Private success
WHAT'S NewS Issue 11 December 1997
special
9
in any way the advisability of
y-iuilding the investment
'nanking side of our operation,
but is aimed more specifically
at how the integration of
global product managers and
their teams will be enabled
successfully. 'We've certainly
been the "talk of the town"
around the network,'
confirmed Alex von Ungern-
Sternberg in his presentation at
RICO. 'Sometimes it's positive,
sometimes negative,
undeniably it's exciting,
unsettling and promising.' He
went on to explain his
perception of a verv hot issue,
especially at a gathering such
as RICO - the role of the
general manager in relation to
^that of the global product
managers (GPMs).
4*OAa-
A strategy plan will be
developed for those offices
that lose significant
treasury income due to
centralized investment
banking activity.
private banking )-
Short and sweet - in fact, very
sweet indeed - was the thinking
behind private banking's
progress report and plans for
structural change. Perhaps the
fact that the network of private
bankers around the world has
already made their 1999 targets
inspired a rather smug brevity.
Growth, more growth and the
kind of income this lucrative
business has to offer is the
name of the game, as Thomas
van Rijckevorsel explained.
Compared to more traditional
Rabobank activities, private
banking is undoubtedly a
newcomer to the product
range. In 1994, Rabobank had
less than NLG 5 billion in assets
under management. In less than
three years, that amount has
almost tripled and targets for
Thomas van Rijckevorsel
both organic and acquisitive
growth have been bumped up
accordingly. In this month's
issue you will find a two-page
spread on the revised private
banking business plan so we
will be just as short as Van
Rijckevorsel at RICO.
CURTAILED PROFIT
The basic question everyone
wants answered is: who is
responsible for P/I.. By
bringing in a structure in
which the roles of general
managers and GPMs are
derived from the market-
results, Greenberg suggested that
APFT could be seen as a catalytic
unit in ongoing integration.'APFT
clearly a "natural partner"for our
investment banking and corporate
finance people,' he said. 'A
knowledge intensive transaction
involving these various elements
of Rl would mean joint value
added to the customer by
bringing product knowledge and
F&A expertise together.'
Peter Greenberg
SOLID ROS
A further overlap and
integration requirement was
the creation of a global
functional F&A balance sheet
and income statement.'We
need this,' he stressed, 'so that
we can determine ROS, not only
by cliënt, but also by product
and sector.This would better
facilitate future annual
planning cycles.'On a regional
basis, he also pushed for real
commitment to bringing strong
corporate finance and
investment banking efforts into
European F&A to revitalize
activity.This is crucial, he
argued, or solvency will
have to be reallocated to other
regions which are producing
solid ROS. In spite of this
warning.the overriding
conclusion is that we're
certainly off the launching pad
in terms of the F&A business
plan.
Alex von Vngern-Sternherg
driven model whose guiding
principle is who can add most
value it may appear that
GPMs have taken on many of
the responsibilities and,
perhaps even more importantly
from the perspective of some
general managers, and powers
of GMs. The GPMs have a
responsibility to manage
trading results, as well as for
example, propose optimal
booking and settlement
innovative, trusted and
profitable provider of
selected financial
products, services and
advice to our global
cliënt base. 'We have a
number of strategie
advantages,' Ice says.
'In this very tough, highly
Consolidated market,
which is cyclical and
volatile as well as
involving high labour
costs, there are also
barriers to entry.
Our Triple-A will ease
our entry. Our reputation
is very, very clean.' The
extensive international
network is another plus
here along with our
credit expertise and the
size of our balance sheet.
Ice is very clear on
where FID needs to go
and how to get there.
The first step is going
global and that means:
global books passed
through time zones
global credit limits
global
systems/technology
unified Rabobank
Group
efficiencies of capital,
cost and control
In all this international
activity, we may not lose
sight of the customer.
Relationship capital, ie.
the quality of our
relationships with our
customers, leads to
quality of business, Ice
believes. But he is also
convinced we need
passion, we need to be
passionate about this
business for a lot of
reasons, the most
pressing being the fact
that we'11 find the
competition is just that.
BUI Cuthbert - Short-term
interest rate products
(STIR)
According to Cuthbert,
STIR's mission statement
