President Biography

John R. Koch, CCE, CICE is Founder and President of World Trade Consult, LLC, a St. Louis, Missouri-based Trade Risk Advisory and Trade Credit Insurance brokerage company he established in 2001. An office is also maintained in Memphis, Tennessee, where the company was originally organized.

World Trade Consult, LLC provides Trade Credit Insurance brokerage and Trade Risk Advisory services to companies nationwide.  Mr. Koch is a registered broker/producer for Trade Credit (Accounts Receivable) Insurance underwritten by The Export-Import Bank of the United States, Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), Euler Hermes ACI, Coface of North America, Great American Insurance/Foreign Credit Insurance Association, Chartis Global Trade & Political Risk Division, Atradius Trade Credit, QBE Insurance, Zurich Emerging Markets and other insurance organizations.  World Trade Consult, LLC provides its services to all size companies nationwide, and has a special practice of helping US ‘small’ and medium size (SME) businesses to grow their export credit sales using export credit insurance.  His working relationship with Ex-Im Bank goes back to 1971.

Prior to his current duties, Mr. Koch was a commercial banker for 26 years, having developed and funded over $9 billion in trade and commercial finance, primarily export sales of his U.S.-based exporting clients.  After establishing and managing the International Banking Group of SunTrust Banks of Florida, he went on to be elected President/Director of Southern Commerce Bank (Tampa, Florida) and United American Bank (Memphis, Tennessee), the latter now part of Regions Bank.  His International Banking Group of SunBanks of Florida earned the E-Service Award from the U.S. Department of Commerce in 1985.

World Trade Consult, LLC was recognized nationally in April, 2009 as the 2009 Small Business Broker of the Year by the Export-Import Bank of the United States.  His firm was further honored as a 2009 recipient of the Tennessee Governor’s Award for Trade Excellence (GATE Award) received in September, 2009.  Effective January, 2010, Mr. Koch began a 3-year term as a Member of Tennessee’s District Export Council by appointment by the Honorable Gary Locke, U. S. Secretary of Commerce.  

Mr. Koch is an expert in Credit Policy, Credit Underwriting, Credit Risk Management, and Trade Finance.  He received his B. S. in International Economic Affairs from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, Washington, D. C.  He later earned his MBA from the John F. Donahue Graduate School of Business Administration, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  Mr. Koch is also a Certified Credit Executive (CCE), as well as a Certified International Credit Executive (CICE), the highest credit professional recognitions governed by NACM and FCIB, a global association of executives in Finance, Credit & International Business, respectively.  He contributes articles covering Trade Finance and Trade Credit Insurance published in trade journals, and is often a speaker for NACM Industry Credit Groups as well as for other Trade Associations, banks and universities.  Multilingual, Mr. Koch has traveled to and done business in over 60 countries in Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.