The pandemic has accelerated a process of change across the industry, from new technology to evolving business strategy. Three C-Suite panelists share their take on how the aviation finance landscape is set to change.

• What is the future of the aviation finance industry? 
• What will lessors and airlines look like in 5 years' time? 
• How are new technology developments going to change the aviation landscape? 
• How impactful is the electrification of small aircraft?

How do investors ride out this wave to optimise returns?

• Where are the most promising opportunities for alternative investors to play in aviation as the market begins to recover?
• A lot of available capital is driving down returns for certain parts of the market. Where can investors still find premium and what is the relative value?
• Expectation vs reality: what are the risks that are not being rewarded right now?

• What assets and credits are likely to appear in the next wave of aircraft ABS portfolios?  
• What asset types have performed better than others and why?     
• Will more diverse portfolios be a selling point or not for future deals?
• Assessing the quality of lessee and aircraft that investors are willing to accept now. 
• Are we likely to see older portfolios come to the market?     
• What can the industry expect to see in 2022?
• What opportunities are created for investors?

• How should investors compare the risks on aircraft ABS junior notes vs rail or containers?   
• Exploring which asset class serves as the best comparison for aircraft ABS today. 
• After an active 2021, which asset class has the most promising pipeline potential?   
• What should investors watch out for when trying to compare these very different asset classes?

In the style of ESPN’s chat show, our industry experts debate the latest aviation news headlines from the US capital markets in a whirlwind rundown against the clock. Expect sharp analysis, fast pace and hot topics!

Understand the potential ways in which regulated funds can benefit from investing in aviation assets.

• Re-examining investor protection in the EETC market.
• When will the industry see deal flow resume for EETCs?
• How are structures performing? Are they meeting investor pricing expectations?
• Will there be changes in how these deals are structured going forward?
• Is the EETC market likely to go private for the next 2 years?

Watson Farley & Williams are launching their eagerly awaited Global Aviation Restructuring Index (GARI) during this session, an online tool that will provide a comparative index of the restructuring processes in over 25 key aviation jurisdictions. GARI provides a ‘debtor friendliness’ and 'creditor friendliness’ score to each restructuring procedure allowing for easy comparison across different procedures in the same or multiple jurisdictions. This is an incredibly timely product that will be freely available for the aviation industry.

Leading Wall Street forecaster and former White House Chief Economist Joe LaVorgna delivers his take on the front-page macroeconomic themes and outlook for the US market.

• The economy is set to boom, but where will there be bumps in the road to recovery?
• Inflation and the effect on investment activity.
• What to expect from capital flows: will there continue to be cash flow from private equity into hard assets?

• As airlines have been burning off green time and avoiding shop visits, is now a good time for engine leasing?
• Will the number of engine ABS deals continue to increase in the coming 6 months?
• Which engine assets should investors be watching in 2022?

• Exploring the accelerating effect of ESG regulations on re-fleeting. What is the environmental goal for aviation?
• When can SAFs supply the world’s fleet? What are the costs associated with this transition?
• When are lessors expecting zero-emission aircraft programmes to become scalable?
• How to balance investing in SAF for today vs zero-emission aircraft for the future.

• Exploring how the lending landscape has changed. 
• Has the vacuum left behind by the banks been sufficiently filled by alternative lenders and investors?
• Are the banks able to offer better pricing than these new platforms?
• When will secondary aircraft trading pick-up again?
• How will sponsored leasing platforms continue to grow market share now that the traditional banks are returning to the market?

• Overview of recent supported transactions. 
• What role are ECAs and commercial supported finance platforms playing at this point in the recovery? 
• What is the outlook for their role going forwards?

• How promising have these restructurings been so far? Should we expect a second wave of airline restructurings going into 2022?
• How active are lessors and banks going to be with repossessions over the next six months?
• What near-term distressed opportunities, or general opportunities are starting to open up for investors?

• Will the freighter market continue to grow and by how much in the next 3-5 years?
• Are OEMs preparing to feed freighter demand?
• Will widebodies continue to feed into the cargo market?
• How will the return of passengers in business/leisure travel impact freight? What will it do to pricing?
• To what extent does financing differ for freighters compared to passenger aircraft?