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My name is Dominique Nolen and I am a finance student at the Rotterdam School of Management. With an increasing interest in the combination of technology and finance, I was looking for ways in order to gain more knowledge in this field. With the help of Holland Fintech, I was lucky enough to do a mini internship at NEOS Direct Lending in Rotterdam. My goal was to gain a better understanding of how a FinTech company in the financial industry operates, especially compared to the traditional banks.
My expectations have been beaten. During three days, the people of NEOS Direct Lending have taken the time and effort to explain their business model and current activities. Below, I will give a sneak preview into my experience of the mini internship at NEOS Direct Lending.[/vc_column_text][movedo_empty_space][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]
Day 1
The day started off with ashort introduction of the company. Joost, one of the senior credit managers, explained me that NEOS has found a sweet spot in the lending market, which they are serving. NEOS services small-to-medium enterprises, who have a financing need between €450k to €6 million for scaling up, working capital, capital expenditures or acquisitions. It is very important to market yourself very clearly for this segment. Therefore, after the short introduction, I was invited to join a branding meeting.
Afterwards, I was able to join a meeting about the future of the lending market. I got to know all about how NEOS sees the future, how they potentially want to enter new markets and reach new customers, using (new) technologies. This has showed me what influence technology (FinTech) can have on the financial market.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”40340″ img_size=”full”][vc_single_image image=”40343″ img_size=”full”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][movedo_empty_space][vc_column_text]
Day 2
On my second day, we planned to discuss a live borrower case. However, as the business is deal driven, plans can always change instantly. Therefore, instead, I was asked to join an unplanned call with one of their potential borrowers. During this call, the financials of this potential borrower were discussed.
After this meeting, Anna Marie, one of the senior credit managers, explained the fund structure of NEOS and their partnership with Schroders, a large UK based asset manager.
Then, after the weekly team lunch, Joost told me all about their monitoring activities, which are performed on a quarterly basis after transfer of the funds to the borrower.
I ended the day with Justin, one of the credit managers at NEOS. He walked me through a loan application of a potential borrower, which showed me the importance of thequalitative indicators, i.e. lending is still based on trust, and that it is not just about financials.
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Day 3
I started my last day with reading a case. After this, Anna Marie showed me how to perform the initial company rating.
After this first rating, NEOS will receive more information of the potential borrower. Lieuwe, another senior credit manager, showed me the remaining part of this application process.
This interesting mini-internship ended with big cheers to the weekend at the Biergarten.
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