of exciting topics from economic figures to geopolitics.”
Dr. Stefan Geisen, Associate Director, Helaba

 

Download AKA half-year results 2024 (only German, PDF)