Rico
Balancing act
Strategie product
Less paper, more profit
IB progress reports
The structure in finance
12 What'sNewS I$sue7-July 1998
Wouter Kol ff - less
chat, more action
Next up was Wouter Kolff to kick-off the
corporate finance side of the workshops.
His message was loud and clear. A brief
overview of trends around the world led to
the conclusion that retail banking is
currently the driving force Europe, while
recent mergers
m between Swiss
banks is a starting
sign for Euroland.
He noted
opportunities for
IB products in
Japan and
remarked on the
increasingly
domestic
orientation of US
players. 'I think all
of these trends point to a development that
we'd already picked up on,' he said. 'Many
customers are opting for a reduced number
of banks. And the players which remain as
preferred financial partner not only have to
be good, they have to be very good and in
a number of areas. You have to bring focus
and value added to the table.' Achieving
that, according to Kolff, is a balancing act.
'This is why we're revitalizing the CAM
approach and why we need more senior
bankers.' (see WNS 6/98)
He indicated a number of areas where he
believes there are opportunities. M&A is,
he believes, a very good strategie product.
'It allows you to show customers your
capabilities,' he said, 'and when you're
talking M&A, you're not talking to
someone in treasury who's only interested
in getting another 10 basis points off the
margin. You're talking to the CEO.' Good
M&A can lead the way to cross selling of
other products. He referred to the Dutch
retailer Vendex's mandate won by Morgan
Stanley. 'They did the transaction at a
reduced rate. In return they not only got
the issue, they got the whole shop.' He is
also interested in penetrating the German
market more deeply, especially as there are
few truly huge corporates in the F&A
sector. 'Many are mid-caps, family firms,'
he noted. 'That opens up opportunities.
And we should be looking to expand
acquisition finance as well.'
Corporate finance's plans also include a
significant increase in ROS over the next
few years. This will be achieved in part
through additional concentration on areas
such as trade and commodity finance and
thorugh a shift in export finance efforts
from OECD to non-OECD. 'And you'll be
seeing sustainable energy on our project
finance priority list for the very first time,
too,' he commented, responding to a
commitments made by bank chairman
Herman Wijffels at the sustainability
conference held by RI to mark our
centenary. 'There are enough
opportunities,' he stated, adding on a
personal note: 'More generally, 1 think we
need more accountability, less complaining,
less chat, and
faster decision-
making. I'd like to
see less paper and
more profit - play-
time is over for
non-performers.'
«ti'iSSWfB
Michael Ice led two
workshops aimed specifically
at laying the groundwork for
the launch of various IB
activities. Investment banking
sales and International equity
brokerage were both
comprehensive in the
information of offer to
participants.
Ice and his
team's plan
to penetrate
IEB is
particularly
dependent
Michael Ice on the
creation of
systems which can cope with
numerous applications in an
integrated package. But will
also make use of innovative
information delivery systems,
such as the e-commerce
options that were on offer
across the hall at that
dedicated workshop.
Mark Zucker co-hosted wth
Jaap Slotema a well-attended
IB-related workshop on credit
risk management in the
product groups. He is also
dependent on improved
systems to put in place the
reporting and other elements
crucial in sound CRM. But the
plan is clear and he
emphasized the need for top
quality people on the credit
side to carry it through.
What's NewS will be reporting
Another recently appointed
global product manager took
the Hoor with colleagues Sipko
Schat and Hans den Baas to
stimulate discussion on where
structured finance is going and
how it is getting there. Willem
van 't Hooft had good news
and bad in the sense that
opportunities are profilerating
in some areas while others and
other requirements are
creating a need for new
approaches. Reminding
workshoppers of the
advantages of SF - high added
value, low use of solvency,
cliënt intimacy, little or new
reliance on sophisticated d
systems, and low costs, the
team outlined a strategy that
they believe will prove
beneficial for all concerned.
But they will also be initiating
a consultation round with
branches to discover both
cross-selling and support
opportunities. This will lead to
business plans prepared using
an integrated approach to who
needs what and how the team
can respond effectively.
Working on IB - many of the workshops turned into real debates
in more depth on CRM in the
autumn.
The state of play in IB's overall
recruitment drive to bring in
the quality people needed to
push ahead our efforts in new
product areas was provided by
Alex von Ungern Sternberg
during the initial plenary
session. There are still strategie
vacancies, and as the situation
changes almost weekly, it
serves little purpose to list new
personnel named in early June.
For up to the minute
information on new hires
please check out regularly our
electronic News Flashes in the
public folders on your
intranet.
