Hulshoff takes a closer look
I
in brief
contents
Rabobank
Monthly newsletter for Rabobank International for I üt6 T Ï1QI US6 Oflly Issue 5 May 1999
IPB integration
International
Gold Kist visits RI
What's NewS gets
synergized
What'sNewS
The arrival of brand-new
CEO Maarten Hulshoff
marks the start of a number of
initiatives including a three-
month strategie review of
major issues at Rabobank
International. The ten-strong
team, headed up by Reinier
Mesritz and brought together
in Utrecht for the purposes of
^^he review, lias just received a
mandate front the managing
board (see page 4 for high-
ligbts). Gerting to know the
people who make up Rl is the
goal behind several other steps
Hulshoff plans for his first
four months in office.
Through presentations by the
various global heads of RI and
meetings with key manage
ment of the Rabobank Group,
Hulshoff hopes to gain a genera 1
overview of developments
within the wider Rabobank
organization. In order to
become acquainted with staff
personally, he plans a series of
informal luncheons with groups
from all levels of the bank - an
ideal opportunity for first hand
discussions with the rank and
file to gain insight into current
issues and challenges facing the
network today.
Maarten Hulshoff maps our strc 'gic course
As reported in What's NewS
1/99, the plans for a combined
Rabobank and Robeco private
banking and trust operation
have now been finalized. At a
New management team fltr: Hans
Leenaars, Heinz Zimmer, Rik van
Slingelandt, Hanno Riedlin,
Thomas van Rijckevorsel, Stéfan
Richter, Wim van der Goorbergh,
(not pictured: Chris Hayes)
practical level, this means a
merger of activities of the two
players in both Switzerland and
Luxembourg. The new
^peration is called the Rabo
Robeco Bank and it will be a
full subsidiary of Rabobank
Nederland. 'By merging our
activities,' comments chairman
of the management team,
Thomas van Rijckevorsel, 'we
can offer customers the best of
both worlds.' Our IPB and trust
activities have grown over the
past five years. At year-end
1994, assets under management
were NLG 4.3 billion (EUR 2
bn). Today, these have reached
NLG 13.5 billion (EUR 6 bn)
and growing. The integration of
Robeco's Luxembourg and
Swiss operations will add an
additional NLG 19 billion
(EUR 8.6 bn). The new sub
sidiary, which has 450 employ
ees in 13 countries, is targeted
to doublé assets under manage
ment over the next five years.
Last month selected board
members and managers from
around the network played
host to a delegation of 15
members of the managing
board and board of directors
of the American cooperative
Gold Kist, including guests
from Dutch cliënt contpanies.
Our comraon food and
agribusiness interests were at
the heart of discussions; Gold
Kist is the second largest
poultry processing company in
the US, third largest in the
world. The meeting provided
a valuable occasion for both
parties to exchange insight into
questions facing E&A coopera-
tives such as expansion
possibilites, capital structure
and member involvement.
Presentation topics included
financial structures of co-
operatives by Henk Visser,
Gert van Dijk spoke on
structural developments, and
Gordon Butland prompted
discussions on the global
poultry market. Participants on
both sides agreed the event
was a successful opportunity
for networking and creating
dialogue among like-minded
experts in a sector which
remains highly significant to
our global profile.
Welcoming Maarten Hulshoff
- his strategie review 3
Administration - global reshuffle 5
Executive board - new roles 6
Rabobank Group
- constructive cooperation 8
Health care - adding expertise 12
Software systems
- ARTS tooi for GFM 13
World wide web
- Rl site relaunched 14
Information exchange
- recent conferences 15
Talking heads
- introducing BUI Cuthbert 16