At its Town Hall 2023, Hipoges revealed that 2022 was a year of great success for the Group’s positioning as an industry leader and we would like to share some of the key points of this event.
Hugo Velez, our General Manager & Partner, spoke about this growth, explaining that it is due to the Sareb portfolio in Spain, stating that it has “absolutely changed the reality of the assets under management of the group”. On the other hand, in Portugal, Hipoges won 3 portfolios – two portfolio acquisitions and a servicing contract with a Portuguese bank.
Throughout the year 2022, and as pointed out several times throughout Town Hall 2023, the changes were many and the growth exponential. Thanks to the consolidation of important portfolios, internationalization and diversification of services and customer base, the Hipoges team believes that it will be possible to surpass, already this year, the more than 47,000M€ in assets under management. And, according to our CFO, Marta Márquez, it will be possible to surpass the revenues of 119M€ obtained in 2022.
Then, Margarida Maia, Chief Services Officer, who considered these positive points, made a point of leaving a word of appreciation throughout Town Hall 2023 to the “great team of more than 1,700 people of Hipoges“, without whom these results would not be possible.
Sareb, an unprecedented portfolio that enhances an excellent balance sheet of this last 2022
In this Town Hall 2023 it was possible to go deep into the Sareb issue and it was revealed that 2022 was a crucial year to position the group as the undisputed leader in the Asset Management market. Hugo Velez stated in this regard that “the growth is due to the fact that we have won the Sareb portfolio in Spain, which has absolutely changed the reality of the assets under management of the group“, as initially mentioned.
Our success has as its starting point the adjustment to the times and the needs of the different markets where Hipoges is present. Our Chief Finance Officer, Marta Márquez, said during her speech at Town Hall 2023 that “servicing is the core business of the group, but we are increasingly diversifying services to enhance the life cycle of our customers“. The CFO also added that “we are acquiring companies with different services for our investors, which diversifies the product cycle.” In addition, Hipoges is currently working with different types of capital as well as clients – ranging from banks to investors, funds, and even competitors.
Next, our General Manager explained that, for him, diversifying the customer base “is very important because it allows us to mitigate the risk“. And he noted that “it is […] very challenging and we should feel very proud of our ability to continue to grow in customers and manage them.”
One of Hipoges’ many business lines, Hotel Management
Town Hall 2023 took place online on March 23 and was streamed to Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece, and was also attended by Juan Ramón Prieto, Global Chief Operations Officer, and General Manager & Partner, Claudio Panunzio, in addition to the other members of the Management team already mentioned.
Juan Ramón Prieto highlighted the fact that despite the climate of great economic uncertainty that has been experienced in 2022 “there was an opportunity to explore new lines of business“, such as Mortgage Brokerage and Hotel Management.
Regarding Hotel Management, Claudio Panunzio deepened during his speech at Town Hall 2023 the theme of the Group’s debut in this new line of business in the Portuguese market, where we have a national player. The Manager Partner clarified that “the partnership starts in Portugal, but can extend to other countries“, demonstrating the propensity for expansion, something already usual for Hipoges.
Italy and Greece in focus and expanding
It was in 2021 that Hipoges entered Italy. “A pride” in the words of Hugo Velez, one of the spokespeople in this Town Hall 2023, who identifies it as “the largest European market for NPLs” and where we already have 65 professionals. And the truth is that Hipoges felt a growth in the level of current portfolios and new portfolios from that moment on.
In addition, our General Manager says that both Italy and Greece are “strategic markets, despite the slower growth compared to that experienced in Portugal and Spain, and where there are more opportunities“.
In Greece, Hipoges has strengthened its presence with the acquisition of Alsvit, an REO Management Services company with more than 12 years of experience and two offices one in Athens and the other in Thessaloniki. In 2022, in this market, we were able to grow with new assets in all portfolios and by gaining large clients. In addition, the number of assets under management has been steadily increasing since 2020. We currently have a local team of 56 people that ensure the quality of services.
More news from Hipoges: Fitch Ratings, focus on small investments, new office in Lisbon and software upgrade
During Town Hall 2023, which was marked by the excellent results achieved throughout 2022, Hipoges could not fail to point out some of its main achievements and news.
For starters, in addition to being the only platform in the Iberian Peninsula with two Standard & Poors servicing accreditations, we also entered the Fitch rating. The Group also expressed that it aims to focus on small investments and explore new business opportunities, only made possible by the incredible work of our team of more than 1,700 people.
Our Chief Services Officer, Margarida Maia, also spoke of the moving of about 300 people from the team in Lisbon who, very soon, will go to a new space. Another piece of news that this representative of Hipoges spoke of was the fact that in 2023 we will upgrade our software to “provide an even better service to all of our customers“.