A model cliënt
China Fishery Group Limited:
In November 2010, Rabobank was one of
the mandated lead arrangers for a USD 425
million term loan and revolving creditfacility
for China Fishery Group Limited, a global
fishing company and a major subsidiary of
the Pacific Andes Group. China Fishery is
an excellent example of how Rabobank's new
global cliënt coverage model is helping the
bank to forge relationships with its clients
that go beyond individualproducts and move
across the bank's regional businesses, literally,
spanning the globe.
Global effect
Shared ambition
Loan Product Group's (LPG) role, says William Hen
driks, regional head of LPG for Asia, is to provide cli
ents with best-in-class loan products - a very important
aspect to achieving Rabobank's ambition to become a
leading global F&A bank, as it provides the bank with a
platform to deliver more fee-based products. "My job
is to make sure we deliver that excellence. The ambi
tion is to up-tier our loan product activities by working
together with Senior Relationship Bankers (SRBs), Loan
Product Group Relationship Managers (LPG RMs),
and other product specialists. Our ability to cooperate,
arrange, structure and deliver innovative financing
solutions provides the impetus for the development of
deeper relationships with our clients," says Hendriks.
And he is seeing more teamwork and communication
across locations, both in Asia and between the regions.
The shared focus and ambition to become the leading
F&A bank has increased alignment between locations,
regions, SRBs, LPG RMs and the various products groups
and has made the bank much more proactive and
responsive to opportunities.
SRBs play a central role in the new model, because they
act as a liaison between key clients and the various
product groups and business functions. "And because
SRBs are product and location neutral, relationships with
clients are driven across the networks and products. This is
enabling us to use all our resources - our F&A know-
ledge, product capabilities and capital - much more
effectively," says Hidi Chan, the SRB for China Fishery.
It is also enabling Rabobank to deepen its relationship
with clients. China Fishery has been a Trade Commodity
Finance (TCF) cliënt for years, with a strong focus on
trade transactions, Hendriks says. Now that the com
pany has been identified as an SRB account, Rabobank
is building on that TCF relationship and taking it up
several notches. In May 2010, Rabobank arranged a one-
year bridge facility, which was then refinanced through
the loan facility signed in November. "China Fishery is a
perfect example of the kind of company for which the
global cliënt coverage model was designed. It is a global
player, and it's in expansion mode, which creates a lot
of business opportunities for us," Chan says.
For instance, Fernando Araya, General Manager of
Rabobank Chile, was recently contacted to help China
Fishery get an insight into the South American market.
"Our colleagues in Asia told us that China Fishery is
interested in developments in this region. The local agri
and fishery market is growing." Araya says. "Together
with FAR, we supported China Fishery to get an insight
into the local sector's developments."
The relationship with China Fishery demonstrates that
Rabobank can use its capital to prove its commitment
to clients and in turn gain commitment from them.
This does mean that Rabobank will have to increase the
capital it commits to certain clients to show its loyalty
and gain access to companies at boardroom level, Chan
says. "Once you have access to a company at a strategie
level, like China Fishery, the opportunities are almost
unlimited." she adds.
One thing that will be vital to the success of the new
cliënt coverage model will be performance recognition,
Hendriks says. "To create true cooperation, you need
incentives for the right behaviour. This means you have
to recognise all contributions to successful deals. We
need a global system that captures all the business we
do with a cliënt, and reflect that in the SRB and product
partners profit loss. The China Fishery loan deal is like
the tip of an iceberg. The rest of the iceberg is what
we could be doing for that cliënt, once we take a truly
global approach to cliënt solutions."
ISSUE 26 IANUAI Rl WORLD
