The Rabobank brand signifies strength, knowledge and quality within the F&A sector 9 24 ISSUE 19 a THE WORD SECTOR SPECIAL FOOD AGRIBUSINESS Innovation Crossing the Group's boundaries franchise globally. As Ter Haar explains, although F&A is a very fragmented market, there's a lot of cross-border opportunity. "We see the cross-border business (for example in Asia) as the main growth area, and it's also the area in which we can both improve. We expect to see a lot of Asian companies moving into Western European markets and the United States in the future. We currently have quite a number of transactions in the pipeline that we're working on jointly, and l'm very positive we'll be in a position to announce something shortly. There are a lot of joint mandates already - joint pitches to clients, advertising, and so on. The feedback from clients has been extremely positive so far. They understand the logic behind the cooperation, and since they have experience of working with both firms they see the added value." In November 2008, Rabobank launched the first business platform within the organisation that leverages the global office network, its specialist F&A industry knowledge and its fund structuring expertise, to create Rabobank-branded non-listed investment vehicles. The innovative result, Rabo FARM, is a joint venture between Rabobank International and Bouwfonds Real Estate Investment Management (previously known as Bouwfonds Asset Management). Putting together long-term investment funds for investors worldwide, Rabo FARM funds will invest principally in rural resources - such as agricultural land and water resources - as well as primary production in the world's major agricultural production markets. So what are the advantages to a business like Rabo FARM? Primarily, Rabo FARM will enable rural banking clients to monetise wealth locked up in agricultural land assets, or realise growth ambitions by providing capital to buy additional land in partnership with Rabo FARM. Co-ownership of the land supports mutual commitment and aligned interest in maintaining the land's fertility, which maximises the land's productivity and capital value appreciation. Representing real cooperation between farmer and bank, Rabo FARM is a natural extension of Rabobank's cooperative roots - now extended to farmers across the bank's global markets. According to Ed Smith, Rabo FARM's CEO, and Bart Pierik, director of Operations Rabo Securities, Rabo FARM was established as a joint venture between Rabobank International and Bouwfonds because of the companies' complementary knowledge, skills and experience, which form a solid foundation for cooperation. "Rabo FARM's ambition is to build a highly profitable and leading global business for Rabobank Group, which enhances our brand, our profitability and our cliënt franchise. In the next 12 months, for example, we hope to launch funds covering South America, Europe and Australia. However, that isjust the beginning and later this year we will evaluate the opportunities to develop further funds in 2010." Bart Pierik Ed Smith Because Rabo FARM funds are open to both existing clients and prospective clients, collaboration between colleagues from Rabobank International and Rabo FARM will be essential, Smith says. 'The value of Rabo FARM's funds can be measured by the intense interest and support we have already received from local Rl offices, rural banking teams as well as Rabobank Group companies with investors hungry for Rabobank products in this asset class," he says. "In addition to being attractive to rural banking clients, we have seen that both institutional and retail investors are seeking to diversify and increase exposure into more tangible 'alternative' asset classes, such as agricultural land, where long-term value accretion is perhaps more predictable, more easily understood in the context of global population growth and not correlated to financial markets." With a track record of providing finance to the F&A sector for over 100 years, and a unique global network of offices and rural banking clients from which to source premium land deals and operating partners, Rabobank's Rabo FARM is uniquely placed to develop long-term investment funds within its chosen sector. "We have the Rabobank brand that signifies strength, knowledge and quality to both farmers and investors," Smith says. "All of this makes us a 'five legged sheep' in the agricultural resources fund management sector, and further enhances the position of Rabobank as the financial link in the global food chain. Additionally, investors are nursing a lot of financial wounds currently, and there's a real need to return to basics - looking more at tangible assets, looking at credible investment rationales, looking at long term, sustainable value growth, looking at knowledgeable management, and so on. And these are all reasons that support the Rabobank mantra of concentrating on F&A and nurturing new businesses such as Rabo FARM."

Rabobank Bronnenarchief

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