ON THE MARKETS
corporate banking
WHAT'S NewS Issue 7 Juiy 1996
9
^fcense that we're not just
^^mployed by Rabobank
Singapore; we're partofatruly
international network where there
are opportunities for growth and
development. We also have an
added advantage.Although we're
growing, we're still a relatively
small operation in comparison
with some other financial
institutions. What I keep telling
people is that small here does not
mean weak. It can be a real
advantage - especially in terms of
human resources. We have to
work closely together because
there aren't a whole lot of us. In
turn, that means you gain
experience in all areas of banking,
learn to respond flexibly to market
^feieeds, customer needs.That's the
beauty of being small and it also
represents a challenge we can
offer to our personnel.'
not merely limited to opening
up new markets. Once the
branch has a created a
foothold, it then has to follow
through with a product range
tailored to the specific type of
market. And 'type of market'
can be anything from the
immature, such as Myanmar,
through to the increasingly
sophisticated Singapore. 'We
have to understand each and
every one of those markets and
^idapt our efforts and
^^pproach accordingly,' says
Hannaart. 'We have to know
what to offer and what the
market can take. So, in fact,
we have to have real
competence in the full range of
products, everything from
project finance, syndications,
structured finance, M8cA,
structured trade finance, and,
of course, treasury. But talk to
our specialists about what
we're doing in those areas, and
to our human resources
people, because that is really a
hot issue here in Singapore.'
Ranging from the maturing to the emerging, Singapore's
target markets require very different approaches and very
different products. How does the comparatively small
45-person team handle that diversity? We ask Arjan den
Heijer, Yong Meng and Koh Ban Aik to explain.
TOTAL FOCUS
One product that is opening
cross-selling doors for the
branch is commodity finance.
'1 want to compliment Yong
Meng and his team for what
they have achieved,' says Den
Heijer. 'This is a relatively
young department but the
team has already made an
Talk to any Singapore
Rabobanker and they will teil
you that the key to working
immature markets is ongoing
risk analysis. 'Clearly,
immature markets have a high
risk-return ratio,' Den Heijer
explains, 'and that dictates a
very different marketing policy
to what you would apply to
the more mature markets. But
immature markets also
represent enormous
opportunities. One of the
primary differences between
immature and more mature
markets is that because of the
former's higher risk profile, it
is much easier to get
customers. The main challenge
is to stick to your policy and
resist temptation to
opportunistic behaviour.'
TOP RANK
Risk analysis is, of course, also
a major factor in identifying
customers in more mature
Yong Meng
Arjan den Heijer
markets. But there is a lot
more competition for these
clients. Yet in spite of tough
competition, Singapore branch
has managed to establish itself
as a top food and agri-
specialist in the region. At
present, F&A-activities
represent some 60 percent of
total business and the branch
ranks as top bank in, for
example, commodity finance.
'I'd say that we have been and
still are in a transition phase,'
says Den Heijer. 'Like all
banks which start up in
Singapore, we began with
plain vanilla participation in
loans. We are now looking
more and more at how we can
develop more bilateral
relationships with clients so we
can sell more products like
treasury, M&A, syndications
and so on. The more products
you can sell, the better your
return on solvency.'
NIEUWE PRODUCTEN
Niet alleen nieuwe landen, maar ook nieuwe producten hebben de volle aandacht. Met hulp van kantoor Londen, dat inmiddels
een grote expertise op dit gebied heeft opgebouwd, wordt een eigen forfaiting-desk opgezet. Hiermee kunnen een groot aantal
risico's verkocht worden, zodat zowel de landenlimieten als de interne risico's binnen de perken blijven. Ook het opzetten van sydicaten is inmiddels
aan het productenpakket toegevoegd. Koh Ban Aik en zijn team hebben sinds de start vorig jaar al 12 deals afgesloten. Dit jaar zijn dat er al vier en
zitten er nog 3 in de pijplijn.