RI Frankfurt sponsors F&A platform
C F&A info
Handelsblatt
What's Nf.wS Issue 3 March 1998
investment Banking
13
develop products. He is very much part of
process and provides what we see as
Rsential support.' The inclusion of a risk
manager as an integral part of a product
development team is a new idea - this
innovation is not just an expression of
Rabobank International's almost obsessive
focus on stringent risk management, it
could possibly establish best practice in
the field for the future. Another area
where we can expect to shine in the future
is through proprietary systems currently in
development which will provide the
technological base essential to equity
derivatives. 'It will allow us to be very
competitive, it will give us an edge.'
IN-HOUSE EXPERTISE
Eliazov comes back to the customer-driven
aspect of equity derivatives time and time
again. Monitoring the market continually
k key to his group's activity. 'We certainly
^ave traders and sales people, they are the
people who interact on a daily basis with
customers, so they bring us a lot of
information. We are also in contact with
research people in other departments, in
F&A and health care, for example. We
live within the bank and can therefore tap
into the know-how available in the
organization - and there is a lot of it.' But
he also stresses that research is not a
service the equity derivatives people offer
to customers: 'Our service to clients is the
products we can build for changing
market circumstances, not research itself.
We leave that to other product groups
which do generate research as a
marketable commodity.'
HIGH MARGIN
The number of people Eliazov is looking
to recruit is quite small; the necessary
qualities and qualifications are large. A
mathematical or other technical
background is helpful because the
products are very complex and their
behaviours complicated, although people
with accountancy expertise often enjoy the
kind of challenges equity derivatives offer.
'We are using the existing sales force in
both Frankfurt and Amsterdam. Where
we are actively hiring people is in
London,' Eliazov explains. 'This is
because you can do a lot of trading from
London. However, in comparison with
other product teams, I think we will be the
smallest in terms of manpower.' There is a
hint of satisfaction as he adds 'but we also
have the potential of generating very high
returns. This is a very high margin
business as long as we continue to talk to
the market, and identify products which
are attractive to customers.'
FUTURE CONFIDENCE
The first product developed as a joint
effort, the range warrant issued on the
Dutch and German markets, is a good
example of teamwork between the equity
derivatives team and Rabobankers from
many other disciplines. Their aim is to
grow the kind of cooperation that can
create customer value. However, in spite
of the initial success generated by the new
product, Teym Eliazov thinks that there is
still some way to go. 'Anyone who starts
something new has to build a track
record. We will need some time to do that,
to show the organization exactly how
much added value we have. I'm quite
confident that we will be able to do that,
that we will be more than capable of
delivering the right products at the right
time to meet customer needs in the
market.'
Frankfurt's push into the attractive German F&A sector has gathered new
impetus through prominent sponsorship of what could become one of
the industry's most prestigious platforms for know-how exchange. RI was
main sponsor of'Agribusiness and the millennium'which attracted the crème
de la crème of German F&A and offered us an opportunity to display our
customer-driven focus and exceptional knowledge of the business
and its financial needs.
The conference was clearly a top event.
Europe's commissioner for Agriculture, Franz
Fischlerand his German counterpart, Jochem
Borchert, were both among the speakers which
further included top executives from farmers
associations.the food processing industryand
manufacturers of equipment.'We were very
happy to have Flenk Visser speak at a dinner we
hosted for participants/says corporate banking
head Matthias Wiemeyer.'Our ability to speak
so knowledgeably about European
developments certainly made an impression. I
would say the event enabled us to firm up our
positioning as a major F&A player.'
NEW TECHNOLOGIES
^ne of the themes Visser stressed was the fact
that the post-war concern for ensuring food
supplies has almost disappeared leading to a
reduction in government intervention in the
industry.This in turn has obliged the private
sector to generate opportunities and
investment in the sector. It is a positive move
which is also defensive in that the trend
towards globalization requires multinational
corporates to safeguard existing positions and
create conditions for further growth.The role
of new technologies, not least genetic
modification, precision farming and also
information and Communications were also a
focus for Visser and his audience.The need for
sustainable development was stressed as a
guiding principle to ensure that the'global
village' remains a place worth living in.
KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER
If RI and other speakers were propounding
their perspectives on changes in European
agriculture, it quickly became clear that the
two politicians, Fischler and Borchert, saw this
conference as a platform where they could
address key players in the industry and make
Among Germany's F&A crème de la crème
(left) Dr Brixner, president of the Raiffeisen
Association and (middle) Philip Freiherr non
Demhusschepresident of the German
Agriculture Society
significant statements.'We must develop a
European agri-industry that can take on the
world market,'was one prompt from Fischler
which meshed with RI's own perception of a
possible future global role for the European
industry. It was fitting that RI sponsored a
platform where the notion of global trade and
activity was promoted as a means of
safeguarding the sector's future, but also of
sharing the massed knowledge present in
Europe's agribusiness environment.
Das Agribusiness
an der
Schwelle zum
3. .luhrtausend
^grarwirtschafl
in der /eitemundc
