Man AT THE TOP 16 talking heads WHAT'S NtwS Issue 4 April 1996 Henk Visser doesn't seem old enough to be labelled 'a grand old man' of anything. But the fact is that his career with Rabobank parallels the development of the once tiny 'cooperative finance' department started in 1971 into today's CBS. Visser has been with CBS every step of the way. Essentially a banker's banker, he knows the organization inside out. Keeping ahead of fast-moving developments leaves him little free time. He claims he has no hobbies and doesn't see the need for them. But is Visser the true workaholic he appears to be? Wbat's NewS asks him. The executive board member with co-responsibility for growing CBS is a man of subtleties and nuance. He weighs and measures his words carefully so that what he says is not only exactly what he means, but also clear, concise, and not open to misinterpretation. 'I have no hobbies,' he says almost dismissively. 'And I don't want any.' But as he gets into this unaccustomed role of talking about himself, rather than work, it appears he definitely has at least one passion other than the serious business of banking - his 1948 MG/TC. 'I've had a preference for MGs ever since I was at university,' he admits with one of his rare, almost self-deprecating grins. 'I used to tinker with these little two-seaters, take them apart and put them back together. A few years ago I found a 1948 model. I look after it myself- do the maintenance, keep it roadworthy.' And, of course, he drives it whenever he gets the chance, which is not often. An overflowing weekly diary tends to spill over into the weekend. 'Every Sunday is a normal workday,' he agrees, 'and I do two hours on a Saturday.' But doing his credit committee reading at home has its advantages. He puts on classical music as background and so is able to hear some of his favourite composer, Bach, as he works through the stack of applications. Although Visser reserves two hours for work on Saturdays, this is also a family day, when he builds in time either with his two sons, who come home once a month, or with friends. Visser doesn't class the mountain biking expeditions in the Utrecht countryside, or the skiing trips with friends to Switzerland as hobbies. 'I have a sedentary job,' he says, 'and I have to do a lot of official lunches and dinners, so they are primarily to keep me fit.' The same thinking does not apply to the garden. 'I just sit in it,' he laughs. 'My wife does all the work with the help of our gardener. I actually hate gardening.' But he does enjoy summer days spent reading there. 'I love reading and I try to finish two or three books a month. Banking is a favourite, of course, and management. 1 also like fiction. I suppose you'd call it literature. Recently, I've become interested in Indonesia. I visited the country last year and then I found a book called Nation in waiting, about recent developments there. Tm also reading a Dutch book of essays on the country. It's fascinating.' But Visser's real fascination remains banking and everything and anything connected with it, especially when it concerns the development of CBS. At present, he is presiding over the formulation of a new strategie policy for international wholesale activities. It is an exciting time for a man who saw the start of CBS. 'There were six front office people, and 10 in the back-office then,' he recalls. 'We began with a balance total of around USD 1 billion and a few billion in interbank deposits. When I started, back in 1971 in the economie research department, what would become CBS was focused exclusively on cooperative clients. That changed gradually during the 1970s and by the end of the decade we had people working in financial markets, forex markets and international payments. It was then that CBS was actually created as a dedicated unit. That was an exciting time as well.' Over the past 20 or so years, Visser has played an integral part in steering the growth in that unit. He is now co- responsible for an international network, including Utrecht, of 65 operations in 29 countries and a balance-sheet total of USD 35 billion. As new directions are plotted for CBS, he remains in the driving seat, steering the vehicle he has maintained and kept more than road-worthy for many years. Maybe tinkering with his classic MG/TC, a car that combines a strong, well- designed engine with the flexibility and adaptahility of a sportsmodel, is not such a far cry from what he does - more than 6 days of the week.

Rabobank Bronnenarchief

blad 'What's news' (EN) | 1996 | | pagina 16