Rabobank Australia and New Zealand Group has appointed Els Kamphof to the position of Group Executive, Wholesale Banking to lead a strengthened corporate banking operation for Rabobank in Australia and New Zealand.
Announcing the appointment, Rabobank Australia and New Zealand Group Managing Director Thos Gieskes said Ms Kamphof had an “impressive track record and extensive experience” in international wholesale banking – including eight years building Rabobank’s client and corporate lending business in the Netherlands.
“Coupled with this, Els has a close and long-standing connection with food and agribusiness, coming from a dairy farming family,” he said. “With this experience and background, Els is ideally placed to lead the bank’s strengthened focus on providing wholesale banking to the Australian and New Zealand food and agribusiness corporate market – a key part of the bank’s future growth ambitions,” he said.
In addition to Ms Kamphof’s role, Rabobank has also appointed Karin Van Selm to the role of Head of Loan Products Group, leading the bank’s wholesale client coverage, while Ross Dawson has been appointed Executive Director, Loan Products Group, responsible for managing wholesale clients in Victoria.
Mr Gieskes said the new strengthened Wholesale Banking operation would “round out the full potential of Rabobank’s food and agribusiness banking franchise in Australia and New Zealand, complementing the bank’s strong position as a leading lender to the farm sector”.
The world’s leading food and agribusiness bank, Rabobank is one of Australia and New Zealand’s largest rural banks and a major provider of corporate financial services to the region’s food and agribusiness sector.
Prior to taking on her new role with Rabobank Australia and New Zealand, Ms Kamphof led the global establishment of Rabobank’s Financial Institutions Group, based at the bank’s international headquarters in the Netherlands.
From 2006 to 2014, she held senior management positions in Rabobank’s Dutch wholesale banking division, including Head of Corporate Lending. “This involved very strong customer focus and covered all sectors including food and agri,” Mr Gieskes said.
Ms Kamphof previously spent 14 years in wholesale banking with ABN AMRO, working in the areas of project finance, structured finance, private equity and capital structuring.
Raised on dairy farm, she holds a Master’s degree in Econometrics from the University of Groningen, the Netherlands.
Ms Kamphof said she was very excited about taking on her new role and committed to supporting Rabobank’s food and agri wholesale clients in Australia and New Zealand in their ambitions.
“Australia and New Zealand have very active and dynamic food and agri sectors, with a lot of exciting growth potential even measured by global standards, including at the large corporate end of the market,” she said.
“I’m very much looking forward to being involved in the food and agri sectors here as they grow and develop. One of our key focusses will be in assisting the bank’s local wholesale clients to benefit from Rabobank’s comprehensive global client network across food and agri internationally, as well as to share in the knowledge and expertise of our world-class Food & Agri Research.
“Rabobank has a prime position as the leading agri banking specialist in the rural market in Australia and New Zealand, and we are keen to leverage this to further develop our position in the wholesale food and agri market.”
Rabobank Australia & New Zealand is a part of the international Rabobank Group, the world’s leading specialist in food and agribusiness banking. Rabobank has more than 115 years’ experience providing customised banking and finance solutions to businesses involved in all aspects of food and agribusiness. Rabobank is structured as a cooperative and operates in 40 countries, servicing the needs of approximately 8.8 million clients worldwide through a network of more than 1000 offices and branches. Rabobank Australia & New Zealand is one of Australasia’s leading rural lenders and a significant provider of business and corporate banking and financial services to the region’s food and agribusiness sector. The bank has 94 branches throughout Australia and New Zealand.
Denise Shaw
Head of Media Relations
Rabobank Australia & New Zealand
Phone: 02 8115 2744 or 0439 603 525
Email: denise.shaw@rabobank.com
Skye Ward
Media Relations Manager
Rabobank Australia & New Zealand
Phone: 0418 216 103
Email: skye.ward@rabobank.com