Go online and
meet the team
among the top ten world players in the commodities industry. It aims
fo in-depth kno
provision of fast and high quality trade finance solutions.
Short-term goals, long-term
gains
Appointed as Global Head TCF in March
2006, Diane Boogaard is taking her team
and her product global and diversifying
the types of commodities covered to
include energy and metais. Increasing
In May 2007,TCF launched its own page on
Meeting point to enable the department
to leverage and optimise the expertise
and knowledge that is available within the
organisation.The page features in-depth
information on each of the commodities
covered, contact names,organisation charts,
business plans and deals.'This designated
space underscores our strategie position
and our ambition to become a globally
important player,'said Boogaard, during
the launch announcement.'This com-
munication tooi will help us to market our
new focus, based on less product push and
greater emphasis on relationship manage
ment.' Make sure you visit the Commodities
page on Meeting point via: http://meeting-
point.rabonet.com/business/Global_TCF/
the product range for corporate custom-
ers, improving the position of F&A in soft
commodities and enhancing the profile
of Rabobank International (Rl) arejust
some of the reasons why this specialised
discipline is fïnding its place among RI's
global businesses.
TCF is an attractive business for us,' ex-
plains Boogaard. 'Commodity prices are
very high at the moment, which makes it
not so diffïcult to enter this market. World
trade is a multi-billion dollar market, grow-
ing at a faster pace than GDP over the
last five years.' Moreover, TCF provides
a wide range of cross-sell opportunities
for both large and small companies who
require working capital, and products
to mitigate their counterpart, price and
commodity risk.
The nice thing about TCF is that it is a
short-term, self-liquidating finance. The
average conversion cycle of commodi
ties is less than 90 days,' says Boogaard.
'Quite simply, either you have repaid
or you have a debt! Compared to plain
"vanilla" lending.TCF has relatively high
returns, because it requires less regula-
tory and economie capital.'
Sincejoining the bank in March 2006,
Boogaard has expanded her department
globally to 113 employees, and has plans
to continue this expansion. She also
reorganised the business lines into Agri
commodities, Energy, Metals Minerals,
Financial and Risk Management. While
there is much to be harvested from the
bank's enormous F&A knowledge and
network, the decision to include Metals
and Energy also fits with the depart-
ment's strategy. 'Most large players in
this industry diversify,' explains Boogaard.
'Agri commodities are often the most
complex, with the highest placed risk
and longest conversion cycles. It would
be a pity not to take the upside in the
Metals and Energy business.' (Read more
about Metals and Energy in the sidebar.)
In addition, the Agri and Energy markets
have converged due to ethanol and bio
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