On the job
What's NewS Issue 11 November 1996
rabobankers at work
5
In a new series, What's NewS gets the inside story on how
Rabobankers do their jobs. One of the bank's claims to fame is its
F&A know-how and expertise.This reputation is built on the
efforts of the food and agribusiness research team's
authoritative studies. We ask one of the team's business analysts,
Anjo van Potten, how they are compiled and why they are
essential tools, both for relationship managers and for clients.
SECTOR STUDIES -
HET PROCES
Met onze sector studies
scoren we hoog.
Hoe komen ze tot stand en wie maakt ze?
Anjo van Potten licht het proces van
onderzoek, analyses en conclusies toe.
Het proces stopt niet bij de publicatie.
F&A Research houdt de ontwikkelingen
in de sectoren blijvend in de gaten en zorgt
dat de diverse afdelingen binnen de bank
over de meest recente kennis kunnen
beschikken.
The first step in the lengthy process of
developing the global studies that
reinforce our position as specialized F&A
bank is defining sectors for specific focus.
'Once the subject has been selected,' says
Van Potten, 'we then look at who should
work on the study. We are structured in
team form in the sense that we have four
so-called sector teams. These are grain;
commodities; fruits, beverages, meat and
sea-food; and finally dairy and food
multinationals. Obviously, it makes sense
to place responsibility for a specific sector
with the specialized team.'
TARGETING TRENDS
Each team consists of a sector manager, a
business analyst, an information officer
and a junior researcher. 'The sector
manager is responsible for the overall
quality of the team products and for the
sector analysis,' she explains. 'A
business analyst like myself takes
care of the industry analysis and the
translation of research into
opportunities for the bank. The
information officer collects data
while the junior researcher assists
everyone where needed.' Once a
subject has been selected, the team
looks at a broad range of related
areas before targeting regional
trends. 'If you take a subject like
retail, which we're currently
working on, then you see we start
by looking at, for example,
technology, food demand,
legislation and other areas which
are significant or relevant to the
industry as a whole. Then you get
into the regional markets, such as
Europe, Latin America, North
America, Asia, to discover key
developments in each region.'
are not carried out periodically and then
neglected until the next is scheduled. The
E&A research team is continually engaged
in ongoing research. 'We monitor sectors
all the time,' Van Potten says. 'And an
essential part of our job is to ensure this
information is shared. Our aim is to truly
understand each sector and if you don't
follow developments constantly, you
cannot claim to know it, or to make
forecasts about it. And that is what we
need as Rabobank, ever greater
understanding, ever broader know-how, so
that our people can develop the necessary
products and the relationship managers
have real insight into that sector.'
TAPPING KNOW-HOW
For most Rabobankers, the chic, printed
studies will be most familiar - the team
recently produced a series of five country
CONSTANT MONITORING
But studies like retail or dairy, both
of which were the subject of indepth
focus some years ago and are
usually produced every three years,
Anjo van Potten, pictured right with colleague Willemijn
Rijnsburger, is co-author of the dedicated country studies on
Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, India and Vietnam which
appeared recently. Anjo (29) studied agricultural economics
at the University of V/ageningen and did her practical
placement at Rabobank before joining the food and
agribusiness research team.
studies at the request of Singapore Branch
to coincide with a regional F&A
conference. 'Of course, these are designed
as tools for our colleagues and for clients,'
says Van Potten, 'but we also produce
what we call 'specials' which usually
appear annually. These are not for general
publication, but specifically for our own
people. We cover areas such as new
developments, potential risks, whatever
Rabobankers need to know. The idea is to
arm them with a know-how advantage.
This is why we meet regularly with people
who have specific sector expertise. You
bring these people together and, in fact,
you tap their know-how so that you can
produce a more insightful study. Our job
has everything to do with sharing
knowledge and it works both ways. We
have people in this organization who have
incredible expertise in their sector. In
addition, we're also trying to work
even more closely with clients who
also have an enormous pool of
knowledge.'
KNOWING THE BUSINESS
The international network is an
active source of information,
especially when the team begins to
explore global trends. However, the
team has ambitious plans to
establish a network of its own in
which dedicated researchers are
located at strategie points around
the world. Says Van Potten: 'We
would like to have five two-person
teams, one in the US; one in Brazil;
one in Singapore; one in Australia
and, finally, a team in Eastern
Europe. If we had people right on
the spot, then we would gain an
even greater insight' into what is
going on. I think the challenge we
face now is to make sure we
continue to improve the quality
and expand the content of our
studies so that we can truly say to
clients: 'We know your business
like no other bank'.'
