Alfa is proud to return as headline sponsor of the Finance Connect Leaders’ Summit Europe 2026, taking place this year in Cologne, Germany.

As the industry faces profound transformation, this Summit offers a timely and essential forum for senior leaders across Europe to connect, reflect and shape the future of asset, auto and equipment finance.

This year’s agenda tackles the structural shifts redefining our sector - from regulatory reform and sustainability strategies to embedded finance, innovation in digital origination and the growing role of manufacturer captives. Against the backdrop of economic uncertainty and evolving customer demands, the Summit will address what it takes to stay ahead in a rapidly changing financial landscape.

We are particularly excited to host Alfa’s featured session: private credit and the future funding of asset, auto and equipment finance with Leon Atkins, Head of Product (Commercial Finance) at Alfa joining the conversation.

In this in-depth session, Leon will explore how private credit is reshaping the funding landscape and what this means for banks, captives and the technology ecosystems supporting them. As traditional wholesale funding becomes increasingly constrained, private credit has emerged as a vital source of capital, bringing new expectations for data transparency, reporting and systems readiness.

We encourage you to explore the full agenda here and take advantage of the roundtable sessions, peer networking, and thought leadership opportunities that define the Leaders’ Summit experience.

In celebration of our continued partnership with Finance Connect, Alfa will be hosting an exclusive Pre-Summit Gathering at Art’otel Cologne from 8pm – a relaxed and social evening to connect with fellow delegates and speakers ahead of the event.

We look forward to welcoming you in Cologne and to exploring the new frontiers of asset finance, together.

- Rich Dewire, Chief Revenue Officer, Alfa

FINANCE CONNECT LEADERS’ SUMMIT EUROPE 2026

Following the Compass: mapping a changing route for auto and equipment finance

How to increase margins and retain resilience despite increasing geopolitical risk, rising fraud exposure, and rebalanced public policy priorities.

An invitation-only, free-to-attend summit for senior auto and equipment finance leaders to chart opportunities and mitigate risks in a changing marketplace.

Geopolitics now drives economics. Trade is weaponised, supply chains redrawn, and EU policy is steering, via the Competitiveness Compass, toward greater unification, more internal investment, and the retention of a sustainability agenda that increasingly diverges from global trends. At the same time, Europe faces additional challenges in financial services including a marked rise in fraud—particularly cyber-enabled fraud—that is affecting lenders, intermediaries, and customers across its borders. Alongside this, private credit has become a critical and fast-expanding source of funding for non-bank lenders, yet its penetration, structures, and constraints differ significantly across EU markets. This summit will explore how senior auto and equipment finance leaders can navigate uncertain economic conditions, build profits, fight cyber-crime, deliver resilience to its customers, and access the wholesale funding needed to fill a EUR400-600bn funding gap for SMEs; an over reliance on bank-funding; and a still-to-be-completed Capital Markets Union.

• Get briefed on the progress of change in the EU as it responds to external threats, fraud risks, and the need for deeper, more flexible sources of private and institutional capital.
• Debate with industry colleagues on how geopolitical, technological, and financial developments are reshaping business models—and how lenders are responding.
• Network with Europe’s leading auto and equipment lenders. 

Senior attendees are expected from EU’s largest banks, manufacturer captives, and independent lenders and from the world’s most innovative specialist technology providers for equipment finance and other industry suppliers.