We will be looking for
partnerships where we
have complementary
skills 9
COVER STORY THE REVISED STRATEGY
Working across boundaries
Fully realise our potential
S Sipko Schat:
10
Sipko Schat: "If you deal with clients within the F&A arena,
you have to offer them our full professional product suite
and try to cross-sell. To align the professional products more
to F&A clients we have set certain new targets on certain
products. For example, Corporate Finance and Leveraged
Finance now need to establish 70 percent of their base
from the Netherlands orthe F&A sector, from a previous
level of 50 percent. Another challenge that we face is
translating qualitative goals into tangible targets, so that
people know what they are aiming for and working towards.
That is something that the different activities have to work
out in close cooperation with each other. For instance, if
the regions want to cross-sell GFM products, they have to
sit down with GFM and say: 'ok, based on our customer
franchise, what can we expect from our customers with
regard to GFM activities?' They then need to set a target
and measure the outcome to see if they are going in the
right direction."
Rabobank is also strengthening and leveraging the
international retail franchise to contribute to a larger share
of RI's income and profit and to reduce capital dependency.
Consumer and commercial deposits are less subject to
volatility and bolster not only our ability to serve clients, but
also the diversification needed to grow our international
business. Another reason for choosing retail as a focus area
is quite simply the role retail plays in expanding our F&A
footprint. Sipko Schat: "We still want to grow within the retail
area, and we want to strengthen the retail franchises that we
have. There are certainly growth opportunities in Australia,
Brazil, Poland and California, and in those environments we
will look for investment opportunities, including money that
we've made available for acquisitions. We will also be
looking for alliances or partnerships. This will most likely
be with other cooperative banks or, in China for example,
with strong local players that we can then strengthen with
technical expertise. And because we are independent, we
are one of the few banks able to strike such alliances. We will
be looking for partnerships where we have complementary
skills."
Sipko Schat: 'The strategy we had in place was fundamentally
sound, but it clearly needed some adjustments in light of
the current situation within the financial markets. What we
want to do in the revised strategy is focus even more on
F&A, because that is where our real strength lies. We have
a strong profile in the market, but we should, and must,
extract more value from the brand and from the position
we hold. We know the clients, we have the franchise, but
I think there are many more cross-selling opportunities
available. It's time for us to fully realise the potential of our
position within F&A."
ISSUE 19 a THE WORD
