We can help companies move
outside their domestic or regional market,
and look for growth opportunities
in other parts of the world 9
REGION SPECIAL GLOBAL SECTOR STRATEGY
PeterHowell, Regional Head of Whole Europe:
Cross-border
Peter Howell
To be able to work effectively with top-flight clients and across the
sectors, more emphasis has been placed on the role and inherent
importance of the Country Manager (CM) as a Senior Relationship
Banker (SRB). Howell explains that, although the CM is responsible
for everything that happens within the local operation, the
emphasis is now clearly swinging towards their function as a SRB. "In
almost every country in which we operate, the CM is also
the SRB. What we're looking for are high-quality bankers that are
product neutral, and have board or CEO-level access. As a result, our
CMs are general managers who are able to talkjust as easily at the
boardroom level of our clients as to our M&A team and our other
product teams."
This shift in responsibility also involves new roles, and levels
of contact, for SRBs, Relationship Managers (RM) and product
specialists. Within Europe's dairy sector - which is composed of both
a solid manufacturing base and a ready-made market in each region
and nation - there has been a notable increase in dialogue between
SRBs, RMs and product specialists. Jacqueline Pieters, Global Sector
Head of Dairy, says that monthly conference calls allow everyone to
discuss trends, developments and deals, increasing dialogue and
trust among the team members. 'The participation is very positive,"
she says. 'The group includes SRBs, RMs, FAR representatives and
product specialists, and we concentrate our dialogue by focusing
on our top-tier cliënt target group. Having an internal dairy
community, a deep understanding of the sectors and the relevant
players is benefïcial and enables us to replicate product solutions.
This increased interaction has led to an increase in income from the
sector, and we are currently the leading dairy bank in a number of
European countries."
Assigning a dedicated RM, who is led by an SRB, to every F&A cliënt
in Europe will ensure that the cliënt has contact with the bank 24
hours a day, Van Bijsterveld explains. "As importantly, the SRB will
take overall relationship responsibility for the global clients, as well
as the strategie agenda, so they'll have a 'helicopter view' of what's
happening within the sector. By fully understanding the sector, we
ISSUE 24 JULY 2010 RI WORLD
