7 feit really proud when
a senior Blackrock
representative at a highly
regarded investor congress
stated that Rabobank
paper is a safe haven
in these volatile times
"So, redefining GFM's focus during the first quarter of 2008
was not only a strategy process, but also a mandate process.
We have discussed in depth which clients we want to service,
what kinds of capital market products we want to deliver to our
clients and the risk profile corresponding to the risk appetite of
the Rabobank Group. Following these discussions, the Executive
Board and Supervisory Board approved a new GFM mandate."
Can you briefly explain this new strategy?
"In a nutshell, GFM will focus more intensively on servicing the
member banks, corporate clients in Benelux, Rl clients and focal
areas such as TMI and F&A with capital market products. Next,
GFM will run some niche activities that create cliënt franchise
value such as equity derivatives for Private Banking. We will move
away from highly complex credit products and will expand our
soft commodity product range for F&A clients."
'The real work will start now. It will be a real challenge to transform
our organisation into a sales or client-driven organisation and this
will require a change of mindset. To cut a long story short, we will
need to link our products to particular cliënt groups and organise
ourselves in such a way that we enable a 'product push."
Will this create opportunities for GFM and Rabobank?
'Today's tumultuous financial climate and changing Dutch
banking landscape will create many opportunities. To illustrate
this, some banks are having to redefine their business scope
and consolidate their capital markets business line. Clients
are looking for a high quality partner and long-term banking
relationships. Rabobank will be able to profit from these kinds
of developments."
'The first signs have been very positive. Our Benelux corporate
sales teams, for example, are very successful. We have been
mandated for several corporate bond deals and sales of treasury
products are at a record high. The financial institutions team has
also a good pipeline on this side and successfully executed sev
eral deals for institutional clients. The sales of risk management
products such as swaps to the member banks show a very posi
tive trend. Another good example is the New York securitisation
team. The team responded quickly to the new GFM focus and
was able to bring several profitable Food Agri deals on board."
Is GFM looking to the future again instead
of focusing on the crisis?
"In the short run, we're still very much focused on prudent risk
management and getting through this time of crisis. Keeping
Rabobank's balance sheet as liquid as possible is essential these
days. Risk Management and GFM are working closely together
to achieve this. Moreover, Investor Relations, the Treasury
Rabobank group and GFM Treasury are intensifying investor
coverage on the short-term funding side. It is good to see that
Rabobank is able to raise a fair amount of funding on the long
end of the money market curve. I also feit really proud when
a senior Blackrock representative at a highly regarded investor
congress stated that Rabobank paper is a safe haven in these
volatile times."
What are the reactions in the organisation?
"Very positive. Nowadays, we work more closely together with
the corporate cliënt teams to improve cliënt coverage and work
more in cross-departmental, Rabobank-wide deal teams. Rabo
Securities intensified its co-operation on investor presentations
and we are also improving our combined efforts to jointly pitch
for cliënt deals. Several initiatives have been started to improve
our service to SMEs and private banking clients of the member
banks."
"Strengthening our co-operation within Rabobank is certain
to improve cross-sell. Besides this, I believe there is a healthy
future for GFM since we need a business unit capable of
executing capital market products efficiently, with associated
risk management and expertise."
issue 16 juni THE WORD
