Top appointment for IPB Far East WHAT'S NewS Issue 2 February 1996 international private banking 17 The bank's recruitment of Christopher Hayes as managing director of IPB activities in the Far East is hot news on the circuit. It actually made the front page of Institutional Investor's specialized publication Global Private Banking. Hayes comes from BNP- International Financial Services, an investment arm of Banque Nationale de Paris in Hong Kong.The new man on top will be based in Singapore; his deputy is another BNP-IFS hire, MarcTomchek.They will be working closely with Rabobank's Vincent Lim. PRIVATE BANKING - ONTW|KKEL|NG VAN P®* DE STRATEGIE De strategie voor private banking, in 1984 ontwikkeld doorThomas van Rijckevorsel en Heinz Zimmer, wordt steeds verder ingevuld. In eerste instantie werd met behulp van de F&A account managers een lijst opgesteld van potentiële klanten in deze sector. Om deze goed te kunnen bedienen werd een flexibel basis produktenpakket ontwikkeld. Dat wordt nog steeds verder uitgebreid. Bij de benadering van klanten hanteert men een regionale aanpak om elke markt op de juiste wijze te kunnen benaderen. Dit betekent bijvoorbeeld dat de meeste Europese en alle Latijnsamerikaanse doelgroepen vallen onder Zürich, en het Verre Oosten onder Singapore. Luxemburg ^heeft bovendien de taak om op te treden ^als coördinatiecentrum voor alle IT- activiteiten. art Olympic system specially developed for private banking applications,' says Van Rijckevorsel. 'Now, they are disseminating that expertise and know-how to other offices.' OLYMPIC TRAINING Through the high level of support they are providing, Olympic specialists from the Luxembourg office have almost become part of the furniture in some offices, such as Curayao. However, the team has now adopted a different strategy. Rather than going to other offices, other offices are coming to them. A group from Hong Kong and Singapore were in Luxembourg late last year for training and discussions on how to approach implementing Olympic in Singapore. 'This actually makes more sense,' Van Rijckevorsel says, 'because people can then see the system at work. Luxembourg did a great job in preparing for this visit. The team organized sessions on the impact for the front office, how the back office sees Olympic. This exchange of know-how and ideas on how the system can be used in, say, Singapore, is essential.' RABOBANK CULTURE Talking about how IPB is structured brings Van Rijckevorsel neatly to how the bank is expanding critical mass. 'We have already developed a certain culture within IPB,' he says. 'So when we examined options for building critical mass, we ultimately decided that the best way to approach that was to hire small private banking teams or through selected acquisitions. What Heinz Zimmer and his team are doing in Switzerland is a good example of what I mean. By its very nature, private banking is a people- oriented business. So, essentially we're taking over senior private bankers and their clients.' CLEAR GUIDELINES The IPB team believes it is crucial to determine culture so that it meshes with that of the whole bank, not least because their target market is food and agribusiness people. 'This focus is entrenched in the bank on the corporate side. We have to ensure our teams share it. In addition, the bank itself is very clear on the kind of IPB operation we should be. We work on the basis of a distinct code of conduct. While our aim is, of course, to optimize our clients' assets, generate income for them and structure attractive fiscal packages, there are definitely areas we steer well clear of. We will not handle funds from what we consider dubieus or suspicious sources. We always work within legal and fiscal guidelines. Rabobank has a solid reputation in the market. It is one of our marketing strengths. Our IPB team will utilize it to the full as we penetrate our target markets worldwide.' TOUGH TARGET Says Hayes,'I have been given the go-ahead and means to do whatever is necessary to make this private banking division a major contender in Asia within 12 months.'The means are approval for the recruitment of 75 staff.Around half will be front-office people, such as cliënt relationship officers and investment managers.The other 50 percent will staff the back-office operations essential for the smooth running of such a large team whose target is a critical mass of USD 600 million in private assets under management by the end of the year. ROBECO CONNECTION One of the value-added products Hayes and his team will be offering to the Asian market is access to European equity markets through the bank's strategie alliance with the major European fund manager, Robeco. 'And we will also develop a range of leveraged bonds, Asian equity and convertible products as part of our package,' Hayes says. 'We're looking at tough targets, but we have already recruited a number of very senior private bankers here in the region so we're already on our way.'

Rabobank Bronnenarchief

blad 'What's news' (EN) | 1996 | | pagina 17