In support of Rabobank's goal to become the global
leader in F&A banking, strategie changes are being
introduced across the organisation. These changes,
alongside shifting global business patterns, will
impact how Rabobank operates both regionally and
globally. Senior members of Rabobank's European
business team discuss the region's priorities and
the impact the global sector strategy will have on it.
Although Rabobank's focus is to be the
global leader in F&A banking, with a large
footprint in the Netherlands, the ambition
is clearly also to be the leading Global F&A
bank. According to Frans van Bijsterveld,
Head of F&A Europe, the sub-sector strategy
is already well embedded in the European
Region and an ideal way to connect with
the leading players across the key F&A
business sectors. "Our goal is to bank all of
the major F&A companies in Europe, be it
large players or innovators, regardless of
whether they are local or global. This means
that we want to be intimately involved with
the top-5 companies within every sector, so
that we are well represented with the key
consolidators. However, it's important to
understand that we aren't only looking at
the top-5 on a pan-European level, but we
are also looking at companies that are
consolidators, innovators or niche players
in their local markets. They might not be
global players, but they remain important
local players and they are of prime
importance to the F&A strategy in Europe."
It is this focus on cliënt quality, combined
with Rabobank's broad sector expertise,
that will set the bank apart, Peter Howell,
Regional Head of Wholesale Europe,
believes. 'The strength of the sub-sector
approach is the focus on clients. We
categorise our clients into the various sub
sectors, look at the products the companies
use, and where they do business. Product
emphasis is being aligned with our cliënt
categorisation, whereas we move from
being a generalist within the sectors to
becoming true experts, using, for example,
our knowledge within the Food Agri-
business Research and Advisory (FAR) unit."
oroach
issue 24 RI WORLD
