CANFAS - Joining forces
F&A advisory services
The demand for consultancy and advisory services among our food and
agribusiness (F&A) clients worldwide is increasing, a trend that is expected to
continue. Traditionally, this demand was met by a fairly large number of
independent units, among which are food and agri research (FAR), agri project
finance team (APFT) and Rabobank International advisory services (RIAS).
However great their knowledge span, no attempt was previously made to
coordinate their activities - often resulting in duplication of expertise. A recent
initiative, dubbed CANFAS, offers a solution to the replication problem. Here's
the thinking behind our new consultancy and advisory nucleus for F&A sectors.
Jew tooi
Managing knowledge
Cross-selling possibilities
What'sNewS Issue 2' February 1999
growing awareness of
PcVthe overlap in our
research-based units - all of
whom add value to
customers through their
extensive and sector specific
knowledge and advice
within our core focuses -
prompted RIAS's Gerard
van Empel, FAR's Frans
van Bijsterveld and APFT's
Niek Streefkerk to consider
a way to deliver a totally
integrated, one stop
product/delivery service concept to our
F&A clients. According to the three, 'the
current spectrum of consultancy and
advisory services (GAS) within R1 is broad
and diverse and warrants cooperation,
coordination and input from different R1
Specialist units. CANFAS is our
^ontribution - it's a formalized
APFT's Niek Streefkerk
Gerard van Empel from RIAS
partnership whose aim is to improve
product execution and delivery in the
F&A advisory area while retaining
independence in our other product areas.
In that sense it is within our customer
focus strategy.'
The kind of cooperation CANFAS offers
sterns from already sound R1 practices. In
that sense what it represents is not so
much a new unit as a new
tooi. As an example of the
overlap in advisory services,
it was previously not
uncommon to find memhers
of the various divisions
pitch for the same
prospective cliënt. With the
new CANFAS tooi in place,
the goal is to further
consolidate resources, which
the initiators suggest 'will
result in a bigger pool of
skills which are better
matched to cliënt needs.' Initially it will
comprise of representatives from the three
units mentioned ahove,
but may be tailor-made
to also include any other
units within RI and/or
outside consultants,
depending on the client's
needs. Specific 'advisory
teams', 'advisory
strategies' and 'advisory
execution plans' will
then be organized
through the Utrecht-
based CANFAS operating team.
A standing invitation to join has been
extended to other units within RI, with
whom a close working relationship is also
necessary, particularly those other units
involved in advisory services such as
mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
More than just a buzz word, knowledge
management will play a key role in the
gathering and exchange of knowledge and
information - and, as a platform for this
purpose, the APFT-developed pi lot project
InSight is close to up and running (watch
future editions of What's NeivS for more
information)Part of the business process
FAR's Frans van Bijsterveld
will require that members of the advisory
teams input new information and
discoveries into InSight, which then
catalogues it and sends it automatically to
the team members concerned in either
uncut or edited form. Streefkerk hopes
this will have the 'additional benefit of
ensuring InSight's evolution, reliability
and commercial value as a knowledge
management system. It will also build
valuable bridges between knowledge gaps
- synergetic objectives that clearly have
advantages for both RI and our clients.'
Van Empel and Van Bijsterveld add that
through the new CANFAS tooi, 'we can
effectively establish consistency in
approach and methodology, improve
cross-fertilization of F&A knowledge
among staff, and increase the scope and
quality of our advisory services, just to
name a few benefits.'
On the business side, the main task of
CANFAS will be to market its
consultancy and advisory products, both
internally to all F&A staff and externally
to potential clients. Relationship mana
gers worldwide are expected to play a
crucial role in this process, in combi-
nation with general
managers and the
heads of commercial
banking and
corporate financing.
CAS activities will be
undertaken with a
view to generating
comprehensive
financial product and
service delivery for
RI as a whole,
therefore creating cross-selling
possibilities for the bank. For example, if
CAS procures financing opportunities,
they will be handed over to the
appropriate RI product group, be it
structured finance, for example, or
M&A, or global financial markets. Key
advisory product areas of CANFAS will
include business expansion, project
development, supply chain management,
company restructuring, business
development, financial planning,
organizational structure and market
research for individual companies. And
under the umbrella of the new advisory
nucleus these products promise to be
more readily delivered.
