Putting the cliënt first
The London desk was originally launched in 1999/ explains Yin
Wu, Global Head of Equity Derivatives, 'but the ambitions for the
desk outstripped the team's capabilities at the time. In 2001the
desk was relaunched. A conscious decision was made to start
out small so that the team and its support network had a chance
to establish and develop themselves before going after the big
deals. Initially, we focused on serving Rabobank member banks
and affïliates.'
In addition, a business model was put in place that suited the
small team very well. As the team has grown, and additional
desks have opened in the world's economie capitals, this model
has continued to be a defïning feature of Equity Derivatives. The
structure of the desk is vertically integrated/ Wu explains. This
means that Product Development and Structuring, Marketing,
Sales and Trading in all centres report to the local Head of Equity
Derivatives. As a result, we have a good overview of what's going
on in all our areas, making it easier for us to prioritise or adapt
quickly to changing situations. This model worked so well in
London, that we exported it to Hong Kong and New York as well.'
Hans Pontier, Managing Director, Head of Retail Clients, contin-
ues, 'Something else we've learned along the way is how crucial
it is to focus on the cliënt. The Trading desk, for example, used
to be separate from Equity Derivatives, and focused almost ex-
clusively on trading profits. The desk has now been integrated,
and we are all much more cliënt focused. In the short-term, we
lost some proprietary trading profits, but in the long-term sales
have increased, and with them the profit margins. We also work
much more as a team nowadays. One of the reasons I think
we've been so successful is that there are no individual desk
8 The Word
