Contents Management report Corporate governance Consolidated financial statements Financial statements Pillar 3
Since Rabobank is the market leader in the agriculture sector in
the Netherlands, Banking for the Netherlands and Banking for
Food are closely intertwined. Our knowledge and our network
in the leading international Dutch food and agri sector are the
roots of Rabobank.
Core objectives: how do we achieve these ambitions?
To fulfil our ambitions in the next five years, we have identified
three core objectives in the Strategic Framework 2016-2020.
1. Excellent customer focus
In the Netherlands, we strive to be the most customer-focused
bank in the country. Our aspirations to generate strong growth
in customer satisfaction also extend beyond the Netherlands.
We believe that this is where our strength and distinctiveness
lie. Rabobank will undergo a fundamental transformation in the
coming years in terms of working methods, culture, attitudes
and conduct. By doing so, we are responding to changes in
customer needs, the uncertain economic climate and the
stricter requirements of regulators.We want to become the
most customer-focused bank in the country by providing
excellent basic service and, if required, by always being the
closest to our customers and fulfilling our role as a financial
linking pin.
2. Increased flexibility and reduction of the balance sheet
In the years to come, we anticipate a further tightening of the
regulatory environment. To maintain our position as a rock-solid
bank, it will therefore be necessary to make our balance sheet
more flexible and reduce it by up to EUR 150 billion between
2014 and 2020. We wantto achieve balance sheet optimisation
by, among other things, placing parts of our loan portfolio with
external parties and maintaining a relatively lower liquidity
buffer that is in line with the reduced balance sheet total.
The Annual Review includes a dilemma which addresses the
way in which we want to combine excellent customer service
with growing our capital and reducing our balance sheet.
3. Performance improvement
In addition to excellent customer focus and a balance
sheet reduction, there should also be an improvement in
performance. Our aim for 2020 is a profit improvement of more
than EUR 2 billion (excluding the effects of the reductions on
our balance sheet results) compared to 2014. Reaching this level
of profit improvement would improve the cost/income ratio
to approximately 50% in 2020, and we would achieve a return
on invested capital (ROIC) of at least 8%. The cost/income ratio
is calculated by dividing total operating expenses by total
income. Including regulatory levies, we aim for a cost/income
ratio of between 53% and 54% in 2020.The ROIC is calculated
by dividing the net profit realised after non-controlling interests
are related to the core capital (achieved tier 1 capital plus the
goodwill in the balance sheet at year-end) minus deductions
for non-controlling interests in the equity.The improvement
should be effected by both higher revenues and lower costs.
These estimates are in addition to the ongoing Mars and Vision
2016 cost programmes. The Mars programme envisions further
cost reductions at the central level. The Vision 2016 programme
focuses on improving customer services but at reduced costs.
These programmes are running on schedule and are expected
to be completed during 2016.
Implementation accelerators
The implementation of the aforementioned three core
objectives requires an integrated approach towards new and
existing programmes.These programmes come together in the
implementation agenda ofthe Executive Board.This agenda
forms the basis for the implementation ofthe strategy, which
focuses on three accelerators:
7. Strengthening innovativeness
Innovative strength is an important prerequisite for improving
current processes, enabling customers to increasingly arrange
their financial affairs independently and facilitating Rabobank
to respond (more quickly) to technical possibilities with new
propositions.
2. Empowering employees
Employees make the ambitions of our customers and Rabobank
come true. In order to fulfil our strategy, it is necessary that
our employees are aware ofthe social role we have to play as
a bank. It is essential that they embrace the strategy, know how
to promote it and apply it to their daily work, where there is
room for expertise and entrepreneurship. We are unambiguous
and united in this desire. Employees know how to connect their
personal values with those ofthe bank, and vice versa.There is
continuous focus on personal development and training, as
well as on building a diverse workforce. In this way, we strive
to show our customers and society as a whole that we are the
bank that is fully focused on its customers.
3. Creating a better cooperative organisation
The new governance structure increases member participation
and their input in Rabobank as a whole.The more effective
structure will contribute to the transformation that our
organisation must go through to fulfil the strategy.
The Strategic Framework 2016-2020 builds on the current
improvement agenda of Rabobank, the implementation
agenda.To give substance to the three core objecives and their
13 Strategy
