Strategy: Plotting a course
into the future
Rabobank Group has been showing organic growth for over a
century. Since 1898, Rabobank has grown from a collection of
small cooperative rural banks into the largest provider of all-
finance services in the Netherlands and the world's leading food
agri bank. Rabobank owes its triple A rating to stable financial
developments, its strong capital buffer and conservative risk
policies. Sustained organic growth is also a leading factor in the
strategic course that Rabobank Group aims to steer in the coming
years. In 2006, Rabobank expanded its market leadership in the
Dutch mortgage market by 2.5 percentage points to 25.5% (23.0%).
With the acquisition of Athlon and parts of Bouwfonds, Rabobank
strengthened its leading market position in the Netherlands.
In the asset management activities, both the number of service
concepts and the investment expertise were expanded further.
In addition, the international retail banking business showed
good progress in 2006 thanks to a combination of organic
growth and cleverly selected acquisitions.
14 Rabobank Group Annual Report 2006
