Global productsI -
EQUITY BROKERAGE
4
14
investment banking
In the previous issue of What's NewS, we promised you a closer look at the
individual global product groups and how they fit into the overall offering our
investment bankers will be adding to our present range. First up is Marcus
Grubb whose international equities brokerage (IEB) should open up a wealth of
opportunities for customers around the world.
The business proposal for IEB is clear cut.
It represents a framework through which
Grubb and his soon to be recruited team of
80 can achieve a number of defined
objectives. 'Our intention,' he says, taking
time out from one of the numerous
presentations to relationship managers and
other international Rabobankers he and
his colleagues will be making over the next
few months, 'is to become a global player
in a selected number of niches, specifically
the bank's existing franchises.' When
Grubb talks about franchises, he means
those areas where we have acknowledged
specialist expertise. 'You could also use the
word "brand",' he adds, 'and Rabobank
clearly has a brand or franchise in food
and agribusiness and the market perceives
it as such. To a growing extent, health care
is also a Rabobank brand.'
UNIFIED ORGANIZATIOIM
Franchises are among the strengths the
bank has and which all the global product
managers will leverage off to build the
dominant position all are aiming for. It
would be downright foolish, it seems, for
them to ignore these gift-wrapped niches.
'Although we are also a stand alone
operation in the sense that we will
certainly do business outside the food and
agribusiness or health care sectors, it is
vital for the investment banking side that
we operate as a unified organization,'
Grubb explains. 'If we don't want to end
up like some of our competitors who are
Michael Ice bonding
with Central and
Eastern Europe
puiling out of investment banking, and we
certainly don't want to, we must be seen
as an integral part of Rabobank. In the
cases of many of those houses which have
not succeeded, the activity of the
investment bank was never the same as
that of the commercial bank. If that
happens, then it is unlikely the whole
organization will be committed. As we
have seen, that doesn't work.'
PRIMARY AND SECONDARY
Talk of competition brings us neatly to the
question of what Grubb and his team will be
doing and how existing players will respond
to the arrival of a new one. 'Okay, let's look
first at what we will be doing in terms of
international equity brokerage,' he says.
'Our aim is to become a dominant player in
both primary and secondary markets. The
secondary market is the day-to-day stock
and share transactions. The primary market
covers new share issues and their placement
with, for example, institutional investors and
the trading and broking of those shares.
New issues can be for either listed
companies or for new flotations. Like the
rest of the bank, our work will be based on
and supported by extensive research. We're
knowledge-driven, too.'
CREDIBLE PLAYER
Will the existing competition take our
arrival lying down? Grubb grins happily:
'I very much doubt they will take kindly
to Rabobank moving into these businesses
- many of the companies we will be
targeting, in food processing, beverages,
pharmaceuticals, etc., are very attractive
clients. But as I said, Rabobank has
certain strengths that some of our
competitors do not have and we must
build on them. Another factor here is that
we intend to go into certain niches where
our competitors are more thinly spread. In
view of our franchises, 1 think we can be a
credible player.' According to Grubb, the
F&A and health care reputation is key
here. Cross-selling is a lot easier if you are
already talking to companies and if you
Global product manager Marcus Grubb -
open up a wealtb of opportunities
are known and respected as a lender. 'We
have top quality relationship managers in
the international network,' he argues. 'It's
time to leverage off that. Let me teil you,
if you are a cold caller or new entrant into
this business, then you stand very little
chance against the competition.'
RESEARCH TIES
Placement power is one selling point,
alongside excellent analyses and research
which will help both relationship
managers and the equity brokerage team
to get the enhanced Rabobank message
across. 'It is important that our
relationship managers understand what
we can do,' Grubb says, 'so that they can
explain it to their customers. That is why
we will be doing a whole program of
presentations. It is important that we
interact and to do that, people need
information.' Interaction is a word you'11
hear a lot from Marcus Grubb. Besides the
already noted cooperation between
commercial and investment banking, he
also sees essential links between research
departments in both.
SAME QUALITY
'Our bank's existing research capabilities,
especially in F&A, are very well
developed,' says Grubb. 'They focus on
building the bank's sectoral knowledge of
the whole food chain and are targeted at
supporting lending. They generate a wealth
of information on the background to F&A
markets, prices, trends. Our international
equity brokerage analysts will aim for the
same quality, but will look at individual
companies. These will not be so much the
small and mid-cap companies, but rather
the larger multinational F&A companies
around the world.'
