Agricredit do Brasil
Robeco- Japan success
AGCO, the Atlanta based American manufacturer of Massey Ferguson and other
agricultural machinery, is an important global business partner of both Rabobank
International and De Lage Landen International BV. For some years already, AGCO
and DLL have jointly operated fïnance ventures trading in the US, the UK, France
and Germany under the Agricredit name. AGCO is also a well established dient of
both RI and Rabobank International do Brasil (RIB); for example, having bought a
tractor and combine manufacturer there in 1996, AGCO asked DLL/RIB to design
and operate a retail finance program. Thus, when all four of these principals
finally resolved to launch a new joint operation in Brazil in May of last year, it
came as the logical outgrowth of already close ties.
Advantageous arrangement
I 6 Whats NewS Issue 10 December 1999
Another fruit of the special coopera-
tion between Rabobank International
and Robeco in Tokyo: the signature of a
Euro 20 million asset management con
tract in Japan with Tokai Asset Manage
ment Cy., Ltd., a subsidiary of Tokai
Bank. It is expected that this sum will in-
crease substantially as Tokai markets a
new European Equity Fund - for which
Robeco is acting as investment advisor -
to its retail customers throughout Japan.
Tokyo's Freek Eloek describes the deal as
'a breakthrough,' and adds that 'since
Rabobank's December 1998 start in
Japan, wc've been very active in promot
ing Robeco as institutional asset manager.
Robeco is a great name to sell and wc've
received many positive reactions front our
institutional customer base, but our task
is of course to change these contacts into
contracts. This first deal with Tokai Bank
is important, because it gives us confi-
dence that we can do it.' Robeco and
i'
Rob van Bommel (Robeco) and Yasuo
Teramoto (Tokai Asset Management Cy.,Ltd)
sign the contract. Also present (standing, left
to right) were Nobuyuki Mokkoh, Freek Hoek
and Osamu Watanabe of Rabobank Tokyo.
Rabobank Tokyo are now involved in a
widc ranging cooperation to create yen
denominated retail funds tailored for the
Japanese market. 'We expect to have these
funds available in February 2000 and we
are now negotiating with sonte selected
banks and security houses to sell them
into their distribution nctworks.' Robeco
and RI have several areas where they are
working closely together. For cxample, we
recently established a joint venture that
seeks to leverage our global collateral
management operations in Asia with
Robeco's activities in global securities
lending. (Securities lending involves insti-
tutions like Robeco dclivering securities to
counterparties such as major banks of
brokerage houses in exchange for an
agreed amount and type of collateral.)
Under the agreement, our Hong Kong
desk not only handles the trading require-
ments of RI but also provides coveragc for
Robeco in the Asia time zone. Outstand-
ing securities loan balances for both RI
and Robeco have substantially increased
as a result. Similar cooperation in other
time zones is being contemplatcd.
Dubbed Agricredit do Brasil, the new
venture has since been able to lever
age already excellent intercompany ties
into an even closer and more mutually
beneficial collaboration. The company has
grown by leaps and bounds, despite the
extreme turbulence that has buffeted the
Brazilian economy since business began.
Having achieved a first year portfolio val-
ued at Brazilian Reais 15 million (NEG 32
million), Agricredit do Brasil went on to
generate new business valued at four
times that sum this year; what's more, it
sees further strong growth for the year
ahead, with anticipated additional busi
ness of some Reais 80 million in 2000.
Frans Bosse and Marcos Dauernheimer,
who carry the titles of managing director
and head of operations respectively, are
both bullish about the venture's continu-
ing prospects. Of course, no one can say
with certainty that Brazil has fully weath-
ered the worst of the financial crisis,
which antong other things led to the re
cent substantial devaluation. However,
antid the continuing ups and downs, one
fact rentains unchanged: Brazil's agricul
tural market still counts among the most
vital in the world, and its broad scale re-
development provides fertile ground for
an expansion in precisely the kind of agri-
related financial services that stand at the
core of the Rabo Group's broader strat-
egy. 'A small tractor dealer in this country
sells close to forty units a year,' explains
Frans Bosse. 'A large one will sell more
that two hundred tractors. Consider that
we're doing business with between 100
