The REIF business is
an example ofcorporate
social responsibility
puttiyigour where
our mouth is to support
a more sustainable global
environment 9
The six key goals:
6 Bill Mansfield:
Five-year plan
Bill Mansfield, Head of Global Financial
Markets, Americas
The 10th anniversary of the Rabobank-hosted Client
Appreciation Dinner will take place in December and attract
450 top decision-makers in the F&A industry from all over North
America. It is regarded as the premier F&A business event in
North America, showcasing Rabobank's pivotal role in the
North American F&A market.
Over the past five years, RI-NAW has heightened its focus
on core F&A activities - today, 98 percent of its US business
is pure F&A. Bill Mansfield, Head of Global Financial Markets
(GFM), Americas, says: "We made the strategie decision to
deliberately exit or wind down businesses that were non-core
to our ambition to be the leading F&A bank, and focused all of
our efforts on developing and supporting our core business
in the F&A sector. This strategy has included expanding our
product suite, for example in risk hedging and acquisition
finance, and also ramping up existing product areas, such
as M&A, trade and commodity finance, securitisation, and
syndications."
One area where RI-NAW steps outside of pure F&A is its
Renewable Energy Infrastructure Finance (REIF) business,
established in 2009. "It's an example ofcorporate social
responsibility - putting our money where our mouth is to
support a more sustainable global environment", as Mansfield
puts it - but it's also driven by a clear business case.
Where the business has been unable to build capabilities
internally, it has partnered externally, such as with Rothschild
on global mergers and acquisitions services, and Jefferies on
US bond distribution.
Today, Weulen Kranenberg is spearheading a five-year
strategie plan for the organisation, which reflects the
significant changes in the banking landscape following
the 2007-2009 global financial crisis, including greater
regulatory oversight and higher capital requirements. Weulen
Kranenberg: "Revenue generation and cost management
are important, but ifyou don't have the right infrastructure
to support growth and manage risk effectively, then it might
all be for nothing - every area in the organisation plays an
essential role. So in our strategie plan we've identified six key
goals from today to 2014 (see text box).
1 USD 1 billion in revenues
2 A cost-to-income ratio of 30 percent
3 Realign and upgrade infrastructure and operating
systems to fit business needs
4 Strengthen corporate governance and regulatory compliance
5 Institute an approach to integrated risk management
6 Ensure a high performance team and culture
'The last is the most critical element - to leverage the conside-
rable talent, knowledgeand experience of our colleagues.
We will do this by investing in our employees, recognising
performance and celebrating successes. The ultimate aim
of each of these six goals is to ensure that we continue to
serve our clients in the best, most efficiënt, most responsive
way possible - as a cooperative bank, cliënt service is our core
mission."
ISSUE 27 MAY RI WORLD
