Assessment: Finnvera performs its tasks with high quality and efficiency
Finnvera is a very important player in the financing sector of Finnish SMEs, which performs its basic tasks professionally. Its service processes are efficient and high in quality, and it regularly receives excellent customer feedback, finds an assessment of Finnvera carried out by 4FRONT Oy and published by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment on 19 January 2024.
For a large proportion of its customer companies, Finnvera’s financing has been a very important – and to some, even critically important – part of their overall financing. Without Finnvera’s financing, their projects would essentially have been realised on a smaller scale or on a slower schedule, or they may not have been realised at all.
Finnvera has become an increasingly significant operator and a critical part of the SME financing market. As a rule, Finnvera’s financing addresses market gaps effectively. At the same time, banks have become a key stakeholder for Finnvera in the SME market. The use of guarantees as the primary instrument has been justified to prevent market distortions and strengthen the financing market.
“Finnvera performs its tasks with high quality, and it plays a significant role in our industrial policy. The assessment provides valuable information to support the comprehensive reform of the special legislation on Finnvera,” says Wille Rydman, Minister of Economic Affairs.
“The overall assessment of Finnvera’s operations is quite positive. Its service processes are efficient and its expertise is highly regarded. That is important due to the central position Finnvera holds in SME financing. At the same time, the expectations for Finnvera include greater risk-taking and higher activity towards its target groups, as well as close cooperation with other public funding providers,” says Kimmo Halme, Senior Partner at 4FRONT, which carried out the assessment.
“We have sought to respond to the development suggestions given in previous assessments, and we are pleased that the changes are visible to our customers and stakeholders. We are delighted by our personnel receiving positive feedback on being solution-driven and providing friendly service. We will continue to develop our operations to promote our customers’ success and strengthen the Finnish economy,” says Finnvera CEO Pauli Heikkilä.
The assessment also recommends that Finnvera takes a more active role in addressing the gaps in SMEs’ access to financing, increases targeted risk-taking in SME financing, and assumes a stronger role in financing the green transition. Closer cooperation with other public funding providers should be sought, and the opportunities presented by EU funding should be more actively leveraged. Impact monitoring and assessment should also be enhanced to support steering.
Finnvera plc is a 100% state-owned special assignment company that provides loans and guarantees to finance Finnish enterprises’ export, growth and changes in business operations. The company’s task is to share risk with private financing providers on market terms.
Inquiries:
Kimmo Halme, 4FRONT Oy, tel. +358 40 1250 350
Lassi Noponen, Special Adviser to the Minister of Economic Affairs, tel. +358 50 407 6033
Juuso Heinilä, Executive Vice President, Finnvera, tel. +358 40 539 6898
Henri Tuominen, Senior Specialist, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 295 047 320