Private banking -
a structureel approach
for the future
6 International
Real cooperation
Enhancing relationships
Code ofconduct
Worldwide private banking activities already represent a significant contribution to the
bank's bottom line. But there is, of course, always room for improvement. Head of private
banking Thomas van Rijckevorsel and consultant Heinz Zimmer outline the structured
strategy now firmly in place and explain how it utilizes the bank's existing infrastructure.
Compared to specialist private banking
organizations, Rabobank is a relatively small
operation in this field. However, the world
wide team of private bankers still takes care
of NLG 4 billion in assets for around 11,000
clients. 'In the past,' says van Rijckevorsel,
'we have actually done a lot of good busi
ness, both for our clients and for the bank.
Now it is time to really expand and harness
our potential in this very lucrative area.'
Senior management clearly agrees. Last
year, private banking activities were upgrad-
ed into one of the bank's spearheads for
growth. 'But that didn't mean we jumped in
with both feet,' van Rijckevorsel explains.
'Before you can make inroads into a market
like this, you must define clearly what you
want to do, where you want to go, and how
you're going to get there. It's no good just
saying: we want growth and expecting it to
happen without a structured plan. First of
all, we put together an inventory of prospec-
tive clients gleaned from our existing con-
tacts and client-base worldwide.'
Zimmer picks up the story: 'Rabobank is
internationally known as a food and agri-
business bank. In a very short period of time
its clear focus means it has managed to grow
very quickly. Now, food and agri people tend
to be very wealthy people, and they could
potentially have need of private banking ser
vices. So we asked account managers around
the world to answer almost impossible
questions: how wealthy are your clients, how
do you think they would react to Rabobank
as private banker?'
The response was tremendous. 'And they
gathered and collated this information in
addition to their daily work-load' says Zim
mer. The information provided by account
managers around the world gave the private
banking team in Utrecht the basis for a
sound inventory of the type of high net-
worth individuels they are targetting. 'That is
one of the three tools we needed for a struc
tured approach,' van Rijckevorsel explains.
'Then we examined distribution channels to
see if our existing international infrastructure
could be utilized for private banking. The
third element is a top quality product pack-
age backed by know-how.' Both men believe
that accountmanagers are enthusiastic about
the concept of introducing an additional prod
uct to their existing range, but most wanted
to be reassured the bank was seriously com-
mitted to pursuing private banking interna
tionally. 'I would say we have managed to
make them feel comfortable on this point,'
says Zimmer. 'The bank employs a lot of
very good people and they understand that
international growth also means other fund-
ing sources. Private banking can play a very
significant role on the funding side, but it is
also as a genuine business in itself.'
The private banking team has also come
up with a product package that shows its
commitment. 'Because we want to utilize our
existing infrastructure worldwide to ap
proach clients,' van Rijckevorsel stresses, 'we
have convinced local accountmanagers that
their commercial relationship will be en-
hanced, not jeopardized, by introducing a
private banking colleague. We were not pre-
pared to launch anything until we had
everything in place.'
Another important factor here is a decen-
tralized approach. Because the bank's phil-
osophy is: know your clients and know their
needs, the approach will be decentralized,
while drawing heavily on the specialist
know-how located in core private banking
centres. 'Essentially, we have two networks
here which can enhance each other,' says van
Rijckevorsel. 'We have our corporate
accountmanagers throughout the world who
have the local knowledge we private bankers
need. And we also have our private banking
network in important centres, such as Swit-
zerland, Sao Paolo, Singapore, Guernsey,
Luxembourg and so on, and now also
through our new operation in Belgium. This
office has been set up specifically to assist the
member banks in the Netherlands, and to
target Dutch expatriates who have or are
planning to move abroad.'
At present, the private banking network
serves a wide variety of clients with very dif
ferent assets. 'Some existing customers invest
only relatively limited amounts with Rabo
bank,' Zimmer says. 'Now, most private
bankers categorize clients. Someone who
shows $100,000 would be considered a
"retail" cliënt. We want to take a different
approach. We want to understand him
because he may have far more assets that we
have not been able to attract. Our job is to
find out why and change that.'
Attracting huge sums of money from so-
called high net-worth individuals is ob-
viously what private banking is all about.
But the bank has not gained the reputation it
currently enjoys through cutting (legal) cor
ners. 'Clearly, our job is to generate income
and growth for our clients and to discover
legitimate ways to optimize fiscal structures
for them,' says van Rijckevorsel. But it is not
the private bankers' job to become involved
in tax evasion or other illegal activities.
'While Rabobank does not want to appear
holier than the pope,' Zimmer says, 'we
really do have a very high ethical require-
ment here. The bank has a very real code of
conduct in place. The team will not be
chasing the huge amounts of very mobile
money in this world. The bank will take
legitimately generated and earned monies to
which it believes the private bankers can add
value for clients. And with this new, clearly-
defined structure in place, there should be
little difficulty in attracting that kind of new
assets from the client-base already put in
place through the enormous efforts of our
colleagues, specifically in the food and agri
business, worldwide.'
