food and agribusiness
World
C Potato
Congress
Hot potatoes
did you know
New publicotion
8 What'sNewS Issue 6 October 2000
Knowledge transfer
3-6 SEPTEMBER 2000
Hedging risk
Brand image
7^ don't get me wrong here. We are not
setting up shop as equity anaiysis teams or
anything like that. Nor are we going to
create a huge database of all F&A compa-
nies in the world. We're merely going to
assist relationship managers in having a
clear and up-to-date understanding of
how clients are positioning themselves in
the chain. Our focus will be part of the In-
Sight II effort, however FAR is certainly
not going to take ownership of that proj
ect. What I would say here is that if rela
tionship managers, product specialists,
research teams, risk managers, and so on
fail to take ownership of the InSight sys-
tem, then they'11 be missing a huge oppor-
tunity for access to a wealth of F&A
knowledge.' (See article, What's NewS
Aug/Sept.)
This is one of the reasons why FAR is so
eager to tackle corporate analyses. Experi-
ence shows that people will also check out
RI not only holds its own events,
we also sponsor major confer
ences and fairs organized by others.
One example is the recent World
Potato Congress, held in Amsterdam
in early September. Says Maarten
van den Bergh, who coordinates
these and our own global events,
'we get a lot of mileage out of these
conferences. It's like any major
event, you get your brandname on
all the merchandized products and
the publications relating to the con
ference. In this case, Hans Smits also
made a presentation during the
opening session - all good stuff that
helps us build name recognition and
establish RI as a top player in the
food and agribusiness.'
companies, sectors, other issues that have
a direct bearing on their work. 'We believe
relationship managers will only take own
ership if their companies are monitored
and covered in InSight,' Van Bijsterveld
says. 'So that's where we plan to provide
assistance.' The idea here, in cooperation
with InSight, is for every possible piece of
information on a particular company with
cross referencing to sectors to be included
in the corporate file, even visit reports
from relationship managers. Particular fo
cus will be given to top clients. In this
way, InSight becomes a true knowledge-
transfer instrument.
And what about the positioning papers?
They will also evolve into a product in
their own right. 'Risk management is a
priority today, it's one of the most impor
tant products of this time,' Van Bijsterveld
explains. 'Deregulation and liberalization
have opened up a whole new area of risk.
In addition, you've also got massive con-
solidation on the consumer side while pro
ducers are still pretty much unconsoli-
dated. So the risk in managing that kind
of chain is immense. Our people in all ar-
eas of the bank have to be equipped with
information to help them address these
risks. First they have to be able to identify
them, then explain not only that they ex-
ist, but also how they function. For exam
ple, there are lots of good hedging prod
ucts on the market, but how many
relationship managers truly understand
how they work and when to use them?
This is why we need continual dialogue
with the capital markets people in our
attempts to reduce risk.'
These are the issues which have been lui
der discussion by FAR people around the
Queensland, Australia will be the
site of the next International
Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC)
Conference. Taking place from 5-10
November in Cairns, Queensland,
Rabobank is the platinum sponsor
for this exciting meeting of the 'cot-
ton-minds'. A five-day agenda
packed with as much cotton info as
you'll need - lectures from global
players, plenary sessions, meetings
of the Steering and Drafting com-
mittees, and keynote speeches from
Rabobank Australia's CEO Cor
Broekhuyse and FAR's Adrian De
Young - has attracted more than 750
international delegates. What's
NewS will come back to you with
more on the conference in our De
cember issue.
world since June. The first step was to in-
ventory what the group has inhouse, then
to decide what it should continue to give
away to customers free of charge and
what to sell. 'We've also got an increasing
number of stakeholders,' says Van Bijster
veld. 'So we have to be able to adapt in
formation to suit various needs and to
adapt our own approach so that we can
add value for other groups.' One result is
the creation of a commodity team. This
team will be working closely with trade fi-
nance and FARM. The first of the new
products will appear in December - look
out for them, they should be immediately
recognizable because, as Van Bijsterveld
puts it, 'we've also done a heil of a lot to
protect and project a global brand image.'
Please contact Martba van den Berg for
more info on FAR publications
Food for thought: FAR's latest global market study, 'The
Global Food Ingredients Industry,' is now available. Offer
ing a comprehensive overview of this growing market, the
study describes the functions and uses of the wide range of
products in the market for food ingredients, the different
types of companies to be found in this industry and the
main drivers that affect their strategy.
To order copies of this publication, please contact Martha van
den Berg.