There arerit that many specialised F&A bankers out thereso we need to extend FAR as much as we can,to transfer the knowledge we have into the GroupJ BANKING SPECIAL GLOBAL FOOTPRINT John Baker (Asia): 32 ISSUE 22 JANUARY 2010 THE WORD drives to attend the series of seminars. "Tim Hunt comes here once or twice a year, but he writes a lot of papers that we send to our clients. That's a feather in Rabobank's cap, as none of our rivals have anyone of his caliber," Bott says. Tim Hunt stresses that FAR is just one element in the total mix that Rabobank offers. "You have to maintain a good relationship with your clients and have a good product suite. What FAR offers is part of that equation. It does give us a unique edge, as we can provide something no other bank in the region can offer." It is also something Rabobank uses externally to build brand awareness in the rural space, Bott explains. "We send out regular dairy industry reports, give frequent media interviews on industry developments and use cliënt events to showcase what we can offer, including FAR's global research." FAR plays an important role internally, Hunt adds, as it keeps front-line managers up-to-date on industry developments. This gives them a well-informed credit chain, so they can make informed credit decisions. "They can show that they have high-level industry insights in discussions with their clients. They close the deals, not us, but we can give them a small but powerful tooi." On a corporate level, FAR can open doors to the major players in the F&A sector, he adds, as providing insights into industry developments can be a very useful way to engage with clients at executive level. FAR also provides support on the product development front, helping Rabobank to tailor products to meet the needs of major corporate clients, through its knowledge of how specific F&A markets work. "Very importantly, we have a full range of competencies, so we understand F&A businesses right through from farming, to trading, to processing and retail. We also have a lot of cross-sector knowledge, so if we're talking to dairy farmers, for example, we can also talk about competing sectors such as beef, or related sectors such as wheat, and how developments in those sectors can affect them. Not to mention the fact that we have a network of clients in every segment of a sector, so we can put them in touch with clients in other parts of the chain, or other parts of the world." We caught up with Greg Bott, Regional Manager for Tasmania, and Tim Hunt, Senior Analyst, Dairy, at Food Agribusiness Research Advisory, at Rabobank's office in Smithton, Tasmania, in the midst of a 2-day series of presentations for the top farmers in Tasmania. Bott described Hunt, who is based in Melbourne, as a 'bit of a celebrity' in the Australian dairy industry. So much so, in fact, that some farmers were making 10-hour round-trip Carel van der Hamsvoort (Global) John Baker (Asia) Greg Bott (Tasmania) Tim Hunt (Australia) Kaushik Modak (India)

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