Man at the top
12
talking heads
What'S NewS Nummer 4 August 1995
Almost five years ago to the day, Wouter Kolff joined Rabobank as chief of the
corporate finance division. Long working days are par for the course in a
position like this, but what does he do in his rare free time? What's NewS went
visiting to find out something about the man behind the job title.
Wouter Kolff's diary is always
over-full. There are meetings,
conferences, credit committees
and the whole range of other
activities, including cliënt visits
and travel. His working days
tend to average around 12 to
13 hours 'and I take what the
family calls my "homework"
with me at weekends.'
His ready smile flashes, but
clearly he is not comfortable
talking about himself. 'I'd
much rather teil you something
about the division,' he says,
giving his pipe a thorough
cleaning. 'Over the last couple
of years we've been working
very hard on organizing and
positioning. Now, we have to
get out there and spend a lot
more time with the clients
trying to create solutions. That is what cor
porate finance, and all wholesale banking
for that matter, is all about.'
Asked if that will involve visiting clients
outside the Netherlands, he nods in confir-
mation. 'An important part of our job is
executive cover, and the great advantage is
that you get to see some wonderful places.
The very nature of corporate finance tends
to take you to the more sophisticated
locations of this world.'
But Kolff and his family also travel for fun.
His four children have all flown the nest.
'The youngest left for university last sum-
mer,' he says, 'so it's rather quieter at home
now.' With four youngsters, they preferred
to limit family travel to Europe. 'France
and Italy, usually, but we did take them to
the States a few years ago - only once, be-
cause you shouldn't spoil them too much.'
The Kolffs try to spend as much time as
they can at the family cottage in Friesland.
'It's truly relaxing there and only an hour's
drive. My wife does the driving and 1
finish off my homework on the way. We
have a small sailing boat there, so I am able
to indulge one of my favorite pastimes.'
Another is reading maritime history. While
he's reading, Kolff likes listening to his
favourite music. 'My taste is pretty eclec-
tic,' he says, 'the Beatles, Bellini, and the
18th and 19th-century composers, es-
pecially piano. When we lived in Brussels,
where I was country chief for ABN, we
used to go to the opera a lot. Now, time is
more limited, but we do try and get to per
formances when we can.'
Rather sheepishly, Kolff admits that tinker
ing at the piano is his only 'really creative
skill', other than corporate finance, of
course, which he agrees is one of the truly
innovative areas of banking. 'I don't get
much chance to play around with the
piano anymore,' he says, 'but I still love
improvising.' Perhaps this is why corporate
finance appeals to him - creativity and im-
provization are essential to generate the
kind of products his team develops for
clients. 'I suppose that could be true,' he m
says, 'you have to be able to look at the re™
quirement and then put together a viable
product that will meet them.'
Another pastime he enjoys but doesn't get
much time for is genealogy. 'Old family
histories, and not necessarily famous fam
ilies,' he says, 'that's fascinating. But it
takes a lot of painstaking work and re
search.' He prefers to keep this hobby on
a backhurner until he can de
vote the necessary time and
energy to it - Kolff clearly
doesn't like doing things by
half. 'I don't play a lot of golf
for that reason. It takes lots of
time, so I prefer to use my
fairly limited leisure for tennis,
skiing and, of course, sailing.'
When he can, he also likes to
spend time in the garden. 'I'm4
good on the lawn mower,' he
laughs, 'my wife does the rest.'
A part from these positions
there is more serious non-
banking work in treasurer
s functions in a number of
I foundations.
The final question to Wouter
Kolff is: how would you spend
a totally free weekend? 'You
mean if I'd done all my
homework?' he asks. 'That's easy. We'd
probably go to Friesland and then get out
the bicycles. There are some really beauti-
ful villages and wonderful small museums
there. Play a bit of tennis, perhaps. And
eat at home, because in my job you have
to eat a lot with clients. Then do a bit of
sailing, and quite honesty, not much else. I
usually spend Sunday nights preparing of
the week ahead. When you've done that
for years it's a difficult habit to break.
And besides, my job is so challenging and
enjoyable, it's not a habit I'd want to
break anyway.'
Holland update )-
EURO-GUARANTEE
A new guarantee system for savings deposited
with banks throughout the European Union is
in the making.This means Dutch savers will
enjoy the same safeguards already applicable
in the Netherlands if they choose to put their
money in another bank within the EU.The
guarantee will cover the equivalent of
NLG 45,000 per bank.
BANK AID
Rabobank's charitable foundation, the Stich
ting Steun door Rabobanken (SRR),contri-
buted a total of NLG 3.9 million to projects in
developing countries last year. All foreign pro-®
jects are designed to improve existing con-
ditions of rural populations. In the Netherlands
itself, the foundation paid out NLG 500,000 to
projects for young people, the handicapped,
the elderly and health care.
FOREIGN CURRENCY SCOOP
As first bank in the Netherlands, Rabobank has
launched foreign
currency auto-
matic cash dis-
pensers. Belgian
■p francs and Ger-
man marks will
now be available
to Rabo-clients
along side Dutch guilders.Two other
currencies will be added to the range in the
near future.
